The Church of God Zion Established by God

Nowadays we call the Church of God Zion. Why is that? What does the word ‘Zion’ signify? We can find answers to these questions from the Bible.

Physical Zion and spiritual Zion, David and Jesus

To understand why the Church of God is called Zion, we need to understand the two kinds of Zions that appear in the Bible; the physical one and the spiritual one. The physical Zion is an actual place in Palestine and it was established by king David in the Old Testament time. And the spiritual Zion was established by Jesus who came to this earth as the prophetical king David. Let’s see about the spiritual relationship between David and Jesus through the Bible:

Ezekiel 37:24-25 “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd… David my servant will be their prince forever.”

According to this prophecy, Jesus came to this earth as the prophetical king David.

Luke 1:31-32 “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David”

There is a reason that among many figures in the Old Testament King David represents Jesus. It is because the work of King David in the Old Testament times was a shadow of what Jesus would do in the New Testament times.

Among many achievements of King David, the most remarkable one was the establishment of Zion.

2 Samuel 5:7-10 Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David… David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces inward. And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.

After entering the promised land of Canaan, the Israelites were not able to conquer Zion for more than 400 years. However, after David became king, he conquered Zion and built up the fortress. Then he made Zion the capital city of Israel and ruled over the people in Zion. By this, David became the first king who built Zion and reigned in Zion. That’s why the fortress of Zion was called the City of David.

Like this, David and Zion is inseparable and closely related. So, the fact that Jesus came to this earth as the prophetical King David means that Jesus was to establish the spiritual Zion. Then, what is the spiritual Zion Jesus was to establish?

The spiritual Zion established by Jesus

The Bible describes Zion as God’s dwelling place (Ps 132:13-14), and a place where God grants eternal life to His people (Ps 133:1-3). Therefore Zion is a truly blessed place that we should be able to find as the people of God. So, what is the spiritual Zion established by Jesus? According to the Bible, Zion is the place where the feasts of God are celebrated.

Isaiah 33:20 Look on Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.

Since Zion is a place where the feasts of God are celebrated, we can understand that 2000 years ago Jesus established the spiritual Zion by establishing the Church of God that keeps all the feasts of God in the new covenant: Jesus gave us the blessing of eternal life by celebrating the Passover with His disciples (Mt 26:17-28), He promised the blessing of the water of life by keeping the Feast of Tabernacles (Jn 7:2; 37-39), and poured out the Holy Spirit on the Pentecost (Ac 2:1-4). He also kept the Sabbath day as the weekly feast (Lk 4:16).

Just as physical kind David established physical Zion, Jesus established spiritual Zion, the Church of God as the place where all the feasts of God are celebrated.

Destruction and restoration of Zion, the Church of God

Nowadays, why do many churches mention Zion but do not know the feasts of the new covenant? It is because the devil who speaks against God would change the feasts which God established for the salvation of our souls.

Daniel 7:25 “He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws…”

This prophecy was fulfilled in history as God set times, the feasts of God, were all changed; the Sabbath day was abolished in AD 321 and the Passover in AD 325, and the customs of sun-god worship such as Sunday and Christmas entered the church. This means that the Zion was in ruins (Isa 51:3) and nobody could receive the blessing of eternal life. However, God had already promised that He would come again to rebuild Zion.

Psalms 102:16-22 For the Lord will rebuild Zion and appear in his glory… when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the Lord.

Micah 4:1-2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

It was prophesied in the Bible that many nations and peoples would stream to Zion which God would rebuilt in the last days, and that there God would teach the people his ways. According to this prophecy, Zion, God’s dwelling place and the place of His blessings, has been restored in this age. Heavenly Father and Mother have come and rebuilt Zion where all God’s feasts are celebrated, the Church of God.

This is the very reason the Church of God is true Zion: it is the place where all the feasts of God are celebrated, the place where God Himself dwells and grants eternal life to His people. According to prophecies, now God’s children who long for eternal life, the forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit and the water of life from all over the world are streaming to the Church of God, Zion where the feasts of the new covenant are celebrated. Let’s meet our God in Zion, the Church of God, and receive great blessings!