SO...WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT ZION?
The extraordinary place known as Tzion (or Zion)
We first encounter it as SALEM in the record of Abraham after the recovery of Lot’s family from the alliance of kings who had raided Sodom.
The king of Sodom came to meet and thank Abraham in the King’s Valley—that is, Kidron Valley on the east of today’s Jerusalem—ancient Salem.
The mysterious Yahweh-worshipping king/priest of Salem also came out and Abraham offered him a tenth of the spoil he had taken.
The settlement called Salem was located there because of the ancient spring known as Gihon, meaning ‘gushing forth’.
It’s a long story, but after Israel’s sojourn in Egypt, followed by 40 years of wilderness folly, Joshua led them into the land long ago promised to Abraham.
The site featured early in the patriarchal narratives and came to be known as The Site or The Place—HaMakom in Hebrew. In my view it was where Jacob had his vision/dream and where earlier, Abraham had come on his mission of obedience with Isaac. Its importance is highlighted in true Hebrew form in those narratives by the almost tedious repetition of the term HaMakom. (For information on this almost tedious Hebrew repetition for emphasis, see my e-book ‘THE TEMPLE QUEST’ …details on Home Page)
God had His eye on this place, The Place. It was set apart by Him. It was there, after his extraordinary dream at HaMakom that Jacob declared, “this is the Beyt-El”…in our language “this is Bethel—House of God”!
Now we’re getting close to why this site is special.
But—what is significant in God’s plan, of course, attracts the attention of the adversary, and all of Israel’s enemies. And so, in time it became occupied by a Canaanite clan known as the Jebusites whose name means ‘to tread down’ or ‘to trample’.
This special place upon which God had his eye—was now a stronghold resisting Israel’s claim for many years…until David!
The Jebusites, who had enclosed the legendary spring with a great wall (see picture) mocked David from the walls; “you’ll never get in here—even the blind and lame will repel you!” But, as 2 Samuel 5:7 reveals with a wonderful…’NEVERTHELESS, David took the stronghold of ZION, that is, the City of David’.
So here emerges a new name. David’s commander Joab got into the fortress via the ‘tsinnor’ or water tunnel—that is, via the Gihon Spring water system. (I believe it’s a possibility that this first mention of Zion, or more correctly Tzion, derives from the word Tsinnor or Tzinnor describing the spring and its gushing stream of life-giving water).
In Psalm 42, those exiled with David due to Absolom’s actions are dispirited and long for the sounds of joy and praise—and of the ‘waterspouts’ or ‘cataracts.’ That word again is Tsinnor and I believe what the writer is expressing is his longing to be back in Zion where the roar of Gihon’s flow deep below the city walls where David had erected his tent for the ark, reflected the deep yearning of his own heart for God; ‘deep calls to deep at the sound of your tsinnors’!
Be that as it may, the truth is that the place known before David by the sad name ‘downtrodden’ or ‘trampled’ becomes Zion and the place of invigoration and encouragement. It becomes God’s City, from whence the voice of the Lord will sound forth! ‘They shall call you The City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel’ (Isaiah 60:14); ‘for the law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem (Micah 4:2 and Isaiah 2:3); ‘the Lord roars from Zion and lifts His voice from Jerusalem (Amos 1:2; Joel 3:16) and in further scriptures God’s dwelling place is in Zion; He blesses from Zion and holds forth His sceptre from Zion.
We cannot diminish the strategic importance of Zion in God’s agenda.
That is why I believe that this place that both God and David had in their hearts—this Zion, which is the City of David—is where Solomon built the temple. Yes, in the City of David—which in their times was still limited to the south-east ridge of the Mount Moriah complex!
It’s no good pretending that Zion now embraces the so-called Temple Mount enclosure. No, Zion signifies a very specific spot, related to Gihon Spring representing the life-giving or living water.
The great walled enclosure several hundred metres to the north was the Roman Fortress Antonia housing the Legio X Fretensis—the Tenth Roman Legion. It was not built by Solomon and its western wall is not related to the temple of which Jesus said, “not one stone will be left upon another.”
Here is what is important to me: that somewhat insignificant stronghold, having life-giving water as its raison-d’être and held so long by people characterised by the awful name Downtreaders was transformed by the king who typified the Greater King to come. It was transformed into a place of lifting up.
It became the dwelling place, the home, the ‘fortress’, of God—the One who lifts up—and who lifts downtreaders and downtrodden alike.
How like God in His transforming work.
In the same way, His ‘Jerusalem to come’—the new, spiritual one which is coming down—will consist of both downtreaders and downtrodden alike, who’ve been made new in Jesus Christ and ‘like a Bride adorned for her Husband’—you know—the One who said in the same place, “behold, I make all things new!” (Revelation 21. Ponder also Hebrews 12:22-24)
Attached pics illustrate what the Jebusite stronghold which became the City of David, looked like in early times. The second pic retains the walled outline of the City of David superimposed over its appearance today.
We first encounter it as SALEM in the record of Abraham after the recovery of Lot’s family from the alliance of kings who had raided Sodom.
The king of Sodom came to meet and thank Abraham in the King’s Valley—that is, Kidron Valley on the east of today’s Jerusalem—ancient Salem.
The mysterious Yahweh-worshipping king/priest of Salem also came out and Abraham offered him a tenth of the spoil he had taken.
The settlement called Salem was located there because of the ancient spring known as Gihon, meaning ‘gushing forth’.
It’s a long story, but after Israel’s sojourn in Egypt, followed by 40 years of wilderness folly, Joshua led them into the land long ago promised to Abraham.
The site featured early in the patriarchal narratives and came to be known as The Site or The Place—HaMakom in Hebrew. In my view it was where Jacob had his vision/dream and where earlier, Abraham had come on his mission of obedience with Isaac. Its importance is highlighted in true Hebrew form in those narratives by the almost tedious repetition of the term HaMakom. (For information on this almost tedious Hebrew repetition for emphasis, see my e-book ‘THE TEMPLE QUEST’ …details on Home Page)
God had His eye on this place, The Place. It was set apart by Him. It was there, after his extraordinary dream at HaMakom that Jacob declared, “this is the Beyt-El”…in our language “this is Bethel—House of God”!
Now we’re getting close to why this site is special.
But—what is significant in God’s plan, of course, attracts the attention of the adversary, and all of Israel’s enemies. And so, in time it became occupied by a Canaanite clan known as the Jebusites whose name means ‘to tread down’ or ‘to trample’.
This special place upon which God had his eye—was now a stronghold resisting Israel’s claim for many years…until David!
The Jebusites, who had enclosed the legendary spring with a great wall (see picture) mocked David from the walls; “you’ll never get in here—even the blind and lame will repel you!” But, as 2 Samuel 5:7 reveals with a wonderful…’NEVERTHELESS, David took the stronghold of ZION, that is, the City of David’.
So here emerges a new name. David’s commander Joab got into the fortress via the ‘tsinnor’ or water tunnel—that is, via the Gihon Spring water system. (I believe it’s a possibility that this first mention of Zion, or more correctly Tzion, derives from the word Tsinnor or Tzinnor describing the spring and its gushing stream of life-giving water).
In Psalm 42, those exiled with David due to Absolom’s actions are dispirited and long for the sounds of joy and praise—and of the ‘waterspouts’ or ‘cataracts.’ That word again is Tsinnor and I believe what the writer is expressing is his longing to be back in Zion where the roar of Gihon’s flow deep below the city walls where David had erected his tent for the ark, reflected the deep yearning of his own heart for God; ‘deep calls to deep at the sound of your tsinnors’!
Be that as it may, the truth is that the place known before David by the sad name ‘downtrodden’ or ‘trampled’ becomes Zion and the place of invigoration and encouragement. It becomes God’s City, from whence the voice of the Lord will sound forth! ‘They shall call you The City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel’ (Isaiah 60:14); ‘for the law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem (Micah 4:2 and Isaiah 2:3); ‘the Lord roars from Zion and lifts His voice from Jerusalem (Amos 1:2; Joel 3:16) and in further scriptures God’s dwelling place is in Zion; He blesses from Zion and holds forth His sceptre from Zion.
We cannot diminish the strategic importance of Zion in God’s agenda.
That is why I believe that this place that both God and David had in their hearts—this Zion, which is the City of David—is where Solomon built the temple. Yes, in the City of David—which in their times was still limited to the south-east ridge of the Mount Moriah complex!
It’s no good pretending that Zion now embraces the so-called Temple Mount enclosure. No, Zion signifies a very specific spot, related to Gihon Spring representing the life-giving or living water.
The great walled enclosure several hundred metres to the north was the Roman Fortress Antonia housing the Legio X Fretensis—the Tenth Roman Legion. It was not built by Solomon and its western wall is not related to the temple of which Jesus said, “not one stone will be left upon another.”
Here is what is important to me: that somewhat insignificant stronghold, having life-giving water as its raison-d’être and held so long by people characterised by the awful name Downtreaders was transformed by the king who typified the Greater King to come. It was transformed into a place of lifting up.
It became the dwelling place, the home, the ‘fortress’, of God—the One who lifts up—and who lifts downtreaders and downtrodden alike.
How like God in His transforming work.
In the same way, His ‘Jerusalem to come’—the new, spiritual one which is coming down—will consist of both downtreaders and downtrodden alike, who’ve been made new in Jesus Christ and ‘like a Bride adorned for her Husband’—you know—the One who said in the same place, “behold, I make all things new!” (Revelation 21. Ponder also Hebrews 12:22-24)
Attached pics illustrate what the Jebusite stronghold which became the City of David, looked like in early times. The second pic retains the walled outline of the City of David superimposed over its appearance today.
God, Science, Creation: some comments.....
Creation is exceedingly more complex than imaginable. Discoveries of science, far from reducing mystery, frequently serve only to deepen it as each opened door leads into more rooms with more unopened doors. Reverential approach is what is needed; a tiptoe approach, as though treading on holy ground. Instead and sadly, much of what passes as science, approaches from a faithless or worse, anti-faith, prideful or even a God-hating position. The attitude is that only what can be understood with the rational mind can possibly be legitimate. However, God says 'with the heart man believes'. There is such a thing as heart knowledge. (When we are in love it is primarily the 'heart' that knows it, not the head).
Newtonian physics stood for a couple of centuries as a kind of irreducible and undeniable standard to describe the way matter is comprised and behaves. It served mankind well. And in the world of visible particles Newton has been shown correct. We owe him much. But it turns out, this is only part of the picture and the narrative, because the 'picture' is always bigger (and always will be) than the immediate scope and grasp of the mind - in any age. And the narrative is a continuum. It turns out that just as there are particles and objects that are bigger than imaginable in the visible universe, there are also particles that are smaller and smaller in the other direction---that of the invisible worlds. And---they behave unconventionally!
So, It has been found through the discoveries of what has been called the Quantum world and Quantum Mechanics, surprise, surprise, objects in that realm do not necessarily behave in a 'Newtonian' way. In fact, they appear to break rules and to demand a new set of rules of their own. Thus, light quanta or particles are observed to behave both as particles and as waves. Particles that have been in close relationship continue to 'answer' each other's behavior instantly even if separated by vast distance, even light years---and many other 'weird' behaviors, such as a particle being in different locations at the same time! (For info google quantum physics or maybe visit Dr Quantum on you tube).
Here's an extraordinary quote from the well known Profs Brian Cox (somewhat agnostic concerning God) and Jeff Forshaw in their book The Quantum Universe (underlining mine)
P. 28 "with this 'a particle can be in more than one place at once' proposal, we are moving away from our everyday experience and into uncharted territory......... To avoid confusion we should follow Heisenberg and learn to feel comfortable with views of the world that run counter to tangible experience. Feeling 'uncomfortable' can be mistaken for 'confusion' and very often students of quantum physics continue to attempt to understand what is happening in everyday terms. It is the resistance to new ideas that actually leads to confusion, not the inherent difficulty of the ideas themselves, because the real world simply doesn't behave in an everyday way. We must therefore keep an open mind and not be distressed by all the weirdness. Shakespeare had it right when Hamlet says, 'and therefore give it welcome. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'"
So - science too, is becoming something of a 'faith' journey where what cannot always be understood has to be accepted as actually occurring.
And - here's an interesting one from Forshaw:
“By overstating science’s power and not acknowledging its limitations, we risk fostering the growth of a religion-substitute, with the scientists as high priests. Such hubris not only irritates people, but more significantly it risks promoting the misconception that science deals with certainty – and that is the very antithesis of good science.”
It's certainly a cardinal error to sound as though we - the clever people of the 21st century - just about know it all now! If God is the first Cause and Sustainer of all things as the Bible states, it is fairly evident that mystery and 'unknowable-ness' will always remain, since, (in my view) the whole is complex and vast beyond ever coming near understanding fully. I suggest to people that they try to imagine how many pieces of confetti it would take to fill Sydney Opera House (or even your own house!) and to imagine that what is known can be represented by one piece of confetti! Investigation will continue to uncover and may grasp tinier parts of parts and draw conclusions that are sometimes helpful and sometimes useable, about the larger parts or the whole. In my view this is by the grace of God. We can and will only ever know that which the Creator chooses to allow us to discover. It is what some of our fathers called 'common grace', the grace from God that allows humankind to survive and progress in discoveries such as cures for disease and etc.
The Bible says 'His judgements are unsearchable and His ways (how He does things), past finding out' - beyond being able to fathom (see Romans 11:33). Whilst they cannot be 'known' in the sense of explicability or understanding, they can be believed and received in one's heart. This doesn't mean we should stop trying to find out how things work! It does mean however, that the search (science) is intended to have this as its start point. It should begin with wonder - not wonder at 'nature', but at a Creator who is so BiiiiiiiiG as to be able to produce such complexity, balance, function, cohesion and beauty. It should then move from wonder to worship. Just saying it occurred and suddenly exploded into universes from a suit-case sized package doesn't cut it, because one is still left looking for who or what caused the suit-case! When the start point and motive is that of Eve who was told 'in the day you eat thereof you shall be as God' and, 'your eyes will be opened' (meaning that she and Adam could then live by sight rather than by faith), then investigation and search is likely to end as did theirs; making it harder to find truth and productivity. Where science can go wrong is when the motive is to 'be as God' - that is, to understand all in order to be in charge of all. It can never be. For the believer it is obedience to and cooperation with our Creator that actually puts us in charge. Mastery does not require all knowledge: it requires faith in and partnership with, the One who does know all!
Always, the Christian's question of the gods that can come to us using the name 'Science' should be, 'of what spirit are you?'
An update: take a look HERE
Already known but now confirmed by Aussie science - so it must be so!!
Creation is exceedingly more complex than imaginable. Discoveries of science, far from reducing mystery, frequently serve only to deepen it as each opened door leads into more rooms with more unopened doors. Reverential approach is what is needed; a tiptoe approach, as though treading on holy ground. Instead and sadly, much of what passes as science, approaches from a faithless or worse, anti-faith, prideful or even a God-hating position. The attitude is that only what can be understood with the rational mind can possibly be legitimate. However, God says 'with the heart man believes'. There is such a thing as heart knowledge. (When we are in love it is primarily the 'heart' that knows it, not the head).
Newtonian physics stood for a couple of centuries as a kind of irreducible and undeniable standard to describe the way matter is comprised and behaves. It served mankind well. And in the world of visible particles Newton has been shown correct. We owe him much. But it turns out, this is only part of the picture and the narrative, because the 'picture' is always bigger (and always will be) than the immediate scope and grasp of the mind - in any age. And the narrative is a continuum. It turns out that just as there are particles and objects that are bigger than imaginable in the visible universe, there are also particles that are smaller and smaller in the other direction---that of the invisible worlds. And---they behave unconventionally!
So, It has been found through the discoveries of what has been called the Quantum world and Quantum Mechanics, surprise, surprise, objects in that realm do not necessarily behave in a 'Newtonian' way. In fact, they appear to break rules and to demand a new set of rules of their own. Thus, light quanta or particles are observed to behave both as particles and as waves. Particles that have been in close relationship continue to 'answer' each other's behavior instantly even if separated by vast distance, even light years---and many other 'weird' behaviors, such as a particle being in different locations at the same time! (For info google quantum physics or maybe visit Dr Quantum on you tube).
Here's an extraordinary quote from the well known Profs Brian Cox (somewhat agnostic concerning God) and Jeff Forshaw in their book The Quantum Universe (underlining mine)
P. 28 "with this 'a particle can be in more than one place at once' proposal, we are moving away from our everyday experience and into uncharted territory......... To avoid confusion we should follow Heisenberg and learn to feel comfortable with views of the world that run counter to tangible experience. Feeling 'uncomfortable' can be mistaken for 'confusion' and very often students of quantum physics continue to attempt to understand what is happening in everyday terms. It is the resistance to new ideas that actually leads to confusion, not the inherent difficulty of the ideas themselves, because the real world simply doesn't behave in an everyday way. We must therefore keep an open mind and not be distressed by all the weirdness. Shakespeare had it right when Hamlet says, 'and therefore give it welcome. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'"
So - science too, is becoming something of a 'faith' journey where what cannot always be understood has to be accepted as actually occurring.
And - here's an interesting one from Forshaw:
“By overstating science’s power and not acknowledging its limitations, we risk fostering the growth of a religion-substitute, with the scientists as high priests. Such hubris not only irritates people, but more significantly it risks promoting the misconception that science deals with certainty – and that is the very antithesis of good science.”
It's certainly a cardinal error to sound as though we - the clever people of the 21st century - just about know it all now! If God is the first Cause and Sustainer of all things as the Bible states, it is fairly evident that mystery and 'unknowable-ness' will always remain, since, (in my view) the whole is complex and vast beyond ever coming near understanding fully. I suggest to people that they try to imagine how many pieces of confetti it would take to fill Sydney Opera House (or even your own house!) and to imagine that what is known can be represented by one piece of confetti! Investigation will continue to uncover and may grasp tinier parts of parts and draw conclusions that are sometimes helpful and sometimes useable, about the larger parts or the whole. In my view this is by the grace of God. We can and will only ever know that which the Creator chooses to allow us to discover. It is what some of our fathers called 'common grace', the grace from God that allows humankind to survive and progress in discoveries such as cures for disease and etc.
The Bible says 'His judgements are unsearchable and His ways (how He does things), past finding out' - beyond being able to fathom (see Romans 11:33). Whilst they cannot be 'known' in the sense of explicability or understanding, they can be believed and received in one's heart. This doesn't mean we should stop trying to find out how things work! It does mean however, that the search (science) is intended to have this as its start point. It should begin with wonder - not wonder at 'nature', but at a Creator who is so BiiiiiiiiG as to be able to produce such complexity, balance, function, cohesion and beauty. It should then move from wonder to worship. Just saying it occurred and suddenly exploded into universes from a suit-case sized package doesn't cut it, because one is still left looking for who or what caused the suit-case! When the start point and motive is that of Eve who was told 'in the day you eat thereof you shall be as God' and, 'your eyes will be opened' (meaning that she and Adam could then live by sight rather than by faith), then investigation and search is likely to end as did theirs; making it harder to find truth and productivity. Where science can go wrong is when the motive is to 'be as God' - that is, to understand all in order to be in charge of all. It can never be. For the believer it is obedience to and cooperation with our Creator that actually puts us in charge. Mastery does not require all knowledge: it requires faith in and partnership with, the One who does know all!
Always, the Christian's question of the gods that can come to us using the name 'Science' should be, 'of what spirit are you?'
An update: take a look HERE
Already known but now confirmed by Aussie science - so it must be so!!