Almost all the great cities of the world share certain characteristics. For example, they often sit astride great waterways. New York has its Hudson; London, the Thames; Paris has the Seine; and Cairo, the Nile. But what of Jerusalem? What did the Psalmist mean when he wrote: “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High” (Ps. 46:4)? Was he thinking prophetically, looking forward to the day when waters will issue “out from under the threshold of the house” of the Lord (Ezek. 47:1)? Or was he anticipating the spiritual refreshment enjoyed by those who trust in the Lord (see John 7:38)?
The great cities of earth boast large populations with tens of millions. Not so Jerusalem; her population barely exceeds 500,000.
Most are recognized as political hubs, but the nations refuse to call Jerusalem Israel’s capital.
What, then, makes Jerusalem not only a great city but the greatest city in the history of the world? God Himself explains: “…Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen…to put My name there” (1 Ki. 11:36). Nowhere else on the planet did the God of the universe take up residence in a house made by men. Nowhere else did He make a city “holy” (Isa. 52:1), placing on it His own Name—“…the city of God” (Ps. 46:4).
We first read of the settlement as Salem in the days of Abraham and Salem’s remarkable king, Melchizedek. Two thousand years later, also in Jerusalem, the true King of Righteousness/King of Peace would also offer bread and wine, not to those returning from a battle but just before He would leave that room to single-handedly face history’s greatest battle at Calvary.
The name Yerushalayim is reputed to mean “founded peaceful” with its dual form alluding to the hills on which it was originally built. But how little peace has the city known since its founding. As Charles Gulston writes: “It has been said that if blood were indelible, Old Jerusalem would be red, all red. The words, weighed against the stark facts of history, appall in their degree of accuracy” (Jerusalem, the Tragedy and the Triumph, p. 23).
Later the city would bear the name of its Canaanite inhabitants—Jebus or Jebusi (Josh. 18:28). It would remain a Jebusite stronghold until finally David took it through the artifice of Joab (2 Sam. 5:6-10), becoming Israel’s capital.
A name from Scripture in use today—because it was given to the southwestern hill of the city—is Zion. Isaiah 60:14 declares: “…they shall call thee, The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” The word comes from a root meaning “conspicuous.” It is used to translate the words “sign” or “waymark.” So Zion stands out not only on its plateau at a 2,550 foot elevation; it stands out in the spectacular purposes of God.
The other names given to the City of the Name are rarely used now but how they enrich the Sacred Record. Ezekiel calls it Jehovah Shammah: “…the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there” (Ezek. 48:35). And so He shall! “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”
Isaiah calls her Ariel (meaning “Lion of God”) (29:1), and with her tawny color she looks like a lion crouching in the hills. But she is the home on earth of the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” who in the end shall prevail. Then of this city it shall be said: “Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee” (Isa. 62:4).