The City Of Truth

Jerusalem, where God's temple was built,
In which once He dwelt in person with men,
Fell to Babylon due to Jewish guilt;
Yet God will live in Zion with men again!
The saved of nations will also live there;
Carefree boys and girls playing in her streets;
Old people with canes sitting in the square,
Each one giving advice to all he meets!
The city's now whole under God the King;
Once-arid fields brimming with rich new grain;
Ten Gentiles force one Jew all ten to bring
To the Holy Mountain His peace to gain!
When will Jerusalem these heights ascend?
Why, now! Of course! Jesus' church to attend!

What do Jack Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, John McCain, and Jesus all have in common? Well, the first 3 men used the phrase, "A City On A Hill" to describe what America would be to the rest of the world if he were elected to the Presidency; Jesus used it as a symbolic representation of what the life of a Christian should appear to unsaved men, "A city on a hill cannot be hid". He told them they were the "light of the world" (Matthew 5:14). The poem uses the city of Jerusalem, still in rubble from the destruction of Nebuchednessar in 586 B.C., as a restored city of "light" and truth to the whole world, as a promise to the Jews to rebuild it and the temple after their return from captivity in 505 B.C. A literal interpretation of Zechariah 8 would see Jerusalem as an expanded city with people of all the world's nations as citizens, in which God dwelled again as He did in the days of Solomon's original temple. It would be called "The City Of Truth", which would draw Gentiles from the world over ten at a time, ten unsaved grasping a single Jew by the hem of his robe and forcing him to take them to Jerusalem where they could entreat God to forgive their sins and to admit them to salvation.

Jerusalem would be a "whole" city, in that old men and women would live there in safety to ripe old ages; they would be respected because of their advanced age, not despised as impediments to younger generations, and sit in wide plazas in places of honor, judging the weighty matters of public concerns. Their canes would be badges of honor; others would step aside when they passed, saluting them for their age, not despising them for senility. Children would grow up in safety, not being forced into child labor, playing openly in public squares and parks.

"This is what the Lord says, 'I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.' ...Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets [plazas] of Jerusalem, each with cane in hand because of his age. Then the streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there. ... 'I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west. I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.' ...'and now I will not deal with the people as I did in the past', declares the Lord Almighty. 'The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give all these things as an inheritance to the remnant of the people. ... Many people and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, 'Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.' And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him' ... 'In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, 'Let us go with you , because we have heard that God is with you.'" (Zechariah 8:3-23) [Brackets
added]

Some Bible scholars interpret this restoration promise of God to refer to the possible 1000-year millenial reign of Jesus Christ after He returns to earth; some take it to refer to heaven after the general resurrection. Some (especially Jews) understand it as a literal promise to Israel, the new nation that was established in 1948. None of these is correct. Instead of the actual city of Jerusalem, Zechariah, as well as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and the minor prophets that have similar restoration promises, is describing the existing church of Jesus Christ, the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, and other Christian churches, and includes the missionary and evangelistic efforts of Billy Graham and all others that spread the true light of Christ in the world today. There is no separate salvation for modern Jewry; these promises will be fulfilled to Israel if and only if as individuals they accept Jesus as Messiah and Lord.