,, Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,”
Rev.21: 9-10
"And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and said unto me, Go, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me a great city, holy Jerusalem, where God descends from heaven. "
Below we see that the angel invites John to show him the Church of Christ's "bride" who is now the Lamb's wife and we studied this earlier when we spoke of the Lamb's wedding and then writes that John was taken "in spirit to a great and high mountain, and He showed me a great city, holy Jerusalem, where God descends from heaven. "
This city was meant by the Lord Jesus when He said:
,, "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
John 14: 2-3
Here we can notice that the Lord Jesus says "place" twice, which means that he was not talking about an allegory, but it is a real city, because otherwise he could not say that it is a "place".
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews also meant this "place" or city when he said:
,,... knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.“
Heb.10: 34
This heavenly Jerusalem is also the place where the throne of God is, we can also say the place where God "dwells" and since when he rules.
,, "And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel. When they pray toward this place, then hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.”
1 Kings 8:30
,, The Lord has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all.”
Ps.103: 19
The fact that we said that God "dwells" in the heavenly Jerusalem does not mean that He is not present on earth, because He is present everywhere, but the throne is in heaven and His distance is not a problem like us humans, God said:
,, "Am I a God near at hand," says the Lord, "And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?" says the Lord; "do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the Lord.”
Jer.23: 23-24
Psalm 139 confirms that even though God is so "far away", conditionally speaking, he knows what is happening on earth, and he knows because He is the controller and manager of everything, and that is where we humans belong.
Here is just a part of what he writes about God's omniscience about us humans:
,,
O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me," Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. For You have formed my inward parts; You have covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”
Ps.139: 1-14
Before going to heaven, the Lord Jesus said:
,, I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14: 2
And after the ascension of the Lord Jesus into heaven, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, comes to the Church, who testifies of the Lord Jesus and proclaims the words of truth:
,, "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”
John 15:26
And then the Holy Spirit announces that the Lord Jesus in the glorified resurrected body went to heaven to the heavenly Jerusalem and now sits at the right hand of the Father in glory.
,, "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand,”
Acts 2:34
When Stephen was stoned, the sky "opened" to him, where he saw the Lord Jesus who "rose up to welcome Stephen" in heaven:
,, But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,”
Acts 7: 55-56
The Apostle Paul gives us another piece of information about what else the Lord Jesus is doing in heaven:
,,… It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”
Rom.8: 34
The Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven and He is the only mediator of God and men:
,, For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,”
1 Tim.2: 5
He is the Lamb of God:
,, The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
John 1:29
and who said that he was with us until the end of the age or time:
,,… and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. "
Matthew 28:20
The Lord Jesus is not flesh with us on earth, but as God He is with us and we expect Him as Savior.
,, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”
Philippians 3:20
and all those who are saved go to heaven to the heavenly Jerusalem and live there. The Lord Jesus said to Martha:
,, Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"”
John 11.25-26
The human soul never dies, and if a faithful person dies, there is a transition from "this mortal body" to glory.
When God appeared to Moses from the blackberry He said:
,, "I am the God of your father-- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."”
Exodus 3: 6
And here it is interesting that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have already died physically and God says that they are their God and not that He was their God, He is still their God which means that they were "alive" when this happened for God is not the God of the dead but the God of the living.
,, For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him. "
Luke 20:38
The Bible says that when a faithful man dies, he goes to the Lord Jesus Christ:
,, For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.”
Phil.1: 21-23
The Apostle Paul says that he has a desire to "go" and that "to go" means with the Lord Jesus Christ to the heavenly Jerusalem and he says that it is "gain" and that again means that he will not be dead because "grave" is no gain but gain is eternal life spent with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Something similar is written in another Epistle to the Corinthians:
,, We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
2 Cor.5: 8
So we saw that in the heavenly Jerusalem the throne is better, we saw that the Lord Jesus Christ is there in glory, and we also saw that the souls of the dead are there, and when the Lord Jesus comes to the clouds for the Church, the souls of the dead come with Him. to reunite the resurrected bodies and the souls who are with God.
,, For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
1 Thess.4: 14-17
"And he carried me away in spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me a great city, holy Jerusalem, where God descends from heaven."
John was taken to the spirit to see the heavenly Jerusalem, but we do not find it anywhere in the Bible when this city was built.
,, By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
Heb.11: 9-10
Here we see that they were not only waiting for the promised land of Canaan but also for the heavenly Jerusalem which means that they had information about this city that they were waiting for. And why they were waiting for that very city a little later in verse sixteen:
,, But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
Heb.11: 16
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews meant the same city when he called in chapter twelve:
,, But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,”
Heb.12: 22-23
In that ugliness today are angels, the church, and the Old Testament believers, "the spirits of the perfect righteous," but as we said we do not know when the city was built, we also do not know what will be in heaven when "heavenly Jerusalem descends to earth" and much more. we do not know about the heavenly Jerusalem but we know that the creator of the heavenly Jerusalem is God.
We also do not know the exact place of this city, we only know that it is in the third sky, but an assumption was published based on the astronomer's discovery that it is in the direction of the north. Astronomers have established that only a light in the distance, so it is assumed that it may be there, although this is not confirmed by the Bible.
This may be so, but we cannot say for sure, but there are indications in the Bible:
,, For exaltation comes neither from the east Nor from the west nor from the south.”
Ps.75: 6
and we should also say that the Jews sacrificed on the north side:
,, 'He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the Lord…”
Leviticus 1:11
,, Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.”
Ezekiel 1:4
We do not know many things about this heavenly Jerusalem, but there is also information given to us in the following verses of the Revelation of John.