Restoration of the House of Yahweh: The Prophetic
fulfilment of repairing the breaches begins at the Tabernacle of David
Am:9:11: “In
that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up
the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in
the days of old.”
In the old days the Citadel of David on Mount Zion was
an amazing structure (example shown above).After being buried for centuries and excavated several times, finally repairs
are under way on the Citadel of David that began in June of 2007.Isa:58:12: prophesied this event when it said
“And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt
raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The
repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.”
The Repairers of the Breaches are on site doing the
job prophesied about since Isaiah’s time.However, the fortress has over time been restore and reconstructed many
times before by the sons of Israel. Thus to understand the significance of what
is taking place we must first understand what were the ‘foundations of many
generations’ that were before us here.Yisrael Today takes a step into the past history of the House of Yahweh
fortress (Citadel of David) and its history as it aligns with biblical
references.
In 1962 the archaeologist Yohanan Aharoni discovered
the remains of this ancient fortress and started excavations on the site.In the book of his conclusion about the
fortress he stated "There can be no doubt that the shrine in the northwest
corner of the Arad fortress had all the architectural elements of the Jerusalem
temple and the Pentateuchal tabernacle: courtyard, vestibule, holy place, holy
of holies, altar for burnt offerings, incense altars and even the orientation
towards the sunrise."
The excavations by Mr. Aharoni revealed that the site
was actually a series of Israelite Fortresses rebuilt one on top of the
other.The Fortress was constructed
initially in the 12th century on the hill of Zion by the Jebusites
the fortress was taken over by King David by the mid 11th
century.The 12th century was when the
Jebusites still had control over Jebusi (Jerusalem) and whatever fortification
they had upon mount Zion.Excavations
upon the site have revealed that a small unfortified town on the southeast edge
of the ancient city, on the edge that thereafter became the citadel mound.
Yet toward the end of the 11th century was David's
reign and conquest of the fort and also the creation of the tabernacle of
David. Findings from that stratum were excavated mainly on the western slope,
where they dug deeply outside the walls of the later citadel.It seems that their only defence was an
embankment around the edge of the slope.This embankment is considered Millo by definition identical to the verse
at 2Sa:5:9: “So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David.And David built round about from Millo and
inward.”
David also brought the Ark to the fortress on Zion and
created a place to sit the Ark of the Covenant.2Sa:6:17: “And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in his
place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David
offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.”At the top of the hill, there was a holy area
which was surrounded by a temenos wall; within it were remains of the holy
place and altar. Temenos means a piece of land cut off as an official or sacred
domain (the sacred precinct of the Ark).
This area
existed all during King David’s reign until Solomon was made king over Israel
when he decided to repair the fortress and make the tabernacle a permanent structure.In the early 10th century the
first in a series of Israelite fortresses was built by Solomon when he
re-enforced the citadel of Zion.Excavations show that its area was about 50 x 50 square meters, and it
was surrounded by a casemate wall with projecting towers, one on each corner,
and two on each side. The gate was in the northeast corner opposite the
sanctuary, which stood in the northeast corner. This sanctuary was one of the
chief buildings of the citadel, and continued to exist with changes and repairs
during Strata XI-VII.They also found 6
inscriptions from this time within the sanctuary.
Solomon made mention of his restorations on the
fortress at 1Ki:11:27 stating “And this was the cause that he lifted up his
hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the
city of David his father.”And he called
the fortress that David dwelled in with the Ark a holy place.As stated in 2Ch:8:11 "And Solomon
brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that
he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of
David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the
LORD hath come." Archaeologists seem to agree with this statement when
considering the evidence founded upon the site.
In the book
'The Archaeology of the land of Israel' on page 229 as it was stated that
“There is no doubt that this is an Israelite temple in the full meaning of that
word, a house of Yahweh in biblical terms, not just a shrine built during the
Israelite period."However the
fortress of David was not a temple like Solomon made but it was a tabernacle by
design.The same book made this point
clear by adding, "The description of the Tabernacle is, therefore, a
precise depiction of the Arad shrine in all of its details, including the
measurements with one difference: in contrast to the broad room at Arad, the
Tabernacle is described as a long room with its entrance on one of the short
sides. It is probable that this detail influenced the Solomonic Temple, in the
light of which the Tabernacle was now being viewed."
Approximately 105 years after Solomon’s fortification
of the tabernacle of David in the reign of Jehoshaphat the righteous king over
Judah at the end of the 10th century B.C.Excavations revealed that remodelling was
done on the fortress at the beginning of the 9th century.In addition to the external construction done
on the altar by his father Asa the righteous king of Judah (2Ch:15:8); King
Jehoshaphat refortified the citadels all over the land.2Ch:17:12: “And Jehoshaphat waxed great
exceedingly; and he built in Judah castles, and cities of store.”A new wall was built surrounding the fortress
--- a wall full of small angles and without towers. The gate was moved a little
to the south and was now near the center of the eastern side. In the northeast
corner of the fortress, a storehouse was built which remained part of all
future citadels up to Stratum VI. The courtyard was from now on in the center
of the fortress toward the eastern side; (however, its exact size is unknown
because of the Hellenistic tower whose foundations were sunk deeply here).
King Jehoshaphat set up righteous judgement among the
Priest & Levites in the House of Yahweh and among all the people of Judah
and within Jerusalem. (2Ch:19:4-11), apparently space was made within the
fortress for his men of valour and judges (2Ch:17:13; 19).From this time living quarters were found to
the south of the courtyard, along the southern wall.To the west of the courtyard were additional
rooms, some of them workshops.They
found 11 inscriptions from this time.In
addition, at the bottom of the slopes was an exterior terrace wall supporting the
glacis (the length of the slope).A
water canal was dug in this stratum which brought the water to cisterns dug in
the rock underneath some of the buildings of the fortress.
Yet by the 8th century B.C. was the reign
of righteous King Uzziah of Judah and new fortifications was made upon the
House of Yahweh.At 2Ch:26:9: it was
written “Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at
the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.”Excavations from this time period revealed
that the plan of the fortress, the placement of the important buildings, and
its wall remained the same in this stratum.As to the fortifications, here is the beginning of a phenomenon
characteristic of the two subsequent strata: parallel lines have been built
inside of the thick walls, similar to casemate walls.Apparently this was done for two reasons; to
strengthen the parts of the wall that had become weak, and to make it wider.The sacrificial altar found in the courtyard
of the sanctuary is from Stratum IX, and under it are remains of earlier
altars. Uzziah was said to have entered the Sanctuary to burn incense but he
was turned into a leper because only the priest should do this
(2Ch:26:16-21).About 10 inscriptions
were found from this time, one of which was an ostracon referring to the
priestly house of Zadok in the holy of holies.
Some time around 734 B.C. were the reign of the wicked
king Ahaz over Judah and he changed and moved objects with the citadel
(2Ki:16:14).The plan of the citadel
remained the same as that of Stratum IX in all important details. The stone shewbread
table with a flint stone on its top is miscalled the altar.Although the sanctuary was rehabilitated, the
shewbread table ceased to be used, and the floor of the courtyard covered it.
Also by the reign of the righteous king Hezekiah most inscriptions begin to be
written to the House of Yahweh were found dated to around this time and number
of inscriptions found were 22 ostracon referring to offerings brought to the
sanctuary and holy place.The seal of
Hezekiah discovered was dated to have been made in 702 B.C. According to
2Ch:32:30: “This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and
brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David.And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.”
The 'Three
shekel ostraca', was also discovered from this date.It is the oldest artifact to mention the
House of Yahweh written around this time and it also mentioned Ashyahu or
Eshiyah (ASYHW) the same father of Eliashib found written in the 17th
House of Yahweh inscription.
Eliashib seemed to have served over the house of
Yahweh fortress for most of the time King Josiah reined over Judah.It was in the late part of this century seals
were made at the House of Yahweh with the name of Eliashib son of Eshyahu
(Ashyahu) upon them.It is possibly that
at this point Eliashib took over his father's office.The plan of the citadel and its buildings was
again similar to its predecessors. The outstanding innovation here is the
addition of an interior wall parallel to the whole southern wall of the
fortress.Thus the living quarters
located here were truncated and their southern portions became small casemate
rooms. In one of these rooms, near the eastern corner (Locus 779), the seals of
Eliashib were found along with 13 other inscriptions from this time.
In addition to the sanctuary’s dimensions an ostracon
was discovered in the holy of holies that referred to the site as the BYT YHWH
or ‘House of Yahweh’.The other side of
the ostracon clearly said that the letter was sent to Eliashib at the ‘house of
Yahweh’ that he dwelled in.
Afterward, from the 7th century to the 6th
cetury and fall of Judah the fortress was encircled by a new casemate wall which
had towers projecting at the corners and in the middle of each side, similar to
the fortress of Kadesh-Barnea and Horvat Uzza. Along the western side and in
the northwest corner, a completely new wall was built, whereas the rest of the
wall was rebuilt along the lines of the old wall. In the south, the interior
line of the casement wall of Stratum VII became the exterior wall of Stratum
VI. The general plan of the fortress was not changed in this stratum except for
two things: the sanctuary ceased to exist, most of it being buried under the
wall; and the gate was moved to the north side. It would seem that the two
changes were connected, the cancellation of the sanctuary, the area built
courtyard into which a new gate led.The
numbers of inscriptions found from this time were 32 all of which mention
offers that continued to be brought the site. Also not long after the end of
the citadel the Babylonians invaded Judah and destroyed most of the cities laid
the land waste by 568 B.C.E.
After Babylon’s invasion and the rise of the later
Empire, the children of Israel consistently returned to this location to
reconstruct it and make offerings:
In the first of these periods the scriptures specks of
the King Cyrus of Persia and stated at 2Ch:36:22: "Now in the first year
of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of
Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of
Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also
in writing, saying, 2Ch:36:23: Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the
kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged
me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among
you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up."
From the writings found at the house in this time it shows the same pattern of
offerings at the House of Yahweh as during the kingdom of Judah.
From excavations they learned of the existence of this
stratum mainly from the ostraca found in the refuse pits scattered over the
whole area (85 inscriptions written in Aramaic were found).According to the 'Fortress Mound Program' by
the Israel Nature and Parks Authority "The bulk of the Aramaic ostraca
ascribed to the Persian period give lists detailing amounts of food and
money...."And according to the
contents of the ostraca, it is clear that there was a fortress in this stratum,
too. It seems that it was not large and was located where the Hellenistic tower
was later built.
The second period of return for the children of Israel
took place in the 3rd century at the time of Eleazar the high priest
was the ruler of the land and had selected men to translate the Torah for
Ptolemy II (or Philadelphus 308 to 246 B.C.) (Letter of Aristeas 3:63) however,
the House of Yahweh (tabernacle of David) fortress wasn't mentioned in the
record. Yet from excavations it was discovered that a reconstructed fortress
was done in this period.The main fortification
of the period was the largest tower about twenty by
twenty meters --- whose foundations were sunk down to bedrock thus destroying
the remains of other strata in this place. Mainly to the west and north of this
tower were several buildings used as living quarters and workshops.
These constructions mentioned also remodelled at the
time of Judas Maccabee in 166 and 165 B.C. in December of the latter year;
Judas formally cleansed the House of Yahweh of Hellenistic pollution and
celebrated the occasion with a great festival. This festival became a permanent
fixture, falling on December 25, and lasting eight days (I Macc. 4:52-59; 11
Macc. 10:6; John 10:22).The story is
also told within the Josephus records Antiquities of the Jews- Book XII Ch.
7:6; 8:7. The citadel and House of
Yahweh within it lasted for as long as the Hasmonaeans continued their dynasty
till 34 B.C.
The third reconstruction of the 1st and 2nd
centuries C.E was not based on the return of the children of Israel to the
site, but more of a change in empirical authority when the Herod ruled over the
land of Judah.A Roman styled citadel,
about thirty by thirty-seven meters was built here, only slightly smaller than
the Israelite citadel. Its foundations were not deep, thus not much damage was
done to earlier levels. Almost no material was found which could be ascribed to
this stratum within the fortress. Material from the first and second centuries
C.E. was found mainly at the foot of the Tel and in the garbage dumps ---
apparently from the time of this citadel. Plus, only 2 inscriptions in Greek
were found from this time.
In 'The Fortress Mound Program' by the Israel Nature
and Parks Authority it is also stated that "During the Herodian period
(first century BCE), the lower city well was renovated and several plastered storage
pools - some equipped with troughs (which bakers may use for knead dough for
bread) -were constructed nearby." Within this some citadel’s existence
some time later the historian Flavius Josephus wrote concerning the citadel of
David and what the people of his time called the place. As stated in the 'Wars
of the Jews' 5:1: "... Of these hills, that which contains the upper city
is much higher, and in length more direct. Accordingly, it was called the
"Citadel" by King David; he was the father of that Solomon who built
this temple at the first; but it is by us called the 'Upper Marketplace'."
Of course, by 70 A.D. the Romans destroyed the
citadel.The Jews recaptured Jerusalem
in 132, but the Roman Emperor Hadrian drove them out three years later. Then, Hadrian concocted a plan to tried to end
all Jewish hope of regaining Jerusalem.So, he renamed the city of the Jebusite Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina.This was confirmed by the book ‘THE MESSIANIC
HOPE OF THE SAMARITANS’ by Jacob, Son of Aaron; HIGH PRIEST OF THE SAMARITANS.He stated “One of them was crucified on his right, and the other
on his left, and this was in the Jebusite city of Aelia,”and“he explained that the name Aelia, given to Jerusalem
after its destruction”.In 135 AD Afterward, Hadrian
orders the expulsion of the "circumcised" from Aelia Capitolina
(Jerusalem). And he prohibited Jews from visiting or living in
this site for over 200 years.Thus,
construction on the site ceased completely under Roman and Roman Christian
control (Read more about it in the Two Jerusalem page).
The forth and final reconstruction wasn’t until the
Islamic Empire invaded the holy land in the 7th century A.D. The
Romans Christians made an agreement (shown on the left) with the Muslims to
continue Hadrian’s plan to keep the Jews from out of the area of Aelia.
Yet the House of Yahweh was built on its previous
location by a group of righteous Muslims.Archaeology done on the House of Yahweh site revealed that at the
beginning of the Arab period, a house of some prosperous clan or an inn was
built on the Tel on the location of the older citadel built during the Roman
period.Several rooms of the Roman fortress
were repaired and used at this time, and new rooms were built in the rest of
the area.In addition, 5 inscriptions in
Arabic were found (3 giving praises to Allah) and revealed that just like the
previous fortresses were offerings brought to this location.However from 842-847 A.D. Al-Wahiq reigned as
caliph, and tried to halt rising influence of non-Arabs.Because of conflicts between the two sides of
the Islamic Empire civil wars broke out that somehow caused this building to be
destroyed and thus there were no further reconstructed settlements here.
Now in July
2007 reconstruction of the House of Yahweh is under way after 1,400 years.We decided to assist the Nature and Park
Authority and the Tabernacle Congregation of Prayer research department in the
July 2007 session of the excavation and restorations at the House of Yahweh. After reviewing the 1,900 years of history on
the House of Yahweh in Israel; when compared to its parallels to biblical
records of the sons of Israel’s return to our land, there can be not doubt that
this ‘House of Yahweh’ is the Citadel and Tabernacle of David on the hill of
Zion.In fact it appears that every
returning generation into the land of Israel knew that they should restore this
house and bring offers here.Currently
the priests and Levites from the Igbos are attempting to come to Israel to
cleanse and make prayers on this site.We at Yisrael Today were glad to take part in its restoration and also
encourage other Israelites of our people that they should join in and help the
efforts.
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