Again the word of the LORD Almighty came to me. This is what the LORD Almighty says: “I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.”
This is what the LORD says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.”
... This is what the LORD Almighty says: “I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west. I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.”
This is what the LORD Almighty says: “You who now hear these words spoken by the prophets who were there when the foundation was laid for the house of the LORD Almighty, let your hands be strong so that the temple may be built. Before that time there were no wages for man or beast. No one could go about his business safely because of his enemy, for I had turned every man against his neighbor. But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as I did in the past,” declares the LORD Almighty.
“The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give all these things as an inheritance to the remnant of this people. As you have been an object of cursing among the nations, O Judah and Israel, so will I save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong.”
This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Just as I had determined to bring disaster upon you and showed no pity when your fathers angered me,” says the LORD Almighty, “so now I have determined to do good again to Jerusalem and Judah. Do not be afraid. These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the LORD.
Again the word of the LORD Almighty came to me. This is what the LORD Almighty says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.”
This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the LORD and seek the LORD Almighty. I myself am going.’ And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the LORD Almighty and to entreat him.”
This is what the LORD Almighty says: “In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’”
My Understanding: Jealousy is an interesting subject. In some instances it is sinful, and in others it is not. The type of jealousy that results in unhappiness and bitterness over another’s possessions or advantages, wishing we had what he or she has, is sinful. The type of jealousy that is possessive and obsessive of another without reason or right, and results in anger, hatred, paranoia, bondage, etc. is also sinful. Yet, there is a jealousy that is not sinful, and that is the kind that God possesses for those who are his own, and to some extent it is the kind we should also feel for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
Zion is another term for God’s people. So, when God said he was jealous for Zion, he meant he was jealous for his people, now the body of Christ, the church. This kind of jealousy is that of a loving God and Father for his people, and a husband for his bride, the church. God demands exclusive loyalty and faithfulness of his people, even today. We are in a covenant relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. When we invite Jesus Christ into our lives to be our Savior and Lord, we commit ourselves to that covenant relationship with God, which is not unlike a marriage covenant. We promise to leave our lives of sin behind us, to be transformed in heart and mind by the power and working of the Holy Spirit within us, and to put on our new lives in Christ in all Christ’s holiness and righteousness within us (see Eph. 4:17-24). And, we promise faithfulness to God as our only God; our only Lord.
When we are unfaithful to God by following after other gods or the gods of men, money, fame, entertainment, prestige, or whatever our gods may be, God is jealous for us, because he wants an exclusive relationship with us free from other gods. He does not do this because he doesn’t want us to have any fun anymore or because he is an ogre, but because our relationship to him is to like that of a husband and a wife, and we are to become one in spirit and mind with God; to love him, obey him, walk with him, fellowship with him, and serve him. He doesn’t want us to follow a path of sin, because sin hurts us, and it hurts those we love, as well as it hurts our relationship with Jesus Christ. God knows what is best for us, and he will always do what is best for us. He burns with jealousy for his bride, the church, because he wants what is best for her, and he hurts and grieves over her when she strays away from what is best, and she goes toward what is harmful. Our God is what is best for us!
And, this is the kind of jealousy we should have for one another to where we grieve over the sins of one another, and we are concerned when a false gospel is preached and when we see our brothers and sisters in Christ being led away from their pure devotion to Christ.
Paul said to the Corinthian church: “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough” (2 Co. 11:2-4 NIV 1984).
God (Jesus Christ) Will Return
God had left Zion when he judged his people, i.e. when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and when the people were taken into exile. In other words, his glory and his presence were no longer in Jerusalem or on Zion’s hill where the temple once sat. He had acted in judgment against his people because of their idolatry, spiritual adultery and because of their refusal to listen to God, and to heed his words and to obey his commands. Now he was promising to return to them and to bless them once again as a people of God and as a nation given over to God. Yet, as I read this description of how he would return to them, my thoughts went to Jesus Christ’s millennial kingdom reign on the earth.
Zion is the kingdom of God and is personified in the person of Jesus Christ. As Christ’s body, his church, we are his kingdom people and thus the church is synonymous with Zion. Jerusalem is now the heavenly Jerusalem, for physical Jerusalem is now synonymous with Hagar, the slave woman. The church is now synonymous with Sarah, the free woman, for we have been set free from sin by the power and working of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives, and we, the church, are now the children of promise.
God will once again judge the earth and the people of the earth, and I believe he will also judge his adulterous church at that time, too (see Rev 2-3). After this time of judgment is completed, Christ Jesus will return to judge and to reign on the earth and his saints with him. At that time, the saints of God through faith in Jesus Christ will be called the City of Truth, for truth will now reign supreme. She will find safety, peace and rest. Our salvation will be complete. Those who had wandered away from their pure devotion to Jesus Christ will be brought back to a right relationship with God, and their fellowship with God the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ, will be restored. I believe there will be a revival of the church when God disciplines his people and their eyes are opened to see how they had been deceived by the enemy of their souls, and when they repent of their sins and rebellion against God. And, I believe that from that will come the salvation of many lives, when God’s church gets on fire for Jesus Christ and for sharing the message of the gospel with the lost.
I don’t believe Jesus/God ever leaves those who are truly his, nor does he forsake us. Yet, I do believe that his glory and blessings can depart from our lives and from his church if we willfully choose to follow after other gods, and if we refuse to repent of our idolatry and spiritual adultery. We can’t be fruit-bearing disciples of Jesus Christ if our lives are given over to sin with no acknowledgement of the sin and with no willingness to change. Jesus Christ addressed the church on these issues via his letters to the seven churches in Asia in the book of Revelation (see chapter 2-3). God says that he disciplines those he loves, so we are to be earnest and repent.
The Things You are To Do
The foundation for the church was laid by Jesus Christ and he is the cornerstone of this spiritual building (not a physical building). As with any physical building, time, neglect, poor management, abuse, and misuse can cause the house to become decayed, filthy, in disarray, neglected, full of clutter and dust, etc. If we allow sin to creep back into our lives unchecked, or we stray away from our pure devotion to Jesus Christ, or we forsake our first love or we have the appearance of being alive, but we’re not really, or if we have become complacent about our spiritual walk, our spiritual house can be in need of repair and revitalization. In spiritual terms, this is called revival.
And, the Lord is saying to us today, I believe, that we need to be strong and not afraid and we need to be about building or rebuilding his temple, i.e. our hearts and lives and the body of Christ, the church. This begins with humbling ourselves before God in prayer, seeking his face, and turning from our wicked ways. Then will he hear our prayers and will restore us and renew us to a right relationship with him and will renew our fellowship with him to what it should be. And, God will bring the spiritual blessings into our lives he has promised to his faithful ones. And, then we will be a blessing to others, and they will want to know Jesus Christ because they see that God is truly with us.
The things we are to do are that we are to repent of any known sin in our lives and we are to return to our first love if we have been unfaithful. We are not to be afraid, but we are to do the work of rebuilding God’s temple (spiritual renewal and revival). We are to speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgments. We are not to plot evil against our neighbors, and we are instructed to not love to swear falsely (not take pleasure in lies or in telling lies), and we are to love truth and peace (the kind Jesus gives, i.e. true peace with God). Then our service of sacrifice to the Lord will become joyful, not ritualistic, because it will mean something to us personally as evidenced in our changed lives.
Full Release / An Original Work / April 15, 2012
Walking daily with my Savior brings me joy.
Loving Father; precious Jesus;
He’s my Savior and my Lord.
Gently leads me; follow Him.
I’ve invited Him within.
Now abiding in His presence, oh, what peace.
From my self-life He has brought me,
By His mercy, full release.
Hope and comfort, peace and safety Jesus brings
When I daily bow before Him;
Obey freely; do His will.
Follow Him where’er He leads.
Listen to Him; His words heed.
Now obeying his words fully, oh, what love
That He gives me through salvation,
By His Spirit, from above.
Loving Father; precious Jesus, He’s my friend.
With my Savior, by His Spirit,
I will endure to the end.
Share the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness daily; His will do.
Tell the world of how their Savior bled and died.
On a cruel cross He suffered
So that we might be alive.
http://youtu.be/q1i0FCm46gw
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