The Bible does not give us a specific date. However, it does trace its beginnings. Ezekiel 16:3 (NASB), “Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem, ‘Your origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanite, your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.’”
Who were the ancestors of the Amorites and Hittites? Noah’s son Ham begat Canaan and Canaan fathered the Amorite and Hittite nations. Genesis 10:15,16 (NLT), “Canaan’s oldest son was Sidon, the ancestor of the Sidonians. Canaan was also the ancestor of the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites…”
However, God gave Jerusalem to the Israelites as part of their inheritance. Amos 2:9,10 (NIV), “Yet I (Jehovah) destroyed the Amorites before them, though they were tall as the cedars and strong as the oaks. I destroyed their fruit above and their roots below. I brought you up out of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness to give you the land of the Amorites.”
King David captured Jerusalem, and it was called “The City of David.” 1 Chronicles 11:4-7 (RSV), “And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, that is Jebus, where the Jeb'usites were, the inhabitants of the land. The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, "You will not come in here." Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. David said, "Whoever shall smite the Jeb'usites first shall be chief and commander." And Jo'ab the son of Zeru'iah went up first, so he became chief. And David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore it was called the city of David.”
Prophetically, in the last days, Jerusalem will be ravaged but then God will save the city. Zechariah 14:1-3 (NIV), “A day of the LORD is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle.”
When the Lord establishes His earthly kingdom, all the nations will honor Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:2,3 (RSV), “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”
