Glimpses of Israel - Time Span In Jerusalem
by Joseph Hunting
There are few places where one can walk through four thousand years of history in the space of as many hours as one can in Jerusalem.
We begin our time capsule at the base of the excavations of David's City. Here the Canaanites settled on the Ophel Ridge and built their fortified village named Jebus about two thousand B.C. A thousand years later David captured the city and called it Zion. It was here he established his kingdom over the twelve tribes of Israel.
A walk of about four hundred metres in a northerly direction brings us to the Temple Mount, originally Mt. Moriah. It was here about eight hundred years before David established his kingdom that Abraham gave a new title to God: Jehovah Jireh. Perhaps on the very spot where Abraham laid Isaac on the altar, David build an altar. Was this the spot that Solomon chose for the resting-place of the Ark in the Holy of Holies when He built the magnificent Temple? One feels a sense of awe to stand at this very place.
Not far from this sacred area one can stroll through the bazaars in the Old City and a sign 'Via Dolorosa' bridges another thousand years to the last steps taken by Yeshua. How ironical that the accusation He bore was: "This is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews".
Forty years later the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and left a memorial to the might of Imperial Rome — the Western Wall, the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount. For nineteen centuries Jerusalem passed into the control of Gentile conquerors.
Today Jerusalem is back where it began with David. It is the capital of the state of Israel. A mile or so to the west a new modern Jerusalem looks much the same as its modern counterparts the world over.
Today Jerusalem has outstripped Tel Aviv and Haifa in size and is still a rapidly developing city. Does Psalm 102 verse 16 have special relevance: "When the Lord shall build up Zion He shall appear in His glory"?