John Saw The Holy City, New Jerusalem, Coming Down
Posted: Friday, October 02, 2009
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
Almost everyone refers to the Revelation of John as recorded in the Holy Bible as an apocalyptic writing. And there is, indeed, several portions which warn of impending devastation or destruction, but the theme of the book is almost the opposite of that when it has reference to Christians...those who were following after Jesus Christ.
Since the death of Jesus, His resurrection and ascension some 35-38 years prior to John's writing, His church was established, fulfilling His reason for coming. It had grown tremendously and was spread widely and was facing the most horrendous persecution imaginable, both form the Jews who continued to reject Christ as an imposter and the Roman government. Some were being burned at the stake, some thrown to the lions, others forced to fight one another to the death. Some had their eyes gouged out. Life was about as miserable for those Christians as life can get. Actually, this is what the book of Revelation is all about.
The very first verse of he book tells us plainly, to what it has reference.
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:" (Revelation 1:1 KJV)
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John," (New American Standard Version)
"The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John" (New International Version)
The purpose of this book was to tell the followers of Jesus of things which must soon come to pass. An enormous amount of it was spoken (written) in figurative language which is very difficult for us today, to decipher and understand. Unfortunately, there are many people who will tell you they understand it perfectly. When one tells you that, walk away. The early Christians, from the day of the first Pentecost until at least A.D. 70, were given spiritual gifts as promised by Peter in his sermon on that date. (Acts 2:38) Many could prophesy, many could discern truth from false teaching, etc., they were able to understand the meaning of these figurative and symbolic writings. It was God's intent that His children be warned of the eminent catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem and at the same time, those outside of His obedient people, not have access to that warning.
Christians today have the written word from the Holy Spirit, but we are not endowed with those special gifts which were vital to the beginning of the Lord's spiritual kingdom, His church.
The besiegement and ultimate invasion of Jerusalem (AD 70) is described by the ancient historians as the most brutal and horrendous slaughter in history, at least until the introduction of nuclear weapons. And yet, some of the writers say that not one Christian was found to have ben killed in it because of the warnings given them, not only in Revelation but by Jesus Himself in the major portion of Matthew chapter 24.
(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."
Many have taken this to mean the return for Jesus to come physically and sit on the throne of David in a new literal Jerusalem. Not so, this has reference to His present kingdom, His spiritual kingdom, His bride.(John 3:29)
If you read the 18th chapter of Revelation thoughtfully and carefully, and instead of thinking in terms of "Babylon" or when reference is made to "her", fill in the thought that it is being Jerusalem and the continuing Jewish worship that is receiving the condemnation here.
When Jesus came to this earth, lived and taught among the Jews in and around Jerusalem, and the vast majority of them rejected him, condemnation was placed upon them and their mode of worship. They continued in their customs and traditions rather than accept Jesus as the Savior. The destruction of the temple and Jerusalem was the symbolic end of the Jewish dispensation and would essentially put an end to their determined persecution of the Christians. Much of the book of Revelation foretells this occurrence. Persecution of Christians did not stop however, since some Roman emporers, such as Domitian, were brutal towards Christianity.
Read this heartfelt admonition of Jesus to the Jews in Matthew 23:34-39:
"Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Very thought provoking article. Thank you for sharing.LindaDThank you for reading and commenting Linda.
Thanks for writing this - to me while I can learn much from revelation much will remain a mystery until I see Hiom face to face! MarijoProbably all of us the same, thanks for commenting
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