Heaven: The New Jerusalem, The City of God

Today’s Jerusalem is significant to three major religions, making it simultaneously a place of spiritual devotion and a place of violent conflict. For this reason, we would hardly call it heaven on earth. Nevertheless, God spent millennia filling the earthly Jerusalem with heavenly connotations such that we can gain insight into the eternal Heaven: the “city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God,” the “New Jerusalem” that descends from God after the old heavens and earth pass away.

The City of Melchizedek. The first mention of Jerusalem occurs when Abraham rescues his nephew Lot from a plundering alliance of kings (Gen 14). His successful return is marked by interchanges with two contrasting kings: Melchizedek, the king of "Salem" (Jerusalem, Ps 76:2), and Bera, the king of Sodom. Melchizedek offers him bread and wine, and Abraham responds by giving him a tenth of all the plunder. Bera offers him all the plunder, and Abraham responds by utterly rejecting all alliance or reward.

The king of Salem is identified as "Melchizedek", the "king of righteousness" and the "king of peace." peace Abraham gives Melchizedek a tenth of the spoil; in contrast, Abraham rejects all alliance or reward from the King of Sodom. The incident would hardly seem significant, except that Psalm 110 describes a future Messiah that would be a priest forever “after the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 7 connects this prophecy with Jesus, noting that Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”, and that “King of Salem” means “King of Peace.” Hence, in Genesis we have an undeveloped glimpse of a city ruled in peace and righteousness contrasted with Sodom, a wicked, oppressive city filled with pride, gluttony, abominations and disregard for the needy (Gen 13:13, 18:20-21, Eze 16:49-50).

The Site of Isaac's Sacrifice. The next glimpse of Jerusalem comes when God tests Abraham’s faith by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac in Moriah, on “one of the mountains that I will tell thee of.” There are two reasons to connect this incident with Jerusalem:
1. History holds that the place of sacrifice was the specific “Mount Moriah” on which the Temple was later built (see Josephus Antiquities 1:13.2.226). Indeed, the name “Moriah” is used only twice in Scripture: once for Abraham’s sacrifice, and once for the location of the Temple in Jerusalem. Certainly, there is nothing in Scripture to PRECLUDE the two references from being the same site.
2. Whether or not Scripture definitely equates the physical location of the two sites, it certainly uses the same name for both, and the name has a specific meaning. In the account of Abraham’s sacrifice, God directs Abraham to a site using the name “Moriah” (“seen of Jehovah”). He then loads this name with additional connotations by noting firstly that Abraham called it “Jehovah-Jireh” (“Jehovah will see to it”, or “Jehovah will provide”—so named because “God will provide himself the sacrifice”), and secondly by linking Abraham’s experience to the expression “in the mount of Jehovah it shall be seen.” In so doing, God created a neat package of meaningful names all involving “Jehovah” and “seeing”. When He later applies two of these names to the Temple Mount (“Moriah” and “the mountain of Jehovah), we have Abraham’s experience to help us recognize Jerusalem as the place “seen of Jehovah,” where we will see that God himself provides the sacrifice—His only son, whom He loves.

The Temple Mount. These references to sacrifice and the Temple Mount introduce the next major theme that God connects with Jerusalem: it is the permanent place that God chose “to put His name”. To understand this, we need to start with the Tabernacle.

When God created the nation of Israel from Abraham’s descendents, he incubated it in the land of Egypt before bringing it into Canaan, the land He promised to Abraham. In the transition from Egypt to Canaan, the Israelites spent forty years living in tents in the wilderness. Despite the fact that they lived nomadically during this time, God wanted to show them that He desired to live amongst them. Hence he directed Moses to build a mobile Tabernacle and to symbolically place it in the center of the people’s tents wherever they camped in the wilderness. This Tabernacle was called “the tent of meeting,” where the people went to worship God and fellowship with Him via offerings, festivals and significant ceremonies. But since fellowship with God is broken by sin, it was also the place of animal sacrifices, through which God provided a mechanism for sinners to be reconciled with Him. Additionally, it was a place of justice, wisdom and knowledge, where people came to receive resolution of their disputes and instruction in the wisdom of God.

During this nomadic time, God kept pointing them forward to when they would enter Canaan and establish permanent dwellings. At that point, he promised, He would fix a place to put His name. For several hundred years after entering Canaan, the people continued to worship at the original, mobile Tabernacle, wherever it was set up; but in 2Chr 6:5-7 God revealed that Jerusalem was the place He had chosen permanently, and accordingly He put it in King David’s heart to build “a house for the name of Jehovah” there.

Why did it take so long between entering Canaan and fixing a place of worship? When the people entered the promised land, they were instructed to completely drive out the inhabitants. Although they conquered Jerusalem early on, they did not drive out the Jebusites that dwelt there. In fact, by the time of David, the Jebusites had regained such total control of Jerusalem that they mocked David’s approach. Even after David took the walled city, Jebusites still owned some of the adjoining land: most pointedly, Ornan the Jebusite owned the threshing floor on Mount Moriah. By God’s direct intervention, Ornan became eager to give the site to David for an altar (please read 1Chr 21:14-22:2!), and David recognized that this was the site for a permanent Temple.

Although God gave David the plans for the Temple, He forbad him from actually building it because he was a warrior, “a man of blood.” Instead, He chose and enabled Solomon to build it. When it was completed, God visibly occupied the Temple with His presence. Everything that had pertained to the Tabernacle thereafter pertained to the Temple: it was the place of sacrifices, offerings and fellowship with God. Many of the Psalms revolve around the ascent to Jerusalem for festivals. When Israelites prayed, they directed their prayers towards God’s presence in the Temple.

When the gross and persistent sin of the people and their neglect of the sacrificial system made it abhorrent for God to dwell with them, He removed His presence from the Temple to their horror and shame; He allowed it to be destroyed, and He sent the people into bondage in other lands. But even during this time of exile, we find Daniel praying toward Jerusalem. And when the time of punishment was done (70 years of exile, as revealed to Jeremiah), God arranged for the return of the people, the rebuilding/rededication of the Temple by Ezrah, and the rebuilding of the wall by Nehemiah.

All the foregoing establishes a picture in our minds of Jerusalem as the center of worship and fellowship with God, of festive gatherings, of babies being dedicated and lepers cleansed, of God’s wisdom and righteous decisions being revealed—all of which help us understand Heaven.

Of course, today’s Jerusalem is devoid of a Temple and filled with discord and false religion. This does not mar the picture, however: God ensured that Jerusalem bears the image of Heaven without implying that it is the substance itself. For example, Jesus revealed that the day was then imminent when the real worship would occur not in Jerusalem but “in spirit and in truth,” and that the earthly Temple would be totally destroyed.

The Beautiful City of the Great King. We will say more about the Tabernacle and Temple below. For now, though, let us consider two last aspects of Jerusalem that help us understand Heaven. Firstly it is “the city of the great King.” God installed David (and his descendants, of whom Jesus Christ is chief) on the throne in Jerusalem: His palace and advisors were there; his armies went out from there; it was the capital city of Israel, the center of government.

Lastly, God describes Jerusalem as a place of peace, safety, productivity, beauty and joy, where God delights in His people. He mentions immeasurable wealth and treasure that dazzled foreign royalty. He conveys its security with terms like “fort,” “castle,” “stronghold,” and “walls,” but he goes beyond these physical terms to show that He himself protects and cares for it

Having associated all these images with Jerusalem, God uses them to reveal Heaven. He mentions that those who live like aliens here on earth because of their faith in Christ are looking forward to a permanent city built by God. This is the New Jerusalem: a brilliant and beautiful city where the Lamb is the light and it is never night, where the streets are of gold and the walls of precious jewels, where the King of Glory sits on his throne. The Tree of Life is there, straddling the river of life that flows from the throne. The people are glad. God is in the midst of the city! The walls are thick: no impure thing can enter.

But the mention of these walls reminds us again of the two-fold aspect of the spiritual realm: there is a blessed “inside” to the New Jerusalem, but a cursed “outside” as well. Outside the walls are the dogs—those who rejected Jesus as King and are cast into the outer darkness, suffering the wrath of the king instead of His fellowship and blessing. We will see this clearly when we reach the pictures of Hell—but there are three remaining pictures of Heaven to consider before we examine Hell.

Continue to next picture of Heaven: The Tabernacle of God
Return to Introduction of Heaven and Hell.
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References for the foregoing:

The New Jerusalem, the City of God. God spent millennia filling the earthly Jerusalem with heavenly connotations to make it a picture of the eternal dwelling place of peace, wealth and safety. (Heb 11:8-10, 11:13-16, Rev 21:1-3)

The place where Melchizedek was Priest of the Most High God (Gen 14:18-20; cf Ps 76:1-2)
The place where Abraham offered Isaac: “In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen” (Gen 22:1-14 cf 2Chr 3:1)

What is link between this place of sacrifice and Jerusalem?
1. History asserts that Abraham’s sacrifice occurred on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (Josephus Antiquities of the Jews, 1:13.2.226). The Gen 22 account allows this tradition: God’s instructions were to ONE of the mountains of Moriah, (sounds like a broad region), but Abraham saw “THE place”, and he and Isaac reached “the place of which God had told him” (a point within that region specifically chosen by God). Temple mount is called Mount Moriah (2Chr 3:1), and we see that in the time of David this was OUTSIDE of Jerusalem, since he had to go out of the city to get to Ornan's threshing floor (if it had been INSIDE of Melchizedek's city it would not have been an appropriate place to begin sacrificing his son!); but it was close enough that the city could expand to encompass it when Solomon completed the temple.
2. Three meaningful names/expressions are associated with the site of Abraham’s sacrifice, all plays on “Jehovah” and “see”:
“Moriah” (“seen of Jehovah.”). Used of the Temple site (2Chr 3:1)
“The mount of Jehovah” (“in the mount of Jehovah it will be seen”). Used of the Temple in Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3). Note: “The mountain of the LORD” is applied elsewhere to Sinai/Horeb, but these are not in view either in the Abraham account or the Isaiah reference.
“Jehovah-Jireh” (“Jehovah will see to it”, or “Jehovah will provide”) (Gen 22:14)

The place where God put his Name
The Tabernacle was mobile focus of worship, but God promised he would fix a place to put His Name(Dt 12:5-12, 26-27, 14:22-26, 15:19-20)
Festivals were to be celebrated there: Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Weeks, Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles (Dt 16:16-17, Lev 23, Dt 13-16)
Significant offerings and ceremonies were to be done there (Daily burnt offering; voluntary offerings for sin, fellowship, or harvest; purification after childbirth; presentation of firstborn; reinstatement of cleansed leper; Nazaritic vows; reading of the Law every seven years; etc. (Lev 1:3, 2:1-2, 3:1-2, 4:3-4, 4:13-14, 4:22-24, 27-29, 12:6-7, 14:1-32, Num 6, Dt 26:1-11, 31:10-13, etc)
Justice, knowledge and wisdom were to be found there (Dt 17:8-10; test for adultery in Nu 5; Urim and Thummim of Ex 28:30; knowledge from lips of priests as in Mal 2:7)
The Temple in Jerusalem was this place where God would put his Name (2Chr 6:5-6, 1Ki 11:32); it was miraculously chosen and provided by God. Everything pertaining to Tabernacle pertains to Temple.

Though conquered early by Judah, the Jebusites weren’t driven out; hence, by the time of David, the Jebusites held it so securely as to mock David’s attack (Jos 10, 15:63, Jdg 1:8, 1:21, 19:11-12, 2Sam 5:5-10).
Taken by David/Joab, but Jebusites still owned some associated land: it took God’s intervention for Ornan’s threshing floor to become available for the House of the Lord (2Sam 5:5-10, 1Chr 11:4-9, 21:1-22:1, esp. 21:14-22:2)
God gave David the plans for Temple, and appointed Solomon to build it (1Chr 17:11-15, 21:1, 14-30, 22:1-19, 23:24-32, 1Chr 23-2Chr 7, esp 1Chr 28: 1-13, 19; 2Chr 3:1, 6:1-6)
Solomon built and dedicated it; God accepted and filled it (1Ki 3:1, 9:3, 2Chr 5:13-14, 7:1-3)
When seeking God in prayer, the temple was the place of God’s presence (2Chr 6)
Gatherings in Jerusalem for the festivals are described; many Psalms revolve around Jerusalem or the ascent to it) (2Ki 23:23, 2Chr 30:1-5, 35:1-19, Lk 2:41, Jn 2:13, 23, 11:55, Ps 24, 51:18-19, 68:29, 116:17-19, 122, 125, 128, 135:21)
When God rendered judgment upon Israel and sent the people into exile, they grieved the destruction of Jerusalem, yearned for its restoration, and continued to pray toward the temple (Ps 79, 102, 137, Neh 1:3-4, Dan 6:10, 9:16-19, Jonah 2:1-7)

The place where God installed His King (Ps 2:1-6): the capital, king’s palace, seat of government. The king’s palace, advisors and army were centered there (e.g. 2Chr 30:2, 2Sa 20:7, 1Ki 10:26, Ps 48:2)

The place of peace, safety, productivity, beauty and joy, where God delights in His people (Is 65:17-25)
Beauty, wealth and treasure (1Ki 10:27, Ps 48:2)
Righteousness, peace, plenty, health, safety (Is 33:10-22)
Fort, castle, stronghold; walled; guarded or watched place (“city”); earthen embankment or fortification (“Millo”) (1Chr 11:4-8, 1Ki 3:1, 2Sa 22:1-3, Ps 31:2-3, Ps 48:11-13, Ps 91:2, Neh 6:15-16)
Protected and cared for by God: “the city of our God” (Ps 48:1-3, 48:8, Is 36-37, esp 37:33-37, 44:24-28, Ezra 1:1-2, Neh 2:1-8)

Having established these images of Jerusalem, God uses them to describe Heaven
Permanent dwelling (“with foundations”) built by God, vs. living in tents as aliens (Heb 11:8-10, 16; 12:22-24, 13:12-14)
Brilliant and beautiful city where the Lamb is the light and it is never night (Rev 21:23-26, Ps 50:2, Is 60)
The streets are of gold and the walls of precious jewels; the glory and honor of the nations will be brought there (1Ki 10:2, Rev 21:10-21)
The throne, the King of Glory, the temple and the tree of life are there (Ps 24, Rev 21:1-4, 22; 22:1-5), and there is a river there that makes the city glad, and God is in the midst of this city (Ps 46:4-7). (But wait-- there is no river in the earthly Jerusalem! This reference amalgamates the picture of Jerusalem with the picture of Eden. We struggle with this because an earthly city is very different from an earthly garden, but both pictures are simultaneously true of our spiritual home!)
The walls are thick; no dogs or impure thing can enter (Rev 21:10-17, 27, 22:15). Contrast with Hell: outside are the dogs (Rev 21:27, 22:14-15; compare Jer 7:31-34 to Is 65:17-25); outside is darkness; hell is suffering the wrath and judgments from the king, rather than his favor, his protection, his justice, and his fellowship.