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The New Jerusalem & The Coming Temple
The New Jerusalem
The Ezekiel passage solves the Jerusalem / New Jerusalem problem. For as long as I've been studying these things, there has been debate over the issue of the New Jerusalem. Some wonder how the Lord could permit redeemed believers and non- believing natural humans to co-exist in the Millennium. (The rotten apple spoiling the barrel theory) Others wonder how a city with a foot print 1400 miles square and tall could be located in Israel when the whole country won't be that big.
Carefully examining Rev 21 and 22, we notice that John never actually says the city arrives on earth. We are only told he sees it coming down out of heaven, prepared as a bride. This is so because the church which is the bride is coming down within the city. It may be that the city never rests on the Earth's surface, but rather orbits in the proximity of Earth, yet totally visable to the earth and the people on it.
Also comparing the descriptions of New Jerusalem with Jehovah Shammah we see some similarities but enough differences to refute the notion that John and Ezekiel described the same place. Compare the following:
New Jerusalem: (All verses from Revelation)
12 gates named after Israel (21:12) 12 foundations named after Apostles (21:14) 1400 miles square and tall (21:16) Coming Down from heaven (21:2) No Temple ... God and the Lamb are its Temple (21:22) No sin; nothing impure will ever enter (21:27) No more death (21:4) No natural beings ... only the perfected (21:27)
Jehovah Shammah -(All verses from Ezekiel)
12 gates named after Israel (48:30) Foundation not described One mile square (48:30) Located in Israel on Earth (40:2) Temple just north of the city (40:2) Daily sin offerings in the Temple (45:13-15,17) Still death (44:25 also Isa 65:20) Natural Beings (46:16)
With the differentiation of these two Holy Cities, the apparent conflict between Jewish and Christian eschatology is resolved. Israel was promised that one day GOD would come to Earth to dwell among them forever, while the Church is promised that Jesus will come to take us to heaven to live with Him there. Both promises come true.
Since Ezekiel specifically quoted the Lord's promise to dwell among the Israelites forever (43:7) and then described the new Holy City, while Jesus promised to return for the Church to take us to be with Him (John 14:1-3), they must have been talking about two different destinations. They were. Heaven is the New Jerusalem where we will dwell with the Lord forever, while the Holy City on Earth is Jehovah Shammah where God will dwell in the midst of His people Israel forever.
The Coming Temple
According to Prophecies in Daniel 9:27, Matt 24:15 and 2 Thes 2:4, a Temple will exist in Israel at the beginning of the Great Tribulation. This is confirmed by Revelation 11:1 which describes John measuring a Temple during the Tribulation. Its location is the "Holy City." Chapter 11 also introduces the 2 witnesses who preach in the "Great City" and are ultimately killed there, their bodies left lying in the street. The Great City is identified as the place where the Lord was crucified: Jerusalem. But is Jerusalem also the Holy City?
According to Zechariah 14:6-9 on the day of the Lord's return an earthquake will split the Mt. of Olives in two along an East-West line that creates a great valley through the center of Jerusalem. Immediately a river will fill the valley creating a waterway from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea. If the Lord returns to the same area of the Mt. of Olives from which He left, as suggested by Acts 1:11, this East-West valley will destroy the current Temple mount and anything that may be standing upon it.
Ezekiel 47:1-12 describes a great river flowing from under the south side of the Temple and then eastward to the Dead Sea during a period of time that most scholars believe has not occurred yet. Revelation 22:1-2 confirms this. If as it appears, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Revelation all describe the same river, then an interesting scenario begins to emerge.
This scenario requires a Temple to be present on the day the Lord returns, but since the current Temple mount will have been destroyed by the earthquake mentioned above, this Temple must be somewhere else. Since the river originates under the Temple and flows from its south side before heading East and West, the Temple must be north of the newly created river valley.
Where Are The 12 Tribes?
Plotting the land grants for the 12 tribes given in the 48th chapter of Ezekiel on a map of Israel places the precincts of the Holy City somewhat north of the current City of Jerusalem. This new location is the ancient City of Shiloh, where the Tabernacle stood for nearly 400 years after the Israelites first conquered the Land. This is the Holy City and its name is Jehovah Shammah according to the last verse in Ezekiel. The Hebrew translates "the LORD is here."
If accurate, this location would meet all the requirements for the Temple mentioned in the above references. The current Temple Mount in Jerusalem would not.
According to Ezekiel 44:6-9, this Temple will have been defiled in a way never seen in history, therefore at a time yet future to us. A foreigner un-circumsized in heart (neither Christian) and flesh (nor Jewish) will have been given charge of the sanctuary while offering sacrifices. If we understand the chronology of Ezekiel, this event will have taken place after both the 1948 re-gathering prophesied in 36-37 and the national wake-up call prophesied in 38-39 but before the Millennial Kingdom begins. The only event we know of that fits that chronology is the Great Tribulation. This is confirmed by Paul's prophecy of 2 Thes. 2:4 where the anti christ sets himself up in the Temple proclaiming himself to be god.
Here then is a rough outline of events. Following Israel's return to God after the battle of Ezekiel 38-39, the Jewish people will re-establish their covenant (old not new) with Him. This will require a return to Levitical practices and so a Temple will be built. This is the Temple spoken of by Daniel and Revelation. Following instructions given by Ezekiel and needing to avoid the enormous problems a Jerusalem Temple would create in the Moslem world, this Temple will be located north of Jerusalem in Shiloh. It will be defiled in the middle of the last 7 years as outlined in Daniel 9:24-27, Ezekiel 44:6-9, Matt 24:15 and 2 Thes 2:4 kicking off the Great Tribulation, but will be cleansed by living water that begins flowing on the day the Lord returns (Zech 14:8). This temple will be used during the Millennium to memorialize the Lord's work at the cross and provide the perspective for children born during the Kingdom Age to choose salvation just as you and I have had the perspective of the Lord's Supper in making our choice. Remember, He said, "Do this in memory of Me until I come." Acts 15:14-16 confirms that after the Lord has chosen a people from among the gentiles for Himself (the church) He will return and re-build David's fallen Tabernacle (the Temple). This is the Millennial Temple so vividly described in Ezekiel 40-48
The Rulers
Our last study dealt with the time, place, duration, and purpose of the one thousand-year binding of Satan. On the heels of describing that binding, in Revelation 20:4 the text moves to the fifth scene of the seventh bowl judgment introduced by another "and I saw." The prophet saw thrones, and "they sat upon them" (Rev. 20:4). Much debate centers in identifying the "they" of this statement since the immediately preceding verses of chapter 20 contain no antecedent for the pronoun. Of the various suggested identifications that have come, the best is that "they" refers back to first scene of the seventh bowl and the armies in heaven that will accompany Christ at His second advent (Rev. 19:14), an army referred to again in the third scene (Rev. 19:19). The armies of the conqueror usually become the rulers of the conquered. So it will be in this future situation. Earlier, we have identified those armies as being composed of saints of the body of Christ who will return to serve as rulers and judges with Christ when He returns to earth at His second advent. This prediction coincides with the prophecy of Paul who promised that members of Christ’s body will judge the world (1 Cor. 6:2).
Yet members of the body of Christ will not be the only rulers. Revelation 20:4 also tells of those martyred "because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God." They refused to worship the beast and his image and to receive his mark upon their forehead and their hand, and therefore lost their lives. In other words, these are people who will live and die under the regime of the future false Christ during the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy. As the thousand years begin, they too will be raised from the dead and reign with Christ during the millennium. "The first resurrection" is the title given to the act of God that brings them back to life (Rev. 20:5). Such faithful ones of the future will come back to life and join the body of Christ in ruling and judging throughout the thousand years of the future kingdom. Obviously, this will be the same thousand years during which Satan will be bound (see Rev. 20:1-3), a great time for righteousness to triumph throughout the whole world.
Yet the body of Christ and the martyrs will not be the only rulers in the millennial kingdom. The text says they will rule "with Christ" (Rev. 20:4). They will, of course, be subrulers with the supreme ruler Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Some have sought to separate the kingdom spoken of in these verses of Revelation 20 from the kingdom promised to Israel in the Old Testament, but many tie-ins connect this millennial kingdom with the kingdom promises to Israel. For example, verse 4 is a probable allusion to Psalm 2 where verse 6 quotes the Lord as saying, "But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain," a statement that comes shortly after the words "The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed" (Ps. 2:2). During the millennium will come the fulfillment of Psalm 2 as well as Revelation’s statements connecting the future kingdom with the Old Testament king David (for example, Rev. 3:7; 5:5). This kingdom of the future will be one and the same as that promised to Israel many places throughout the Bible.
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