As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it forever. (Psalm 48:8)
In the previous devotion, I made this observation: when King Messiah rules from Jerusalem and we, as His people, are gathered before Him, we will realize the fruition of every promise God has made to His people, past and present. In this vein of thought, I’d like to accentuate the fact that Jerusalem will be the epicenter of this experience. When the Almighty reigns in Jerusalem, goodness, justice and perfect instruction will flow out from Zion to the rest of the world. In that day, God’s purpose for Jerusalem, the city of our God, will be fulfilled — it will be established forever.
That brings me to something that you might find interesting — the meaning of the word Jerusalem or ירושלים Yerushalayim. It is believed to be comprised of two Hebrew words, יראה yireh and שלם shalem. The first word literally means “to see” or can mean “see to something.” This word and its meaning are found in Genesis 22 in the account where Abraham named the place he had taken Isaac to be offered as a sacrifice, Yahweh Yireh or “The-Lord-Will-Provide” (Genesis 22:14). It should be noted that this place was Mount Moriah which is situated in the heart of Jerusalem. Furthermore, Yahweh Yireh could be more literally rendered as “The-Lord-Will-See-To-It” which would provoke the question — “See to what?”
The second part of Yerushalayim is the word shalem which is obviously related to the more familiar word, shalom. We all know this word means peace but its etymology is connected to the notion of wholeness, completion and perfection. Therefore, by coupling these two terms — yireh and shalem — the meaning of Jerusalem is “The Lord will see to it that everything is made whole and complete” — just as He promised it would be. That is one of the reasons He will rule from Jerusalem; it personifies the fruition of the promises He has made to His people.
And so, as an individual who looks toward this great day, let us hold fast to the promise that He has made to you and me on this side of this great event: He has established our steps (Proverbs 16:9) and will see to it that that the work He began in our lives will be completed. As it is written: “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Yeshua Messiah” (Philippians 1:6).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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