THE NEW JERUSALEM By Charles S. Meek If you are interested in Bible prophecy, the New Jerusalem “heavenly city” of Revelation 21 is a point of considerable interest. Certainly is an element of apologetics, as Christians are ridiculed over Bible prophecy. Like most other things in Revelation, it is interpreted literally by dispensationalists. According them, it is a fully functioning real city prepared by God that has a length, width, and height of 12,000 furlongs/stadia—about 1,500 miles. Some interpreters see this as a cube; others see it as a pyramid. But in either case, it is enormous! It is almost as large as the moon, which is about 2,100 miles in diameter. It descends out of heaven to come to rest over the earth. It has literal foundation stones, but only a single street. If the New Jerusalem was a literal city, it would cover the entire Middle East, including all of Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and a huge section of the Mediterranean Sea as well as several parts of other neighboring countries—not to mention extending 1,200 miles beyond the International Space Station which is in a 220 mile low orbit. While trying not to be too facetious, this image immediately conjures up legitimate questions about gravitational mechanics. Would this enormous appendage wobble the earth? The appearance is related to the idea of a literal millennium. The massive heavenly Jerusalem descends to hover just above Palestine, where it will remain for the duration of the millennium. This New Jerusalem will be above the earth, in the air, shedding its light and glory thereon. Christ will resurrect the saved of all ages, except of course, for the “in Christ” saints who were resurrected or raptured seven years earlier and who presumably have been in heaven temporarily. (Confused yet?) The heavenly Jerusalem will become the residence of believers who are not on earth, though there is some disagreement who will be on earth and who will be in the heavenly Jerusalem. In general, all resurrected saints (i.e., Old Testament saints, Christians raptured before the tribulation, and believers who came to faith during the tribulation, but were put to death by the Antichrist) will live in the New Jerusalem. Some say that the earth will be populated only by the Jews who survived the tribulation period. And some dispensationalists believe that there is opportunity to go back and forth between earth and the heavenly city at least for certain residents. Resurrected saints will play some role in Christ’s rule on the earth; their primary activity, however, will be in the New Heavenly Jerusalem. Can this be correct? Let us be perfectly frank, with due respect for our many brothers who believe all this, it is so bizarre that if it were not being taught in Christian churches, it would certainly be considered cultic, or science fiction. But this craziness is where you can end up if you decide in advance to take everything in the Bible in a wooden literal fashion while completely misunderstanding Hebraic figures of speech, and ignoring the critical context that restricts the timing of events in Revelation. There is a biblical view of the New Jerusalem. It is this: the New Covenant church. It is the Israel of God (Romans 11; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:19-22; Hebrews 11:10, 16; 12:18-24). Hebrews 12:22 states, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” The New Jerusalem was already becoming a reality for the first-century readers of Hebrews. The New Jerusalem is the bride (Revelation 21:2), which means the bride of Christ (John 3:29; Ephesians 5:22, 23, 31, 32; Revelation 19:7-8). Its foundations were the “twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Revelation 21:14. The building/city motif is Pauline theology concerning the church (Ephesians 2:19-22). The picture that is painted for us by John is that Israel was a harlot (Revelation 17:1, 5, 15; 19:2). For her marital unfaithfulness, she received divorce and punishment. Then we see the new bride—the church— coming to take her place. Jerusalem is destroyed and replaced by the New Jerusalem of which first-century Christians were citizens. The church is the New Jerusalem that takes over for the old Jerusalem. The church no longer needs a temple because Christ brings the presence of God to his people (Revelation 21:22). The ending chapters of Revelation describe a series of events that are consummated together: the new heaven and new earth and New Jerusalem, which are the New Covenant church order, the dissolution of hades, the final defeat of death and Satan, and the Parousia—marking the beginning of the established and victorious eternal reign of Christ. It is critical to grasp that there are over 30 statements throughout Revelation that restrict its fulfillment to the events of the first century surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70. At that time, the visible fabric of the Old Covenant order was swept away. The events were to happen SOON, WITHOUT DELAY, and MUST SHORTLY TAKE PLACE (Revelation 1:1-3; 22:6-20; etc.) For more information, check out my website: prophecyquestions.wordpress
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 01:59:17 +0000
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