Angels We believe a great company of angels are before the throne of God, praising, worshipping, adoring, and glorifying Him. (Isaiah 6:1-7; Daniel 10:10-21; Luke 15:10; Hebrews 1:13,14; Revelation 7:11-12) Last Things We believe that upon physical death believers enter into the joyous presence of God, whereas non-believers enter into conscious suffering apart from God. We believe in the personal, bodily, visible, and pre-millennial return of the Lord Yeshua. At that time He will lift the corruption which now rests upon the whole of creation, totally restore Israel to her own land, give her the realization of God's covenanted promises and bring the whole world to the knowledge of God. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men. Believers shall be resurrected to enjoy eternal life with God. Non-believers shall be resurrected to experience judgment and then eternal suffering/separation apart from God. (Jeremiah 30:7 Daniel 9:24-27; Ezekiel 20:33-40; Matthew 24:30; Acts 1:11; Romans 8:19-23; 11:25-27; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 4:13-18; 5:1-11; Titus 2:13; Revelation 3:10 ) *Full AMC Statement.

The eternally blessed state beyond the Millennium in which all believers since Adam will reside is commonly referred to as Heaven. But will Heaven be the eternal dwelling of the righteous, or will new Jerusalem, which will come down out of heaven from God (Revelation 21:2)? Is New Jerusalem called Heaven in addition to the Heaven it came down from? Whichever the case, what does Scripture tell us about our future eternal heavenly home?  

Before we search the Scriptures on our eternal future home, let's note where our true home is right now. 

 

In our legal standing in Messiah, whom God made to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21), God counts us as much citizens of Heaven right now while we are still on Earth before we ever get to Heaven. We are now as much citizens of Heaven as is His own Son, who presently dwells with Him in Heaven. Even as we dwell body and soul here on earth, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ and has raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3; 2:6). 

 

But there will come a day when we will actually find ourselves in Heaven as permanent residents.

 

Let's see what the Old Testament says about this, and then the New.

I. OUR HEAVENLY HOME

A. OLD TESTAMENT REVELATION

Preliminarily, three places in Scripture are called Heaven. One is the atmosphere. Genesis 1:20: Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens." Another is what we call outer space, which contains sun, moon, stars, interstellar dust and all else that is there. Genesis 1:14-17: Verses 14-15: Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and it was so. The third place is the Heaven where God dwells, which can be seen in Revelation 11:13 and numerous other places. In 2 Corinthians 12:2 and 4, Paul called this place Paradise and the third heaven. The Heaven where God dwells is our present focus.

What does the Tanach or Old Testament say about Heaven? It says that God is the Possessor of Heaven (Gen. 14:19, 22), that He dwells in Heaven (Deuteronomy 26:15; 1 Kings 8:23), that He rules earth from Heaven (2 Chronicles 36:23) and that He performs actions on earth from Heaven (Exodus 16:4, 20:22). In addition, the Angel of God or the Angel of YHVH, Who is God the Son, spoke to Hagar and Abram from Heaven (Genesis 21:17, 22:11). 

When the righteous died in the ages before Yeshua's ascension, they went to the Paradise section of Sheol (Genesis 37:35; Job 14:13; Psalm 16:10. Luke 23:43: And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." Although there was a compartment in Sheol reserved for the unrighteous, even the righteous spoke of themselves as going "down" to Sheol (Genesis 37:35; Job 7:9). This Paradise section of Sheol could not possibly be the same as Heaven because Heaven is constantly referred to as being "up" (Deuteronomy 30:12; 1 Samuel 5:12). Enoch was taken up (Hebrews 11:5); Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven (2 Kings 2:11); Yeshua was taken up (Acts 1:2); Paul was caught up to the third Heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2).

Enoch and Elijah were taken up to Heaven, but Scripture does not say that they were to abide there forever. In fact, it is likely that they will be brought down from Heaven to enjoy the Messianic or Millennial Kingdom along with all the other Old Testament saints (Ezekiel 36:24-28; Daniel 12:1-2; Matthew 8:15-18; 24:31; Mark 13:27).

The Old Testament nowhere states or implies that Heaven, or the Paradise section of Sheol, for that matter, will be the eternal dwelling place of the righteous. As far as Sheol is concerned, Yeshua emptied it of its saints upon His ascension, to ascend with Him to Heaven (Ephesians 4:8-10); but they will be brought down again to enjoy the Millennial Kingdom (Ezekiel 36:24-28; Daniel 12:1-2; Matthew 8:15-18; 24:31; Mark 13:27).

 

The chronological reach of Old Testament revelation concerning a blessed dwelling place for the righteous extrends no further than the Messianic Kingdom, which is addressed at length and in many places, and which the New Testament informs us will be terminated after a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-6). Plain revelation about what will follow the Kingdom was reserved for the New Testament.

B. NEW TESTAMENT REVELATION: A WINDOW INTO HEAVEN

Two passages provide us with a vision of our future eternal glorious abode, a vision that God has lovingly blessed us with in the midst of the storms of this life that we may fight on for His glory. As it says of Yeshua in Hebrews 12:2, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. So may it be for us as we behold the joy set before us. Let us therefore rise above mere intellect and partake of the passages with reverence and joy!

The passages are Revelation 21:1-22:5 and Hebrews 12:22-24.

 

The Revelation passage opens our eyes to the New Heaven, the New Earth and the New Jerusalem, providing a broader vision than the Hebrews passage does. We will therefore read the Revelation passage first.

The apostle John is being shown visions of the future by the ascended Yeshua.

When John saw the Lord Yeshua sitting upon His throne in preparation for the White Throne Judgment, he wrote, Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them (Revelation 20:11).

This is poetic language, but not mere poetic language; for immediately after the sentences of the Judgment are carried out, he wrote, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away (21:1). Though expressed poetically, 20:11 describes the literal obliteration of our present created universe. That universe, so polluted by sin from the time of Adam until the end of the Millennium, upon which the Adamic curse presently resides in full force and which will retain elements of that curse even in the Kingdom, will be obliterated. 

 

2 Peter 3:10 also speaks of this: But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 

As God spoke the universe into existence out of nothingness, so He will return it into nothingness that it may be replaced by a perfect, wholly intact, holy and thoroughly blessed dwelling for the saved of all ages.

2. THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea (Revelation 21:1).

With the White Throne Judgment terminated, the sentences of the doomed carried out and with our present heavens and earth obliterated, God will create a new heaven and new earth. These are not to be confused with those spoken of in Isaiah 66:22, which refer to the repaired heaven and earth of the Millennial Kingdom after the judgments of the Tribulation. Nor should this newly created heaven be confused with the Heaven that God dwells in, which is uncreated and has existed from eternity past. The new heaven will be a newly created heaven, just as our atmosphere and all that is in the universe were created. Also, the newly created earth will be very different from the one we know. Whereas four-fifths of our present earth is covered by ocean, in the new earth . . . there is no longer any sea. Furthermore, it will likely be many times larger than our present earth, as we shall see.

3. THE NEW JERUSALEM

No sooner are we told of the creation of a new heaven and earth than we are told of the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband (21:2).

New Jerusalem, still in Heaven, must be where Yeshua is now preparing the many mansions (KJV) or dwelling places for those who love Him: In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:2); for as it says in Hebrews 12:23 above, the saints of all of earth's ages will dwell there.

a. Clearing Up Some Issues
Before we proceed further, it would be good to clear up some issues that have arisen.

1) Is New Jerusalem a Designation for the Church?
In 21:16-17, the New Jerusalem is described as having specific dimensions and as having a wall with specific dimensions - not symbolic dimensions, but dimensions according to human measurements. What this means is that we are to understand New Jerusalem as being a literal city. Therefore, New Jerusalem cannot be another name for the church. Another reason that New Jerusalem cannot be a designation for the church is because Hebrews 12:23 includes among its residents not only the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which refers the church, a term that the New Testament limits to believers from Pentecost to the Rapture, (2) but also the spirits of the righteous made perfect, which refers to the Old Testament saints (cf. Hebrews 11:39-40).

To clarify, New Jerusalem cannot be a designation for the church because:
1. we are to understand it as being a literal city, and
2. it contains many more believers than those that constitute the church.

Having said that, we need to address 22:9-10:

In and of itself, the passage appears to declare an identity between the bride, the wife of the Lamb and the holy city, Jerusalem; but is it actually doing that? After all, elsewhere in the New Testament, the church is referred to as a bride; and if the bride is called the holy city, Jerusalem here, doesn't that mean that New Jerusalem is really the church?

Revelation 21:2: And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. The verse uses bride as a simile for - not as the identity of - New Jerusalem - as a bride. If 22:9 uses the bride as a metaphor for - not as the identity of - the holy city, Jerusalem, it would be consistent with the use of a bride as a simile in 21:2, and would also fall in line with the two reasons shown above as to why New Jerusalem can't be the church. It is reasonable to say that bride in 22:7 is used as a metaphor for the city, not as the identity of it.

To clarify the distinction between a metaphor and an identity, consider Juliet's use of "a rose" as a metaphor for Romeo in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Did she mean that Romeo was a literal rose with ants crawling all over him and bees buzzing around his head? Of course, not. She used "rose" as a metaphor to convey the sweetness and beauty of her heartthrob. In the same way, the bride is used as a metaphor for the holy city, Jerusalem to convey its purity and beauty. Another thing to note is that although the bride is used elsewhere as a metaphor for the church, there is no reason that it cannot have a different meaning here. Scripture contains other metaphors that are used in more than one sense. In Psalm 66:12, water represents trouble; but in John 7:38, it represents spiritual life. In the same way, bride is used elsewhere as a metaphor for the church, but here it is used as a metaphor for the holy city, Jerusalem.

In addition to the bride being used as a metaphor for New Jerusalem, it may be used in a second sense here, as well, as metaphorical of all believers in the city, not just those in the church. An understanding of the sequence of events leading to an Israeli wedding at the time of the writing should shed light on this use of the bride, the wife of the Lamb here.

There were four stages in an Israeli wedding:

1. The marriage arrangement and paying of the bride price by the groom's father.
2. The escorting of the bride to the wedding (usually much later).
3. The wedding ceremony.
4. The wedding feast.

Scripture shows the church passing through all four stages, some of which contain more than one step. Eight steps are shown below. Scripture also shows that those believers who are not members of the church pass through most, but not all, of the eight stages.

They are:
1. The Marriage Arrangement
The pre-incarnate Son declares to His Father His willingness to be a sacrifice for sin:

Also Isaiah 42:5-7 and 49:5-6.

2. The Paying of the Bride Price by the Father of the Groom.

John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Luke 22:20: This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.

3. The Betrothal or Engagement of the Bride to Her Groom through Faith in Messiah.

In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul, who brought the Corinthians to faith Messiah, wrote, I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.

4. The Purification of the Bride.

In Ephesians 5:25-27, the saved, betrothed church is being purified by her future Husband in preparation for marriage to Him: that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.

5. The Escorting of the Bride to the Wedding.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, the betrothed bride is shown as being escorted to Heaven, her Groom's home, at the Rapture: and so we shall always be with the Lord, where the final purification of the Bride will take place (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).

6. The Wedding.

In Revelation 19:6-8, the purified bride and her Groom are married in Heaven prior to the Second Coming: Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.

7. The Wedding Feast.

The wedding feast will take place on earth after the Second Coming, probably the first event of the Millennium.
Revelation 19:9: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

8. Finally, in Revelation 21:9, the purified Bride of Messiah, now the married wife of YHWH, is shown to John in her heavenly home, the New Jerusalem: "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem. (3)

To review, the point of showing that all believers will eventually pass through this marriage sequence is that, in addition to the bride being used as a metaphor for New Jerusalem, it is also likely used as a metaphor for all believers in the city, not just for the church.

To summarize this section, New Jerusalem cannot be a designation for the church because:

1. we are to understand it as being a literal city, and
2. it contains many more believers than just those in the church.
3. Bride is a simile for New Jerusalem in 21:2.
4. The bride, the wife of the Lamb is a metaphor for New Jerusalem in 22:9-10.
5. The bride, the wife of the Lamb is likely also a metaphor for all believers of all ages present in New Jerusalem.

A comment by Dr. J. Vernon McGee on 21:9 may nail it on the head. (Ouch!): "Although a distinction between the bride and the city needs to be maintained, it is the intent of the writer to consider them together."

2) Is Mount Zion a Designation for the Church?
The passage in question is Hebrews 12:22: But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels . . . .

Mount Zion is a literal mountain or hill in Jerusalem. In the Tanach or Old Testament, which the writer of Hebrews was very familiar with (judging from the entire Book), Zion was a term that was used for all Israel (Jeremiah 31:12; Zechariah 9:13), Jerusalem itself (Isaiah 40:9), and the Temple in Jerusalem (Psalm 2:6; 48:2, 11–12; 132:13; Jeremiah 31:6). It would be consistent with that that the writer used Mount Zion in the same way in reference to the heavenly Jerusalem. Furthermore, in the passage, the city of the living God is equated with the heavenly Jerusalem, which also adds to the likelihood that Mount Zion is a third designation in the equation (the heavenly Jerusalem = the city of the living God = Mount Zion); and since New Jerusalem cannot be another name for the church, Mt. Zion, which is equated with it, cannot be a name for the church either.

This conclusion is supported by various translations. Here are three:

Wuest: But you have come to Mount Sion, even to the city of the living God;

The Literal Translation of the Holy Bible (LITV): But you have drawn near Mount Zion, even the city of the living God;

The Amplified Version (AMP): But rather, you have come to Mount Zion, even to the city of the living God;

Even if one may suppose that the writer is referring to a literal Mount Zion in the New Jerusalem, it cannot be a name for the church for the same reasons that New Jerusalem can't; nor does any use of Mount Zion elsewhere in Scripture point to its use as a name for the church.

b. New Jerusalem's Dimensions

Fifteen hundred miles long, wide and high can describe either a perfect cube or a four-sided pyramid; but if the city were a pyramid, as some speculate, surely the writer would have made it clear as that would be a most unusual shape for a city. In this regard, it is interesting to note that its closest earthly counterparts, the holy of holies in the tabernacle, and later the temple, were in the shape of a cube (Exodus 26:31-33; 1 Kings 6:20; 2 Chronicles 3:8).

The dimensions of New Jerusalem are not to be glossed over: fifteen hundred miles long, wide and high.

 

Fifteen hundred miles is the distance between Galveston, Texas on the Gulf of Mexico and the Canadian border, and between Washington DC and Denver, Colorado. At 1,500 miles squared it will cover an area of 2,250,000 square miles, three-quarters of the area of the forty-eight contiguous states of the United States, and 261 times the area of modern Israel. (4) In contrast, millennial Jerusalem will cover an area of just 100 square miles. (5)

How high is 1,500 miles? According to Space Today Online, "U.S. space shuttles . . . . usually fly at altitudes around 200 miles above Earth" (6) -  so New Jerusalem will be seven and a half times as high as space shuttles fly!

At a height of 1,500 miles, New Jerusalem will be six thousand times taller than the Empire State Building, the latter of which is a quarter of a mile high. If any semblance of proportion is to be presumed, New Earth may be thousands of times larger than our present earth.

The holy city is said to have walls, gates and streets.

According to 21:16, it walls will be seventy-two yards or two hundred and sixteen feet high, twenty-two storeys, which is less than one thirty-seven thousandth of the city's height. But what's the point of having walls? Not for security! 21:5 says, its gates will never be closed. In addition, the Triune God will be dwelling there as well as the entire host of holy angels, and they will be quite enough for security! Also, we, in a state of confirmed creaturely holiness, will be impervious to spiritual attack; and dwelling in immortal, invincible, glorified bodies, will be impervious to physical attack. Furthermore, nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it (21:7) because they'll be "a great gulf fixed" away in the Lake of Fire. So why the walls and gates? In addition to blessing the saints with their great beauty, they will be there to honor the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles.

c. Gates and Walls to Honor Israel and the Apostles

The gates will honor the twelve tribes of Israel through whom God brought forth His written Word and the Messiah. They will also honor the foundational work of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, who established the church and laid down New Testament doctrine in their declarations and writings.

d. God Will Be Its Temple

The Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb, who will fill the city with the glory of their Presence, will be the city's Temple, and we will abide in Them.

e. Nations and Kings Will Bring Their Glory Into It

24. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

When considering what nations the verse might be referring to, we must not think in terms of countries. All believers will dwell in New Jerusalem. The word for nations is ethnos, better translated as peoples. We believers, who will be gathered from every tribe and tongue and people and nation (Revelation 5:9) will be its nations or peoples.

What kings of the earth will bring their glory into it? We, the redeemed, will be its kings. 22:5 says of us, and they will reign forever and ever.

When will we bring our glory into New Jerusalem? The moment God escorts us into it after it settles upon the New Earth.

What glory we will bring into it? Daniel 12:3 says, Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

We must also note that we, who will reign as kings, will also be the Lamb's bond-servants who will serve Him (22:3), though we are not told in what capacity. Perhaps our service will be in the form of continual worship of Him akin to that of the seraphim and twenty-four elders of Revelation 4:7-11. What else could it be? Perhaps that question has an answer, but we can't tell what it is now.

f. A River of the Water of Life

That which is purely and fully life-giving will flow from the throne of God and of the Lamb, and that fruit which is purely and fully blessed for the sustenance of our eternal lives will proceed continually from the tree of life.

And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

 

Nearly every translation renders it for the healing of the nations or something similar; but how can we need healing if our spirits are already purged of the sin nature, our bodies are already glorified, and no trace of the curse or its effects will have any place there? Perhaps Wuest translates it best: And the leaves of the tree were for the health of the nations.