Galen Call's Sermon Library
"Jerusalem's Sacred Legacy" - February 17, 1985
It's the second Samuel, chapter 5, "There is no city on earth, believe me, that is so dear to the Jew as the city of Jerusalem." You can take any other city in Israel and give it away, but you cannot give away the city of Jerusalem. I was there just two years after the Israelis took the city of Jerusalem from the Jordanians. They had already marvelously cleaned up the city. They, of course, had united it. By that time they had bulldozed houses away from the whaling wall, the western wall of the Temple Mount, provided a large area for Jewish people to come and pray and others, tourists like myself to come and observe. One could tell that they were wed to the city of Jerusalem, and I am convinced that they will never, ever, ever willingly give up the city of Jerusalem, or even a part of it, again. The city of Jerusalem was mentioned in the Bible as early as Genesis chapter 14, where it speaks about Melchizedek, the king of Salem. Its Bible scholars believe that the city of Salem mentioned there was ancient Jerusalem, and that Melchizedek was the high priest of that city, a believer, follower of the true God, one of the very few apparently upon the earth in that day. It was famous, therefore even in the day of Abraham. Then the land of Canaan fell to the Israelis in the time of Joshua, and the land was divided. That particular city fell to the lot of Benjamin. If you have a map that divides up Palestine as it was allotted to the various tribes, you will notice that Jerusalem is just inside the border of Benjamin, very close to the land that was given to Judah. We usually think of it in connection with Judah because it became, as we will see, the capital city of David. However, in that day, when that area was conquered, more or less, by the Israelis, they were not successful in driving out the Canaanite inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem. The Jebusites, they were called, and the city was called Jebus. The Jebusites remained there, even in the day of David, as we will see, and though they were conquered in the city by David, they nonetheless lived there, and later on the descendants of these same people were put into a certain kind of servitude by King Solomon. I'd like for us to think tonight what Jerusalem was to David and to Israel. In the first place, it was the place of rule. It became the capital city. It was in a strategic location. Jebus, or Jerusalem, was in a no man's land, so to speak, between the tribe of Judah, which of course gave allegiance to David while he was reigning down there in Hebron for seven and a half years, and the tribes of Israel that followed Saul, and then his son Ishma Sheth, for that seven and a half year period. It was sort of a neutral land or city in between these two areas, and so it was a strategic location politically, and undoubtedly that was part of the reason that David selected Jerusalem as his capital city. It was a place to which both the people who followed him from Judah and the ones who had followed Saul's son would be able to look without a lot of prejudice. It had a sort of neutral feel to it. It was also a strategic location militarily. It would be a capital city easy to defend. In fact, that's why the Jebus sites were still there, because the Israelites had been unable to unseat them. Archaeologists differ as to how large the city was at this point, but it seems to be the most popular current thinking that it was not a large city at all, that it was perhaps 1,200 feet in length and four to 500 feet in width, not a perfect square, but it looked something like a footprint located on the southeast ridge where the city of Jerusalem is located. On the east, on the south and then around to the west side were valleys, very steep valleys, which of course led right up to the wall of the city, and anyone coming from those directions would be easy targets for the archers and others on the walls of the city. They had therefore only one side to defend the north side, and they had done that successfully. It was also a city as most of them were at that time, which had a water supply. That was very important, because when cities were put under siege, they had to be able to exist for long periods of time without going outside their walls. So they had devised a very elaborate system of reservoirs and so on underneath their city and a tunnel that went down to a spring so that they were able to provide for themselves all the fresh water they wanted, so it was a strategic city. It did not become the capital of the new United Israel without a battle, and we see that in verse 6 of 2 Samuel 5, "Now the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, and they said to David, 'You shall not come in here, but the blind and lame shall turn you away.'" They had been rather successful at this point, and so they threw a jab or two at David and his followers. They thought David cannot enter here. Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Zion that is the city of David as it came to be called David's city. And David said on that day, "Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him reach the lame and the blind who are hated by David's soul through the water tunnel or through the gutter some translations say." So it seems as though David is saying here, "Well, they think the lame and the blind can't take them, but in fact, they're the lame and the blind, and we are going to take them." The last statement in verse 8 is mysterious. It's difficult to understand the meaning of it. It says, "Therefore they say the blind or the lame shall not come into the house." There are many different understandings of that verse, and frankly, I don't have a real opinion about it, but it is interesting to note here that David mentions that through the water tunnel or through the gutter they would come into the city. Now once again, those who study the Hebrew language differ as to the meaning of that word that is translated to water tunnel. There are some who see it meaning hook, and they say that David was saying that they would be able to use grappling hooks to throw up on top of the wall and pull themselves up to get into the city. But it does seem that there is a good case for the translation being water tunnel. If, in fact, that is the case, there is an interesting archaeological insight that helps us understand how that might have taken place. It was not known until just a hundred years ago or so when Captain Charles Warren in a company with a crowd of pilgrims visited the spring of the Virgin, it is called. It is, according to legend, notice that word, the place where Mary washed the swaddling clothes of her little son. Despite the semi-darkness, the account says, Warren noted on this visit a dark cavity in the roof, a few yards above the spot where the water flowed out from the rock. Apparently no one had ever noticed this before because when Warren asked about it, nobody could tell him anything. Filled with curiosity, he went back to the Virgin Fountain next day, equipped with a ladder and a long rope. He had no idea that an adventurous and somewhat perilous quest lay ahead of him. Behind the spring, a narrow shaft led off at first horizontally and then straight up into the rock. Warren was an alpine expert and well acquainted with this type of chimney climbing. Carefully hand over hand, he made his way upwards. After about 40 feet, the shaft suddenly came to an end. Feeling his way in the darkness, Warren eventually found a narrow passage. Crawling on all fours, he followed it. A number of steps had been cut in the rock. After some time, he saw ahead of him a glimmering of light. He reached a vaulted chamber, which contained nothing but old jars and glass bottles covered in dust. He forced himself through a chink in the rock and found himself in broad daylight in the middle of the city, with the fountain of the Virgin lying far below him. Closer investigation by Parker, who in 1918 went from the United Kingdom under the auspices of the Palestine Exploration Fund, showed that this remarkable arrangement dated from the second millennium BC, in other words, a thousand years before the day of David. The inhabitants of old Jerusalem had been at pains to cut a corridor through the rock, in order that in time of seeds, they could reach in safety the spring that meant life or death to them. Warren's curiosity had discovered the way which 3,000 years earlier David had used to take the fortress of Jerusalem by surprise. David's scouts must have known about this secret passage, as we now see from a biblical reference, which was previously obscure than he quotes from this verse we've just read. "The authorized version translates gutter, the Hebrew word means shaft or channel." Now actually Warren's discovery only solved half of the problem because when he came up, he came up at a point that was outside the wall where they thought it used to be. And so if David's men had used that, it was thought a hundred years ago, then apparently they did still come up outside the wall. But excavations since then, in fact as recently as the 1960s, have located more ancient walls than have been known before. So that in fact that tunnel from the spring led up right into the middle of the ancient city of Jebus, or Jerusalem, and is probably the very way that David and his men actually got inside the city and therefore were able to conquer the city on this occasion. So David lived, it says in verse 9, "In the stronghold and call it the city of David." And David built all around from the Milo and inward. Now again, there's a mystery. We don't exactly know what the Milo is. It means perhaps a heap. It could refer to something as simple as a garbage dump there in the city that was noted, or an ancient mound of earth. There are those who think that Milo may have been a fortress part of the city, and that its name, which means "to fill," was actually because it was a fortress with two walls around it, with dirt filled in between them, between the two walls giving a very strong, sturdy defense. Nonetheless, David attached to that Milo and built around it and inward and strengthened the city. And it became greater and greater for the Lord God of hosts was with him, and Hiram, king of Tyre, sent messengers to David with cedar trees and carpenters and stone masons, and they built a house for David. And David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. And so the city of Jerusalem was taken by David. It became now the capital city of the United Kingdom of Israel. Remember for the last seven and a half years, David had been king only of Judah, not pushing himself on those of the other tribes, waiting for God's time, waiting for God's way. What a lesson for us. And then when it was God's time and way, he moved quickly and established the capital city in Jerusalem and that rather neutral territory so that now the tribe of Judah to the south and those other tribes to the north and somewhat to the east gave their loyalty to him and to the city of Jerusalem as well. So it was to David and Israel the place of rule. It was the seat of government and it would remain that way until the kingdom of Judah was taken away in captivity by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. The Jews do not control Jerusalem. It was always under foreign domination until 1967. That is very exciting. And somehow all of that plays together for the in-time prophecies. It's still a little foggy or misty to us. But it is not by accident that even in our generation the Jews have for the first time in all of these thousands of years taken the city of Jerusalem as their own. And as you know there is a debate today as to whether they should move the capital city to Jerusalem. The Knesset, their parliament is there, the prime minister is there but technically they have called Tel Aviv their capital city. They wish to move it and are calling upon the United States to recognize Jerusalem as their capital city, a move which of course the Arabs very much oppose. So the city of Jerusalem was a place of rule but secondly it was a place of worship as well. David knew that it was not enough just for the political headquarters to be there. There had to be something more to attach the people to the city and frankly to his rule than just the fact that that was where he lived and that was the capital. He needed something to draw the heart, the devotion of the people to Jerusalem. And partly for that reason, partly because of his love for the Lord God, he decided to make Jerusalem the place of worship as well. For the last eighty years the Ark of the Covenant had been in the village of Kuryoth Jareen which means village of the woods. You remember that for many years it was located at Shiloh but in the days of Samuel's youth the Philistines were able to capture the Ark and they kept it for a period of time, suffered great judgment of the Lord and finally sent it back to Israel and said let's get rid of this thing. So they sent it back to Beth Shemesh, a village located some fifteen miles to the west of Jerusalem. And the record in first Samuel is that the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh out of curiosity looked into the Ark, something he should never have done. It was an offense to the holiness of God and God struck them with the plague and seventy people probably died as a result of that. And so the people of Beth Shemesh said let's get it out of here to the next village and so they sent it on to Kuryoth Jareen and have been there in the possession of Abinadab, a godly man and his family for these long years. David wanted to bring the Ark to Jerusalem. Shiloh did not exist any longer. The Philistines had destroyed Shiloh. It could not be taken back there from where it had come and he determined in his heart that it should belong in the city of Jerusalem. Notice that it says in verse one of chapter six David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand in rows and went with all the people who were with him to Baal Judah. That's another name for Kuryoth Jareen. To bring up from there the Ark of God which is called by the name, the very name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned above the cherubim. And they placed the Ark of God on a new cart that they might bring it from the house of Abinadab which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahayo the sons of Abinadab were leading the new cart so they brought it with the Ark of God from the house of Abinadab which was on the hill. And Ahayo was walking ahead of the Ark. Meanwhile David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments made of fur wood and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals. And when they came to the threshing floor of Naikon, Uzzah reached out toward the Ark of God and took hold of it for the oxen nearly upset it. And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah and God struck him down there for his irreverence. And he died there by the Ark of God. And David became angry because of the Lord's outbursts against Uzzah and that place is called perez Uzzah to this day. It means the outbursts against Uzzah. So David was afraid of the Lord that day and he said, "How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?" And David was unwilling to move the Ark of the Lord into the city of David with him. But David took it aside to the house of Obed Edom, the Gittite. Thus the Ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed Edom, the Gittite, three months. And the Lord blessed Obed Edom and all his household. David with a sincere heart and motive had a wonderful purpose in mind. The Ark of God represented his very presence. And it brought the blessing of the Lord upon those who obeyed him, judgment upon those who disobeyed him like the Philistines. David wanted the Ark in Jerusalem and therefore he made a brand new cart and chose oxen that were undoubtedly without blemish to transport that box, gay big, back to the city of Jerusalem. There was only one problem. He was trying to do the right thing in a wrong way. Now whether David rationalized this way or not, we are not sure, but it certainly is an example of the end justifying the means, isn't it? He felt like this would be an appropriate way to bring the Ark into Jerusalem. And yet it was not God's way. It was a way, but it wasn't God's way. You see it's not enough just to be sincere in one's heart to have the right motive. It's not enough just to have the right purpose in view as good as that purpose may be. But what we do with the right motive has to be done as well in the way that God has ordained, or it displeases him. How was the Ark to be transported? Well, we'll see that in just a moment. Let's go on and read in verse 12. It was told King David saying, "The Lord has blessed the house of Obed Edom and all that belongs to him on account of the Ark of God." And David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed Edom into the city of David with gladness. So it was that when the bearers of the Ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. And David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephid. So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the Ark of the Lord with shouting and the sound of the trumpet. Then it happened as the Ark of the Lord came into the city of David that Michael, the daughter of Saul, looked out of the window and saw a King David leaping and dancing before the Lord and she despised him in her heart. So they brought in the Ark of the Lord and said it in its place inside the tent, which David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. As the Ark was being transported on that cart, it appeared as though it was going to fall because the oxen stumbled. And this man, Uzzah, once again apparently a sincere man mistakenly reached out and touched the Ark which represented the very holiness of God. And again it was an offense to the holiness of the Lord. And God struck him dead. It was severe, that judgment. It caused David to be angry and apparently even angry against the Lord initially. And he named the place as a memorial to Uzzah, who he had felt sincerely tried to protect the Ark and he had. But again I say sincerity is not enough. David left the Ark there and apparently in the interim three months, he studied to find out how to bring the Ark into the city the way God ordained. And that was with staves, long poles that were to be slipped through rings that were on the side of that box. The bearers of the Ark at the appropriate time accompanied David back into the city of Jerusalem. And David, a man who was full of passion and emotion, was so filled with joy and excitement at this occasion that he took off his outer, kingly garments, wearing only the linen garments of a servant, a Levitical servant. And he danced and sang before the Lord. This was the most spiritual kind of response in the part of David. There is nothing unseemly or even unkingly about what David was doing. Here is a man whose heart overflowed with love for God and for joy at what was taking place. The Lord represented by that Ark, the presence of God represented by the Ark, was coming to the city of Jerusalem. So the city of Jerusalem would be the place of worship. But one of his wives, Michael, looked out the window and saw him. She despised him. Now why was that? Well, because she had a mind, a great deal like her father saw. She was not a spiritual woman. It is sad how often the carnal mind cannot appreciate the joy and liberty of a very spiritual person. Because of her spite for David, she was childless until the day of her death, which was the mark of greatest dishonor to an Israeli mother. The Ark was brought in and pitched in a tent that David had prepared. We do not know what happened to the tabernacle and to all of those other instruments involved with it. It is gone at this time. So David pitches a tent there, and the Lord, as it were, has come to Jerusalem. It has become the place of worship. And now all the people from Dan to Bereshiba, from the southernmost part of the tribe of Judah, all the way up there to the tribe of Dan, all the people will look to Jerusalem with hearts of devotion and worship, and that will unite the kingdom under David's rule. How much this city meant to David? And I want to tell you, if you ever get to the city of Jerusalem in your lifetime, it will become precious to you. I was reading some of J. Vernon McGee's remarks on this passage, and he says that it is not his favorite place at all. He does not care for Jerusalem. That's one place I have to part company with the dear brother, because I think the city of Jerusalem is the most fabulous place on the face of the earth. It has said that in the '67 war, when the fighting was going on around Jerusalem, that there was not a bomb or an artillery shell that fell within the city of Jerusalem. Why was that? Well, because the city is considered sacred by three great religions of the world for one thing, there is the story that has passed around. I don't know if it can be a legend in its time, but the story has passed around that there were bombs that were dropped over Jerusalem that actually fell sideways missing the city. Now, today we don't look to the city of Jerusalem as our place of rule, nor do we look to the city of Jerusalem as the center of our worship. You and I look for a city whose builder and maker is God. You and I look for the heavenly Jerusalem, or the new Jerusalem, that the Lord is preparing for us His own. It is the Lamb's bride, His wife. This new Jerusalem in its beauty far surpasses anything that is known in the world today. Read about it in Revelation, chapters 21 and 22. It is a city that is crystal which reflects the glory of God like a rainbow and which will be the center of attention, not just for the earth, but for the whole of God's new heaven and new earth which He will create. And my friend, that will be the Jerusalem which we will inhabit for eternity to come. Oh, we may travel throughout the new heavens and new earth on assignments for our Lord as we reign with Him, but that will be home. That is headquarters. That is where the throne of God and of the Lamb are located. That is where the pure river of the water of life flows, where the trees of life grow beside it. That is the place which God is preparing for all of those who love Him. You can visit the city of Jerusalem today on the earth whether you're saved or lost. It makes no difference. But you will never see the new Jerusalem unless you're a child of God, unless you're saved. Have you ever trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior? Is the new Jerusalem, your eternal destiny, your home? I hope it is, but if it's not my friend, you can change that tonight. You can change it. Reservations are still wide open. You can invite Jesus Christ into your life tonight and make a permanent reservation and eternal one so that a place will be prepared for you by Jesus Himself in that city, also called a house with the Lord. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, thank you for the study tonight and for the lessons that we see affecting our walk with you. I thank you for David's heart and my prayer is that I may have even a little bit of that kind of a heart for God. Oh Lord, I pray that we might be known as men and women after the heart of the Lord as was David. And may we be filled with such spiritual joy and fervor as was He such passion for God. And I pray that our greatest delight will be to dwell in your presence as was David's desire, to commune and fellowship with you. May that be the one thing that we desire of the Lord as it was David's heart. And I pray, Father, that you will make a sensitive to holy things. Deliver us from irreverence, carelessness about the things of God. Thank you for your grace and mercy which spare all of us in those times when we become careless, but God give us a holy sensitivity to it and deliver us from it. And Father, I pray that every person who's here tonight may know the joy and the reality of the New Jerusalem and have that assurance deep within his heart that that's home. We bless you, Lord. We thank you that we are marching to Zion. Beautiful, beautiful Zion. And we pray our Lord that you will come quickly and receive your bride to yourself so that we may be there with you, never to be separated from you again. In the meantime, I pray that we will walk with you faithfully, day by day, this week. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's turn once again. [ Silence ]