[1] He has founded his city on the holy mountain.
[2] The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob.
[3] Glorious things are said of you, city of God:
[4] “I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me— Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush— and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’ ”
[5] Indeed, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.”
[6] The Lord will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.”
[7] As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in you.”
Psalm 87 was probably written by a descendant of Korah who served in the temple courts. It is uncertain when it was written. Some scholars believe it was written during the time of the prophets, Isaiah, Micah, and Hosea, whom God sent to minister to the southern kingdom of Judah where God's "holy mountain", the great city of Jerusalem, was located. Others believe it was written during the postexilic period (the approximately 400 years following Israel's release from Babylonian captivity).
In either case, the ancient interpretation by both Jewish and Christian interpreters, is that the psalm predicts the ingathering of the nations into Zion as fellow citizens of Israel in the kingdom of God. Jesus, being sent as the King to all people, described this event as the angels gathering the elect from the four winds of the earth. He then commissioned His apostles to go out and make disciples of all nations, which would kick off this ingathering of the nations. The apostle Paul described it as the Gentiles being grafted into the olive tree alongwith the branches of Israel that have not been broken off. Gentiles have been grafted into Israel by faith in Jesus, but the ingathering of all the nations into Zion is still taking place.
The apostle John saw "the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband", which is an image of the completed ingathering of the nations at the return of Christ. The new Jerusalem is God's people who are the faithful bride of Christ.
God's love for Jerusalem more than all the other cities of Judah was because that is where His temple was located, and therefore is where He resided. Therefore Jerusalem was "the city of God."
Rahab (Egypt), Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush represent the Gentile nations whom God would establish and record in the register of people and say "were born in Zion".
God will gather the elect from the four winds of the earth and they will be grafted into the Israel of God who comprise the new Jerusalem, the bride of Christ, and in this way, all Israel will be saved.
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