The Exclusivity of Jerusalem
After the Temple of Solomon was destroyed, many Israelites went into exile across Babylon. The Israelites not only had to find their footing in this new environment but also questioned how they could worship Yahweh. The Temple and Jerusalem itself were seen as a bridge between Heaven and Earth, and now that they were gone, the Israelites did not know how to worship, as they wrote, “How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?”(Psalm 137:4). This was until Yahweh made an appearance to Ezekiel while in exile, which revealed that while the “Ark of the Covenant was still in the Temple in Jerusalem,... his glory had arrived in Babylon”(Armstrong 83).
Yahweh chose to reveal himself to the exiles, not those who stayed behind, and so they saw themselves, and not others, as his chosen people. Much later, the Israelites in exile were able to return to Jerusalem under Cyrus, a Persian king. He issued a decree stating that the temple should be rebuilt, and so it was. It was a long and difficult process for the exiled to return and rebuild, and the idea of them as the chosen people created conflict. Some thought that “[i]t was important to not rebuild the walls of Jerusalem so that the city would be able to accommodate the vast numbers of people would flock to live there”(Armstrong 94). Many did not share this vision. When the people of Samerina, in the old northern Kingdom of Isreal, came to help rebuild, they were rejected. These people were likely descendants of the foreigners who settled in the country, some were also Israelites and Judeans, but they were all Yahwists. They were rejected because the Golah, the exiled who returned, “constitute the ‘true’ Israel”(Armstrong 94). The Samerinans and other Yahwists were not seen as brothers, but rather as enemies, known to the Golah as the Am Ha-Aretz. Despite religious writing previously stating otherwise, the Am Ha-Aretz were seen as strangers and not welcomed. As a result, rather than bringing peace, Jerusalem was a cause of “contention in the Holy Land”(Armstrong 94).
This tension lasted and caused issues for Jerusalem until Ezra, a Yahwist in exile, became the leader of Jerusalem. He declared membership in Israel was restricted to those who were exiled to Babylone and those who were prepared to submit to the Torah, and so it was. This ruling was controversial to the citizens of Jerusalem but marked a period of eight generations past Ezra in which this idea and the Torah became central to the people of Judah. This belief would later clash against the spread of Hellenism, and cause the course of Jerusalem to change.
Photo Source:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/73957618859637660/
Yahweh chose to reveal himself to the exiles, not those who stayed behind, and so they saw themselves, and not others, as his chosen people. Much later, the Israelites in exile were able to return to Jerusalem under Cyrus, a Persian king. He issued a decree stating that the temple should be rebuilt, and so it was. It was a long and difficult process for the exiled to return and rebuild, and the idea of them as the chosen people created conflict. Some thought that “[i]t was important to not rebuild the walls of Jerusalem so that the city would be able to accommodate the vast numbers of people would flock to live there”(Armstrong 94). Many did not share this vision. When the people of Samerina, in the old northern Kingdom of Isreal, came to help rebuild, they were rejected. These people were likely descendants of the foreigners who settled in the country, some were also Israelites and Judeans, but they were all Yahwists. They were rejected because the Golah, the exiled who returned, “constitute the ‘true’ Israel”(Armstrong 94). The Samerinans and other Yahwists were not seen as brothers, but rather as enemies, known to the Golah as the Am Ha-Aretz. Despite religious writing previously stating otherwise, the Am Ha-Aretz were seen as strangers and not welcomed. As a result, rather than bringing peace, Jerusalem was a cause of “contention in the Holy Land”(Armstrong 94).
This tension lasted and caused issues for Jerusalem until Ezra, a Yahwist in exile, became the leader of Jerusalem. He declared membership in Israel was restricted to those who were exiled to Babylone and those who were prepared to submit to the Torah, and so it was. This ruling was controversial to the citizens of Jerusalem but marked a period of eight generations past Ezra in which this idea and the Torah became central to the people of Judah. This belief would later clash against the spread of Hellenism, and cause the course of Jerusalem to change.
Photo Source:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/73957618859637660/
Nice post. To be clear, Ezekiel believed that the LORD was with the exiled community, but those who stayed behind thought the LORD was with them. In other words, within the larger group of people who worshiped the LORD, there have always been different ideas of how to worship, how to act, and who is included/excluded in the community. We saw this in the First Temple Period and will continue to see it for Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities to this day.
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