HEPHZIBAH
"My delight is in her"
"My delight is in her"
You shall also be a crown of glory
In the hand of the Lord,
And a royal diadem
In the hand of your God.
4
You shall no longer be termed Forsaken,
Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate;
But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah;
For the Lord delights in you,
And your land shall be married.
5
Isaiah 62: 3-4
As I sit on my balcony the rays of the setting sun turn the whole city of Jerusalem to gold. I look out over the hills and know that indeed this must be the most beautiful city in the world. Of course there are many beautiful cities and you may not agree with me, but there is truly no other city in the world in which the Lord delights as he does over Jerusalem.
This past week we celebrated the 50th year of the reunification of Jerusalem, which followed its capture by Israel, from the Jordanians, during the 1967 war. It was a week of many events that took place around the city, beginning with a spectacular laser light show cast onto the walls of the Old City.
The opening celebrations for the Jubilee Celebrations - a laser light show cast onto the Old City walls. https://www.jerusalem.muni.il/en/Municipality/Municipal%20info/Pages/AllcelebrationsJerusalem.aspx
For those of us living here it was a somewhat difficult week. The many events and celebrations drew thousands of Israelis and tourists into the city, and the normally chaotic traffic saw even more disruption. All this was compounded by the visit of President Trump, for which the entire city center was closed down. On the Tuesday I set off for work as normal only to find that all three exits from my neighborhood were closed off, even for pedestrians. Only on my third attempt, at around 1PM, did I finally succeed in getting to work.
However these things are mostly borne in good humor by Jerusalem's inhabitants - it is a small price to pay for the joy of living in the most fascinating and wonderful city in the world. We wouldn't have it any other way.
What is it that draws some 3.5 million tourists to Jerusalem every year? What is so special? Is it the spectacular vistas that open at every turn, the golden light of the burnished hillsides and the golden Jerusalem limestone from which the city is built? No, it is because this is the city that God has called Hephsibah (my delight is in her).
Why did God chose Jerusalem? It is built on a non-descript hill, surrounded by larger and more impressive hills, it is far from any ports or the sea, it is dry and parched and there are no perennial streams nearby, and furthermore it is not on the route to anywhere. Yet God chose this place as his dwelling place on Earth.
“But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go." Deuteronomy 12:5
There are many passages of Scripture that speaks of Jerusalem as being God's dwelling place, for example:
So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,
Dwelling in Zion* My holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem shall be holy....
Joel 3:17
(* Zion is an alternative name for Jerusalem)
The Psalmist declared,
For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His dwelling place:
14
“This is My resting place forever;
Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
Psalm 132: 13
What does it mean that this is the dwelling place of God? God exists outside of the creation and dwells in Heaven, yet he is everywhere in his Creation (omnipresent). So what does it mean that Jerusalem is the dwelling place of God? It is the place He told David to establish as the place of sacrifice and worship, the site of the Holy of Holies, where He would communicate with mankind, but it is much more than even that. It is a mystery.
After God met with Moses on Mt Sinai and gave him the Torah Law, God instructed Moses saying
" And let them (the people of Israel) make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them..." Exodus 25:8.
Furthermore He told Moses,
You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. 22 And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony,...
Exodus 25:21-22
For many years the Tabernacle and the Ark moved with the People as they wandered in the wilderness, but then when they had at last came into the Promised Land, the Tabernacle was set up at Shiloh, about 10km north of Jerusalem. Inside the Tabernacle the Ark was placed in the Holy of Holies. After the Ark was captured by the Philistines and later returned to the People of Israel it was set in the Holy of Holies in the Temple constructed by King Solomon on the northern flank of the mountain on which sat Jerusalem, Mt Zion.
For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually
2 Chronicles 7:16
Note the words 'forever' and 'perpetually" in this verse. Solomon's Temple is long gone, but God's presence remains there 'forever'. Some years ago I visited the tunnels that run alongside the Western Wall, the retaining wall of the Temple Mount, and all that remains of the Temple after the sacking by Rome in 70 AD. I was standing a little apart from the group when suddenly I was overcome by the awe and joy of the presence of God. It was very powerful and all I could do was pray. Then I heard the guide telling us that we were at that point standing as close as it is currently possible to the site of the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant once stood with the Mercy Seat of God upon it. I can testify that though the Temple and the Ark are lost and gone, there still remains the Presence of God in that place as He promised. I have also heard others say that they too felt a very special Presence when they went to this spot.
When Trump visited during the week of Celebrations he made history in that he was the first sitting President of the United States to visit to the Western Wall and he, like all who are drawn there, prayed and also left a handwritten prayer in a niche in the Wall, as is the custom. There are many who claim that this was the most significant moment of his visit. I feel too that there was some deep spiritual significance, especially considering the timing of his visit. I also pray that Trump will have been deeply touched also by the Presence of the LORD in this place.
 |
| The Jerusalem Forest |
 | ||||||||||||||
Trump prays at the Western Wall. http://www.endtimenews.tv/2017/05/23/president-trump-prays-at-the-western-wall-in-jerusalem/
Jerusalem is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, established around 5000 years ago. It has been the spiritual center of the People of Israel since David established it as his capital around 3000 years ago (1). It has been "destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked an additional 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times", and yet it still stands today (2). It has had a complicated and fascinating history and in our times once more has been established as the capital of the People of Israel.
In the 33 or so years I have known this city I have seen an amazing transformation, from a dusty, run down town crumbling houses to a beautiful metropolis with tree-lined streets bustling streets, with many cafes and restaurants, theatres and museums (60 museums!), a zoo, a botanical garden, universities and hospitals and lovely green parks and gardens. On the western side a huge forest of Jerusalem pine and cedars has been planted and grown to maturity.
According to both Christian and Jewish tradition there is both a heavenly Jerusalem and an earthly Jerusalem, and we can see this in the New Testament book of Revelation:
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is built
As a city that is compact together,
Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of the Lord,
To the Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
For thrones are set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
Psalm 122 : 1-5
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20080603214950/http://www.momentmag.com/Exclusive/2008/2008-03/200803-Jerusalem.html
|
