Page 4 - The Road from Babylon to Zion

Introduction

Babylon and Zion - These names represent two groups of people that the
scriptures have much to speak about. One group of people has the appearance of
being very impressive. Their industriousness is legend. Their constant and unceasing
labor seeks to plan and to build and to enlarge themselves until their works reach
the very habitation of Yahweh God. Yet with this Babylonian people, God is not
pleased. He has rejected their righteousness as filthy rags. He has rejected their labor
as being works of lawlessness. He has despised the offerings they have brought
before Him.

This people is impressive and glorious in the eyes of man in the same way that the
massive buildings of Herod’s temple awed the disciples of Yahshua the Messiah.
Yahshua tried to temper His disciples’ misplaced enthusiasm by telling them that not
one stone would remain upon another of all that appeared so magnificent to their
eyes. Even so, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, who has glorified herself and
exalted herself in the eyes of all men, will be suddenly destroyed, and that with great
finality.

There is another people whose outward appearance is not impressive. They are a
people that follow the pattern of the One who was despised and rejected of men.
They have no comely appearance that men should desire them, nor stately form that
the flesh of man should be attracted to them. These people are not known for their
industry, rather they are marked by their oddness. They do not fit into the systems
of the world. They are outcasts and misfits and they dwell in wilderness places.
Consequently many consider them to have been smitten and stricken by God, yet
these Overcomers are the apple of Yahweh’s eye.

These people are not renowned for their building in wood and stone. Instead, they
stand out because they have undergone a spiritual transformation. The things of the
world have lost their luster in their sight. They do not work and plan and strive to
accumulate the goods of a passing age. They walk as aliens and strangers in the land,
seeking a city whose builder is God. A world that judges by external appearance sees
nothing of value, nothing that impresses, nothing that demands a second look, in this
people. Yet Yahweh God, who judges the heart, is captivated by these Overcomers,
these citizens of Zion, for in them He sees the image of His only begotten Son taking
shape.

For a time it has been the will of God that the people of Zion dwell in Babylon. In this
land of captivity He commanded Zion to be faithful and to seek righteousness. As
Zion dwelt in Babylon Yahweh tested Zion’s heart. Would Zion be tempted by
Babylon’s delicate meats and awed by Babylon’s external majesty? Would Zion