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By Philip Blom
The purpose of this study is to show why Israel, Jerusalem and the
Jewish people are so important to the Lord God of Israel. The cry, "next
year in Jerusalem," from Jews in the diaspora shows their intense desire
to be in Israel and Jerusalem. It is for the same reason so important for
their God! He wants his Jews and non-Jews who have joined them, around him
and to rule the world from Jerusalem!
When Christians are asked why Jerusalem is important to them, the answer
is usually that it is because Jesus lived and ministered there. Meanwhile
most Christians are taught that the church has now become Israel, something
that is nowhere prophesied or proclaimed in the Bible.
This blindness in the church to know their God of Israel's agenda for His
land and His people the Jews, is just amazing. It is like a wife who swoons
about her wonderful husband and His Son; she is eternally grateful for what
He has done for her and that He has chosen her to be His bride, but she is
too arrogant and self centered to realize that He has a master plan for the
benefit of everybody through somebody else; that she has to associate with
this person, who isn't another woman, but a people whom God calls His first
born son, Israel, and the land He has set aside for them. She also doesn't
realize that He needs to liberate that land so that He can rule the world
from there - from His Holy Hill that is currently occupied by the mosques
of a foreign god, who broadcasts his claims of the city and the land five
times a day over loudspeakers.
My approach in this study was to let the Bible do all the talking. All I
did was to collect relevant scriptures from searches of the New International
Version on computer and to arrange them under headings to show the real
importance of Zion to God - also what is meant by Zion. Here and there versions
from the Living Bible (LB) are also quoted where they are more explicit.
 27 Oct.
2005: I have added an article by Uri Marcus below,
Zion and World
History, since he explains the meaning of the word Zion (Tzion)
so well, as well as the central role of Zion in creation and our
God of Israel's connection with this world.
1. The Lord's
Passion for Zion
Isaiah 49:14 But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken
me, the Lord has forgotten me. 15 (LB) Never! Can a mother forget her little
child and not have love for her own son?
Zechariah 1:14 Then the angel who was speaking to me said, "Proclaim this
word: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I am very jealous for Jerusalem
and Zion.
Zechariah 8:2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "I am very jealous for
Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.
Psalms 78:68 But he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved.
Psalms 87:2 The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings
of Jacob.
Psalms 48:2 It is beautiful in its loftiness,
the joy of the whole earth. Like the utmost heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion,
the city of the Great King. Psalms 2:6 "I have installed my King on Zion,
my holy hill.
Psalms 9:11 Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the
nations what he has done.
Psalms 50:2 From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.
Psalms 74:2 Remember the people you purchased of old, the tribe of your
inheritance, whom you redeemed--Mount Zion, where you dwelt.
Psalms 76:2 His tent is in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion.
Psalms 99:2 Great is the LORD in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations.LB:
Jehova sits in majesty in Zion, supreme above all the rulers of the earth.
Psalms 110:2 The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will
rule in the midst of your enemies.
Psalms 128:5 May the LORD bless you from Zion all the days of your life;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem.
Psalms 134:3 May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from
Zion.
Psalms 135:21 Praise be to the LORD from Zion, to him who dwells in Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD
Isaiah 2:3 Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain
of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word
of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isaiah 24:23 The moon will be abashed, the sun ashamed; for the LORD Almighty
will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before its elders,
gloriously.
Isaiah 31:9 Their stronghold will fall because of terror; at sight of the
battle standard their commanders will panic," declares the LORD, whose fire
is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
Isaiah 60:14 The sons of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all
who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of
the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Jeremiah 8:19 Listen to the cry of my people from a land far away: "Is the
LORD not in Zion? Is her King no longer there?" "Why have they provoked me
to anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?
Jeremiah 31:6 There will be a day when watchmen cry out on the hills of Ephraim,
'Come, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.'
Joel 3:16 The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth
and the sky will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a
stronghold for the people of Israel.
Joel 3:21 Their blood guilt, which I have not pardoned, I will pardon.' The
LORD dwells in Zion.
Amos 1:2 He said: "The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers.
Micah 4:2 Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain
of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word
of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Micah 4:7 I will make the lame a remnant, those driven away a strong nation.
The LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever. 8 As
for you, O watchtower of the flock, O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion,
the former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to the Daughter
of Jerusalem.
Zechariah 2:10 "Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and
I will live among you," declares the LORD.
Zechariah 8:3 This is what the LORD says: "I will return to Zion and dwell
in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain
of the LORD Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.
Psalms 78:68 But he chose the tribe of Judah
- and Mount Zion, which he loved.
Psalms 132:13 For the LORD has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his
dwelling.
Nehemiah 1:9 But if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your
exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there
and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name. (Hebr.:
set his Name: SHACHAN= live, dwell - permanently stay (Strong's).
Zechariah 1:17 "Proclaim further: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'My
towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort
Zion and choose Jerusalem.'
4. ZION IS
FOREVER
Psalms 133:3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were
falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life
forevermore.
Isaiah 33:20 Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see
Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will
never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.
Micah 4:7 I will make the lame a remnant, those driven away a strong nation.
The LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever.
a. JERUSALEM
II Chronicles 5:2 Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem
the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite
families, to bring up the ark of the LORD'S covenant from Zion, the City
of David.
Isaiah 52:1 Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your
garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled
will not enter you again.
Jeremiah 14:19 Have you rejected Judah completely? Do you despise Zion?
(Jerusalem-LB) Zephaniah 3:16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Do
not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp.
Psalms 87:4 "I will record Rahab and Babylon
among those who acknowledge me--Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush--and
will say, 'This one was born in Zion.' 5 Indeed, of Zion it will be said,
"This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish
her.
Psalms 97:8 Zion hears and rejoices and the villages of Judah are glad because
of your judgments, O LORD.
Isaiah 51:3 The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion
on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like
the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving
and the sound of singing.
Isaiah 51:11 The ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with
singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake
them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Jeremiah 9:19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion: 'How ruined we are!
How great is our shame! We must leave our land because our houses are in
ruins.'
c. ISRAEL THE
PEOPLE
Isaiah 51:16 I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you with the shadow of my hand--I who set the heavens in place,
who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, 'You are my
people.'
Lamentations 2:6 He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden; he has destroyed
his place of meeting. The LORD has made Zion forget her appointed feasts
and her Sabbaths; in his fierce anger he has spurned both king and
priest.
IV THE PEOPLE OF
ZION
Psalms 87:6 The LORD will write in the register
of the peoples: "This one was born in Zion."
Isaiah 12:6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the
Holy One of Israel among you.
Isaiah 30:19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.
How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will
answer you.
Isaiah 61:3 And provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow on them a
crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called
oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his
splendor.
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