This is the Mount of Transfiguration of the Old Testament.  Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the 70 Elders are called up to God in the Mount.  The Voice of the Lord will always call us to come up higher 

Rev.4:1: After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, ‘Come up hither’, and I will show you things which must be hereafter.  

Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and the 70 elders see the Lord God of Israel in the beauty of the Body of Heaven.  There was under his feet a paved work of sapphire stones. (Libnah--- “whiteness or transparency, clearness”). 

The paved work is the finished work of the Kingdom of God and the people of Faith.  Those who are Called, Chosen and Faithful.

What does the Body of Heaven mean in this verse?  I don’t know, but I have some suggestions that work for me.  This is the Body of Christ in heaven and in earth.  The Body of Heaven in HIS clearness and purity.  This is God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. This is the Holy Angels and the Host of heaven.   The clearness (Tohar, #2892, 2891) means brightness or purification, clearness, glory; to be bright, pure, sound, clear, unadulterated, uncontaminated, innocent, holy. describes again the saints of God in the image of Jesus partaking of worship (2 Chron. 7:3), providing the King a place of habitation.

Moses was kept waiting at a respectful distance for 6 days before God called him to draw near.  God was about to reveal His plan for His habitation and the due order of worship.  Moses had been to the top of the Mountain to receive the Ten Commandments and the Civil Law.  This time when He goes to the top of the mountain, he will receive the “pattern” for the tabernacle.

But we the church of the New Covenant have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect; to Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the Blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

We are invited to ascend that mountain.  Only Moses could go to the top of the mountain to meet with God, but we the church of the Firstborn are all welcome in the top of the mountain.

In Psalm 87, the Psalmist is a herald and prophet of this New Testament revelation.  He calls Israel as well as the church of all generations to embrace God’s wider will which is fulfilled through Christ in the Church.  For the Christian, the concept of Zion is lifted up to a higher plane.  Zion is the dwelling place of God, where he is gloriously praised, and where His doings are known.    The Psalmists announces and proclaims the new birth, the unity of all nations in Christ living in the City of God.

This is a patriotic and spiritual hymn.  Zion is the most established and sure place in the world.  No government, nation, refuge, or stronghold of this age can compete with it.  Zion is the government of God in the earth.  Zion is a people.

While we were in worship today,  I saw in the Spirit the American flag flying high over our nation. The flag was being carried by the “Church.” We the Church were upholding God as King over our nation, but also the Ten Commandments and Civil Laws given to Moses on the mountain as the foundation of our government. Jesus Christ fulfilled the law given by Moses and gave us grace and truth.  We the Church carry the government of God and the grace and truth of Jesus Christ. 

Psalm 87: His foundation is in the holy mountains.  The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.  Glorious things are spoken of You, O City of God. Selah.  I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those that know Me.  Behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there. And of Zion it shall be said, this and that man were born in her; and the Highest Himself shall establish her.  The Lord shall count, when He writes up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.  As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there; all My springs are in you.

Pagan religions each had their holy mountains; but the true holy mountain was the site of Jerusalem, where Yahweh revealed Himself in a special way.  He chose Mount Sinai to reveal His Law.  He chose the Mount of Olives as his home during the 3-/12 years of His ministry.  The latter-day Sion is described all the prophets. 

Mal. 4:2: And many nations will come and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about his ways And that we may walk in His paths, for From Zion will go forth the law, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Micah saw it as the Mountain of Enduring Peace.  He also saw the future of the restoration into the Kingdom of god and great events of the latter days.   It is the temple that Ezekiel saw.  John on the isle of Patmos saw it as a City.  Paul saw it when he said, “WE HAVE COME TO MT SION, THE CITY OF OUR GOD.”

Mt. Zion of the Old Covenant was the place of sacrifice, burnt offerings, the Levitical Priesthood, and Temple Worship.  Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest, the Lamb of God, and the Temple of God were crucified on His Zion.  The Mount Sion of the New Testament is the Triumph of Jesus Christ as the Once-and-for-all-time Sacrifice for sin. 

Mic. 4:1 It will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains.  It will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it.”

 Psa. 87: 1-3 T.P.T.: High upon the hills of holiness stands God’s city!  How God loves Zion, his favorite place on earth.  So many glorious things have been proclaimed over Zion, God’s holy city.

There are glorious things with respect to the erection of the city. It is beautiful now. There is the plan of its erection. There was never a plan so faultless, so complete, so wonderful for its beauty and grandeur. The gates, the walls, the buildings, the streets, the monuments, the fountains, the gardens, unite to proclaim it a masterpiece of skill. The Architect is he who built the skies.

It is “His!  It is the place where He established His foundation of Holiness through the Blood of Jesus Christ, the Passover Lamb.  It is the place in all of creation where He chose for Solomon to build the Temple.  When I stood in prayer at the Western Wall, the Lord spoke to me, “this is my hearth in the nations.”

Psa. 87:4: T.P.T.: For the Lord says, ‘Here are the nations who will acknowledge me as God:  Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, and the Mediterranean people, even distant Ethiopia!  They will all boast, I was born in Zion.’

This is a prophecy that these nations will become Christian nations, and be born again.

1.      Egypt – 5% of the population is Christian.  Christianity is the second largest religion in Egypt.

2.      Iraq – 6% of the population is Christian.  The Christians of Iraq are considered to be one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world.

3.      Palestine – nearly one million Palestinian Christians worldwide.  They have been dispersed among the nations.

4.      I was unable to get a number on the Mediterranean nations; but Catholicism is still a strong religion in the region.

5.      Ethiopia – 62% Christian.

God has a greater purpose for all nations are to be blessed through Jesus Christ.  Other nations may join the intimate circle of God’s covenant favor.  They are given the right of adoption and each nation can claim Zion’s city.

87:5: T.P.T.: Over Zion it will be said, the Mighty Man was born there and He will establish all for the God Most High and will truly bless Jerusalem.  

Jesus Christ, of course, is The Mighty Man.  K.J.V. reads this and that man were born in her; and the Highest Himself shall establish her.  This is the “ish” man.  The name for the Most High is El Elyon, the principle of the Melchisedec Priesthood. 

87:6-7: T.P.T:  When he counts her citizens, recording them in his registry, he will write by their name.  “This one was born again here.”  And the princes of God’s feasts will sing and dance.  Singing, “Every fountain of delight springs up from your life within me!” 

The psalmist is referring to a festival song.  K.J.V. “All my springs are in you.”

Psa. 46:4: There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.

We don’t know the song, but it spoke of the river of Paradise in Jerusalem, God’s latter-day Eden, and viewed this river as the spiritual source of Israel’s life.

Psa. 36:8-9: T.P.T.:  All may drink of the anointing from the abundance of your house!  All may drink their fill from the delightful springs of Eden.  To know you is to experience a Flowing fountain, drinking in your life, springing up to satisfy.  In the light of your holiness, we receive the light of revelation.

Ralph Wardlow 1779-1853: Christ, the spring of all my joy:

Christ, in all my hopes are ground,

Christ, the spring of all my joy,

Let your love my heart enflame;

Be your praise my highest aim;

Fountain of over-flowing grace.

Freely from your fullness given

Till I close my earthly race.

The Lord will have His glorious church.   His grace flows from Sion to the peoples of the earth, and the issue is peace.  The prevalent conditions are seen in the light of that latter day.  The prophets assure the people that in the last days, God, according to His grace and His promises, will establish His people in righteous peace and joy.  There would come a day when all nations will flow into the Heavenly Jerusalem, the Glorious church of the Overcomers.  

Carolyn Sissom, Pastor

Eastgate Ministries Church

www.eastgaeministries.com

Scripture from K.J.V. and T.P.T.

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