20140424 Thursday, April 24 2014
2 Samuel 05: How Long Was Jerusalem The Capital Of Israel?

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus; where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land"

Jerusalem is today popularly-regarded as the "eternal" capital of Israel - which it will be, when all has been fulfilled (see the complete Jerusalem study series in the Fact Finder question below).

Throughout history however, the city of Jerusalem served as the capital of the united Kingdom of Israel for only a few decades - during the latter part of the reign of King David (who captured "the Jebusite city" from the Jebusites), through the entire reign of King Solomon (the son of King David; see Israel In History and Prophecy: Solomon) and briefly at the beginning of the reign of King Rehoboam (the son of King Solomon; see Rehoboam's Answer).

Iraqi-born Abraham (see A Biography Of Abraham: From Ur To Canaan and The LORD's Seed Covenants With The Two Men Of Iraq), Abraham's in-Canaan-born son Isaac, and Isaac's in-Canaan-born son Jacob (who the LORD renamed as Israel; see Genesis 32: The Origin Of Israel) knew Jerusalem only as a Canaanite city (see Camped Out In Canaan). The Israelites (see A Biography Of Jacob: The Jacobites Of Syria) entered Egypt as a family of refugees from Canaan (see Genesis 46: The First Census Of Israel) where they lived and greatly prospered for four centuries (see Exodus 1: I Will There Make Of Thee A Great Nation and Deuteronomy 24: How Long Were They Slaves?).

After the Exodus, Moses never crossed the Jordan River to Jerusalem (see Deuteronomy 34: The Passage Of Moses). Jerusalem remained a foreign, Canaanite-held city for centuries after the Israelites crossed the Jordan - through the entire time of Joshua (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Joshua), the Judges (see Israel In History and Prophecy: The Judges) and Samuel (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Samuel).

The Israelite monarchy was established at the end of the time of Samuel (see 1 Samuel 8: Our King May Judge Us). Neither Saul, Israel's first king, nor David, Israel's second king, had Jerusalem as their capital (see Why Didn't David And Saul Fight For Jerusalem?) - until after their civil war in which David captured the city from the Jebusites (as we will cover in this study, further below). It was only then that Jerusalem became an Israelite city and the capital of the united Kingdom of Israel.

Jerusalem remained the capital of the united Kingdom of Israel for only a few decades, until the division of Israel into the separate kingdoms of "Israel" and "Judah." Jerusalem thereafter became the capital of Judah (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Israel and Judah and Israel In History and Prophecy: Kingdom Of Judah).

After the fall of Judah to Babylon, Jerusalem remained in a state of desolation for seventy years. The city was then rebuilt by the people of Judah when they returned from their Babylonian exile in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (see Israel In History and Prophecy: The Return Of Judah). It was after that time of their return that the religion known as "Judaism" was invented (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Jews, Israel In History and Prophecy: Judaism and Israel Never Knew Purim, Hanukkah Or Judaism).

Jerusalem had been under the control of the Babylonian Empire, that took the people of Judah into captivity (see The Prophet Daniel: A Child Of The Exile) and the Persian Empire, that had the people of Judah return to Jerusalem (see The Decrees Of The Persian Kings). The Persian Empire later fell to the Greek Empire (see The Prophet Daniel: The Ram and The He Goat), which itself broke into four sections after the death of Alexander the Great (see A History Of Jerusalem: Greeks, Ptolemies, Seleucids). The Ptolemies of Egypt (see The Cleopatra Connection) and the Seleucids of Syria alternately controlled Jerusalem. When a Seleucid king, Antiochus IV (Antiochus Epiphanes), committed the original "abomination of desolation," it triggered a revolt by the Hasmoneans, or Maccabees, who established their Judaism-based kingdom with Jerusalem as the capital (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Hasmonean Judea).

When Rome grew from a republic to an empire, it conquered the area held by the Greek empire. Jerusalem then became, first a Roman military outpost, then a Roman regional capital (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Roman Judea, Israel In History and Prophecy: Herod, Israel In History and Prophecy: The Messiah). The Romans nevertheless destroyed the city of Jerusalem (as the Messiah prophesied; see What Did Jesus Christ Say About Those Stones?) after a great revolt by the people of Judah (see Israel In History and Prophecy: The Zealots and Israel In History and Prophecy: Aelia Capitolina).

The fall of the Roman Empire by the fifth century coincided with the invention and rise of the Islamic religion. The "Crusades" were primarily about the conflict between the European nations of the Church of Rome and the Muslim nations of the Middle East (see The Prophet Daniel: Kings Of The North and South) for control of Jerusalem (see Constantine's Crusades In History And Prophecy and A History Of Jerusalem: Constantine and Muhammad). By the end of the Middle Ages, Jerusalem began to be held by Muslims for centuries, until the end of the First World War (1914-1918) when British forces captured Jerusalem. The British Mandate (see A History Of Jerusalem: The British Mandate) enabled the people of Judah to re-establish their capital at Jerusalem (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Israel Of Judah).

"The king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land ... David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David"

The end of the civil war saw a reunification of all of the tribes of Israel under King David. David's capital at that time was Hebron, a city south of Jerusalem in the tribal territory of Judah (see Joshua 15: Judah's Homeland).

"5:1 Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. 5:2 Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel.

5:3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel.

5:4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5:5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah." (2 Samuel 5:1-5 KJV)

As detailed above, Jerusalem up to that time was a foreign city to the Israelites. At the end of the civil war however, according to the Will of the LORD (Who was and is Jesus Christ - see Genesis 1: In The Beginning Was The Word and The Kingdom Of The LORD God), David took possession of the city with the sure knowledge that "the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake."

"5:6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither. 5:7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.

5:8 And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.

5:9 So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward. 5:10 And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him.

5:11 And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house. 5:12 And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake.

5:13 And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David. 5:14 And these be the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, 5:15 Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia, 5:16 And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet." (2 Samuel 5:6-16 KJV)

The Philistines (the actual "Palestinians") remained an enemy of Israel, but not because of Jerusalem. The "Palestinians" never regarded Jerusalem as their city (see 1 Samuel 29: Where Is Palestine?).

"5:17 But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold. 5:18 The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. 5:19 And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand?

And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.

5:20 And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there, and said, The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baalperazim. 5:21 And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.

5:22 And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. 5:23 And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. 5:24 And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines. 5:25 And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer." (2 Samuel 5:17-25 KJV)

Fact Finder: How was Jesus Christ involved in the history and prophecy of Jerusalem - from the most ancient times to the yet-future?