The New Jerusalem Part 3
Part 2 ended with the return of Yeshua and the Messianic Age. Now we want to look at what follows. The book of Hebrews starts by telling us that God spoke through His prophets but now He speaks through His Son. Hebrews 1:10-12 says this “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” After the Messianic Age, after Satan will be thrown down for eternity, it will be at this time, the world as we know it, will come to an end and all will stand before the judgment seat of God.
Romans 14:10-12 says this, “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”
Revelation 20:11-15 goes on to say this, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Revelation 21:7-8 says this to the reader as a warning, “To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Revelation 2:11 says this when speaking to the church of Smyrna. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.”
Revelation 21:1-6 tells us, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ And He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also He said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.’”
God’s original creation has vanished. The original order of things is now gone. We now have passed onto a world that will be called eternity.
Isaiah 65:17 says this, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.”
Yes, the former things will not be remembered. We won’t remember our loved ones, because God will take away the pain of the past, and those loved ones that may not have made it to be with God.
Now let’s look closely at Revelation 21:9-21, “Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
We see here that the holy city, the New Jerusalem, is the Bride of the Lamb, but did we not think that it was the church who was the Bride?
1 Peter 2:4-5 says this, “As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Messiah Yeshua.”
Ephesians 2:19-22 also says, “So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Messiah Yeshua Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”
God’s Word never contradicts itself. We must understand that God entrusted His Word to the Jewish people of Israel. It was the Jewish people who were waiting for the Jewish Messiah. It was the Jews who on the day of Pentecost (Shavuot), that 3,000 people came to know the Messiah and who were baptized into the Holy Spirit, and shortly after 5,000 were included. We Gentiles did not know the God of Creation until later. Yes, there were those few who were called “God Fearers” but only a few.
Romans 11:13-21, “Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. In as much then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.”
Now I say all of that to say this, Jerusalem is the city of God. We see Melchizedek who was the priest of Jerusalem, which is the city of peace. King David sat on the throne in Jerusalem and Yeshua sat on His throne for 1,000 years, but remember His kingdom will not end. So Jerusalem is the place that will live on forever. We have been built up as a spiritual house, the temple of God, while we were on the earth, but now we will reside in this holy city, which is the physical Bride of Messiah and we will rejoice at the table for we were found worthy because of our righteous deeds. We have made our garment white so that we may dwell with Yeshua our Savior and God our Creator.
Revelation 19:6-9 says this, “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.”’
In Part 4 we will look at life in eternity.
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