“A Holy City of the Lord”

D. Kelly Ogden, Andrew C. Skinner

Old Jerusalem would be built up again, unto the house of Israel, and become a holy city unto the Lord. Remember what the resurrected Lord said to the yet future Nephites: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, all these things shall surely come, even as the Father hath commanded me. Then shall this covenant which the Father hath covenanted with his people be fulfilled; and then shall Jerusalem be inhabited again with my people, and it shall be the land of their inheritance” (3 Nephi 20:46).

Jerusalem is already entitled by many “the Holy City,” but the true meaning of the title is revealed in the Hebrew terms: “the holy city” in Hebrew is HaIr HaQdosha, but the scriptural phrase is Ir HaQodesh, which is translated “the city of holiness.” The phrases “the holy city” and “the city of holiness” have profoundly different connotations.

Enoch’s city was also called “the City of Holiness” (Moses 7:19). The two cities, on the two sides of the world, will become cities of holiness unto the Lord, and the uniting of continents will bring them closer together. “And the land of Jerusalem [in the Holy Land] and the land of Zion [in Missouri, USA] shall be turned back into their own place, and the earth shall be like as it was in the days before it was divided” (D&C 133:24).

“Become a Holy City of the Lord”

Old Jerusalem would be built up again, unto the house of Israel, and become a holy city unto the Lord. Remember what the resurrected Lord said to the yet future Nephites: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, all these things shall surely come, even as the Father hath commanded me. Then shall this covenant which the Father hath covenanted with his people be fulfilled; and then shall Jerusalem be inhabited again with my people, and it shall be the land of their inheritance” (3 Nephi 20:46).

Jerusalem is already entitled by many “the Holy City,” but the true meaning of the title is revealed in the Hebrew terms: “the holy city” in Hebrew is HaIr HaQdosha, but the scriptural phrase is Ir HaQodesh, which is translated “the city of holiness.” The phrases “the holy city” and “the city of holiness” have profoundly different connotations.

Enoch’s city was also called “the City of Holiness” (Moses 7:19). The two cities, on the two sides of the world, will become cities of holiness unto the Lord, and the uniting of continents will bring them closer together. “And the land of Jerusalem [in the Holy Land] and the land of Zion [in Missouri, USA] shall be turned back into their own place, and the earth shall be like as it was in the days before it was divided” (D&C 133:24).

Verse by Verse: The Book of Mormon: Vol. 2

References