The first time Zion is mentioned in the Scripture it identifies it with Israel’s great King David, a man after God’s own heart. David built on it a citadel and a palace there found on the south-eastern hill of Jerusalem.

2 Sam. 5:7: “Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David).”

I King 8:1: “Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the City of David, which is Zion. (also 2 Chron. 5:2)

ZION was originally the rock escarpment on the ridge between the Kidron and the Tyropeoean valleys of Jerusalem. Subsequently the term was widened to include the entire western ridge of early Jerusalem. Centuries later the term was applied to the entire city (Ps. 126:1; Isa. 1:26-27). By the fourth century the name of Zion was adapted to the southern portion of the western hill” (New Unger's Bible Dictionary).

Zion is significant in a number of ways. First it is called David's City when he was reigning there  (I King 2:11 in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years). Bethlehem was called the city of David because he was born there. It is also significant because the temple was built there, which housed the visible presence of God with the ark. 2 Chr. 6:6-7: “Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there; and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel. '“Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel.” But it was David’s son, Solomon, who actually built the temple. God would not allow David because he was a man of war.

I King 14:21: “And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah.…He reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there.”

Israel has a long history of being in Jerusalem, as the land was given to them by God.

In the Old Testament Zion refers to Jerusalem, the city that David conquered and made a capital of the united kingdom of Israel (1 Chr. 11:5; Ps. 2:6; Isa. 2:3). The Psalmist wrote Ps. 135:21: “Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, who dwells in Jerusalem! Praise the LORD!” The Lord was there because of the Temple and ark being there. It is clear that Zion was the Temple Hill. The Ark of the Covenant was brought up out of the city of David to the Temple (1Kings 8:1; 2 Chr. 5:2). When Solomon built the Temple on Mount Moriah (a hill distinct from Mount Zion) he moved the ark of the covenant there. The word Zion would then included the Temple and the Temple area (Ps. 2:6; 48:2,11-12; 132:13). Zion was then used as a name for the city of Jerusalem, the land of Judah, and the people of Israel as a whole, (Is. 40:9; Jer. 31:12).

Israel and the City called Zion (Jerusalem) is probably the second most important subject in the Bible next to God. Prophetically speaking, Zion is the Millennial City when the Messiah will reign with justice over all the earth. Jerusalem is the future capital city of the nation Israel in the millennial reign of Christ age (Isa. 1:27; 2:3; 4:1-6; Joel 3:16; Zech. 1:16-17; 8:3-8; Rom. 11:26). It also refers to the heavenly city in the New Testament, the New Jerusalem. Heb. 12:22-24: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect” This is the eternal city into which the church will dwell in after the Millennium (Rev. 21-22). We also see a vision of those Jews from the 12 tribes that evangelized in the tribulation standing with Christ in victory- Rev. 14:1: “Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads.”

Islam is waging jihad against what they call the “Zionist entity.” Zion is used as an ethnic slur by Muslims. Zionism has been called a political movement. Every negative descriptive blame is put on Israel, calling them the aggressors, or fascist, with the intent of expanding imperialism to Arab lands. The blame is ALWAYS put on Israel for existing there. What this means is that they can have Islamic counties in the Middle East but Israel with the people as Jews cannot exist there. They will not be allowed to practice their religion. This is a spiritual battle first before it becomes a physical battle played out on the land, be it Lebanon  that had allowed Hezbollah (party of Allah) or any other militant terroristic entity that would oppose Israel’s right to exist. Their struggle with what they call the Zionist enemy is not about Israel's borders, but about Israel's right to exist. Iran's intention to gather weapons are a threat of destruction to Israel’s  because of their religion of Islam. At “World without Zionism” conference in Tehran, (October 26, 2005), Amahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, addressed thousands by his declaration of intent, “Israel is a blot that should be wiped off the map.” What dictator in history that has made repeated claims like these has not sought to fulfill them?

The Qur’an does not mention Jerusalem once. The Bible mentions it nearly 800 times and is specific on whose city and land it is. We do know when Mohammed migrated to Medina (a predominant Jewish population), he changed the direction of prayer toward Jerusalem; seventeen months later, Allah changed His mind in where he was to face commanding Muhammad to look toward Mecca instead. Most believe because the Jews in Medina rejected him as their prophet.

The Bible says in Deut. 7:6: “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.”

The Qur’an actually assigns the children of Israel as blessed by God above all others (as the Bible also states) “and verily we gave the children of Israel the Scripture and the command and the Prophethood, and provided them with good things and favored them above (all) peoples” (Surat Al-Jathiya 45:16 MPT).

They (Israel) are called the “people of the Book” whom Moses led into the promised land and to whom that land belongs to (Surah 2:63, 5:19-24, 68,70; 10:91,94; 44:30, etc.). “And (remember) when Moses said unto his people: O my people!  Remember Allah's favour unto you, how he placed among you prophets, and he made you kings, and gave you that (which) He gave not to any (other) of (His) creatures. O my people! Go into the holy land which Allah hath ordained for you (Surat Al-Maidah 5:20- 21 MPT). “Remember Allah’s favor to you...He...gave you what he gave no other of his creatures. O my people, go into the Holy Land which Allah hath ordained for you” (95:20, 21); And we said unto the Children of Israel...dwell in the land [and] hereafter... we shall bring you...out of various nations” (17:103, 104).

The holy land was given by God to Israel according to the Qur’an. The Muslims have no right claim to Jerusalem or the land as theirs; they are disobeying the Qur’an and their god by doing so. Notice also, that Mohammed made a distinction of Moses’ people (the Hebrews) and Mohammed’s people.

Even Jesus, whom Islam recognizes as a prophet, went to Jerusalem and visited the temple. But the Muslims insist that there was never a temple there, despite the western (wailing) wall that is still standing. In spite of all the history and archeology and records; both Roman and Hebrew. Nearly all the gospels record a good portion of Jesus' ministry inside Jerusalem. Nearly each time an archeological find is discovered it proves that Israel was occupied by the Jews. Let me give an obvious example: Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah in Hebron nearly 4,000 years ago. Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah were buried there. Today, Muslims claim Hebron and built a mosque there to keep Jews and Christians from visiting it. The Bible teaches us that David was crowned king in Hebron, thus showing this ancient site has nothing to do with the Arabs or Muslims but with Israel.

But they intentionally ignore the facts of history or archeological evidence. Here is what they think and tell their people: Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, 15 October 2000: “There is not a single stone in Palestine that proves the [historical] Jewish existence [in the land].” 

Palestinian Television, January 11, 2001: “No stone of the Western Wall has any connection to Hebrew history ...The Jews call this the Wailing Wall for two reasons. The first, the overt [reason] is that they cry because they lost one of the Ten Commandments [tablets], and they lie and claim that the Commandment [tablet] was lost in the area around Al Aqsa. This is why religious Jews are apprehensive of entering the Temple Mount, because of the fear that they might step on a paving stone underneath which may be the lost commandment [tablet]. The second reason, that is not openly stated is that the Jews cry, repent, and remonstrate before Allah that He chose Mohammed from among the Arabs and did not choose a [prophet] from among the Children of Israel... In Mohammed's time the Jews thought that the final prophet would be a Jew, and they prepared themselves to receive him and they even threatened the Arabs and said to them that ‘When the new prophet comes, we'll see what we will do to you' and then the prophet turned up from among the Arabs and they (the Jews) became angry and bitter that he (Mohammed) is the prophet. What they are crying about is their protest ‘Why wasn't the prophet [chosen] from among the Children of Israel, as they had anticipated.” 

The Muslims claim to believe and honor Jesus- Here is what the Bible says, Matthew 21:10-11: “And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

“Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem” (John 2:13).

It then tells us He went into the Temple. Most certainly the Temple was there in Jesus’ day, proven by history and archeology, as well as Scripture. “Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch” (John 10:22-23). The apostles began their ministry in Jerusalem outward (Acts 1:3, Acts 2.) Even in 65 a.d. when Paul was a missionary he was going to Jerusalem (Gal.1:18). Roman history tells us in 70 A.D. Titus came into Jerusalem and destroyed the temple and Israel was scattered throughout the earth. It is for this reason that in 135 A.D., the Romans renamed Israel Palestina, after Israel’s chief enemy, the Philistines to mock them.

Jesus foretold of this event, he responded to the disciples admiration of the city in Mt. 24:2: “And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Luke 21:24: “And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

Jesus stated to his followers, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished” (Luke 18:31). Though they were scattered from the land, God kept His promise and has been bringing them back into the same land the Latter Days. This is the crux of the matter; to hate the Jews is to hate the true God, the God of Israel (Ps.83:4-5) because He has made promises to them and he has put his hand upon them. God has chosen them and though Israel had rejected the Messiah, they are called the beloved for election sake (Romans 11:28) and one day they will all accept Him (Rom.11:26), this will take place in the land.

There is an obvious held belief in Islam -they want to have everything that is promised to Israel to be theirs, her land and blessings to be appropriated to them. Their only option is to remove them, they want to annihilate God’s people (not my opinion by their own quotes say this).

Christ ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:11) near Jerusalem and will return to that same location in His “second coming”- to Jerusalem.  And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which [is] before Jerusalem on the east” (Zechariah 14:4). He comes back to rescue his people Israel from being annihilated.

Jerusalem is God’s city, the city of Zion, he invested his name there, Daniel 9:19:  ”O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.” The Bible has nearly 800 references to Jerusalem- called “the City of our God” (Ps 48:1,8). Jerusalem is called the city of the great King. (Matt 5:35). Yahweh is called “the God of Israel,” He is NOT called the God of any other nation, Ps 33:11-12: “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” The God of Jerusalem is key to the Jewish people, to Jesus and to the end of the age.

Ps. 87:5, Ps 149:2: “Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.”

(Song 3:11 Isa. 33:14, Isa. 33:20; Jer. 9:19, Jer. 30:17; Zech.9:13; Isa. 59:20, Isa. 60:14 and they shall call you The City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel).

The evidence of the creator uniquely affiliated with Israel is Abraham (Chaldean) was brought out of his country. The covenant God made with Abraham was about the land. Speaking to Abraham Gen 12:1-3: “Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Notice that is God that will do these things. He will give them the land and make a great nation from Abraham. And indeed all the families of earth have been blessed, as the Messiah- Jesus, came through Abrahams lineage, born in the land God gave to Israel (Gal. 3:14-16).

Zion is called the city of God. Isa 60:14: “and they shall call you The City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” It is where the Lord has and will dwell again. Joel 3:21: “for the LORD dwells in Zion.” When the temple replaced the tabernacle and was built in Jerusalem it became the place of his dwelling, thus name Zion.

Ps. 132:13-14: “For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for His dwelling place: “This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.” Ps. 87:1-3: “His foundation is in the holy mountains. The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! Selah”

Psalm 147:12: “Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! (2 Kings 19:21,31 1 Chro.11:5; Ps.20:2, Ps. 48:11, Ps.65:1; ps.78:68, Ps.84:7; Ps. 87:5, Ps 146:10; Isa.33:5, Isa.52:7; Jer. 8:19 Jeremiah, Lamentations, Joel, Amos, Obadiah; Micah, Zechariah all speak of this.

Matt 21:2-6 asked his disciples to go into the city and find a donkey and its colt and bring them to Me.

Fulfilling what was spoken by the prophet, (Zechariah 9:9) “Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'“

Israel is told Psalm 9:11: “Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people.” So John records in 12:13-16: they “took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' The King of Israel!” Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt.” His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.”

Isa 28:16: “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily.” Peter quotes this passage and applies it to Christ, he goes on to say: “Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. (1 Peter 2:7-8).

Rom 9:32-33 Speaking of Israel “For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” This stone was Jesus According to Peter and the apostles, and it was laid in Jerusalem.

Ps. 48:1-2: “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain.

The Muslims claim to revere and have respect for all the prophets, David, Israel’s king wrote, Ps .76:1-2: “In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel. In Salem also is His tabernacle, and His dwelling place in Zion.” I King 11:32: “but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.” Ps 69:35-36: “For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it. Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it, and those who love His name shall dwell in it.”

Islam does not love the name of Israel’s God, nor his people so they have no right to dwell there. In fact the Bible addresses those who oppose the Messiah and what he has said about his people Israel.

Ps 2:1-12: “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,”Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.” “I will declare the decree: the LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. '“Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.”

Islam denies God’s son and certainly does not respect as king over Zion. Who is against the LORD and against His Anointed? Islam is. God has declared that His only Son- Jesus Christ whom He has sent to die for the worlds sins to rule from Zion. He will have jurisdiction over all nations and all people, and it will be from Jerusalem. Islam can say whatever they want, they can fight, but in the end they will lose and they will bow along with all others to the one who is the creator of heaven and earth, who came to the Jews first and then to the nations.

The prophet Balaam was asked by King Balak to curse Israel. He could not- God says Israel is in the center of God’s eye. “for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye” (Zech 2:8). Balaam a prophet from the gentiles who knew the God of Israel in some respect knew better than to curse them using God as his backer. But today the Gentile Arab nations ignore this and use their jealous hatred against the heirs of Isaac and Jacob. It should be obvious that it is Islam that prompts the Muslims to seek the destruction of Israel and possess their land. Too many Muslims consider it an honor and duty to kill Christians and Jews today in keeping with their religious obligation to obey the Qur’an.

Deut. 32:9-10: “For the LORD'S portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. “He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; he encircled him, He instructed him, he kept him as the apple of His eye.” You don’t want to poke what God has his eye focused on.

God has said He will protect his people Ps. 110:1-2: The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! “Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand” (Ps. 121:4-5).

Joel 2:1: “Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the LORD is coming, for it is at hand” Joel 2:31-32: “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls.”

God has called Jerusalem (ZION) his home and those who fight against those who keep it will fight against God on that day. It is Satan who opposes all that God has written. Zech. 8:2-3: “Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; with great fervor I am zealous for her.' “Thus says the LORD: 'I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the LORD of hosts, the Holy Mountain.'

God himself returns to fight for his people and land:

Isa 31:4-5: “For thus the LORD has spoken to me: “As a lion roars, and a young lion over his prey (When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, he will not be afraid of their voice nor be disturbed by their noise), so the LORD of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. Like birds flying about, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; passing over, He will preserve it.”

The Lord comes back to save his people Israel Joel 2:32: “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls. Paul quotes this verse in Romans 10 and applies it to Jesus.

The issue is Islam- that they insist on having no Jewish state among the Islamic states- but God has said otherwise. Ps. 129:5: “Let all those who hate Zion be put to shame and turned back.”

Muslim prophecy foretells a battle in which the Holy Land would be recaptured and the elimination of the Jews would take place in a massive slaughter. This prophecy in fact is documented in the Hadith, which is on the life of Muhammad (Islam’s Book of Traditions), it states: “The day of judgment shall not come to pass until a tribe of Muslims defeat a tribe of Jews.”  When Muhammad was asked where will that take place he said: “In Jerusalem and the surrounding nations.” During my youth like my father I was always tuned to Islam and what our Muslim teachers taught. 

Article 8, “…a blueprint for jihadist terrorism”, is the slogan of the Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas: “Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its Constitution; Jihad is its path, and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.” Article 28 targets all Jews: “Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Muslim people: ‘May the cowards never sleep.’” The Charter in its preface quotes Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, as saying: “Israel will exist and continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” The conclusion has a subheading: The Islamic Resistance Movement is Composed of Soldiers stating that the Islamic Resistance Movement “will only serve as a support for all groupings and organizations operating against the Zionist enemy and its lackeys (…) “The Islamic Resistance Movement adopts Islam as its way of life. Islam is its creed and religion. Whoever takes Islam as his way of life, be it an organization, a grouping, a country or any other body, the Islamic Resistance Movement considers itself as their soldiers and nothing more.”

The war (WWIII) is not just limited to terrorism though they are in the forefront today. It is a belief, integrated in a religious system since its inception that will be played out in these last days. Article 7 of the Hamas Charter concludes with a verbatim reiteration of the apocalyptic hadith alluded to earlier: “The Last Hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: `Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him'; but the tree Gharkad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.” (Sahih Muslim, Book 40, Number 6985).

The Hadiths (Islamic traditions attributed to Mohammed) are reiterated everyday in the middle east: 'The day of resurrection will not arrive until the Moslems make war against the Jews and kill them, and until a Jew hiding behind a rock and tree, and the rock and tree will say: 'Oh Moslem, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!' This Hadith clarifies to us the characteristics of the campaign between us and the Jews. The tree and the rock do not say 'Oh, Palestinian,' 'Oh Arab,' or 'Oh resident of the Middle East.' Rather they say: 'Oh, Moslem, Servant of Allah.’” (Palestinian TV, March 30, 2001)

Muhammad himself said, “The last hour will not come before the Muslims kill the Jews in a fight.” 

The Jesus that we see in the Bible as a totally different Jesus than we see in the Qur’an.  Since Muslims accept only what the Qur’an says about the prophets Islam does not honor these men in the same way as the Bible does. They believe that Jesus, whom they consider one of the prophets, will not come back not to save Israel, but to destroy her and convert the Jews and Christians to be Muslims.

Islam’s “Hadith” teaches that Jesus does return a second time. This Islamic Jesus returns a second time as a follower of Allah-a Muslim, where he will call people all over the world to the true religion of Allah. Jesus kills the anti-Christ with a spear in a battle outside of the city of Lod. He proceeds to Jerusalem, where he participates in the morning Islamic worship on the Temple Mount with 400,000 Moslems. After this, he comes down from the Temple Mount, breaks all the crosses, destroys the churches of the Christians and the synagogues of the Jews. And on that day, all the Jews and Christians, the People of the Book, who have not converted to Islam, embraced Allah as God, and Mohammed as the greatest of all the prophets, will be put to the sword by Jesus the Moslem. Then the Holy Land will belong to the Muslims (21:106-113)     

However, the second coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ in the Bible he rescues Israel from her enemies to the chagrin of Islam: Isa. 62:11: “Indeed the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the world: “Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Surely your salvation is coming; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.'“

“And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which faces Jerusalem on the east” (Zechariah 14:4). The prophecies in the Bible say that He comes to rescue Israel not destroy her-- Zech 14:1-5: “Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the LORD my God will come, and all the saints with You.” As Enoch prophesied in Jude 1:14: “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints’ (also 1 Thess. 4:14).

God has chosen Israel, those who fight against her fight against the promises God has made to her and become an enemy of God. Deut. 14:2: “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

Ps 102:15-16: “So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth Your glory. For the LORD shall build up Zion; he shall appear in His glory.”

The eyes of the entire world turn on Jerusalem and watch this conflict being played out – between good and evil, God and Satan.

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about .... Jerusalem (will be] a burdensome stone for all people ....In that day will I make the governors of Judah ...like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about .... (Zechariah 12:2, 3, 6).

Nearly 2,600 years ago this prophecy of Jerusalem was made, nearly 1900 years ago the city was ruined and yet God says, “I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken…. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations…” (Zech 12:9; 14:2-4).

There is coming a time when the Lord will return to his place, the place where He died and rose again and make his claim to his city and people forever. “Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, who dwells in Jerusalem! Praise the LORD!” ( Ps 135:21). Then the nations will “declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem, When the peoples are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD” ( Ps. 102:21-22). Ps. 134:1-3: “Behold, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who by night stand in the house of the LORD! Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. The LORD who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion!”

Jer 31:6: “For there shall be a day when the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim, 'Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.’”

Ps 14:7: “Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD brings back the captivity of His people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad. (Ps.53:6)

Isa 52:9-10: “Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For the LORD has comforted His people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”

Isa. 27:12-13: “And it shall come to pass in that day that the LORD will thresh, from the channel of the River to the Brook of Egypt; and you will be gathered one by one, O you children of Israel. So it shall be in that day: the great trumpet will be blown; they will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, and they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.” One day all the nations will know that the God of Israel is the true God and will worship and worship him together in his holy city.

1 Chr. 23:25: For David said, “The LORD God of Israel has given rest to His people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever.” Micah 4:7: so the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even forever.

Joel 3:17: “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, and no aliens shall ever pass through her again.”

Micah 4:6-7: “In that day,” says the LORD, “I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast and those whom I have afflicted; I will make the lame a remnant, and the outcast a strong nation; so the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even forever.”

Notice the result- Isa. 4:3-5: “And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy-- everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, then the LORD will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering.”

Isa.2:2-4: “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; he will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; 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.”

And what a glorious day that will be, as the Messiah will reign from Zion over all the truth and justice and mercy will be the foundation of His throne.