"Zion"
Dwelling Place of Jehovah"

Text: Psalms 9:ll & l35:21

        Psalms 9:ll
      "Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings."

        Psalms l35:21
      "Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord."

        These two statements which serve as our text now, dealing with Zion, the dwelling place of Jehovah, very briefly sets forth the promise that Zion is the dwelling place of God.

        Isaiah 8:l8
      "Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion."

        There are many other scriptures which we could read which substantiate this promise, but beloved, Zion is deemed to be the dwelling place of Jehovah and later we are going to find out that the church is referred as Mount Zion.
        The church is the dwelling place of God in this dispensation, so you see how all this is going to carry over, how it's going to fit together. I like to see the big picture. It is for this reason then, that Mount Zion is said to be holy.

        Psalms 2:6
      "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion."

        So Zion is holy unto the Lord and it is holy because it is His dwelling place. We are going to find that it will be His dwelling place for all eternity, but we want to trace the development of this thought in history. In the earlier passages, we traced the development of Zion, historically, in the old testament, and we said David, having ruled for seven years over the tribe of Judah, his own tribe, from Hebron; the other tribes came to him and they more or less coordinated him as their king, the king over all Israel. It was at this time that David went up to Zion which was a stronghold of the Jebusites, and he took Zion and it became known as the City of David and that was where he ruled. That is where his throne was established. Sometimes it is referred to as the city of David. There was a fortress there and we are told that David expanded that fortress, made it larger, enhanced it, made it glorious.
        One of the first things David did, having established himself as the king of Israel and having taken Zion, one of the next things he attempted to do was to bring the Ark of the Covenant, which had been at Kirjath-Jearin, where it had abode every since the Philistines had captured it, and made off with it and then it was returned to the land of Israel. The story found in II Samuel, the sixth chapter, I'll not read it all, but you know the story; David attempted to bring up this Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, a very noble desire that he had, but either due to ignorance, oversight, or something, but he erred in the transporting of the ark, and we are told that they set the ark upon a cart and there was a man by the name of Uzziah and he reached out to touch the ark to keep it from falling and the Lord struck him down dead. David called the name of that place Perez-uzzah. David left the ark there for about three months in the house of Obed-edon, and the Lord greatly blessed him, and then from there David had the ark brought up to Zion, and this time the right way. This time they got it right. They did it the way the Lord told them to do it. It's always better to do it the way the Lord says. He had given them specific instructions, those poles on the side of the ark was not to just look pretty; they were to carry the ark with. The ark was to be borne, physically borne by the tribe of Levi. This time they did it the right way.

        II Samuel 6:l7
      "And they brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord."

        All of this is connected with the fact that Zion is the dwelling place of Jehovah. You say what does this have to do with the ark of the covenant. Well, the ark of the covenant represented the physical presence of God Jehovah with Israel and as a matter of fact, he was said on numerous occasions to have dwelt between the cherubims, and we know that his glory came down and rested upon the ark of the covenant on Yon Kipper whenever the offering was made once a year, or at least that was the way it was suppose to be. If you remember what the ark of the covenant was; where it was placed in the tabernacle in the most holy place; it was a rectangular box, it was hollow on the inside was stored things that were precious to the children of Israel.
        Inside the ark of the covenant were the tables of stone which Moses wrote the ten commandments, and other things, at one time the pot of manna which the children of Israel ate in the wilderness in route to the land of Cannan, and the rod of Aaron that budded; but we read later where only the tables with the commandments were in there.
        On either end there were cherubim's; an angelic figure, and their wings pointed inward and their faces looked down upon the mercy seat, which was the top of the ark of the covenant, and God himself did dwell between the cherubim's. All this is significant, otherwise you lose the significance of David moving the Ark back to Zion.

        I Samuel 4:4
      "So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubim's."

        II Kings l9:l5
      "And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubim's, thou are the God, even thou along, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth."

        Psalms 99:l-2
      "The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble; he sitteth between the cherubim's; let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people."

        First Chronicles chapter ten, verse 6 tells us again about David bringing up the ark, again to the place that David had prepared for it; David had erected a tabernacle there; so Zion, beloved, was reckoned to be the dwelling place of Jehovah; the ark of the covenant was located there and it remained there until Solomon built his temple, at which time the ark of the covenant was transported from Zion to the temple. You have to understand some of this history to appreciate the debth of the meaning of Zion as the dwelling place of Jehovah. We mentioned before, the term Zion referred to or became the proper name of a hill in Jerusalem upon which David established his throne and adjacent to it was Mount Moriah where the temple was built; there was the small valley which separated the two. Originally, Zion was referred to as that one hill where David established his throne, but after the building of the temple on Mount Moriah, the term Zion became enlarged to encompass all the area. It is for this reason that we are told, and once again I will remind you II Chronicles 3:l, we are told that Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah and then we come to:

        II Chronicles 5:2
        "Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion."

        It sounds like they brought the ark out of Zion to the temple, as though the temple were not a part of Zion; well originally it was not, but ultimately the term Zion, became synonymous with Jerusalem and all the area associated with it; it was not just Mount Zion, but also Mount Moriah and that entire area adjacent.
        In II Chronicles, we are told about the completion of the temple and the transportation of the ark of the covenant from the Tabernacle that David had raised up for it in Zion, and we are told, guess what: that evidently, Solomon and the elders of Israel had profited from David's error, because this time, the Levi's physically transported, physically bore, physically carried the ark of the covenant from the place David had established for it at Zion down the valley and up the hill to Mount Moriah and into the temple.

        II Chronicles 5:7-8
      "And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims: For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above."

        Evidently, within the most holy place, Solomon had engraved on the walls there. This is the picture that I have of it from my reading of the account of the construction of the temple and so forth. Large cherubims whose faces looked downward and their wings pointed inward, and it was beneath this area that the ark of the covenant was placed. I know we have spent a great deal of time on this, but the point, beloved, to be made is this; God was deemed to dwell with Israel in the presence of that ark, deemed to dwell upon the mercy seat, he was deemed to dwell between the cherubims; this represented His presence with His people. The ark of the covenant, once David had established his throne was moved to Zion, was later moved to the temple, and the term of Zion was broadened in its application. So my point is, Zion was a designated dwelling of God's abode.

        II Chronicles 5:l3
      "It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voices with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good, His mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God."

        It was a time of joy and jubilation, the temple had been built, and the ark had been moved to its place. Beloved, God had taken up residency in the temple. It was His house, it was the place of His dwelling. Now we can see why the church is referred to as Zion - the dwelling place of God. I believe God actually came down and abode thereon and therein, just as he had when the original tabernacle had been raised over in the fortieth chapter of Exodus. God had told Moses how to build the tabernacle, how the furnishings were to be made and where they were to go, and we are told that Moses did all this:

        Exodus 40:34
      "Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle."

        So the ark of the covenant speaks to us of God's presence. He dwelt between the cherubim's, first in the tabernacle, then in the temple. Later we will read of the prophetic declaration of Isaiah concerning the establishment of the church, and what are we told? "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone, a precious stone, an elect cornerstone." This was prophetic of the church; Zion is a popular theme of the prophets, it is designated as the place where God will ultimately and eternally dwell.

        Isaiah 24:23
      "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."

Sun ashamed? - that sound kind of familiar, doesn't it? We read over there in Matthew and Mark of Christ talking about the things that will transpire immediately prior to his return.

        Isaiah 1:l-4
      "The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 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 unto it. 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, And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

        So beloved, Zion is designated as the eternal dwelling place of God. We will notice later there is a spiritual application of Zion to the people of God. The people of God ultimately are said to BE Zion. We'll talk about that later. Right now we are talking about Zion, the place.
        The nations shall seek the law of the Lord in Zion, in the book of Micah. We may have referred to this verse before but we'll look at it again. Micah, by the way, chapter four, if you will read about six verses, you'll find, is very similar, some of the verbage almost identical to that found in Isaiah 2.

        Micah 4:l-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, 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."

        We are going to find that Zion has great eschatological significance. It has much to do with kingdom teachings; it has much to do with the prophetic pronunciation of God's ultimate purpose for the world The saints shall also rule with Jehovah, their king, from Zion.

        Micah 4:7-8
      "And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast for off a strong nation; and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion: the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem."

        Remember we talked about that Zion was the royal city, Zion was a fortress, Zion was described in the book of Psalms as having palaces, bulwarks, and towers. It was a fortified place. We are told here that God will rule from Zion, and notice we said that Zion is set forth as the eternal abode of God. We are told, the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even forever. Zion is subsequently spoken of as a place of endearment to Jehovah, and his people. There is no place more precious to Jehovah.
        We are going to find later, that the people of God become so identified with Zion that they are called Zion. "Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and the city of the living God. Ye are come." I'd like to read a few verses in Psalms as we move toward a conclusion today. Please bear with me here and listen to what the Psalmist has to say. Beloved, as we said last week, Zion was very special to David; that's why we have so many references in Psalms, most of which was written by David.

        Psalms 69:34-35
      "Let the heaven and the earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein. For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah; that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. Beloved, the saints are going to possess Zion."

        Psalm 69:36
      "The seed also of his servants shall inherit it, and they that love his name shall dwell therein."

        Whose going to dwell in Zion? Those that love the name of the Lord. Those deadbeats who couldn't care whether we had services at church, who could care less about God's word, and what it said and taught, and didn't have any interest whatsoever, even to frequent the house of God. Are they going to dwell there? Not according to that scripture. They that love his name shall dwell there. Very important.

        Psalms 78:65
      "Then the Lord awakes as one out of sleep and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts, he put them to a perpetual reproach. Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim. But chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which he loveth."

        Did God love Zion. That's what it says.

        Psalm 87:l-2
      "His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob."

        Psalm l32:l3
      "For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation."

        Beloved, Zion is the eternal abiding place of the Lord. In the old testament it was in the tabernacle. Then it was in the temple. Then in the book of Ezekiel we are told about God vacating the temple because they had polluted the temple, the place of God's habitation; the place of God's dwelling. So God came along in the new testament and he establishes him a temple made of living stones wherein he may dwell and abide - the church. That's what first started getting this preacher, me, in trouble about twenty-five years ago; that I had the audacity to tell a bunch of people that their individual bodies did not become the temple of God whenever they trusted the Lord. That it was talking about the church of the living God. That's what started me on my way out. If people can't believe that, I'm afraid there is not a whole lot of hope for them. If you reject that, you're in no shape to go anywhere else. It is for this reason that God is said to be jealous for Zion.

        Zechariah l:l4
      "So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy."

        Zechariah 8:2-3
      "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. 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."

        Folks, you go over there and you read Rev. 2l and 22 and that's what that is talking about. New Jerusalem, the heavenly city, Hebrews l2:23 will tell you the same thing. There is a consistency all through God's word. Mount Zion, beloved, is the city of God. It's the place where the saints are going to dwell. Rev. 2l and 22 never have been and never will be a description of heaven. It is a description of the city of God. You've got those l44,000 over there in the fourteenth and the seventh chapter of Revelation. I happen to believe they are one and the same. In the fourteenth chapter, they are pictured on Mount Zion, the bride. This is the bride. In the book of Jeremiah, the Lord made this declaration:

      "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you; and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family and I will bring you to Zion. And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more. The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done anymore. 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 anymore after the imagination of their evil hearts." Jeremiah 3:l4-l7