Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins (Isaiah
40:2).
With all our focus on the New Jerusalem, home of the
Church, we sometimes forget there will still be an “old” Jerusalem here on
Earth during the Millennium.
Paul was the first to make reference to both cities
when he said the current Jerusalem is symbolic of the Old Covenant, but the
Jerusalem that's above symbolizes the New Covenant (Galatians 4:24-26).
I think it's also the first mention of the New Jerusalem being above
the Earth, not on it.
I've written about the New Jerusalem several times, how
it will be the exclusive home of the redeemed Church.
At about 1400 miles tall, wide, and deep it will be much too big to
fit on Earth. In fact, it will
be almost 2/3rds the size of the moon.
Put in a different perspective, if the entire world population,
currently about 7,000,000,000 people, lived in one geographic location with
the population density of New York City, it would be a city the size of the
state of Texas. The way it's described in Rev. 21:16 leads many
people to believe the New Jerusalem is either a cube or pyramid shaped.
But if it was a sphere, like the moon, the New Jerusalem could easily
accommodate 22 cities this size on its surface area. That's 22 times
the total current population of Earth.
Don't let anyone tell you it's not big enough for the Church.
It won't require the light of the Sun or the Moon
because its light will come from the Glory of Lord.
It will never be night there, but will provide light for the Earth
during the Millennium (Rev. 21:23-25).
But the purpose of this article is to describe the
Jerusalem on Earth at the End of the Age.
In Zechariah 12:3 the Lord warned that He will make Jerusalem
an immovable rock for all the nations.
All who try to move it will injure themselves. Listen to what
follows.
“On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a
firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume
right and left all the surrounding peoples, but Jerusalem will remain intact
in her place” (Zechariah 12:6).
On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack
Jerusalem” (Zechariah 12:9).
Because Jerusalem isn't threatened in these verses, and
since Israel will consume the surrounding peoples, I think these verses will
find their fulfillment in the Psalm 83, Isaiah 17, and
Ezekiel 38 battles. If they
turn out the way we think, Israel will regain all it's Biblical lands and
will think they have no more border issues to deal with.
The land on which Ezekiel's battle will be fought is called the
mountains of Israel in Ezekiel 38:8.
Today we know this land as the Golan Heights, currently contested by
Syria and Lebanon/Hezbollah, and central Israel which is where the boundary
of the so-called West Bank meets Israel proper. To me this gives us a hint
that Ezekiel 38 may in part be an attempt by the Islamic attackers to
regain territory their brothers in arms will have lost in Psalm 83
and Isaiah 17.
Also, the burial ground mentioned in Ezekiel 39:11
and called the Valley of Hamon Gog in Ezekiel 39:15
is just outside of Jericho, the current Palestinian headquarters.
Ezekiel 39:11 says it will be part of Israel at the time of
this battle, giving us another hint that the Palestinian issue will be
resolved in Israel's favor before Ezekiel 38 begins.
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look
on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns
for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a
firstborn son (Zechariah 12:10).
According to Ezekiel 39:22 Israel will return to
the Lord after the battle of Ezekiel 38 for the last seven years of
the Old Covenant, which was interrupted some 2,000 years ago by the Church
Age. This period is also called
Daniel's 70th Week.
Toward the end of the Great Tribulation, which is the
last half of the 70th Week, the Lord will finally open Jewish
eyes that since the first Palm Sunday have been blinded to the fact that
Jesus has been their Messiah all along (Luke 19:41-45).
“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house
of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and
impurity” (Zechariah 13:1).
I think this will happen just before the Battle of
Armageddon when the remnant will be sequestered in Petra, which is its Greek
name. It's called Bozrah in
Isaiah 63:1-6.
Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his
garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward
in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to
save.”
Why are your garments red, like those of one
treading the winepress?
“I have trodden the winepress alone; from the
nations no one was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them down
in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my
clothing.
For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and
the year of my redemption has come. I looked, but there was no one to help,
I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm worked salvation for
me, and my own wrath sustained me. I trampled the nations in my anger; in my
wrath I made them drunk
and poured their blood on the ground.”
Having defeated the armies who will attack His people
in Petra, the Lord will turn toward Jerusalem for the final showdown.
Let's go back to the prophecy of
Zechariah to see how that unfolds.
A day
of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided among you. I will
gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be
captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will
go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city
(Zech 14:1-2).
As the battle for Planet Earth begins, the armies of
the anti-Christ will attack and this time will control the Holy City for a
little while. It will be a
terrible time for those who didn't heed the Lord's earlier warning to flee
into the desert (Matt. 24:15-18). Their belongings will be taken from
them and distributed to their enemies right before their eyes and half the
city's population will flee from the invaders.
Then
the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the
day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east
of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to
west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and
half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend
to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah
king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with
him. (Zech
14:3-5)
When it looks as if all is lost, the Lord will
descend to the Mount of Olives, to the very place He departed from nearly
2000 years ago just as Acts 1:10-11 foretold. As He does, an
earthquake will cause the Mount of Olives to split in half forming a deep
valley that extends to the Mediterranean in the west and to the Dead Sea in
the east. It will run straight
through the current Temple Mount, which is due west of the Mt. Of Olives.
The Temple Mount along with the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa
Mosque will disappear into a pile of rubble at the bottom of this valley.
The Lord's return will cause the immediate defeat of
His enemies, after which He'll make His triumphal entry into the city
followed by His legions of Holy Warriors.
On that
day there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a unique day,
without daytime or nighttime—a day known to the LORD. When evening comes,
there will be light. On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem,
half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in
winter. The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will
be one LORD, and his name the only name.(Zech,
14:6-9)
From Matt. 24:29 we know that immediately
after the Great Tribulation the Sun and Moon will go dark.
Normally, temperatures would begin dropping immediately and the world
would soon become unbearably cold. But in the passage above we see that
although it will be totally dark, there will be no
such temperature drop during the time when the world awaits the
Lord's return because He'll maintain the Earth's temperature.
At the end of the day of His return, there will be light, probably
because of the New Jerusalem descending down out of Heaven to take its place
in the vicinity of Earth (Rev. 21:2).
Remember, during
the Millennium Earth's light will come from the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:24
).
By connecting
Ezekiel 47-48 to Zechariah 14:6-9, a growing
number of scholars have come to believe that the next Temple will be built
just north of Jerusalem in Shiloh, and not on the current Temple Mount.
In his vision, Ezekiel saw a great river flowing from beneath the
south side of the Temple and Zechariah shows it doing so on the day of the
Lord's return, meaning the Temple will already be in place.
Since the earthquake will have destroyed the current Temple Mount
earlier in the same day, we can see why this Northern location makes sense.
When the cascading water reaches the newly created valley, half will flow
east into the Dead Sea and half will flow west into the Mediterranean,
drowning the rubble from the current Temple mount beneath its crystal
depths.
This will also be the day of fulfillment for
Philippians 2:9-11;
Therefore God exalted him to
the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under
the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father.
But that's not all.
Psalms 2 and
110 will also be fulfilled along with a host of other
prophecies, as the Messiah-King takes possession of that which He's paid
for, Planet Earth. In the process the topography of the land surrounding
Jerusalem will be forever changed.
The
whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the
Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up and remain in its place, from the
Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from
the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. It will be inhabited; never
again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.(Zech. 14:10-11)
The Arabah contains the Jordan River valley and the
Dead Sea and continues to the Red Sea. It's the lowest place on Earth, over
1300 feet below sea level at the Dead Sea. The area south of Jerusalem will
be lowered to match it, while the city itself will be elevated.
And finally, for the first time in thousands of years, it will be
secure, a City of Peace at last.
Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations.
(Joel 3:20)
But Wait, There's More
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for
Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out
like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your
righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.
You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD’s hand, a royal diadem in
the hand of your God. (Isaiah 62:1-3)
About 150 years after Isaiah wrote these words, the
Lord revealed Jerusalem's new name to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 48 describes how the
Promised Land will be divided among the tribes in the Millennium and
includes the allocation for the Temple and the Holy City.
In the very last sentence of the last verse in the book, the Lord had
Ezekiel write;
And the name of the city from that time on will be:
THE LORD IS THERE (Ezekiel
48:35)
You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.
02-11-12
