Tent/Tabernacle of David (1)

At the Jerusalem Council of around 49 AD, in Ac.15:13-18 the apostle James quoted an Old Testament (OT) prophecy of God. “After these things I [God] will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David, which is fallen….”  What was the tent of David?  This is about the tent or tabernacle of David.

Two ‘tabernacles’ existed simultaneously in ancient Israel for around 40 years, from circa (c) 1030 BC to c 991 BC.  (cf. 1Ch.15:1, 1Ch.16:37-40.)  The tabernacle of Moses was at Gibeón, and the tabernacle or tent of David was at the “city of David” in Jerusalem during that time.

The tent enclosure David pitched in Jerusalem provided a home for the ark of God for those 40 years.  Until his son Solomon completed the temple (c 991 BC), and the ark was brought into it (1Ki.7:51–8:1).

The ark of God was the most important object in God’s tabernacle Moses had built.  Christ, the God and good Shepherd of Israel, ‘dwelt’ above the ark between the cherubim (cf. Ex.25:22, Ps.80:1, Jn.10:11).  The ark resided in the Holy of Holies innermost room (Ex.26:34) of Moses’ tabernacle for 500 years.  From c 1611 BC – c 1102 BC (except when the Israelites took the ark with them into battle).

Then in the final days of Eli the high priest of Israel, c 1102 BC, the Philistines captured the ark of God (in battle) from Moses’ tabernacle at Shilóh, 1Sm.4:10-13, 18.  It would never return to Moses’ tabernacle!  The ark resided elsewhere, apart from Moses’ tabernacle, for 110 years (until c 991 BC).  During those 110 years, the Holy of Holies compartment of Moses’ tabernacle was entirely empty!

After King David subdued the Philistines, he wanted God’s ark brought up to Jerusalem (c 1030 BC).  1Ch.15:1 “In the city of David [on Mt Zión] he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.”  That Hebrew term for “tent” is óhel, Strongs h168.  The Greek Septúagint term is skené g4633.

Unlike Moses’ tabernacle, the tent of David wasn’t a structure.  So the tent of David is never referred to as a mishkán h4908, Hebrew, in the OT.  David’s enclosure was just a tent.  Whereas Moses’ tabernacle was a mishkan wooden frame structure (with curtains and a tent roof).

2Sm.6:17 “They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in the tent [h168, Septuagint g4633] David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt and peace offerings before the Lord.”  Voluntarily.  Other than these dedicatory offerings, David didn’t sacrifice animals at his tent on Mt Zion.  No recurring animal sacrifices were done at David’s tent!  Moses’ tabernacle was for animal sacrifice, 1Ch.16:39-40.  Later, King Solomon did a one-time sacrifice at the tent of David and fed the people, 1Ki.3:15.  No more there.  (Solomon sacrificed at Moses’ tabernacle in Gibeon, and the Lord appeared to him, 1Ki.3:4-5.)

Ps.76:2 “His [God’s] abode [den/shelter h5520 soke] is in Salem, His dwelling place in Zion.”  While David reigned in Jeru-Salem, Christ’s “abode” was above the cherubim of the ark in David’s tent on Mt Zion.  David built his palace on Mt Zion.  (see the topic, “Zion in the Bible”.)  The ark represented the presence of God!  However, for all of David’s reign, God’s tabernacle (mishkan) of Moses and its furnishings was at Gibeon, not Zion.  (Note: Ps.76:2 may also apply to Mt Zion of the heavenly Jerusalem, cf. He.12:22 & Ga.4:26.  And Ps.76:2 “Salem” can tie back to Melchisedek in Ge.14:18.)

In the tabernacle Moses erected, the innermost Holy of Holies place (behind the second veil) early-on contained three items: #1 the ark with the Decalogue law, God’s testimony on tablets, inside (Ex.25:21, Ex.31:18, De.4:13); #2 Aaron’s rod that budded (Nu.17:10); #3 a memorial jar of manna (Ex.16:32-34).  ref He.9:1-5.  Later, the Book of the Law was also placed beside the ark (De.31:26, 2Ch.34:14-15).

But David brought only the ark into the tent.  The ark still contained God’s law of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments…even during Solomon’s reign (1Ki.8:1, 9; 2Ch.5:10)!  But gone from Moses’ Holy of Holies in Gibeon was Aaron’s rod that budded; it signified priestly Aaronide eminence in the Levitical order of ancient Israel.  Gone was the memorial jar of manna from their wilderness experience.  We may presume that Aaron’s rod and the jar of manna were lost when the Philistines captured the ark.

(Whenever…Christians are now God’s priesthood in the order of Melchisedek.  Aaronite priests are obsolete.  And Christ is our living bread of life.  The church eats of the “hidden manna”, Re.2:17.)

Les McFall The Chronology of Saul and David “The actual time from the death of Eli to the deposition of the ark in Jerusalem by David was 68 years.”  After the Philistines sent back the ark (1Sm.6:21–7:1), it sat in Abinadáb’s house at Kiriáth-jearím for near 70 years (c 1101 – c 1030 BC).  Until 1Ch.13:5-7.

David & Uzzáh attempted to retrieve the ark of God from Abinadab’s house.  That attempt was aborted because the ark wasn’t transported in the manner the Lord had prescribed (2Sm.6:1-12, 1Ch.15:11-15).  Then the ark resided in Obéd-edóm’s house for 3 months.  The Lord blessed Obed-edom’s household while the ark was there, before David brought it up to Jerusalem (1030 BC)!  The concept of God’s ark being at a person’s home wasn’t new with David.  (also see the topic “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys”.)

Why didn’t David just return the ark to God’s tabernacle at Gibeon, rather than bringing it to his palace on Mt Zion?  Zadók the priest served at Moses’ tabernacle in Gibeon (1Ch.16:39); but the ark upon which to sprinkle blood on the annual Day of Atonement was gone.  Yet David and the leaders of Israel all agreed to bring the ark up to the “city of David” at Jerusalem (1Ch.13:1-4, 12-13), not to Gibeon.

Following are 8 possible reasons why King David set up the “tent of David” at his palace on Zion:

#1 The priesthood had become corrupt in the days of Eli the high priest & his sons (1Sm.2:12-17, 22-26, 4:10-22), when Moses’ tabernacle was at Shiloh in the territory of the tribe of Ephráim, c 1102 BC.  David wanted the ark of God and His Presence in Jerusalem, but without the priestly corruption which had existed at Moses’ tabernacle in Shiloh (back when Samuel the prophet was in his 30s).

#2 David wanted to safeguard the ark by locating it farther away from Philistine territory.  Abinadab’s town of Kiriath-jearim or Baaláh (Jsh.15:9) was west of Jerusalem, on the border of Judah, near the tribal areas allotted to Benjamin & Dan.  Dr. Ralph Wilson David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem “Another reason may have been that since the Israelites had destroyed the Philistines’ idols [2Sm.5:21-22], David wanted to protect the ark, lodged only a few miles from their territory, from a reprisal.”

#3 Prior to Gibeon (but after Shiloh), Moses’ tabernacle had been at the priestly town of Nob…before David became king, when King Saul was chasing him.  David escaped to Nob (and ate of the priests’ showbread from the Holy Place), 1Sm.21–22.  Saul later had the residents of Nob killed!  1Sm.22:22 David felt responsible or guilty for their deaths, and avoided more association with Moses’ tabernacle.

#4 David wanted to increase knowledge of God in the Land among the people.  So he allowed for two sets of priests at two places of worship…at Moses’ tabernacle in Gibeon and at the tent/ark in Jerusalem.

#5 Again, the ark had recently been in a personal dwelling (for 70 years!), not in Moses’ tabernacle.  During the lifetime of David, the ark had never been with Moses’ tabernacle!  David wanted the blessing that had come to the household of Obed-edom to come to him and the people in Jerusalem!

#6 The Lord had had David build a sacrificial altar on Mt Moriáh at the threshing floor of Ornán (or Araunáh) the Jebusite (1Ch.21:18, 26-30; 2Ch.3:1).  Since God accepted David’s burnt offerings at that altar and ended the pestilence, David felt no need to go to the great altar at Gibeon to seek the Lord.

#7 God told David that his son Solomon would build a temple/house for God (1Ch.22:5-10).  David received the revelation of the pattern for Solomon’s temple (1Ch.28:11-21, 29:1-25), and began the preparations.  But the Lord didn’t permit David to construct the temple (1Ch.22:5-10).  Since Solomon would erect a stationary building for the ark (on nearby Mt Moriah, 2Ch.3:1), David saw no need to temporarily return the ark to Moses’ portable tabernacle at Gibeon.  (ref the internet article, “The Movement of the Ark and the Tent of God”.)

#8 After Saul’s demise, David as king saw it necessary to further unite the 12 tribes of Israel.  The ark of God was the most revered object from the days of Moses.  Bringing the ark to David’s palace on Mt Zion would make Jerusalem both the government capital and the religious center of the Holy Land.

{Sidelight: Some Bible readers speculate that David’s birth was illegitimate, that he wasn’t authorized to fully participate at Moses’ tabernacle.  So David didn’t want the ark in Gibeon.  Verses they use as backup: 1Sm.16:1-11 Jesse omitted his son David from Samuel’s important sacrifice; De.23:2-3 none illegitimate nor Ammonites could enter the assembly of the Lord; Jg.11:1-2 Jephtháh; 1Ch.2:13-17 & 2Sm.17:25 David’s two sisters had an Ammonite father, Nahásh (not Jesse); Ps.51:5 “In sin did my mother conceive me”; Ps.22:6-10, Ps.69:7-8, 19-20 his reproach was possibly due to his mother’s sin.

I won’t detail this line of thinking, but refer you to the following articles: What About David’s Mother; Ryan Johnson Overcoming An Illegitimate Identity; Professor Who Was King David An Illegitimate Son Of Jesse?; bjorkbloggen King David Said In Sin Did My Mother Conceive Me; Dean Smith King David’s Big Dark Secret and Why Did King David Set Up the Tabernacle of David?

However, David did enter Moses’ tabernacle at Nob!  And in hunger he and his men ate the priests’ showbread which had been in the Holy Place (1Sm.21:1-6).  So it seems David didn’t consider himself forbidden, at least not from the premises of Moses’ tabernacle.  Jesus said of David in Mt.12:3-4, “He entered the house [tabernacle] of God, and they ate the consecrated bread which wasn’t lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him”.  Interpret the questionable view of David’s illegitimate birth as you will.}

Above are 8 (or 9) possible reasons why David pitched a tent on Mt Zion for the ark of God.  Perhaps several are applicable.  It was in David’s heart to later build a permanent structure in Jerusalem for the ark (1Ch.17:1-ff).  However, the Lord said Solomon would build the temple (in Jerusalem, 2Ch.3:1).

But was it God’s will for David to first pitch a tent for the ark in Jerusalem?  David had consulted with all the leaders about bringing the ark from Kiriath-jearim.  1Ch.13:1-3 “David said to all the assembly of Israel. ‘If it seems good to you, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we didn’t seek it in the days of Saul.”  R. Wilson op. cit. “Bringing back the ark becomes a national event.”  But was the “tent of David” idea “from the Lord”?

Ps.78:68 “He [the Lord] chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He [the Lord] loved.”  This Psalm 78 was written by Asáph, who ministered before the ark at David’s tent on Mt Zion (1Ch.16:4-5, 37).  Mt Zion and the tent/tabernacle of David on it was God’s choice!  Pulpit Commentary Ps.78:68 “God, no doubt, inspired David with the thought of fixing his residence in ‘the stronghold of Zion’ (2Sam 5:9), and of bringing up the ark of the covenant into it (2Sam 6:12-17).”

The physical tent David pitched disappeared from history (after 991 BC).  David’s united kingdom of Israel was eventually divided, in the days of Solomon’s son Rehoboám.  The two nations of Israel and Judah would later both go into captivity, to Assyria and Babylon respectively.  But before captivity….

Approximately 240 years after Solomon moved the ark from David’s tent (and moved Moses’ tabernacle from Gibeon, 2Ch.5:5) into the finished temple of Solomon on Mt Moriah (c 991 BC)…the Lord gave Amos a remarkable prophecy to the house of Israel.

Am.9:11-12 Septuagint/LXX “In that day I [the Lord] will raise up the tent [skene g4633] of David that is fallen, and will rebuild it.”  (Here the Hebrew text term is sukkáh h5521, booth.  A booth was a temporary dwelling, not intended for reuse in other locations.)  The Lord said the day would come when He would again raise-up a “tent of David”, which David’s physical tent foreshadowed.

The tent David pitched for the ark…the Lord associated it with the future.  So David’s special tent, housing the ark with the mercy seat (2Sm.6:2) and the Decalogue, must have been according to God’s will!  The Lord approved.  (That is, as long as they transported the ark to the tent in God’s rightful manner.  Again, 2Sm.6:3-11 is the account of David’s initial failed attempt, transporting it incorrectly.)

Furthermore, not long after Amos, Isaiah also prophesied about the tent of David.  Is.16:5 LXX “A throne will be established in loving kindness. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent [skene g4633] of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.”  (The Hebrew here for “tent” is ohel h168.)

This verse too applied to the future…to Christ and His church and His government!  Benson Commentary Is.16:5 “He [Isaiah] was carried forward to a contemplation of the kingdom of Christ.”  JFB Commentary “Language so divinely framed as to apply to ‘the latter days’ under King Messiah.”  Gill Exposition “This was typical of the church of God, where Christ sits and reigns as King, see Amos 9:11.”  Bob Sorge Why Sion Is So Important “Jesus is the rightful heir to the throne of Zion.”  The typological tent of David was pitched on Zion.

This topic is continued and concluded in “Tent/Tabernacle of David (2)”.  There we’ll look in the New Testament at the realization of the OT type.

Zion in the Bible (2) – Heavenly Jerusalem

This topic is the continuation and conclusion to “Zion in the Bible (1)”.  Part 1 should be read first as background.  Little of the material and verses addressed in Part 1 is repeated here in Part 2.

The Hebrew term Zion (Strongs h6726 tsee-yóne, noun) occurs 153 times in the Old Testament (OT).  In Part 1, we looked at many of those verses where Zión occurs.

We saw that “Zion” expanded in scope, or migrated, as the OT scriptures progress chronologically.  Zion went from being: a Jebusite citadel, to “city of David”, to Jerusalem’s southern hill, to the Temple Mount [Moriáh], to Jerusalem in its entirety, to the land of Judah & Israel, to the whole Israelite people.

In the OT, “Zion” went from being a Canaanite fortress…to an entire people!  (see Part 1 for details.)

Here in Part 2, we’ll continue to trace the expansion of “Zion” in the Bible.

The concept of Zion takes on added meaning in the New Testament (NT).  The Greek Septúagint/LXX and NT term for Zion is Sion (see-ówn) g4622.  It occurs 7 times in the NT: Mt.21:5; Jn.12:15; Ro.9:33, 11:26; He.12:22; 1Pe.2:6; Re.14:1.  Following are those verses, along with Bible commentator remarks.

Mt.21:5 “Say to the daughter of Zion [g4622], ‘Behold, your King [Jesus] comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  This verse refers to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  (Jn.12:15 is a parallel account.)  Pulpit Commentary Mt.21:5 “The ‘daughter of Zion’ is Jerusalem herself, named from the chief of the hills on which the city was built [7 hills]. Of course, the term includes all the inhabitants.”  Here the expression “daughter of Zion” represents old Jerusalem and the Jewish people (see Part 1).

Ro.11:26 “Thus all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Sion [g4622], He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.”  Bengels Gnomen Ro.11:26 “The Deliverer or Redeemer comes out of Sión and for good to Sion.” (ref Is.59:20 LXX).   JFB Commentary Is.59:20 “Paul [in Ro.11:26] applies this verse to the restoration of Israel spiritually.”  The scope of Zion expands to include the beginning NT church of Jewish Christians.  Barnes Notes Ro.11:26 “Zion…thus came to denote, in general, the church or people of God.”

1Pe.2:6 “For this is contained in scripture [Is.28:16]: ‘Behold I lay in Sion a choice stone [Jesus], a precious Cornerstone, and he who believes in Him shall not be ashamed.”  Poole Commentary 1Pe.2:6 “Or Sion is here to be understood of the gospel church, whereof Sion was a type.”  Barnes Notes Ro.9:33 “Mt Sion was the hill or eminence in Jerusalem, over-against Mt Moriah, on which the temple was built. On this [Zion] was the palace of David, and the residence of the court, 1Ch.11:5-8. Hence, the whole city was often called by that name; Ps.48:12, 69:35, 87:2. Also it came to signify the capital, the glory of the people of God, the place of solemnities; and hence, also the church itself: Ps.2:6, 51:18, 102:13, 137:3; Is.1:27, 52:1, 59:20. In this place it means the church.”  Zion also signified the church.

He.12:22 “You have come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels.”  JFB Commentary He.12:22 “Antitypical Sion, the heavenly Jerusalem.”  Cambridge Bible “The names of Sion and ‘the heavenly Jerusalem’ are given to ‘the city of the living God’ (Ga.4:26, Re.21:2).”  Barnes Notes “The dispensation to which they had been brought was what conducted them directly up to the city of the living God, and to the holy mount where He dwelt above.”  Meyer NT Commentary “Mount Zion the heavenly Jerusalem is designated.”  Here Mt Zion represents more than the church…it also denotes the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of God!

Re.14:1 “Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb [Jesus] was standing on Mount Sion and with Him 144,000, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”  Ellicott Commentary Re.14:1 “The Savior, the Lamb…is seen standing on the citadel of the heavenly city.”  Pulpit Commentary Re.14:1 “Zion is the new Jerusalem, the opposite extreme to Babylon (v.8).”  Barnes Notes “Stood on the mount Zion; that is, in heaven.”  Zion has taken on a heavenly presence.

Norman Holmes A Vision For Spiritual Zion “The true Zion in heaven is at the throne of God and is the center of worship.”  (cf. Re.5:11-14.)

The heavenly Jerusalem set the pattern for OT ancient Israel’s earthly tabernacle/temple counterpart.  After Israel had fled Egypt, God showed Moses a heavenly archetype.  The Lord cautioned Moses to construct Israel’s ancient tabernacle and its furnishings according to the model he envisioned (Ex.25:9, 40).  In Ac.7:44, Stephen recounted that God had spoken to Moses about the pattern for the tabernacle.  Old Covenant priests served as a “copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern.” (He.8:5)  And He.9:23-24 “It was necessary for the copies of things in the heavens to be cleansed…but the heavenly things with better sacrifices than these. For Christ didn’t enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself.”  At God’s heavenly sanctuary.

Re.14:1 and He.12:22 (quoted above) reflect Sion/Zion as the heavenly city of God!  After Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, He entered its holiest place (He.9:11-12, 24).

{Sidelight: The traditional Via Dolorosa route walked by Jesus to His crucifixion wasn’t on Mt Zion.  He was crucified outside Jerusalem (Jn.19:20).  Jesus cried out on the cross, Mt.27:46 “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  Zion is the place of life with God, not of death.

R.C. Sproul The Crucifixion and Old Testament Prophecy “The site of Jesus’ execution was outside Jerusalem. Once He was judged by the Gentiles and condemned to be executed, He was led out of the fortress, onto the Via Dolorosa, and outside the walls of the city. Just as the scapegoat was driven outside the camp [Le.16:21-23, He.13:11-12], Jesus was taken outside Zion, outside the holy city where the presence of God was concentrated.”  Christ wasn’t crucified in Zion.}

From the above NT verses, “Zion” has further expanded in scope, migrating by steps.  Zion has gone from (in the OT): Jebusite citadel, to “city of David”, to Jerusalem’s southern hill/mount, to the Temple Mount [Moriah], to Jerusalem in its entirety, to the land of Judah & Israel, to the whole Israelite people…then to the NT church, and to God’s heavenly abode!  Zion wasn’t just a Canaanite castle.

Yet going way back…even centuries prior to King David, it seems a type of “Zion” existed in Genesis!  Jerusalem was anciently called Jebús.  Jg.19:10-11 “Jebus [h2982], which is Jerusalem.”  1Ch.11:4-5 “David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus….David took the citadel of Zion, the city of David.”  Zion was linked to the Jebusite [h2983] city of Jebus/Jerusalem in David’s day.  And before….

ISBE: Zion “Enormous quantities of early ‘Amorite’ (popularly called ‘Jebusite’) pottery show that the spot [Zion] must have been inhabited many centuries before the time of David [1030 BC]. The reverse is equally true; on no other part of the Jerusalem site has any quantity of such early pottery been found.”

There’s a link between Melchisedek-Zion-David from the book of Genesis (not addressed in Part 1).

Abrám/Abraham met Mechisedek in Ge.14:18-20.  “Melchisedek king of Salem [h8004] brought forth bread and wine; He was priest of God Most High.”

Where was this ancient Salem?  Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon “Most Jewish commentators affirm that it [Salem] is the same as Jerusalem.”  Wikipedia: Jebusite “The Amárna letters call Jerusalem Úrusalim (1330s BCE). Also in the letters it is called Beth-Shálem, the house of Shalem.” Cambridge Bible Ge.14:18 “In the Tel-el-Amarna tablets Jerusalem appears with the name Uru-salim. Salem is the poetical, or archaic, name for Jerusalem in Psalm 76:2.”  Old Jerusalem was called Salem.

Ps.76:2 “In Salem is His [God’s] tabernacle, and His dwelling-place in Zion.”  Melchisedek was both king and priest on Mt Zion of ancient Salem/Jerusalem.  Wikipedia: Jebusite “Melchisedek was…in charge of Jerusalem.”

die2live/mt-zion-mt-moriah-mt-calvary “Zion is also the city of Salem, where the priest/king of Salem, Melchizedek, whose name means ‘king of righteousness’, received a tithe from Abram.”

The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) refer to Melchisedek and Zion.  Wikipedia: 11Q13 “11Q13, also 11QMelch or the Melchizedek document, is a fragmentary manuscript among the scrolls which mentions Melchisedek as leader of God’s angels in a war in heaven against the angels of darkness instead of the more familiar Archangel Michael. The text is an apocalyptic commentary on the Jubilee year of Leviticus 25. The DSS contain texts in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek; the language of 11Q13 is Hebrew; date of composition is circa 100 BC. In the fragmentary passage the term ‘Elohím’ appears a dozen times, mainly referring to the God of Israel; but in commentary on ‘who says to Zion ‘Your Elohim [God] reigns’ (Isa. 52:7) 11Q13 states that Zion is the congregation of all the sons of righteousness, while Melchizedek is ‘Your Elohim’ who will deliver the sons of righteousness from Belíal.”  The DSS too linked Melchisedek to Zion.  (also see the topics “Melchisedek Order Priesthood” and “Michael in the Bible”.)

David wrote of Melchisedek and Zion.  Ps.110:1-4 “The Lord will stretch forth thy strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of your enemies….You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.”  (The order of Melchisedek both precedes and succeeds the priestly Levitical order.)  Melchisedek was a theophany/Christophany (or a type) of Christ, the primordial word of God (Jn.1:1).

Bob Sorge connects insights in his Why Sion Is So Important. “Melchisedek was king of Jerusalem (Salem) and also the priest of God Most High (see Gen.14:14-24). Since Zion was Jerusalem’s…most ancient neighborhood, the ‘old city’ if you will, it is reasonable to conclude that Melchizedek’s throne was in Zion proper (even though it wasn’t called Zion at the time). We could say, therefore, that Melchizedek came out of Zion in order to bless Abraham. Melchizedek was the first priest of God to appear in Scripture, and it was no coincidence that his throne was in Zion (called Salem at the time). Jesus Christ was later declared to be a Priest in the order of Melchizedek (Ps.110:4). As such, Jesus is the rightful heir to the throne of Zion.”

Now Christ abides and reigns from heavenly Mt Zion.

Ps.146:10 “The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise you the Lord.”  Benson Commentary Ps.146:10 “Christ is set as King on the holy hill of Zion, and His kingdom shall continue in a glory that shall know no period.”  Pulpit Commentary He.12:22 “In the Psalms generally the holy hill of Zion continues to be viewed as the Lord’s immovable abode, where he is surrounded by thousands of angels, and whence he succors his people (cf. Psalm 48; 68; 125:1; 132; etc.).”

Parts 1 & 2 of this topic have traced the steps and meaning of Zion through the scriptures.  After Bible times, men have since named other sites and towns Zion or Sion.  In this sense, Zion/Sion has migrated or expanded elsewhere too.  (I’m not imputing scripture to the following places/sites, etc.)  For example:

Sion College in London was chartered by King Charles 1 in 1630 for clergy.  Zion Wildlife Garden in New Zealand is a sanctuary for endangered species.  Sion Hill in the U.S. Virgin Islands is an historic 18^th century sugar plantation.  Zion College (founded 1949) was a Bible institute in Chattanooga.  Several states in the USA have towns named Zion.  Zion, Illinois (pop. 24,000, north of Chicago) was founded by evangelist Alexander Dowie (in 1901), with the Zion Tabernacle.  I with my son’s family have climbed another Mt Zion, the 4,200 ft peak in the Olympic National Forest of Washington state.  The famous Zion National Park and Zion Canyon (so-named by Mormon pioneers) is in Utah.  Zion Williamson plays basketball for Duke University in North Carolina.  Zionism (of the World Zionist Organization) is an ideological political movement, begun in 1897, to establish a national home and state in Palestine for the Jewish people.

To conclude…How else may we interpret Zion from scripture?  Zion may be broadly understood as…where God’s presence was or is!  Zion and God’s presence was/is: in the place of Melchisedek, at the southernmost holy hill or mount in Jerusalem/Salem, in the OT nation of Israel, in the NT church, in heavenly Jerusalem above.

Ps.9:11 “Sing praise to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.”  Ps.50:2 “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.”  Expositor’s Greek Testament He.12:22 “The ideal Zion is the place of God’s manifestation of His presence (Ps.9:11, Ps.76:2).”

Our best environment is…the presence of God.  There’s no better place or state!

Gordon E. Gainey’s summation in Zion and the Melchizedek Priesthood: p.130 “Zion is the kingdom of God upon the earth.”  p.135 “Mt. Zion is a present reality.”  p.62 “Zion is now! Zion is also future.”  p.137 “Zion is not some mystical place. It certainly exists. It is past, present and future.”  Zion is forever.