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The old fortress of Jerusalem, which was captured by King David ca. 1000 B.C., is sacred to all three monotheistic faiths.  For Judaism the holiest site is the West Wall (the so-called “Wailing Wall”), the sole remnant of the Herodian temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 of our era.

Today’s first lesson (Jeremiah 52:1-11) narrates the destruction of the earlier Solomonic temple.  The twelve years between the first fall of the city in 598 and the final destruction in 586 was a troubled time, with many people still hoping for victory over Babylon and complete independence.

King Zedekiah was a weak and uncertain ruler, but he finally broke with Babylon about 589.  The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, moved quickly to quell the rebellion.  After capturing all the cities of Judah, he surrounded Jerusalem and for two years starved the people into defeat.

When all was lost, Zedekiah tried to flee at night to safety, but the Babylonian army caught him near Jericho, and he had to watch while his sons were executed before his eyes, which were then put out.  Finally Zedekiah was led away to die a captive in a Babylonian prison.

To Christians Jerusalem is sacred as the city where Christ was crucified and buried, and the Holy Sepulchre is the chief Christian site of pilgrimage.  But Christians also look to a new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride for her husband (Revelation 21:2).

Finally, for Muslims Jerusalem is sacred as the site of the greatest mystical experience in the life of the prophet Muhammad, the Night Journey of the year 620, when he was awakened by the angel Gabriel and flown miraculously on a heavenly steed to the Temple Mount, where he met Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, before ascending to the throne of God.  The Al-Aqsa Mosque commemorates this tradition.

A few days ago I heard a discussion of Jerusalem on CNN by two evangelical writers, who referred to the passage in Zechariah where the Lord declares, “I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem in battle” (14:2).  They understood this to be a prediction of the current crisis in the Middle East, and they even found a scriptural allusion to the alliance between Russia and Iran.

Such a reading of scripture as referring to contemporary events is nothing new.  Some of the Protestant Reformers interpreted the Whore of Babylon (Revelation 17:1) as the Pope of Rome.  Jewish reading of scripture has always held that our present experience makes the age-old text intelligible, even as the text reveals the significance of that experience.  John Robinson once declared to the Pilgrim Fathers:
                        The Lord hath yet more truth and light to break forth
                        from his holy word.

What I do question is the use of scripture simply to confirm what we already know or think we know.  That was the problem with the allegorical interpretation of scripture, which held sway until it was routed by historical criticism.

An alternative to the fundamentalistic and allegorical use (or abuse) of scripture is the Johannine approach, which is reflected in today’s second lesson (John 16:1-15).  There the written word serves as a catalyst for the spirit of truth, who comes to guide us into all truth and to pour into our hearts a joy which no one can take from us.       

July 30, 2006

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