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SOLOMON’S TEMPLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY OF DAVID!

30/11/2018

This old aerial photograph of Jerusalem from about 1910 enables you to distinguish what was the City of David area--the crescent-shaped land running south beside the Kidron Valley near the Gihon Spring.
This is where Solomon's Temple was built, above Gihon (where Solomon was anointed for kingship because the tent with the Ark and the Oil etc was stationed there, marking the sacred spot--see 1 Kings 1:33-34)
The area marked with the big red cross is the much later Fortress Antonia built to house the Tenth Roman Legion.

The Temple of Solomon was not on ‘Temple Mount’…Temple Mount is a modern misnomer!
The Temple of Solomon was IN THE MIDDLE of the City as the Bible states over and over.

Here it is again in Psalm 116:18/19
'I will pay my vows to the Lord
Now in the presence of all His people,
In the courts of the Lord’s house,
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.' (NKJV emphasis added)

OR, IN OTHER TRANSLATIONS…
(GWT) ‘in the courtyards of the LORD's house, in the middle of Jerusalem.’

(Aramaic Plain English) ‘In the court of the House of Lord Jehovah and within you, oh Jerusalem!’

(NASV) ‘In the courts of the LORD'S house, In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.’

The Hebrew word is TAVEK meaning middle, midst, within!

How could a building possibly be described as ‘within’ or ‘in the midst’ of the city if it stood 200 metres north of it? The built up area you see in the upper left of the picture is much more modern than in David and Solomon's day. The City of David occupied that crescent-shaped ridge and the land to its west, behind it.
As always (and like the Tabernacle in the Camp of Israel) God’s pesence within the Temple was in the midst of his people!

Read 'THE PLACE HaMakom: where Jerusalem's Temple stood' Click here for Amazon or here for purchase from Publisher.

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WHO ARE THE SONS OF GOD IN GENESIS 6?

20/11/2018

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Some say they were heavenly (supernatural angelic) beings and some link them with the angels referenced in Jude verse 6.

But no...very early those whose hearts were inclined to seek God were called the ‘sons of God’ (in Hebrew benei ha Elohim) in contrast with those who followed only their own lusts and plans. These became known as the ‘sons of men' (benei adam). From the sons of God, he chose and made a people to demonstrate in the earth the benefits and blessings of being sons of God.

Follow the fascinating drama of those who chose (and choose) to be sons of God through history in ‘THE PEOPLE: the sons of God (through the eyes of a Watcher)’
Available here in paperback or Kindle.

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THE 'PALACES' OF ZION IN PSALM 48...(The temple was in the City of David)!

17/11/2018

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Artist's impression of David's Palace in the ancient City of David. In left background is the enclosure around the Gihon Spring (This picture is with permission from the artist Balage Balogh and features on the cover of my book, 'THE PLACE HaMakom: where Jerusalem's temples stood'

In Psalm 48 the sons of Korah (who were responsible for choral and instrumental music in the temple) divulge some interesting facts about the City called Zion—otherwise known as the City of David (see 2 Samuel 5:7).

They sing, ‘beautiful in elevation...is Mount Zion on the sides of the north’ (which simply means on or near the northern borders (the Hebrew word YEREKAH means flank, side, edge or border and is so translated in Genesis 49:13 and other places). Judah’s northern boundary ran east to west just north of ancient Jebus (which became the City of David).

Their song continues to describe it as ‘the City of the great King’ and then says ‘God is in her palaces’ (plural). It goes on to tell of Gentile kings passing by, seeing it, marvelling and being troubled and fearful. Verse 8 speaks of the City as the City of God and verse 9 of thoughts of God’s lovingkindness within His temple.

Then notice verses 12 to 14 where the singers imagine a ‘walk about Zion’ to consider her strength...’consider her palaces' (again plural).

So, why ‘palaces’ in the plural? Because Zion, the City of David was the dwelling place of both their earthly and heavenly kings! The house or ‘palace’ of David is referenced in 2 Samuel 5:11 and it was built by Hiram, king of Tyre. Later, it was Solomon who built the ‘palace’ of the great King, the temple—also in the City of David. It is of both these palaces that the Korahites sang in the days of Solomon and later. (My view is that it is in that time because the sovereigns of the earth came to behold what he had built and to hear his wisdom—eg, 2 Chronicles 9:1-12 & 22-28).

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The Angelic Watcher and the Human: a conversation...

15/11/2018

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21st CENTURY HUMAN: You surely cannot expect me to follow a god who did the things I’ve read about in the Old Testament?

WATCHER SHAQAAD: Such as?

HUMAN: Wiping out large swathes of innocent people. Really!?

SHAQAAD: Explain ‘innocent.’

HUMAN: Well, they were just ordinary people going about their lives like anyone else and along comes your angry ‘God’ and decimates them...

SHAQAAD: Are you suggesting that it’s ‘ordinary’ to sacrifice your own children to an idol-god?

HUMAN: Well...that was an occasional exception!

SHAQAAD: No, not occasional—nor exceptional. It went on all the time among Canaanites and Phoenicians and many others. It was a depravity of heart and mind. It’s one of the reasons God put a ‘model’ nation among them to show a better way. At their best they did show the way; at worst, they went the same way!

HUMAN: But only a few did such things, surely!

SHAQAAD: Thousands! Your own archeologists have uncovered one graveyard in Carthage where hundreds of burned children were buried in urns, many of which carry an inscription to the goddess Tanit or her consort Baal Ammon—and also Moloch!

HUMAN: Then why?

SHAQAAD: They came to believe that children were expendable for an imagined greater benefit for them—good fortune with rain or crops or health. They fell for a cruel and godless deception.

HUMAN: Well, yes, but they were primitive and ignorant peoples...

SHAQAAD: Were they? So, we’d expect much better of people of your enlightened age would we not? They would not consider their own good fortune, convenience or expediency of more value that human life…would they?

HUMAN: The vast majority, of course not.

SHAQAAD: Then explain why millions of pre-born lives are sacrificed in your time on the altar of expediency and convenience.

HUMAN: Oh...that’s not the same thing! That’s not a wilful decision to take life!

SHAQAAD: Isn’t it? Are you so un-sighted that you cannot see it’s the same deception?

HUMAN: Well, I guess…maybe there are some similarities, but…

SHAQAAD: It’s the very same deceit and the same deceiver. He knows just exactly how to offer old deceits in new guise for any age to get exactly what he wants. My Lord described him as the thief who comes 'ONLY to rob and kill and destroy…’

FOR MORE from Shaqaad, read my latest book ‘THE PEOPLE: the sons of God (through the eyes of a Watcher)’ at https://wipfandstock.com/the-people.html OR https://www.amazon.com/People-Sons-Through-Eyes-Watcher/dp/1532648286

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The Roman Fortress Antonia and the mis-named 'Temple Mount.'

8/11/2018

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What strikes you as you view these images--which are just a few to illustrate the point--is their similarity. The Romans built both temporary and permanent fortresses across their vast empire. The one at top left is in Sergiopolis, Syria. Compare with the lower right view of the so-called Temple Mount in Jerusalem. That's correct, it was not an enclosure for the temple...it was Fortress Antonia, built to house the Legio X Fretensis--the 10th Roman Legion (about 5000 men)1 The temples of Jerusalem were never here: they were in the old City of David some 200 metres south near and above the Gihon Spring. Read 'THE PLACE: where Jerusalem's temples stood' available here and also visit the Base Camp page and other pages at this site, here

To the left is a gallery showing two artist's reconstructions, two photographs of ruins and at lower right, a photograph of the Jerusalem site known as Temple Mount.

The first four are Roman fortresses across Europe and elsewhere and the one at lower right is...?

Click the pictures to enlarge.

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Where was the Biblical place known as... 'THE PLACE'...or HaMakom?

7/11/2018

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Jeremiah speaks of it more than a dozen times. He calls it HaMakom and is referring to the temple in Jerusalem (as in Jeremiah 28:1-6) where the context is quite clearly, the temple. He uses the Hebrew name HaMakom four times in those few verses.
HaMakom was the ancient and traditional name for the temple site—the sacred site visited by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and many others and consistently called HaMakom. John in his gospel even referred to it as ‘the place’ (in Greek ho topos) on three occasions. It was the name of the temple and its special site!

Get the full, surprising story here https://wipfandstock.com/the-place.html or at Amazon here https://www.amazon.com/Place-HaMakom-Where-Jerusalems-Temples/dp/1532630425

What is your view?

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SOLOMON’S TEMPLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY OF DAVID!

WHO ARE THE SONS OF GOD IN GENESIS 6?

THE 'PALACES' OF ZION IN PSALM 48...(The temple was in the City of David)!

The Angelic Watcher and the Human: a conversation...

The Roman Fortress Antonia and the mis-named 'Temple Mount.'

Where was the Biblical place known as... 'THE PLACE'...or HaMakom?

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