And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 11:2)
But
you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly
of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and
to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a
new covenant . . . (Hebrews
12:22-24)
It is a curious thing that among the Jews returning from
captivity in Babylon, very few wanted to live in Jerusalem. In order to provide
workers and security during the rebuilding of the walls, one in ten had to be
chosen by lottery! (Nehemiah 12:1) But there were those who wanted to live in
the holy city, even though its walls and houses were still in ruins.
Living in Jerusalem in those uncertain times involved risks
and dangers. The inhabitants of the land, whose generations had been there
since the Assyrian relocations centuries earlier, resented the returning Jews
who claimed ancestral ownership of the land. Those enemies used every means,
including threats of violence, to stop the rebuilding of the walls of
Jerusalem. Those who volunteered to live
and work in Jerusalem had to have faith that God would see the work through and
provide a secure future for them.
The writer of the book of Hebrews reveals the ultimate
fulfillment of the City of God, the heavenly Mt. Zion. It takes courage and
faith in these last days to renounce this world and declare one’s citizenship
in the kingdom of heaven, “the city of the living God” (Hebrews 12:22). It takes spiritual eyes to see what God has
promised: a new heaven and a new earth.
The Church of Jesus Christ, persecuted in much of the world,
poor and meeting in secret, looks a lot like the broken-down walls of Jerusalem
surrounded by enemies. But God promises that when this spiritual city is
complete, it will be a glorious Bride descending from heaven!
Then
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. (Revelation 21:1-2)
So let us boldly declare: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which
we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ . . .” (Philippians 3:20)
