Zion

The creation story begins in a garden, and this garden is perfection. To Christians, something seems inherently right about this. What better place than a garden to display the beauty of God’s creation? The garden is natural, peaceful, untouched by fallen humanity.

In contrast, when cities are introduced in the Bible, violence, corruption, and evil pervade them. The first city, Enoch, was built by Cain shortly after he killed his brother Abel and was banished from the Lord’s presence. Babylon, one of the most famous ancient cities, appears throughout the Old and New Testament as a symbol of pride, greed, and rebellion from God. God destroys many wicked cities throughout the Bible including Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim. Even Jerusalem, God’s chosen city, is not above condemnation. In Jeremiah 6, which foretells Jerusalem’s destruction by the Chaldean army, the Lord says of Jerusalem’s wickedness: “Cut down the trees and build siege ramps against Jerusalem. This city must be punished; it is filled with oppression. As a well pours out its water, so she pours out her wickedness. Violence and destruction resound in her; her sickness and wounds are ever before me.” (Jeremiah 6:6-7)

But if cities are so imperfect in the sight of the Lord, why is it that he uses a city, Zion, to represent the anointed place in which his followers will serve him for eternity?

Firstly, there are certain ways that God works specially in earthly cities. Humans are made in the image of God, and anytime there is a gathering of his image-bearers in a particular location, God takes a special interest in this place. The Lord teaches Jonah this lesson when he is angry that the Lord has shown mercy to Nineveh. He challenges Jonah, saying, “And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” (Jonah 4:10). Additionally, God often uses a backdrop of corrupt, sinful behavior to emphasize his holiness and the ways in which those who serve him are set apart. Such is the case with Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Babylon. They were set apart first by refusing to eat the king’s food, which made them stronger and healthier than the boys who partook in the worldly excess of Babylon. This obedience, along with the wisdom and revelation granted to Daniel by God, caused them to be noticed first by the guards and then by the king of Babylon and allowed David to teach King Nebuchadnezzar about the God of heaven.

God can be glorified in these ways even in an earthly city, but Zion is a city made perfect. It is the redeemed and sanctified version of Jerusalem. Instead of wickedness and corruption serving to highlight God’s glory through contrast, God’s glory is emphasized because it shines throughout the city. Two common elements of cities, as they are portrayed biblically, are that they are surrounded by walls to keep out threats and that they have one leader, a king (Deuteronomy 28:52, Jeremiah 51:58, Joshua 11:12). In Zion, there are still walls, but they are not used to keep anyone out. Isaiah 6:11 says, “Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night” and verse 18 says, “No longer will violence be heard in your land nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.” The walls do not need to provide God’s city with security; it is made secure because it is ruled by a perfect King. Psalm 46:4-5 says, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.” Additionally, Zion, as the perfect city, contains elements that parallel the perfection found in Eden. Psalm 51:3 explicitly makes this comparison, saying, “The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord.” Revelation 22 says that within Zion is, “the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2). The tree of life is first referenced in Genesis 2 as being next to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the Garden of Eden. Yet at the time of Christ’s return, it stands in Zion. These verses demonstrate that the perfect city does not transcend the garden as an embodiment of the perfect state of creation but rather incorporates its original elements of perfection while simultaneously redeeming the originally fallen city.  

As we celebrate the season of Advent, we should think of the city of Zion. It provides us with hope of the perfection that awaits us, a place unlike anywhere that we know of on earth. But it also teaches us that as Christians, we are meant to be separate but not isolated from the world. God works through cities, and eventually, like the rest of God’s creation, they will be made perfect. Let us live our lives as an example to others, in a manner that is consistent with the perfection we look forward to in Zion.