The Bible is a big collection of books put together. It spans thousands of years and major shifts in culture. There’s a lot to piece together. I’m doing a study in Psalms with a friend right now and as I go along I plan to blog through some topics in the Old Testament that may help bridge the gap between ancient Israel and life today. Join me for a miniseries, the Old Testament in short.
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King. Within her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress. Psalm 48:2
If you’re like me, you connect with the first few words of this verse, but skim over the rest. Why all the location talk? What is all this about Zion? Maybe you’ve heard it before? When Jesus was on earth, he taught that God is a spirit, and that we could worship him from any location (John 4:21-24). That’s normal for us now as his church. So when we read the Old Testament, verses like Psalm 48:4 may not mean much to us. Yet the word “Zion” is used almost 170 times in the Bible – defining it could help us understand the Bible itself a little better.
The word “zion” in Hebrew means “stronghold,” a safe place where people could defend themselves against their enemies. Geographically, the name “Zion” referred to a hill outside Jerusalem, Israel’s capital city, where its guard tower stood. Eventually, people began to call the whole city of Jerusalem Zion.
Differently from us today, the Israelites worshiped God through a system of animal sacrifices. They came yearly to the city of Jerusalem with an animal they would give to the priests at the temple, who would kill it and burn its body on an altar as a sacrifice to God. It was a very physical and visual reminder that unless something bled and died, sin couldn’t be paid for.
So to Israel Jerusalem was more than just a political capital city. It was their center for worship, the place where they connected with God. “The city with its towers, bulwarks, and palaces stood as proof of their eternal reconciliation with God” (Encyclopedia of the Bible). When the Jewish authors wrote about Zion in the Bible, they were linking it with their relationship with God.
God says in Isaiah 46, “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.”
God always planned to save the world through Jesus, who was crucified in Jerusalem, in Zion. Christ’s act of sacrifice for our sins, opening the door for our own relationship with God, took place where so many animals were sacrificed for centuries.
When we read about “Zion” in the Bible, we can relate it to our own salvation. Look back at our original verse.
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King. Within her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress. Psalm 48:2
God deserves praise “in the city of our God [Jerusalem]” because of how awesome our salvation is. Especially see the imagery in the last part: “within her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress.” God used Jerusalem and all it represents to show us that he himself is our safe place.
One more note about Zion – God isn’t done with Jerusalem. When Jesus returns to earth, he will rule from Mount Zion. Micah 4 describes this time and at the end says, “The Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.”