Certain natural features on the earth are of great significance in the eyes of God. The sea and other bodies of water have often been connected with important happenings, and have symbolized the power of saving or cleansing. The rainbow is a reminder of a promise that God made with man.
Consider the use God has made of mountains to reveal His power to men. (Indeed, the Syrians regarded Israel’s God as a God of the hills).1 Abraham was called upon to offer his son as a sacrifice on a mountain.2 It was from a mountain that the children of Israel were blessed in battle.3 The priesthood offered sacrifices to God from high places.4 The ark of God was placed on a hill ;5 and groups of prophets were found in high places.6 The prophet Elijah called upon his Creator to manifest Himself upon Mount Carmel before the priests of Baal.
Of more importance, it was upon a mountain, Sinai, that God gave His people the law. Parallel with this old covenant, the new covenant comes to us from Jesus, in His “Sermon on the Mount.”
Frequent mention is made of mountains in the life of Jesus. He withdrew to such places to pray.? It was on a mountain that He gathered together and chose His twelve apostles8 ; and appeared in the glory of His transfiguration.9 It was also on a mountain that He arranged a meeting with the eleven after His resurrection.10
Symbolic references are made concerning the power of mountains.11 Despite this, however, God is able to subject them under Him.” In fact several scriptural references are made declaring that mountains shall be levelled or uprooted in preparation for the coming of Christ’s Kingdom. Although symbolic explanations may be given to these passages, there is little doubt that great physical changes are to take place.
Mount Zion and Mount Sinai, however, will not be leveled. Both will continue to be holy places to God, and Zion will become the centre of world power.” It is appropriate, then, and in harmony with other script oral recorded events, that a mountain should be the ruling place for the Son of God in the millenium.
The history of Zion is colourful ; and it is with good reason that the word symbolises the centre of Jewish national life. But Zion is to the sons and daughters of God of far deeper moment, symbolizing the centre of a kingdom age, with all its power and glory beyond human comprehension.
A brief record is given of the capture of Jerusalem and Zion by David, soon after his accession to the throne of Israel.14 His integrity in the court of Saul is undisputed, and this period served as an invaluable training ground for his kingship. He loved and feared God. His vision was far reaching. He could foresee strategic moves which would strengthen his nation and bring it in honour before God.
David’s Foresight
Among other things, he saw that a strong central government, embodying the religious principles given his people at Sinai, was necessary. His work had to have the confidence of his people. He had to arrest the decay which had begun to set in during the reign of Saul. The Israelites were barely holding their own against the hostile tribes within and without their borders.
Saul had been content to rule from the small locality of Gibeah. David did not repeat this strategical-political mistake. The scattered tribes clearly needed a centre of unity to rouse their religious and nationalist spirits into a closer bond.
The foundations of something so far reaching as to vitally affect the lives of God’s servants today were about to be laid. Among His servants of old, David was a worthy one to be so instrumental in such a portion of the plan of God.
In surveying his inheritance, David saw that the alien Jebusites occupied the stronghold of Jerusalem. These people were defiant of him, and their being idol worshippers in the centre of worshippers of the true God was a valid enough reason for David to come against them in battle. But there were other good reasons why this place should fall to him. The Jebusites claimed that their natural fortress could be successfully defended by the blind and the lame. Precipices surrounded it on three sides. (These have since been filled by the debris of centuries.) It lay close to important highways of communications and commerce, making it accessible from one side to the whole kingdom.
Once captured, it would be an ideal capital city. There could be no jealousies amongst the people as to which tribe should boast of the national capital. (This situation arose in the choice of a national capital for Australia).
With God’s blessing, he took Jerusalem and transferred his rule from Hebron. With zest he transformed the city from one of humble and base features to a worthwhile capital. He enlarged Jerusalem by uniting it with the fortress of Zion, taking in the valley which lay in between. The whole area was surrounded by a stout wall.
The entire realm could then be governed from this commanding, impregnable position. The capture of Zion and development of its military advantages marked a great step forward in the stability and strength of the State, which was to stand out so much from its former weaker days under Saul. David’s perception was constructive. This was a nation-building act. Little wonder the name of Zion has become so loved by David’s descendants, both natural and spiritual.
He called the place the “City of David.” His actions were truly those of a great king. The people had not seen such deeds marked by Divine inspiration for many generations. The king of Tyre, being on good relations with the Israel kingdom, arranged the supply of materials and workmen to build a royal house for David in Zion.
It was probably of some significance to David that Melchizedek’s reign as king of Salem was about the site of Zion. It was here indeed that Abraham, father of the faithful, received a blessing from this remarkable person.15 How creditable it was, then, for David to have acquired this place so distinct in the history of his people.
The most important part of this new capital was that it should be the abode of the God of Israel. The ark of God was brought up from Gibeah to remain in Zion. Almost without exception, from the time the ark had been captured by the Philistines16 and its subsequent deposit at Kirjath-jearim, right through the reign of Saul, the religion of Israel was at a low ebb. That such a sacred link between God and His people should remain in obscurity for so long was an indication of their spiritual weakness, and indeed goes far to explain the political weaknesses during the life of Saul.
David could foresee the two factors necessary for his nation to flourish, namely, obedience to the commands of God, and an astute, vigorous form of government. His centre in Zion fulfilled the latter. The former was greatly enhanced by bringing the ark from an obscure place to remain in the Royal City. Now the eyes of the people could be focussed on this place as their national centre and place of coming closer to their God. As Zion flourished, so did Israel.
David’s desire to build a house of God as a resting place for the ark was not accepted by God.” It remained for his son, Solomon, to fulfil this function on Mount Zion. This was the most important part of Solomon’s reign. The Temple was a structure far grander than any previously owned by the Israelites. Once again the Phoenician king of Tyre made available various building materials and artisans, in return for foodstuffs and the right of using trade routes which passed through the land.
With the dedication of the Temple, Zion and Jerusalem became further established as the religious as well as political capital of the country. Three feasts were held each year ; and in particular at the feast of the Passover every male was required to appear before God at the Temple. This added to the splendour of the city and the precincts of Zion. As another measure, in order to accentuate the importance of the Temple, there was a tendency to prohibit sacrifices in other places.
At this stage the kingdom reached its zenith. It commanded the respect of neighboring countries. Foreign rulers visited Solomon in his Temple to see its grandeur and learn from the king’s wisdom.
Deterioration
As time passed, so the people of Israel came under a succession of kings who did not fear God as David had. Zion in turn lost some of its former glory, and the Temple fell into a state of disrepair. Jehoash, however, was aware of the significance of this place, and during his reign repairs were effected. The money was raised by public offerings, which suggests that there were still many people in Israel who preferred the worship of God to that of idols.”
Again the glories of Zion were allowed to wane with a further succession of idol-worshipping kings. At the time of Josiah, the nation of Judah experienced a forceful return to the worship of God. Funds were made available to effect repairs to the Temple. It was while these repairs were being carried out that the priest, Hilkiah, found the book of the law of Moses. Alas, the sins of the people over the previous 400 odd years were great enough to cause the curses of the book to be levelled against them. They were to be scattered after this king’s death, as slaves of the Babylonians.
The prophecy came true shortly after wards, and with it came the desolation of the Temple of Zion. Nebuchadnezzar took everything of value from the House of God to his temple in Babylon.20
The name of Zion was still revered by many of the captives in Babylon, despite the downfall of the previous glories which were on the Mount. With the passing of domination to the Persian rulers, a greater appreciation of intelligence and culture came to bear upon all peoples. The Jews found the supreme government friendly towards them. The burning desire within many captives to return to Jerusalem and reestablish some of the former places was allowed by Darius.
These zealous Jews had maintained separateness from their neighbours, and always aspired to see Zion re-created, with a rebuilding of the scattered tribes around this centre. As bands of pilgrims returned to the land, so the movement inspired the enthusiasm of others. Large numbers of
them returned to Jerusalem. Zerubbabel and Jeshua were commissioned to restore the sacrifices and rebuild the Temple at Zion. Ezra followed, with the intent of restoring the law to this place. Nehemiah came with his bands shortly afterwards to rebuild the wall around the Jerusalem-Zion area.
Some of the former greatness of Jerusalem was restored in its spiritual significance. However, the Lord had already decreed that the government of Israel had been overturned for thousands of years, until the Righteous King should come to rule from Zion ; not over His own people only, but over all the inhabitants of the earth. This is still in the future.
The Zion area was preserved through several centuries of alien domination, and was an important part during the life of Christ. However, judgment had been placed on the nation of Israel for their past sins, and it was destined that the buildings on the Mount should be destroyed. This transpired in the terrible Roman siege of Jerusalem under Titus, wherein over a million Jews lost their lives. Through a succession of retreats, the Jews finished in the Zion area of the city.
Titus had orders to preserve the Temple as an historic place for the Empire, but the fighting was so bitter that the cloisters were fired and ultimately the whole Temple was destroyed beyond repair. This marked the second dispersal of the Jewish inhabitants of the land. Enslaved, they were scattered throughout the Roman Empire. Disunited and with broken spirits, they were to remain away from their treasured Zion for almost two thousand years.
As before, however, there must have been faith amongst these people, as they still treasured the name of Zion and passed their religion on throughout their generations. Their separateness in the main prevailed ; always with the aspiration of returning to their home.
Future Glory
But, following the life of Christ, the name of Zion came to mean as much to certain Gentiles as it did to the Jews. Scattered throughout the world also, these people saw in the name the hope of a new era, when that place should be the ruling centre of Christ’s Kingdom, when He returns to establish His reign.21 The prophets had foretold it of old. It was the greatest hope of David, with his far-sighted vision strengthened by the promises made by God, when his days should be fulfilled.
The prophet Ezekiel had the honour to see in vision the future glories of this mountain.22 From a distance he viewed a vast new building surrounding the pinnacle of Mount Zion. An interpretation of the building dimensions has been attempted by H.Sully23, who among other things sees it as having an outer court approximately one mile square, with towers at each of the four corners at least 480 feet high. An inner circular court is to surround the Temple area,located at the centre of the Mount. Such a building will be capable of housing large numbers of God’s servants, as well as the millions of people who will be required to go each year to this place to worship the new King.24
The area is not very elevated at present, but great physical changes are to take place in the future. The surrounding country is to be lifted into a tableland, with the Zion peak towering above the whole area. Such a place will then truly be the “mountain of the Lord”, “exalted above the hills”.
It is most glorious of all that this should be the city of the Great King, our Lord Jesus Christ. The throne of God will be established, and the most just rule that the world has ever known will emanate from this place. This is the hope of the sons and daughters of God. This is the New Jerusalem, the Holy City, with its centre on Mount Zion.
It is the culmination of the vision of the one who first took this place from the Jebusites ; of the one who built the first Temple on this site ; of those who restored the building over the centuries ; and of all the faithful ones who have looked to Zion as the site where God will cause His name to dwell.
“Glorious things of thee are spoken
Zion, city of our God ;
He whose Word cannot be broken
Formed thee for His own abode.”
Daniel The Prophet – (Part 3)