Category Archives: Faith and Practice

Coming to Zion: From History to Spiritual Fulfillment

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When you read through the Scriptures, certain words begin to take on deeper meaning as you trace them from Genesis to Revelation. “Zion” is one of those words. It appears again and again — in the Psalms, the Prophets, and the New Testament — and carries with it layers of history, promise, and fulfillment.

But what is Zion? Is it simply a mountain in Jerusalem, or does it mean something more? How should Christians today understand it?

A Mountain in History

At its most basic level, Zion refers to a real place. It was the name of the Jebusite stronghold that David captured and made the City of David (2 Samuel 5:7). Over time, the term expanded to include Mount Moriah, where Solomon built the Temple, and eventually came to represent Jerusalem itself, the center of Israel’s worship and the visible symbol of God’s covenant presence with His people.

So yes — Zion is a mountain. A literal one. God’s dealings with His people always take place in real time and space. He doesn’t work in myth or abstraction, but in history — with dust and stone and blood and covenant promises.

A Symbol of God’s Dwelling

As redemptive history unfolds, however, Zion becomes more than geography. It becomes theological — a picture of God’s dwelling among His people.

The Psalms sing of Zion as the joy of all the earth (Psalm 48:2), the place where God dwells forever (Psalm 132:13–14). The prophets look forward to a renewed Zion, where the nations will stream to the mountain of the Lord and learn His ways (Isaiah 2:2–3; Micah 4:1–2).

Zion, then, begins to represent the people of God themselves — the community where God’s presence abides, where His law is loved, and His glory is seen. It is not merely a spot on the map, but a signpost pointing toward a greater reality.

The Fulfillment in Christ

That greater reality is found in Jesus Christ, the true cornerstone of Zion (Isaiah 28:16; 1 Peter 2:6).

In Him, God has come to dwell with His people in fullness. In Him, the law goes forth and the nations are gathered. And through Him, believers are brought into the true Zion — not the earthly city that can be shaken, but the heavenly Jerusalem that endures forever.

The writer of Hebrews puts it beautifully:

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…” (Hebrews 12:22)

Notice that — not “you will come,” but “you have come.” In Christ, we already belong to that heavenly city. We are citizens now of Zion above, whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10).

The Reformed confessions and theologians have long read Zion this way — as both ecclesiological and eschatological. That is, Zion points to the Church now (where God dwells by His Spirit) and to the glorified people of God yet to come (where we will dwell with Him forever).

The Zion to Come

One day, this vision will be complete. The New Jerusalem will descend from heaven like a bride adorned for her husband (Revelation 21:2). The city and mountain and temple will all find their perfect fulfillment in the presence of the Lamb, who is Himself the light of Zion’s glory.

Until that day, every time we gather as the Church — singing, praying, hearing the Word — we are, in a very real sense, standing on holy ground. We are worshiping in the courts of Zion.

Conclusion

Zion began as a hill in ancient Jerusalem. But through the unfolding plan of God, it has become a name for His eternal dwelling with His people — first in type and shadow, now in Spirit and truth, and one day in unveiled glory.

So when the Psalms call us to “rejoice in Zion” or “sing praises to Zion’s King,” we are being invited to delight in Christ Himself — the true and living presence of God among us.

We may not see the mountain, but by grace, we belong to the city.

The Living Word: Insights from Hosea’s Prophetic Revelation

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Hosea 1:1 – “The word of the LORD that came to Hosea…”

It’s a simple phrase, easy to glide over: “The word of the LORD came to Hosea.” But the more you sit with it, the more wonder it holds. How did the Word come? Was it a voice Hosea could hear with his ears? A vision blazing across his mind? A sudden, irresistible impulse of the Spirit that left him trembling?

Scripture doesn’t tell us. And perhaps that’s intentional. Because what mattered most was not the manner of revelation, but its source. Hosea didn’t dream up his message or craft it out of religious insight. He received it. The word came to him.

The prophets were not spiritual inventors but faithful messengers. Whether God spoke by a voice, a vision, or a burning conviction, the result was the same: “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). Calvin put it this way:

“The prophets did not speak at random, but as organs of the Holy Spirit, they only uttered what they had been commissioned to declare.”

That’s what we call inspiration—the Spirit of God superintending the words of men so that what they wrote was, in every part, the Word of God. As Paul wrote to Timothy, “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16). God didn’t simply whisper ideas and leave the prophets to fill in the rest. Nor did He bypass their minds and turn them into secretaries taking dictation. The miracle of inspiration is that the living God spoke His perfect Word through human voices—each shaped by its author’s time, place, and personality, yet free from error and filled with divine authority.

The Westminster Confession says it this way:

“The Old Testament in Hebrew, and the New Testament in Greek, being immediately inspired by God… are therefore authentical.” (WCF 1.8)

In other words, when we open the Bible, we are not reading about the Word of God; we are hearing the Word of God.

And yet, if we’re honest, we don’t always hear it that way. We can open our Bibles and walk away unchanged. The words may sound no different than those on the morning news or a grocery list.

This is why the Reformers spoke not only of inspiration, but also of illumination. The same Spirit who once inspired the prophets must now illumine the hearts of hearers. The Westminster Confession explains:

“Our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.” (WCF 1.5)

Without that inward work, the Word remains a closed book. Jesus said as much when He told Nicodemus that unless one is born of the Spirit, he cannot even see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). The problem isn’t with the light of God’s Word, but with the blindness of our hearts.

When the Spirit opens our eyes, we begin to see that the Bible truly is what it has always been—the living and active Word of God. The change is not in the Word, but in us. The same Scriptures that once seemed distant or dull suddenly shine with divine truth. We no longer simply read them; they read us. They convict, comfort, direct, and delight. The same God who spoke to Hosea through revelation now speaks to His people through the written Word—and by His Spirit, that Word pierces to the division of soul and spirit (Heb. 4:12).

So when we read that “the word of the LORD came to Hosea,” we’re reminded that God still comes to His people by His Word. Not in fresh revelation—Scripture is complete and sufficient—but in fresh illumination. The Spirit still takes the inspired Word and presses it upon our hearts with divine power.

Every time you open your Bible, the living God is speaking. The question is not whether He will speak, but whether we will listen. And so we pray with Samuel, “Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.”

And if that sounds a bit too mystical, remember—it’s not that we wait for a new voice from heaven. We simply wait for the Spirit to make the written Word living in us. The word that came to Hosea still comes, by grace, to all who have ears to hear.

SDG