Tale of Three Cities - Part Two

THE TALE OF THREE CITIES—PART TWO
           
       The story of the Harlot, the apostate Jerusalem, reveals God’s just judgment. The story of the rebuilt Jerusalem in the Day of the Lord reveals God’s faithfulness and mercy. The story of the New Jerusalem, the Bride as the City, reveals the power of God’s love.
      In the last blog we saw how modern-day Jerusalem follows the spirit of the Antichrist in that she denies Jesus, which means she also does not have the Father. Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there. God has not given up on Jerusalem. It will be destroyed in judgment, but it will be rebuilt because of God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The details as to how this comes about are scattered in the prophetic books.

• Zech. 12:2 sets the backdrop. “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.” The apostate Jerusalem has caused the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication (Rev. 18:3).
• In Rev. 18:4 a voice from Heaven warns God’s people to come out of the city, lest they suffer the plagues that shall come as judgment.
• Zech. 13:8-9 records the initial invasion by the Antichrist, who is God’s weapon of indignation for their apostasy. The sudden destruction cuts off and kills ⅔ of the people. The invasion screeches to a halt when God turns out the lights as the final sign of Christ’s coming at the rapture. All the peoples of the earth see Jesus come.

• Joel 3:14 reveals the multitudes in the valley of decision. Will they finally recognize Jesus as the Messiah?
• Zech. 12:10 gives the answer. When they will look on Jesus whom they pierced, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. They receive Christ’s finished work as the only begotten Son and the firstborn Son.
• Zech. 14:2-5 says that the revived remnant that accepts Jesus as the Messiah is not cut off. When Jesus comes, He stands on the Mt. of Olives, splitting the mountain and making a way of escape. “Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.”
• Now saints and set apart unto Jesus, Zech. 10:1 says God pours out the Holy Spirit upon them—the latter rain for that Day and season. Verse 5 tells us what happens: “They shall be like mighty men, who tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle. They shall fight because the Lord is with them.”
  
• Zech. 12:5-6 reveals that this deliverance becomes their battle cry. They devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left. Then comes the prophetic declaration: “Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place.”
• Her place is the new and improved landscape described in Isaiah 40:4-5 that appears due to the many earthquakes during the war for Jerusalem. Every valley is exalted, every mountain and hill are brought low, the crooked place are made straight, and the rough places are made smooth. In this new place—the rebuilt holy Jerusalem—there is now room for the new Temple described in Ezekiel 48.

 
      Rev. 16:19 explains that the great city (Jerusalem) will be divided into three parts. We know that two parts of it are destroyed. The verse also says the cities of the nations shall fall. But because of God’s great mercy and faithfulness, Jerusalem will be rebuilt. It becomes a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62:7). The Davidic kingdom is revived as Jerusalem becomes the earthly capital of the nations during the remainder of Christ’s 1,000-year reign. “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lam. 3:22-23).