Jerusalem is God’s Holy City; not Rome, Constantinople, Babylon, or New York. Originally the royal residence of Melchizedek; then the Jebusites took possession and ultimately became the Holy city of the Hebrews.
Jerusalem is the city of God, the center of true worship,
Psalms 122, “Let us go into the house of the LORD. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is build as a city that is compact (have fellowship) together. Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the LORD.”
The place where the LORD dwells, first in the tabernacle,
2 Samuel 6:12, “It was told King David, saying, the LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertain unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David (Jerusalem.)”
Psalms 132:13, “For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for HIS habitation (dwelling place.)”
Psalms 135:2, “You that stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God,” and after in the temple,
1Kings 6:13, “I (God) will dwell among, the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”
The above is also used figuratively to mean the Christian Church, or the celestial body of believers (saved Christian’s) to which all that believe, both Jews and Gentiles, are come, and in which they are initiated,
Galatians 4:26, “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
Hebrews 12:22, “But you are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable company of angels.”
Revelation 3:12, “Him that overcomes will I (Jesus) make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out,”
Rev.21:2-10, “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” And he carried me (John) away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.
Through the accomplishment of prophecy from the death bed of Jacob; and as the seat of the government of the children of Judah, the scepter departed not from Jerusalem until the Jewish Messiah appeared. And now Jerusalem has been trodden down by the Gentiles for some 2000 years, and will continue until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled; trodden down by the Romans, Grecians, Persians, Sacacens, Mamelukes, Turks, Christians, and now by the Arabs.
The city of Jerusalem like Gehenna, Paradise etc., furnishes a metaphorical application of its name, in both an exalted and spiritual sense.
Galatians 4:25, “For this A-gar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.”
Paul is here referring to the formation of the Hebrew nation into a church state, by the giving of the law from Sinai. The Jerusalem that is now being trampled down by the Gentiles continues; but the heavenly Jerusalem is free, which is the mother of us all, both believing Jews and Gentiles.”
Phil LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com