In the reading of these
prophecies. One has to realize that of all that ancient Israel was;
it was also symbolic of what God had planned to do in the entire earth.
Indeed the believers of those days were relating these prophesies to
themselves and to the literal city of Jerusalem and the hill of Zion
that it was built on. God however had something far greater in mind when
he inspired the authors of these prophecies to write them. As the author
of Hebrews has surmised:
Hebrews 12:18
For you are not come to the mountain that might be touched,(Sinai) and
that burned with fire, nor to blackness, and darkness, and tempest....
22 But you are come to mount Zion, and to the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem......
Psalm 2:1 Why do the nations rage, and the
peoples imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his
anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away
their cords from us. 4 He that sits in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord
shall have them in derision. 5 Then shall he speak to them in his anger,
and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6 Yet
have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 7 I will declare
the decree: the LORD has said to me, You are my Son; this day have I
brought you forth. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give you the nations for
your inheritance, and the furthest parts of the earth for your
possession. 9 You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them
in pieces like a clay pot. 10 Be wise now therefore, O you kings: be
instructed, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and
rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you
perish from the way, when his anger is kindled but a little. Blessed are
all they that put their trust in him.
Isaiah 2:2 And it shall come to
pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be
established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the
hills; and all nations shall flow to it.
3 And many people shall go and
say, Come you, 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. 4 And he shall judge among the nations, and
shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into
plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift
up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
(AKJV)
Psalm 110:1 A Psalm of
David. The LORD said to my Lord, Sit down at my right hand, until I make
your enemies your footstool. 2 The LORD shall
send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule in the midst of your
enemies. 3 Your people shall be willing in the day of your power,
in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: you have the
dew of your youth. 4 The LORD has sworn, and will not repent, You art a
priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek
Isaiah 4:2 In that day shall the branch of
the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be
excellent and beautiful for them that are escaped of Israel. 3 And it
shall come to pass, that he that is left in
Zion, and he that remains in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every
one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: ........5 And
the LORD will create upon every dwelling
place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke
by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the
glory shall be a defense. 6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow
in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a
covert from storm and from rain.
Psalm 102:12 But you, O
LORD, will endure for ever; and your remembrance to all generations.
13 You will arise, and have mercy upon Zion:
for the time to favor her, yes, the set time, is come. 14 For your
servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust of it. 15 So
the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the
earth your glory. 16 When the LORD shall
build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. 17 He will regard
the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. 18 This shall
be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be
created shall praise the LORD. 19 For he has looked down from the height
of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth; 20 To hear
the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to
death; 21 To declare the name of the LORD in
Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem; 22 When the people are
gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
Psalm 132:11 The LORD has
sworn in truth to David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy
body (Jesus) will I set upon your throne. 12 If your
children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them,
their children shall also sit upon your throne for evermore. 13
For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
14 This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with
bread. 16 I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints
shall shout aloud for joy. 17 There will I make the horn of David to
bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. 18 His enemies will I
clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish.
Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste
places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like
the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. 4 Hearken to me, my people; and
give ear to me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will
make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. 5 My righteousness
is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the
people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they
trust.....11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return,
and come with singing unto Zion; and
everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and
joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. .....16 And I have put my
words in your mouth, and I have covered you in the shadow of my hand,
that I may plant the heavens, and lay the
foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, You are my people.
Isaiah 52:1
Awake, awake; put on your strength, O Zion;
put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem,
the holy city: from now on there shall no more come into you the
uncircumcised and the unclean......6 Therefore my people shall know my
name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that does
speak: behold, it is I. 7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet
of him that brings good news, that publish peace; that brings good news
of good, that publishes salvation; that says
to Zion, Your God reigns! 8 Your watchmen shall lift up the
voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye
to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.
9 Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem:
for the LORD has comforted his people, he
hath redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD hath made bare his holy arm
in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
Isaiah 60 1. Arise, shine; for
your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. 2. For,
behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the
people: but the Lord shall arise upon you, and his glory shall be seen
upon you. 3. And the Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the
brightness of your rising. 4. Lift up your eyes round about, and
see: all they gather themselves together, they come to you: your sons
shall come from far, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. 5.
Then you will see, and flow together, and your heart shall fear, and be
enlarged; because the abundance of the sea
shall be converted to you, the wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.
...... 10. And the sons of strangers shall build up
your walls, and their kings shall minister to you: for in my
wrath I struck you, but in my favor have I had mercy on you.
11. Therefore your gates shall be open
continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring to
you the wealth of the Nations, and that their kings may be brought.
12. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish;
yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted. .........14. The sons also of them that afflicted you shall come
bending down to you; and all they that despised you shall bow themselves
down at the soles of your feet;
and they shall call you; The city of the
Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15. Whereas you had
been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through you,
I will make you an eternal excellency,
a joy of many generations. 16. You shalt also suck the milk of the
Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and you will know that I
the Lord am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. 17.
For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for
wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make your officers peace,
and your exactors righteousness. 18. Violence shall no more be heard in
your land, wasting nor destruction within your borders; but you shalt
call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.
19. The sun shall be no more your light by day; neither for brightness
shall the moon give light to you: but the Lord shall be to you an
everlasting light. 21. your people also shall be all righteous:
they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the
work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
22. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong
nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time.
Isaiah 62 1.
For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I
will not rest, until the righteousness of it go forth as
brightness, and the salvation of it as a lamp that burns. 2. And the
Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory: and you
will be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. 3.
You will also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal
diadem in the hand of your God. ......... 6. I have set watchmen
upon your walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor
night: you that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, 7. And give
him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem
a praise in
the earth. 8. The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of
his strength, Surely I will no more give your corn to be meat for your
enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink your wine, for the
which you have labored: 9. But they that have gathered it shall eat it,
and praise the Lord; and they that have brought it together shall drink
it in the courts of my holiness. 10. Go through, go through the gates;
prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather
out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. 11. Behold, the Lord
hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say to the daughter of
Zion, Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and
his work before him. 12. And they shall call them, The holy people, The
redeemed of the Lord: and you will be called, Sought out, A city not
forsaken
Zechariah
1:13 And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words
and comfortable words. 14 So the angel that communed with me said to me,
Cry out saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts;
I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. 15
And I am very sore displeased with the nations that are at ease: for I
was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. 16
Therefore thus says the LORD; I am returned
to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, says
the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be
stretched forth upon Jerusalem. 17 Cry yet, saying, Thus says the
LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad;
and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and
shall yet choose Jerusalem.
Zechariah 2:10
Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, look, I come, and I will
dwell in the midst of you, says the LORD. 11 And many nations shall be
joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell
in the midst of you, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent
me to you. 12 And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy
land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. 13 Be silent, O all flesh,
before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.
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