Two weeks from now, my extended family will be camping in one of the most beautiful spots on earth, Yosemite Valley. Perhaps with the mere mention of Yosemite, a picture of its famous valley floor, shimmering waterfalls and gray granite walls has already popped into your mind. We have all been saving our pennies and planning all year to experience this jewel of God's creation.

For a few days, it is going to be good to "leave the world behind" on the other side of those looming canyon walls.

Left behind and not invited into our vacation spot is a world with ever-troubling news of expanding oil spills, stagnant economies, violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, the nuclear tension that is Iran, the conflict between the two Koreas, the seemingly unsolvable dilemma of peace for the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, and the ongoing secularization of America, which is reeling from spiritual amnesia regarding its founding principles and God-given blessings.

A feast for the eyes

Perhaps there is no more dazzling spot to feast your eyes upon Yosemite's grandeur than as you come through Wawona Tunnel into the valley. It is here, as the tunnel opens up with a widening lens, that you experience a stunning sensory overload, as you behold from Inspiration Point, all at once, the many features of Yosemite Valley.

There before you lie the granite behemoths of El Capitan and Half Dome, the watery ribbon of Bridalveil Fall and the green carpet of pines guiding your eyes to the summit of Clouds Rest. Magnificent! Seemingly ageless!

But this exquisite moment will be simply fleeting for my loved ones and myself.

Why, you ask? We will have reached our destination, but when all is said and done, like all vacations, it has to come to an end. I will have to return home and re-engage myself in the whirl and twirl of man's crumbling society that needs rescue from itself.

Am I wrong for having selected such a destination for a reprieve from the strenuous rhythms of this life? Absolutely not! But it is not an end in itself.

Setting our sights on something grander

I will return from my brief vacation to live out my lifelong vocation as a follower of Jesus Christ. As I do, I prepare my life and set my sights on a much grander spot that God wants each of us to experience. It, too, is a destination that God desires us to picture and carry as a snapshot that instantaneously comes alive in our hearts and minds at its very mention. I would like to share it with you.

It's called Jerusalem. It, too, is guaranteed to stimulate all of our senses. There is one major difference. When we visit here in God's future for us, we will not have to return to a world of disappointment. When we accept God's invitation and arrive in Jerusalem in God's Kingdom, there is no going back. We'll be home!

A prophetic inspiration tunnel

Just like driving through that eye-expanding tunnel into Yosemite Valley, we, too, can move through an entryway of ever-widening wonder. We are transported from the present to the future through the prophecies regarding Jerusalem under the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ. Just like the first stunning gaze of Yosemite, "Destination: Jerusalem" has monumental features that blend together in a seamless tapestry of godly splendor.

Let's notice what God prophetically states will be notably visible and awe-inspiring about this future destination.

The most noticeable feature is how Jerusalem's future landscape is dominated by one heart toward God. The Jerusalem that we leave behind in man's world is a divided city between Jew and Palestinian, and it is even further divided between all the religions that claim specific rights over various religious sites.

But such will not be the case in the Jerusalem of prophetic reality described in Isaiah 52:7-10. Isaiah speaks of "glad tidings of good things" (Isaiah 52:7). This prophecy speaks of proclamations of "salvation." Why? Because God reigns!

It speaks of people who "see eye to eye" and "sing together" (Isaiah 52:8-9). It speaks of a city and its inhabitants that are "redeemed" (Isaiah 52:9). It mentions in Isaiah 52:10 how "the Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God."

The entire world is going to stare and wonder at the miracle of all the inhabitants of this city being unified under God. But this destination that God has in store for us is not walled in by granite like the Yosemite that I visit.

Rather, God shares in Isaiah 26:1-2 a different kind of wall and protection that looms up to embrace those who enter its environs.

Isaiah speaks of a day when the people of Judah will sing, "We have a strong city; God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in" (Isaiah 26:1-2).

What a beautiful sight to consider! The invitation to "Destination-Jerusalem" is real and reserved for us to consider what one united heart toward God can produce.

Excellence at every turn

Another noticeable feature of "Destination: Jerusalem" is discovered in Isaiah 60:13-18. It is the incredible quality of enduring excellence in every feature of its territory. Here in these prophetic scriptures God tells us how He is going to restore Jerusalem after the ruinous age of man, with its pockmarks of destruction on this battered city.

God speaks of building Jerusalem with pine and cypress to beautify the war-torn city. He speaks of how "I will make the place of My feet glorious" (Isaiah 60:13). This is speaking of Jerusalem where Christ's feet will stand on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4). It further describes how the city will be turned into a city of gold instead of bronze and silver instead of iron (Isaiah 60:17).

Notice how God is going to deal with not only the building materials of urban renewal, but the fiber of our hearts to bring about lasting human renewal. God will "also make your officers peace, and your magistrates righteousness. Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither wasting nor destruction within your borders" (Isaiah 60:17-18).

Just imagine a responsive and honest government and a law-abiding citizenry! We are not only speaking of urban renewal but renewal of the heart. So often in today's world we move people into brand-new physical environments rather than dealing with the environment of their hearts. When Christ intercedes in the ruins of men's hearts, they, in turn, will deal with the ruins around them.

This one noticeable monumental feature leads into another, as we see the seamless nature of God's ways. Zechariah 8:1-5 directs us to another mountain. I'm not speaking of granite, but something "holy," for a mountain is a biblical symbol conveying a government or kingdom.

This passage speaks of "the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, the Holy Mountain" (Zechariah 8:3). It speaks of a government that promotes and establishes a society that is human-friendly. Zechariah 8:4-5 declare, "Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each one with his staff in his hand because of great age. The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets."

Remember the troubled society I mentioned I will return to after my upcoming vacation? But the society in God's Kingdom will be different. It will amaze all who gaze at the inspiring manner of God's ways. Zechariah 8:6 proclaims, "'If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, will it also be marvelous in My eyes?' says the Lord of hosts."

People from everywhere come to marvel

The next monumental feature of this future Jerusalem is the diversity of its visitors. Today many nations are boycotting Israel due to that nation's political stance regarding the Palestinians. Most nations refuse to maintain embassies in Jerusalem as a political statement. They are simply staying away.

Still others from around the world come by the droves to gain a sense of the city's storied past revealed in multiple layers of former civilizations.

But the diverse nature of future visitors is for a totally different purpose. They will make Jerusalem their destination of choice, not for a vacation to learn about the ruins of Jerusalem past, but to understand how to repair the ruins of personal lives apart from God and to understand the vibrancy of this city under the rule of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Micah 4:1-2 offers an inspiring vision of these prophetic happenings: "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.' For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

How incredibly opposite from today as people are condemning what comes out of Jerusalem! How different from now, as government steadily removes the Ten Commandments and the value system they create from our children's awareness!

Again, what a sight to behold from the window opened up by prophetic scriptures. It appears there is going to be a traffic jam of humanity outside this future Jerusalem. But again, it's not as much the size of the traffic flow, but who will be coming. The prophet Isaiah speaks of a transportation system cutting through all political and ethnic barriers of today's world.

Isaiah 19:23-25 offers another word picture of this spectacular society: "In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, 'Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.'"

I believe that highway will be running right through Jerusalem, where the "Lord of hosts" reigns and blesses.

Yes! Age-old enemies will become allies under the reign of Jesus Christ. "Destination: Jerusalem" is going to become the most sought-after spot to be on the entirety of the globe. God is granting you a head start, right now, to show up at "Destination: Jerusalem."

"I want to go there and see that"

Just as my extended family has been preparing for months to experience the wonderment of Yosemite, so too we must now prepare for this more incredible destination. Last night, I sent an e-mail picture of Bridalveil Fall to our younger granddaughters to help them prepare and understand where and what Grandpa and Grandma desire them to experience. Four-year-old Cameron has already responded: "I want to go there and see that."

Likewise, that's why God offers prophetic postcards from the future of what it will be like in that ultimate destination of His Jerusalem to see, if by our daily actions, we too want "to go there and see that."

Such restless and anticipatory desire is essential to maintain our daily walk toward such wonder. Perhaps the admonition of "This is the way, walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21) is best heard in God's own voice as He declares:

"For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name. You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God" (Isaiah 62:1-3).