Bereansearching Bible Studies

The New Jerusalem?

Many have been taught that when Jesus returns He will establish a literal New Jerusalem in the present city of Jerusalem, and that God will permit the establishment of a third temple on the site now occupied by the Islamic Dome of the Rock, with animal sacrifices (including “red heifers”) restored. What does the Bible have to say?

This Creation Ends at Christ’s Return on the Last Day/Judgement Day

Judgment Day is the last event of history. The Lord Jesus Christ will return in the clouds of glory, judge the world, and bring this creation, which is under the curse of sin and death, to an end. A new heavens and a new earth will follow, in which righteousness dwells forever. Peter writes that the present heavens and earth are “reserved unto fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men.” (2 Peter 3:7). “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” (2 Peter 3:10). “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (2 Peter 3:13). That promise is not an isolated statement:

• Isaiah 66:22, “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.” (Remembering what we read in Galatians 3:29, “And if ye [be] Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.“)
• Isaiah 65:17, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.”
• Revelation 21:1, “¶And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.“

The timing is given in Matthew 24:29-31, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

The New Jerusalem Is Not an Earthly City

In the very next verse we read, “and I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”  Later, at the end of verse 9-10, one of the seven angels says, ” Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and shewed me that great city, holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.”  The city is the bride: the body of true believers, the eternal church. Revelation 3:12 makes the same identification “…the city of my God, [which is] new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God:“. Galatians 4:25&26 contrast the earthly Jerusalem and her children (the Jews of national Israel, described as being in bondage to the works of the law) with the heavenly spiritual “Jerusalem which is above is free (through the grace of God), which is the mother of us all.” (Meaning all true believing Christians.)

Other passages point to the same Heavenly City:

• Abraham “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker [is] God.” (Hebrews 11:10), and the faithful desire “a better [country], that is, an heavenly:” for which “he hath prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:16,).
• Believers “are come unto Mount Si-on and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,” and “to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,” (Hebrews 12:22-23).
• Isaiah 62:11&12, “Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward [is] with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.“

The Temple of God Is a Spiritual House

The same is true for the true Temple of God now, it is entirely spiritual. The Church is God’s Temple in this temporal age; in the new creation there is no separate temple, because God and the Lamb are its temple, and one with the body of believers.

The last earthly temple, located in Jerusalem, was destroyed in AD 70.

Its earthly role, where God accepted sacrifices, ended when Jesus died in AD 33 and the veil was ripped by God from top to bottom. The Dome of the Rock later stood on the site. Anyone, for any reason, can build a temple and claim that it is a temple of God, but the true eternal Temple of God is not made with man’s hands. It is composed of believers, the same people who make up the New Jerusalem.

Peter says believers are likened to “living stones” and, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5).

Paul is explicit in 1 Corinthians 3:16&17, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are.” In the King James Version, “ye” is plural and “you” is singular: the believers together are the temple, and the Spirit dwells in each believer. The same point appears in 2 Corinthians 6:16, we read, “…Ye (plural) are the temple of the living God; as God hath said (see Ezekiel 37:26 &27), I will dwell in them (plural), and walk in [them]; and I will be their (plural) God, and they (plural) shall be my people (plural).”

The believers are also not only the “lively stones” (plural) that form the Temple of God, but are also “co-builders” of that wall with Jesus Christ, as we are informed in 1 Corinthians 3:9-11. “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, [ye are] God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Note how this is also consistent with the last words of Nehemiah 2:16…as “the rest that did the work” is historically referring to those co-laborers with Nehemiah in building the earthly wall of the physical Jerusalem, who spiritually represent the believers with Jesus Christ in building the eternal church encompassing the New Jerusalem. Work built on that foundation is tested by fire. What is gold, silver, and precious stones endures; wood, hay, and stubble are burned (1 Corinthians 3:12-17). The enduring materials picture the elect; the combustible materials picture those who attach themselves to the outward church, but are not part of it. Please also see this post: 1 Corinthians 3:12: Building with “Gold, Silver, Precious Stones” & “Wood, Hay, Stubble”?

The True Holy Temple of God is a “spiritual” structure, that is not built with man’s hands, and is made up of true believing Christians (described as “pillars” and “lively stones” in the Temple) coincident with the new Jerusalem with God in Heaven.  Revelation 3:12, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, [which is] new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and [I will write upon him] my new name.“

Note also the harmony with Psalm 144:12, “That our sons [may be] as plants grown up in their youth; [that] our daughters [may be] as corner stones, polished [after] the similitude of a palace:“

In Isaiah 54:11, God tells His elect people, the true Jerusalem, His wife, “O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, [and] not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.“

So that there can be absolutely no doubt that the holy temple of God could never, ever, again be defined by “physical” stones and mortar (whether in Jerusalem or anywhere else for that matter), we read in Ephesians 2:19-22 of the “spiritual” stones in the “spiritual” Temple, which was established at the beginning of the New Testament and continues in building to the present: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God: And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone: In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

Moreover, to make clear that any future reconstructed temple and a renewal of animal sacrifices could never have any efficacy with God, we read in Hebrews 10:11&12, “¶And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man (Jesus), after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;“. Note: Jesus is both the High Priest of God (after the order of Melchizedek), and the Sacrifice as the Lamb of God.

God “dwelleth not in temples made with hands”

Note the harmony showing the difference between an earthly, temporal abode and an eternal heavenly abode as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:1&2, “For we know that if our earthly house of [this] tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:“

Hebrews 8:1&2 “¶ Now of the things which we have spoken [this is] the sum:We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Jesus is our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek Psalm 110:4.

Acts 7:48-50, “¶Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven [is] my throne, and earth [is] my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what [is] the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?“

Acts 17:24 “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;“

Jesus is the Chief (Head) Corner Stone of the Temple of God

Scripture repeatedly identifies the rejected stone with the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is identified as “the chief cornerstone“, “precious” to those who believe, and “a stone of stumbling” and “rock of offence” to the disobedient unbelievers:

• Psalm 118:22,”The stone [which] the builders refused is become the head[stone] of the corner.”
• Isaiah 8:14, “And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”
• Isaiah 28:16, “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner[stone], a sure foundation:…”

In the New Testament several verses hearken back directly to the above Old Testament prophecies (Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10&11, Luke 20:17, and Acts 4:11). Other verses that reinforce this point include:

• Romans 9:33, “As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.“
• 1 Peter 2:4, “¶To whom coming, [as unto] a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, [and] precious,” followed by 1 Peter 2:6-8, “Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. ¶Unto you therefore which believe [he is] precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, [even to them] which stumble at the word, being disobedient:whereunto also they were appointed.“

The repeated word “lay” is worth noticing. God said in Isaiah 28:16 that He “lay” in Zion the “precious cornerstone“. We should therefore all be mindful of the fact Joseph of Arimathea had “laid” Jesus’ body in the new tomb (during the 3 day and 3 night Atonement) as we read in Matthew 27:59&60, “And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.” Moreover, in 1 John 3:16, we read that Jesus laid down His Life for us (as we must similarly be willing to die for the brethren’s sake), “Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren.“

The Earthly Temple Was a Figure, and Its Role Ended at the Cross

Hebrews chapter 9 teaches that the earthly sanctuary was a pattern of the true one. Jesus Christ (as the ultimate High Priest) entered “a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:11–12). “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, [which are] the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:” (Hebrews 9:24). “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (Hebrews 9:28 ).

At the moment of Jesus’ death, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, and Luke 23:45). The Holiest of all, formerly hidden and entered by the high priest only once a year, was exposed. The figure had been fulfilled: Jesus was both the sacrificial Lamb and the High Priest who offered the Atoning Blood. The function of the earthly temple was finished.

NOTE: We have no indication whether or not the Jewish high priest (Caiaphas) made any effort to repair the torn veil so that he, and the other Jewish high priests that followed him, could have attempted to continue the yearly atonement sacrificial rite until the physical temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. Any later attempt to continue those rites, or to rebuild a temple and restore physical sacrifices, would have no place in God’s Plan of Salvation. Such actions would have only been an abomination in God’s sight (because by carrying out those rites, the Jews were continuing to deny that Jesus Christ had come to fulfill the law of sacrifice, which had all along been the sole focal point of the blood sacrifices that were carried out in the temple before Christ died). Isaiah 66:1-4 asks, where is the house that men would build for God?, then says that one who kills an ox is as if he slew a man, and that such worship is an abomination when it rejects God’s Word. That is the most likely reason God allowed the temple to be destroyed a final time in AD 70, and later allowed the Dome of the Rock to occupy the site on Mount Moriah. National Israel’s political control of Jerusalem since 1967 has not changed that.

Amos 9:11&12 and Acts 15:15-17 speak of raising again the fallen tabernacle of David so that the residue of men and the Gentiles might seek the Lord. In Acts, the Apostle James applies that promise to the inclusion of the Gentiles with the Jews, and not to a future building of stone.

Conclusion: God and the Lamb are the Temple, One with, and Surrounded by, the New Jerusalem (the Body of Believers)

So that there can be no doubt whatsoever regarding the future of the Holy Temple of God, we read in Revelation 21:10-21 beginning where John says, “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,” John then says in Revelation 21:22, “¶And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” Earlier visions likewise place the “temple in heaven” (Revelation 14:17; 15:5), not in a physical city rebuilt by men. The earthly temple in Jerusalem pointed to Christ and to the people joined to Him, but its role ceased at the cross. The only Holy Temple that God will build, and is now building, is the Church, and in the new creation God Himself and the Lamb will be One with it.

God makes this clear to us from these words which Jesus prayed to The Father in John 17:21-23, “That they (the believers) all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.“

Other Verses to Ponder:

Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.“

Psalm 27:4 “One [thing] have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” (and also note that “beauty” is “noam” in the original Hebrew…and that a careful study of Judges 4&5 tells us that “Beauty” is an unequivocal reference to Jesus Christ!)

Psalm 48:1-14, “¶[[A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah.]] Great [is] the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, [in] the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, [is] mount Zion, [on] the sides of the north, the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge. For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. They saw [it], and so they marvelled; they were troubled, [and] hasted away. Fear took hold upon them there, [and] pain, as of a woman in travail. Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it forever. Selah. We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. According to thy name, O God, so [is] thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness. Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments. Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God [is] our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide [even] unto death.“

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