Ian Heard's Blog - Until we see

ZION PLOWED LIKE A FIELD?

27/9/2024

If the photograph at left above of what was once the ancient City of David area (which David himself called Zion) brings anything to mind it must surely be this passage from the prophet Micah…
‘Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.’ (Micah 3:12 and also recorded by Jeremiah in Jer. 26:18)

The first picture is from the very early 20th Century and shows the ridge of the old City of David area (where the temples actually stood) as small agricultural fields.

It was not until the 1920’s and 30’s (second picture) that buildings began to appear and flourish.
It is reasonable to assume it had stood as wasteland or fields for centuries before that!

(The third picture is what it is like today)

THE REPETITIVE SIGNIFICANCE IN THE BIBLE OF HA MAKOM, 'The Site' or 'The Place'

15/8/2024

To quote a Hebrew language scholar, Professor Yoel Elitzur, who comments on the phenomenon as follows…
‘Hamakom in Genesis
Once we understand the significance of “the place,” we can see that this keyword – hamakom – is a keyword that is emphasized in the stories of the patriarchs in the book of Genesis as well. It appears in the story of the binding of Isaac and in Jacob’s Bethel narrative. The proof that the prominent role of the word hamakom in these passages is no coincidence lies in the fact that often, the word is stressed in the Biblical text much more than what would be linguistically reasonable. That is to say, there are several instances in Genesis where the word hamakom makes it difficult to understand the simple meaning of the verse. The Torah says:

Jacob left Beer-Sheba, and set out for Haran. He came upon that place (bamakom) and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place (hamakom), he put it under his head and lay down in that place (bamakom). (Genesis 28:10-11).
The word appears again shortly thereafter: “Surely the Lord is present in this place (bamakom)… How awesome is this place (hamakom)! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven” (28:16-17).’ (End quote).

We should also note that in the following verse, 18, we are told ‘and he called the place (hamakom), Bethel’--(Beyt-El) meaning ‘house of God.’ More on this shortly.
The, in the episode of Abraham with Isaac in Genesis 22, as also noted by Professor Elitzur we see a similar repetition. We see in verse 3, that he, ‘arose and went to hamakom of which God had told him.’ In verse 4, ‘Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw hamakom afar off’. In verse 9 they arrive at hamakom and then in verse 14, Abraham calls the name of hamakom, ‘Yahweh Yireh—the LORD provides.’

We see the same repetitious use in Genesis 35 when Jacob, with his family, comes from Padan Aram and returns to Bethel at God’s command. Here it is…

In verse 7, ‘he built an altar there and called hamakom, El Bethel’ (‘God of the House of God’) and God appeared again to him there.’ In verses 13 through 15, ‘God went up from him in hamakom where he had talked with him. So, Jacob set up a pillar in hamakom where he talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it and he poured oil on it. And Jacob called hamakom where God spoke with him, Bethel.’
The revealing of these awkward repetitions in the Hebrew leads to an obvious conclusion: HaMakom at the time of setting down the record had already become embedded in the consciousness of Patriarchs and people as a site of significance.

SO... where was this special site? It was the area about the Gihon Spring as I explain in 'THE TEMPLE QUEST' using Biblical references only. GET THE E-BOOK AT ANY OF THE BELOW LINKS...

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MORE CLUES TO THE LOCATION OF JERUSALEM'S TEMPLE

20/6/2024

In addition to all the clear biblical evidence provided in 'THE TEMPLE QUEST' eBook there are many further, though perhaps less prominent biblical clues in other places such as 2 Chronicles 20:28 and 27:3.

Ophel is the area in foreground above picture
Considering the above references...
2 Chronicles 20 describes the victory of good king Jehoshaphat of Judah against the threatening Moabites and Ammonites.
God gives a great victory to Jehoshaphat's army which had gone out with the singers in the lead bringing praise to God!
Upon Jehoshaphat's and the peoples' joyful return, we read 'so they entered Jerusalem with stringed instruments and trumpets, INTO the house of the Lord'. This is how the Hebrew reads and the Septuagint version has it 'and they entered into Jerusalem with lutes and harps and trumpets, into the house of the Lord'

We can see that Jerusalem and the temple are one--to be in Jerusalem is effectively to be in the temple. They did not have to enter the City of David and then journey up the hill from the city to the alleged temple site.
Looking at 2 Chronicles 27:3 we see that king Jotham 'built the upper gate of the house of the Lord and on the wall of Ophel he built much'.
The strong allusion here is that these two locations are adjacent. Since we know where Ophel is (between the City of David and the alleged 'Temple Mount') a reasonable conclusion is that the 'Upper Gate' of the temple was in the vicinity of Ophel.
If so, the temple could not be north of Ophel!

WAS THE DRAMATIC CONVERSION of SAUL of TARSUS EMBRYONIC OF AN EVENTUAL TURNING FOR ISRAEL?

24/5/2024

In a world of heightened Middle East tensions, Christians are asking, “What is to become of Israel? Does God still have a plan for the people he once called ‘the apple of my eye’?”
With refreshing clarity Ian Heard proposes that God has provided, in that self-described Pharisee and zealot Saul of Tarsus, a “type”—indeed, an archetype, for his people. In his turning, under the sovereign hand of the Almighty, Saul became Paul, the great missionary-evangelist to the gentile world. In addition he became pastor, theologian, apologist, and defender of the faith. In that event and life, God has given us, in embryo, a beautiful illustration, or “type,” of a far larger and greater turning for Israel.
On solid scriptural foundations and integrity, culminating in an exciting scenario, Ian Heard shows how some of the baffling prophecies of Zechariah and others may come to a profound conclusion in,
‘THE FUSION: Israel in a Biblical End-Time Scenario’

Here’s an excerpt from Prof W A Liebenberg’s review of The Fusion…
‘The author, in this foundational work, THE FUSION: Israel in a Biblical End Time Scenario, lays down clear truths to the confusing array of interpretations and viewpoints that cause many Believers to be confounded.

The author beautifully captures the central theme of the book with a focus on the Biblical principle of Paul as the firstfruits and a representation of a re-grafted Israel. The analogy drawn between Paul's transformation from Saul of Tarsus to a believer in Christ and the potential for the "broken off" Israelite people to undergo a similar spiritual renewal is both insightful and thought-provoking.

The idea that God's hand remains sovereign over those who may have been temporarily set aside, just as He was with Saul, is a powerful message of hope and redemption.’ END QUOTE

Get The Fusion from Amazon HERE, from Amazon Australia HERE, or from the Publisher as Paperback or eBook HERE

Kindle edition HERE

A SIMPLE JERUSALEM TEMPLE SITE QUESTION...

23/5/2024

HERE'S THE QUESTION…
Why did Nehemiah--whose clearly articulated interest was the gates and walls of the citadel that pertained to the temple--conduct his night reconnaissance on only the lower portion of the City of David?

Clearly because the temple was within that area.
It could never have been on so-called 'Temple Mount'.
Get the details in 'THE TEMPLE QUEST' eBook by Ian Heard.
Loaded with biblical proof.

Be persuaded purely from the Biblical text, not opinions and hypotheses of man.

From KOBO HERE
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From Barnes and Noble HERE

ZION, BETHEL, JERUSALEM and 'THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD'…ARE ONE AND THE SAME!

25/11/2023

Or...
BETHEL IS ZION & IS THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD!
For those who confuse Jeroboam’s Bethel in Samaria with the true Bethel named by Jacob at Zion (or the City of David), see Isaiah 2:2-4 and Micah 4:1-3 (which are identical passages). Here are Verses 2 & 3 from the Wycliffe translation of Isaiah with English modernised...

'And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be made ready in the top of hills, and shall be raised above little hills. And all heathen men shall flow to him; and many peoples shall go, and shall say, Come ye, ascend we to the hill of the Lord, and to the house of God of Jacob; and he shall teach us his ways, and we shall go in the paths of him. For why the law shall go out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.'

Note: 'the HOUSE OF GOD, OF JACOB' or 'the BETHEL of JACOB' is what is clearly stated. Isaiah and Micah mean the place at which Jacob said, 'this is the Beyt-El ('house of God', or Bethel)

Here it is clear that in the minds of the prophets, the ‘Mountain of the Lord’ or 'the' Bethel or Zion are all used to designate the same site.

They cannot possibly be referring to the site well north of Jerusalem which also became
popularly known as Bethel when Jeroboam set up his false 'house' of worship there!

SO...WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT ZION?

6/11/2023

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 here).
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.

CALL ME A ZIONIST...

3/11/2023

Yes, I’ll stick my neck out.
Mind you, I’m the first to agree that ‘isms’ create schisms—and Zion-ism, like all isms can easily do that.

BUT…and ‘but’ is in upper case simply because it is a big ‘but’—the scriptures have more than enough to say about Zion for all Christians to take notice!

Now, of course, Zion’s ‘location’ has drifted all over the place, even though it is quite clear where it was. When David captured the stronghold of the Jebusites (known then as Jebus—which incidentally translates as trodden down!) Joab his commander got in through the water ‘tsinnor’ above the Gihon Spring. You can read the story in 2 Samuel 5:6-10 (and also in 1 Chronicles 11). David, we are told, ‘took the stronghold of Zion…and named it the City of David.

What that stronghold looked like in those days has been disclosed by archaeologists and can be seen in the accompanying artist’s impression. The second picture has superimposed modern Jerusalem and the Haram al Sharif enclosure (actually the Roman Fortress Antonia) with the Dome of the Rock shrine visible.

It included a substantial enclosure built out from Zion to enclose and safeguard the Gihon Spring.
The scriptures say that David went on and became great, but one very important thing he did was to provide a temporary tent for the ark and the sacred items from the Tabernacle. That tent was at Gihon (as 1 Kings 1:32 ff reveals) and the holy anointing oil was there. It was, in my view, the spot known as HaMakom (The Place) where Abraham had offered Isaac and of which Jacob had said after his dream/vision of angels, “this is the Beyt-El” (House of God).

The all-important Zion from whence God would speak and utter His voice as so many of the Psalms say, and of which the prophets spoke—was the area close to the Gihon Spring encompassed by the (then) City of David (which later became known as Jerusalem).

The first picture gives you an idea of its size and shape in those days.
This was—and is, Zion, God’s holy hill—upon which Solomon eventually built the temple. Yes, IN Zion—not up the hill several hundred metres south on what people want to place it today.

Hundreds of scriptures speak of Zion. Hear what Psalm 132:13/14says: ‘For the LORD has CHOSEN Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.’

One would expect that if anyone knew where Zion was located it would be David and the Psalmists!
In Zechariah 8:2 we read that God is ‘zealous for Zion with great zeal’ and in next verse, of His promised return there. (He had said the same thing in Zechariah 1:16).
Whilst Zechariah is primarily speaking of events of his day and the re-establishment of the City and temple after exile, nonetheless it is clear that Zion is in God’s heart, symbolises the most important location in the earth, and is therefore the site of all of His ‘returns’. It is always where He comes back to.

Now—does God still have an interest in that place of His choice? Here is my answer…
If He does not, why on earth did Jesus say He would return to the same site on the Mount of Olives that looks directly across the Kidron Valley, to the true Zion. As He miraculously ascended, that true Zion was what He beheld from Bethany on the Mount. Remember, it was from Bethany that He had sent disciples to bring the ass on which He would ride into Jerusalem (Luke 19:29).
Before His departure, He walked back to Bethany with them (Luke 24:50), and from there, ascended and, as He went up, He had His last view across Kidron of His beloved Zion.

It is my opinion that upon His return, He will complete, as it were, a replay. He will come down to the Mount of Olives near ancient Bethany, viewing as He arrives, Zion—into which He will come again in triumph!

So yes, if that is what being a Zionist means (as it should)—count me in.

(If you want more on the real Zion and the temple location, read my e-book ‘THE TEMPLE QUEST’. Details at Home Page. Available at KOBO, APPLE BOOKS, BARNES AND NOBLE, SMASHWORDS.

Excerpt from the INTRODUCTION to my e-Book 'THE TEMPLE QUEST'

25/9/2023

INTRODUCTION

'....I have felt challenged, in addition to my previous
book, ‘THE PLACE HAMAKOM: Where Jerusalem’s
Temples stood’, in which I used both Biblical and
fictional characters to unfold the story of the site in
narrative style—to now make the case using
evidence exclusively from the Biblical text.

My hope is that this book makes the case even more clearly.
Of key importance are the following factors:

Recognition that early in the Patriarchal narratives and later, there was growing awareness and use of the Hebrew term hamakom, ‘the place’, with the definite article, in relation to a particular, special, and familiar location.
The naming by Jacob of the hamakom site as Beyt-El (Bethel) ‘House of God’ was a strategic and prophetic revelation meaning that we should treat it as the authentic Bethel—where God intended to reside.
Until David in the Biblical narrative, there remains a small element of uncertainty as to hamakom’s true meaning and location, but the stapling of that site by him to Gihon eliminates what doubt remains.

As the reader will learn, there are many other references and factors within the pages of the Bible which go on contributing weight to the side of the scales which argues for the City of David site for the temple of Solomon and the later temples.

e-Book available for immediate download at...
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THE CITY OF DAVID AS THE ALTAR OF GOD in ISAIAH 29

23/6/2023

The Hebrew word we translate into English as Ariel is used in several places in the Bible.
In Isaiah 29 we see this prophecy,

“Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt!
Add year to year;
Let feasts come around.
Yet I will distress Ariel;
There shall be heaviness and sorrow,
And it shall be to Me as Ariel.
I will encamp against you all around,
I will lay siege against you with a mound,
And I will raise siegeworks against you….”

The NIV translates verse 2 as ‘Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth’ as do margin readings in some other tranlations.

The Amplified Bible puts it this way, ‘Then I will harass Ariel, And she will be a city of mourning and lamenting (crying out in grief) Yet she will be like an Ariel [an altar hearth] to Me’ ...
and the Jewish Publication Society has it, ‘Then will I distress Ariel, And there shall be mourning and moaning; and she shall be unto Me as a hearth of God.’

Jerusalem has many poetic names in the scriptures and calling the City of David the Altar Hearth is another telling and most appropriate poetic description, for that is indeed where the altar of sacrifice stood, at the temple in the City of David.

In Isaiah 29 God is pointing up the awful irony of the city of the altar herself becoming in her entirety, a fire hearth.

(Note that 'Ariel' is also used in Ezekiel 43:15 & 16 to mean the hearth of the altar).

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Marilyn Sams - author of The Jerusalem Temple Mount Myth: Ian Heard’s book adds a unique ....aspect to the growing movement of people accepting the City of David location for the temples in Jerusalem. His perspective .....brings many insightful possibilities to the table. Especially moving are his heartfelt expressions of faith in and love for the prophets and the Savior of the world'.
Pastor, Luke Yeghnazar of the Iranian Church of Los Angeles: Wonderful book. I trust it will be distributed widely. I read it with excitement. The reader will want to know what happens next. An exciting book to be read by Christians, Jews and others.

What readers of THE PEOPLE are saying...
The People is an enthralling and innovative approach, not only to telling old familiar stories but using narrative to portray, in a subtle but powerful way, the truth of good and evil in our world . . . There is good and evil, God and Satan, and in every human relationship/interaction and behavior a choice is to be made. The consequences, for those with the spiritual eyes to see, are clear. It is an exceptional and well written piece of work.” Allan Bull, Macquarie University, Sydney.