The City of the Great King
“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, 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. God is in her palaces; He is known as her refuge…. As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, In the city of our God: God will establish it forever.” (Psalm 48)
God has a city, a city where He has put His name (2Chr. 6:6); the city of Jerusalem, the city of David, the city of the great King, the city of Zion, the city of our God! From the moment that the mysterious Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High appeared to bless Abraham (Gen. 14), the ‘city of Salem’ or ‘Jerusalem’ became a special place for God’s chosen people. And it officially became the dwelling place of God when David brought the ark to Jerusalem (2Sam. 6). And even more so did it become God’s dwelling place when David’s son Solomon built the temple for the tabernacle of God, and God inhabited the temple (1Kings 8:10-11) and declared it would be His dwelling place forever (1Kings 9:3). Forever! Did you hear that?
It seems that ever since the early days of its official establishment as God’s city, Jerusalem has been under attack. Satan has declared war on Jerusalem because he wants to be God and have his own throne (Isa. 14). Jerusalem, through the years, has been repeatedly attacked and taken over by numerous parties. The temple was completely destroyed twice, first by the Babylonians (586BC), then by the Romans (70AD). Then the temple mount was taken captive by Muslim forces (637AD), where they built the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock (692AD).
But it doesn’t matter who thinks they have claims to the city of Jerusalem and the temple mount, because it belongs to God, who will install His Son as the great King (Psa. 2:6) - it is His city and will always be so. Even Jesus declared it to be so (Matt. 5:35). And, one of the greatest foreshadows of Jesus being King of Jerusalem is found in the gospels, when He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, in fulfillment of Zech. 9:9, with the people shouting, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke 19:38; John 12:13).
I have travelled to many great cities and seen many great palaces and fortresses of great kings, but there is one city I am longing to see. I can’t even fathom what that city will look like – the city of our great King! Now think about this…. a city is nothing without its people. A city is the people! The author of Hebrews writes, “No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to thousands of angels in joyful assembly. 23 You have come to the assembly of God's firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge of all people. And you have come to the spirits of the redeemed in heaven who have now been made perfect. 24 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which graciously forgives instead of crying out for vengeance as the blood of Abel did.” (NLT Hebrews 12:22-24) The redeemed saints, bought with the precious blood of the Lamb are the city of the great King. As Jesus said, “All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write my God's name on them, and they will be citizens in the city of my God -- the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And they will have my new name inscribed upon them” ( NLT Revelation 3:12).
There is coming a day friends, when the ‘city of peace’, even Jerusalem will belong completely and forever to God and His people (Psa. 132:13-14). King Jesus will rebuild the temple (Zech. 6:12-15), will rule and reign for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4; Ezek. 43:7), and after Satan is defeated once and for all time, Revelation 21 will come to pass: “And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband (NLT Revelation 21:2).NLT “And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light” (NLT Revelation 21:23). And the vision of Ezekiel will be fulfilled, “and the name of that city shall be, “Yahweh-Shammah - The Lord is there” (Ez. 48:35). Till that day, let us not get too worried about what is happening in Jerusalem or Israel, for the word of the Lord will come to pass, all of it, exactly as He has declared it. Let us live like we are the city of God, where God dwells in our midst, and I already live under the rule of the One and Only Great King.
Blessings!
"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."
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