Can there be any doubt that the Lord God has a special affection for the land of Israel and Jerusalem? Moses described it as “the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there” (Deuteronomy 12:11), and the prophet Ezekiel says God brought Israel out of Egypt to take them, “into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands”. The most glorious of all lands!

It might not seem like that at the moment, but Zechariah 8 shows that God has not given up on His vision. “I have returned to Jerusalem” He says (verse 3), as if He is delighted to be back. Once again God will “dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain.” Old people and children alike will dwell safely and peaceably in that wonderful city and God will be among them.

It is not like that at the moment, and this vision only comes to pass when the Lord Jesus returns and rules from Jerusalem, sitting on the throne of his father David, as Gabriel told Mary he would (Luke 1:32,33). God has not forgotten this vision. Whatever troubles there may be in the Middle East today that is coming a time of peace and plenty. This world needs the righteous rule of the Lord Jesus.

We need to share the same vision. Christ instructs his disciples to seek first the kingdom, and the prospect of that glorious age should be uppermost in our minds at all times.