God's Work with Planet Earth

The term or name of “New Jerusalem” might be unique to the Book of Revelation, but this holy, heavenly city is referenced in other passages in the Bible.

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:2-3

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,” Hebrews 12:22

“but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Galatians 4:26

• The heavenly Jerusalem is free from sin and it’s ravaging results. The earthly Jerusalem was also controlled by Rome during Jesus’ time, and the heavenly Jerusalem is not.
• The heavenly Jerusalem is the home base of the omnipresent God Who spoke our world into existence. So Paul calls it “the mother of us all”.

Earthly Jerusalem as a symbol for the Heavenly Jerusalem

Just as the earthly tabernacle/sanctuary/temple in the Old Testament was meant to represent the original throne room of God in Heaven, so Jerusalem is a physical, earthly city that symbolized the heavenly city of God.

God designated a sanctuary and a city on earth to be a “copy and a shadow of the heavenly things” (Hebrews 8:5).

“Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;” Hebrews 9:23-24

• After Christ the Son of God was born as Jesus the Son of Man, and was crucified, resurrected, and taken up into Heaven, He entered the heavenly sanctuary in the heavenly Jerusalem (the genuine rather than the symbol).

“But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” Hebrews 11:16

These passages should make it clear that the city Christians should be looking to now is not the city of violence and warring belief systems and ethnicities we see in Israel today. Rather, by faith we are looking forward to the heavenly, holy city which God showed John that He will bring to this Earth.

“Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God…” Revelation 21:2

What we are seeing in the Bible, and what we will see with our own eyes in the future, is the contrast between a city that man builds but is corrupted by the “doctrines of demons” and the way God builds a city free from crime, poverty, immorality, and instead full of beauty, wonder, peace, and light.

12 Gates

In Revelation 21, verses 12 and 13, we see that the New Jerusalem has twelve gates with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel written on them. It’s also specified that there are three gates on each side, north, south, east, west.

In Numbers 2, we can see the that three tribes were camped on each side of the tabernacle in the Sinai Desert.

• East side: Judah, Issachar, Zebulun
• South side: Reuben, Simeon, Gad
• West side: Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin
• North side: Dan, Asher, Naphtali

In Revelation 7, in connection with the 144,000 who will be sealed right before Jesus returns, there are also 12 tribes mentioned. Does that mean only Israelites alive when Jesus returns will make up the 144,000? No, because God has “other sheep” (John 10:16) in many countries and churches. So we’re looking at a symbol for those still alive who will be sealed for salvation right before Jesus returns.

In Revelation 7, we see that Ephraim and Dan are missing, and the tribes of Levi and Joseph have taken their place. This is interesting because Ephraim and Manasseh were sons of Joseph, and Manasseh appears in the final twelve tribes while Ephraim is missing. Scripture tells us why.

“Ephraim is joined to idols, Let him alone. Their drink is rebellion, They commit harlotry continually. Her rulers dearly love dishonor.” Hosea 4:17-18

“When Ephraim spoke, trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; But when he offended through Baal worship, he died. Now they sin more and more, and have made for themselves molded images, Idols of their silver, according to their skill; All of it is the work of craftsmen. They say of them, “Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!” Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud and like the early dew that passes away, like chaff blown off from a threshing floor and like smoke from a chimney.” Hosea 13:1-3

• Notice that at first Ephraim “spoke, trembling”. He was humble. The Hebrew word “nasah” (exhalted) does not mean pride or boasting. It has many possible meanings, but given the context “becoming honorable” and “receiving respect” fit the best. Ephraim was originally a positive example to the other tribes.
• “BUT” then Ephraim broke the first two of the Ten Commandments (worshiping other gods, making and bowing to images/idols). Because of this, God said through the prophet that Ephraim would be blown away and disappear.

What about Dan? Why is that tribe missing from Revelation 7?

The tribe of Dan, like Ephraim, was instrumental in leading the northern ten tribes of Israel into idolatry. In Judges 18:30, they even set up a false or counterfeit priesthood.

“Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, who say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan!’ and, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives!’ They shall fall and never rise again.” Amos 8:14

• Samaria was the capitol of the northern kingdom of Israel
• The territory of Dan was one of the places Jeroboam (the first king of the 10 tribes who split from Judah and Benjamin) set up golden calf idols.
• Dan and Ephraim were both part of the ten tribes who were captured and resettled in other countries by Assyria, and never returned to Israel, the way Judah and Benjamin returned from Babylon.

But it’s important for us to understand that God was using these tribes as examples of idolatry and wickedness. God does not save tribes, nations, or churches. He saves individuals based on how they relate to Him. There will be individuals from the tribes of Ephraim and Dan who lived during

• The 400 years in Egypt
• The 700 years between the Exodus and the Assyrian conquest of northern Israel
• All the time since, when people from these tribes were relocated to other regions

But some were faithful to God and will be saved.

“And the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.” Exodus 32:33

• Context: Moses had just volunteered to be stricken from the Book of Life, if God would save the rebellious Children of Israel (which of course only Christ was qualified to do). This was God’s response. The prophet Ezekiel got the same message from God.

“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.” Ezekiel 18:20

So the tribes of Ephraim and Dan being removed from the listing in Revelation 7 do have something to teach us, but God judges and saves individuals based on their choices and intent.

Back to the New Jerusalem: the twelve tribes being written on its gates show God’s purpose and promise to Abraham that through his descendants – all the families of the earth would be blessed. (Genesis 12:3, 22:18) This happened:

• in the old world with the scriptures, and Christ being born from the tribe of Judah
• in the New Earth it will be with eternal life and peace.

12 Foundations

Revelation 21:14 tells us that the city has twelve foundations, which have written on them “the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb”. These were the twelve men who, after Jesus went to Heaven, spread the gospel throughout the pagan Roman Empire and beyond. Of course, Judas was replaced by Matthias in Acts chapter 1.

The Size of the New Jerusalem

This is honestly rather mind boggling.

The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.” Revelation 21:16

John tells us the measurement is 12,000 furlongs (or 1,500 miles), but he doesn’t tell us whether this is one side of the city, or the circumference.

First let’s take the more conservative approach, and interpret the 1,500 miles as the circumference. That’s 375 miles per side, and about 140,625 square miles. The largest city in the world today by area (not population) is Chongqing, China, at 31,816 square miles.

So even by this conservative way of thinking about it, the New Jerusalem dwarfs the largest city in the world today.

But if we assume that because the verse describes the “length, breadth, height” as equal, then the 1,500 miles must be per side, then we’re dealing with a much larger area. See the illustration below:

That is larger than half the United States! Either way we measure it, God has room for all His children.

Weekend Destination?

There are clues in the Bible that the saints won’t be staying in the New Jerusalem full time, once God re-creates the New Earth.

“And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.” Revelation 21:24

The New Earth will have nations with kings over them, and they all come into the New Jerusalem at certain times.

“For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the LORD, “So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.” Isaiah 66:22-23

So once a month and once every seventh day (on the Biblical Sabbath), there will be celebrations and worship services at God’s holy city, which “all flesh” from all over the New Earth will come to observe.

“They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.” Isaiah 65:21

Verse 17 makes it clear that God is speaking through the prophet about the “new heavens and new earth”. It seems clear that while the people will have dwelling places in the New Jerusalem (John 14:2-3), they will also live in “nations” around the New Earth and build houses and homes there.

“My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, In secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places,” Isaiah 32:28

A Contrast of Cities

In Genesis, God commanded Noah’s descendants to spread out, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth”. (Genesis 9:1) But in Genesis 11 with the Tower of Babel, they did the opposite and gathered into a big city, and began building a tower. This was a defiant rebellion in multiple ways:

• It was the direct opposite of what God commanded
• They built the Tower with hardened bricks and asphalt. The Hebrew word “chemar” means tar or pitch, and they were using this to waterproof the construction of the Tower, in case there was another flood. They did this in spite of the fact God created the natural phenomenon of the rainbow to confirm His promise never to flood the whole world again. (Genesis 9:12-16)
• They said…

“let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” Genesis 11:4

At that time “they all have one language”, but God diversified one language into many, and this caused the people to separate into language groups and spread over the whole earth according to God’s original plan.

“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,” Acts 17:26

But all throughout history it seems that whenever large numbers of people gather in cities while ignoring God, things start to go downhill. Sodom and Gomorrah, and Nineveh, even Jerusalem, are Biblical examples.

“Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go around it on its walls; Iniquity and trouble are also in the midst of it. Destruction is in its midst; Oppression and deceit do not depart from its streets.” Psalms 55:9-11

And today, in large cities like New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, the same problems show up. Increasing crime and violence, loss of peace, safety, and justice.

What a contrast with God’s heavenly city! Murder, deception, theft, and betrayal are rife in earthly cities, but the people who live in the New Jerusalem have this characteristic:

“…who keep the commandments of God…” Revelation 12:17, 14:12

What would it be like to live in a community where you never had to worry about your safety and being conned or taken advantage of? But that’s just not doing bad things to other people. In addition to that, following Jesus means to be a blessing to others and doing good for others.

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4

The hypothetical I like to use is a community somewhere in the New Earth which has 100 people. If you live there, and you’re expected to look out for the needs of 100 people, it might seem like a burden. But those 100 people are also looking our for your needs.

With this model, no one is left out, left behind, neglected, marginalized, disadvantaged. The difference is on this earth, God has buy-in from some people but not others. In Heaven and the New Earth, there is 100% buy-in and commitment to His ways of peace and justice.