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NASB | Isaiah 60:1 "Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Isaiah 60:1 "Arise [from spiritual depression to a new life], shine [be radiant with the glory and brilliance of the LORD]; for your light has come, And the glory and brilliance of the LORD has risen upon you. [Zech 8:23] |
Bible Question: Hi!! Isaiah references Jerusalem; do you know about what time period it was when The Promised Land came to be? And can you give me an idea of the size of Jerusalem during that particular time period? I'd appreciate any help you could give me on this one. Has Jerusalem always been the same size? |
Bible Answer: Hi!! yourself. According to Genesis (the book of beginnings, the promise land became the promise land. Gen 13:14 The Lord instructed Abram (before Abram became Abraham) to take a good look at all the land which many refer to as the promise land. Shortly thereafter he meet Melchizedek, king of Salem and highpriest of the most high God. I don't think it is coincidence that "Salem" and JeruSALEM seem to be the same place. "Salem" derives from "Peace". The Arabs and the Jews both used a "branch" of that word in their greetings, Arabic - "as salam 'alaikoom" Hebrew - Shalom aleichem. (peace be with you) The "Jeru" part is where most English speakers get into trouble. In Israel, it is Y. There is NO "J" sound in Hebrew. It comes out "Y" Yesua, (Jesus) Yacob (Jacob). That's why Jews snicker when Christians call God "Jehovah." So, before Isaac was even conceived, the Promise Land was the time period the promised land came to be. However, it had been in existance for centuries. According to the Tell el-Amarna letters, a little mountain fort was their a few thousand years before Christ ever walked its streets. By the time Joshua moved into the promised land, Jerusalem was a strong, well protected city. He didn’t even try to take it. If you have been to that city, you know what I mean about its location. There would be wide open fields to cross to get to it, in his day. As more homes were built outside the walls, wars forced them to enclose those homes and businesses behind the walls, so the size of Jerusalem kept growing according to its need. When Hebron was capital of Israel, King David whipped the Jebusites (means "he will be trodden down) which occupied Jerusalem. He made it the new capital, made improvements and built himself a palace. Remember he stood on its balcony when he spotted Bethseba? Solomon improved its defense and built the temple and seemingly added to the city’s size with new fortification and improvements. Wham! In 587 B.C.E. Nebuchadrezzer’s Babylonian (Iraq) warriors demolished the city. Nehemiah rebuilt them almost the same size as they were when they were destroyed. In Jesus’ day, the city was close to the same shape and size as Solomon’s. The Romans, in 70 C.E., as told by Jesus, completely destroyed the city before many of his original follows died. The Moslems took the demolished city of peace about 550 years later. Then before another 500 years past, the Crusaders snatched it from the Moslems, only to lose it back to the Moslems 88 years later, etc. etc. The walls as they are today were built around 500 years ago. It is not close to being the same shape or size. Some areas not in the Jesus’ time are inside now, and visa versa. Even though my feet have often walked the streets of Jerusalem, I will never walk where Jesus walked. But, I CAN follow His steps to eternal life. Shalom aleichem! As salam 'alaikoom! Peace! Taleb |