History – 2 Samuel 5-9

As we move to the 5th month of Bible reading, we continue to take a look at 2 Samuel and see some modern day pictures of what the Holy Land looks like.

Bible Passage:  2 Samuel 5-9

Chapter 5 to 9 describes the remaining Israelites submitting to David and anointing him as king of Israel. We read in the previous chapters, David was king of Judah only and ruling in Hebron. Now, after the death of Ish-bosheth, the people realized that they have been struggling against the wrong person. It was David who is the anointed one and God has chosen him to succeed king Saul.

In these few chapters, we see how God worked in David and blessed his kingdom such that the enemies around Israel were defeated. David and his men, conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusites and made it his capital. God blessed David but he still remembered God and did not take the credit of defeating his enemies. He humbled before God and gave all glory to Him.

Remember what happened to king Nebuchadnezzar when he was proud? David even brought the ark of God to be placed at his capital Jerusalem and was exceedingly happy. In chapter 9, David remembers Jonathon’s kindness and provided for Jonathon’s son Mephibosheth who is a crippled. He was even allowed to eat at his table, giving him such a privilege.

A few questions come to my mind when I read these chapters. Do we rejoice greatly when we come to the House of the Lord? Do we give all glory to God for all the blessings He gave us or do we think that what we have today is because of our abilities? Do we have patience in God’s promise like in the case of David waiting many years before being the king of Israel? Do we remember the good things people have done for us and repay them back in kind?

Here are a few pictures of Jerusalem that my colleague and I took. For the panoramic picture, it was taken from Mount of Olives, the peak where Jesus ascended to heaven. The Old City is where the city was during Solomon’s time but it was transformed because of many take over by other nations. The city of David is on the left hand side of the Old City, and that is the original location where David conquered the Jebusites. The temple mount was where the temple was and during king Herod’s time, the temple was increased in size. Many Jews feel that king Herod was a great king because he built a lot of buildings and was known as a great builder…but as Christians, we know he is an evil guy.

Notice there are many tombs on Mt of Olives and near the temple mount. The M, build there tombs surrounding the temple for a reason…. Notice that there are many Jewish tombs on Mt. of Olives. It is probably one of the ‘hottest’ burial place in the planet.

According to the tour guide (who can be wrong), their opinion is that the Messiah will come from the Mt. of Olives and walk through the Lion Gate. To the Christians, perhaps they feel that they will be first to be raised up from the dead if they are buried there…

This picture is taken along the Kidron Valley. Jerusalem was placed such that it is on the slope and the Kidron valley is lower, hence it has a higher ground and protected from the mountain which means better natural defence. The picture actually shows Mt. of Olives from the Kidron valley. This valley separates Jerusalem and Mt of Olives.

During the time of Jesus there were many olive trees growing. The garden of Gethsemane was along the slopes of Mt. of Olives. These are 2000 plus year old olives and bearing fruit at the garden of Gethsemane.

This is inside the Old City and the tall city walls. Cars are able to enter from the gates. I went in from the Zion Gate.. I heard some other gates are not too safe especially the ones near the M quarters.

The Old City is divided in 4 quarters; the Christian quarter, Jewish quarter, Armenian quarter and Muslim quarter.

Some shops at the Christian quarters. Many of the souvenirs sold here are ‘made in China’. I took one funny picture of it but did not put it here.

The Old City is small (less than a km long) and very congested. There is literally no space in the houses and tens of thousands of people live in it..so talk about Singapore being crowded. There are human ‘highways’ in this city and that is by walking on the roof top of houses. It is rather interesting.

The Wailing Wall or Western Wall. This is the most sacred place for the Jews as this wall is part of the temple and it is more than 2000 years old. Why they only have a piece of wall? Well….. you know who is occupying the current position of the temple.

It is called Wailing Wall because the Jews come here to cry. We have cry room in church, but this wall literally adults cry. They cry over their fallen temple and till now they are crying over it. In the cracks of these walls there are many prayer requests…sort of what you see in Jap temples where they put in notes for their wishes…. I had to wash my hands in a certain fashion and put on their humility cap to get close to the wall and touch it. Anyway, those men in black with big hats are the orthodox Jews. There are 3 categories of Jews in Israel; the secular ones, the religious ones and the orthodox Jews. The religious ones will keep the feasts and Sabbath while the orthodox Jews are full time believers (like preachers, rather they call them rabbis) and are paid by their government to study the scriptures.

The Jews praying at the wailing wall and reading scriptures. That guy in the leather jacket is my tour guide. His humility cap only appears when he comes close to the wall. Hehe.