September 2011
I love to read history. I love to read the Bible as history.
This doesn’t mean I discard the poetic or prophetic; it just means I start with a literal interpretation of the words. I trust the original language holds a sound telling of events, even while I allow for translation gaps or layered meanings. When the text turns symbolic, I follow. When it turns prophetic, I keep reading—hoping understanding will come in time.
Do you find that happening to you?
The City of Jerusalem in Scripture
Jerusalem is mentioned 762 times in the NASB. The first reference appears in Joshua 10, 12, and 15, identifying it as a Jebusite city that was not conquered during Joshua’s campaigns. The KJV refers to it as Jebusi. Later, in Genesis 14:18, it appears again—subtly but powerfully:
“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.”
Abraham came from Ur, a Sumerian city later conquered by the Semitic Akkadians. His family settled in Haran, near ancient Aram. When Abraham obeyed the voice of God and journeyed south, he encountered Melchizedek—the king of Salem, a city founded by Semitic peoples from the north. That Salem, it is widely believed, is ancient Jerusalem.
David and the City of God
Jerusalem had long-standing religious significance, even before David. But it wasn’t until David’s conquest that the city became the heart of the kingdom.
After the chaotic rule of Saul and his son Ish-bosheth (“man of shame”), David turned his attention toward the Jebusite stronghold. According to 2 Samuel 5:8:
“Whoever smites the Jebusites, let him get up through the water shaft and smite the lame and the blind who are detested by David’s soul.”
Harsh words—but historical context offers insight. Some scholars note that Hittite-aligned tribes like the Jebusites may have used the disabled in rituals meant to curse or intimidate invaders. David’s rejection wasn’t cruelty—it was a refusal to allow witchcraft in the city he would make holy.
A Temple and a Kingdom
With the Ark brought into Jerusalem and workers summoned from across the region, David’s son Solomon built the Temple—possibly the largest structure in the known world. The city’s fame became tied not to its role as a capital, but to the majesty of the Temple itself.
But division followed. The northern tribes broke away after Rehoboam’s reign. Jerusalem remained in Judah, and after two centuries of decline, the Babylonians destroyed it in 586 BC, tearing down walls and Temple alike.
Exile and Return
After Babylon’s fall to the Persians, exiles were permitted to return. Zerubbabel and later Nehemiah rebuilt the Temple and the city walls. Under Persian rule, Jerusalem again had a Temple—but it would never quite return to its former glory.
Then came the Greeks. Then Rome. And then Herod, who transformed the Temple Mount into a wonder of the ancient world—just in time for Jesus to call it temporary. The very Temple he walked through stood fully complete for only four years before the Romans destroyed it in 70 AD.
From Ruin to Division
In 135 AD, Jerusalem was razed again, renamed Aelia Capitolina, and Jews were barred from the city for centuries. Gentile bishops oversaw the Christian sites until Caliph Umar took control in 638 AD.
In 1099, Crusaders seized the city in a blood-soaked conquest. They expelled even Eastern Christians, who had been stewards of the churches for centuries. It wasn’t until Saladin reclaimed Jerusalem in 1187 that Christians—specifically, the local Eastern communities—were invited back to maintain the holy sites.
The city’s current layout—with Armenian, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim quarters—began to take shape over centuries of conflict and rebuilding. Even today, five Christian denominations share rights and responsibilities within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a complex tradition still governed by the 19th-century Ottoman Status Quo.
Reading Scripture as History—with Caution
Thomas Ice once wrote:
“Some evangelicals say, ‘we must understand the background and culture of the text of Scripture in order to properly understand it.’ […] But the question is how should it be used? […] Often they use this extra-biblical information to introduce whole new interpretations of the text that one could not get without this alternate information.”
Background helps. But we must never let history override the plain sense of Scripture.
Still—context matters. The stones, walls, and broken altars whisper of the lives that passed through this city. Some names are familiar—David, Melchizedek, Nehemiah, Herod. Some are forgotten. All are known to God.
A Final Blessing
The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.
(Numbers 6:24–26)
Or, as one expanded rendering puts it:
“Adonai will kneel before you presenting gifts and guard you with a hedge of protection.
Adonai will illuminate the wholeness of His being toward you, bringing order, and beautify you.
Adonai will lift up the wholeness of His being, look upon you, and set in place all you need to be whole and complete.”
Amen.
