Chapter 4
Jerusalem and the Temple—Capital
City of the World, Headquarters Church of the World
1. The
Jerusalem of the Millennium: A New Home and a New Job for the Saints,
the Resurrected Immortal Christians, Ruling with Jesus Christ: Let us
paint a Scriptural picture of the Jerusalem that will be built
just after the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. Revelation
3:11-12, “Behold I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast,
that no man take thy crown. Him
that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and
he shall no more go out: and I will write upon him the name 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.”
At the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ, Jesus will cause a massive
earthquake. Let’s look at
the magnitude of that earthquake, so we can properly understand what
work it will perform in and around Jerusalem. Revelation
16:17-21,
“And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came
a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It
is done. And there were voices,
and thunders, and lightning’s; and there was a great earthquake, such
as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and
so great. And the great city was
divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came into remembrance before
God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And
every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And
there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the
weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the
hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.”
The Mount of Olives is not in Jerusalem proper, it is in East Jerusalem,
across the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem, facing the Temple Mount
and what is now the Dome of the Rock. This
would have been just northeast of the Old City of Jerusalem in Christ’s
day. Let us see what happens
to the Mount of Olives at Jesus Christ’s 2nd coming. Zechariah 14:1-4, “Behold, the day of the Lord
cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem
to battle; and the city shall be taken [militarily], and the houses
rifled and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth
into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off
from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against
those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the
Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount
shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the
west [i.e. cleavage line running east and west], and there shall
be a very great valley; and half the mountain shall remove toward
the north, and half of it toward the south.”
Next let us analyze the effect this massive earthquake has on Jerusalem
and its’ surrounding countryside. Advance
to verses 9-10 of Zechariah 14. It
says that Jerusalem is turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon. Where is Geba? Answer: Geba is six miles north of Jerusalem. Geba
is modern Al Geba. Next question. Where is Rimmon? Answer: Rimmon is about thirty-five miles south
of Jerusalem! Let’s add the
Scriptures together. The great
earthquake divides the Mount of Olives in half, with half of the
mountain removing to the north, half to the south…creating a vast
level plain, verse 10, from Geba to Rimmon. Let’s
get the picture. Jerusalem
is sitting on top of a mountain chain that stretches north for about
forty miles and south forty miles. This
new Jerusalem of the Millennium will set up on a vast forty-mile-long
plain created by this massive earthquake. This
plain will stretch from six miles north of present day Jerusalem
(Al Geba) to about thirty-five miles south of present-day Jerusalem
(Rimmon). It will be about
ten miles wide. Zechariah
14:9-10, “And the Lord will be king over all the earth: in that day
shall there be one Lord, and his name one. All the land shall be turned as a plain from
Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and
inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the
First gate, unto the Corner gate, and from the Tower of Hananeel
unto the king’s winepresses.” [Living Bible: “All the land from Geba (northern
border of Judah) to Rimmon (the southern border) will become one
vast plain…”
King James Version: “…And it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her
place…] So the foundation for
the future city of Jerusalem will be on a forty-mile-long by ten-mile-wide
plain which sits on top of a mountain range. As
Jerusalem is rebuilt, it will take up the entire area of this plain. What kind of city can we expect to see rebuilt?
Most of the streets and roads in Jerusalem are crooked, many of them
dating back thousands of years to the time of Abraham and Melchizedek. Isaiah 40:4-5 states, “Every valley shall be
exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the glory
of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” The
statement
“and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed” could very well be referring
to people being able to see Jesus Christ in some of his brilliance, at
a safe distance of course. The
following Scriptures prove this may be so. Isaiah
2:2-4, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain
of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains,
and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto
it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye,
and let us go up to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach
us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall
go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And
he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they
shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks:
nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn
war any more.” The resurrected
immortal saints will be glowing, lighting up Jerusalem by night. Isaiah 4:4-6, “When the Lord shall have washed
away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood
of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by
the spirit of burning. And the
Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her
assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire
by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defense [defense: “a covering”].” Zechariah 14:7-8, “But is shall be one day
which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come
to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. And
it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem;
half of them toward the former sea [eastern, or Dead Sea], and half of
them toward the hinter sea [i.e. the Mediterranean Sea]: in summer and in winter shall it be.” Why will it be light at evening time and all
through the night? Because we
will be glowing! [cf. Daniel 12:1-3.] Jerusalem from a distance will be seen as a
massive glowing light in the evening and all through the night. Picture it, a city built upon a forty-mile-long
plain which has been supernaturally smoothed out on top of a mountain
chain, glowing in the dark, and covered by a smoking cloud in the daytime,
much as the tabernacle was in Moses day.
What about these “living waters” that verse 8 of Zechariah 14 describes? The
living waters (verse 8) will become two great rivers, one flowing
east into the Dead Sea, transforming it into a great inland sea from
south of Petra and the Negev to just north of what used to be Lake
Hula, north of Lake Galilee. All the land in the Jordan River valley that
is below sea level will be flooded and turned into part of this inland
sea as this massive new influx of fresh pure water adds its volume
to that of the Jordan River [which is over a million gallons a day
itself]. The other river flowing out from under the
Temple of God will flow east into the Mediterranean Sea, healing
those waters. Let’s read about
it. Ezekiel 47:1-12, “Afterward he brought me again
unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under
the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house
stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the
right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. Then
he brought me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about
the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward;
and behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And
then the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he
measured a thousand cubits [about 1500 feet], and he brought me through
the waters; the waters were to the ancles [KJV spelling for “ankles”]. Again
he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters
were to the knees. Again he
measured a thousand, and brought me through; and the waters were
to the loins. Afterward he
measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over:
for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could
not be passed over. And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou
seen this? Then he brought
me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now
when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many
trees on the one side and on the other. Then
he said unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country,
and go down into the desert, and go into the sea [, the Dead Sea,
and then ultimately the Red Sea]: which being brought forth into
the sea, the waters shall be healed. And
it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth,
withersoever the rivers [margin, Hebrew: “two rivers”] shall come,
shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because
these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every
thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers
shall stand upon it from Engedi, even unto Eneglaim; they shall be
a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their
kinds, as the fish of the great sea [the Mediterranean Sea], exceeding
many. But the miry places thereof and the marishes
thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. And by the river upon the bank thereof, on
this side and that side, shall grow trees for meat, whose leaf shall
not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed [probably means, ‘used
up’]: it shall bring forth new [principal] fruit according to his
months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and
the fruit thereof shall be for meat [consumption, eating], and the
leaf for medicine.” Isaiah 35:1-2, “The wilderness and the solitary
place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom
as the rose. It shall blossom
abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon
shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon they
shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.” Isaiah
33:20, “Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall
see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be
taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed,
neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.” Zechariah
14:14, “And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem and the wealth of
all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, silver,
and apparel, in great abundance.”
The Wealth of the Nations Flows
into Jerusalem
Isaiah 60:9-14, 17-22, “Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships
of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from afar, their silver and
gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy
One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. And
the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall
minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour
have I had mercy on thee. Therefore
thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day or
night that men may bring unto thee the wealth of the Gentiles, and
that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve
thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee,
the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the
place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted thee
shall come bending unto thee; and they shall call thee, The city
of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel…For brass will I bring
gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for
stones, iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors
righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,
wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call they
walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more
thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light
unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light,
and thy God thy glory. The sun shall no more go down; neither shall
the moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting
light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they
shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work
of my hands, that I may be glorified. A
little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation:
I the Lord will hasten it in his time.” That
was a prophecy about Jerusalem after the 2nd coming of
Jesus Christ, Yeshua haMeshiach. It
gives an indication of why it will glow at night. Immortal
beings tend to do that, as the Bible indicates.
Psalm 24:3-6, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;
who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord,
and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is a generation of them that seek him,
that seek thy face, O God of Jacob.” Here’s
a description for you out
of Isaiah. Isaiah 33:14-15,
17, “The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the
hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring
fire? Who among us shall dwell
with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth
the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes,
that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes
from seeing evil…Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they
shall behold the land that is very far off.” Everlasting
burnings? Devouring fire? Looks like another reference to the glorified
Jesus Christ, and perhaps the glorified saints as well. Look at what God prophecied through Daniel
about us, as glorified, resurrected immortal beings. Daniel 12:1-3, “And many of them that sleep
in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and
some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise [margin: teachers] shall shine as the brightness
of the firmament [heavens]; and they that turn many to righteousness
as the stars for ever and ever.” Revelation 1:13-18, “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like
the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt
about the pap’s with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs
were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame
of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in
a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword: and
his countenance was as the sun shineth. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And
he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the
first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold,
I am alive evermore…” That’s
Jesus Christ, and probably how he and we will look at the time of
his 2nd coming.
Isaiah 52:7-12, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good
tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good,
that publisheth salvation [that’s us folks, whether we evangelize
directly or support major evangelistic organizations with portions
of our tithes and our offerings—that’s us!]; that saith unto Zion,
Thy God reigneth! Thy watchmen shall lift up the
voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall
see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Break
forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the
eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God. Depart
ye, depart ye, go ye out from hence, touch no unclean thing; go
ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, [ye] that bear the vessels
of the Lord. For ye shall
not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before
you; and the God of Israel will be your reward.”
This will be OUR new home! No wonder
Abraham kept this picture, this goal ahead of him, in his mind’s
eye, instead of being mindful of what he might have been able to
have then and there. Hebrews
11:8-10, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place
which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he
went out, not knowing whither he went. By
faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country: FOR HE LOOKED FOR A CITY WHICH HATH FOUNDATIONS
WHOSE BUILDER AND MAKER IS GOD.”
Ezekiel
40-48 gives a description of the Temple measurements, gates, tables,
chambers, chambers for the priests etc.—borders of the land, portions
of the tribes. Also read Exodus 25-30 for a description of
the original tabernacle and its furnishings. These
things are a shadow picture of our new place of employment as we
reign with Jesus Christ over the whole world—bringing Salvation to
the entire world!
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