The City of Truth
Yael Eckstein | May 19, 2023
This is what the LORD says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the LORD Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.” — Zechariah 8:3
Today, Israel celebrates Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day, commemorating the reunification of the city, ending 19 years of separation into East and West Jerusalem. This is one of five devotions looking at the spiritual and historical significance of God’s Holy City.
In December 2021, the United Nations passed a resolution regarding the city of Jerusalem. Remarkably, this resolution denied any connection of the Jewish people to our Eternal City. It denied that there ever was a Holy Temple on the Temple Mount. It insisted on calling the site by its Muslim name.
At the time, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, called the resolution an attempt to “erase Jewish history in our eternal capital.”
What’s utterly amazing about this, and so many other attempts by our enemies to deny the basic facts of Jewish history, is that some people actually believe it! I mean, you can go on a tour of the Western Wall tunnels and see the remains of the Holy Temple. You can visit the City of David where they have found coins and inscriptions in Hebrew dating back thousands of years. And yet, our enemies will still deny the plain facts.
The City of Truth
In the Book of Zechariah we read, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the LORD Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain’.”
In the original Hebrew, the phrase “Faithful City” is ir ha’emet, which means, “the city of truth.” This is a unique name for Jerusalem in the Bible. What does Zechariah mean by this name?
The rest of the chapter goes on to describe the return of the Jewish people to everyday life in Jerusalem, “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there… I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God” (8:4-5, 8)
Clearly, God promised that His children, His people, would return to Jerusalem, the city of truth, and live in peace there, and that is exactly what has happened. The return of the Jewish people en masse to the city of Jerusalem represents the greatest witness to the truth of God’s promises.
So, it makes sense that those who stand opposed to God, who deny the truth of His Word, must deny that His promises are actually being fulfilled. Recognizing the truth about Jerusalem means that one must recognize the truth about God.
Your turn:
You can help fulfill the words of Zechariah by partnering with The Fellowship’s ministry of aliyah (immigration to Israel) and helping Jews from around the world return to their biblical homeland.