In my ongoing effort to convince everyone I am heretical when it comes to Eschatology (the study of last things), I have chosen to begin this category with one of the most misunderstood areas of end times teachings (the supposed 'rapture' will have to wait for another post).

We've all heard it. Once the world is destroyed, God will remake all things (true) and bring down a literal city from heaven that is a nearly 1500 mile cube wherein we will live and rule the world (who is left in it again?) with Jesus. Inside this city are streets of gold and mansions aplenty, gates made of solid pearl, etc. 

I am unconvinced.

The teaching depends on a certain reading of the book of Revelations that assumes literal meaning to a prophetic and apocalyptic text. This is dangerous and leads to a multiplicity of problems, most of which derail our attention from the truth it is actually putting forth, which I will get to in a moment. First, let's look at the text. 

Revelation 21
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. 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.”

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.

And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.


For the purposes of this discussion's brief intention, I am not including the references to the New Jerusalem that Ezekiel makes. That warrants it's own post later on. I would however, like you to keep another passage in mind as well.

Hebrews 12:18-24
For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.



I find it fascinating that upon discussion of the New Jerusalem very few make mention of the passage in Hebrews 12, which makes direct reference to our active, previous and ongoing nature of having come to the heavenly Jerusalem. The picture is not unique to John in his writings, nor to the writer of the book of Hebrews, but it is present in a similar picture in Paul's writings. 

Ephesians 2:19-22
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.


There is not a commentator I can find that does not recognize the reference in Ephesians 2 as describing the church, and yet, once dimensions and measurements are given in the same picture of Revelation 21 we assume a literal building and city. Look at that reference in Revelation 21:2 wherein the city is expressed as being dressed up as a bride for her husband. Further in verses 9 and 10 the reference to the bride is undeniably the New Jerusalem itself. It bears repeating:

Revelation 21:9-10
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


I cannot get around the clear references here to the city itself being the bride, nor can I get around the passage in Hebrews 12 that states we have already come to the New Jerusalem. And honestly, I have no reason to get around them. A plain reading of these texts shows that the New Jerusalem is a depiction of the Church, the bride of Christ, which is built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets. This is the reason for the descriptions of the twelve gates and twelve foundation stones being the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles respectively. A perfect metaphor that is understood in Ephesians 2 and 1 Peter 2, but is somehow lost when we read Revelation 21 and Hebrews 12.

The inconsistency with which the literal understanding of this city is understood leads us to a bizarre interpretation of the future state, confusion on why there are references to the existence of a temple and not a temple at the same time, and a false earth-based hope, rather than the true and real heavenly hope to which we already belong. 

In the end, WE are the New Jerusalem, WE are the bride adorned for her Husband, WE are built on the foundation of the apostles, WE are entering due to the message of the prophets of the twelves tribes, WE are the temple in which God resides, WE are a holy temple wherein acceptable sacrifices are to be made, WE are the priesthood also who lives in that temple, WE are worth even more than precious stones and rubies (see Proverbs 31:10), WE proclaim the excellencies of the One who has called us from darkness into His marvelous light, WE are the city, WE are the bride prepared for the Lamb, WE are bought by His blood, WE are filled with His righteousness, WE are living stones in the city that God is building, mortared in place by His grace so that none will be lost. WE wait for the day that the building is complete and we are all presented blameless before the presence of His glory with eternal joy.

Now, isn't that better than a fancy house?

This is merely an introduction to this topic, I will be dealing with this more as I post in the category of Eschatology. Stay tuned!

1 John 1:1-4
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life - the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us - that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

Ignorance is no declaration of inability, rather it is the declaration of a lack of information or experience. Having not lived in the time of the incarnation, we are ignorant of the level of physical experience the disciples were privy to. Can you imagine being one of them? To have literally walked with God in the flesh? To have eaten with Him? To have watched Him die and rise from the dead?

These are experiences reserved for those who were alive and present with Jesus when He was here. And we are dependent on their communicating to us these experiences. This is one of the reasons the Scriptures must play a central role in our lives and growth as Christians.

We do, however, have the Holy Spirit amongst us, in a way that was only dreamed of in the Old Testament times. In fact, the writer of Hebrews focuses on the same issue. After one of the most glorious retellings of OT saints and their sufferings he lays down the final verses regarding their lack of experiencing the Promise, the coming Messiah.

Hebrews 11:39-40
And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Peter says much the same in his discussion of the salvation that his readers had experienced being in the midst of a lack of experience with Christ himself.

1 Peter 1:8-12
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, thing into which angels long to look.

But in our admittedly privileged state of clarity when it comes to the gospel, we sometimes become envious of those who were able to, as John says, "see with our eyes" and "touch with our hands". We want to experience that, if only for a moment, so that our appreciation of the physical realities of the gospel would grow in the midst of our ignorance. 

But it is not so. 

God has designed that at this time in redemptive history we are to remain ignorant of the experience that the apostles lived through, that we are to depend on their testimony as the foundation of our understanding our great God.


Ignorance of the physical experience is part of it, and it is no accident. 


It is by God's design that the church would be driven to the Scriptures to see what is the truth, rather than their own experiences. When we understand that this is not intended to be a cosmic-level frustration for us, rather it is a safeguard of the church's solidity, then we may free ourselves of the pride that somehow God owes us an experience that solves our ignorance, and settle ourselves on our God-given gift of relying on Him and His plan that He knows what is best for us. Even if it means sometimes frustrating, sometimes infuriating, ignorance.

Ephesians 2:19-22
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

God's intention, rather than ours, ought to be our preoccupation. His foolishness is wiser than you, and His weakness is stronger than you. The justified ones are those who live by faith and reliance on God rather than themselves. Let's seek to grow in that faith.

If we hold the Scriptures with insecurity regarding their trustworthiness, we should expect utter ruin.

I once feared that if I was to examine the history of how the Bible was originally written and then transmitted up to the modern day that I would find an answer that would be unpalatable. That it would be a series of myths and made up stories throughout history that we have built our dependence upon. 

What if I found out that there were errors or even outright lies and exagerations in the Scriptures? 

I can tell you that it was an area of study that I avoided in my personal life for a long time because of this fear. I knew that if I found the Scriptures to be unreliable that I would rightly have to leave them behind and with them the God of which they speak.

Time passed, and I hoped that my nagging concern would pass with it, but it never did. After I witnessed too many of my friends folding on this issue thus releasing whatever minimal grasp they had on the Gospel, and I knew I could resist it no longer.

If the Scriptures are not everything they claim to be then they must be left behind.

I'll never forget beginning my study into this. Fearful I wouldn't find enough information to come to a full conclusion, and terrified I might find proof of the Scriptures fallibility. I made up my mind that whatever the evidence pointed to was what I would hold to, regardless of relationships, traditions, or outside pressures. And what I found was beyond anything I had ever imagined. 

I found that God had inspired and preserved His Word in a proveable, demonstrable, and reliable way.

In coming installments, I will briefly share my conclusions. 

If you would prefer to listen to a more comprehensive three part presentation I gave on this topic in 2012, you can download each by clicking on the following links:

Part 1: "OT and the Canon"
Part 2: "The Text and the Church"
Part 3: "Transmission and Translation"

Doubt is the result of unmet expectations in a relationship.

Luke 7:18-20
The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”

None of us are protected from the error of doubt. It shows up in our relationships with other people when we suffer doubt regarding their loyalty or dependability. It may even be for good reason. There is no friend who is perfectly loyal or perfectly dependable. We will be let down.

But why is it that we suffer doubt in our relationship with God? Is it not that we fear He may let us down? That He may have us pass through unpleasent or even unbearable events? Dare we even think....

might God let us down?

John had to learn this lesson in the bowels of prison. The man who baptized our Lord, seemingly forgotten by all in his decrease while Jesus increased. I can see myself there. Cold. Dark. Alone. My mind racing back a forth trying to make sense of my imprisonment. I had expectations of Jesus setting up His kingdom, of me rightly taking my lowly place without the right to loose His sandle straps. 

But John's expectations went unmet. Was it because God was unfaithful? No. And John knew this. But he could not reconcile his experiences with his expectations. So he reasoned that it must be that he got the Messiah's identity wrong.

Wrong again. Jesus responded to John's messengers:

Luke 7:21-23
In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Jesus displays the power in which He comes. Not only a power to heal the sick or make the deaf hear again, but He comes with the gospel. The power of God for salvation for everyone who believes. This is the proof that He is the Lamb of God, as John himself identified, who takes away the sins of the world. This is the One he was waiting for.

Some look down on John for his lack of faith, but I find great comfort in Christ's reassurance to John. He didn't rebuke him. He responded with the answer to the question John asked. Christ also didn't go break him out of prison, but he reset his perspective in the midst of that prison.

What went wrong with John? And what goes wrong with us? When God doesn't meet our expectations is it because He has failed? Or could it be that we don't see the whole picture? Do you think that the christian walk is designed to be one of ease and comfort? Because it's not.

Let's learn alongside John this most basic of lessons, that when all seems to fail around us, it is not because God is out of control, quite the opposite, it is His very plan that is unfolding before us: That through thorny ways and winding paths, through dark dungeons and dank dispair, through loss of friend or loss of life.....

 He will bring us home.


Romans 8:31-39
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.


To download a sermon I gave on this topic:

Click here