The Home of God

The Home of God
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The eternal city — the New Jerusalem. Revelation 20 and Revelation 21:1-5 describes the city in two ways. Revelation 20 has two sections. Verses 1 through 8 speak of the eternal state after the millennial reign of Jesus is over. When we teach this, it stretches our mind because we’re so prone to time and we think a year or ten years from now is a long time and twenty or fifty years from now is an eternity. But those are just drops in the bucket for God. There’s coming a reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is actually the introduction to eternity, called the Millennial Reign. His pre-act is going to introduce eternity and that pre-act will last one thousand years. It’s called the Millennial Reign of Jesus, which is actually the seventh dispensation on this earth.

There are seven dispensations. We’re living in the sixth one right now and I believe we’re at the very close of it. The five dispensations which have already occurred were all of Jewish time. They took us all the way from the time of Adam and Eve up until the time when Jesus went to the cross. We’re living in the Church Age today (the sixth dispensation), which has lasted some two thousand years, and after this dispensation will come another time period called the Millennial Reign of Jesus which will last for one thousand years. During that one thousand years, Jesus will rule and reign on this earth. At the end of that time, this earth will be destroyed and a new earth and a new heaven will come and rest over this earth, and we’ll enter into the eternity of eternities or what Revelation 20 calls the eternal state.

In verses 9 through verse 5 of Revelation 21, we have a description of the eternal city, the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem, that eternal city, is still being prepared. Jesus said He’s going to prepare a mansion for us. He’s still working on it, and when we get into this chapter, you’re going to see how dazzling that city is.

People have often read the Book of Revelation and conclude that it is a very difficult book to understand. I disagree. Revelation is not a difficult book. First of all, it was written by John, who was about as simple as you could get. Anyone who has studied Greek knows that the first book they have you work on is the Book of John. It’s the simplest Greek structure of all. He was a very simple man, a simple fisherman. Even his book, The Gospel of John, starts out this way.

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

These are very simple phrases. Although they are profound, they’re very simple. You understand what he’s saying and where he’s coming from. The Book of Revelation is no different; it is not a closed book.

Some people say, “We’ll just never understand Revelation.”

Then why did God give it if we’re not to understand it? The Bible says all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. (See 2 Timothy 3:16.) If we weren’t supposed to understand it, then it wouldn’t be profitable. If it’s profitable, it is for us to understand. The Book of Revelation is open for us.

We’re going to see that the descriptions are very easy to understand. If you had a glimpse of eternity, including the Tribulation, the Millennium, and the Eternal State, how would you describe it? God picked the most simple man to describe it — John. Of all the writers, he’s the simplest and God picked him to describe it. I’m sure Paul could have used bigger words that would have blown our minds, but John used very simple words for us to easily understand. He uses a lot of symbolism and once you break down the symbolism, the Book of Revelation becomes very easy to understand. I’m not teaching the whole Book of Revelation right now, but you’ll see here in chapter 20 that what John has to say is very easy, although it’s difficult to comprehend because trying to describe heaven would be very difficult.

This eternal city is given by God and it’s for us. John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that He gave. Heaven is a gift of God. Everything God gives to us is a gift. We don’t have to work for it, earn it, or deserve it. It’s a free gift. Whether you’re a great Christian or a clod of a Christian, you’re still going to be there. Whether you’re a great success as a Christian or a failure as a Christian, you’re still going to live there. Rewards will be given out when we’re in heaven, but all Christians are going to live in this eternal place with God. He prepared it for all of those who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Also in that eternal state every person who has accepted Jesus Christ from Adam all the way until the end of the Millennial Reign is going to be there with the Lord.

In Revelation 21, we have a description of the new heaven and the new earth.

Verse 2 tells of a new heaven, called the New Jerusalem, coming down and resting over the earth. It’s also going to be called Jerusalem when we get to verse 10 where it is defined as the Holy Jerusalem.

In verse 3, God said He would come and tabernacle with man, and this is an outward, physical description of it. We’ve always had His presence, but one of these days, physically, all of heaven is going to come and be with man.

In verse 4, we find out that He’s going to do away with all the former things that have gone on in our life. It says death will be gone, that is physical death. Next of all, it says sorrow will be gone. This is mental agony. Sorrow, deep sorrow, will be gone. Crying will be gone. This is mourning. There might be crying for joy in heaven, but no more crying over agony and pain. Finally, the last thing that’s going to be done away with is physical pain. It says, “For the former things are passed away.”
On that day, that’s really going to happen, but I want you to understand that anyone who dies and goes to heaven right now has that. We cry down here because we miss them, but do you think they’re up in heaven crying because they miss us? Jesus has wiped away all tears. All these former things are gone. They’re in heaven rejoicing. They might know we’re crying down here and mourning and missing them, but they’re probably saying, “Oh, if I could just tell them they don’t need to cry anymore. All the former things are passed away and I’m in heaven rejoicing right now.”

In verse 5, he tells us what’s going to happen from that point on. Jesus Christ will make all things new. The Greek says He will habitually, continually, perpetually make all things new. That means that one million, one billion, or one trillion years into eternity, it’ll be just as good as it was the first day. You’ll never get bored. Everybody always talks to me about the same thing: I try to describe eternity and they say, “Well, it sounds wonderful, but don’t you think we’re going to get tired of worshipping God a million years from then and a billion years from then?” No, because Jesus will continually make everything brand new. A million years later, it will still be just as good as the first moment you experienced it when you entered into that eternal city. You cannot get bored and you cannot get tired of it.

In verses 6 and 7, we have all of those who will be in heaven and they are described as the ones who partook of the fountains of the water of life freely. Maybe you are not sure you would go to heaven. Maybe your wife or your husband brought you to church. Maybe your friend grabbed you and told you what a great place church was. Maybe you sit in this crowd, thinking no one knows who you are. God does. He sees you and He offers to you the same thing He’s offered to all of us and that’s the waters of life freely. The waters of life is not physical life. You already have physical life. What Jesus offers to you is eternal life so you can spend eternity in this city with Him. He offered the woman at the well eternal life. He told her, “Whoever drinks of the well water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the waters that I will give him will never thirst again.” (See John 4:6-14)There will be in Him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Do you have everlasting life? If so, did you pay money for it? If you did, you got ripped off because you can’t buy everlasting life with money. You received it freely and you know that no amount of money could even buy that gift. You couldn’t have all the money on this earth and buy a soul. If there was enough money on this earth to buy your salvation, then Jesus didn’t need to go to the cross; but He did go to the cross and He purchased what money cannot buy and He offers it to you freely. The waters of life are free. It’s a gift, and you just need to reach out and receive it and you do that with your faith.

Those who rejected the waters of life are brought out in verse 7.

In verse 8, it says they’re going to spend eternity in a place the Bible calls a lake that burns with fire and brimstone — that is the second death. They will be forever separated from God in the Lake of Fire, but the Lake of Fire and the Eternal City are the two opposites. There is nothing in-between. You can’t die and go some place in-between. When you die you go to one of two places, depending on the decision you made in this lifetime whether or not to accept the free gift of God.

Verse 9 describes the Eternal City.

Revelation 21:9
And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, and I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

There have been many misunderstandings based on verse 9. Some teach today that we are not the bride of Christ. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ephesians 5 teaches we are the bride of Christ. Ephesians 5:23-32 tells us that just as there is a natural bride for a natural husband, there is a spiritual bride for a spiritual husband.Others have taken this verse of Scripture and say, “See that’s not true. The city coming out of heaven is the bride.” To properly understand this we have to look at Revelation 17 and find out the comparison that is being made that this same angel showed John.

How many of you know that religion is of the devil? But here’s something interesting: the Book of James describes Christianity as true religion. Now that’s the only place in all the Bible that Christianity is called a religion, but it’s called true religion and it says it’s holy and undefiled. In other words, we have a true religion which comes from God. Our religion is a real relationship. Anything else is counterfeit.

Ephesians 5 also compares the new birth to a marriage. When you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, you become one spirit with the Lord. Just as in this natural life when you marry someone, you become one flesh with them. What does the Bible call when you start playing around on your wife or your husband? Adultery or fornication. Anything else except your wife or your husband is a cheap imitation and I mean cheap. Some of you think you’ve found something great. You have not. You have found a cheap imitation. You have found a counterfeit and God hates it. God hates adultery. God hates fornication.

In the Word of God, He compares apostasy with fornication. He told Israel in the Old Testament when they went after idols, he said, you’ve gone a whoring. (See Exodus 34:15.)He said you’ve gone after other gods, and he said it’s like spiritual adultery with Me. You’ve gone after someone else and that’s why God used love terms. He said, ”I’m jealous over you,” and He goes chasing after his bride. Israel was called His wife in the Old Testament, and therefore in the New Testament Jesus is married to us, that is the Church. We are the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And there came one of the seven angels [this is the same one described in Chapter 20] which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; [This is exactly what He’s going to say in Chapter 21 when He takes him up onto a high mountain to show him the city.] I will show you the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: [The whore here is also called the prostitute. This is worldwide religion. Notice what her worshippers are called in the next verse.]

Revelation 17:1-2
With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

To worship anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ is fornication. If you don’t worship the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have some other religion of anybody else that’s sitting on the throne, then you are committing fornication and it says there’s going to come a time in the Tribulation when all the religions of this world will be brought into one religion and it’s seen as one great whore or one great prostitute over the earth, and anyone who worships her, including the kings of this earth, this verse of Scripture calls fornicators.

Revelation 17:3
So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

We don’t have time to get into the seven heads and the ten horns today. We’re not discussing the intricacies of prophecy. I just want you to understand that this woman is seen here as the great whore or the great prostitute and all who worship her are committing fornication, but James says there is a true religion and to worship the Lord Jesus Christ is true worship.

Revelation 21:9
And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, and I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

It’s a whole lot better to see the bride than it is to see the great whore, and what is the bride? It’s the true relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. All those who live in this city have found true relationship, not adultery or fornication. These are the ones who have truly found the Lord. What happened to all the fornicators? They’re in the Lake of Fire. (See verse 8.)But those who found the Lord have now become the true worshippers of the Lord and therefore all of heaven is going to truly worship before Him. It says at the end of that verse, the Lamb’s wife.

Revelation 21:10
And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.

This is the same thing we found in verse 2. It’s called Jerusalem. Jerusalem is an eternal city. We’re going to bring that back to the earthly Jerusalem in just a moment, but it’s brought out here as the New Jerusalem or as it says in verse 10, the holy Jerusalem.

Revelation 21:11
Having the glory of God: and her light and was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

Heaven, or the New Jerusalem or the holy Jerusalem, will be lit by the glory of God. Did you know that the glory of God is a light? When Moses got into the presence of the glory of God, he went up on the mountain with God and was there with Him for forty days. He walked right into the cloud and was there without food or drink for forty days.

I believe in fasting. Moses fasted. Jesus fasted forty days, and many people believe that forty days is the number one should fast. The Bible doesn’t really declare a particular number of days we should fast. I believe in fasting and practice fasting, and you should too, along with your prayer life. Fasting is not just doing without food. If all you do is go without food, that’s called dieting. How many of you know that dieting is not spiritual? The growls that come are not from the spirit.

Fasting is important. Moses fasted for forty days and forty nights, but I want you to notice something about his fasting. He not only did without food, he did without water. You cannot do without water for forty days. On any kind of fast you have to drink water. Water is important. So, how in the world did Moses live for forty days and forty nights without food or water? He was in God’s glory. The glory is light. There’s coming a day when, like it said in verse 1, we’ll have no more seas on the earth. We won’t even need water in that day because we’ll be sustained by the glory of God which is the light of that eternal city. The glory of God will keep us alive and the glory of God will light up that city.
Heaven, the eternal city Jerusalem, is going to come and rest over the earth and it will be completely lit up by His glory. It says that the light is as clear as jasper stone. Jasper stones are diamonds. The light of God’s glory is as clear as diamonds.

At the end of verse 11, it says, it was like unto a stone most precious, even a jasper stone, clear as crystal. The light of God is as clear as crystal. It will shine and completely fill up heaven. It will completely cover the whole earth. There will be no more nighttime on the earth because our resurrection bodies won’t need to sleep anymore. In that day the sun and the moon won’t shine anymore because we’ll have no more need of the sun and the moon. They’ll be gone.

When Jesus went to the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, He gave them a preview of His Second Coming when He’ll establish His millennial reign on this earth. (See Mark 9:2.)When Jesus came before them, His face did shine as the sun and His raiment was as white as light. In other words, you could not get anymore pure of a light than what Jesus gave on that day, and the light that came from His face shone as the sun.

Does that sound familiar? When Moses came down from the mountain, his face was shining so brightly they had to cover it up because no one could stand to look upon his face. It wasn’t just because his face was bright that they couldn’t stand to look at it. It was because the light was so holy and pure that it revealed their sin. So when Peter, James, and John were on that mountain, Jesus’ face began to shine as the sun. His raiment was as white as light. I imagine the disciples readily covered their eyes because of the brilliance of the light that was coming from Jesus and that’s the same type of light that’s going to be there on that day. Can you imagine that Moses, for forty days and forty nights, absorbed so much of it that when he came down he was glowing with it? But can you imagine spending eternity in the very presence of His light? We won’t be ones that simply soak it up. We will forever be in the very presence of it in that day.

In verses 12 through 14, we have a description of the walls around the city.

Revelation 21:12
And had a wall great and high, [This means thick and high, although we don’t know how thick.] and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

I want you to notice that this heavenly Jerusalem is patterned after the earthly Jerusalem. The earthly Jerusalem has walls around all four sides — north, south, east, and west. In each of the walls there are three gates. All twelve gates are described and named in Nehemiah 3, but they’re going to have their name changed one of these days. When the New Jerusalem, the holy Jerusalem, comes down from God, the names of the gates will be changed to the twelve tribes of Israel. There are three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the east, and three gates on the west, and God has stationed an angel at each gate.

Each gate is as tall as the wall and the walls are two hundred and sixteen feet high. You think you’ve seen some high walls and some big gates. I think the angels have to be there to open the doors. It must take a lot of strength to open those gates, and here’s the beauty of it: each gate is fashioned out of one pearl — two hundred and sixteen feet high. Whew! As Brother Copeland said, wouldn’t you like to see the oyster that made that one! But these pearls are not made by oysters; these are made by God Himself. God will create a pearl. Each individual pearl will be two hundred and sixteen feet high. These are not a bunch of pearls put together to make one gate. Each gate is one pearl that opens up.

Revelation 21:13-14
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 in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Underneath the wall are twelve foundations — each foundation stacked upon the other. The apostles of the Lamb here are the foundations and the different tribes are the gateways into the city. In that eternal city you’re going to have saints from the Old Testament times and saints from the New Testament times all coming together in the same city. The twelve apostles of the Lamb who lived during the transition time from the Old Testament into the New Testament form the foundations of that city. They were chosen under the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ but came through the transition time into the Church. Their ministry changed. When they were chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 10, he told them not go to the Gentiles, but to go the lost sheep of the House of Israel. But after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, their ministry totally changed and now they were going to all the world to preach the Gospel — to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then into the uttermost parts of the earth.
The twelve apostles of the Lamb are the twelve foundations. Although their names are not given, I can tell you one of them is not there — Judas Iscariot. You won’t find his name there because he was not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. He ended up going to hell. The Bible says he went to his own place. I personally believe that Paul took his place. Now you can argue with that and mention someone else, but I’m sure when we get to heaven we will all find out whose name is there and there will be twelve foundations. Ephesians 2 :20 tells us that we as a habitation of God are built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. Glory to God! We are a part of that city. That city has been built for us.

Revelation 21:15
And he [the angel] that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

In other words, he’s going to measure three things with a surveyor’s instrument: the city, the gates, and the walls.

Revelation 21:16
And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

It says the city lieth foursquare. The word lieth means suspended; the city was suspended foursquare. The word foursquare means cube. The city is a suspended cube. Even though it has foundations; it’s still a suspended city just hanging there in space, suspended foursquare. It’s as wide as it is deep as it is tall and we’re going to find out that it is 1500 miles wide, 1500 miles deep, and 1500 miles tall. That’s some kind of city isn’t it? The closest thing we have to compare it to is the moon. Can you imagine a city the size of the moon? But this is not a city where you live on the outskirts or on the outside of it. You can live in every layer from top to bottom. If every layer is a mile apart, you have 1500 layers in there. This is the city which is prepared by God.

The city is suspended foursquare, the length is as large as the breadth; and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs, or literally 1500 miles. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

Revelation 21:17-18
And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits [literally 216 feet high] according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
And the building [the building materials] of the wall of it was of jasper: [Remember that jasper is a diamond.] and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

The diamonds in verse 10 are what the walls are made of. We don’t know how thick they are, but can you imagine a 216 foot high wall made of diamonds? And when God makes a diamond, He makes a diamond! It says the city was of pure gold, like unto clear glass. In other words, the diamonds we’re going to see there have no comparison to those here on this earth. The finest diamonds this earth has to offer are no comparison to the diamonds God has.

Next of all, the gold we have on this earth is no comparison to the gold God has in heaven. The gold He is going to make the city out of is transparent. Can you begin to understand what the city is? The whole city is transparent: the walls, the building, and the streets. Why? Because nothing will obstruct the Glory of God. The Glory of God will penetrate the walls, the streets, and the buildings. There’s nowhere you can go and get away from the light of God’s presence. It penetrates everything. Can you imagine the dazzling colors that come from that city as they shine through the walls? The Glory of God is reflected through those 216 feet high diamonds! No wonder the Bible says there is color there. People who have died and gone to heaven and come back always say the same thing: the colors in heaven are indescribable. There are some colors we don’t even have on this earth because they come from the reflection of the Glory of God through the diamonds and the gold in heaven. And the whole earth is going to be lit up with that light. We haven’t even seen a light like what is going to come from that eternal city, the city of Jesus. Glory to God!

That’s what your mansion is going to be made out of. He is working on a mansion for you right now made out of the same thing the buildings are and that is transparent gold. That means you can be in your home and the Glory of God will come in. You won’t need light bulbs in your mansion; it will be lit up by the Glory of God. Can you imagine a city where there are no shadows? There’s nothing there to form a shadow. The light passes through everything. We won’t want shadows. The Bible says that men who don’t know Jesus, their deeds are dark. They’re always looking for the darkness to cover it, but, my friend; there won’t be anything that pollutes in that city. There won’t be any sin in that city. It will all be banished to the Lake of Fire. Therefore, we’ll always welcome the glory of the light and presence of God Himself. The whole earth will be lit up with that kind of glory as that new earth is brought up and rests right under heaven, that city that’s suspended foursquare, then we’ll be walking on this earth in the light of the heavenly Jerusalem.

Notice in verse 10 it is called the holy Jerusalem. In verse 2 it was called the New Jerusalem, which brings us to a point that Jerusalem in and of itself must be an eternal city. Naturally, on this earth, it had to have a beginning but the Bible never even tells us when the beginning of the city of Jerusalem was. The first time we run across the city of Jerusalem is in Genesis 14:18. Abraham has returned from the slaughter of the kings. He’s coming back and is met by a priest named Melchizedek, also called the king of Salem. Melchizedek is a type of Jesus. In the Old Testament, the kings came from one tribe and the priests came from another tribe and until Jesus comes along, Melchizedek is the only king-priest ever mentioned in the Bible. He is a king and a priest who is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was called a priest of the most high God and is also called the king of Salem. It’s interesting that he was king of the city called Salem.

Hebrews 7 tells us Melchizedek is a type of the Lord Jesus. He is not the Lord Jesus. Some people try to make him a manifestation of the Lord Jesus, but he’s not. The only time Jesus ever came as a man was when He came in the cradle. He has come as angels, as rocks, as water, as fire, and as the cloud. He’s come in many forms, but when He came as a man He remained as a man and never left it and that’s when He came to this earth as our Redeemer. Melchizedek is only a type of the Lord Jesus.

Others believe Melchizedek was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit or an angel. Hebrews 7 tells us he was a man. He was a king and a priest. Although Hebrews 7 tells us he is a type of Christ, the Bible doesn’t tell us what his recorded beginning was. To be a priest in the Old Testament, you had to have a genealogy. You had to come from the tribe of Levi. They kept the genealogies very well, but Melchizedek did not have a recorded beginning of days nor end of life, although he was a man. He was born and he did die. The Bible doesn’t bring out anything of his past or anything of his future because he’s a type of the Lord Jesus Christ who had no beginning and no end.

Next of all, Melchizedek was the king of a city called Salem. Salem was the early name for Jerusalem, but notice there is no recorded beginning of Jerusalem. It’s brought out the same time Melchizedek is as Salem. Jerusalem in and of itself has a unique history throughout the books of the Old Testament. It was conquered by Joshua and the children of Israel when they came into the land of Canaan, but they lost it later on to the Jebusites. The Jebusites maintained the city for many years until David came along, then David conquered the Jebusites and established Jerusalem as the capital and dedicated it to the Lord. It was called Salem to begin with, but the Jebusites took the name from the Jebusites and put it with Salem and called it Jebu-Salem or Jerusalem. The two names were brought together. The name Jerusalem literally means the city of peace, but notice just as Melchizedek had no recorded beginning of days and is suddenly on the scene in Genesis 14, so is Salem. We know that physically it had to have a beginning, but the Bible doesn’t record it. Jerusalem, being a type of heaven, and Melchizedek, being a type of the Lord Jesus, show us no beginning and no end.

Jerusalem is still a natural city today. You can go there and it has cars and trucks and buses and hotels and buildings and everything else other cities have. The buildings are old and there are walls around the city and things like that. It’s just a natural city. But you can’t go there without feeling the presence of God. It’s just there. In fact, the same thing is true whenever we’ve gone and taken people there, they always say the same thing. The moment they see Jerusalem they feel like they’ve come home. It’s the most uncanny feeling you’ve ever had. You feel like you’ve come home.

When we first went there, we expected lightening bolts to hit us and oil to float down all over us and things like that. That didn’t happen, but we just had the uncanny sense inside of us much like you’ve been gone from your home for a long time and you’ve come back and the first sight of home thrilled you. That’s what Jerusalem looks like, but that is simply the call on the inside of us that Jerusalem will be our home. Throughout the Millennium for a thousand years we’ll live around that city, all over. We’ll come back to it once a year to worship the Lord at the Feast of Tabernacles. In addition to that, once this earth is destroyed, heaven itself will come down and be in the form of a city of Jerusalem. It’s called here the New Jerusalem and the eternal Jerusalem.

Jerusalem has had a tremendous history, and although men have tried to destroy that city it still comes back. Why? Jerusalem stands for the eternal city of God which will always be. Though man tries to destroy that place, it still comes back. Jerusalem will always be here. I don’t care what men try to do to it today; it will always be. Throughout the Millennium it’s going to be here. Jesus will personally come to rule and reign in Jerusalem for a thousand years. After that time period, this earth will be destroyed and Jerusalem will be the eternal city that will come and settle over the earth as the earth is renovated.

I want to compare the millennial Jerusalem with the eternal Jerusalem. They are not the same, and we don’t want to confuse the two. The Jerusalem of the Millennium will be an earthly city, but the Jerusalem of eternity will be a heavenly city. The Bible does a very good comparison between the two.

First of all, let’s take a look at the millennial Jerusalem. The millennial Jerusalem is brought out in Zechariah 2:10-13. Also, it’s brought out in Ezekiel, chapters 40 through 48. The millennial Jerusalem has natural light. The sun and the moon will shine on it, but the eternal Jerusalem will be lit by the Glory of God. It will have no need of the moon or of the sun. The eternal Jerusalem is lit by the Glory of God. The millennial Jerusalem is lit by natural light or sun light.

Secondly, the millennial Jerusalem has no walls. You say, “But there are walls around it today.” That’s true. In fact, if you go to Jerusalem today one of the most astounding experiences you’ll have is to sit on the Mount of Olives and look across those hills at the Golden Gate. You see this gate where Jesus is supposed to come back into the city. (See Zechariah 14.) The Jews call Him Messiah. We call Him Jesus. They don’t believe He’s Jesus, but I’ve told our guide, “Just wait and see. You’ll see it’s Jesus.” The Bible says He will walk into the city through that gate, but since the Arabs have controlled that part of the city, they have bricked up the gate and have put concrete in there to keep Jesus out. So when you look at that gate you’ll see it’s all filled it. In addition to that, they have put a graveyard outside of the gate because they know no Jew will walk through a graveyard. However, they didn’t finish reading the rest of Zechariah 14 because it says on that day when Jesus Christ comes there’s going to be an earthquake and that wall will literally be swallowed up. The whole ground will sink in and it will become a flat plane and the Messiah will walk right into the throne room, right there into the temple. From that time on throughout all of the Millennium the city of Jerusalem will have no walls; it will become the same as the city was back in Zechariah’s day. When the Israelites came in Zechariah’s day, they were to rebuild the temple and then the walls — in that order. They built the temple first and then the walls. Your natural mind says to build the walls first and keep your enemy out so you can build the temple, but God said, “No, build the temple first and I’ll be your wall.” In Zechariah 2:5, He described himself as a wall of fire that will protect them. The same wall of fire that protected them then will protect them throughout all of the Millennium. Jesus Christ will be the protector of that city so there will be no more walls during the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus. But we do know one thing: there will be walls in the eternal city but they won’t be natural walls of rock. They will be walls of diamonds. There will be no walls in the millennial Jerusalem, but there will be walls — diamond walls — in the eternal Jerusalem.

Thirdly, the millennial Jerusalem has a temple, (See Ezekiel 40-48) but there is none in the eternal Jerusalem. Revelation 21:22 says God Himself will be the temple, so there will be no natural temple there.

Next of all, the millennial temple in the millennial Jerusalem will have animal sacrifices. (See Ezekiel 46.) The millennial Jerusalem will have animal sacrifices, but the eternal Jerusalem will not. There are no sacrifices in the eternal Jerusalem.

In the millennial Jerusalem, living water will come out of the temple. (See Ezekiel 47:1.) The temple built on that day will have living water come out from under the temple and it will spread over the whole land, but the water in the eternal Jerusalem will come from the throne of God. (See Revelation 22:1.)

In the millennial Jerusalem there will be unsaved people. Throughout the Millennium, people will continue to be born. Some will not accept Jesus as Lord and Savior so there will be unsaved people. They will still have to offer sacrifices. They will learn about the Lord Jesus Christ, but some will reject Him in the millennial Jerusalem. (See Zechariah 12:6.) But in the eternal Jerusalem there’s only saved people. (See Revelation 21:24.) Only born again people will be in the eternal Jerusalem.

Last of all, in the millennial Jerusalem there will be food-producing trees for all types of fruit people can eat. (See Ezekiel 47:7-12.)But in the eternal Jerusalem, there is only going to be the tree of life. (See Revelation 22:2.)

That is the place Jesus is preparing for you. Jesus said, “I’ve gone away.” He said, “Where I go you can’t come right now but I’m going to come and gather you again unto Myself, that where I am there you may be also.” He says, “I’ve gone to prepare a place for you.” He is preparing mansions for us. I want you to realize that no matter what you have on this earth, it’s nothing compared to what God has prepared for you in eternity. That house you live in, you might as well treat it like Abraham treated his place. Treat it like a tent. You might have to move.

I’ve had people come to me and say, “During this time when the economy isn’t too great, we’ve had to sell our house and move into a smaller place.”
I tell them, “Well, I believe God it’s only going to be temporary. God will get you a better place again.”

But I want you to understand something, even if you never did get a better place in this life, how could the finest house on this whole earth compare to what God has prepared for you in heaven? How would you like to have a house made out of transparent gold? Golden streets surrounded by diamonds walls — lit up by the glory of God.

Even though John puts things in simple terms, can you see how it could be so difficult to describe it? How can a man describe heaven? Yet, that is what God has prepared for us. If you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He has a place prepared for you. Accepting Jesus Christ is an act of faith. That’s how you accept those waters of life freely. You reach out and receive of your faith Jesus as your Lord and Savior. It is your decision to make. It’s an act of your will that you take yourself off the throne of your life and you let Jesus be the Lord of your life. When that happens, Jesus calls it being born again. You can start all over again with a brand new life and know that when you face the hardships, this time someone is going to be with you to help you through them and His name is Jesus.

Bob Yandian

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