Visions of Mount – Earthly and Heavenly

Through God’s great mercy and love, even when we were spiritually dead in trespass and sin, He sent His only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to quicken our mortal bodies and give us the gift of eternal life through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Through grace alone God saved our souls from an eternity of hell; a most precious gift of love and mercy, and He also…. ■ Ephesians 2:6… raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The apostle Paul knew a man who had been to heavenly places. ■ 2 Corinthians 12:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago–whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows–such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And this man, heard things, which if uttered were not lawful. ■ 2 Corinthians 12:4 …how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. The Apostle Paul knew perfectly well why the heavenly visions were unlawful to speak of, for under the religious regime of that time they were blasphemous, and Paul, then still known as Saul, had previously observed the fate of a man who had uttered such visions, namely seeing Jesus, the Son of Man, standing at the right hand of God His Father. For Saul, who was yet to have his Damascus road experience, was standing with the witnesses garments laid at his feet, which they had cast aside all the easier to stone Stephen to death! Paul who now preached Christ was, until his conversion, against Him! As also were we! Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit, and God worked miracles through him, which enraged the sanctimonious religious hypocrites of the day who were unable to gainsay him – well who could? For God was with him, and had filled Stephen with wisdom and knowledge of the scriptures. So in their ire they brought false witnesses against him and fetched him before the council. ■ Acts 6:9-14 Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. Then they secretly induced men to say, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. They also set up false witnesses who said, this man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law ; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us. However, those who were there railing against Stephen were the exact same who hated Jesus, and had added their voices to those demanding that Christ be crucified. Therefore, for Stephen to say that he saw God and Jesus together was far worse than a red flag to a field full of raging mad bulls! But Stephen gave them his mind of truth and laid into them with well-deserved accusations. ■ Acts 7:51-54 You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it. When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. ■ Acts 7:55-58 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, look! I see the

Page 1 of 8 heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God ! Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. Our Lord Jesus Christ had also been charged with blasphemy in similar circumstances when he answered the high priest Caiaphas as to whether or not He was the Son of God. ■ Matthew 26:64 Jesus said to him, it is as you said . Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. At this statement the high priest rent his clothes saying, He has spoken blasphemy and they all agreed that Jesus was guilty of death. Notice, even these days, how a religious spirit always condemns visions of heaven or even the manifestation of the spiritual gifts, because the evil cannot stand an expression of the truth. Back to Stephen… as he was finishing his testimony before the council he said something very interesting relevant to our theme – namely, that God does not live in temples made by hands. ■ Acts 7:48-49 However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands , as the prophet says: heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? Says the LORD, or what is the place of My rest? A similar sentence was spoken later by Paul in the book of Acts, whilst disputing and preaching to the men of Athens, ■ Acts 17:24-25 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. So where does God dwell? It is Mount Zion, the city of the Living God, which the writer of Hebrews, who incidentally I personally believe to be the Apostle Paul, and whom also I believe was himself the man who was caught up into the third heaven, quoted earlier in 2 Corinthians 12:2. ■ Hebrews 12:22-24 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly , to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. How could the writer of Hebrews have known these things if he had not seen them for himself? And now the deacon and martyr, Stephen, his life suddenly terminated by stoning, found himself among the spirits of just men made perfect in Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, together with the general assembly and church of the firstborn whose names are registered in heaven, as are all true spirit filled believers, and that is why we too can enter the very throne room of God, not yet in the flesh of course, but spiritually we have open access to God and our passport is the indwelling Holy Spirit. ■ Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. This is also why we are surrounded with a great cloud of witnesses in the spiritual realm; those heroes of faith who have gone before us and overcome are part of the company of the spirits of just men and women made perfect.

Page 2 of 8 ■ Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. We are tethered as it were by the Godhead with a threefold cord to the heavenly realms, even as we live and breathe here on earth., Our adoption in Christ has accorded us a heavenly dwelling place in Mount Zion the city of the living God – the heavenly Jerusalem. For the Father chose us, Jesus the Son died for us and the Holy Spirit sealed us – our heavenly Father’s name is written on our foreheads. ■ Revelation 14:1 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. ■ Revelation 22:4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. Now to Zion King reigned from the physical ‘’ in Jerusalem – the holy hill of Zion, and our Lord Jesus Christ presently reigns out of the heavenly Jerusalem – Zion – the city of God. Mount Zion has a long history, which began when King David conquered the and took Jerusalem and the castle stronghold of Zion. ■ 1 Chronicles 11:4-5 And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus, where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land. But the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, you shall not come in here! Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David). ■ 1 Chronicles 11:7 Then David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore they called it the City of David. God made it plain that He had not only chosen Jerusalem in which to place His name, but had chosen David as King. ■ 2 Chronicles 6:6 But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel. David brought the to Jerusalem from Obed Edom’s house. ■ 2 Samuel 6:17And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in his place, in the midst of the that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. As we have already read, Mount Zion is not only a physical place in Jerusalem, but also the dwelling place and city of God in the spiritual realms. The earthly Mount Zion is one of three prominent biblical hills in Jerusalem; the others are Mount and the . Mount Moriah After David’s death, when his son Solomon had finished building the temple at Jerusalem the Lord appeared to him. ■ 1 Kings 9:3 And the LORD said to him: I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. Now the first temple was built on Mount Moriah, which was also the site of other significant happenings. God spoke to Abraham with instructions to go there;

Page 3 of 8 ■ Genesis 22:2And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah ; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. There Solomon built God’s temple, and there David built an altar to the Lord. ■ 2 Chronicles 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the . The Mount of Olives We cannot move on without mention of the hill where Jesus was often desirous of praying alone or with his disciples – the Mount of Olives where He also ascended into heaven. ■ Acts 1:9-12 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey (less than half a mile) . The witness of the to Zion In Psalm 2, which is attributed to King David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, we read, ■ Psalms 2:6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. This was indeed King David’s hill, but the psalm is also a prophecy of King Jesus. ■ Psalms 2:7-10 I will declare the decree: the LORD has said to Me, You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel. Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. In the Psalms David is in prophetic mode, just like our Lord he functioned as a prophet, priest and King. David’s psalms contain messianic prophecies; among them are Psalm 22, 41, 69, 110, and 118. Seventy three out of the one hundred and fifty psalms are attributed to David. In another prophetic Psalm we read; ■ Psalms 48:1-2 A Song and Psalm for the sons of . Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. ■ Psalms 48:8 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. Selah We shall read more prophecies later of the perpetual establishment of Mount Zion. Psalm 50, talks of our Lord’s return in glory. ■ Psalms 50:1-2 THE Mighty One, God the LORD, has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun to its going down. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth. And Psalm 76 echoes the dwelling place of God as Zion, and speaks of Judah from which tribe Jesus is descended – see the genealogies in Matthew chapter one and Luke chapter three.

Page 4 of 8 ■ Psalms 76:1-2 In Judah God is known ; His name is great in Israel. In Salem also is His tabernacle, and His dwelling place in Zion. ■ Hebrews 7:14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. Jesus arose as a priest after the order of Melchizedek who was the priest of the Most High God. ■ Genesis 14:18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. David also prophesied in the Psalms of Jesus’ eternal priesthood, which is echoed in Hebrews. ■ Psalms 110:4 The LORD has sworn and will not relent; You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. ■ Hebrews 6:20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was without father or mother; his name means King of righteousness and King of Salem, meaning peace. Salem is Jerusalem. ■ Hebrews 7:2-3 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated ‘King of righteousness,’ and then also king of Salem, meaning ‘King of peace,’ without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. Jesus sits on His throne in Zion, God’s heavenly city, and in His priestly role makes intercession for us and we can be certain that He will save us to the uttermost! Hallelujah what a Saviour! ■ Hebrews 7:24-25 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Back to Zion, Zion is also used as a collective name Zion is used as a name for the inhabitants of Jerusalem ■ Psalms 147:12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. The nation of Israel is meant here – the children of Zion. ■ Psalms 149:2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Zion – the place where God has placed His Name forever We have looked at Mount Zion as the city of King David and also as the heavenly city of God. It is worthy of note that God has made it plain to all, that Jerusalem is where He will place His name forever . Some examples are below; ■ 1 Kings 11:36 And to his son I will give one tribe, that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there. ■ 1 Kings 14:21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel , to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. ■ 2 Kings 21:4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, in Jerusalem will I put my name.

Page 5 of 8 ■ 2 Kings 21:7 He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD had said to David and to Solomon his son, in this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. The Mountain of the House of the Lord Is there a future role for Mount Zion in Jerusalem? According to scripture there certainly is and there are plenty of unfulfilled prophetic scriptures to prove it! As we have already read, Jesus ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives, and this is also the place of His return to battle Israel’s enemies with all His saints. ■ :2-5 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. Jerusalem will be the cause for all the nations who fight against her to tremble in fear, and her enemies will be cut to pieces no matter how multitudinous they are. ■ Zechariah 12:2-3 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. God’s people will then be separated from the profane. ■ Joel 3:16-17 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. Tears will turn to joy as the redeemed of the Lord come with singing to Zion. ■ Isaiah 51:11 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. In Jesus’ millennial reign Jerusalem will be the centre of teaching for all the nations to learn God’s laws. ■ Isaiah 2:3 And many people shall go and 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. ■ Micah 4:1-2 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say,

Page 6 of 8 Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. Everyone will gladly have their hearts turned to God as He reigns from Mount Zion – and whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. ■ Jeremiah 3:17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. ■ :23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. ■ Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. ■ Zechariah 8:3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain. ■ :5-6 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 defence. And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain. Yes, there are a lot of scriptures quoted above, but how can we leave them out as all testify to the commencement of the millennial (a thousand years) reign of Christ, and at that time the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea. ■ Isaiah 11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. This will be the culmination and fulfilment of the forgotten dream of Nebuchadnezzar, in which Daniel, see chapter two of the book of Daniel, was able to recount and interpret through God’s answer to his prayer and reveal the secret of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The statue in the dream, with the golden head, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron and feet partly of iron and clay was broken in pieces by the stone cut out of the mountain without hands and was blown away as the chaff of the summer threshing floor. The stone became a great mountain which filled the earth. All the elements denoted various kingdoms, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar as the golden head, which would be set up down through the ages until the time when God’s Kingdom shall come upon earth. ■ Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. And we shall be one with Him! Hallelujah! Amen. ■ Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. During this time Satan is bound for a thousand years in the bottomless pit and the beast and the false prophet have already been cast alive into the lake of fire – but the end is not yet! Zion had a glorious past when King David reigned in Jerusalem, and although today life there is a constant struggle against extremism, venomous hatred and murderous violence towards Israelis by

Page 7 of 8 the Arab extremists, yet soon she shall be glorious beyond all measure when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to reign over all the earth, with a rod of iron against His enemies, and to the sounds of great rejoicing and praise from those who love Him. ■ Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be – “The LORD is one”, and His name one.

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