Why is the Middle East always in the news? Most of it is about war. Someone is always attacking someone. My entire life it has been this way. Israel specifically always seems to have the attention. Maybe there is good reason why it seems to be the center of the world. Jerusalem is the center of the world when one reads the Bible. It is the only place for sacrifices in the Old Testament. King David and King Solomon built palaces and temples there. Jerusalem is also the place where Jesus was crucified. I pray that one day soon there will be real peace in Jerusalem
Jerusalem The Center
Will Jerusalem always be the center? The answer is yes. But will Israel always be at war? The answer is no.
Isaiah, a major prophet of the Old Testament, shares the words of the Lord to a Hebrew people who will soon be conquered and deported away from Jerusalem. The message proclaims a day when Jerusalem will be the actual center of the world and at peace.
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:2-4 ESV
Interesting note: Micah, a contemporary prophet to Isaiah, writes nearly word for word the same message from God. (Micah 4:1-2)
The Future City on a Hill
Both Isaiah and Micah write that in the latter days, an unknown future time that has not yet arrived, Jerusalem will be the center of the world and at peace. This was a hopeful message at the time of their ministry. Judah and Israel were surrounded and about to be taken into captivity. These verses are a promise about something not yet arrived.
For us today, Isaiah and Micah are talking about what we recognize as the millennial reign of Jesus. They did not call it a “millennium reign” because Isaiah 24:21 says only that the period of time will be “many days.” They did not know how long this would last, but John tells us in Revelation that it will last for 1000 years.
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Revelations 20:1-4 ESV
All of the bad actors, powers, and authorities will be locked up and Jesus Himself will act as King over the earth with His power centered in Jerusalem.
Yes, Jerusalem will be the center of the world. And yes, peace will be upon the earth.
When we read this message from Isaiah and Micah, there are three things they tell us will happen in this period of peace on earth with Jesus as King:
1. Mount Zion Will Be Central
God will establish Himself at the highest point on the earth and everyone from all over the earth will travel to see Him. God’s place will be in Jerusalem and it will be called Mount Zion. During this millennial kingdom there will be peace because all of God’s enemies will be punished. Satan will be bound up and imprisoned. He will no longer have authority over the earth.
On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth. They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before his elders. Isaiah 24:21-23 ESV
2 People Will Travel to See God
Israel was always planned by God to be a nation that shared details about everything God wants us to know. They wrote the Old Testament. The prophets spoke not just to Israel but to all of mankind today. Moses told the people that this was their purpose to be a holy nation and a kingdom of priests. It would make sense that such a nation would occupy the center of the earth. During the 1000 year reign of Christ people will travel from all over saying “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.”
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” Exodus 19:5-6 ESV
3 Learn from God and Know His Ways
Pause for a moment and imagine a world where Jesus is King. Jesus lives at Mount Zion in Jerusalem. People travel from all over the world to visit and learn. Also imagine that Satan is in jail. Jesus, being the King of kings and able to calm the sea, sits at the presidential desk. This is a world that will be at peace not just peace with men but peace with a cursed world. Isaiah writes that in this kingdom of peace people will live long lives. Children will not die. And everyone will be full of the knowledge of God.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. Isaiah 11:8-10 ESV
Finally, a Perfect King
This is the King and ruler that everyone has always wanted. The perfect government administering resources and justice has arrived. This is the hope that Isaiah and Micah promised to the people of their day. While they did not live to see its arrival, it is still a hope that is out there for us to ponder and await.
Peace and longevity are found in Christ wherever He may be. I pray that we would all seek Him out in whatever time He has given us.
