Note 1 at Joh 5:1: The city of Jerusalem is located twenty-two miles west of the Dead Sea and Jordan River and thirty-seven miles east of the Mediterranean Sea. It was constructed on four hills (Zion, Moriah, Acra, and Bezetha) and surrounded on the east, west, and south by deep valleys.

Although the name Jerusalem means "founded peaceful" (Strong's Concordance), it has undergone at least twenty-eight sieges since the time of Joshua until our day, with literally hundreds of thousands of lives lost. One source reports 600,000 Jews were slain when the Romans, under Titus, destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

It is not surprising that Satan would unleash some of his most vicious attacks against a city that was (1) the capital of the only kingdom God ever established among man; (2) the location of the temple of God where God often spoke with people and accepted their sacrifices; (3) the city of God's prophets and kings in the line of David; (4) the site of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ; and (5) the place where the Christian church was birthed on the Day of Pentecost.

Many other names are used to designate Jerusalem throughout Scripture, most of which indicate a connection or closeness to God. The most frequently used name is Zion, which appears well over one hundred times in the Old Testament and seven times in the New Testament (under the name Sion). It has often been called the city of David, but by far, Jerusalem is mainly known as the city of God. It is called the city of God (Ps 46:4, 48:1, 8, 87:3; Heb 12:22; and Re 3:12), the city of the LORD (Isa 60:14), the mountain of the LORD (Isa 2:3 and 30:29), the city of righteousness (Isa 1:26), Ariel (meaning "lion of God" [Strong's Concordance], Isa 29:1), the faithful city (Isa 1:26), the mountain of the LORD of hosts (Zec 8:3), the holy mount or mountain (Ps 48:1; Isa 11:9, 27:13, 66:20; Da 11:45; and Zec 8:3), the place of my sanctuary (Isa 60:13), the Zion of the Holy One of Israel (Isa 60:14), the holy city (Ne 11:1, 18; Isa 48:2, 52:1; Mt 4:5, 27:53; and Re 11:2), and Hephzibah (Isa 62:4 - meaning "my delight (is) in her" [Strong's Concordance]). Research on names given to Jerusalem would add considerably to this list, but the list given here establishes the close connection of the heart of God to Jerusalem.

God Himself referred to Jerusalem as "my city" (Isa 45:13) and "my holy mountain" (Isa 11:9; 56:7; 57:13; 65:11, 25; and 66:20). He gave this distinction to no other place or city.

Before the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites under Joshua, the city was known as Urusalim (an abbreviated form of this name is Salim or Salem); this is the earliest known name and means a "city of Salim" or a "city of peace." The king of Jerusalem at the time the Israelites invaded Canaan was Adonizedek (Jos 10:1), whose name means "lord of justice" (Strong's Concordance), substantially the same as "king of righteousness," which was used of Melchisedec (Heb 7:1-3) who reigned as King of Salem some 500 years before (O.T. spelling is Melchizedek).

Although the name "Jerusalem" does not appear in the account of Melchisedec blessing Abraham in Ge 14:18-20, scholars believe that the "Salem" mentioned in Ge 14:18 is the abbreviated form of "Jerusalem" or "Urusalim," and therefore the city existed before the time of Abraham.

In the account given in Ge 22 of God telling Abraham to "get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him [Isaac] there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of" (Ge 22:2, brackets mine), the place is called "the mount of the LORD" (Ge 22:14), and evidence is strong that Mount Moriah in Jerusalem was the location of this incident.

After Israel's invasion into the Promised Land, the children of Judah had the responsibility to drive the Jebusites from Jerusalem but failed to do so (Jos 15:63). The Jebusites were descendants of a son of Canaan, the son of Ham, who was the son of Noah (Ge 10:1, 6, and 16). It is possible that the Jebusites settled in the area of Jerusalem after the Flood and may have played a part in building it. At any rate, they were so well established that the children of Judah could not drive them out.

After the death of Joshua (Jdg 1:1), the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it (Jdg 1:8) and proceeded to conquer other occupied areas. They still were not totally successful, however, as revealed in Jdg 1:21. The Jebusites still inhabited Jerusalem with the children of Benjamin who were unable or unwilling to drive them out.

Even before this time, the city had been referred to as Jebusi (Jos 18:16 and 28). The name "Jebus" continued (Jdg 19:10-11), and the Jebusites continued to inhabit the city until the time of David. The account of the final conquering of the Jebusites is found in 2Sa 5:6-9 and 1Ch 11:4-8. David had already reigned in Hebron as king over all the tribes of Israel for seven and one-half years (2Sa 5:1 and 5), but when Jebus was conquered, David moved his headquarters there and called it "the city of David" (2Sa 5:9).

Toward the end of David's reign, he was tempted to take a census of Israel (1Ch 21:1), which displeased the Lord (1Ch 21:7). One of the results was that Jerusalem was almost destroyed by an angel (1Ch 21:16). David repented and was commanded to build "an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite" (1Ch 21:18). He bought the land, built the altar, and offered sacrifices there, and Jerusalem was saved (1Ch 21:25-27).

Solomon, when given the task of building the temple, built it in Mount Moriah in the exact spot where David had built his altar and sacrificed to stop the destruction of Jerusalem (2Ch 3:1). It was during Solomon's reign that Jerusalem reached the peak of its glory, as indicated by 2Ch 9:27, "And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance."

Jerusalem remained the capital of a united Israel until, under Rehoboam, David's grandson and son of Solomon, ten tribes revolted and made Jeroboam their king. The kingdom was divided about 975 B.C. (1Ki 12:19-20). Jerusalem remained the capital of Judah until 616 B.C., when it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (2Ki 24:11-16 and 25:8-12).

Jerusalem became the capital once again in 546 B.C. after the seventy-year captivity was ended, and it remained the capital through Roman occupation and the earthly appearance of Jesus, until A.D. 70 when it was utterly destroyed by the Romans under Titus. Some 567 years later (around A.D. 637) an Arab leader by the name of Umar built a Moslem temple that later became the Dome of the Rock on Mount Moriah to commemorate Abraham's offering of Isaac. This temple, although rebuilt several times, remains on Mount Moriah today.

Not until June 1967 did Jerusalem once again come completely under the control of the Jews. It now serves, as in Jesus' time, as Israel's capital.