Don Smith
Introduction
There are many false doctrines amongst the religious world of Christendom about what the new Jerusalem of Revelation 21:2 is. Some believe it will be the central capital of heaven after the judgment. Others believe it is the city of the literal 144,000 spoken of in Revelation 7:4 and 14:3. Still others believe it will be a renovated Jerusalem here on this earth. Does the Bible teach any of these viewpoints? Let us look at this a little closer.
Various Positions
Mainstream denominational thought places the new Jerusalem after the final judgment. This is certainly due to their premillennial view of eschatology, as they find most of the aspects of the book of Revelation being fulfilled in the future. They believe it is a holy city which descends to a new earth that is a part of heaven. And thus, this holy city becomes that central capital of heaven. This seems like a nice thought and pulls together a few scriptures; however, it is erroneous to the core as will shortly be seen.
Among the cult groups of Christendom, there are varying views of what the new Jerusalem is. The Jehovah’s Witness organization believes the new Jerusalem to be of the realm of heaven, and it will contain exactly 144,000 inhabitants. How do they know if they are one of those 144,000? Apparently, it is based on a “feeling” one has, as there are many who claim they are certain they are not of the 144,000 because they do not have the exalted “feeling” associated with it. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses do not even want to be among the 144,000, expressing they would rather live on this earth, in its renewed state of course. This is quite a fantasy when compared with the scriptures!
Apparently, some brethren have espoused a renovated earth doctrine taken from a liberal denominationalist, Randy Alcorn. The doctrine is basically a warmed-over Jehovah’s Witness position on the “new heavens and a new earth” (2 Pet. 3:13). It is likely that these brethren who hold this position have many and varying ideas about what the new Jerusalem is; however, it is also likely that many of them follow the steps of their religious guru on this as well. The position, in essence, is that the new Jerusalem will be here on the “new” earth and is suspected to be filled only with Jews (likely our brethren would say Christian Jews). Either way, any of these positions will be found false when compared with what the Bible teaches, as we shall see next.
What Does the Bible Teach?
What does the Bible teach, then, that the new Jerusalem is? Let us consider the wording of Revelation 21:2: “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Notice this holy city comes from heaven, clearly indicating that its structure and laws originated there. It is “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”—very familiar words in relation to Christ and the church (Matt. 22:1-14; 25:1-13; Mark 2:18-20; Eph. 5:23-32, et al.). Since the church, its structure, and all its governing laws are of heavenly origin, and the church is certainly referred to as the bride of Christ throughout the New Testament, it can be safely deduced that the new Jerusalem is the church. However, Hebrews 12:22-23 directly states that the heavenly Jerusalem is the church. Let us read:
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 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…
Therefore, the Bible emphatically and absolutely teaches the new Jerusalem is the church, and this completely refutes all the aforementioned erroneous positions.
Conclusion
There are many more false doctrines out there on what the new Jerusalem is, just as there are on any Bible subject. We do not need to study all the multitudes of teachings of the world in order to know whether they are right or not. One only needs to study the Bible on any subject with an unbiased mindset, and the truth will be found. That truth will refute any and all false positions, just as was demonstrated here. The Bible does teach clearly what the new Jerusalem is.
