Thursday, August 4, 2011


Question 29 - New Jerusalem or Old Jerusalem
The following is something few Bible Scholars have carefully studied. Nowhere in the Book of Revelation does the word Jerusalem refer to Old Jerusalem. The Pondered Question here is not readily seen. If the Reader is a Pre-Trib Pastor, or a Pre-Trib Layman, you've taught that at the end of Christ's Millennial Kingdom, Satan will be loosed from his Bottomless Pit to recruit his Gog and Magog army from people who've been living on earth during the thousand years. You've been taught that when Satan gathers his army, they'll go up and surround Old Jerusalem in preparation for an attack. Pre-Trib says that God brings fire down from heaven and devours Satan and his Army as they encompass Old Jerusalem, and it is here that the Pondered Questions begin. If we compare the Bible account of this attack against Jerusalem, with John's prophetic view of what happens immediately after the Great White Throne Judgment, we discover too many similarities to ignore. In fact the accounts are identical, and thus the exact same event. If we insist that these are two separate events, confusion and Un-Answerable Questions arise. But if we understand these accounts as describing a single event, everything makes perfect sense and everything fits together perfectly. Let's look at each event that John wrote about. Pre-Trib says the "Beloved City" is Old Jerusalem, but John is clear that it is New Jerusalem.  

Satan Loosed
"And when the thousand years are expired (finished), Satan shall be loosed from his prison (Bottomless Pit), and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sands of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the Beloved City; and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the Devil that deceived them was cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, where the Beast and the False Prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Rev.20:7-10)! Now notice the very next event John records: "And I saw a Great White Throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the Books were opened; and another Book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books, according to their works" (Vss.11-12). Now let's notice that John saw all of the dead standing before the Great White Throne Judgment Seat, yet he has not yet told how they got from their graves to the Judgment. Let's continue, and he tells us. John is using a writing style that is found throughout the Bible. Often we see quick overviews or big pictures, then the Prophets fill in details: 

Second Resurrection and Great White Throne Judgment
"And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hell (hades)[the Graves] delivered up the dead that were in them; And they were Judged every man according to their works" (Vs.13)! It is important to notice that John described the dead being Judged before he described how they were resurrected so they could be Judged. Throughout this whole narrative, in fact throughout the entire Book of Revelation, John uses this method of giving the big picture, then filling in the details. Now let's continue, remembering that John has already described how Satan's Army surrounded the "Beloved City," and how "fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them" (Vs.9)! "And death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire! This is the second death! And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire" (Vss.14-15)! John told us about the "Beloved City  "New Jerusalem, Coming down from God out of Heaven" (Rev.21:2).

There are two ways to view John's vision. We can attempt to separate the events so that Satan and his army surround Old Jerusalem and God brings fire down from heaven and devours Satan and his Army, then immediately resurrects them, including Satan, and then God sets up the Great White Throne Judgment. The other way to view this is to leave all of the events John describes as being together. We suggest John saw things together, but used the common writing style of making a general, big picture, description, then going back to fill in the details. This is the method used by those painting a picture. They paint the setting, then paint the items in the picture. The following sequence fits John's Prophecies perfectly without compromising any details: 

New Jerusalem descends and settles here on Earth. At the same time, the wicked dead are resurrected. Also at the same time, those resurrected wicked give Satan a huge mass of people, "the number of whom is as the sands of the sea"(Rev.20:8).  Satan then deceives the wicked into believing that he and they can overtake New Jerusalem. Satan and the wicked surround New Jerusalem. But there's no battle, for suddenly God Almighty is seen on His Great White Throne. Judgment happens, and of course the wicked are found guilty. When the Judgment is finished, every wicked person, Satan, his wicked Angels, and all of the Redeemed inside New Jerusalem, bow their knees and confess that Jesus is Lord!  Then God does the thing He has dreaded forever backwards, and the thing that will cause His heart to hurt forever in the future. He "Brings fire down from heaven that devours them" (Vs.9). This fire is the, "Lake of Fire and Brimstone" (Vss.10,14,15), and it devours the Wicked, the Demons, and finally Satan himself. Afterwards this fire completely purifies earth and finally burns out. Then, upon these "Ashes" (Mal.4:1-3) Jesus then "Creates a New Heaven and a New Earth, in which dwelleth righteousness" (2Pet.3:13). 

"Outside the City"
Some who oppose what we have described here might object by saying John makes no mention of New Jerusalem ever being surrounded by the unsaved wicked. He does absolutely. Note the following:  "Blessed are they that keep His Commandments, that they may have right to the Tree of Live, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without (outside the City) are dogs and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie" (Rev.22:14-15)!  This vision from John should settle exactly that Old Jerusalem has nothing whatsoever to do with this prophecy.

"The Breadth of the Earth" "Sands of the Sea"
There are two statements in John's vision that do not prove absolutely which Jerusalem John referred to as the "Beloved City," but the words state clearly that the City was very, very large. John describes New Jerusalem as a City 1364 miles across (square) and 1364 miles in height. We'll look at this in a moment. Let's quickly note what John said about the Breadth of the Earth:  "And (Satan) shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sands of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the Beloved City;" There are hints here telling us that this Army of Satan was surrounding a City much, much larger than Old Jerusalem. If the army is compared to the Sands of the Sea and when it surrounds the Beloved City, it is said to be upon the Breadth of the earth, which implies a very large area. If we compare Ezekiel's version of this same event, we may know almost exactly the dimensions of New Jerusalem. More on this in a moment.

Sinners and Mortals in God's Kingdom
There is a Bible fact that enters into this discussion that CANNOT be ignored. Pre-Trib says Old Jerusalem is the city surrounded, and Pre-Trib says there'll be a Millennial Kingdom with sinners and mortals in it. A Pondered Question arises when we discover that Jesus and Paul made it absolutely and abundantly clear  that there'll be NO Sinners or Mortals in Christ's Kingdom, EVER! If Jesus and Paul declared this, certainly John is NOT prophesying anything here about Old Jerusalem. For more Bible information about New Jerusalem, see "New Jerusalem's Size and Location." Also for more about Gog and Magog, see our Blogsite, "Gog and Magog."
 
  New Jerusalem - 1364 Miles Across
John said it is 1364 miles side to side and top to bottom. Ezekiel wrote about Gog and Magog, but he also mentioned 7 other Nations. Meshech, Persia (Iran), Tubal, Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer, and Togarmah. All of these 8 countries were located in a circle about 700 miles from Jerusalem. Thus, if New Jerusalem sets down in the, "Great Valley" created when Jesus stands on the, "Mount of Olives" (see Zech.14:4), the walls of that City will set perfectly onto the 8 Nations Ezekiel wrote about! If we accept everything Ezekiel and John saw, New Jerusalem in this prophecy makes perfect sense and fits into the prophecy like a glove. For more Bible study on this, see "New Jerusalem's Size and Location." Also for more about Gog and Magog, see "Gog and Magog."

Why is this important?
If Old Jerusalem, with mortals living in it, is really the, "Beloved City" John saw in his vision, the Un-Answered and Un-Answerable Questions are too many to comprehend. We have covered some in this Blogsite, but following is question everyone must Ponder carefully: 

We know that our planet earth will be utterly destroyed by fire at the end of the Millennium (2Pet.3:10). Not only is the Bible very clear about this, if the Reader is a Pre-Trib Pastor, you know that the Scofield Study Bible's footnote under 2 Peter 3:10 clearly says exactly this will done. Does it make any sense that, for a thousand years, Jesus would set up His Kingdom in Old Jerusalem, have the Jews transform Old Jerusalem into the headquarters for a planet that, during that thousand years, has become Paradise, only to completely destroy the Beloved City as well as all of His Millennial Kingdom (Paradise) with a massive fire?  If something makes no sense whatsoever, shouldn't we at least study about it and pray about it?

Thank You, Pastor, for your time and interest. Please consider what we have presented here. A lot is at stake. No doubt you want to present only truth to your Congregation. We will be praying for you that the Holy Spirit will be your only guide as you carry out your service to the Lord. Please leave you comments and thoughts on this subject. Let's continue Praying for God to send His Spirit to help us prepare for Christ's Coming!!
Yours in Christ
Walter C. Martin Jr.
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Check Our Other Websites:

Pre-Tribulation Rapture
Post-Tribulation Second Coming of Jesus
Will We Eat Pigs During the Millennium?

Planet Earth WILL be Destroyed After the 1000 Years!
New Jerusalem - How BIG is It?
Great White Throne Judgment Seat - When and Where
Christ's Kingdom - Millennial or EVERLASTING?

 Hell Fire
Is God Torturing People Now
Did Jesus Suffer ALL of Your Hell?
The Rich Man and Lazarus?
Death
The Dead - Dead or Alive - What is Death?
Did Jesus Die YOUR Death for You?
Will Satan Ever Die - Bible Says "YES!"
Testing Our Doctrine About Death
The Dead Stand Before Great White Throne Judgment Seat

 The Gnostics Attack the Sabbath
Were Gnostics Really Christian?
Were Gnostics Satan's Implants into the Church?
Is Gnosticism Alive and Well in Today's Churches
Church is Israel - Israel is Church
Is the Church Israel and Israel the Church?
Is the Bride of Jesus the 144 Thousand?
Did Jesus Offer the Jews a Millennial Kingdom in His Ministry?
Will New Jerusalem Sit in Israel? How Big is It?
Christ's REAL EVERLASTING Kingdom is for ALL Believers!

The Sabbath
Is it a Sin to Observe the Sabbath?
Is There a Connection Between the Rapture and the Sabbath?
Will the Sabbath Be Observed By God's People During the Tribulation?
Who REALLY Changed the Sabbath in Early Christianity?
Un-Answered and Un-Answerable Sabbath Questions For Popular Preachers
How to Test Your Doctrine Concerning the Sabbath

Heaven
Marriage in Heaven - Millennial Kingdom?
Strange Animal/Demons the Millennium?
Why Jesus Hasn't Come to Take Us To Heaven?
Teachers of Anomia (Law Annulling)
Good Ministers Teaching Against God's 10 Commandments?
Teaching of Anomia - The Reason Jesus Hasn't Come Yet?
Pre-Trib Rapture and Sabbath
Pre-Trib Rapture and the Sabbath?

Walter C. Martin Jr.
Everlasting Gospel Ministries

These are just a few of the questions we examine in our Websites.
Thank you, Dear Reader,  for checking them. Please feel free to give us your comments and feedback if you look at our Sites.  If you send us your questions or comments, we will try to answer and add your question to these Websites. We will Not give your name or E-Mail address to ANY ONE or ANY Church Group or Denomination! Nor will we send you ANY annoying E-Mails!! It is NOT our purpose to get you to withdraw from your present Church, but to invite you to present things you learn here to your Pastor and Friends.
Let's pray that God will continue sending His Holy Spirit to guide as we prepare for Jesus to come. Thank You!
Your Brother in Christ!
Walter C. Martin Jr

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