My Holy Hill of Zion

The sacrifice, we remember, was foretold from the very beginning. God provided coats of skin to cover Adam’s nakedness. There was another significant occurrence in the life of Abraham when he was commanded by God to offer up Isaac

We have the privilege of being able to see the work performed by Abraham’s seed and to know where he will sit in control of the nations. When Abraham died, Jerusalem was a stronghold of the Canaanites, who possessed the whole promised land. Yet he believed the promise.

After the four hundred and thirty years, God sent Moses to lead the descendant of Abraham, by Israel, out of Egyptian bondage. Soon, a light would shine in the earth. The light of the knowledge of the one true God would illuminate His people and would radiate from the holy land to the Gentiles. Said the Lord at Sinai “If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine—and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation.” (Ex. 19:5-6). The na­tions, hearing the statutes of the law would say ‘surely, this nation is a wise and understanding people.” (Deut. 4:6)

Forty years after the Exodus, Joshua led Israel in the conquest of the thirty one Canaanite kings listed in Joshua 12. Among them was the Jebusite king of Jerusalem. But we learn that Israel was not able to drive out the inhabitants of this strategic city.

Four hundred years afterwards, King David, after reigning seven years in He­bron, captured Jerusalem, which was built on four hills — Zion, Acra, Moriah and Bezetha. It soon became apparent that the strategic value of Jerusalem was far greater than commanding the hill coun­try of Judea. For when David sat in his house in the city, he desired to build a temple. And the purpose of God was further unfolded when he received the promise of an everlasting throne in Jerusalem.

The Lord did not permit the king to build a permanent structure for the ark of the covenant. Having produced the plan by inspiration, and preparing material for the House of God, he fell asleep, waiting for the coming of the promised Seed. His son Solomon supervised the assembly of the temple, and at the dedication, asked God “What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man or by all thy people Israel . . . and spread forth his hands to this house, then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place . . Moreover concerning a stranger that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy names’ sake . . . When he shall come and pray toward this house, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place . . . that all people of the earth may know thy name to fear thee” (1 Kings 8:38-43)

The Lord’s reply was “I have heard thy prayer . . . mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.”

We Do Well to Enlarge Our Vision of the Kingdom

Thenceforward the destiny of Jerusa­lem was wrapped up with the purpose of God. The faithful in every age since have hoped for the fulfillment of Psalm 2.” Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” Another psalm describes the city “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great king (48:2). “Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces.”

These are not abstractions, they concern an architectural center, a city in the promised land—a city of timbers and stones, bricks and mortar. The Christa­delphians have been criticized for such an earthbound, materialistic hope — but we do well to enlarge our vision of the King­dom, when “the meek shall inherit the earth and delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” (Ps. 37:11).

The time is coming when “the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall say, Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Isa. 2).

Israel heard this message of Isaiah, but “they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets . . . therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees . . whose army . . . burnt the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire” (2 Chr. 36:14-19)

For the small, faithful remnant, what a terrible blow was this destruction! It was far more than national pride or homesickness that moved them to say, “If I forget thee, let my right hand forget her cunning.” (Ps. 137) and “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love thee.” (Ps. 122)

We see the prophet Daniel, during this time of desolation, opening his win­dows toward Jerusalem and praying three times a day.

Daniel had a work to perform for the people of God. A difficult time of more than four hundred years lay before them when there would be no more vision. So God entrusted to this man greatly beloved, a vision of unfolding events that would affect their welfare through all that time. They would find comfort and guidance until the appearance of the Mes­siah.

In like manner, John, beloved of Jesus, saw a vision that was to provide guidance to the Gentile people of God, while they waited for Messiah’s second coming. Events affecting their welfare were uncovered, or apocalypsed, to help the brethren through every century until the Lord returns.

One of Daniel’s prayers is recorded in ch, 9 (v. 16) “I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from the city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain . . . cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate.”

Immediately afterwards the angel gave him the prophecy of the “seventy weeks,” informing him that a restoration of Jeru­salem would begin in “troubles times.” (v. 25).

Not long afterwards, Cyrus, in his first year, issued his decree to restore the house of God in Jerusalem. Following this, forty two thousand Jews with their families and servants crossed the Euphrates and resettled in Judea. In ch. 9 of his book is recorded a prayer of Ezra very much parallel with that of Daniel. (v. 9)

“Our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us . . . to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolation’s thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.”

The purpose of “a wall” becomes painfully evident when we see why Ezra offered this prayer. For he asks (v. 14) ‘Should we again break thy commandments and join in affinity with the people of these abominations?” For it had been reported to him in v. 1″ The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the land, doing according to their abominations”

In the second year after their return, the people finished laying the foundation of the temple. But their joy was seen by the adversaries of Israel. First they offered to help in the restoration. But their motives became clear when, their help refused, they set out to “weaken the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,” hiring counselors against them to frustrate their purpose. Sounds like Jew and Arab today, doesn’t it? And they were successful in obtaining an injunction to halt further construction in the city — which remained in effect for more than twenty years.

This was a severe blow to those who had worked so enthusiastically to lay the foundation of the temple, and who rejoiced to see the project beginning to take shape.

Well might we wonder why God permitted Artaxerxes to put a stop to their work of restoration. The answer is that there must be a restoration in the hearts of the people. Otherwise what good could a restored temple and city do? How could the truth of God radiate from a city whose inhabitants put a low priority on spiritual matters?

It wasn’t until God sent Haggai and Zechariah to prophesy, that the restoration was re-commenced. Haggai said “This people say the time is not come that the Lord’s house should be built.” And where were the peoples’ priorities? ‘Is it time for you to dwell in your ceiled houses and this house lies waste?” “I smote you with blasting and mildew and hail . . . yet ye turned not to me” “Consider now from this day and upward . . . from this day will I bless you.” It is most revealing to see what happened when the enemies of Jerusalem challenged the renewed restoration.

Darius found the decree of Cyrus and enforced it. It was the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not. This fact might have been pressed upon the king long before. Where there was a will, there would be a way. But Israel lacked sufficient will to carry them through their difficulty until they were stirred up by the two prophets. Zechariah asked “Who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice” (4:10.) The time would come when “many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusa­lem, and to pray before the Lord (8:22) “

We “also, as lively stones are built up a spiritual house” (1 Pet. 2:5). Most of our work is in planning, getting the materials and shaping them. When Christ returns the assembly of the “lively stones” will be relatively quick. And while we are occupied with the preparation of the materials we must never be discouraged by apparent failures or set backs. When the going gets tough, it is easy to say, subconsciously, “the time is not yet come that the Lord’s house should be built.” But that is the time for the tough to get going. Israel received blessing from God when they got their priorities right. Jesus put it this way, “Seek ye first the king­dom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Another stage in the restoration came in the time of Nehemiah. The kings cup-bearer heard the bad news about Jerusa­lem,” the remnant that are left of the captivity in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusa­lem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.” And Nehemiah’s prayer that followed is remarkably parallel with that of Daniel and Ezra concerning Jerusalem. They all expressed the need for reformation; first in themselves and also in the nation. They appealed to the mercy of God, and referred to his promise to regather Israel. But one feature most evident is the overwhelming concern for the welfare of Jerusalem and her people. Doubtless they all had a desire for personal salvation, but their question was not, What must I do to save me?, rather, what part must I play in forwarding the fortunes of Jerusalem ? This same prayer was on the lips of Simeon and Anna who welcomed the babe Jesus into the temple, and it was on the lips of the disciples at his ascension:—”Wilt thou at this time restore again the king­dom to Israel?”

There are no Wasted Words in Scripture

God heard Nehemiah’s prayer, and the king showed favor to his request to receive materials and to restore the walls of the city. And so, with opposition not unlike that of Yasser Arafat in this day, Nehemiah stirred up the people to say “Let us rise up and build!” Knowing that there are no wasted words in Scripture, we might marvel to see the whole of the third chapter of Nehemiah devoted to giving the names of those who built the wall. Various reasons could be suggested, but one fact is that the names of these men and women (v. 12) have been preserved these more than 25 centuries as a testimony to their labors.

Our works are also being written down in a book. Have you thought about that lately? What was entered in your book last week? John saw “the dead, small and great, stand before God and the books were opened . . . and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” (Rev. 22:12) May next weeks entry in our books find us laboring in the work of the Lord in whatever capacity we are able.

Returning for one more look at Nehemiah’s work, we see the wall restored, surrounding a city still very much in ruins. Was that the right order of work, to first build the wall, and then the buildings inside the city? The experience of Nehemiah suggests that it was vital that the wall be in place first. The people of the land wandered in and out of the city, mixed with the people of Israel at will, seven days a week, including the Sabbath. The wall put a stop to their upsetting the Sabbath. A serious problem also developed with intermarriage.

God, through Malachi expressed the need to preserve a Godly seed. There was no way that could be accomplished by intermarriage with the people of the land, and Nehemiah knew it. In like manner there is a wall around the ecclesia. Not because we claim to be better than anyone else, but because our God has said “Be ye holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16). We cannot prepare ourselves for the work to come by mixing in the affairs of this world or being unequally yoked with its people. For this reason we cannot respond to the invitations of the ecumenical movement, to cooperate with the churches of the apostasy. While they keep their false ways, they have no portion, nor memorial in Jerusalem. But “of Zion it shall be said, “This and that man were born in her . . . The Lord shall count when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there.”

And Jesus, whom we come to remember, said, “Swear not by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king.”

And with consuming zeal, he cleansed the temple, saying “Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations? but ye have made it a den of thieves?” (Mark 11:17) And, finally, we see Jesus mourning over Jerusalem. “0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth till ye say “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mt. 23). Here was a sadness like Daniel’s that foresaw the long desolation of the very focal point of God’s purpose. The city whose work was to radiate the knowledge of God would be extinguished, for it rejected its rightful king. He died outside its walls on our behalf. What can we do to reciprocate his great love toward us?