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The Daily Word of Righteousness
You Are My People, #22
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Galatians 4:26)
The Jerusalem That Is Above Is the Mother of Us All
In the context of the above verse, Jerusalem on earth is considered to be "Hagar," the Egyptian, while the new Jerusalem in Heaven is "Sarah," the true Israel of promise. Hagar corresponds to the Law of Moses while the Jerusalem that is above is the promise given to Abraham.
Does the existence of the spiritual Jerusalem in Heaven indicate that God is finished with the land and people of Israel? Absolutely not! Paul here is seeking to move the Jews from the fleshly bondage of the statutes and ordinances of Moses to the salvation that is in Christ.
The Jews (and Gentiles) who are in Christ have died to the world and have risen with Christ. Their spirits are in the new Jerusalem in Heaven, which one day will return and clothe the earthly Jerusalem with eternal life just as our new, heavenly body will clothe our mortal frame at the coming of the Lord.
The existence of the spiritual Jerusalem in Heaven does not signify that God has abandoned the land and people of physical Israel. To the contrary, many verses of the Hebrew Scriptures point directly to the restoration of the land and people of Israel.
And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (Isaiah 11:12)
Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. (Ezekiel 37:12)
Isaiah 11:12 (above) appears to be speaking primarily of the physical restoration of the people of Israel, while Ezekiel 37:12 perhaps may be interpreted both physically and spiritually.
The work of physical restoration goes together with the spiritual restoration, the spiritual restoration being the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom. The physical and the spiritual are on a converging course.
The Jerusalem in Heaven is the mother of every true believer, Jewish and Gentile, and will be established on the earth at the appointed hour.
To be continued.