Jerusalem - A special place indeed

  Jerusalem, a special place for us to visit.  During the visit we also learnt new things about why this city is special not only for different people but also a special place for God. 

For Jews, according to tradition, it is the place where Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac. It was Jerusalem that David chose as his capital and where Solomon built the Temple, the national centre of worship. 

Such was the city’s importance in biblical times, that those who could not manage the strongly encouraged three times a year journey were advised to at least pray towards Jerusalem.  It was believed that if they did so their prayer would be heard as if they were present in Jerusalem.. To this day, all synagogues face Jerusalem, so that Jewish prayers are directed there in accordance with that tradition.

Jews were in exile for 2,000 years, but kept Jerusalem’s memory intact as the symbol of national unity. As Psalm 137 declares: “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth”, while every Passover, Jews say “Next year in Jerusalem”. 
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The Arabs consider the city of Jerusalem to be the third most holy city in Islam and the dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is  a contested location.. 

For Christians, Jerusalem is where Christ preached, ate the Last Supper with his disciples before his death, where he was arrested, put on trial, condemned to death, crucified, and died, a man mocked and tortured by the occupying Romans. Jerusalem is a place of deep sorrow and utter desolation but also of hope and redemption. It is where his tomb was found empty and he rose from the dead. It is the sacred heart of the Christian story.

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Jerusalem, though, is more than just a historic place. It has become a religious concept that transcends time taking on a redemptive significance, based on its root meaning – shalom - city of peace – with the hope that it becomes a place of harmony for all peoples and the capital of a world at one with itself. It is a metaphor for all that yearn for peace in this world and the next. No wonder God says to "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
“May they be secure who love you!  Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!”  (Ps 122:6-7). 

Jerusalem is an important location in prophesy, 
And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the (Torah) law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:2). 

There is also the promise of a new Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the ultimate dwelling place for God and redeemed mankind where there is no more death nor devil.
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21:1,2). 

Put it all together and Jerusalem is the primary place on earth in which, and through which God has, and will ultimately reveal Himself! 

Fascinating therefore to walk the streets of this city and reflect on all this.  But I was unaware till this trip that Jerusalem is the only place on our planet that God calls His place. God has chosen Jerusalem on the globe as His special habitation. This is written in many Scripture passages.
“For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place” (Ps. 132:13).

The prophet Joel says, “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy…” (Joel 3:17).

Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. 1 Kings 11:36 

And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” . . . And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. 2 Kings 21:4, 7

Jerusalem is God’s city, His holy mountain! He has chosen it for His earthly dwelling place. A reason that those who love Him are drawn to this city.. And a reason that those who conspire against Him, also conspire against this place.

God said He would put His name here forever. In this age of computers and satellite imagery, this has taken on new meaning.  Some feel that God has literally put a part of His signature in the geography of Jerusalem. The valleys form the Hebrew letter (shin) in a U-shape. Some would say this is no accident, because this letter forms the first part of God’s name, El Shaddai (the God who protects).

In order for you to understand this, we need to take time for a geography lesson.  In so doing, you are joining our experience with our guide who often made reference to the valleys that surround the old city of Jerusalem.  He said that being able to identify the valleys would help us orientate ourselves geographically as well as scripturally.  

There are three main valleys in Jerusalem: Gehenna, Kidron, and Tyropoean. Over the years, these three valleys have provided a natural defence to Jerusalem on three sides. 

The Hinnom Valley (also called Gehenna or Akeldama Valley) is south of Jerusalem. In later years, the valley was used for incinerating the corpses of criminals and unclean animals, and also as a place to burn garbage from the city. The Dung Gate, named for the direction of the wind to carry away the stench from the city, was situated here. From these practices, the Greek form “ge hinnom” (Gehenna) came into use as a synonym for Hell (Matthew 5:22-30). The burial place called Akeldama, meaning “field of blood,” was located in the eastern part of the Valley of Hinnom, and made famous by Judas (Matthew 27:3-10; Acts 1:16-19).  

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The second valley is the Kidron Valley, located on the north and east side of the city. Kidron Valley separates the city from the Mount of Olives. It forms a wadi (a ravine or channel) that eventually empties into the Dead Sea. Its name, meaning “dark” or “shady,” probably reflects its depth (at least 50 feet deeper then than it is today), and that it was much cooler than the heat generated from the stones in the city above it.  It is believed that Psalm 23: 4 —valley of the shadow of death— refers to the Kidron Valley.  It has been used as a cemetery since biblical times and many tombs are still built there today.  
It was while passing through this valley that David heard the news of the defection of Ahithophel. "And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness" (2 Sam. 15:31). The bitterness of this traitorous act of Ahithophel is commemorated by David in Psalm 55:12-14, "For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company."

It was here that David crossed the “Brook Kidron” when he fled from Absalom (2 Samuel 15:23). The account of the flight is given in 2 Samuel 15. In that account we read: "And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness" (2 Sam. 15:23).

​The final judgment of the nations in “the valley of Jehoshsaphat,” meaning “Yahweh judges,” is often identified with the Kidron Valley (Joel 3:2,12). After the Last Supper, Jesus led His disciples across the ravine Kidron to the Garden of Gethsemane (John 18:1). When He was arrested, they brought Him back through the valley to the residence of the High Priest. These events took place only four days after Jesus’ official entrance into the city, riding on a donkey across the Kidron Valley.   This was a valley of death for Jesus as well.

Southeast of the Temple Mount, the Kidron joins the Tyropoean Valley, which passes down on the west side of the mount. The deep ravine formed by these valleys south of the city made a strong defense for David’s Jerusalem. The Kidron also provided the water resource for Jerusalem’s only spring, the Gihon Spring on the eastern slope. 

The last valley of the three is the rugged Tyropoean, named by Josephus, a relatively shallow valley originating in the upper (northern) part of the city and passing down beside the western wall of the Temple Mount, eventually joining the Kidron Valley. This was the main street, or the shopping mall district of Jesus’ time. 

These three deep valleys made Jerusalem feel safe and secure, as if God Himself were guarding it. Even Titus, the Roman General who destroyed the city in 70 A.D., said, “If it had not been for the internal dissensions, the city could never have been taken.” These valleys are not the defence they once were. In our modern era, the Tyropean is more of a plain than a valley.

But here is the interesting part.  If you look at a map or a photograph of the area, who will see that the valleys form the Hebrew letter (shin)--ש.   Some would say this is no accident.  I leave  you to decided but present the evidence these people give.  This letter forms the first part of God’s name, El Shaddai (the God who protects). The Shin also represents God’s name, and was seen on the doorpost Mezuzah of many doorways in Israel - certainly all hotels and our airbnb. As Deuteronomy 6:9 commands, “write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” 

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The Hebrew letter shin (ש) is an abbreviation for the name El Shaddai. Looking from above the letter shin appears—formed by the Kidron, the Hinnom and the Tyropoeon valleys. God has literally fulfilled His word!

Is the fingerprint of God on Jerusalem for all to see this literal?  Maybe?  Or just an unusual occurrence? Perhaps . . . perhaps not . . . but it is something quite remarkable to meditate on.  But even if not that literal, the historical and modern day story validates the statement that “Jerusalem is the city where God has chosen to put His name.”  

TAKEAWAY
All this is a reminder that God is not distant. He is very much involved in this world.

The repeated emphasis on His name shows that he is a God who cares about his identity and has made a long term commitment to humanity. 

It shows his love since Jerusalem is the place where he came in the form of his son to not only pay the debt of our sins but also identify to the point of suffering and death with mankind.

His wisdom and sovereignty is seen in his detailed long range planning. 

This trip was a reminder that truly ‘History is His Story’.

Source web links
https://www.bridgesforpeace.com/letter/jerusalem-place-god-chose/
http://www.minimannamoments.com/i-will-put-my-name-part-2/