"Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against YHVH and against His Anointed…? ( Psalm 2:1-2). "For YHVH has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: 'This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it'" (Psalm 132:13-14). "And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east" (Zechariah 14:4).
There isn't a more maligned word or term in our day than "Zion", including all the adjectives, nouns, etc. associated with it. Anti-Semitism - Jew hatred - has taken on a new label. Any Jew is now named, derogatorily, a Zionist, or a Zio. However, in great contrast the Scriptures lift Zion up and make mention of her 164 times, mainly as a reference to Jerusalem, or specifically to Mount Zion.
Psalm 48's 14 verses constitute a love song to YHVH's city: "In the city of our Elohim, in His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. Elohim is in her palaces; He is known as her refuge. For behold, the kings assembled, they passed by together. They saw and so they marveled; They were troubled, they hastened away. Fear took hold of them there, pain, as of a woman in birth pangs… As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of YHVH of hosts, in the city of our Elohim; Elohim will establish it forever. Selah… Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of Your judgments. Walk about Zion, and go all around her. Count her towers; Mark well her bulwarks; Consider her palaces; That you may tell it to the generation following. For this is Elohim, our Elohim forever and ever; He will be our guide even to death" (emphases added).
Every verse in this psalm is loaded and worthy of highlighting and/or exclaiming. What a glorious future for YHVH's home city, the "marked one" (one of Zion's meanings), the one He loves and longs for! Thus, in raging and plotting vain things the people and the world's rulers, who are nothing but proxies of YHVH and Messiah's enemy, invariably turn against His people, His land, and chiefly and ultimately against His beloved Zion. It is no wonder that these ones identify everyone who is, at least ethnically, part of Israel as a "Zionist", being ignorant of the many different, positive, connotations of this term.
Spiritual and physical Zion is surrounded by several outer layers: The people of Zion, such as the "daughter of Zion", Jerusalem, in the physical and literal sense, and the land of Israel. Isaiah 62 provides an excellent example of these close associations, all connected with Zion and its "layers". Let's traverse through this chapter, moving from one phase to another until we reach the ultimate goal, which is presented so impressively in this text. Isaiah 62 depicts the pathway of Messiah’s return, and notably sets it off by mentioning Zion.
"For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns". YHVH's topmost priority concerning this physical location and its spiritual goal is clearly stated here. "The nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of YHVH will name. You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of YHVH, and a royal diadem in the hand of your Elohim". YHVH's intention for His beloved city is to be highly esteemed and recognized by all of humanity and be a symbol of His own glory. "You shall no longer be termed forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for YHVH delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your Elohim rejoice over you". This section now 'spills' into the land in which Zion/Jerusalem is situated, like a jewel in its setting. This is a call that involves Zion's sons and their devotion, love, and investment in the Land. "I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace, day or night. You who make mention of YHVH, do not keep silent and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth". Zion's sons are now enjoined to not only 'marry' the Land, the location where Zion/Jerusalem is situated, but they are also to be spiritually engaged in intercession that emanates out of genuine care and love, cooperating with their Elohim in wresting His beloved abode until it is established according to His desire for her. "YHVH has sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength: 'Surely I will no longer give your grain as food for your enemies; and the sons of the foreigner shall not drink your new wine, for which you have labored. But those who have gathered it shall eat it, and praise YHVH; Those who have brought it together shall drink it in My holy courts". Again, it is not only the natural and spiritual condition of Zion/Jerusalem that is being brought to bear, but the entire land. Its freedom from bondage and its fruitfulness form an integral part of the instatement of Zion. The "watchmen" are "shomrim", which also means "protectors" or "guards". Marrying the land and rescuing it from its desolation (v. 4), means caring for and tending it. Concerning man’s role in the Garden of Eden it says: "Then YHVH Elohim took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it" (Genesis 2:15, emphasis added).
"Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; Build up, build up the highway! Take out the stones, lift up a banner for the peoples!" This call takes us to yet one more phase; the return of those who are still in the diaspora. All this for the sake of the next eventuality: "Indeed YHVH has proclaimed to the end of the world: 'Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Surely your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him'" (emphases added). We have now reached the peak and goal of this missive of grandeur. Zion, its surrounding landmass, its people, their collaboration with their Elohim, the preparation for and return of those who had been outside the land, all of that precedes the coming of Zion's Salvation! Yes, Messiah's coming is heralded by all of the above-mentioned: "And they shall call them [they shall be called] the Holy People, the Redeemed of YHVH". And as for the city: "And you shall be called Sought Out, a City Not Forsaken". Zion’s lofty role explains YHVH’s disdain for the high places (bemas) that have so often been erected throughout the land, even when used for His worship. He is not satisfied with substitutes or alternatives. This is something that we too should take note of in our relationship with Him and His Word.
The following verse (in the next chapter, 63) immediately announces again: "Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah. This One who is glorious in His apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength? – 'I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save'" (Isaiah 63:1). Before our Messiah's return, and contingent upon it, there is a call to be spiritually and physically involved in the location He has chosen. Much of this is taking place right now before our very eyes, and yet there is more to heed and respond to. Abba's ongoing actions and inspiration regarding these matters have seen some of their literal fulfillment, even if many are not aware of such, yet there is more if what the Word describes is anything to go by, which of course it is!!!!
A study of Isaiah 62, which highlighted this train of events, took place at an evening gathering that we attended in Jerusalem. Just prior to that meeting, 5 of us went to the Friends of Zion Museum in town. This place "brings to life the stories of Christians who loved and supported the Jewish people". It is the story of non-Jewish Zionists who had the vision, took action, and were committed to the return of the Jews to their homeland, some of whom did so even before the Jewish awakening. https://fozmuseum.com/
Earlier in the day, coming up to Jerusalem, we stopped at a major junction, where there is now a national heritage site. The khan, which was built as a wayside inn during the Ottoman period, is situated in the narrow opening of Wadi Nahshon on the main road connecting the lowlands with Jerusalem. This road saw fierce battles during the War of Independence, and in memory of the men and women who took part in them, a heritage center was established in the khan, dedicated to those who broke through the road to sieged Jerusalem bringing much needed water, food and ammunition to its residents at a great risk to their lives. https://en.parks.org.il/reserve-park/gay /
Above we saw that according to Isaiah 62, involvement in Zion's destiny and her surrounding environment is to be both spiritual and physical. Psalm 84 highlights the heart of those who long for YHVH's courts in Zion. In fact, it may be stated that the roads to Zion go through their hearts. Verse 7 tells us that "they go from strength to strength; Each one appears before Elohim in Zion". The early Christian Zionists and the local Jews of 1947-1948 who were willing to give up their lives for the sake of breaking the siege of Jerusalem did not forget her. They all responded in some way to, "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth -- If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy" (Ps. 137:5-6).
The raging flames of the present global conflagration are surely signaling that the day of Elohim's union with His beloved city is closer at hand.
