When the Bible talks about going to Jerusalem, it always talks
about “ascending”. Going to Jerusalem always implies “going up”, physically as
well as spiritually. Geographically, Jerusalem is found on the high mountains
of Judea. Whether we come from the coast plains or from the desert of Samaria;
we will always go up when we are going to Jerusalem. In a spiritual sense, the
Holy City represents the highest place, and the rest of the world is underneath
it.
The return of the exiled to Israel is known as “Aliyah”,
which literally means: going up or ascending. The person who does aliyah is known as “Oleh” (fem. Olah).
The opposite of aliyah is: “Yerida”
which literally means: descent. These are not modern terms, but they are
actually biblical. When the Bible talks about going to Jerusalem, it always
talks about “going up” (Ezra 1:5; Zech. 14:16); in contrast, one “goes down” to
Egypt (Isa. 30:1-2), or to Babylon (Isa. 47:1), or to any other place that is
not the Holy City.
Although Jerusalem is on the mounts of Judea, the concept of
“going up to Jerusalem” is not just a matter of geographical location, but of a
spiritual position. In biblical terms, there is no higher place than Jerusalem.
Why is this the most important city? There are many reasons,
but the most convincing one is that Yehovah chose to put His Name there…
HE PLACED HIS NAME
THERE
Out of all the cities in the world, God chose Jerusalem to
put His Name there and therefore his supremacy.
(1 Kings 11:36) Yet to his son
I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me
in Jerusalem, the city where I have
chosen to put my name.
(2 Kings 21:4) And he built
altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.”
The first Temple was built in Jerusalem (by Solomon), as
well as the second Temple (by Zerubbabel, and remodeled by Herod). This place
was not chosen by men, but by the Lord himself.
(Psalm 132:13) For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place
(1 Kings 11:13) …for the sake
of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem
that I have chosen.
(Psalm 78:68-69) but he chose
the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves. (69) He built his sanctuary like
the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever.
Although the Temple was destroyed because of the sin of the
people, the Lord will build His House again in Jerusalem. It is prophesied, and it will be fulfilled
(just as all the other biblical prophesies have been fulfilled). In Jerusalem
the last Temple will be built, and this will be the dwelling place of the Lord
forever.
(Psalm 68:16) Why do you look
with hatred, O many-peaked mountain, at the mount that God desired for his abode, yes, where the LORD will dwell forever?
Even when God makes new heavens and a new earth (after the
Messianic Millennium), the Lord will make a New Jerusalem descend from Heaven, where He will dwell among His
People for ever (Rev. 21:1-5). But before that happens, the Lord will establish
his throne on the earth’s Jerusalem. It doesn’t matter who is occupying
Jerusalem and who is found on the Temple Mount, the Bible says that the Holy
City will go back to its original owner, because Yehovah said it and the Earth
is His (Ps. 47:2,7-8). The Lord chose the Temple Mount as his habitation.
(Isaiah 2:2-5) It shall come
to pass in the latter days that the
mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of
the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations
shall flow to it, (3) and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of
the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his
ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go the law, and
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (4) He shall judge between the
nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their
swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (5) O house
of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD.
[Interesting note: verse 4 is the verse that the United
Nations has chosen as their motto… But they haven’t realized that this peace
will only come when the entire world is submitted to God].
The aliyah will be made complete when not only the exiled
return to their land, but when Jerusalem is restored and the Temple is rebuilt.
All of this will have its total fulfillment when the Messiah returns and
reestablishes his Reign in Jerusalem.
(Jeremiah 30:18-22, NKJV) “Thus
says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring
back the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places;
the city shall be built upon its own
mound, and the palace shall remain
according to its own plan. (19) Then out of them shall proceed thanksgiving
and the voice of those who make merry; I will multiply them, and they shall not
diminish; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. (20) Their
children also shall be as before, and their congregation shall be established
before Me; And I will punish all who oppress them. (21) Their nobles shall be from among them, and their
governor shall come from their midst; Then I will cause him to draw near, And
he shall approach Me; For who is this who pledged his heart to approach Me?’
says the Lord. (22) ‘You shall be My
people, And I will be your God.’”
When the Lord comes to Jerusalem,
even the geography will change. The prophecy says that Jerusalem will be lifted
high above every other mountain.
(Zechariah 14:8-11) On that day living waters shall flow out from
Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western
sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter. (9) And the LORD will be king over all
the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one.
(10) The whole land shall be turned into
a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site… (11) And it shall be
inhabited, for there shall never again be a decree of utter
destruction. Jerusalem shall dwell in security.
Jerusalem will be the most important city on earth. And out
of all Jerusalem, the most important place will be the Temple Mount.
(Isaiah 2:2) It shall come
to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD
shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up
above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it
FOREIGNERS’ ALIYAH
When the Lord returns and
establishes his throne in Jerusalem, we will all be invited to go up to
Jerusalem to worship the King of kings. Even the believers who are not Jewish
(foreigners, or believing gentiles) are called and invited to go up to the
Mount of the Lord; however the Word is clear when it says that it won’t be just
any foreigner, but it will be the gentiles that have recognized Yehovah as
their God and they have embraced the divine Covenant…
(Isaiah 56:6-8) “And the
foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to
love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the
Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant— (7) these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their
sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” (8)
The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather
yet others to him besides those already gathered.”
The “spiritual aliyah”
implies leaving behind the worldly lifestyle and “going up” to the lifestyle of
the Kingdom of God.
Many of the ones that will return are from the Lost Tribes
of Israel, which were dispersed by the Assyrians and assimilated to the nations
to which they were taken. Ezekiel the prophet asked the Lord if He would
completely destroy the remnant of Israel…
(Ezekiel 11:13) …Then I fell
down on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “Ah, Lord GOD!
Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”
This is the answer the Lord gave to him:
(Ezekiel 11:16-20) Therefore say,
‘Thus says the Lord GOD: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and
though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to
them for a while in the countries where they have gone.’ (17)
Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: I
will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries
where you have been scattered, and I
will give you the land of Israel.’ (18) And when they come there, they
will remove from it all its detestable things and all its
abominations. (19) And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will
put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give
them a heart of flesh, (20) that they may walk in my statutes and keep my
rules and obey them. And they shall be
my people, and I will be their God.
It is no surprise that many believers feel a great desire to
go to the Holy Land, and especially to Jerusalem. Our heart seeks for it
because that is what is in God’s heart.
(Psalms 122:1-4) I was glad when
they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!” (2) Our feet have
been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem! (3) Jerusalem—built as a city that
is bound firmly together, (4) to which the tribes go up, the tribes of
the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of
the LORD.
The second part of this psalm exhorts us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We will
discuss this on the next post…
More articles on the
Promised Land, in the page: Israel
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