"The Age to Come"
BY JOSEPH MARSH
ROCHESTER, N. Y., PUBLISHED AT THE ADVENT HARBINGER OFFICE 1851
RESTORATION OF ZION
which was embraced in the city of Jerusalem, and was the place of the tabernacle and royal throne of
David.
But is not Zion, or Sion, under the gospel dispensation, the church? It is, readily responds the popular
orthodoxy of this day.
So ministers preach, poets sing, the press publishes, the church talk and pray, and nearly every body
think. But that they preach, sing, publish, pray, talk and think wrong, in this respect, is certain from the
testimony of the Bible.
We find Zion occurs but a few times in the New Testament; and that the church is not meant, will appear
evident by a brief examination of the texts in which it is found.
Matt. xxi. 5. "Tell ye the daughters of Sion, (or Zion,) Behold, thy King cometh unto thee."
John xii. 15. "Fear not, daughter of Sion; behold, thy King cometh."
Surely, in these texts, Sion, or Zion, cannot mean the church.
Rom. ix. 33. "Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling stone, and rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on
him shall not be ashamed."
This cannot refer to the Church. Christ, the stone and rock named, is not placed in the church that it
may be offended at, and stumble over him; which is the case, if the church is Zion.
Rom. xi. 26. "There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob."
Or as Isaiah lix. 20, reads, which Paul here quotes, "The Redeemer shall come TO Zion, and unto them
that turn from transgression in Jacob."
If the church and Zion are the same, it would be superfluous to talk about coming to Zion, and unto them
that turn from transgression. Evidently, they are two distinct things, and Christ will come to
both, when
he shall come again.
Heb. xii. 22, 23. "But ye are (or shall) come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the
first-born."
Here a clear distinction is made between Sion, and the church of the first-born; consequently they are not
the same. If the church of the first-born is not the Gentile or gospel church, then it is the gospel church
that is to come unto mount Sion, and therefore cannot be the Sion unto which she is to come."
1 Pet. ii. 6. "Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on him shall
not be confounded."
Believers, or the church, in this case, and Sion, cannot be the same.
Rev. xiv. 1. "And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with him an hundred and forty
and four thousand.
Sion cannot be the church in this case; for Christ and his chosen stand upon Sion. Surely, the church will
not stand upon itself in the glorified age.
Thus we see that Sion, in the New Testament, nowhere means the church; and we venture the assertion,
that this is not its import in the Old Testament. Then what does it signify?
"It is the name of the loftiest mountain on which the city of Jerusalem was built, and on which the citadel
of the Jebusites stood, when David took possession of it, and transferred his court thither from Hebron;
whence it is frequently called the City of David; and from his having deposited the ark here, it is also
frequently called the Holy Hill. It is on the south side of the city, rising abruptly from the valley of
Hinnom about four hundred feet.
"When Dr. Richardson visited this spot, one part of it supported a crop of barley, and another was
undergoing the labor of the plough." ~~ Enc. Rel. Knol., art. Sion.
Surely, this account does not correspond with the popular dogma that the church is Zion; but it
agrees with the facts in the case, and the whole testimony of the Bible, some of which we have already given
from the New Testament, and we will now present some facts from the Old.
2 Sam. v. 7. "Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion: the same is the city of David."
1 Chron. xi. 5. "And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come hither. Nevertheless,
David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David." Also 1 Kings viii. 1. "The city of David, which
is Zion."
There can be no question as to the meaning of these texts. Zion is to be literally understood, and to refer
to the mountain on which the city of David stood.
Psa. xlviii. 12. 13. "Walk about Zion, and go round about her; tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her
bulwarks, consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generation following."
These towers, bulwarks and palaces show that the literal city of David is meant, and not the church.
Isa. xxxiii. 20. "Look on Zion, the city of our solemnities."
Thus Isaiah agrees with the previous testimony given, that Zion was a place, a city.
Jer. xxvi. 18. "Zion shall be ploughed as a field."
Micah iii. 12. "Therefore shall Zion for your sakes be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become
heaps."
There can be no dispute about the meaning of these texts. They refer to literal Zion; and as an evidence
of their truthfulness, Dr. Richardson, who visited the Holy Land, says, of Mount Zion, one part of it
supported a crop of barley, and another was undergoing the labor of the plough; in which circumstance
we have another remarkable instance of the fulfillment of prophecy, "Therefore, shall Zion for your sakes
be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps."
This evidence must suffice, though a much greater amount might be presented to prove that Zion is
literally to be understood, and is the city of David, or mountain on which that city stood. This point being
settled we inquire,
Will Zion be restored?
We confidently answer, It will: and offer the following texts in proof of the correctness of the assertion.
Psa. ii. 6. "Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion." As the king will be a real person, the Lord
himself, so will the Zion where he will reign, be the real Zion of the land of Judea.
Psa. lxix. 35. "For God will save Zion. * * The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love
his name shall dwell therein."
The promise is as sure that Zion will be saved, as it is to those who will love the Lord: it will be literally
fulfilled to both.
Psa. lxxxvii. 2-5. "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. * * The Highest himself shall
establish her." Amen.
Blessed is he who believes the Word of the Lord.
Psa. cii. 13-18. "Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion. * * When the Lord shall build up Zion, he
shall appear in his glory. * * This shall be written for the generation to come."
Then let us hear, believe, and rejoice in these exceeding great and precious promises.
Psa. cxxxii. 13-18. "For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation."
"This is my rest forever, here will I dwell; for I have desired it."
"I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread."
"I will also clothe her priests with salvation; and her saints shall shout aloud for joy."
"There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed."
"His enemies will I clothe with shame; but upon himself shall his crown flourish."
Comments would be useless. Therefore, read, believe, and "shout aloud for joy" in view of the soon
fulfillment of these promises.
Psa. cxlvii. 12, 13. "Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. For he hath strengthened the
bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee." Also
Psa. cxlix. 2. "Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King."
Isa. i. 27. "Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness."
Isa. iii. 1, 8. "Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the
holy city."
"Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice: with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to
eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion."
According to this testimony, Zion is to be redeemed and brought again to a state of exaltation and glory;
such as it never possessed before.
Isa. xxiv. 23. "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall
reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients, gloriously."
This testimony most conclusively locates the seat, the throne, of the Lord in mount Zion, and in
Jerusalem.
Isa. li. 3. "For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places, and will make her
wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord, joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." For, as chapter lix. 20, says: "The Redeemer shall come to Zion,
and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord."
Mic. iii. 12. "Therefore, shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps,
and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest."
That this prophecy has been literally fulfilled, in the destruction of Jerusalem, no one will understandingly
deny. Well, just so certain as literal Zion has been plowed, and Jerusalem become heaps, &c., just so
certain shall the same mountain be established again, the word of the Lord again go forth from the same
Jerusalem, and the Lord reign in the same mount Zion: for in the next chapter, continuing the same
prophecy, it is said, "But [notwithstanding Zion shall be plowed, &c.] in the last days, it shall come to
pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains. * * The
law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. * * And the Lord shall reign in
mount Zion from hence forth, even for ever."
No testimony can be more conclusive than this. Jerusalem, now trodden down of the Gentiles, and mount
Zion, long since plowed as a field, will be redeemed from her bondage and defilement, and become the
seat of empire, the place of the throne, the glorious capital, or city of the Lord, our all glorious and
conquering King.
Finally, Paul doubtless had his eye on the greatness and glory of the reign of Christ on mount Zion, when
he said, "But ye are (or shall) come to mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem" (Heb. xii. 22); and John, when he said, "And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount
Sion and with him an hundred and forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their
foreheads."
A much greater amount of equally conclusive testimony might be given; but sufficient is here presented to
prove beyond successful contradiction, that literal Sion, in the Restitution, will be the place of the throne
of the Lord, and that Jerusalem will be the city of the great King. There his saints will be gathered to sit
down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom, that will there be set up. From that sacred spot will
the law of the Lord go forth to all the nations of the earth; for his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and
from the river unto the ends of the earth; or his kingdom will be under the whole heavens: for the
kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of Christ, or the heathen will be given to Christ for his
inheritance, and he will rule in the midst of his enemies, as David has predicted.
From this view of the subject, mount Zion, Jerusalem, Palestine, the sanctuary, now trodden down of the
Gentiles, constitute the great central point, around which cluster very many of the most glorious promises
of the Bible. There, the Eden and Paradise of God were located, in which the first happy pair dwelt.
There all the glories of the Mosaic dispensation were displayed. There the Son of God had his birth,
preached, suffered, died, rose triumphant over death; and from thence ascended to his God. And there he
will come again, in all his glory, set up his everlasting kingdom, and reign over the whole earth.
That Jerusalem will be restored at the coming of the Lord, is further evident from the fact that the . . .