Does "Zion" here refer to heaven? (Isaiah 35:10)
10
and those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away. (NIV)
Isaiah 35:10
ESV - 10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
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Asked March 15 2020
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Jack Gutknecht
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Tim Maas
As with many prophetic passages from the Old Testament, I would say that the verses cited in the question were meant to have both a near-term and long-term meaning and fulfillment. In one sense, they pertained to the return of the inhabitants of Judah and Benjamin from their seventy-year exile in Babylon, which was an occasion of the type of joy described in the verses. Here, "Zion" was referring to a geographical region. However, the verses also refer to the eternal salvation of the redeemed in Christ, as evidenced most clearly by the reference to "everlasting joy", which (in my view) speaks of a condition that will finally and fully be realized only in eternity. In that sense, "Zion" refers to the eternal abode or state of the redeemed.
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