Revelation 20:9 The Beloved City

Posted on Posted in Devotions Tagged with , ,

Revelation 20:9 (KJV)  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 

“The beloved city” will be the location of the Messiah’s throne during Israel’s kingdom on earth (cf. Isaiah 24:23; Ezekiel 43:7; Micah 4:7; Zechariah 14:9-11) (Bullinger)

Isaiah 24:23 (KJV)  Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. 

Ezekiel 43:7 (KJV)  And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places. 

Micah 4:7 (KJV)  And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. 

Zechariah 14:9-11 (KJV)  And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses. And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. 

“Beloved” is appropriate terminology for the earthly Jerusalem in Psalm 78:68; 87:2.

Psalm 78:68 (KJV)  But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved. 

Psalm 87:2 (KJV)  The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 

According to Jeremiah 3:17, Jerusalem will be the location of Messiah’s throne.

Jeremiah 3:17 (KJV)  At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. 

Ezekiel 38:12 calls Jerusalem “the centre of the world” and makes it the logical place for enemies to attack (Beckwith, Moffatt). Though this city at one point was like Sodom and Gomorrah (Revelation 11:8), through the grace of God to Israel (Jeremiah 31:2; Zechariah 12:10), it can become “beloved” during Christ’s millennial reign. (Smith)

Ezekiel 38:12 (KJV)  To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are nowinhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. 

Revelation 11:8 (KJV)  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 

Jeremiah 31:2 (KJV)  Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; evenIsrael, when I went to cause him to rest. 

Zechariah 12:10 (KJV)  And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 425]