Genesis 22, Psalms 46-48, And Lamentations

Genesis 22, Psalms 46-48, and Lamentations 1:1-2:9 illustrate how Jerusalem differentiated as a religious space through the historical and religious stories that have been developed over centuries, the creation of religious architecture, and the destruction of traditional Jerusalem as well as the commencement of the Babylonian Empire.

The place mentioned in Genesis 22, Mount Moriah, is important to the depiction of Jerusalem as a religious space. The creation of altars and sacrifices began with the story of Abraham in which he intends to sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah as an offering to God. Even though the son does not die, Abraham still offers a lamb as a “burnt offering” (verse 12, Genesis 22). The practices of creating altars for sacrifice

in the story were followed for generations in Jerusalem; As a result, Mount Moriah became an important historical place with religious significance.

An example that demonstrates the practice Abraham began occurred during the initiation of David as King of Israel. King David’s era was hundreds of years after Abraham’s time, yet, sacrifices and altars were still practiced by religious people, including the King himself. In the second book of Samuel 6:12-17, 20-23, there is a description of the way King David announced his reign,“He sacrificed an ox and a fatling.” King David was known as a religious person that offered his God the sacrifice of two animals, similar to Abraham’s offering of a lamb to his God. Abraham’s story from Genesis 22 was practiced continually in the centuries following through many instances and under various Kings’ reign such as King Solomon’s. An example would be the temple King Solomon created for Yahweh which had an altar meant for sacrificial purposes before entering the temple. According to Thomas Tweed, Mount Moriah would be differentiated as a religious and sacred place due to the history and traditions that started there, hence, the prevalence in its practice over centuries including both King Solomon and King David’s reign. Tweed states, “Devotees enact the

kinetics of dwelling and crossing as they use tropes, narratives, rituals, and artifacts to appeal to suprahuman forces” (Tweed, 120). Kinetic is a term used to explain the practices and traditions done through generations. Similarly, the enacted kinetics in Genesis 22 demonstrates how Abraham began the practice of altars for sacrifice. Since Abraham began this religious practice on Mount Moriah, this place became important to the people of Jerusalem, identifying it as a religious place of historic importance. Thus, the excerpt of Thomas Tweed helps the audience identify a religious space and know the reason why it enacts kinetic. Consequently, the act of Abraham creating an altar for sacrifice in Mount Moriah set a precedent and became a practice and tradition the people from Jerusalem kept for centuries.
Furthermore, the religious architecture from Jerusalem influenced its habitants and spread religious beliefs and practices to the city. For instance, Psalms 46-48 demonstrates the perspective of the people from Jerusalem when King David was ruling. Psalm 46 repeats, “O God.” This can be compared to an Ode. Ode’s are known for the love and devotion they have for something specific, such as this Psalm showing devotion to God. Additionally, Psalm 46 would prove Thomas Tweed statement of a religious space being kinetic by the Psalm stating, “[...] tell the next generation that this is God”(verse 13, Psalm 46). The verse utilizing the word “generation” helps the audience realize the author wants future generations to continue having the same beliefs as them. This is identified as kinetic since is the movement of space, and the traditions and beliefs can be changed throughout time. For example, before the reign of King David, being part of a monotheistic religion was foreign to Jerusalem. However, slowly with the history and modifications Jerusalem had, religious space changed and created monotheism to spread. The architecture that was created, such as having a designated place for the arch of the covenant and the kingdom itself was a huge influence to people from Jerusalem. Firstly, the arch of the covenant went from being mobile to having an appointed place by the king. King David decided to have the arch of the covenant in a tent, whereof, King Solomon was later influenced to built a temple for it. The Temple became a sacred and religious place where people can practice their monotheistic belief there. Solomon’s Temple was also another example of a kinetic space since the arch of the covenant went from a tent to a temple, which means that over the years monotheism was becoming more popular at Jerusalem. Lastly, the architecture in Jerusalem persuaded people that God was guiding Jerusalem to a successful affluent kingdom due to the expansion and fine architecture build, such as Solomon’s Temple. However, Jerusalem was not only victorious on expanding religiously but was improving economically and politically as well. Thus, “God is our refuge” (verse 1, Psalm 46), is what the prophet meant of God helping Jerusalem triumph in all aspects. The architecture signified how God gave Jerusalem a “refuge”. Therefore, the influence of a monotheistic belief in Jerusalem was expanding through the persuasion of palaces and temples that God has given them.
Moreover, Lamentations 1:1-2:9 differentiates Jerusalem as a religious place by describing the destruction of traditional Jerusalem and the commencement of a new kingdom.

The commencement of the Babylonian Empire conquering Jerusalem brought the city into harm. This tragic event was part of the reason why Jerusalem is differentiated as a religious place because it gave history and change to the city. The prophet Jeremiah failed in warning Jerusalem of their collapse, which in Lamentations 1,verse 20, he states, “I have been very rebellious.” Jeremiah has felt guilty on not succeeding on what God asked him to do. Thus, due to the “rebellious” actions, many people from Jerusalem believed God had abandoned them. At this time period people were losing hope and faith. It was the downhill of Jerusalem, similar to how the Israelites escaped from Egypt and were losing hope on God’s plan on finding sanctuary. This proves Thomas Tweed statement of the interrelated part of a religious place. Tweed explains, “ devotional spaces are both generated and generative” (Tweed, 117). The generated part was what the people living in Jerusalem do to lose hope, which was the “figurative imagination” (Tweed, 121) of God abandoning them when unfortunate events occur at Jerusalem. However, the generative part of Jerusalem is the natural events and issues that occur. For instance, the Babylonian Empire conquered Jerusalem due to a strong empire, but the inhabitants saw this as the abandonment of God.

This creates Jerusalem to be a differentiated place since it gives the history of the new commencement of the Babylonian Empire not only politically but religiously as well. Even though religious space was being destroyed during the invasion of the Babylonian Empire, monotheism was beginning to expand with the influence of Jerusalem’s culture.
Overall, Jerusalem is known as the Holy City due to its religious stories, architecture, and change of a new empire, the Babylonian Empire. These aspects influenced Jerusalem to become a place with history and religious culture. Also, the traditions and practices Jerusalem developed for centuries have become part of its history and culture, such as the altars created for sacrifice.
Since Jerusalem’s practices and history were modified and passed through generations, many modern religions obtain similar practices and traditions that originated from Jerusalem, thus, causing it to be a differentiated and distinct religious place as opposed to the historic grounds that came to be years after.