THE CITY OF GOD

KEY VERSES:

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. (Psalm 46:4)

For the Lord most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth. (Psalm 47:2)

God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet (Psalm 47:5)

God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. (Psalm 47:8)

God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. 3 God is known in her palaces for a refuge. (Psalm 48:1-3)

As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. (Psalm 48:8)

  I believe that Jerusalem has three identities: (1) Disregarding theologians, for now, consider that Jerusalem was in the midst of the Garden of Eden as that was where The Tree of Life stood (Gen 2:9). As can be seen from Psalm 46:4 above, Jerusalem had a river with streams of gladness. That corresponds well with the description of the Garden of Eden of which it is written, “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.” Therein, “the river” in the Garden was the river with streams of gladness from Psalm 46. David was, I believe, identifying Jerusalem as the Garden of Eden!
  Identity (2): Jerusalem was the City of David: “Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.” (2 Sam 5:7). Zion, as per my previous commentary, (https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2019/09/hope-all-about-zion.html), has two identities: Jerusalem and Jesus. The hope of eternal Zion was by hope in Jesus! Thusly, Jerusalem is not only The City of David, but the City of God. It would seem that in the key verses that David was writing about Jerusalem, and the City will be “established forever” and from there “God has gone up with a shout.” That indicates that Jerusalem is the portal to spiritual New Jerusalem, and we know it was from that Great City from whence Jesus ascended (Acts 1:9-11).
  Jerusalem is a physical place for God, in reference to the city of Jerusalem, “is King over all the earth” ()Psalm 47:2). We think of “earth” as planet Earth. In general, there is no distinction in scripture whether it refers to the earth as matter of the planet. However, in a few cases, there is a distinguishing between the two:

The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. (Psalm 89:11)

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. (Psalm 90:2)

  In the first passage, there are three references: heavens, earth, and world. The first two pertain to Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” Most of us have been confused; I don’t believe that refers to the space in the cosmos and planet Earth, but to void and matter. Once God created matter and the space for it, then the world was created subsequent to that.   When would that have been? When the Heaven and the Earth were separated by a firmament, heaven above and the Earth below. (Gen 1:7). It is at that time, Heaven” was used rather than “heaven” with a small “h.” (The translators made a distinction in the usage.) Likewise, in Genesis 1:10, Earth is capitalized for the first time in scripture. The specific “earth” (land) on which life was created is called planet Earth (with a capital “H”.)
  It seems that the Earth was not created on the first day but the third day with Heaven’s creation on the second day. That makes sense since Lucifer and the other angels pre-existed mankind. That surely occurred on the second “day.”
  On the first Day, Light was separated from the darkness. Those too are capitalized, perhaps distinguishing them as “Truth” and “Lies” as well as the physical transition from energy to matter. All religions, including Christianity, consider matter as evil and the spiritual as good. The first Day seems to be preparation for the realm in which Lucifer lives. We know from the New Testament (NT) that there is a “great gulf” in Heaven (Luke 16:26). Of course, on one side of the “gulf” is Light and on the other side Darkness.
  The first Day seems to be before the World was created. Psalm 92 indicates that the earth was formed, then the World subsequent to that. In other words, matter was created on the first Day and it was molded into the World on the third Day. “The earth was without form” (Gen 1:2) would indicate that matter had not congealed. The time was ready for the formation of the cosmos. The light on the first Day was not the sun but God, Who Is Light, using His Holy Spirit, Who Is Power, to create!
Genesis 9:9 explains the planet’s creation: first there was water, then dry land appeared. That was the first use of Earth capitalized, meaning the world. I believe that the dry land which was one continent was Eden, and that the Garden was eastward in Eden. If Pangea (the land before continental drift) is examined, Israel and Jerusalem are eastward in Pangea as the Garden was eastward in Eden (Gen 2:8).
  I have made a connection between identity 1 and identity 2. It seems that Jerusalem is the midst of the Garden of Eden, and the Garden was the City of David. The third identity was Zion or Jerusalem, The City of David, all three as the City of God – identity 3.

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Rev 21:1-3).

  Verse one indicates that God reverses His original creation. The first step in the process of regenerating what He first generated, was wiping the “slate” clean. He undid Genesis 1:1. He doesn’t destroy Heaven and Earth, but space and matter. Then God started afresh, using a new space and new material! Then New Jerusalem will come down to a new, cleaned-up world, specifically to its foundation; to where the center of the Earth was in the midst of the Garden – Jerusalem –  which means “the foundation of peace.”
  Of course, New Jerusalem is the Place of Peace as it is The City of God (Rev 3:12) which David referred to as “The City of The Great King” and “The City of Our God” in the key verses. Thus, it is established that the third identity of Jerusalem is New Jerusalem. Each time its identity changes its “spirit” (countenance) does as well. In the beginning it was “very good” (Gen 1:31), now the City of Jerusalem is “the whore Babylon” (Rev 17:5), and in the end it is glorious, as Jerusalem is transformed from the whore to the glorious bride (Rev 21:2)!
  David was a prophet. Moses wrote that the songs (psalms) are for prophecy (1 Chron 25:3). David spoke of Jerusalem as if he had already obtained the reward of New Jerusalem. David was not magnifying the City of David, but the Great City of God. He knew its origin and of its regeneration. Now you do as well!  When I look toward Jerusalem, I see the Beautiful Garden, a presently sinful city, and the heavenly City of God!