It’s easy to see why scholars struggle to spot the many references to Jerusalem in the Scriptures.
The holy city has gone by the names of “Yerushalayim,” “Jebus,” and the town of “Shalem.”
But it doesn’t end there.
Once David took Jerusalem by force, it also became known as the “City of David,” “the Millo,” “Zion,” and the “Stronghold.”
You may think I’m slicing the onion awfully thin here.
But I’m not.
Understanding these differences is important, especially when it comes to prophecy.
So here’s the first thing you gotta know.
In ancient times, a city was NOT walled.
It started as a tiny, unprotected village.
As the village prospered, it caught the attention of outsiders.
The villagers soon realized their town had become the envy of nearby enemies.
So, in response, they erected walls around their city for protection.
This was no easy undertaking.
It took a lot of money, manpower, and a strong leader to oversee the construction.
So that’s the first point ya gotta understand.
Before it became a walled city, Jerusalem was a small, humble area where farmers and herders lived.
On top of that, its borders weren’t accurately defined.
In our day and age, we measure our property possessions down to the last millimeter.
But it wasn’t like that in ancient times.
Boundaries and borders were defined by loose landmarks, such as a river flowing through the territory…
Or a boulder that sat in the area, and so on.
However, once walls were erected, they did what natural landmarks couldn’t do.
They created precise boundaries.
So here’s the second thing ya gotta know.
When a village was transformed into a walled city, it was given a separate name from the area where it was built.
Normally, it was named after some deity or king.
Hence the name the “City of David” in Jerusalem’s case.
This referred to the city built on land of a different name.
Yerushalayim was the name of the general surrounding area BEFORE the walls were erected.
To date, we haven’t unearthed any other name besides this.
So why did the place also become known as Jebus?
Because Jebus was named after a Canaanite tribe that once lived there.
In 2 Samuel Chapter 5, the Jebusites were still living in the area during David’s time.
They had also taken control of the walled city that came to be called “Zion.”
And as I mentioned earlier, it was also called the “Stronghold.”
This makes sense because when you build walls around a city, what do you end up with?
You get a stronghold that separates the protected from the unprotected.
This leads to the takeaway for today.
The king, his family, his royal court, and his dedicated merchants, lived inside the city’s walls.
These folks were the saved, redeemed, or chosen ones of God.
But outside the walls is where the common, unredeemed people lived.
Are you catching this?
We have a picture of the saved versus the unsaved.
The saved villagers were loyal to the king.
When attacked, the gates would open, letting them inside the city walls for safety.
In other words, the King or Messiah was their “stronghold.”
Ya feeling me here?
So to sum up what I explained earlier.
The general area was called “Yerushalayim” or “Jebus”...
But the walled part of the city was called “Zion.”
Then, when David captured the city, he renamed it the “City of David.”
Yet, the name Zion stuck and was used for other reasons we’ll get into later.
And that’s it for today.
See ya all next time.
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