Category: new jerusalem

Posted in courts, encouragement, jesus, mansions, new jerusalem, prophecy

High School senior privileges: The Courtyard

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I attended High School in the mid 1970s. It was an excellent high school, offering high-end academics, a thriving sports program, a beautiful campus, and star teachers. To us, though, it was just high school, and the best thing about it was none of those things.

It was Senior Privileges.

Seniors were allowed entry to spaces in the school that no other students were allowed to enter. These spaces were severely restricted, and anyone who was not senior was barred.

For example, the Health Room was once a senior-only room, and was furnished with couches, a television, and refrigerator, if you can believe it. Even more unbelievable in this generation’s health-conscious era, of the area of the school’s inner courtyard where three brick walls connect was once reserved as a smoking area for students. Smoking is now banned on the entire campus.

I never took advantage of those privileges but there were two others that I enjoyed.

Seniors during the 1970’s and 1980’s could sign themselves in and out of school. If we had a study hall first period of the day, we were able to come in late. We were able to sign out of school in the case of a last period study hall. I used to sign out and go to McDonald’s and get breakfast, which was a new offering back then. McDonald’s introduced the Egg McMuffin in 1972 and a full breakfast in 1977. The novelty of the McMuffin and hash browns was too luscious to resist. I signed myself out of study hall and drove to get breakfast a la McD’s style, also bringing back orders for friends who didn’t have a car.

But the greatest privilege to me was that seniors-only could use the courtyard. The courtyard was not an arborist’s dream. It was a scrubby place, not really a greenspace, just well-worn paths amid gasping grass, concrete benches, the aforementioned smoking area, and some trees. But the school was large and being able to cut down travel time between classes to beat the bell was extremely compelling. Plus only seniors could go there.

All the Freshmen knew about senior privileges. We’d look upon the seniors emerging from the courtyard with awe, and excitedly talk about the day we, too, would be allowed entry into this most prized restricted area. I don’t have enough words to relate to you the thirst, angst, and yearning for senior privileges. WE were blocked out, but THEY could go hang out! They could go in and come out! They could remain in a private area just for them! We wanted that!

Courtyard at Hotel Inca Real, Cuenca, Ecuador.
EPrata photo

The parallel to God’s courts is the point I want to make here. Do we possess the same fervency to be in God’s courts? Do we yearn for the privilege of being in His courts?

The Psalmist said,

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10)

The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the LORD, They will flourish in the courts of our God. (Psalm 92:12-13)

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (Psalm 100:4)

I know when the time comes to enter His fabulously luxuriant and holy courts, it will be with thanksgiving and praise. But until then, do we yearn for His home, which is our home? Do we look with joy and anticipation when it will finally be our turn to enter the restricted area, the private area reserved for only those chosen? Do we crave to be there, enjoying the privilege of being in His court?

I can’t imagine what it will look like or what it will be like to enter His courts. The Bible tells us that we can’t conceive of it. My juvenile mind could not conceive of any privilege or any courtyard sweeter than the High School Courtyard reserved for those of a certain age. Just as now, my juvenile Christian mind cannot conceive of a courtyard sweeter or more tranquil that, say, the one at the Hotel Inca Real in Cuenca Ecuador, adorned with plants, tiled floors, resting benches, beauty and peace.

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”– (1 Corinthians 2:9)

But I can and do joyfully anticipate His courts even without being able to visualize them. It is quite humbling to think of Jesus preparing this place for us.

EPrata photo
Posted in courts, encouragement, jesus, mansions, new jerusalem, prophecy

East Greenwich High School senior privileges: The Courtyard

Posted on by elizabethprata

I attended High School between 1974 and 1978. It was an excellent high school, offering high-end academics, a thriving sports program, a beautiful campus, and star teachers. To us, though, it was just high school, and the best thing about it was none of those things.

It was Senior Privileges.

Seniors were allowed entry to spaces in the school that no other students were allowed to enter. These spaces were severely restricted, and anyone who was not senior was barred.

For example, the Health Room was once a senior-only room, and was furnished with couches, a television, and refrigerator, if you can believe it. Even more unbelievable in this generation’s health-conscious era, of the area of the school’s inner courtyard where three brick walls connect was once reserved as a smoking area for students. Smoking is now banned on the entire campus.

I never took advantage of those privileges but there were two others that I enjoyed.

Seniors during the 1970’s and 1980’s could sign themselves in and out of school. If we had a study hall first period of the day, we were able to come in late. We were able to sign out of school in the case of a last period study hall. I used to sign out and go to McDonald’s and get breakfast, which was a new offering back then. McDonald’s introduced the Egg McMuffin in 1972 and a full breakfast in 1977. That was the year I became a senior and the novelty of the McMuffin and hash browns was too luscious to resist. I signed myself out of study hall and drove to get breakfast a la McD’s style, also bringing back orders for friends who didn’t have a car.

But the greatest privilege to me was that seniors-only could use the courtyard. The courtyard was not an arborist’s dream. It was a scrubby place, not really a greenspace, just well-worn paths amid gasping grass, concrete benches, the aforementioned smoking area, and some trees. But the school was large and being able to cut down travel time between classes to beat the bell was extremely compelling. Plus only seniors could go there.

All the Freshmen knew about senior privileges. We’d look upon the seniors emerging from the courtyard with awe, and excitedly talk about the day we, too, would be allowed entry into this most prized restricted area. I don’t have enough words to relate to you the thirst, angst, and yearning for senior privileges. WE were blocked out, but THEY could go hang out! They could go in and come out! They could remain in a private area just for them! We wanted that!

Courtyard at Hotel Inca Real, Cuenca, Ecuador.
EPrata photo

The parallel to God’s courts is the point I want to make here. Do we possess the same fervency to be in God’s courts? Do we yearn for the privilege of being in His courts?

The Psalmist said,

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10)

The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the LORD, They will flourish in the courts of our God. (Psalm 92:12-13)

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (Psalm 100:4)

I know when the time comes to enter His fabulously luxuriant and holy courts, it will be with thanksgiving and praise. But until then, do we yearn for His home, which is our home? Do we look with joy and anticipation when it will finally be our turn to enter the restricted area, the private area reserved for only those chosen? Do we crave to be there, enjoying the privilege of being in His court?

I can’t imagine what it will look like or what it will be like to enter His courts. The Bible tells us that we can’t conceive of it. My juvenile mind could not conceive of any privilege or any courtyard sweeter than the High School Courtyard reserved for those of a certain age. Just as now, my juvenile Christian mind cannot conceive of a courtyard sweeter or more tranquil that, say, the one at the Hotel Inca Real in Cuenca Ecuador, adorned with plants, tiled floors, resting benches, beauty and peace.

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”– (1 Corinthians 2:9)

But I can and do joyfully anticipate His courts even without being able to visualize them. It is quite humbling to think of Jesus preparing this place for us.

EPrata photo
Posted in encouragement, new jerusalem

Vehicle Assembly Building vs New Jerusalem

Posted on by elizabethprata

That’s me in the 1990s visiting Cape Canaveral, where the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) is located. The VAB is the building NASA uses to put together missiles, rockets and the Shuttle to go into space.

The Cape itself is interesting, and I was fascinated by the building. I’m a patriot, I love the United States. I believe it’s the greatest country ever established and it is beautiful and diverse and its principles upon founding were good ones. I love living here and I loved the trip across its land my husband and I took in the ’90s in our VW Camper van. From sea to shining sea, indeed.

So when we got to Florida, both of us being science geeks, we camped at Titusville, a city on the east coast of FL in the region known as the Space Cast. The Space Coast is host to Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. All of NASA-launched manned spaceflights (running from Project Mercury in 1961 to the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011) departed from either KSC or Cape Canaveral. That area of Florida is beautiful and the museums to attend and US history to be learned there is terrific.

The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) is a magnificent monument to man’s determination to achieve, to adventure, and to reach out toward the limits of what we may be able to do and see and build. The facts around the VAB, according to Wikipedia, are as follows:

The Vehicle (originally Vertical) Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is a building designed to assemble large space vehicles, such as the massive Saturn V and the Space Shuttle. The future Space Launch System (SLS) will also be assembled there. 

At 129,428,000 cubic feet it is one of the largest buildings in the world by volume. The building is at Launch Complex 39 at KSC, halfway between Jacksonville and Miami, and due east of Orlando on Merritt Island on the Atlantic coast of Florida. 

The VAB is the largest single-story building in the world, was the tallest building in Florida until 1974, and is still the tallest building in the United States outside an urban area. 

The VAB is 526 feet tall, 716 feet long and 518 feet wide. It covers 8 acres, and encloses 129,428,000 cubic feet of space. The building has at least 10,000 tons of air conditioning equipment, including 125 ventilators on the roof supported by four large air handlers (four cylindrical structures west of the building) to keep moisture under control. Air in the building can be completely replaced every hour. The interior volume of the building is so vast that it has its own weather, including “rain clouds form[ing] below the ceiling on very humid days”

Since the VAB is visible out to sea for miles upon miles and dwarfs the nearby lighthouse, when we lived on our sailboat we used the building as a landmark to guide us in to port. I think it’s amazing that the VAB is so large it generates its own weather system. The engineers of the 1950s and early 1960s who were part of the Space Program at the inception must have been brilliant and admirable men. Someone along the way knew that in order to build rockets there must be a building in which to assemble them, and engineers set about developing the plans to create such a large structure to suit the purpose. It is a tremendous building and it’s used for a tremendous purpose and we Americans have every right to be proud of it.

But it’s nothing. It is all vanity, striving after wind.

In the end time when the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments of Revelation occur, the building will be swallowed by hurricanes or tsunamis or some other disaster. Man’s work, this large building, will fall. You want to know something extraordinary? There is another large, square building that exceeds the dimensions even of this fantastic Florida structure. We will live in it, and it is magnificent compared to the VAB, as stunning as that building is. It is called New Jerusalem, and it is at once mansions, a city, and a nation. It is our future home.

The VAB encloses 129,428,000 cubic feet of space. New Jerusalem encloses 3 billion cubic miles. The VAB is 529 feet tall. New Jerusalem is 1,500 miles tall. We are so proud of man’s accomplishment but God’s city is so much larger, more magnificent, so impressive, it stuns the mind.

Here is a map showing the location of the VAB. The dot on the map to which the hand is pointing is NOT representative of its size. As impressive as the VAB is, it is an insignificant, invisible dot on a map of one single state.

Here is a representation of the New Jerusalem compared in size to the landforms underneath it.

Source

Source

Here is a synopsis of the size of New Jerusalem from the website Tour of Heaven. (A biblical tour, not a personal visit!)

Size of New Jerusalem
How large is the city? That varies slightly depending on the version of the Bible. The ESV and NIV versions say it is 12,000 stadia in length and width (Rev. 21:16), where a stadia is 607 feet. This translates to 1,400 miles, which is what the NLT Bible says. However, the KJV and other versions say 12,000 furlongs, which translates to 1,500 miles. 

Regardless of whether the city is 1,400 miles or 1,500 miles in length and width, it is shaped like a square at the base. This means New Jerusalem is larger than India with nearly 2 million square miles. These measurements are meant to be literal since they are described as man’s measurements (Rev. 21:17). 

Even more astounding than the size at the base is the height that is also at least 1,400 miles (Rev. 21:16). This goes well beyond Earth’s atmosphere and into space. If a building in the city is this high and has a generous 12 feet per story, the building would be over 600,000 stories! 

To give you a better idea just how big New Jerusalem is, above are some representations of what it would look like on Earth if the city is shaped like a cube. 

Over North America:
If you are 1 mile away from the city, you would not see the top but might if you are 10 miles away. At 5,000 miles away, it would appear more than 130 times larger than the moon. To appear the size of the moon, you would have to be 160,427 miles away.

Because the city is at least 1,400 miles in length, width and height, it could be shaped like a cube or pyramid. Does the height refer to the wall that surrounds the city or the tallest building? Rev. 21:17 says the wall around the city is about 200 feet, but ESV, NASB and KJV bibles don’t specify whether this is the thickness or height. The NIV bible says this is about 200 feet thick, but the footnote says “or high”. A cube-shaped city would make sense in the sense the Most Holy place in Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 6:20) was shaped like a cube. However, scripture does not provide a definitive answer as to whether the city is cube or pyramid-shaped.

WOW!! At The Cripplegate, they write about the New Jerusalem too.

Have you ever thought about heaven as a city?
In the apostle John’s account of the new earth in Revelation 21-22, prominent attention is given to the New Jerusalem, the capital of the eternal heaven. Nearly half of Revelation 21 is devoted to describing the physical properties of the magnificent metropolis. Its glorious splendor will be the heart of the new earth, for it is here that God Himself dwells. 

According to Revelation 21:15–17, the measurements of the New Jerusalem are immense, approximately 1,500 miles long on each side. By way of illustration, if one corner of the city were placed on Los Angeles, a second corner would sit on Mexico City, a third corner on St. Louis, Missouri, and the final corner on Edmonton, Alberta. If the center of the New Jerusalem rested where the current Jerusalem stands, it would stretch across three continents from Greece to Iran to Saudi Arabia to Libya. The current city of Los Angeles has an area of 468 square miles. The state of California comprises roughly 164,000 square miles. But the New Jerusalem will encompass over 2 million square miles. That is the equivalent of 14 states of California put together; or 4,807 cities of Los Angeles combined.

So the biggest building in the US outside a metropolitan area, a building taller than the Great Pyramid at Giza, is really a fleck of a piece of dust compared to the city of God that Jesus has been preparing.

One more stunning fact from The Cripplegate:

The massive city houses a total volume of more than 3 billion cubic miles. In light of the city’s immensity, some commentators have speculated that the resurrection bodies of the redeemed may not be subject to gravity. If so, the residents of the New Jerusalem would be able to traverse through space not only horizontally, but also vertically, making every part of this glorious cube inhabitable and accessible to the citizens of the New Jerusalem.

DOUBLE WOW!

I’ve been looking at the dimensions of the New Jerusalem and I have not even mentioned its beauty nor its purpose. Read Revelation 21 and 22 for more information on the city’s dazzling components. When I see the VAB and think of how man thinks he has achieved something, I like to compare to how majestic, big, and creative our God is. The VAB is big, New Jerusalem is bigger. The VAB is impressive, the New Jerusalem is stunningly magnificent. What man can do is fine, what God can do dumbfounds us.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. 9″For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

———————————

Further Reading

FMI on the Vehicle Assembly Building, interior shots and fun stuff, go here.

Largest buildings in the world

Posted in encouragement, glory, jesus, new jerusalem

Heaven: The New Jerusalem – our future home

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’ve been writing about heaven. Included under the generic umbrella of “heaven” are the terms, Paradise, Abraham’s Bosom, Millennium Kingdom, and New Jerusalem. Today I’d like to examine New Jerusalem. The following are quotes from the GotQuestions article “What is the New Jerusalem?” Here at the beginning of their article, we find many terms for the New Jerusalem, which is a city, it’s in heaven, and is also heaven itself. See? The topic of heaven is not as simple as one would expect, but is always glorious to study.

The New Jerusalem, which is also called the Tabernacle of God, the Holy City, the City of God, the Celestial City, the City Foursquare, and Heavenly Jerusalem, is literally heaven on earth. It is referred to in the Bible in several places (Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 11:10; 12:22–24; and 13:14), but it is most fully described in Revelation 21.

Please read Revelation 21, it is a short chapter, but too long to post entirely. Every Christian knows that upon our death or at the rapture if we’re living, we go meet Jesus instantly and are given glorified bodies. Our abode will be New Jerusalem, which is presently in heaven. John MacArthur calls it the “Capital City of Heaven.” It is a city, with specific dimensions and specific adornments and specific inhabitants. It is not ethereal. It is real, physical, and it is our destination! Here is a chronology of when and where this magnificent city appears.

In Revelation 21, the recorded history of man is at its end. All of the ages have come and gone. Christ has gathered His church in the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:15–17). The Tribulation has passed (Revelation 6—18). The battle of Armageddon has been fought and won by our Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:17–21). Satan has been chained for the 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth (Revelation 20:1–3). A new, glorious temple has been established in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 40—48). The final rebellion against God has been quashed, and Satan has received his just punishment, an eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:7–10.) The Great White Throne Judgment has taken place, and mankind has been judged (Revelation 20:11–15).

In Revelation 21:1 God does a complete make-over of heaven and earth (Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:12–13). The new heaven and new earth are what some call the “eternal state” and will be “where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). After the re-creation, God reveals the New Jerusalem. John sees a glimpse of it in his vision: “The Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband” (Revelation 21:2). This is the city that Abraham looked for in faith (Hebrews 11:10). It is the place where God will dwell with His people forever (Revelation 21:3). Inhabitants of this celestial city will have all tears wiped away (Revelation 21:4).

The New Jerusalem will be fantastically huge. John records that the city is nearly 1,400 miles long, and it is as wide and as high as it is long—a perfect cube (Revelation 21:15–17). The city will also be dazzling in every way. It is lighted by the glory of God (verse 23). Its twelve foundations, bearing the names of the twelve apostles, are “decorated with every kind of precious stone” (verse 19). It has twelve gates, each a single pearl, bearing the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (verses 12 and 21). The street will be made of pure gold (verse 21).

I can’t imagine this! The street of gold (street singular, not streets plural), the Tree of Life, the magnificent River of Life (Revelation 22:1-2), the light of His glory… Wow!

The Holy City in heaven is hinted at in John 14:3,

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

New Jerusalem is the place He has been preparing. Imagine living in a place specially designed just for us, He who knows the heart. Our individual abodes will be perfectly suited to each one of us, and it will be bright with sinless glory of the Lamb.

Here is a verse which describes the beauty-

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. (Revelation 21:10-11).

New Jerusalem, by Gustave Dore

Being able not only to view God’s glory but live in it is a mind-altering and an exceedingly shattering concept. His gifts to us are truly boundless.

Let’s imagine it on a more personal level for a moment. Imagine a beggar like Lazarus in Luke 16, begging outside your gate. The man is filthy, and his hair is crawling with bugs. He has open sores, pus filled dripping sores. His skin is grimy with human oils and ground-in dirt from the streets. He drools, and his face is covered with snot on which the flies land and cannot escape. “Gross” doesn’t even begin to describe this filthy person.

That is how we look to Jesus, mired in our sin. Worse even. (Genesis 6:5)

Now imagine that you bring this person inside your home and wrap your baby’s innocent and clean blanket on him and hug him and invite him to stay in your home.

This is a pale shadow of how it is that Jesus could look down from heaven and see us, sin covered filthy rags, bones full of poison and mouths full of pollution, and clean us and wrap us and invite us to stay with Him inside His clean and innocent home- The New Jerusalem.

It is encouraging to think of the glories that await in New Jerusalem, AKA heaven, AKA the Holy City, AKA the Bride Adorned. It is also sweet to read Revelation and receive the promised blessing. Reading it gives us a blessing the verse says (Revelation 1:3) and I personally believe the blessing to the one who reads the book is …. the deeper knowledge of Jesus, and the lengths to which He has gone to provide for us a home in glory.

Again, read Revelation. Ponder His promises about the future home He has prepared for us. He has prepared another home, you know. Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41). Its mouth was enlarged to receive sinners. (Isaiah 5:14). Yet He chose to redeem some from their sins, and that is us, His bride. We will live in beauty, perfection, glory. And all due to Jesus, because HE descended to live among polluted and depraved people. He lived perfectly, was innocent of all charges but was executed in humiliation anyway. He absorbed all God’s wrath for sinners, taking on to Himself OUR punishment, and then was laid in a grave not even his own but was someone else’s. He rose to heaven and has ever since, been interceding for us at the altar of God, he has prayed for us, sent angels to us, given us His Spirit, and has prepared a place for us to dwell in comfort and love.

Anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who says they “want more” is insane. Anyone who says they “don’t have the time nor time inclination” to contend for the faith He delivered is profoundly malevolent. Jesus gave us all this and more, He gave us Himself.

O brethren, read Revelation. It ends well. It really ends very well. It is well with our souls.

——————————-

Further Reading

Heaven series by John MacArthur 1: What Heaven Is
Heaven series by John MacArthur 2: What Heaven is, and What it is Like
Heaven series by John MacArthur 3: The New Jerusalem

Posted in encouragement, jesus, new jerusalem

We will be with Jesus, personally

Posted on by elizabethprata

We long for Jesus, don’t we? We want to be in heaven where things are beautiful, and perfect, and where we won’t sweat or toil. We want peaceful rest and perfect fellowship with the saints. We definitely don’t want to sin any more.

But above all, we want JESUS!

We like to picture Him on His throne, reigning with an iron rod, in perfect peace and justice. (Revelation 2:27). We mostly picture this in the Millennium Kingdom because the bible says almost nothing about life after the 1000 year kingdom concludes, our eternal state. Prophetically the order of things to come at this point is

—The Rapture. This is when the saints who believed in the Resurrected Jesus all throughout the Church Age (between Jesus’s ascension/Pentecost and the rapture) will be translated alive or resurrected from the dead into perfect bodies able to withstand gazing upon His glory. We live in New Jerusalem which for the time being is in heaven. We enjoy the Rewards ceremony for the things done in Christ (Bema Rewards) and the marriage supper of the Lamb. Down below, the tribulation is happening,
—The Tribulation AKA the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. Jesus will unleash His stored-up wrath upon the sinning inhabitants of the world and also punish Israel. This time of wrath and punishment will last 7 years. It will be a time of hell on earth, the antichrist and false prophet will be allowed a very long leash, many thousands or millions of salvations occur, and just as many martyrdoms.
—The Second Coming. Jesus will return from heaven, with us and also the angels, put a stop to the carnage on earth. He will judge the nations. (Sheep and Goats judgment)
—Millennium Kingdom. Judgment concluded, those who are saved will be allowed entry into the kingdom. This will be a time of the prophesied 1000 years of Jesus reigning on earth, which will be a renewed earth, and the church age saints living in New Jerusalem which had descended to earth. Satan will be bound in the pit during this time. At the end of the 1000 years, he will be let our for one last, very short battle, and then satan is thrown forever into the lake of fire.
—The Eternal State. Earth will be melted. We continue on in eternity with Jesus forever.

Here is a question. Jesus came to live in a body and He was killed in a body and when He was resurrected, He still had that body. He is man AND God but He is in a body. That was the sacrifice.

During the Millennial Kingdom period, when Jesus reigns from His throne in Zion (Isaiah 9:7), will Jesus be in only one place? Will those who live in Egypt or Assyria be able to be with Jesus even though they live far from Mt. Moriah? Do they lose out in being able to petition Jesus or worship Jesus or be with Jesus personally?

And what about us? The Millennium Kingdom will be vast, with all Israel’s originally promised borders finally unmolested and intact, and peoples re-populating the world, and all the Church Age saints living in New Jerusalem…with so many people around worshiping and sacrificing to Jesus, will we be able to be with Jesus personally? Have one-on-one time, in His presence, worshiping Him or just gazing in adoration?

Yes, we absolutely WILL be able to be with Him and personally, too. He is with every person who believes right now, whether they are in Greenland or Australia, Chile or Germany. How? I don’t know. But He is. (Matthew 18:20, 28:20; Hebrews 13:5).

Psalm 55:22 says He sustains us, and this means each one of us. He personally knits together every babe in the womb.

We see that He is personally involved with us now, from womb to death and beyond, and when we get to heaven, He will be personally available to us as well, but even better because He will be bodily there. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says we will see face to face. He will personally wipe each tear from our eyes (Rev 21:4)

If each person who ever lived will stand before Him to be personally judged individually by their deeds, how much more glorious will it be when we share eternal joy with Him, standing with Him at the bema seat to be rewarded! (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20). We will be with Him, with Him, with Him…

He is the creator of all dimensions. How could Paul be in the body on earth but also in the spirit seeing the third heaven, (2 Corinthians 12:2) which is so beautiful no man can say the things that went on there? How can John be both on Patmos but also among the lampstands speaking with Jesus? (Revelation 1:12-13). How can Peter be on the mountain but suddenly out of another dimension he sees Moses and Elijah with them on the mountain, too? (Matthew 17:3). Which reality is real, the one where Elisha’s servant sees only the army coming to conquer them, or the one that Elisha asks God to show, the chariots of fire which were there all along? (2 Kings 6:17). God makes it happen, in heaven there are no space constrictions, and no time worries!

Have no fear, in heaven there is no disappointment, only joy. Therefore since Jesus is our joy, we will be with Him. (Matthew 25:21). He will not forsake us, ever. If he is with us now, He will be with us then, and face to face.

Posted in new jerusalem, street of gold

Thoughts on the "street of gold"

Posted on by elizabethprata

“And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.” (Revelation 21:21)

We often marvel at the fact that the main street of the city in our future new home of New Jerusalem will be made of pure gold.

‘Wow!’ we think. ‘Isn’t it amazing that Jesus is adorning the place He is preparing for us so beautifully!’ And He is. (Revelation 21:2)

But I often wondered about the street and its main material: gold. Paving materials are usually waste materials. The Romans used broken stones mixed with cement and sand, cement mixed with broken tiles, curving stones—so the water could drain, and on the top they used tightly packed paving stones, according to Wikipedia. Below is a Wiki photo of a street in Pompeii. I have walked on the Appian Way in Rome and it looks the same.

Encylopedia Brittanica says that in the 1800s when paving became more widespread, “common paving materials were hoof-sized stone blocks, similarly sized wooden blocks, bricks, McAdam’s broken stone, and occasionally asphalt and concrete.”

Do we ever use precious materials for roads? No. We use waste materials, common materials.

I think the street of the city is of gold to remind us that when we tread upon it, what we once thought of as precious will be a vivid reminder that the real preciousness is Jesus. What He considers truly precious is our faith:

“so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7)

Our faith is more precious than gold, because it is tested by trials. Gold will perish, but Jesus, the object of our faith, will never perish.

In heaven, gold will be as nothing to us, not when the real treasure is before our eyes. In that case, it is only fitting that gold will be under our feet.

Posted in birdsong, dawn chorus, end time, new jerusalem

Imagine the dawn chorus in heaven

Posted on by elizabethprata

I love the pre-dawn. It is quiet and cool and dark but the light is coming, and already is.

I live in an area which is fairly rural, and there is not much traffic. Though I live on a major artery in the county, there isn’t enough traffic even during the day to really bother me. However, in the pre-dawn, there is none at all. I can hear from afar off the dogs bark, cows moo, occasional owl screech, an early rooster…

At about 6 am there is always one bird. From out of the darkness, suddenly, there will be a happy series of chirps. He is loud, and the sound is joyous to me. Not to anthropomorphize too much, but the bird really does sound happy. The piercing, lengthy call sounds like he is waking up his brethren. Perhaps it is an ovenbird.

After the first bird goes first, then in a few moments the dawn chorus begins. The dawn chorus is a worldwide event. At Cornell, they wrote, “The dawn chorus is one of the most conspicuous vocal behaviors of birds, and one of the least understood. Near sunrise, birds often sing more loudly and vigorously than they do at other times of the day.”

I like to think they are thanking their Creator. He knows them, and I like to think they know their Creator back. God says, “I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.” (Psalms 50:11). We know that all creation groaneth in travail until now, (Romans 8:22). They groan…do they sing in joy as well?

Birds suffer for man’s sin, (Genesis 6:7; Jeremiah 12:4; Ezekiel 38:20;Hosea 4:3). The bible says they flee away when calamity comes as well. (Jeremiah 4:25; Jeremiah 9:10)

Yet they sing:

10You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills;
11 they give drink to every beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
they sing among the branches.
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. (Psalm 104:10-13)

Imagine the ‘dawn chorus’ in heaven! Birds will sing all the time because there is no dusk and no dawn, only day! (1 John 1:5, Revelation 21:25).

I believe that in heaven when He brings His bride to her place and presents our dwelling place to us, our rooms will not have screens on the windows. Because why would they? No biting insects or animals will creep in and harass us. All creation will be reconciled to its Creator and there will be no reason to have bars or screens to keep things out, or in. Maybe a bird will swoop in to my room and sing in joy at the perfection of the Creator and gladness to be part of it, and I will join. Together we are all groaning now, but the Day will come when we will all sing in joyous praise to the One who made us. Birds too.

In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the first bird each morning, knowing that before the day’s groaning begins, there is joy in creation among the created.

Posted in bible, end of days. prophecy, end time, new jerusalem, temple

Pouring yourself out as a drink offering on the Chief Cornerstone

Posted on by elizabethprata

Yesterday I wrote about the foundation stones of the city of New Jerusalem being inscribed with the names of the 12 Apostles, and Jesus being the chief cornerstone (Rev 21:14). I remarked on the verse from Ephesians 2:19-21:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,”

Jesus is the chief cornerstone, the apostles are the foundation, the 12 tribes are the gates, and you and I are each a stone that fits together building the city walls surrounding the glory of the LORD Who dwells there. We are not only His church, His bride, but we are His temple.

Today I want to turn to the cornerstone and talk about the drink offering.

I was thinking about Paul’s wonderful final words: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;” (2 Timothy 4:6-7). Paul said four wonderful things here. In the second verse, the trio of things Paul says He did for the Lord are a model for us: fight the good fight, finish the course, and keep the faith. Good principles for all of us today. But curiously in the first part of the verse, Paul declares he has “poured himself out as a drink offering.” Hmmm. What is a drink offering, anyway?

The first time a drink offering is mentioned in the bible is in Genesis 35:14. It is only one of two offerings to be given before the Law was delivered, the other being the burnt offering. We hear a lot about the sacrificial offerings and the sin offerings and the trespass offerings, but not a lot about the drink offering.

In the Genesis verse, God descends and speaks to Jacob. It is in this verse that God changes Jacob’s name to Israel and promises certain blessings over him and his descendants. (Gen 35: 9-14). Then God ascends.

In verse 15, Jacob/Israel then sets up a pillar. The Hebrew word for pillar is “something stationary, i.e. A monumental stone.”

“Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, ‘Bethel’.”

Bethel means “house of God”. So not only the geographical location was named House of God, but Jacob laid the cornerstone of the house of God that is referred to in Revelation, which shows us the competed house, the City of God- New Jerusalem. The first stone was laid at this moment, actually and metaphorically, and so the cornerstone is our Savior.

Jacob next poured out wine as a drink offering. As mentioned, the drink offering was one sacrifice given prior to the Law. And except for this one time, the drink offering was not meant to be given alone, it always accompanied other offerings.

“In contrast to the Levitical offerings, which all speak of the work of Christ each in a different aspect, the drink offering speaks of the joy in the complement of that work. This explains why the drink offering is not mentioned in the opening up of the book of Leviticus which speaks of man’s approach to God. This approach can only be on the basis of the death of Christ, and so there we have detailed all the offerings except the drink offering, which speaks not of the work or the death of Christ, but the joy of God in the completed work.”

The Chief Cornerstone being laid is the beginning of that work, the Apostles who continued that work are the foundation stones, and each believer is a temple stone fitted together building up His New Jerusalem. When the full number of believers has been reached, (Romans 11:25) the City will be finished and we will be raptured to it.

There is much more to the drink offering of course, I am only scratching the surface. Paul’s reference to pouring himself out is a good reminder to us, that we need to pour ourselves out. Pouring indicates a steady stream. Not meted out in discrete chunks at a slow pace, with gaps. But a steady stream of continual offering of our life’s blood to Jesus. At your life’s end, or at the rapture, will you be able to say you are emptied, having fought the good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith? Have you flung yourself on the Chief Cornerstone? Are you pouring yourself out to the Lord daily in a steady stream?

We kiss the Blarney Stone, we touch the Temple stone, we step on Plymouth Rock, kings are crowned on the Stone of Scone, Muslims pray before the Black Stone of the Kaaba, but they are all pretender stones. In each of those stones only a part of the body and soul is given. The Chief Cornerstone is Jesus and the only way to approach Him is by pouring your entire self upon it. It is the least we can do, because He first poured Himself out upon us.
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Posted in end of days. prophecy, end time, faith, new jerusalem

The foundation stones of faith: 12 ordinary men

Posted on by elizabethprata

I think a lot about the 12 Apostles. I think of how amazing it must have been to have been so ordinary, living an ordinary life of fishing and raising families and going to Sabbath services, and then suddenly meet the Messiah. These men were raised in the Jewish faith. They certainly knew the prophesies and the scriptures. They were faithful and intelligent. Just like you or me.

Imagine if we were raised in a faith and learned the scriptures but suddenly a man came walking along who spoke like none other you have ever heard. The rumor going around, as he gathered followers, was that he is a prophet or an angel or a king. As you study and match the prophesies with the scriptures and look at the man, would you dare to apply them to this man? It is a big step. And yet each of the 12 took that step of faith.

It is all the more extraordinary that they did so without the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament times, the Spirit came upon a person, and anointed them. It wasn’t until after Pentecost that the Spirit came inside them to illuminate truth to their minds and heart.

Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 2:4: “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

So they were just men, unadorned with any indwelling Spirit, going about their workaday routines, when BLAM! They met up with eternity walking in their midst. That they recognized it and even better, hung in there, is amazing.

Here is a short .pdf titled Twelve Ordinary Men, that you might enjoy. A paragraph is devoted to each Apostle.

We tease the apostles in our minds, chucking at Peter’s impetuousness, or mourning over his denial of Jesus on that fateful day, thinking, “HOW could he have done that?” We shake our heads when the Apostles wondered where they were going to get dinner after Jesus had just fed the 5000, and we tut-tut when we see them panic in the stormy boat and ask Jesus to wake up and do something. Even the Lord called them slow learners and spiritually dense. (Luke 24:25). But they had walked so far with Jesus on faith alone, carnal faith, not in the Spirit. That is amazing. Even more, they had seen miracles and heard words and seen Jesus transfigured into glory itself. How did their minds compute it? What they were experiencing was an upside-down life so far from the realms of normalcy, and yet they hung in there.

When many followers left Jesus after he preached a hard thing, Jesus turned to the Apostles and asked them if they were going to leave too, Peter said,

“Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69)

And again, Peter nailed it when Jesus asked the Apostles “Who do you say that I am?” and Peter said “You are Messiah.” (Luke 9:20)

Would you have done as well? A man coming into your workplace and saying ‘Follow me (John 1:43) and you do?

So here’s the thing. I like to focus on Jesus and His justice. He is the judge. He is Holy. “Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,”  (2 Thess 7b-9).

But here is another piece of justice to focus on. Thanks to these 12 ordinary men, they turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). We owe them a heavy debt of gratitude they that indeed took up their crosses and followed Jesus every day, unto their own deaths. Our faith is founded upon their acts which is founded upon Jesus’ great act.

“for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, (Eph 2:18-21)

Therefore, the city New Jerusalem will also have a foundation of the apostles. Literally.

“And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (Rev 21:14)

For anyone who has gone to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC and seen the wall, you know it is a simple design. It is highly emotional, though, to stand before it. Why? It is the names. The names of those who served and those who died in honor of that service evokes a tremendous flood of tears. It is the names that does it.

For all of eternity, as we walk the streets of New Jerusalem, we will see the Apostles’ names emblazoned on the foundation stones. Along with the chief cornerstone being Jesus, we will be reminded of His great sacrifice upon which our faith is built, and the Apostles faithful witness and service to Him, upon which our religion is built. How much more emotional will it be to see those names there? Highly, I’m sure. I’m grateful to such men who built up the faith by being witnesses to the great things Jesus had done. I’m very glad each of them has a named stone in the great City of God. It is just one more thing to look forward to when we get there.
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Posted in crystal cave, end time, end time. prophecy, new jerusalem

Crystal Caves in Mexico remind of New Jerusalem

Posted on by elizabethprata

Christians who diligently focus on worship, study, encouragement, and ministry are doing the right thing. But Paul eagerly looked forward to his crowns and to the rewards awaiting him. He often encouraged his brethren with news of the future rewards and glory. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the Crown of Righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8). We are made a promise, “Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.” (2 Chronicles 15:7) It is right and also good to look forward to what the Lord has prepared for us, including rewards, for they are also His handiwork.

In 2000, miners accidentally broke through to a heretofore unknown chamber. It contained the most magnificent crystals ever seen anywhere on earth, absolutely stunning the geologists. Some of the crystals had grown to be 60 feet high. The place is called the Cave of Crystals and it is in Naica, Mexico. Because the chamber is exceedingly hot and humid and humans are overcome with the bad air within minutes, and also to preserve the display, the cave is closed to visitors except under strict circumstances. “This year, BBC Two sent Professor Iain Stewart into the cave, and he “got a rare glimpse of the subterranean spectacle while filming for the new BBC series “How the Earth Made Us.” If you ignore the show title and focus on the cave, you will be blessed. The trailer is only 1:20 minutes.

Now, Christian, capture the wonder and amazement of the beauty of these magnificent and translucent crystals and translate that to a tiny window of the beauty of the gems and crystals that are awaiting us in New Jerusalem!

The New Jerusalem
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” (Rev 21:1-2)

“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. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl.” (v. 18-19)

“The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.” (v. 21)

“I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 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.” (v. 22-23)

Oh, the tremendous beauty that is awaiting us with our Lord! His creativity is unparalleled. That He will share this beauty with us is amazing in itself, but that He is creating it for us, to dwell with him, is enough to bring me to my knees. When you watch this video of the gorgeous crystals, think of the street of gold in New Jerusalem, think of His light and His glory illuminating the entire city, the world, the universe. Think on this: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:3). The place He is preparing is so much more beautiful than the Crystal Cave at Naica, the mind cannot conceive its artistry.

Will YOU be there? You will be if you ask Him forgiveness of your sins and make Him the Lord and Savior of your life. Understand that sin cannot enter into the heavenly realms and that you, if you have sin in you, will be excluded from this glory. But if you repent of it and ask Him to forgive, you will be walking the street of gold with all the other forgiven sinners in eternity.

Christian, the Crystal Cave at Naica is not what awaits. What He is preparing for us is even better. Can our eyes take it in? Can our hearts remain beating or explode with joy at His grace and generosity? When you feel tired, when satan whispers ‘it’s not worth it’ or ‘why bother’, think on New Jerusalem’s beauty that the Lord took care to make for us, and persevere.