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City of Heaven Heaven is described in the Bible as a Place, as a City: "the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem" (Heb.12:22, Rev.21:1-2, 10, Is.66:1-22). Here is the bible’s description: 1- It is a gigantic, enormous city: "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God... The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long." (Rev.21:2, 15-17) 12,000 stadia are about 1,400 miles, 2,2000 kilometers... The length of the whole world known at that time!... and the same length in high!... and it is not plane, but tri-dimensional... going up another 1,400 miles!... 2- The Walls: "He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst" (Rev.21:17-20) 3- Twelve Gates: "It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb... The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl" (Rev.21:12-14, 21) The 12 gates are the symbol of the 12 tribes of Israel, and the 12 apostles... it is a universal City, with people coming from the north, south, east and west... 4- The City itself is gorgeous: "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal... The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass" (Rev.21:10-11, 21). 5- The Lamb is its light... the splendor... the judge: The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Rev.21:23-27) 6- It is eternal: Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever." (Rev.22:1-5). The Tree of Life, beside the River of Water of Life, first pictured in Eden (Gen.2:9-10)... Paradise restored!... Fullness of life flows from the the Father through the son, the Lamb, by the power of the spirit... later in Ezequiel 47:1-12, appears in his vision of Healing Waters... every desire is met in the kind of fruit available 7- This is how John saw Heaven through an open door: In Rev.4: 1. After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." 2. At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. 4. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. 6. Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back 7. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." 9. Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10. the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 11. "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." |
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