Psalm 87:5

The inhabitants of Zion


Some people spend an awful amount of time trying to disprove the Scriptures. Others say they believe the Bible, but they endlessly pour over what they call “discrepancies” and “contradictions.” Others teach the Word but put their own interpretation on what it means, (to be fair we all do that because we are all limited by our understanding). What is lovely is that for those who keep an open mind the Holy Spirit will often drop in a nugget of gold and today’s verse is one of them!

Somewhere around 500 years before Christ, one of the sons of Korah predicted that the inhabitants of Zion would attach universal significance to the fact that they were born there! They would adopt an identity and a distinctiveness that would single them out, wherever they went in the world. There would be such a sense of nation pride and ownership that everyone would know who they were and what they were - the men and women of Zion, better known as the Jews! And subsequently, the people who attach themselves to Israel by birth have adopted this persona that makes them exclusive and also unique.

But this verse also has a prophetic message for us. At the end of verse 3 you will find words that are implied in Hebrews 12:22-24, reminding us that all who are born into the church of Jesus Christ are now part of His spiritual Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. We too have an identity, a distinctive characteristic that sets us apart and reflects our new birth and our new spiritual family. Make no mistake about this, you and I can be just as proud of our ancestry as any Jew, in fact we are intended to share that ancestry together. Hallelujah!

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