Longing for God in Zion - 240111

SPEAKER B Hello. I'm Rosemary Malkiewycz. Welcome to let God speak. Some of the psalms declare how the righteous desire to visit and dwell securely in Zion, in God's sanctuary, a refuge of safety and peace. Of the 150 psalms in the Bible, 20 of them specifically mention Zion. But what is Zion? Is it a place, a political ideology, a symbol, or a theology? Well, the concept of Zion in the scriptures is itself a blend of all these things. Today, we will discuss these different aspects of the meaning of Zion in the psalms and understand why there is a longing for God's people to be in Zion. On our panel today, we have Kaysie Vokurka and John Kosmeier. Welcome, Kaysie, and welcome, John. SPEAKER A Thank you. SPEAKER B Good to have you with us. Before we start and open the word of God, let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for what we can learn about you and your salvation and the place where you live. Zion is a place in your presence, and we long to be there. So we pray for the Holy Spirit to inspire us today as we discuss the important subject of Zion and your presence. And may it draw us all closer to you. I pray in Jesus name. Amen. SPEAKER C Amen. SPEAKER B In the Bible, the term Zion holds great significance. Its meaning and symbolism varies depending on context, but it can mean a geographical location, a symbol of God's presence, or a symbol of God's kingdom. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul gives it a more spiritual and symbolic meaning, referring to the New Jerusalem. Let us look at each of these aspects of Zion to understand better this longing for God in Zion. Loa, let's start with Zion as a geographical location. Where was the original location of Zion? Kaysie? SPEAKER A It's a good question. So originally, Zion was like a fortress within the ancient city of Jerusalem, and it was under the control of the Jebu sites. But many people believe that it was a hill within Jerusalem, which actually became what was referred to as the city of David. And we can get a little bit of the history of that from looking at two Samuel, chapter five and verse six and seven. And it says, and the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, you shall not come in here, but the blind and the lame will repel you, thinking, David cannot come in here. Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David. And so, yeah, he conquered it from one of these people who were heathens, and he made it, I guess, his home, his central place in Jerusalem, where he lived. And that's why it's been called the city of David. Yeah. So that's basically the little bit that we know from. What is the history behind that? SPEAKER B And one of the interesting things I found out when we went to Israel was that that little city of David was actually quite small. And it's actually south of what we know today as old Jerusalem. So it wasn't within the city walls that we know of today, which was quite interesting. So did this understanding of Zion's location change at all, John? SPEAKER C Change. Then there were the people of Israel and the Canaanites. But today you've got the jewish sector, you've got the christian sector, you've got the muslim sector, and you've got the armenian sector. The Old Testament mentioned Zion with a z 152 times. The New Testament talks about Zion spelt with an s seven times. And so in 1897, the idea of Zionism arose. Until today, of course, we have those who want the Jews to go back to Israel because Zion is there. And in fact, when you read the last line of the jewish national anthem, it says hope of Zion and Jerusalem. And so there is that hope of Zion. And that's what the lesson is about today, is people wanting to go back, because that is where God is. And we'll talk more about that in our study today. SPEAKER B And so there wasn't this change of idea of where. SPEAKER C It was tremendous. SPEAKER B There is an interesting transition in the idea of Zion between Mount Zion and Mount Moriah, which is very well known in the Bible. Both mounts were within the city of Jerusalem. But can you explain this transition, Kaysie? SPEAKER A Yeah. So Mount Moriah was located north of Mount Zion. And Mount Moriah was the place, for example, where Isaac was offered to be sacrificed. That's in Genesis 22. And it's also where David, he purchased a threshing floor on that spot and he offered to God sacrifices there to atone for his sin of taking a census of Israel. And then, of course, that's where Solomon ended up building the magnificent temple. So it was a very, I guess, sacred site. Mount Moriah was. And basically, over time, Zion ended up being a term which sort of encompassed that site as well as the city of David, which was believed to be below that. And it was kind of collectively inclusive of that whole region where people came because they could meet with God there. And so it had this very spiritual connection that was linked with God's sanctuary, where they worshipped him. And that's kind of how it developed. SPEAKER B Now, I suppose that's why it became the holy city, because of that idea of Zion. And the presence of God being there, because the psalmist considered Zion as being God's dwelling place and the place of his presence. What did that lead to, John, when. SPEAKER C You read psalm 132, which, by the way, is one of 15 psalms that the jewish people used to sing when they went to Jerusalem to worship this psalm 132, verse 13 and 14, and I'm reading from the new king James version. It says, for the Lord has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his dwelling place. This is my dwelling, resting place forever. Here I will dwell, for I have desired it. And here the concept is very clear that Zion is all about where God is. And of course, with the coming of Jesus and Christianity going worldwide and the Old Testament and the New Testament going everywhere as well. I mean, Zion is the place where God dwells. And where does he dwell? He dwells in his heavenly kingdom. And so our longing is for what's going to happen in the future, and that is to be with God wherever he is. SPEAKER B That's right. And so, Kaysie, how did the apostle Paul connect this symbol of Zion to God's presence? SPEAKER A Very good question. So, of course, by the time of apostle Paul, Solomon's temple was long gone. Herod's temple had been in that place. And Paul was in like what John was just mentioning. He was linking the idea of Zion with the heavenly Jerusalem, something that we can be looking forward to. And we can find this in hebrews twelve and verse 22 and 23, where it says, but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, 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 spirit of just men made perfect. And so this is really looking forward to that time where collectively the assembly of the saints or God's church will meet with him in the new Jerusalem, in Zion, in his presence. And this is what Paul was looking forward to and what he was encouraging us all to look forward to. SPEAKER B Well, let's read a deeply heartfelt psalm of earnest and fervent desire to be with God. We're looking at psalm 84, verses one and two to start with. And it says, how lovely is your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts. My soul longs, yes, even faints, for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. I mean, how heartfelt are those words? It's such a longing desire. So, John, why does the psalmist refer to God as the living God? Because there were lots of gods around in those days. SPEAKER C You've just said it. But all of those gods were dead. Whereas this God of the Bible is the God of creation, and he is the one that is alive and well. And this is where the death and the resting and the resurrection of Jesus gives us very clear evidence that we have a living God. And here in psalm 84, verses three and four, following onto yours, rosemary, even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallows a nest for herself, where she may lay her young. Even your altars, O Lord, hosts, my king and my God, blessed are those who dwell in your house. They will still be praising you. Sellah. That means, so let it be. And so we have the privilege of belonging to a living God. SPEAKER B So there are blessings for those who dwell in the sacred precincts of the temple. According to verse four. Were there blessings also for those who couldn't dwell continually in the temple, as some people did in the temple courts? Kaysie? SPEAKER A Absolutely. And we can see that as we continue in this psalm. In verses five through to eight, we read, blessed is the man whose strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the valley of Barka, they make it a spring. The rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength. Each one appears before God in Zion. O Lord, God of hosts, hear my prayer. Give ear, o God of Jacob. And so basically, this is obviously in very poetic language, describing how there is a blessing for those who are travelling to God's sanctuary to worship. And it's interesting in verse seven how it says they go from strength to strength. In other words, I guess with the joy of the anticipation of going to worship God at his temple, even though the journey may be weariest them, they have the strength to go on because they're so much looking forward to meeting with God and worshipping together at the sanctuary. So this is the idea that is encapsulated here. SPEAKER B It's a beautiful thought, isn't it? The joy of looking forward to being in Jerusalem to worship God with others. I've been in situations like that in a group of people, and it's just a lovely experience. But these blessings of the sanctuary radiate out to those who are coming to worship God there. But what about those who could not go there personally? SPEAKER C Well, the psalm goes on to say, verse ten for a day in your court is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. And here, what a wonderful privilege it is to be a doorkeeper in the house of God. But then it goes on to say, for the Lord God is a sun and shield. Where does the sun shine its rays? SPEAKER B On everything. SPEAKER C On everything, everywhere. And so here God is not just attending to a very privileged few, but he is sending out his longing to be with him like the rays of the sun. Although I hope that it's not quite as bright as what it is today, because the forecast temperature is 42 celsius. SPEAKER B That is, the sanctuary services and yearly feasts pointed to Jesus work in heaven. And if you haven't learnt that or don't know about it, it's a wonderful study. Three of those feasts that God had ordained required pilgrimages to Jerusalem. So, Kaysie, what were those three? SPEAKER A Yeah. So the three feasts that required the pilgrimage were the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of Pentecost and the feast of tabernacles. But there was obviously four other ones that were interconnected with that. The first fruits. There was a day of atonement, the feast of trumpets, the Passover, all of these. These are like the seven feasts. And it's very interesting. If we read in Exodus 23, verse 14 to 17, it says, three times, you shall keep a feast to me in the year. You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread. You shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt, none shall appear before me empty. And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labours, which you have sown in the field, and the feast of. In gathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labours from the field, three times in the year, all your males shall appear before the Lord God. And so this was, I guess, a reason that was part of their worship system at that time for everyone, at least all the males in the society, the leaders in their homes and families, to come together to Mount Zion to worship and to have this fellowship and just this social connection at this place, Zion, which was probably one reason why this became so special to the people at that time. SPEAKER B I think there's a correlation with us today, that through the week we are to worship God individually in our own daily devotionals. But on Sabbath we are to come together as a congregation, as a group, and as an assembly to this holy convocation and worship God corporately. So it's the same. SPEAKER A Similar thing, similar idea. SPEAKER B That's a wonderful thing to do. We're going to look at psalm 122, it describes the pilgrims arriving in Jerusalem. And as we look at this, I'm just going to read verses one to five. It says, 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 judgement. The thrones of the house of David. So John, what is the mood of these people as they are arriving, as they're journeying to Jerusalem? SPEAKER C It's a feeling that I had when I went to Jerusalem. And when you go up, you're ascending up. Because Jerusalem is a high point geographically. And so when they were walking up there and they could see Jerusalem at last after their long walks and journey and very dry places and so on, their hearts were filled with joy. And then when they got there and they heard the services, they discovered what it said here. Where it says in verse one. I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord. And then verse five, 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 sat there for judgement. The thrones of the house of David. And so they were going to the very top of both their spiritual experience. But also of the righteousness that God dealt from Jerusalem. And from the testimony of Israel with the Tabernacle there. And the pilgrimage was thus a joyous and a happy time. SPEAKER B When you read in the Bible, you notice that it's continually saying, we will go up to Jerusalem. No matter whether they're north or south, east or west. It was always, we will go up to Jerusalem. Even if they lived in a place that was higher altitude. It was the high place, wasn't it, John? SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER B So, Kaysie, what was the prayer of the pilgrims as they came to Jerusalem? SPEAKER A It's a beautiful prayer. And it's in the end part of this psalm. Psalm 122, it says, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper, who love you. Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces. And. Yeah, I guess they wanted Jerusalem to, I guess, live up to the meaning of its name. It was a city of peace. But they wanted to just live this peace within their own hearts. As brothers and sisters in their worship of God. And so I guess this is the pulse in their heart that they would have a peaceful experience together in this place. SPEAKER B So what can we take away as a lesson from psalm 122, John. SPEAKER C What Jesus said in John, chapter 17 and verse 20 and 21, where he prayed for his people? John 17, verse 20. New King James Version I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. That's us. From the disciples have come the knowledge of Christ. And so he prays for us that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you. And so here God wants us to be united in our worship and in our service and in our work for him. So when the Jews went back from Jerusalem to the different parts of the world that they'd come from, they took with them a united message of understanding. And that's why it was so joyous to come, because to be with a group of people that believe what you believe makes you feel good. SPEAKER A Yeah, that's true. SPEAKER B That's right. Well, I'm going to ask a question here about psalm 125, and it's all the people of the nations are to be drawn to Zion. What will be the character of those that are drawn to Zion and trust in God? Kaysie? SPEAKER A So it's very interesting when we read here from psalm 125, verse one and two, it says, those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forevermore. And I really love these two verses because they've created two different metaphors or analogies that you can learn from Mount Zion. And so the first one is that, just like Mount Zion symbolises the strength and steadfastness. It's a mountain, it was a fortress. Those who put their trust in the Lord can have that stability. That is kind of analogous here. And then in the second one, Jerusalem was surrounded by hills, even though it was on a hill and it had two hills or mountains within its own walls, it's still surrounded by mountains as well. And it's just a beautiful thought here that those mountains are like God's presence and protection surrounding the place where he dwells with his people. SPEAKER C There are seven mountains. SPEAKER A Seven, is it? There you go. SPEAKER C That's a good number. SPEAKER B It's perfect. SPEAKER A Yeah. Beautiful. SPEAKER B It is a good number. SPEAKER A There's lovely, lovely illustration here. SPEAKER B So contrast that attitude with the attitude of non believers and thinking, specifically of psalm 46. What will be their state of mind? SPEAKER C John, what a wonderful psalm this is. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. My if ever the world needed God today it is today. And therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed. And though the mountains be carried in the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountain shake with its dwelling, once again sell us, so let it be. And so what we can take from there is that we will not fear because God is in his aisle. We are going there. We have come from there. We are living as a result of this happening. And this is where perfect love, God's love, casts out fear. SPEAKER B That's right. And those who do not love God are in that state of fear, aren't they? Because fear, it says in the New Testament, fear has torment. And if those who love God do not have fear, those who don't love God, they are filled with fear because they are looking at the judgement and. SPEAKER C There'S nothing they can do about it. SPEAKER B There's nothing they can do. So, Kaysie, how does this apply to us today, looking at psalm 137 and verse one? I'm just going to read that so we can get the context. And it says, by the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. There's such a lamentable thought of how they were feeling when they were taken captive to Babylon. But how does that apply to us? SPEAKER A Yeah, yeah. So these people in captivity, I guess they were wishing for what they had, what they had before, where they could have that worship together, where they could come up to the city, they could just spend this beautiful time with God. And I guess for these people in this psalm, singing that song was helping them to not forget where they came from and also to keep alive the hope of even returning there, because we know that a number of people did return from Babylon into that go back to Jerusalem. And so this was kind of just helping to keep them focused on where they were going. And so we can read connection with that in revelation, chapter 21, verse two to four. And it says, 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, and God himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There will be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. And so this is a beautiful reminder that where we are today, even though we might be in a place of sadness in this world, yet we can look forward to going to Mount Zion in the new Jerusalem, where we'll be reunited with God and each other, and. SPEAKER B Where we will be able to live in God's presence forever. Another wonderful psalm to read about Zion is psalm 87. And so I ask you, please have a look at that psalm and see how the people rejoiced in God and in this city, Jerusalem, as they drew into God's presence in that place. Well, Zion is a symbol of God's presence, the place where the Lord is interceding for us and protecting his people. Just like the Israelites in the past, we should keep in our hearts a burning desire to be in the presence of the almighty. While fellowship on Sabbath is essential, let us also seek throughout the week to commune with the presence of God in his heavenly sanctuary in our own private time. We are glad you joined us today on let God speak. Remember, all past programmes plus teachers notes are available on our website, 3abnanaustralia.org.au. Email us on [email protected] join us again next time and God bless. You have been listening to let God speak, a production of 3ABN Australia television. To catch up on past programmes, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au. Call us in Australia on 02 4973 3456. Or email [email protected]. we'd love to hear from.