Holy City
"Holy City" is a biblical title used chiefly for Jerusalem and, in Revelation, for the New Jerusalem. The phrase highlights a city set apart by God for His presence and purposes.
At a Glance
"Holy City" is a biblical title used chiefly for Jerusalem and, in Revelation, for the New Jerusalem. The phrase highlights a city set apart by God for His presence and purposes.
Description
The expression "Holy City" in Scripture is used primarily of Jerusalem, emphasizing its special role in God's redemptive dealings, especially as the place of the temple and the center of Israel's worship (for example, in Isaiah, Nehemiah, Daniel, and Matthew). In the New Testament, the phrase can also refer to the heavenly or future Jerusalem, most clearly the New Jerusalem that descends from heaven in Revelation 21. The title does not mean the city was morally pure in every period of its history; rather, it marks the city as set apart by God for covenantal and redemptive purposes. Because the term is applied in more than one biblical setting, the safest definition is a theological one: it denotes the city God consecrates for His presence, worship, and future consummation, historically centered in Jerusalem and ultimately fulfilled in the New Jerusalem.