Isaiah 33:20-22 "Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. (21) But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. (22) For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us."
"Look upon Zion." Debby and I enjoy watching YouTube videos of
the Holy Land and the places around Jerusalem where Jesus and His disciples
walked. I'm not a fan of flying, so that will be the closest I come to
seeing it. But I have a better view and I believe this is the view under
consideration in today's text. No doubt, the people could visibly see the
things surrounding Jerusalem, "the city of our solemnitites," but the
physical city and the tabernacle have been destroyed a few times. The temple
has been destroyed at least twice; yet in our verse today we read about "a
tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall
ever be removed." If I am reading this correctly, the Lord is telling us
to look, by faith, upon the true foundation upon which the temple was built.
That foundation is the same one upon which the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ
is also built. When we, by faith, "look upon Zion," we are
actually looking upon the power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Zion, in the
Old Testament, represents the Church of today.
Jesus said, "... upon this rock I will build my church; and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Some think that rock was
Peter, but the true Rock upon which the Church is built is the grand truth that
Peter spoke, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Those
words are found in Matthew 16:16 and 18. When we look upon Zion (the Church of
Jesus Christ), we are to see Jesus Christ and Him crucified, buried, and raised
from the dead. We are to see the Holy Spirit as He reveals to us the things
concerning our Lord. We are to see "...not one of the stakes thereof shall
ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken." That
is to say, we have eternal security through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our
king; he will save us." We are kept by the power of the Lord and nothing
can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Jesus!
Jesus! Jesus! There's just something about that name!