Jerusalem in the Scriptures
37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
38 "See! Your house is left to you desolate;
39 "for I say to you, you shall see Me no
more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"
(Matthew23:37-39)
Jerusalem in the Scriptures is symbolic of the Church in general. The word "Jerusalem" means "city of peace".
Paul writing to the church at Galatia makes a
distinction between the two Jerusalems - the
natural one and the spiritual one. Both
Jerusalems are described symbolically as mothers
with children.
25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia,
and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is,
and is in bondage with her children;
26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is
the mother of us all. (Galatians 4:25-26)
We see that when Jesus laments over Jerusalem,
He is actually lamenting over BOTH the natural
Jerusalem AND the spiritual one. From history
we know that Jerusalem had a record for killing
the prophets God sent to her to warn her to
repent of idolatry. The irony of it all, is that the
city of God had a tendency to reject God
Himself when He came to them in the form of
these men. This led to the ultimate of all ironies
- the rejection of the man Jesus, who was in fact
God in the flesh. And all this by those zealously
attempting to adhere to the principles of God
but at the same time rejecting the person of God
in Jesus.
37 "And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has
testified of Me. You have neither heard His
voice at any time, nor seen His form.
38 "But you do not have His word abiding in
you, because whom He sent, Him you do not
believe.
39 "You search the Scriptures, for in them you
think you have eternal life; and these are they
which testify of Me.
40 "But you are not willing to come to Me
that you may have life. (John 5:37-40)
We, as born-again believers, have the seed of the
word of God living and abiding in us because we
were willing to "come to Him" and "believe in
Him". Likewise, as we learn to recognise those
sent by God, we will be able to receive the word
living in them which may be the very anointing
we need to have the yokes and bondages
destroyed in our lives and be changed from glory
Anson Rainey and R. Steven Notley are the authors of The Sacred Land Bridge, which is an Atlas of the biblical world and includes maps, pictures, and historical cementation as to the significance of this region. The biblical world that this atlas focuses on is defined as the eastern Mediterranean littoral, or more commonly called the Levant in modern archeological discussions. In my critique of this book I will be focusing on pages 30-34 which will define the boundaries and explain the importance of the Levant.
... the Old Testament and the Virgin Mary as precursors or preparations for Christ. Statues of the Cathedral show narrative scenes of the Old Testament. “The use of color within the stained glass is also important. By using contrasting color, the images of the saints and other subjects in the Biblical oriented glass windows stand out against paler, less pronounced backgrounds.” (Melton.) “Stained glass served a myriad of purposes...the light that flowed into the cathedral through the various shades of colored glass inspired, invoked, and educated the masses that attended the service.” (Melton.) “The Cathedral, like a fortress, overlooks and controls the town...it seems to draw the town upward, as if to extend into the clouds its bridges, its mills, its tree-lined boulevard, its fortified gateway, and its churches...” (Branner, 115.)
In this verse, we must ask, what is the peace of Jerusalem? Certainly it isn't the state of affairs today. So should we pray for half of the city to be given to the Arabs? Will that bring peace? History shows that it will only increase the conflict. Ok… what about giving Jerusalem over to the Vatican or the United Nations, they can certainly keep the peace, maybe that is what we should pray for. Is God's inheritance a mere political football? Can man govern what God has ordained as His?
Jericho was an important city in the Old Testament. The city was overtaken and devastated several times. However, it was always reoccupied -- sometimes quickly and other times very slowly. Herod the Great, Cleopatra, and Augustus are some of the mighty rulers that once took claim of some or all of Jericho. Many Galileans would travel through the Jordan valley and go by Jericho on their route to Jerusalem. By taking this course, they could avoid passing through Samaritan territory (Metzger and Coogan, 1993).
Ogden, Graham S. “Prophetic Oracles Against Foreign Nations and Psalms of Communal Lament: The Relationship of Psalm 137 to Jeremiah 49:7-22 and Obadiah.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 24 (1982): 87-97.
This quote was used to describe vividly what Jerusalem is made of, “There is a magical quality about the Old City of Jerusalem that does not exist anywhere else in the world. Perhaps it is due to the glorious history of the towering stone walls and ancient buildings, or the sacred atmosphere that surrounds the holy sites of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions.” (The Old City of Jerusalem, Israel). The Old City is split into four quarters, the Armenian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter, and the Christian Quarter. The quarters are not physically divided, but citizens know the difference between the different cultures. Many ancient cultures have named Jerusalem their home, and explore the foundations of Athenian, Jewish, Muslim, Christian.
However, this place of worship was not meant to last for the Israelites. In 586 BCE, the Babylonians led by King Nebuchadnezzar II, captured Jerusalem and set fire to the Great Temple. The Temple wasn’t the only thing destroyed. According to the article, Babylonian Exile written by Jeffrey Spitzer, “the palace and all of the houses of Jerusalem were burnt, the w...
Young, Darrell G. "The Fall of Jerusalem in 70 A. D." Focus on Jerusalem. Dales Design, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. .
As seen, the primary purpose of the first crusade was to reclaim the holy city of Jerusalem back to the Church. The Church had made a statement in the first crusade, sending a message to everyone that they would not stand down for what they wanted and would respond accordingly to claim what rightly belongs to the Christian faith. Many people who had sacrificed their lives fighting for what they believed in paved the way for victory and did not die in vain. At the end, Jerusalem may have found favor with people of rival faiths, but was always in the sight of the Church and from the start was always destined to rightly belong to it, no matter what circumstances or turmoil took place that tried to say or prove otherwise.
In 1095, Jerusalem was a flourishing city that was the main powerhouse for three religions; all three religions wanted complete control over the holy land. These three religions were Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, and all three religions were known to use Jerusalem as a place of religious reasons. But in turn, the best part about Jerusalem was the political power it held. Pope Urban’s demand for power and Jewish Israel’s desire to control Palestinians are the factors in the political conflict over the holy land.
The synagogue is one of the most important aspects of the Jewish religion and community because it has crafted all churches and religious services we use in today’s world. The synagogue (from the Greek word for "assembly"), is a building where Jews gather for worship and religious instruction, and is one of the main focuses of Jewish life in every community. Ancient temples, including the Temple of Jerusalem, were regarded as resting places of the gods or goddesses of ancient Jewish heritage. Inside these temples, sacrificial ceremonies were performed by special priests. The synagogue, in contrast, is a gathering place for the people. Its services consist of prayer, song, and instruction. In fact, the custom of regular preaching originated in the synagogue. Any member of the worshipers with the necessary knowledge may lead the prayers and preach. The Christian churches and the mosques of Islam were modeled in reference to the synagogue. (Bamberger, B. J. (2014).
Main Events in the history of Jerusalem. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2011, from Century One Educational Bookstore: http://www.centuryone.com/hstjrslm.html
... of Israel, 2d ed.: A Theological Survey of the Old Testament. Garden City: Baker Academic, 2002.
On the other hand, scriptures on the Holy Bible revealed that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, and grew up in Nazareth, which are both cities in Israel. The significance of holy city for the Christians is that it is the place where Christ died and resurrected. Moreover, the first Christian church constructed in the Jerusalem after the destruction of the second temple of the Jews