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The Daily Word of Righteousness
A Destructive Doctrine, #6
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. (Revelation 21:2,3—NIV)
The above passage is by far the most telling of those texts that portray the one Church, the one Kingdom of God, the one Temple, Tabernacle, and eternal House of God.
I do not understand how those who teach a Gentile church in Heaven and a Jewish church or kingdom on the earth deal with the above passage. Do you?
How can we teach that the spirit Heaven is the eternal dwelling place of the Gentile believers when the Bible says the new Jerusalem will come to rest forever on the new earth?
Is Heaven actually our eternal dwelling place or is the spirit Heaven a temporary residence of our bodiless spirit until God is ready for us to return to earth?
Whatever the Holy City, the new Jerusalem is, it will descend from Heaven to find its resting place on the new earth.
Let's think carefully about this.
First of all, the new Jerusalem is the Wife of the Lamb, a bride beautifully dressed for her husband, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is the Jewish church (there is no such thing!) the Wife of the Lamb?
Is the Gentile church (there is no such thing!) the Wife of the Lamb?
Well then, who comes down from Heaven and who remains in Heaven?
The new Jerusalem is referred to as "the dwelling of God." Precisely who constitute the dwelling of God? Gentiles in Heaven? Jews on the earth? Is the one new Man—Jesus Christ and those who are integral part of Him—the dwelling of God?
Who is coming down to live among saved mankind? Jews? Gentiles? The Church which includes Jews and Gentiles?
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. (Revelation 21:22—NIV)
The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of the new Jerusalem. It sounds as though a Gentile church in Heaven would have to pray down to God and the Lamb in their temple on the earth, doesn't it? Can you imagine the Gentiles in Heaven looking down to the earth and praying: "Our Father who art in the earth"?
The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. (Revelation 21:24—NIV)
This promise is found in the Old Testament. It pertains to Israel.
Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so men may bring you the wealth of the nations—their kings led in triumphal procession. (Isaiah 60:11—NIV)
This is what I mean when I claim the horrid teaching of a Gentile church in Heaven and a Jewish kingdom on the earth destroys our understanding of the Old Testament Prophets and robs us of our inheritance. It is obvious Isaiah 60:11 and Revelation 21:24 are speaking of the one holy city, the new Jerusalem.
To be continued.