Summary: Paul says in Hebrews 12:22 we have come to the spiritual Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God the Heavenly Jerusalem, a place where God has found His rest and made His habitation.

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The Old Testament is filled with many types and shadows in the natural, that find their spiritual fulfillment in the coming of Jesus. Zion and the Heavenly Jerusalem is one of them, prophesied about by David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and other Old Testament prophets. Zion and Jerusalem in the Old Testament are prophesied about as God's dwelling and resting place, "the city of God." In the New Testament the spiritual fulfillment of all that God had spoken through His prophets, His desire for Zion, is realized. It is more than a physical place it is His people His chosen one's whom He has made His habitation, His Temple. On this spiritual Mount Zion, we have been redeemed and set free and are no longer in bondage. On Zion in the Heavenly Jerusalem we dwell with God. Paul tells us to realize that now we are on Mt. Zion and have been set free, we should stand in this liberty and not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. This is an in-depth word study showing our current location on Zion in the Heavenly Jerusalem. There are comparisons between The physical Jerusalem and the Heavenly Jerusalem, New and old covenants, all showing the spiritual fulfillment in place of the physical. Few scriptures to share from the Old Testament first:

Psalm 132:13 " 13For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. 14This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it."

Palm 78:68 "But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved."

Jeremiah 31:23 "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness."

Zechariah 2:2 "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD."

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Psalm 102:13 "Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.

14For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.

15So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

16 *When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.*

17He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

18This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be *created* shall praise the LORD.

19For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;

20To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;

21 To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;

Now have a look at these scriptures in the New Testament. Galatians 4:4 " 22For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23But he who was of the bondwoman was born *after the flesh;* but he of the freewoman was by promise. 24Which things are an allegory (symbolic): for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all."

Compare with this verse Hebrews 12:18 "For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, (we have not come to Mt. Sinai) and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 19And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: 20(For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:21And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) 22 But ye are come unto mount Sion (Zion) and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,23To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel."

Comparing the two scriptures from Galatians and Hebrews, it says in Galatians 4 the bondwoman and the free woman are symbolic of the 2 covenants: The Old Covenant is illustrated by Hagar, who represents Mount Sinai which is the current Jerusalem whose children are born into bondage and slavery it says they are "born after the flesh". But the "Jerusalem above (heavenly) is free and is the mother of us all" because we are her children born in freedom and born of promise. There are two types of Jerusalem described the current physical one and the spiritual one which is "the mother of us all". The second covenant found in Mount Zion in the heavenly Jerusalem, is explained further in Hebrews 12 it says we have "not come to a mountain that can be touched" in otherwards this mountain is different from Mt. Sinai, this Mt is heavenly not physical. We have come to Mt.Zion and to the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem to His saints, to angels, to God the judge of all and then it says to "Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant." So the first covenant is represented by Mt. Sinai which gives birth to bondage and which the current Jerusalem answers to the second covenant is represented by Mt.Zion on which is the heavenly Jerusalem the city of God and in which is Jesus, Who is the Mediator of the New Covenant."

Further, Mt. Zion is a representation of the church. Throughout The Old Testament God makes the promise He would dwell with His people it says He would call them His people and they would call Him their God. In Psalm 135:13-14 God says He has chosen Zion for His dwelling and habitation, "[13]For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.

[14]This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it." and in Joel 3:17 it says, "[17]So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more." compared to Revelation 21:3, it says in new Jerusalem (in which is Mt.Zion), He has made man His tabernacle and dwelling place Revelation 21:3 " [3]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." The tabernacle in The Old Testament was a man made place for The Presence of God to dwell amongst His people, but in Revelation 21:3, John sees the Holy city new Heavenly Jerusalem (Mt. Zion) descending from God, and says the tabernacle of God is with men and He has made man His dwelling place. His Presence is not housed in a man made tabernacle, but now God dwells in His "glorious church", in those that have been sanctified, purified and refined, they are His place of His rest, the place where like Scripture says, God walks and talks among them. In the Old Testament God makes promises to make His Mt.Zion holy and walk in righteousness after they fall short time and time again through disobedience, this promise however is fulfilled and realized in His new Heavenly Jerusalem in which is spiritual Mt.Zion, on which is His "glorious church" a church that walks in obedience and faithfulness to Him.

We Are on Zion in the Heavenly Jerusalem the city of God, where God has made us His rest and His temple, His habitation, the spiritual fulfillment of what was prophesied about in the Old Testament and on Zion, we carry His Name (Psalm 102:21). We are children of promise born in freedom, born from above in the Heavenly Jerusalem which "is the mother us all" because she has been set free from bondage and as her children we have been set free too. In the spiritual Zion and Heavenly Jerusalem God makes a "city of righteousness, a Faithful city" in whom are His chosen, holy and sanctified, represented by His "glorious church," a people living truly crucified lives and full of His glory.

Comparisons made in these scriptures:

~ Mt. Zion, Mt Sinai

~ Bond woman, Free woman

~ Bondage, Freedom

~ Children of the flesh, Children of promise

~ Old Covenant, New Covenant

~ Current Jerusalem, Heavenly Jerusalem.