Tag: Mount Moriah

Mount Moriah – the 2000 Year Connection

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

Mount Moriah – the 2000 Year Connection

 

Mount Moriah had a direct connection to the Messiah by way of the place going back 2000 years when Moriah was first mentioned in the Bible. The mount’s sacred religious history first gained importance during the days of Abraham.[1]

By birth a Chaldean, Abraham followed God’s instruction to leave for an unknown land with a blessing that his name would be great, the father of a great nation in whom all the families of the earth would be blessed.[2] Eventually Abraham settled in Canaan at Hebron about 20 miles south of the mounts of Moriah and Salem, the city one day to be called Jerusalem.[3]

God tested Abraham’s faith by telling him to offer Isaac, his only son with his wife Sarah, as a sacrifice in “the land of Moriah…on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” Human sacrifices were not uncommon in that era, such as to the pagan gods Baal and Moloch.[4]

Faithfully Abraham built an altar on God’s chosen Moriah mount and was in the act of offering Isaac as a sacrifice when an “angel of the Lord” stopped him. A ram stuck in a thicket became a substitute sacrifice.[5] Known as “The Binding of Isaac” in Jewish tradition, the story in Genesis is read on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.[6]

Moriah means “chosen by Jehovah” albeit Abraham was so moved by the experience with his only son, he called this particular Mount of Moriah hwhy har or Y@hovah ra’ah with some Bibles translating it as Jehovahjireh. In English the Hebrew name means “the LORD will Provide.”[7]

“The Lord will choose and see for Himself this place, to cause His Divine Presence to rest therein and for offering sacrifices here…that [future] generations will say about it, ‘On this mountain, the Holy One, blessed be He, appears to His people.’” – Rabbi Rashi [8]

Several hundred years later soon after the Exodus from Egypt, the Hebrew nation encamped at Mount Sinai. God handed down the Law to Moses which included prophetic promises about the place hinting that the land of Moriah was part of God’s future master plan.

One promise was that God would lead Israel to the land He swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In two promises, God promised He would provide a permanent place for His Name to dwell and to observe the Passover.[9]

In the land of Abraham, King David established his throne in the city of Jerusalem encompassing Mount Moriah. A most unusual set of circumstances brought the Mount to center stage.[10]

King David angered God due to his lack of faith by conducting a census leading to a severe judgement on his kingdom of Israel. Taking responsibility, David pleaded with God to stop the judgement on the people because it was his own sin, not theirs. The angel executing and halting the judgment because visible to the King.

Through the prophet Gad, God instructed David to offer an atonement sacrifice for the people of Israel.[11] David bought the threshing floor of Araunah (Ornan) located on Mount Moriah for this sacrifice.[12] Ensuring this was a true sacrifice of David, not one where the sacrificial possessions of wealth were merely usurped by the King, David personally purchased the entire threshing floor, its oxen and its equipment.[13]

On Mount Moriah David built the altar, slew the oxen for the offering and used the wood from the threshing floor implements as fuel for the altar’s fire. Then something miraculous happened – fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice.[14] Deeply affected, David proclaimed:

I Ch. 22:1 “This is the place where the temple of the Lord God will be, along with the altar for burnt sacrifices for Israel.”(NET)

God was upfront with David informing him that his son would build the House of God, not him.[15] After David’s death, in the fourth year of King Solomon’s reign, the building of the Temple commenced on Mount Moriah:

2 CH 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. (NASB)

Seven years later the Temple was completed under Solomon’s reign.[16] To commemorate the occasion, the King held a public consecration and blessing acknowledging the fulfillment of God’s promises:

2 CH 6:2, 4 “I have surely built You an exalted house, and a place for You to dwell in forever.” …  “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying,

2 CH 6:5-6 “‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel. Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there; and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’(NKJV)

In spectacular fashion, God once again sent fire down from heaven to consume the first sacrifices offered at the new Temple that day on Mount Moriah. The celebration continued for seven days and with the completion of the Temple, it became the place to permanently offer the Passover sacrifices:[17]

DT 16:2 “You shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the LORD chooses to establish His name…”

DT 16:5-6 …You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns which the LORD your God is giving you; but at the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover…”(NASB)

A thousand years later on the sacred Mount Moriah in the holy city of Jerusalem, Jesus of Nazareth stood on trial before the Priests and Scribes of the Temple, the House of God, and declared himself to be the Son of God. Perceived as a blasphemy, it triggered a string of events in the following hours leading to the crucifixion of Jesus on the first day of the Passover.

United States Federal legal definition of the Doctrine of Chances is the premise for the obvious question: What is the probability of chance that the location, the timing, and the circumstances of the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth were all an accident?

 

Updated May 27, 2023.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

[1] “Abraham.” Jewish Virtual Library. 2018. <https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/abraham>
[2] Genesis 12.
[3] Genesis 11-15. “Hebron.” Bible-History.com. 2017. <http://www.bible-history.com/geography/ancient-israel/hebron.html>
[4] NRSV.
[5] Genesis 22. Quote – all mainstream Christian and Jewish Bible translations. Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities of the Jews. Book I, Chapter XIII.  The Complete Works of Josephus. Trans. and commentary. William Whitson. <http://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false>
[6] Genesis 22. “The Binding of Isaac.” My Jewish Learning. 2018. <https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-binding-of-isaac> “The Great Test: The Binding of Isaac.” Chabad.org. 2018. <https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/246616/jewish/The-Great-Test-The-Binding-of-Isaac.htm> “Human Sacrifices.” Bible-history.com. n.d. <http://www.bible-history.com/backd2/human_sacrifice.html>  Hefner, Alan G. “Baal.” Encyclopedia Mythica. 2004. <http://www.pantheon.org/articles/b/baal.html>  “Sacrifice.” Jewish Encyclopedia.
[7] Net.bible.org. Genesis 22:2, Hebrew text Mowriyah <04179>; Genesis 22:14, Hebrew text “ra’ah <07200>;” Y@hovah <03068>;” “Y@hovah yireh <03070>”
[8] Rashi, Shlomo Yitzchaki. The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary. Bereishit – Genesis 22:14 commentary. <https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8217#showrashi=true>
[9] I Chronicles 17.
[10] I Chronicles 17; 2 Samuel 5, 7. Josephus. Antiquities. Book VII, Chapter III.
[11] II Chronicles 3.
[12] I Chronicles 21; 2 Chronicles 3; 2 Samuel 24. Josephus. Antiquities. Book VII, Chapter III. “Herod’s Temple.”  Bible-History.com. 2017. <http://www.bible-history.com/jewishtemple/JEWISH_TEMPLEThe_Site.htm>
[13] I Chronicles 21; 2 Samuel 24.
[14] 2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21.
[15] I Chronicles 22, 28.
[16] 1 Kings 6; 2 Chronicles 3.  Wiemers, Galyn. Generation Word. “Chapter 21 – Solomon’s Temple Mount.” image. 2018. <https://www.generationword.com/devotions/photos-diagrams/diagrams/oct-digrams/29a-solomons-temple-mount-retaining-wall-2500-jpg.jpg>
[17] CR Leviticus 9.

“I AM” – a Blasphemy or the Truth?

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

“I AM” – a Blasphemy or the Truth?

 

High Priest Caiaphas asked Jesus of Nazareth under oath a direct question, “’Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’ Jesus answered ‘I Am.’”[1] To Caiaphas and other Jewish leaders, it was self-incriminating prima facie evidence – standalone proof – of blasphemy. Leviticus Law defined blasphemy to be a capital offense, death by stoning:

LV 24:16 “Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.” (NASB)

In the Biblical backdrop, the son of an Egyptian father and Israelite mother had been apprehended for the offense of blasphemy. In the first and only documented judgement for blasphemy in the Old Testament, the Tanakh, the son was judged by God Himself through Moses:

LV 24:13-15 Then the LORD said to Moses: “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.

LV 24:23 “… and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. The Israelites did as the LORD commanded Moses. (NIV)

What exactly constituted the act of blasphemy? It was not until centuries later that the legal question was answered in the Babylonian Talmud:

MISHNAH:  “The blasphemer is punished only if he utters the [The Divine] Name.”(Soncino)[2]

An effort to further define the Mishnah, called the Gemara, led Jewish Rabbi sages to discuss the act of blasphemy. Considered to be so sacred, the scenario required extraordinary treatment by using euphemisms.[3]

During a blasphemy trial, special rules prohibited witnesses from quoting the blasphemy; instead, the court was to use the substitute name of “Jose.”[4] Only one witness was allowed to quote the blasphemy and all others were to simply say if they agreed with what they heard.

Upon hearing a blasphemy, judges were to rend their garments, a Jewish sign of displaying heart-rending anguish or mourning.[5] It was exactly the reaction of Caiaphas when he heard Jesus answer his question with “I Am.”

Great Hebrew significance of “I AM” goes all the way back to Moses and the unconsumed, burning bush. Curiosity had drawn Moses closer to the bush when a Voice called him by name. Moses asked who was speaking and the Voice responded:

EX 3:6 “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (The Complete Jewish Bible, NASB)

The Voice identify Himself as “God,” translated from ‘elohiym, the Hebrew plural masculine word meaning “God, divine ones, rulers, judges.”[6] (Translators added the preceding “I am” only as a clarifying literary aide.)

Commanded to return to Egypt and confront Pharaoh, Moses asked what he should say if anyone asked who sent him? Resoundingly, the booming Voice declared:

EX 3:14-15 “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.”  God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations. (NASB)

Translated into English as “I AM” from the Hebrew verb hayah, it means “to exist i.e. to be or become, come to pass (always emphatic)” – it is neither a noun nor a pronoun. God emphatically identified Himself with an on-going action verb; according to Rabbi Rashi – “I will be” – no beginning or end.[7]

In Hebrew, I AM is spelled YHVH, the four letter ineffable Hebrew name of God or “Tetragrammaton” derived from the root word hayah, “I AM.” According to Rashi, the Hebrew 4-letter Name is not intended to be spoken.[8] As such, the ineffable Hebrew proper name of God is translated as “The LORD” in place of the unspeakable Divine Name and also appears in other Biblical references as Jehovah, God (‘elohiym), or Adonai.[9]

Jewish translators of the Hebrew-to-Greek Septuagint LXX completed in 247 BC translated the Exodus text of both “I AM” and “The LORD” into Greek as “ego eimi.”[10] Jesus answered Caiaphas using these very same two Greek words, ego eimi.

Ego is a primary first person pronoun to be pronounced emphatically.[11] Eimi, also to be said emphatically, is “the first person singular present indicative meaning “exist’” with characteristics of present and future tenses.[12]

When Jesus answered Caiaphas’ question saying “ego eimi,” in essence he declared emphatically and authoritatively a statement of fact:  “[Yes], I Am [presently and into the future, the Messiah, the Son of God].”

A year earlier, Pharisees also believed they had heard Jesus commit blasphemy. While teaching at the Temple, Jesus several times referred to himself as ego eimi:

JN 8:12 “…I AM the light of the world…” (Jubliee)[13]

JN 8:24 “…unless you believe that I AM, you’ll die in your sins.”(ISV)[14]

JN 8:28 “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM…”(ISV)[15]

Continuing, the Pharisees accused Jesus of being possessed by a demon after he said, “If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.”[16] They aptly pointed out that Abraham and the prophets had surely kept God’s word yet they were dead.[17] Jesus responded to the reference of Abraham:

JN 8:56-58 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”(NKJV)[18]

In one of the most astonishing statements in all the Gospels, Jesus not only said he actually knew Abraham, he had observed in real time Abraham rejoicing when he saw that the day of Jesus had arrived. Even more incredibly, Jesus explicitly said, “Before Abraham was, I AM” – ego eimi. Believing they had undoubtedly heard a blasphemy, the Pharisees picked up stones to kill Jesus, but according to John, it was not yet his time and Jesus escaped unharmed.[19]

Facts of the case are undisputed – under oath Jesus identified himself as I Am, the Son of God. What remains is the open question: did Jesus speak a blasphemy or the truth? If Jesus spoke blasphemy, his death sentence was truly justified according to God’s own Law.

If Jesus is the Son of God, he could not have spoken a blasphemy. Instead, in this scenario he was unjustly judged in his own Father’s House in his own Father’s chosen judgment seat of Israel pursuant to his Father’s own Law of blasphemy.

Perhaps the greatest paradox of all time – at the Passover on the sacred Mount Moriah in the holy city of Jerusalem, Jesus declared himself to be the Son of God to the Priests and Scribes of the Temple, the House of God – was the statement of Jesus under oath a blasphemy or the truth?

 

Updated September 21, 2022.

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This work is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License .

REFERENCES:

NASB = New American Standard Bible translation
ISV = International Standard Version translation
NIV = New International Version translation
NKJV = New King James Version translation

[1] NASB. Luke 22:67-71. CR Matthew 26:63-65; Mark 14-63-65;
[2] Soncino Babylonian Talmud. Ed. Isidore Epstein. Sanhedrin 55b, footnote #20. <http://come-and-hear.com/tcontents.html>   
[3] Soncino Babylonian Talmud. Sanhedrin 56a, 66a.  The Babylonian Talmud. Rodkinson translation. Book 8, Tract Sanhedrin, Chapter VII, Mishna VI. <http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/talmud.htm>
[4] Soncino Babylonian Talmud. Sanhedrin 56a, 66a.
[5] Lamm, Maurice. “Keriah – The Rending of Garments.” Chabad.org. 2018. <http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/281558/jewish/Keriah-The-Rending-of-Garments.htm>
[6] “<H0430>”Lexicon-Concordance Online Bible.  n.d. <http://lexiconcordance.com>
[7] Net.bible.org. Hebrew text. Strong, James. The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. 1990.“hayah <1961>.”  The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary. 2018. Shemot – Exodus 3:14 translation & commentary. <http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9864#showrashi=true>  “exist;” “be/” “become,” “transitive.” Merriam-Webster. 2018. <http://www.merriam-webster.com> “<H1961>”Lexicon-Concordance Online Bible.  n.d. <http://lexiconcordance.com>
[8] Rashi. The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary. Shemot – Exodus 3:15 commentary. Benner, Jeff, The Ancient Hebrew Alphabet. 2017. “vav.” <http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/alphabet_letters_vav.html>
[9] Soncino Babylonian Talmud. Sanhedrin 55b & footnote #20, 56a.   Martincic, Tom. “The Meaning of the Tetragrammaton.”  Eliyah.com.  n.d.  <http://www.eliyah.com/tetragrm.html>  “Tetragrammaton.” Dictionary.com.  <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tetragrammaton?s=t>  Marlowe, Michael. The Translation of the Tetragrammaton.”  Bible Research. 2011. <http://www.bible-researcher.com/tetragrammaton.html>  “Tetragrammation.” Jewish Encyclopedia. 2011. <http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14346-tetragrammaton>  Singer, Isidore; Adler, Cyrus, et. al.  The Jewish Encyclopedia. Volume 9. 1912. “The Seven Names.” p 163. <https://books.google.com/books?id=lfoOtGOcIBYC&lpg=PA594&ots=6qoCfVVUz7&dq=wave+sheaf+encyclopedia&pg=PA594&hl=en#v=onepage&q=seven&f=false>
[10] NetBible.com. Exodus 3:6 – Septuagint text; Hebrew text Myhlah <403>, ‘elohiym, the plural form of  ‘elowahh <0433>. Biblehub.com. Exodus 3:6 Hebrew ’ĕ-lō-hê <403>, plural form of eloah. Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities of the Jews. Book XII, Chapter II.1-6, 13-1. Trans. William Whitson. The Complete Works of Josephus. 1850. <http://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false>  “I AM.” Names For God. n.d. <https://namesforgod.net/i-am> 
[11] Net.bible.org. Luke 22:70, Greek text.  Strong. “ego <1473> The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. 
[12] Net.bible.org. Luke 22:70, Greek text.  Strong. “eimi <1510>” The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.       
[13] Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary. John 8:12. BibleHub.com. <http://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb/john/8.htm>
[14] Gill’s Exposition. John 8:24. BibleHub.com. <http://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/john/8.htm> Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. John 8:24. BibleHub.com. <http://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/john/8.htm> Wesley’s Notes on the Bible. John 8:24. BibleHub.com. <http://biblehub.com/commentaries/wes/john/8.htm>
[15] Wesley’s Notes on the Bible. John 8:28. Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. John 8:28.
[16] NASB. John 8:52.
[17] John 8:52-55.
[18] Gill’s Exposition. John 8:58. Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. John 8:58. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary. John 8:58. Wesley’s Notes on the Bible. John 8:58.
[19] John 8:59.

David – Iconic King of Israel

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

David – Iconic King of Israel

 

Prophecies foretell the Messiah would come from the House of David. The Biblical story of the iconic King of Israel starts with his birth in Bethlehem in the tribe of Judah; his amazing heroics; and the journey to establishing his kingdom to prophecies foretelling the promised Messiah would be an heir to his throne.

Red-headed David, the youngest of 8 boys, drew the short straw in the family and was assigned to be the shepherd of his father’s sheep.[1] Alone in the wilderness, he became an expert with a slingshot and single-handedly killed lions and bears who threatened the flock.[2]

Summoned one day by his father, Jesse, to their home in Bethlehem, much to David’s surprise the prophet Samuel was there waiting. Shockingly, the prophet anointed David as God’s choice to be the next King of Israel in-spite-of the fact Israel already had a ruling King.[3] Nothing changed immediately, but David’s legendary actions began to grow soon thereafter…

Three of David’s brothers were fighting in Israel’s army supported by their father who routinely sent David to them with supplies. During one visit, David was astonished to see Israel’s army afraid of an ace giant Philistine warrior named Goliath who challenged and taunted Israel’s army daily.

Asking King Saul’s permission to battle Goliath, the shepherd boy was ridiculed by his older brothers and Saul tried to talk David out of it; however, the King relented. David defiantly announced to Goliath he would kill him in the name of the Lord and cut off his head.

David did just that – with a slingshot and a single stone he killed Goliath, then used Goliath’s own sword to cut off his head. That very day David was placed in the service of King Saul.[4]

David’s fame eventually made Saul jealous the King tried to hunt down the fugitive and kill him.[5] Failing to seek and obey God’s guidance would cost Saul his own life and that of his sons in battle. After Saul’s death, David became king, but he had no throne.[6] The fortified city of Jebus appeared to be the perfect place.

As a skilled formidable warrior from serving in King Saul’s army, David had become well-known to his enemies.[7] Equipped with this savvy reputation, he gathered people of Israel, formed an army and advanced toward Jebus.

Hurling insults at David’s approaching army, the Jebusites taunted them shouting “the blind and the lame” could fight off Israel and in arrogant mockery positioned lame and blind people on the city walls.[8] Taking great offense, David offered his commanding leaders a General’s position to whomever led the army to victory over Jebus.[9]

Joab won the challenge and became the commanding General of Israel’s army. Soon after taking the city, it was expanded to encompass Mounts Moriah and Zion. Jebus, formerly known as Salem, now was called by a new name – Jerusalem, the City of David.[10] 

More good news came from God through the prophet Nathan. He foretold that David’s future son would be the one to build the House of God fulfilling the remaining promise God made to Moses at Mt. Sinai as well as the promise made to Jacob that the scepter would never leave his family:[11]

2 Sam 7:12-13  “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” [12]

Basking in the glory of his kingdom, David decided to take a census contrary to God’s past instructions because it demonstrated a lack of faith.[13] General Joab pressed the King not to do it, but David persisted.[14]

Punishment delivered by “an angel of the Lord” for David’s sin was heavy upon the nation and the King pleaded with God to punish only himself and his family because Israel was innocent. The prophet Gad delivered God’s response instructing David to build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah located on Mount Moriah and offer an atonement sacrifice for the people of Israel.[15]

David purchased the threshing floor, the oxen and materials, then built the altar himself. Astonishingly, God sent fire down from heaven to consume the sacrifice. Moved deeply, David declared:  “This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of burnt offerings for Israel.”[16]

The promised permanent place for God’s Name to dwell, the Temple, was to be built on Mount Moriah, the place where a 1000 years earlier Abraham took his only son, Isaac, to be sacrificed but was then spared at the last moment with a substitute sacrificial ram.[17]

Lord Acton’s quote “absolute power corrupts absolutely” applied even to David. From his palace rooftop, David watched his neighbor’s wife taking a bath. Her name, ironically, was Bath-Sheba. The King dispatched his men to bring her to his palace where David seduced her and she became pregnant.[18]

Bath-Sheba’s husband, Uriah, was one of the King’s top military officers away fighting a war – how would Bath-Sheba explain away her pregnancy? David devised a cover-up plan.

Uriah was summoned from the battlefield at the behest of David under the pretense of earning a well-deserved leave from duty. The true reason was to give Bath-Sheba an opportunity to have marital relations with her husband to legitimize her pregnancy. The plan backfired when the loyal Uriah did not think it would be fair to his troops back on the battlefield if he were at home enjoying the pleasures of his wife.

David’s back-up scheme was much more sinister. The King sent Uriah to the front lines of the war in hopes he would die in battle. Indeed, Uriah was killed in action. A royally planned and executed murder plot seemed foolproof – except to God. The prophet Nathan exposed David’s sin bringing judgment upon David and Bath-Sheba when their ill-conceived baby died.[19]

In spite of his deplorable sins of adultery and murder, God still honored His promise to David. Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah over the following centuries would prophesy that the Messiah would come from the House of David; prophecies attested by renowned Jewish Sages Rashi and Maimonides.[20]

David also wrote many of the Psalms, some deemed to be prophetic.[21] First words of Psalms 22, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” were cried out by Jesus shortly before he died on the cross. The 22nd Psalm depicts the dramatic image of a man dying in agony and humiliation, remarkably consistent in specific detail, with the circumstances of the Roman crucifixion of Jesus a millennium later.

As a mortal, Jesus would have no control over being born a 1000 years later into the royal lineage of David nor in his same hometown of Bethlehem. Especially exceptional considering that up until the last moment, Jesus was expected to be born in Nazareth, a week’s-long journey away. From King David to Jesus, what are the odds of improbability all these events occurred simply by chance?

 

Updated December 25, 2022.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

[1] 2 Samuel 11, 16.
[2] I Samuel 17.
[3] I Sam. 16; Chronicles 2, 10.
[4] I Samuel 18. “David and Goliath.” WallpaperCave. photo. n.d. <https://wallpapercave.com/wp/wp3721504.jpg> 
[5] I Samuel 19.
[6] 2 Samuel 2, 5.  1 Chronicles 10, 11.
[7] 1Chronicles 11.
[8] I Chronicles 11; 2 Samuel 5.  Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities of the Jews. Book VII, Chapter III.1. <http://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false>
[9] 2 Samuel 5; I Chronicles 11.  Josephus. Antiquity. Book VII, Chapter III.1.
[10] I Chronicles 17:1. Josephus. Antiquity. Book VII, Chapter III.1-2. Net.bible.org. Hebrew text. “Jebus <2982>”  <https://net.bible.org>  Lexicon-Concordance Online Bible.  Hebrew “Jebuw <2982>” (Brown-Driver-Briggs). <http://lexiconcordance.com>  Dolphin, Lambert. “Mount Moriah, Site of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.”  TempleMount.org. 1996.  <http://www.templemount.org/moriah2.html> “Zion.”  Fausset Bible Dictionary. 1878. http://classic.studylight.org/dic/fbd>
[11] Genesis 49; 2 Samuel 5; 1 Chronicles 11, 17; Chronicles 5; 1Kings 2; Judges 1; Psalms 76.  Josephus. Antiquities. Book VII, Chapter III.2.
[12] NASB.  I Chronicles 17.
[13] Exodus 30.
[14] I Chronicles 21; 2 Samuel 24.
[15] I Chronicles 21; 2 Chronicles 3; 2 Samuel 24.
[16] NKJV.  I Chronicles 21-22.  2 Samuel 24. “Araunah.” Jewish Encyclopedia. 2011. <http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com> “The Site – The Temple Mount.”  Bible-History.com.  n.d. <http://www.bible-history.com/jewishtemple/JEWISH_TEMPLEThe_Site.htm>  Josephus.  Antiquities. Book VII, Chapter III.
[17] I Chronicles 22; 2 Chronicles 3.
[18] 2 Samuel 11.  “Lord Acton writes to Bishop Creighton…” Online Library of Liberty. 2017. <http://oll.libertyfund.org/quote/214>  “King David Quotes.” AZQuotes. photo. n.d. <https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/king-david.html> 
[19] 2 Samuel 12.
[20] Isaiah 9; Jeremiah 23; 33; Zechariah 12.  The Compete Jewish Bible – with Rashi Commentary. Rashi commentaries: Gensis 49:10; Numbers 24:17; Zechariah 12:12; Micah 5:2. Maimonides.  Mishneh Torah.  “The Law Concerning Moshiach.” Chapter 11. <http://www.kesser.org/moshiach/rambam.html#SIE>
[21] The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi’s Commentary. Rashi commentaries on Micah 5:2 and Psalms 118:22. “Salvation.” Jewish Encyclopedia.  2011.