Foundations for Christian Mission, Mentor's Guide, MG04

1 3 2 /

F O U N D A T I O N S F O R C H R I S T I A N M I S S I O N

2. Few streets were paved, although Josephus says that Solomon had the roads leading to Jerusalem paved ( Antiquities of Josephus , 8.7).

3. The chief towns and cities were strengthened by thick walls with battlements (2 Chron. 26.6; Zeph. 1.16).

4. High towers were raised over the gates of the cities (2 Sam. 18.24; 2 Kings 9.17); and at the corners of the walls themselves (2 Chron. 14.7; 32.5).

5. Ditches were dug and ramparts built outside the walls, 2 Sam. 20.15; Isa. 26.1.

6. Cities are an old idea: cities such as Ur, Nippur, Kish, Eridu, Lagash, Nineveh, Asshur and others have been excavated, with archeologists setting the dates of them to 3,000 B.C.E. and earlier.

3

II. Biblical Interpretations: Discerning the Spiritual Meaning of the City

A. The city is associated with human rebellion and idolatry: Cain and the city of Enoch

1. The biblical record, Gen. 4.16-17

2. Cain foregoes wandering, builds a city, and names it after his son. (Enoch means initiation , or inauguration , in other words, “a new beginning.”)