FOCUS ON THE ENDTME : PART TWO
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
Moses, Jesus And Prophetic Pairs, The Physical Nature Of The
Millennium, Darkness In The Kingdom Of The Beast, Extent Of
The Beast's Kingdom, Space Brothers Or Lying Demons?, Fate
Of The Wicked, UFO's And A Space Invasion?, The Rapture,
Clouds Or UFO's?, Defining The Beast, The False Prophet And
The Antichrist, The Destruction Of Jerusalem, The Battle Of
Armageddon, Who Is Babylon The Great?, The New Jerusalem
I concluded part one of this article with an exciting
discussion concerning the 'Sign' of the Son of Man, and by
sharing the amazing possibility that some UFO's might
actually be of a Divine Nature. If there is any truth to
these ideas, then it should also shed some light on how
Satan, the false 'angel of light', might make his grand
appearance into the world as the 'saviour' of New Age
advocates; and maybe even of the Jews! As I have discussed
in other articles, the fact that the advent of the UFO age
occurred less than one year prior to Israel becoming a
nation in May of 1948, may be significant. Let me caution
you that I am by no means stating any of this as fact; but I
do believe you should be made aware of these possibilities.
Regardless of what the exact specifics are concerning the
Lord's aerial Second Coming, as I mentioned earlier, it may
be at that time that the Jewish Antichrist will be
destroyed by the brightness of His Coming:
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with
the brightness of his coming:" (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
Within eschatological circles, there is a bit of a debate
concerning the proper identity of the one being described by
the Apostle Paul in the above verse. Some have assumed that
Paul is referring to the Beast who will take over the Middle
East, and possibly regions beyond. He is often referred to
as the Antichrist; however, I feel that this is due to a
lack of a proper understanding of what is meant by some of
these Biblical terms. As I explain in such articles as 'Who
Is Who?: Defining Important Endtime Terms', according to the
Daniel prophecies, the Beast will be a political/military
man like President Hafez al-Assad of Syria, or quite
possibly Sadaam Hussein of Iraq. I explore this topic in
great detail in 'The Seven Heads' series. At any rate, I do
not believe that this is who the above verse is describing.
According to the Book of Revelation, the Second Beast known
as the False Prophet, may be a powerful Islamic spiritual
leader who will team up with the Beast. He will rally the
Islamic hordes around the Beast as he undertakes his
military campaign against Israel and Jerusalem. While
Muhammad was indeed a false prophet, I believe there will be
someone else in the near future, who will serve as the
catalyst to unite the Muslim nations, the Ten Horns, behind
the Beast. My current feelings are that he may possibly be
of Iranian origin. The current ayatollah makes a perfect
candidate as he is extremely powerful, and very anti-U.S.,
and very anti-Israel.
Finally, there is the Endtime character referred to by many
as the Antichrist. I personally feel that this term is most
appropriately applied to the false religious leader of
Israel who will convince Orthodox Jews that he is their
long-awaited messiah. He is commonly referred to as
'Moshiach ben David', which loosely translates as 'messiah,
the son of David'. You will find this topic discussed in
great detail in part two of 'The Kings Of The North And The
South', as well as in 'Who Is Hindering The Antichrist?'.
While many have embraced the idea that the Roman Catholic
pope may be the Antichrist, or the False Prophet, again, I
feel that they are in error. There is only one man who will
be permitted to sit in the new Temple in Jerusalem; and that
is the Jewish Antichrist, who will claim to be God:
"Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called
God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the
temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."
(2 Thessalonians 2:4)
Following the Rapture of the Saints into Heaven, my
understanding is that we will participate in the Marriage
Feast of the Lamb. Again, this may somehow be related to the
extra thirty and forty-five day periods added to the end of
the Last Seven Years, at the end of the Great Tribulation:
"And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and
as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty
thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to
him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath
made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should
be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine
linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me,
Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true
sayings of God." (Revelation 19:6-9)
For more information on the Bride of Christ, I encourage you
to read such articles as 'Revelation's Babylon The Great
Whore', parts one and two. It may be while we are enjoying
the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in Heaven, that the Lord will
be pouring out His Wrath upon the wicked Kingdom of Darkness
of the Beast and the False Prophet. The Seven Plagues, or
Vials of Wrath, are discussed in the fifteenth and sixteenth
chapters of the Book of Revelation. What adds some weight to
this possibility is the fact that the Seventh Vial of Wrath
appears to culminate in the Battle of Armageddon and the
Lord's Third Coming. I believe that it is at this time that
we may see the fulfillment of the prophecies of Zechariah as
I discussed earlier. In other words, unlike the Second
Coming which was only an aerial Coming, this will be a
physical landing on the Earth at the Mount of Olives in
preparation for the Battle of Armageddon in northern Israel:
"Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be
divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations
against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken,
and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of
the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of
the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall
the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when
he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in
that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem
on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the
midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there
shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall
remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south."
(Zechariah 14:1-4)
"And he gathered them together into a place called in the
Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out
his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of
the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done."
(Revelation 16:16-17)
This event will occur after the Sixth Vial of Wrath in which
the River Euphrates is dried up to make a way for the kings
and armies of the East, to join the Beast in the Great
Battle against the Lord and His anointed:
"And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great
river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that
the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I
saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth
of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of
the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of
devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of
the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the
battle of that great day of God Almighty."
(Revelation 16:12-14)
All of these events are further discussed in the Endtime
articles I have named throughout this current paper. From
the description given in Revelation chapter nineteen, one
thing which is apparent, is that as a result of their defeat
at this decisive battle, both the military leader known as
the Beast, and the religious leader known as the False
Prophet, will be cast ALIVE into the Lake of Fire burning
with fire and brimstone:
"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived
them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that
worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake
of fire burning with brimstone." (Revelation 19:20)
However, this is not the only event which will be occurring
at this time. Revelation chapter sixteen also makes clear
that it will be at this possible Third Coming, when the
Seventh Vial of Wrath is poured out, that the mysterious
Babylon the Great Whore will finally meet her destruction:
"And the great city was divided into three parts, and the
cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in
remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine
of the fierceness of his wrath." (Revelation 16:19)
The physical destruction of Babylon the Great Whore is
described in the seventeenth and the eighteenth chapters of
the Book of Revelation. In my article 'Revelation's Babylon
The Great Whore', I explain how there have been a number of
speculations regarding the identity of this mysterious woman
who rules over the kings of the Earth. These possibilities
include the ancient city of Babylon in Iraq, which is
currently being excavated and reconstructed by Iraqi
president Saddam Hussein; Rome, the powerbase of Roman
Catholicism and a great financial power in its own right;
New York City, the epitome of power, wealth and glory of
Western capitalism; and London, said by some to be the
European equivalent of New York City. However, as revealed
in that article, after a close study of the Scriptures, I
have come to the conclusion that Babylon the Great might in
fact be Jerusalem herself which is guilty of spilling all of
the blood of the ancient Prophets. If I were to summarize my
findings, it would be based on the following verses from the
Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and John's description of
Babylon the Great in the Book of Revelation:
"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the
damnation of hell? 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."
(Matthew 23:33-38)
In the above verses, Jesus is clearly prophesying the
destruction of Jerusalem due to the Prophets whom she slew
in the Old Testament. Jesus clearly calls the Scribes and
the Pharisees the children of those murderers. In the Gospel
of Luke, He again prophesies this destruction:
"And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then
know that the desolation thereof is nigh." (Luke 21:20)
While these prophecies did indeed have a partial fulfillment
in 70 A.D. with the invasion and destruction of Jerusalem
and the Temple by the Roman General Titus, through previous
verses I have shown that there will yet be a final Endtime
fulfillment. Why will the Lord allow this to occur? Because
even after His own warning, the unbelieving Jews continued
in their very same sins; beginning with the crucifixion of
their very own Saviour! As the Book of Acts reveals, others
followed in Jesus' footsteps like Stephen and James; and the
Lord only knows how many more! There was a major persecution
in the eighth chapter of the Book of Acts which was possibly
spearheaded by Saul. I discuss this in 'Biblical Cafeteria
Or The Whole Course: Part One'. It is for this very reason
that John describes Jerusalem as Babylon the Great in the
following verses:
"And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints,
and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw
her, I wondered with great admiration...Rejoice over her,
thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath
avenged you on her...And in her was found the blood of
prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the
earth." (Revelation 17:6, 18:20, 24)
This is the exact same thing that Jesus said regarding
Jerusalem. There is no other city mentioned in the Bible
which is accused of these sins. Jerusalem has been invaded
and destroyed a number of times throughout her long history;
and it has always been for the very same reason: because she
has forsaken her true God, and killed those who have tried
to warn her of her sins. It wasn't Babylon in Iraq, or New
York City, or even Rome. Yes, Rome truly has her share of
sins, and she did persecute and kill many of the First
Century Christians, but the Prophets of old were not sent to
Rome; they were sent to Jerusalem, exactly as Jesus and John
both said. Furthermore, the prophecies very specifically
tell us that Jerusalem will continue to kill those sent to
her right up to the very end until she is destroyed.
Remember what I shared earlier. Her final persecution
against God's children will result in the deaths of the two
Sackcloth Witnesses. This is again a clear sign of to whom
John is referring. Some have speculated that these two
mighty Endtime witnesses might be two of the greatest
Prophets Israel has ever known; Moses and Elijah:
"And when they shall have finished their testimony, the
beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make
war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great
city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where
also our Lord was crucified." (Revelation 11:7-8)
Notice how Jerusalem is referred to as the 'great city' in
the above verse. In Revelation chapter twenty-one, the New
Jerusalem is also referred to one time as 'that great city';
however, what is most interesting about this is that this
very same term is used SEVEN TIMES to describe Babylon the
Great in the Book of Revelation! Can the connection be any
more obvious than that? Jerusalem the great city, and
Babylon the great city are one and the same! Truly then, her
cup of iniquity will finally be filled to the brim after she
has slain the two Prophets of the Lord. It is for this
reason that we are told that the Ten Horns will unite with
the Beast to destroy Jerusalem in one hour:
"And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which
have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings
ONE HOUR with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give
their power and strength unto the beast...And the ten horns
which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the
whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat
her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their
hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their
kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be
fulfilled...Therefore shall her plagues come in ONE DAY,
death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly
burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth
her...Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying,
Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for
in ONE HOUR is thy judgment come...For in ONE HOUR so great
riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the
company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea,
stood afar off," (Revelation 17:12-13, 16-17, 18:8, 10, 17)
Notice that these Ten Horns, whom I believe to be ten Arab
nations, will only give their power and strength to the
Beast for one hour. Notice that Babylon's destruction also
comes in one hour. This is EXACTLY why they unite with the
Beast; to destroy Jerusalem with all of the fire power that
they've got! It is going to be a total holocaust, possibly
nuclear in nature! This is why Jesus specifically warned the
Jews to flee to the mountains when they see the Abomination
of Desolation standing in the holy place in the newly built
Temple at Jerusalem. This is exactly what the angels told
Lot and his family to do before they destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah and the cities of the plains:
"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place,
(whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be
in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the
housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Neither let him which is in the field return back to take
his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to
them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your
flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For
then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the
beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."
(Matthew 24:15-21)
"And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth
abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind
thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the
mountain, lest thou be consumed." (Genesis 19:17)
At the very end of this three and a half years of terrible
persecution, which Daniel and Jeremiah both referred to as
the time of Jacob's trouble, I suspect that when the
Satan-inspired Beast and his Islamic followers realize that
their defeat is at hand, in one final act of desperation,
they may decide to bomb Jerusalem, thus fulfilling their
destiny to destroy Babylon the Great Whore. The attitude of
the Beast, the False Prophet and their followers will be,
'If we can't have Jerusalem, then nobody can!' If these
things occur while Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu
is still in power, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if
he flees and deserts his own people; because he is a
U.S.-bred and a U-S.-educated hireling! The minute things
begin to get too hot, he is going to take his immediate
family and advisors and flee to the land of Uncle Sam or
some other safe place of refuge! Jesus said the following
regarding such people:
"But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own
the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the
sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and
scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an
hireling, and careth not for the sheep." (John 10:12-13)
If the Beast and the False Prophet will be reigning from
Jerusalem, why will the Lord land upon the Mount of Olives,
which is not far from Jerusalem, and then fight the Battle
of Armageddon way up in Megiddo in northern Israel, not far
from his boyhood town of Nazareth? Could it be because there
will be nothing left of Jerusalem? It certainly offers a
plausible reason for this battle occurring away from
Jerusalem. Naturally, there are some who totally reject the
idea that Babylon the Great might be Jerusalem. They cannot
accept that God would destroy His 'beloved city'. As far as
I am concerned, this is a false idea based upon a total
misunderstanding of the Scriptures; and the result of
falling under the Jewish delusion of the 'chosen people'.
The Apostle Paul also felt the wrath and heat of the
Jerusalem church when he began his ministry to the Gentiles
declaring that what we are in the flesh has absolutely no
bearing on our Salvation. I have covered this topic more
thoroughly in such articles as 'Is God A Racist?', parts one
and two.
One argument often used is that Jerusalem has never
been viewed as a city of any major importance by anyone
outside of Israel; thus it can in no way be compared to
Babylon the Great which is described as follows:
"And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which
reigneth over the kings of the earth." (Revelation 17:18)
Contrary to this view, if we read the lamentations of the
Prophet Jeremiah following the fall of Jerusalem, we
discover that the kings of the Earth did in fact hold
Jerusalem in high regard; and were surprised when the
seemingly impregnable city was destroyed by the forces of
Nebuchadnezzar:
"The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his
fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath
devoured the foundations thereof. The kings of the earth,
and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have
believed that the adversary and the enemy should have
entered into the gates of Jerusalem. For the sins of her
prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed
the blood of the just in the midst of her,"
(Lamentations 4:11-13)
Notice too how these verses mention that Jerusalem was
destroyed by fire, just as Babylon the Great Whore will face
the same fate in the near future when she is destroyed by
nuclear fire. Also similar to Babyon the Great, we are told
that in Jerusalem was found the blood of the just. This has
a much more significant meaning than you may realize. In
this regard, Jerusalem was guilty on three counts. First,
the people of Jerusalem sacrificed their young children and
babies to the false pagan gods such as Molech. The way they
did this was by actually throwing them into a furnace
located in the belly of the idol built to honor this god!
Second, the people of Jerusalem persecuted and slew all of
the Prophets the Lord sent to them. Finally, to give you a
vivid picture of how terrible things might be in the future
when Jerusalem is once again invaded, consider that
following Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Jerusalem, mothers
were forced to either eat their own children or else die of
starvation!:
"Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in
the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is
withered, it is become like a stick. They that be slain with
the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger:
for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits
of the field. The hands of the pitiful women have sodden
their own children: they were their meat in the destruction
of the daughter of my people." (Lamentations 4:8-10)
When Solomon ruled in Jerusalem, we are also told that the
kings of the Earth went up to Jerusalem to witness his vast
wealth, which exceeded their own, and to hear his wisdom:
"And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his
wisdom...So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth
for riches and for wisdom...And all the kings of the earth
sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God
had put in his heart."
(1 Kings 4:34, 10:23, 2 Chronicles 9:23)
The fact that in ancient times, empire after empire sought
to invade and control Jerusalem is also a clear sign of the
importance they attributed to the city. In our modern day,
the fact that the United States of America, whom some now
consider to be THE 'king of the Earth', invests literally
billions of dollars into Israel every single year, is also a
clear sign of Jerusalem's important status. Furthermore, the
fact that the Arab nations seek to control and/or to destroy
Jerusalem is also proof enough that they despise her looking
down upon them as if she is some presumptuous queen; just
like Babylon the Great Whore who also sits as a haughty
queen:
"How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously,
so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her
heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no
sorrow." (Revelation 18:7)
Finally, as I point out elsewhere, Jerusalem's true power
and influence is not easily recognized by all. This is the
financial power she wields through her international bankers
and businessmen, the primary organs of which are the IMF,
the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, which
are both Jewish controlled. Nation after nation has been
forced into submission to the will of these men through
crafty loans and other shrewd financial dealings. It is
these kings and merchants of the Earth who will bewail the
fall of Babylon the Great Whore, their beloved Jerusalem:
"And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication
and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament
for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas,
alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one
hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth
shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their
merchandise any more:...And the light of a candle shall
shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the
bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in
thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for
by thy sorceries were all nations deceived."
(Revelation 18:9-11, 23)
Thus, to say that Jerusalem cannot be compared to Babylon
the great city which rules over the kings of the Earth, is
completely false in my view. Absolutely no one can deny the
cunning subtlety of the Jewish businessmen, who John refers
to as 'the great men of the Earth'. From Jerusalem to London
to Tokyo to New York, these are the true kings of the Earth,
and NOT those who take on the titles of president, king,
shiek or prime minister. These are only the pawns of the
real rulers. It is because they control the American economy
that so much money is invested into the tiny country of
Israel. According to the last report I read, even though she
is a nation of less than six million people, Israel receives
the highest amount of American financial aid per capita in
the world! In other words, while other countries may
actually receive more financial aid from the United States
of America, compared to their actual populations, Israel
still beats them all!
It is my view then that based on all of these verses, the
coming destruction of Jerusalem is going to be a very
literal event. I currently do not believe that there is any
symbolism implied here. Those who disagree with the view
that Babylon the Great Whore and Jerusalem are one and the
same further argue that this cannot be so because, according
to them, Jerusalem will still be in existence following the
Battle of Armageddon. I disagree. A close study of the Book
of Revelation reveals absolutely no mention of the Earthly
city of Jerusalem following the destruction of Babylon the
Great Whore and the Battle of Armageddon. There is only one
verse which I have seen used to try to support this
erroneous interpretation; and that is the following:
"And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed
the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire
came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."
(Revelation 20:9)
To place this verse in its proper chronological sequence,
this event occurs towards the very end, or possibly right at
the very end of the Millennium. This is a period of one
thousand years during which we the resurrected Saints will
rule with Christ on the Earth. This is thoroughly discussed
in such articles as 'From Armageddon To The New Earth'. As
the following two verses will show, this is in fact what is
commonly referred to as the Battle of Gog and Magog:
"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be
loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the
nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and
Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom
is as the sand of the sea." (Revelation 20:7-8)
According to some, the usage of the words 'camp' and
'beloved city' in verse nine above is said to be referring
to the current Jerusalem, even though the verse does not say
this whatsoever. As such, it should be viewed as a mere
piece of speculation; and a very poor one at that. One
reason I say this is because there is not one single verse
in the entire Bible where Jerusalem is referred to as 'the
beloved city'. I verified this for myself. Furthermore, how
could Jesus say that Jerusalem is full of the blood of the
Prophets, that it is run by the children of the Devil, that
it will be destroyed, and then turn completely around and
call it 'the beloved city' in this prophecy? It just doesn't
make sense, does it? It is totally contradictory to
everything we have seen in the Endtime prophecies. In fact,
according to my Greek lexicon, this word 'city' is derived
from the word 'polis', pronounced pol' is, which has the
following definitions:
----- Begin Quote -----
1) a city
1a) one's native city, the city in which one lives
1b) the heavenly Jerusalem
1b1) the abode of the blessed in heaven
1b2) of the visible capital in the heavenly kingdom,
to come down to earth after the renovation of
the world by fire
1c) the inhabitants of a city
----- End Of Quote -----
While 'polis' can refer to any city, notice that the
emphasis in the above definition is on the Heavenly
Jerusalem, with absolutely no mention of the Earthly
Jerusalem. If this 'camp' and 'beloved city' are anything,
perhaps they are the New Jerusalem which will descend from
Heaven during the Millennium. I have read in times past that
it might possibly hover just above the surface of the Old
Earth throughout the duration of the Millennium, thus keeping
it pure from pollution. The Lord and His Saints are
definitely going to need some kind of capital city from
which to rule the Earth. Why would the Lord choose old
decrepit and war-torn Jerusalem which is full of not only
the blood of the Prophets and Saints, but His own Blood as
well, when He specifically told us that He was going to
prepare a place for us?:
"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 unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be
also." (John 14:2-3)
In Zechariah chapter fourteen, following the Battle of
Armageddon, we discover that there is also talk of
Jerusalem. Some have erroneously assumed that this is the
Earthly Jerusalem; but a closer reading will reveal that
this is also a misguided understanding of the Scriptures. As
with other Prophets like Daniel and Isaiah, it appears that
Zechariah may possibly be taking a leap a thousand years
into the future after the Battle of Armageddon. Consider
these example verses:
"And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go
out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and
half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter
shall it be. And the LORD shall be king over all the earth:
in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one...And
it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all
the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up
from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts,
and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that
whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto
Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon
them shall be no rain." (Zechariah 14:8-9, 16-17)
First of all, notice the term 'living waters'. Does the
Earthly Jerusalem have living waters? Definitely not; but
the New Jerusalem does:
"And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as
crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the
Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side
of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve
manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the
leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."
(Revelation 22:1-2)
Notice also how we are told that the survivors of all of the
nations which were not destroyed during the Battle of
Armageddon, go up to worship the Lord from year to year.
Obviously, these people must be the redeemed of those
nations. We find the exact same scenario described in
Revelation chapter twenty-one AFTER the description of the
New Heaven and the New Earth, and AFTER the descent of the
New Jerusalem upon the New Earth:
"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. And the gates of it shall not be shut at
all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they
shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it."
(Revelation 21:24-26)
Clearly then, the Jerusalem Zechariah must be talking about
is not the Old Jerusalem, but the New Jerusalem. In the
article 'From Armageddon To The New Earth', I explain
another common prophetic misconception in which some Bible
students have erroneously assumed that the wolf, the lamb
and the lion dwelling together, described in Isaiah chapters
eleven and sixty-five, occurs during the Millennium. A closer
reading of the Scriptures reveals the same thing: the
Prophet was not referring to the Millennium at all, but
rather to the New Heaven and the New Earth. Some have also
misinterpreted Isaiah's prophecies concerning the New
Jerusalem and assumed that they are referring to the Earthly
Jerusalem when they are not. As I will show in a minute,
from the description provided by John in the Book of
Revelation, it appears that the Heavenly City may be
pyramidal or mountain-like in shape, with the Supreme
Headquarters at the apex. With that in mind, consider the
Jerusalem which Isaiah describes:
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the
mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top
of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and
all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and
say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of
his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion
shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from
Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall
rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into
plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall
not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn
war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in
the light of the LORD." (Isaiah 2:2-5)
These verses are clearly referring to the Last Days as the
opening verse reveals. Keeping in mind the things I shared
previously, notice the phrase 'mountain of the LORD's
house'. This is the 'my Father's house' which Jesus was
referring to in John chapter fourteen in which He said there
are many mansions! It is as big as a mountain; bigger in
fact; that is why it is 'the mountain of the LORD's house!
It is a humongous golden pyramid-shaped wonder which
measures approximately one thousand five hundred miles on
each side of its square base; and its height is equal to its
length and breadth!:
"And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the
city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 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. 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. And the building of the
wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like
unto clear glass." (Revelation 21:15-18)
There is no way that such a structure could possibly be
sitting in the tiny country of Israel which is only a
fraction of the size of the Heavenly City! Perhaps that is
why Isaiah says 'it shall be established in the top of the
mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills'. Maybe it
will hover in the air as I described previously. So then, it
is obvious to me that this Zion is NOT Old Jerusalem; it is
New Jerusalem, the Heavenly City! Notice the final verses I
shared from the Book of Isaiah. They definitely appear to be
speaking of the Millennium when the Lord will rule with a rod
of iron, exactly as King David wrote thousands of years ago
in the second Psalm:
"Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash
them in pieces like a potter's vessel." (Psalms 2:9)
Perhaps after the New Earth has been created, the Heavenly
City will actually settle upon its surface; but before that
time, it will hover somewhere above it during the Millennium.
Maybe everyone will have to be shuttled up to it in order to
make their offerings to the Lord. I really don't know. At
this point in time, all we can do is speculate. With that
inspiring description, I am going to bring this article to a
close. I trust that you have gleaned some useful information
from it; and that it has been a blessing and an inspiration
in your life. Remember, keep your eyes on Jesus, but also
turned towards the Middle East; because that is where it is
all going to be happening! Most of all, when things look
their darkest, and it appears that Satan has won, LOOK UP,
because your redemption draweth nigh; and you are going to
see something bright and wonderful coming in the sky! How is
that for a bit of Scriptural poetry? It won't be long!