Three Jerusalems

Pre-Millennial Jerusalem
Millennial Jerusalem
The New Jerusalem

To describe these, my reasoning requires that I go in reverse order.  I have listed these in chronological order, in which the present Jerusalem is pre-millennial, and the furthest into the future is New Jerusalem.  However, I will start with the furthest into the future, the New Jerusalem, because it will explain the existence of both prior Jerusalems, and that will help us to understand what God is doing today.

The New Jerusalem: In a word, this is heaven.  In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, in which future events are predicted, God tells us that there will be a new Heaven, a new Earth and a new Jerusalem.  To reinforce this, in the prophet Isaiah, God already spoke of new heavens and a new earth (Isaiah 66:22).  So what is the new Heaven, new Earth, new Jerusalem?  I don't know.  But what is clear, it will be new.  It will be totally different than the earth today.  The heavens will be totally different.  And the city itself will be unlike anything we have ever seen.  It is for that reason that I have no idea what it will be like.  I do know that the dimensions of the city have it being huge.  As wide as it is long, and as high as it is wide, it is either a cube or a pyramid, and its base is over half the size of the lower 48 States.  Consider, that is a city, not a country, the size of a large country, which would reach into space if it were located on this earth.  So I think its very fitting, if there's going to be a new heavenly city of that size, there must be a new earth.  If that city were on this earth, it would be very disproportional (the mass of it would distort the earth's rotation).  I am speaking speculatively, and I have no idea what I'm talking about, but it seems to me that the new earth would have to be at least 100 times larger than the present earth just to accommodate such a city.  The thing is, I have no idea if the language in Revelation is even talking about physical size.  It may be talking about something entirely different.  This should be enough to have you awe-struck like I am.  I would assume, as much as I have already assumed, that the size of the city would only be eclipsed by the glory of the city.  God Himself, in His heavenly glory, will reign inside the city.  I would guess the reason we do not have more detail than this in the book of Revelation is given to the fact that human words cannot do it justice.

Millennial Jerusalem: We should ask ourselves, why is there a New Jerusalem?  Why Jerusalem?  It is because of precedent.  It is because God, from that point in the future (or eternity), has already established Jerusalem.  The New Jerusalem is not the Millennial Jerusalem, but it is called "New Jerusalem", and not another name, because of the Millennial Jerusalem, the Pre-Millennial Jerusalem, and the Jerusalem where both of the ancient temples were built.  It is called "New Jerusalem" because the saints have already been familiar with Jerusalem.  Maybe you are not familiar with Jerusalem, because it has only just recently been repopulated by God's people.  But some day in the future Jerusalem will play an important role in the life and faith of all Christians.  It is for that reason that God names His heavenly city "New Jerusalem", even though the New Jerusalem will be totally different than the city of today; even though its address will be different, its size different, and itself quite different.  The New Jerusalem is a different city entirely, but it is given the same name.  I mention that to explain what God is about to do.  I start with the distant future and work my way back.  The Millennial Jerusalem is not the present Jerusalem, but it is the same address, on the same earth.  The present Jerusalem (Pre-Millennial Jerusalem) is the seed of the Millennial Jerusalem.  So what is the Millennial Jerusalem exactly?  It is the capital of the world during the Millennial Reign of Christ.  Jesus will rule the world, literally, as the Bible says "with an iron scepter".  This means that His rule will be absolute and firm.  Christ will be supreme King of the world, and Revelation says that saints will rule with Him.  As I have studied Revelation, I have come to the conclusion that it is not -all- the saints, but a certain group of saints.  These are the saints that are martyred in the great tribulation period, which precedes the second coming of Christ.  They die because they refuse to receive the mark of the beast, or to obey the antichrist.  They remain faithful to Christ, and they are martyred in the tribulation.  It is specifically these people who rule with Christ.  Who do they rule over?  The nations.  You see, no where in Revelation does it say that -all- people will be killed in the tribulation and second coming.  Certainly the vast majority will.  Probably 99.999% of the world's population will be killed.  But I believe there will be a few survivors, even of the multitude that receive the mark of the beast.  And it is out these survivors that the nations are repopulated (with high birth rates and a thousand years, it won't be hard).  It is these nations, which come out of the few survivors, who are ruled over by Christ and the saints (martyrs of the tribulation).  Now the saints have already died, and since it is appointed for everyone to die once, and since they have already been resurrected and received their immortal bodies, they are immortal.  They live and rule for the entire 1,000 years.  But as for the nations, they are not immortal.  They are mortal humans, just like us today.  They are born, they live for a span of time, they die.  They are given opportunity to be saved, like you and me, but their salvation is not guaranteed, like the saints.  Consider Revelation 20:7-9: Who are these nations that Satan deceived?  Certainly not saints who have already died in Christ.  These verses require two classes of people on the earth at the time of the Millennial Reign: the saints, and the nations.  As for the Millennial Jerusalem, the way I imagine it, even though its not specifically written in Scripture, is that its made up entirely of saints.  Those who are not immortal saints (the nations) are not allowed in it.  Christ Himself is there.  The city is made glorious beyond compare.  It is heaven on earth.  It is truly a city of angels.  And to be the precursor of the New Jerusalem, it has to be extremely glorious (yet still not reaching the level of New Jerusalem).

Pre-Millennial Jerusalem: Working our way from the future to the present, we have come almost to the present.  The Pre-Millennial Jerusalem is the Jerusalem of today, but it is also a future Jerusalem.  The Jerusalem of today has a future - a bright future - even before the Millennial Reign.  God has only -just begun- to rebuild Jerusalem.  Believe me, the work that God is doing in Israel, God has only just begun to do it.  There's more to come, folks.  There's a lot more to come, even before Christ returns.  How could the Jerusalem of today be the precursor of the Millennial Jerusalem?  The Millennial Jerusalem is so much greater and more glorious than any city on the earth today.  The Pre-Millennial Jerusalem is the seed of it; it is -there- that Christ sets up His throne.  So you better believe that the restoration of Jerusalem has only just begun.  There will be a third temple built in the not so distant future.  Christians and Jews will be united in faith; Jews will come to know their Messiah Jesus.  Jerusalem will be established as the capital of all Christendom.  It will not be controversial, or a question as to whether Jerusalem is the capital of all Christendom, but all Christians will agree with it and know it as an unquestionable fact.  Is it like that today?  Of course not.  Believe me, things will change.  What you see today is only a pre-shadow of the future glory of Jerusalem.  The city will be made great.  God will make the city great.  It is because of that - because the saints already know of Jerusalem as the capital of all Christendom - that Christ makes Jerusalem His capital during the Millennial Reign.  Or maybe its the other way around: the Pre-Millennial Jerusalem will become the capital of all Christendom, because Christ has already decided to make Jerusalem His capital during the Millennial Reign.  And why was the temple built in Jerusalem?  Why was it rebuilt in Jerusalem?  Why can the third temple only be built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem?  Is it not because of Providence?  Because God has pre-ordained it...  He has a plan, and its a big plan.

Do you see how it works?  Jerusalem began as just an ancient city.  It was chosen by God, in His eternal plan, before Jerusalem ever existed, and by Providence it has become a major city.  In the future it will be the greatest city on earth.  Do you see the progress?  It starts small and works it way to be larger and greater.  It starts humble, but some day there will be a New Jerusalem, which will be anything but humble.  Its just the way God likes to do things I guess... consider the beginning of the Church - started small, but is now global.

Consider these things for yourself.  Read and study Scripture.  May God bless you, friends, and May He give us wisdom, because He is the only source of good wisdom and virtue.