Paradise Cafe Discussions - A Place For Bible Research And Christian Encouragement

I have come across an interesting topic for discussion and wanted to share this with all my brothers and sisters here at the forum and get your intact on the matter.

New Jerusalem, Jerusalem above and Heavenly Jerusalem, are they all the same? Is there only 1 woman mentioned referring to Jerusalem?

I thought these were very interesting topics for discussion.

Have a wonderful and blessed evening.
Warm Christian Love to all,
Your Sister in Christ,
LoveJehovah:heartbeat::heartbeat::heartbeat:

Hi there LoveJehovah ..:happyheart:

New.. above .. Heavenly ..

They all refer to a kingdom that is not of this world ...

Spiritual Jerusalem ... the one were Jesus resides.

... short and sweet ...

Love always, LC :giverose:

Think this is a good topic.....thanks and plenty of resaerch needed.

The CommonTruth eNewsletter featured an article about Jerusalem/Zion in its September 2005 issue. Here is the copy and paste of that article:

Zion
Zion is first mentioned in the bible at 2 Samuel 5:7 where it is referred to as the City of David (see also 1 Kings 8:1, 1 Chronicles 11:5, and 2 Chronicles 5:2), making Zion synonymous with Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:6-9). "The City of David" is not to be confused with "David's City": "David's City" is Bethlehem because Joseph, stepfather to Jesus, was a native of Bethlehem and a member of David's descendants (Luke 2:4). David's own father was also born in Bethlehem, and apparently so was David (1 Samuel 17:12, 15). Whereas the City of David - Zion - is Jerusalem and is associated with the tribe of Judah (Psalm 69:35, 78:68) -- keep in mind that Jerusalem was in the territory of Judah (2 Samuel 5:5). The reason Jerusalem was called the "City of David" is because David invaded the Jebusites, who occupied Jerusalem, and ousted them (2 Samuel 5:4-10).

How important was Jerusalem / Zion to Israel? Zion was chosen by Yahweh to be the hub of true worship (1 Kings 14:21), thus His temple was located there (Psalm 68:29, Mark 11:11). This also meant the Israelites would make special efforts to travel to Jerusalem for important occasions, such as the Passover observation (Luke 2:41, John 11:55), the Festival of Dedication / Hanukkah (John 10:22), and other rituals according to Jewish Law (Luke 2:27). Jerusalem was located in the region of Judah (Joshua 15:63), and interestingly enough the lineage of the kings descended through the line of Judah (Matthew 1:1-16).

Because Zion had great importance as both a worship center and a place of kings, Yahweh used Zion to illustrate His heavenly Kingdom: Since earthly Jerusalem was Zion, then Heavenly Jerusalem was referred to as the elevated Mount Zion (Hebrews 12:22). This is supported in that bible prophecies speak of Yahweh being King residing in Mount Zion (Isaiah 8:18, Isaiah 24:23, Obadiah 1:21, Micah 4:7), and when Christ is enthroned he is also seen to be atop Mount Zion (Revelation 14:1). The bible also mentions Mount Zion as being the place of the name of Yahweh (Isaiah 18:7). And just as earthly Zion was associated with the region of Judah, so too is Mount Zion associated with spiritual Judah (Psalm 78:68). It is also worth noting that earthly Jerusalem was simply a "copy" of the real Jerusalem in Heaven (Hebrews 8:5, 9:24).

Originally, the city of Jerusalem was named Salem (Genesis 14:18) and was referred as such by the Psalmist even though by then it's name had lenghthened to "Jerusalem" (Psalm 76:2 compare with the first mention of Jerusalem at Joshua 10:1). Salem was also identified with the Melchizedek priesthood (Genesis 14:18, Hebrews 7:1-3). It is fitting that Yahweh would choose Jerusalem to be his chosen city, for "Salem" means "Peace" (Hebrews 7:2).

ooooooooh! Great question! I think it is a topic for research!! Yeah!

I'll come back with what I find.

Love
Lynn