chief nation, but the city of Jerusalem will be the chief city of the earth. The great cities of the world will then have

to take second place. Jerusalem is God's city and from it light and blessing will radiate:

`And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top

of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it ... for out of Zion

(Jerusalem) shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem ... nation shall not lift up sword

against nation, neither shall they learn war any more' (Isa. 2:2-4).

`In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall

be called, The LORD our righteousness' (Jer. 33:16).

`The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall

shake: but the LORD will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye (Israel)

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' or better as the N.I.V. translates `never again will foreigners

invade her' (Joel 3:16,17).

`Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be

called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain ... Yea, many people and strong

nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD' (Zech. 8:3,22).

From these prophetic Scriptures we can see that the Lord will yet claim Jerusalem as His own city, cleanse and

sanctify it so that `every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD' (Zech. 14:20,21) and this

city, so often devastated in the past shall yet be secure permanently and the centre of the world's worship.

But not only this, the word of prophecy indicates that it will be the chief city of the earth from a commercial

standpoint. It is important to grasp that, at the Lord's Second Advent, the topography of Palestine, specially around

Jerusalem will be altered by the Creator by reason of a great earthquake which is yet to split the Mount of Olives

into two parts. The last chapter of Zechariah gives us details of this physical upheaval which occurs when the

returning Lord will arrive at the Mount of Olives (14:4), the place from which He ascended at His first coming. The

valley thus formed will be a way of escape for persecuted Israel at this point. Not only this, the prophet foretells that

a stream of Living waters will issue from Jerusalem half of it flowing to the eastern sea, the Dead Sea, and half

towards the western sea, the Mediterranean (verse 8). This will miraculously take away the saltness of the Dead Sea

which will afterwards teem with luxurious vegetation and fish. Ezekiel 47 describes these `living waters' in detail

and they are also referred to in Joel 3:18 and Psalm 46:4.

Zechariah 14 goes on to give particulars of other alterations in the topography of Southern Palestine. We give it

in a modern version which gives the meaning more clearly than the Authorised Version:

`The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah (the Jordan Valley).

But Jerusalem will be raised up and remain in its place, from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to

the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. It will be inhabited; never again will

it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure' (Zech. 14:10,11 N.I.V.).

The whole hill-country specified will be levelled, or become a plain but Jerusalem will be `lifted up' and become

settled in her place and upon a high hill the house of the Lord will be built, giving it a towering position in the

country for miles around. Isaiah refers to this as we have seen, in chapter 2, verse 2:

`It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S (Jehovah's) house shall be established in

Micah 4:1 confirms this verse, so that Jerusalem and its exalted temple will become the centre of God's

governmental rule of the world, and the place to which `all nations shall flow' for instruction and guidance. Every

physical obstacle which might hinder the `living waters' in their two-fold direction will be `changed' and turned into

a plain.

Not only do we find that God is going to remodel as it were the land south of Jerusalem through earthquake

action, but also the gulf of the river Nile and the river Euphrates. In Isaiah 11:15,16 we read: