WHERE ON EARTH IS ZION?

WHERE ON EARTH IS ZION?

                As is the case with me on many occasions, when I am working around the house, my mind is pondering different scriptures or reliving scenes from the Bible. Yesterday morning I was making up a rather large pan of stir-fry veggies to get us through loading the truck and making the trip and I was thinking of the messianic song that goes: “ Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.”

                My mind, being one of those kinds of minds that like to connect the dots, I compared that song with an old hymn we used to sing in church called “Marching to Zion.” It goes: “We’re marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion, we’re marching upward to Zion the beautiful city of God.”

                It occurred to me at that moment that when Jews and Messianic Jews sing about Zion, they are thinking about Jerusalem in Israel, but when Protestant Christians sing about Zion, they are thinking about the New Jerusalem and the mountain of God in heaven.

                This, of course got me to wondering how God sees it. What does God think of when He thinks of Zion and where exactly is it?

                So I went to my Strong’s Concordance and the first thing I noticed is that the word “Zion” never occurs in the New Testament. That in itself was sort of a shocker, especially since Zion is mentioned 150 times in the Old Testament and countless more times if you include “Jerusalem”, or “The City of David” or any other name that refers to the same place.

                First of all I wanted to understand exactly where the city of Zion is and the answer was quick in coming. The very first mention of Zion is in 2 Samuel 5:7 where it says: “Nevertheless David captured the stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David. Just above that in verse 6 we see that David conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusites, so David lived in the stronghold and called it the City of David. 2 Samuel 5:6, 9

                We know that Jerusalem became the capital of Israel (And later Judah) and the center of Israel’s affections. They prayed toward Jerusalem and the temple even when they were in exile and all of their hopes in God were centered there. Jerusalem forms a center piece of the Hebrew Scriptures. Yeshua came to Jerusalem and taught in the temple there and was in fact crucified there, even as God had directed Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac there centuries earlier. It was all a part of God’s eternal plan.

                The land of Israel was the Promised Land to which God had called Abraham out of Ur and it was the goal of Israel in all of their wanderings to be there and to have peace in their own land. But more specifically, God identifies the land of Israel as His land. And while Christians talk about meeting at the eastern gate in the New Jerusalem, the book of Zechariah says that at His second coming Jesus will land upon the Mt. of Olives and ride in through the Eastern Gate into the city that is in Israel today.

                This fact was so well-known by our forefathers that when General Allenby started to ride his horse into Jerusalem, having conquered it from the Ottoman Empire, one of his men reminded him that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a white horse at His second coming and so in respect for that event, General Allenby got off his and walked into the city on foot.

                There can be no doubt that the heavenly New Jerusalem is the eternal City of God, but it is also true that Physical Jerusalem in Israel is also the eternal City of God. Psalms 48:1,2 calls Zion the city of the great King.)  We also know that this earth has an eternal destiny, (although recreated), for the Heavenly City of Jerusalem is shown coming down from God out of heaven ready as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:2.

                What we can’t be absolutely sure of is if the heavenly Jerusalem is a real physical city or if it is symbolic of God’s people, both Old Testament and New Testament believers. After all the gates are named after the 12 tribes of Israel and the foundations are named after the 12 apostles.

                However, Jesus said that He was going to prepare a place for us and those who were privileged to be there in spirit found it to be a very real place.

                AS for the millennial reign of Christ, it is a tossup between different protestant denominations as to which ones believe that we will spend the 1000 year millennium in heaven or on the earth. Jews and Messianic Jews believe that we will be here to participate in the restoration of all things, while Adventists and Baptists and others are focused on the heavenly Jerusalem.

                There is one hint of a heavenly Jerusalem in the Hebrew Scriptures although it is found in the New Testament in the book of Hebrews. It talks about Abraham living as an alien in tents and that he was looking for a “city which has foundations whose Architect and builder is God.” Heb. 11:10

                Somehow I tend to think that both views are true, that sometime during the tribulation we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. We will be taken to heaven to enjoy the marriage supper of the Lamb and then as in Revelation 19 and Zech. 14:5, we will all return to earth with Jesus on white horses to defeat the Battle of Armageddon and to watch Jesus land upon the Mt. of Olives and then to ride into Jerusalem where He will set up His millennial kingdom. He will rule the nations with a rod of iron and this will fulfil many descriptions in the Hebrew Scriptures. (Including Zechariah 12 through 14 and Ezekiel chapters 40-48 and many others.)

                Replacement theology has prevented Christians from seeing many of the details, both concerning the time just before His coming and the time just after it when He rules the nations with a rod of iron and when we rule and reign with Him.

                To me it seems a bit strange that Zion is not mentioned in the New Testament. The writers of the New Testament were all Jews, except for Luke and one would expect to see the same love and desire for Jerusalem as is seen throughout the Old Testament. However, for them all things had been swallowed up in Christ, the one Seed to whom all of God’s promises and prophecies had been written.

                We know that Israel has always been a physical template letting us know on earth what God is doing in the spiritual realm. The tabernacle of Moses was patterned after the things in heaven and even to this day, we can feel the heartbeat of prophecy by seeing what is going on physically in Israel.

                My personal belief is that in the final reconciliation heaven and earth will become one.
The physical and the spiritual realms will reunite just as they were before the fall and in this unity both realms will become eternally fused together. This is the greater reconciliation that Paul talks about in Romans 8 when he says:

                “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Romans 8:19-21

                We are given to understand that when Adam and Eve sinned, not only did the Spirit of God depart from them, but heaven and earth were separated as well. And with that separation the entirety of the physical creation became subject to entropy… to decay and to death. So, in Christ we begin to gain a picture of the vastness of His reconciliation on the cross. Not only did He reconcile us to God, but He made a way for the reconciling of all things that exist, both spiritual and physical into one when He creates a new heaven and a new earth. Rev. 21:1

                So, whatever our particular beliefs on this subject, we can be assured that in the end, heaven and earth will be one and God will be God over all. He will be “All in all.” And the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord even as the waters cover the sea. Isa. 11:9

                And we know that if we want to be a part of that grand reunification of the physical and the spiritual realms, we must learn to live by the Spirit even as we live in these physical bodies. This too is the theme of Romans 8, for it says: “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God these are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14

                This is why it is not enough to have a merely intellectual relationship with God. We must be born again and given a new spirit by which we cry “Abba Father.” Our new life in Christ is far more spiritual than it is intellectual. In other words we can argue points of doctrine from now until eternity, but it is those who learn to bear the fruit of the Spirit that will be saved. And this is why love is such an important part of it all. This is why love for God and love for our fellow man is so central. We cannot truly have love unless the love of God dwells in our hearts by His Holy Spirit.

                And as for worship; Jesus said: “God is spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24. Therefore each one of us must make sure that we have been born again and that we have received the Holy Spirit of promise, for the Christian life is more than a matter of mental ascent. It is we who have His Spirit that are His children. And this is not a difficult thing for it says in John 3:34-36.

                “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for He gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:34-36. What this is telling us is that until we are born again the wrath of God abides on us, for we are still in a fallen state and separate from God. This is why Jesus said that we must be born again or we cannot see the kingdom of God. We are talking about receiving a new spirit from God without which we cannot belong to Him, or worship Him or bear His fruit in our lives.

                So both believing in Him and obeying Him go together, for one cannot share the spirit of another while dishonoring them with disagreement and disobedience… especially when that Partner is God Almighty. And His Word gives us all we need as pertaining to life and godliness.

                As for now we live in the pulsating anticipation of the day when we, along with all of creation will be made one in Christ for eternity…when this mortal shall put on immortality and death will be swallowed up in victory.

                I think we should humbly bow and ask God to be merciful to us as we tread this world in sinful flesh. We should ask Him for His Spirit on a daily basis… not that the Spirit of Christ comes and goes, but because we do. Isaiah said: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.” Isa. 26:3. We must be fastened to the Rock which cannot move and grounded firm and deep in our Savior’s love.

                We must set our minds on things above and not upon things below. IF we find ourselves feeling cold towards God, chances are that we, like Peter have begun to look at the waves and not at the Master. Living in the Spirit means that we are ever mindful of the Spirit in our lives. We are guided by Him, taught by Him, comforted by Him, protected by Him. Why should we not make our every step with the awareness of His presence?

                As physical temples of the Holy Spirit, we are the contact between the physical and the spiritual realms. We have been made one in Christ and yet there is a greater oneness coming when we will be glorified. As for now we are learning to walk in His Spirit by faith. In us the entire universe will be made one according to His eternal plan. That is why all of creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

                Somehow, and far beyond our comprehension, Yeshua has included us, made us of key importance in His grand reunion of heaven and earth and He has seated us with Him in heavenly places and He has predestined us to reign with Him forever. Hallelujah!