Jerusalem: The Eternal City

If you are looking for a great book to understand Jerusalem's history, then I highly recommend Jerusalem: The Eternal City by David B. Galbraith, D. Kelly Ogden, and Andrew C. Skinner. This book begins its history with the city of Salem, under the rule of Melchizedek and goes until the time of the book's publication. This was an eye-opener for me. This is one complicated city!

Although this is not light reading, I am impressed with the quality of this book. The authors do a great job of helping the reader understanding the context of its history, even so far as to explain the part of Jerusalem's history that Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is based on.

The part of the book that I perhaps enjoyed the most was where it discussed the history of the city after the crucifixion of the Savior. In A.D. 70, the city and temple were destroyed. This had been prophesied by Jesus years earlier. What is neat is that the authors show how every point of this prophecy was fulfilled, including the false prophets and false messiahs that rose up during this time period. These false leaders were largely responsible for a lot of the devastation.

In connection with this, I was most impressed with the profound sorrow of the Jews when the temple was destroyed. To them, it was symbolic of no longer having God in their midst (little did they realize they crucified their God over thirty years earlier). Records report of Jews weeping for days when they saw the temple was destroyed, and even today they have symbolic reminders that their lives are not complete without a temple. For example, for most of my life I have known that at Jewish weddings the groom breaks a glass under his foot, but not until I read this book did I understand that it was a reminder of the loss of the temple. Some women leave off a piece of jewelry, others leave a portion of their buildings unpainted. All of these are to remind them that until they once again have a temple, they can never be complete. What a profound thought, and one that I think is easily applied to Latter-day Saints.

Furthermore, this book goes into great depth about Islam, giving it an equal treatment with the Jews. The more I read about the two religions and the holy regard they both have towards Jerusalem, the more I realized just how complicated this city is. Jerusalem is a city with a bloody history, with blood being shed by Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Everybody is at least somewhat in the wrong. The authors conclude that only the coming of Messiah can finally set things right.

For anybody interested in learning more about Jerusalem, its history and destiny, I highly recommend this book. Don't expect a light reading, but you bring your reading plow, you're going to dig up a lot of really great information.