The Vision Of Zion

In reggae song after reggae song Bob Marley and other reggae singers speak of the Promised Land of Ethiopia. “Repatriation is a must!” they cry. The Rastafari have been travelling to Ethiopia since the movement originated in Jamaica in 1930s. They consider it the Promised Land, and repatriation is a cornerstone of their faith. Though Ethiopians see Rastafari as immigrants, the Rastafari see themselves as returning members of the Ethiopian diaspora. In Visions of Zion, Erin C. MacLeod offers the first in-depth investigation into how Ethiopians perceive Rastafari and Rastafarians within Ethiopia and the role this unique immigrant community plays within Ethiopian society. Rastafari are unusual among migrants, basing their movements on spiritual rather than economic choices. This volume offers those who study the movement a broader understanding of the implications of repatriation. Taking the Ethiopian perspective into account, it argues that migrant and diaspora identities are the products of negotiation, and it illuminates the implications of this negotiation for concepts of citizenship, as well as for our understandings of pan-Africanism and south-south migration. Providing a rare look at migration to a non-Western country, this volume also fills a gap in the broader immigration studies literature.

Three decades after the Civil War-amidst a resurgent patriotic fervor, a new Christian Awakening and an enveloping modernization promising heretofore unimagined heights of prosperity and well-being-a new generation of Americans in rural Nelson and Washington Counties, Kentucky, were experiencing what Lincoln in their fathers' war had promised: a new birth of freedom. Before them they saw the ancient vision of Zion, America as the new Promised Land, the Christian Republic, the Shining City on a Hill, shedding its light of prosperity and freedom on all. Their destiny and calling, they had no doubt, was to secure liberty and its blessings for themselves and posterity. This was the Vision and the hope that united them as a people and as a crusading army at home and abroad, inspiring a multitude of social and political reforms and drawing them into the Great War of 1914-1918. It is this story that Visions of Zion tells-of dreams that united and divided, that lifted up and brought low-a story of a drive for everlasting peace that led to war and that finally ends with the collapse of Zion and fading of all those wondrous dreams of a better world.

The Tabernacle of David, seemingly such an obscure topic in Scripture, has stirred much interest in recent years. In this exposition, the author will clearly show how this “veil-less” tent upon Mount Zion reveals the higher dimension of worship that our God seeks. David’s Tabernacle not only reveals the higher worship of Mount Zion, but also the New Covenant standard. The veil-less tent housed the Ark of the Covenant, speaking of the veil that has been rent for us to enter into the very presence of God. This book will challenge you to be a “true worshiper!”

Establishing Zion: Preparing the Earth for the Return of Jesus Christ is a review of all the Zion societies that have been attempted and/or achieved since the Zion of Enoch. This includes the Zion of Enoch, the Zion of Melchizedek, the attempted Zion of Moses, the Zion of the early Christian Church, and the Zion achieved by the Nephites in the New World. The book then discusses the attempt in our own last days to establish a Zion society in anticipation of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. The essential characteristics of a Zion society, such as the Law of Consecration, are described, along with a review of the efforts of the Latter-day Saints to establish such a community. Finally, the book describes the eventual triumph of Zion at Jerusalem and New Jerusalem, along with the return of Jesus Christ to rule and reign in these celestial cities. The cover features a beautiful image of the New Jerusalem descending through the clouds of glory.

The prophetic books of the Old Testament offer a fascinating collection of oracles, poetic images, and theological ideas. Among the most prominent themes are those of judgment and salvation, especially concerning the fate of Zion. This place, where the people of God dwell, is alternately presented as either the object of divine wrath or the image of a salvific ideal. Representing Zion provides a thorough and critical study of the images of Zion in the entire prophetic literature of the Old Testament. The book challenges traditional interpretations of Zion and offers a fresh exploration of the literary and theological nature of the biblical writings. Zion has largely been treated by scholars as an image of the inviolable city consistently and unambiguously used by Old Testament authors. Representing Zion reveals the Zion motif to be contested, complex and profoundly theological—a reflection of the ambiguous role of YHWH as judge and saviour.