Why isn’t the church talking about Zion anymore? What happened to Zion anyway? I am old enough to remember when preachers used to preach about Zion and the church used to sing about it. In fact, there were a lot of songs about Zion: “We’re Marching to Zion”… “Zion Stands With Hills Surrounded”…“O Zion Haste.” We seldom hear these old hymns anymore and I don’t believe I have heard a regular preacher speak on Zion for thirty or forty years.
Mount Zion
Maybe we don’t think it’s “politically correct” to speak or sing about Zion in these times. That certainly was not the case in the early colonial America. At that time many of the people and even their leaders were ardent Zionists. Our Pilgrim Fathers strongly believed that someday the Jewish people would return home to their own land. These early Americans were very sympathetic to Zion and to the Jews. They named their children and their cities with Hebrew and biblical names. They even studied Hebrew and held the language in high regard. Traces of this affection can still be seen on the seals of America’s early universities.
Even today the tetragrammaton (four-letter Hebrew name of God) graces the seal of Columbia University. Dartmouth displays the Hebrew El Shaddai. Yale University has written across its seal in Hebrew, Urim ve-thummim (light & truth). In many of these schools Hebrew was once a required course, and they certainly were well acquainted with Zion.
WHAT IS ZION ANYWAY?
What is the significance of the word “Zion”? The word is mentioned 166 times in the Bible. That is a respectable amount of occurrences. Even “hope,” one of the three pillars of Christianity, is mentioned only 161 times. This immediately tells us that Zion is an important concept.
The actual name “Zion,” probably means “citadel,” and was first applied to the stronghold of the Jebusites captured by David. This stronghold was afterward called the City of David (2 Sam. 5:7). Later, the term was applied to the Temple Mount and then expanded to include the whole city of Jerusalem (2 Ki. 19:21). Finally, the term was even applied to the people of Israel (Isa. 51:16). Centuries afterward, in both the prophets and the New Testament writers, the term was further expanded to include many of the spiritual realities that we now hold dear.
Thus the concept of Zion probably represents one of the most elaborate and complex spiritual ideas ever revealed to the heart of man. It ultimately encompasses the whole idea of God’s rule and reign on earth. Within this concept are the ideas of salvation, perfection, glory, joy, peace, rest, fulfillment, victory, holiness and many other beautiful realities.
WHY WOULD WE FORGET ZION?
Why would we forget such a beautiful concept as Zion? Probably the biggest reason is that the devil hates the idea, and no doubt spends much of his time trying to erase it from the minds of mankind. Also the devil apparently labors incessantly to defame Zion politically and make the concept repulsive to the whole world. For instance, in 1975, on the anniversary of the infamous Kristallnicht in Germany, the UN passed a resolution declaring that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination. That resolution, like so many passed by the UN, came about as a result of Arab and Moslem agitation against Israel.
This dreadful resolution, declaring illegal that fervent desire of the Jewish heart to return to Jerusalem, was not repealed until 1991. With all the devil’s political activity in the world, Zion and Zionism are terms that are no longer “politically correct.”
Thus, today Zion is a taboo subject for many. Perhaps because of this we Christians have tended to forget about it. But how CAN we forget Zion? The Bible says, “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy” (Psa. 137:5-6). Just imagine the carpenter totally losing his skill at woodworking. Imagine the heart surgeon totally losing his wonderful skill of repairing those vital organs! Imagine the politician or radio announcer totally losing his ability to speak. It is just that serious when we forget Zion.
Our Bible exhorts us in Psalm 122:6 to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. This is not just a one-time prayer as we can see from that strange verse in Isaiah 62:7 which says: “and give him [God] no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.”
EVEN GOD IS A ZIONIST
Although it is not deemed politically correct today, even God is a Zionist. In the Bible, God has a lot to say about Israel, Jerusalem and Zion. Here are just a few of the things that the God of the Universe says in relation to Zion: “…this is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it” (Psa. 132:14); “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever…” (Ez. 43:7).
We can thus see that the God of the universe has chosen the tiny mountain town of Jerusalem as his eternal abode. He will someday rule the world from Jerusalem. People will come from all nations seeking God in that place. We can understand why God feels strongly about Zion. In Zechariah 1:14-15 we read: “…This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, but I am very angry with the nations that feel secure…” Since God is extremely jealous for Zion shouldn’t we Christians feel the same way? After all, we are his children.
THE CHURCH IS GOING HOME
In Isaiah 51: 11 we are told: “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.” Zion is the goal of God’s people (Heb. 12:22). The church is going home. It is about to return to its Hebrew heritage.
This raises a small problem. How can we return to someplace we have never been? In one sense it is as though we never left. The Bible speaks of Zion as our mother (Gal.4:26). The Bible also tells us that we Christians were always grafted into the old olive tree of Israel (Rom. 11:17). We have probably all heard of a tree “going back to its roots.” That is exactly what is happening to Christianity today. We are going back to our spiritual roots in the Bible and in Israel. We are in a very real sense Israelites, and the sap of that old olive tree is now rising into our engrafted branches.
Thus one of the longest-kept secrets of Christianity is being revealed in our day. It is an amazing and astounding secret but it is true. We Christians have a Jewish family tree! Is it any wonder that we should want to return to Zion?
MAYBE WE ARE HEARING ABOUT ZION AFTER ALL
Perhaps we hear a lot more about Zion than we think. Of course, we hear about it in the word of God, if we bother to read that. But every time there is a bomb in Jerusalem we are hearing about Zion. Every time a crowded bus is blown up in Israel we are hearing about Zion. Also, every time the UN condemns Israel we are hearing about Zion. That alone insures that we will hear about Zion a lot. The UN condemns Israel on the average of about thirty times a year. Every time the US shames Israel, belittles Israel or messes with her internal affairs, we are hearing about Zion.
Unfortunately, the devil has so tampered with our minds in this modern era that we are simply not able to connect the present Zion and Zionism with the Zion of the Bible.
It is surely time for Christians the world over to rise up from our slumber and realize that these politicians are talking about our spiritual heritage. They are dividing it up, allotting it out to others and blaspheming the name of our God. They are persecuting our very own people. As in Isaiah 62:1, it is surely time to speak, even to cry out: “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.”
-Jim Gerrish
August 2002