Jerusalem Approaches ( 14 February 2009 )

Our third field study was just this past Saturday. (Valentine’s day, yes I know). Since we had studied the much about the events in Jerusalem, it was now time to get out and see the surrounding areas, how one would enter Jerusalem from different sides.

First we headed to the Norhern end of the mount of Olives, (Mt. Scopus). From there you can see over to the western hill and where the Watershed ridge route runs, as well as the Kidron Valley, which is not visible from the Western Hill. On a clear day, because of the height of the mountain, you can see as far south as Herodion and as far north as Nebi-Samwil, which overlooks the Central Benjamin Plateau. It looks down on Jerusalem, yet oddly enough, Jerusalem’s inhabitants continuously praised it.
In Psalm 48:2 the psalmist describes Jerusalem as being high in elevation, and in the “far north” or the “hidden recesses” of the north. The psalmist is here using Canaanite terms that were used to describe Mt. Hermon (which is in the far north) to talk about Jerusalem, specifically Mount Zion where the Temple was. The Canaanite name for Mt. Hermon was Mt. Sion, and it was the mountain that was their god’s holy place. By referencing high elevation and the far north, the Psalmist brings the hearers’ thoughts to Mt. Hermon, which was called Sion by the Canaanites. Even though Mt Zion (the temple mount at that time) is not the most prominent hill of those in the area, it is the one on which God’s temple was put, because it was on the far north of the city, and would protect the city from invasions. Taking the name of the mountain that was seen as being the holy place of a foreign god and using it to describe the holy place of his own God is a bold thing to do. The Psalmist seems to be using the names and imagery to say that his God is greater than other gods. The psalmist then continues to say, “within her citadels God has made Himseld known as a fortress. For behold, the kings assembled; they came on together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in panic; they took to flight. Trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in labor. By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish.”

It continues to amaze me how much change in landscape and climate there is in such a small distance in Israel. Looking over the East side of the Mount of Olives to the desert, it made me realize a few things. Jerusalem is the city that God chose for His people for several reasons, of which I am only beginning to learn. Even though it is a low hill surrounded by larger ones, those larger hills, as we have pointed out before, help to protect it. Not only that, the hills that surround it make for a beautiful view when one is standing near the temple mount, whereas standing on the mount of Olives—a hill that guards Jerusalem on the east—you look out and half of what you see is dry, barren, desert land. Perhaps this is part of the reason it is so nice to live in Jerusalem, where everything around you directly is still green and pleasant; uplifting, a symbol of life. Yet this may also be a downfall, and why they needed prophets like Jeremiah, who had seen the wilderness all his life (he lived in Anathoth to the east of the Mount of Olives), to remind them how close death is—almost literally at their doorstep. The Mount of Olives being higher than Jerusalem also provides for a very glorious and revitalizing reentrance into the city, after going through the dryness of the wilderness of Benjamin. I am caught by the imagery of being restored to the land after being in exile.

The “garden of Gethsemane” is a very pretty place, with old, beautiful trees (not as old as Jesus’ time, mind you.) Inside the church there is a rock in the corner of the building, supposedly the rock where Jesus’ sweat blood as he was praying.
On our way to Herodion, we stopped at a tomb and its accompanying ‘nefesh’ or monument. The words nefesh is Hebrew and refers to one’s soul, or essence. Monuments were called this because they represented the person who is in the tomb. At Herodion, we ate lunch, looked out into the wilderness once again, where we reflected on the great task of shepherding sheep in that environment, and how that relates to Psalm 23. Take a look at the Psalm and think about how it’s possible to talk about green pastures when you are in a place with only egg-shaped hills of chalky dirt, barely enough grass for the sheep to graze, and no relief from the sun. What quiet waters run through there? None. The only waters that run through the wilderness are flash floods. Incredible.
We made our way around the top of the Herodion and saw the remains of Herod’s living quarters on the top. Herod was a powerful man, with a lot of time on his hands. He took the top of a mountain off and moved it, to make a higher one, which we call Herodion. Because he was so ambitious but was restricted by Rome to staying in Jerusalem, he did a lot of amazing things with the landscape during his rule.

Our last stop of the day was Bethlehem; the birthplace of our Savior.
The fact that there were people in the 1st century who had already identified a recognized place of Christ’s birth gives us an indicator that the spot marked today by the Church of the Nativity is legitimate. I find it interesting also that we read so much of our western mindset into the text about Jesus’ birth in a stable. When we talk about this each year around Christmas, we assume that the stable was an unusual and lowly or despised place to give birth, when actually women often went back (or down) to the cave when they went into labor. The other thing that struck me is that when we (westerners) hear the word “inn” we assume that it was a large building used only for housing others, and that when there was found no room for Joseph and Mary, they were then turned away and had to search out the stable. In fact, what would have happened is the owner of the property would have already filled his room for guests, and so they normally allowed others to go to the back while the animals were out. This would have placed Mary and Joseph in the same vicinity as the inn, and not just being treated badly. Even so, will all of these things that add to the ordinary nature of this occurrence in the time of the New Testament, the point still stands that the entire scene was a picture of humility, because God become a man.