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聖經中的鍚安傳統
聖經中的鍚安傳統
龍緯汶
1994
INTRODUCTION
The people of Israel think that Zion (Jerusalem) is the royal city of Yahweh, who is the War God and only one God of them. The city symbolizes the exercise of the rule of Yahweh in the earth.
There is an example of such kind of tradition in the writings of the Bible:
Mount Zion rejoices, the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments. I (Psalm 48:11)
ZION TRADITION AND YAHWEH TRADITION
In the book of Prophet Isaiah, verse two of chapter two, there is:
In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s temple wifi be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
Isaiah is one of the followers of the Zion tradition. Similar to many people, he is also a writer of J (Yahweh) tradition (part of the Old Testament written around 950 BC.). The characteristics of the writings of the J tradition is that its writers try to build up a comprehensive structure of history with the description that Yahweh is the God of victory and the savior of the people of Israel. That tells us the impacts of the Zion tradition on the writings of the J tradition.
MAIN IDEAS OF ZION TRADITION
1. The Divine Mountain
The hill, which Jerusalem is built, is regarded to be holy, great and high. Sometimes it is to be compared with the great mountain of Zaphon, which is located in the far north.
There is an example in the writings of the Bible:
In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. ‘ (Ezekiel 40:2)
2. The Paradise River
It refers to one of the springs in the city. Its water symbolizes the power, joy, fertility and healing given to the people of Israel by Yahweh.
There is an example in the writings of the Bible:
In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills wifi flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias.’ (Joel 2:18)
3. The chaos conqueror
It is the thinking that Jerusalem is to be stable and peace forever because Yahweh is to be with us in the city forever.
There is an example in the writings of the Bible:
Oh, the raging of many nations -- they rage like the raging sea! Oh, the uproar of the peoples -- they roar like the raging of great waters! Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale. In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us.’ (Isaiah 17:12-14)
4. The nations defeater
No other nation can conquer Jerusalem because of the guidance of Yahweh. He is to defeat the enemies of Israel suddenly and then a long peaceful time is to exist.
There is an example in the writings of the Bible:
The LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of bathe.’ (Zechariah 14:3)
5. The nations pilgrimage
All people in the world of aD nations who have seen the mighty of Yahweh and respect his sovereignty are willing to go to Jerusalem for worshipping him.
There is an example in the writings of the Bible:
At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers -- the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD Almighty.’ (Isaiah 18:7)
ORIGINS
The historical experience
The ideas of the nations defeater and the nations pilgrimage come from it. According to the Bible, many other nations wanted to defeat the people of Israel and captured Jerusalem. Finally, by the help of Yahweh, the invaders were defeated and driven out.
The influence of the Canaanite mythology
The idea of the divine mountain, the paradise river and the chaos conqueror are based from that. Firstly, all peoples in the Middle and Near East at that time believe that Gods were living in high mountains. God Baal of Canaanite people are told to live in Mount Zaphon. The praise song in Isaiah 17:12-14 is properly based on the myth of the defeat of a sea god, Yamm, by Baal.
Similar to the above, the paradise river idea is properly based on how the Canaanite people describe El, another important Canaanite God,’ spring of the two rivers, and the source of the two seas ‘. This is the description of Mount LI, owned by EL.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ZION TRADITION
The mythological impacts of God El and Baal of Canaan to the Zion tradition make us difficult to tell when the tradition begins. The tradition is indeed the history, nowadays situations and future wishes of the nation.
Before the reign of David, Israel is a weak tribe that always be ruled by other tribes for centuries. Egypt is a good example, which has controlled Israel since 1600 BC. King Amen-hotep II of Egypt has raised two campaigns to Palestine to settle riots and drive foreign invaders out. Beside Egypt, Syria, Moab, and many other tribes has also controlled Israel for a short period of time.
Amongst them, the most difficult tribe the people of Israel have to deal with is the people of Philistines who are experts in making metal weapon and wheels. To the people of Israel in those days there is only a wish for them that Yahweh can drive the foreign dictators out of Palestine. In Psalms 2:1-3, that wish is clearly stated out:
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One, Let us break their chains,” they say,” and throw off their fetters.”’
David is the greatest king in the dynastic history of Israel. He controls a vast kingdom from Turkey (north) to Egypt (south); from the Mediterranean Sea (west) to the sources of River Euphrates and Tigris (east). He obtains many vassal states and has won many wars. David, because of political reasons, religious unity and the gaining of loyalty from his officials and generals, claims that all the victories exist because of the help and guidance of Yahweh. The moving of the Ark back to Jerusalem is one of the related works to his policy that David has done. His successor, Solomon, has done a greater job of building the first temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem, In II Samuel 6:12,
Now King David was told, “ The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the Ark of God.” So David went down and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing.
ln I King 8:6,
The priests then brought the Ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.’
As time goes by, the people of Israel become luxurious and do many things that make Yahweh be angry, even the kings do evil things also. Many prophets have preached messages to them, telling them to feel sorry to Yahweh. However, the royalist prophets have told the people that even they are bad, Yahweh is not to punish them by putting them under foreign control because they live in his royal city.
Finally, the people of the North Kingdom are exiled to Assyria while the people of the South Kingdom are sent to Babylon. No sooner has they returned to Palestine the Greeks come. After the Greeks, then come the Romans.
At first, the people of Israel think that the Messiah who they wait for so long can lead them to drive out the foreign rulers and to resume the glory and exercise the power of Yahweh in the earth. They fell disappointed after several unsuccessful attempts of revolutions leading by people who have claimed themselves Messiah’. Even Jesus, to whom the people think to be’ Messiah’, has been killed on a cross. They feel totally disappointed after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 AD, after another unsuccessful attempt of revolution. The people of Israel are driven out of Palestine for two thousands years.
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