Revelation 21:
10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
Revelation of John, Chapter 21:
23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Here the Apostle John, in vision, saw an absolutely incredible sight: New Jerusalem...Zion...the celestial city of God, descending out of heaven.
Q: This really gives reason to ponder...
Right now, this amazing city is in heaven. But...if it is going to descend (as it apparently will), where is it's permanent destination going to be? Earth? If so, are we (the saved) going to live here on earth, in it, instead of in heaven (the 3rd heaven) at some future date? Is this city just a part of heaven, or all of it? If it is described as descending out of heaven, do they mean outer space?
To give you some idea of it's tremendously huge size: the book of Revelation says the foundation is a square shape, about 1500 miles on each side. Not only that, but it is also 1500 miles high....whether in a cube, or a pyramid shape, we do not know...
Assuming the bottem of the foundation is perfectly straight and flat, if it were set on earth the center of the foundation would have to be roughly 71 miles deep into the earth (either that, or the four corners of the foundation would have to sit on 71-mile high mountains...), and the top of the city would literally be in outer space, where satellites now orbit. You could probably cram all the known mountain ranges on earth into it....and still only use up the first 5 miles or so of height. That would leave 1495 miles above that to explore. Climbing to the top of Everest would barely even be "base camp"...
Kinda impossible for me to comprehend....'ol St John must have been totally dumbfounded and awestruck....
Somehow, I don't think I'll be bored...
Bud
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