Him that overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (Rev 3:12)
As we saw in part one there’s a great deal confusion on this subject, as with many Bible verses when taken out of context. But as you read on, New Jerusalem will take on a whole new meaning.
And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Rev 21:2-3) Note, this verse describes the Tabernacle of God as “he,” so hold that thought.
Now, a reminder this pertains to the Spirit not the material things, which affect our daily lives. As faith is not corporal, neither is New Jerusalem, and to gain proper understanding we must look at Scripture through God’s eyes as best we can. Paul said God is not the author of confusion; we add the uncertainty when we fail to realize the difference between earthly and heavenly in Prophesy and Scripture. So, let’s begin our journey with John’s unveiling of New Jerusalem; (Rev 21:9-14) the closing testimony of Jesus Christ given to men pertaining to wisdom and Salvation.
The first unique feature is New Jerusalem has the Glory of God, and its light is bright and clear as crystal. It has a great wall with 12 Gates, and in these gates are 12 Angels, and written on each Angel is a name of a Tribe of Israel. The next thing we see is four walls facing East, North, South and West, and in each wall, we find three Gates. Last of all, New Jerusalem “prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband” is built upon 12 foundations. So, we can already see that the Bride is prepared in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the teaching of the Apostles laying the basis of faith.
Our starting point is the blessings of Leah and Rachel over Jacob’s twelve sons; and the blessings over Ephraim and Manasseh given by Joseph, and later Jacob and Moses. In the New Testament, New Jerusalem is further revealed in the Gospel, and Letters of the Apostles and Paul. So, in each Gate we will spend some time with Jesus and the New Testament writers, as they open the simple beauty and wonder of it all.
The Angels in the Gates
We now need to look into the 12 Angels and the 12 Tribes of Israel, except there is a change in the ordering of the tribes we need to be aware of; the Genesis order and the Revelation order are not the same, and we will look into this in an upcoming post. Now, when each of Jacob’s sons was born they were given a blessing. These blessings carried an aspect of the son or his birth, and in the case of Leah and Rachel, something about them and their relationship with Jacob and the LORD. These blessings become identifying marks for the nature of each tribe.
In Revelation these blessings are the ‘voice’ of the Angel assigned to each Gate. The one exception is Manasseh, the first of two sons given to Joseph by Asenath in Egypt. The younger was Ephraim and as promised by God, later becomes a multitude of nations spread throughout the earth. The blessings follow the order of the Gates rather than the order of birth. The order of the Gates is set by the rules of encampment and travel by Ancient Israel’s Tribal brigades, but with a few changes in the tribal arrangement in the New Jerusalem Gates. The first group was the Eastern Brigade, so we will keep the same order of travel on our path to New Jerusalem, as the order of blessings mirrors our journey to Christ and His Kingdom; the journey of the Kings of the East. (Rev 16:12)
The order of the New Jerusalem Gates Rev 7:5-8 is:
East: Judah – Reuben – Gad
North: Asher – Naphtali – Manasseh
South: Simeon – Levi – Issachar
West: Zebulun – Joseph – Benjamin
The Eastern Gates
Leah’s blessing of Judah: “Now shall I praise the LORD.”
Leah’s blessing of Reuben: “The LORD has looked upon my affliction.”
Leah’s blessing of Gad, born of Zilpah: “Behold a troop comes.” Jacob’s later blessing “…but he shall overcome at the last.” (Gen 49:19)
Through the Angels at the Gates of the Eastern Wall, come those of Reuben who have lived under affliction and the debt of the Law; in Gad, those who have overcome through their steadfast belief and now keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus. (Rev 14:12) In Judah we see a change of heart and mind Godward, the vital step we all must take to enter the Kingdom.
The Spirit of Prophecy bound in the Angels of the Eastern Gates, triumphs over the testing we all must endure. Israel’s new Law of Faith rises above dogma and creed: they hold sacrosanct the Great Command Hear O Israel; the LORD thy God, is One LORD. (Mk 12:29) They now see and believe JESUS is the Existing One. He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (Rev 21:7) This is the Israel of God Paul mentioned in Galatians.
Repentance and belief is the first part of our journey. The LORD hears our supplication and looks in kindness upon our hunger and thirst for truth. He has promised, when we are loyal we will be justified in Him. And we ‘hear’ and believe Peter that Jesus is both LORD and Christ. (Acts 2:36)
Overarching Statements of Jesus:
I am the Gate: if anyone enters in by me he shall be saved, and will come in, and go out and find pasture. (John 10:9: ISV)
He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. (Mark 16:16)
Be not afraid, only believe. (Mark 5:36)
These things I have spoken to you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer as I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
Paul made his definitive statement about salvation and conviction in Romans. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)
Apostolic Foundation:
Peter: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your soul. (1Pe 1:7-9)
Paul: For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. (1Cor 4:17)
James: Take, my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name of the LORD, as an example of suffering affliction and of patience. (James 5:10)
John: I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. (1John 2:13)
This witness from the foundation builders speaks directly to New Jerusalem’s Eastern Gates. It is the point of entry, the first on our journey to perfection in Faith. Jesus said; if anyone enters in by me he shall be saved. “I am the Gate.”
New Jerusalem is His heavenly possession gifted us when we first believe. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit; (1John 3:24) which ‘comes down’ out of Heaven making us of one Spirit abiding in the same Tabernacle. These first three blessings given to Jacob’s sons are tied to the Eastern Gates, as the light first rises in the East. He shall bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness. (Micah 7:9)
The Northern Gates
Leah’s blessing of Asher, born of Zilpah: “Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed.”
Rachel’s blessing of Naphtali, born of Bilhah: “I have wrestled my sister and have prevailed.”
Manasseh’s blessing, bound in Josephs. Born of Rachael, Joseph’s name means “The LORD shall add.” Manasseh’s name means ‘to forget or overlook.’
Manasseh is named in the 144,000 sealed First Fruits. (Rev 7:6) His banner is an olive branch, the symbol of peace, of reconciliation and settlement. The Angel in Manasseh’s Gate keeps the promise that our sins are blotted out and remembered no more. And in Manasseh, we see the abundance of the LORD’s Grace revealed in the nations throughout the ages.
Through the Northern Gates are those drawn by the Heavenly Gospel of Jesus renewed; His Word cleansed in their heart and mind. Not by men: Scripture now interprets itself. Out of Asher come the Fruits of the Spirit born of JESUS Faith; and in Naphtali, the Law of Faith prevailing over sin of the flesh.
And from this, comes the pure fruit of forgiveness setting our neighbours free of obligation. We see in Manasseh, Grace endowed enacted through the Lamb; our debt purchased by His sacrificial Blood. And Grace throughout the generations, which has brought forth a multitude; Grace also that allows us to believe … Because He first loved us. (1John 4:19)
The fundamentals in the second part of our journey are blessing, addition and remission, the natural progression to follow belief. When we resolve to do something positive, benefits accrue. So it is with the road of faith. When we have entered by the Gates of belief the LORD will begin to bless our lives, to add and remove. And we see this order from Peter at Pentecost in repentance, baptism and in the adding of the Holy Spirit. They are reliant upon each other in sequence.
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost: For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. (Acts 2:38-9)
Apostolic Foundation:
Paul: Blessed is the man to whom the LORD will not impute sin. (Romans 4:8)
James: But whoever looks into the perfect Law of Liberty, and continues, not being a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work; this man shall be blessed in his deed. (James 1:25)
Luke: To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins… (Luke 1:77)
Paul: I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more. (Hebrews 8:12)
When Job spoke of the LORD giving and taking he was referring to life; that God is the arbiter of soul and spirit. So it is with the blessings, additions and remission. When He blesses our faith He removes our doubt. When He adds to our understanding, He removes our lack of knowledge. When He forgets our sin, He adds eternal life.
The Southern Gates
Leah’s blessing of Simeon: “The LORD has heard that I was hated and so has given me this son also.”
Leah’s blessing of Levi: “Now will my husband be joined to me.”
Leah’s blessing of Issachar: “God has given me my hire, because I have given my maid to my husband.”
From the Angels of the Southern Gates comes the substance of Gods Commandments on earth. In Simeon, we come to rest in the righteous judgement of Christ Jesus that divides our Faith in Him, from Sinai’s censure and debt. In Levi, the Commandments of Jesus become as living stones in us, and we are joined to the Father of Lights in the Covenant of an Endless Life, as we now begin to see them through His eyes. And in Issachar, the meek and the poor, the great fruits of charity that we do unto others, as we would have them do unto us.
Our faith becomes cleaner, as we now understand Jesus is the centre of our lives and all things: as the Spirit in the Prophets and Apostles, it is His Will, which drives our desire and thinking as He did theirs. The Comforter gives us understanding and knowledge, and we now move away from implanted ideas that everything centres on church dogma, creed and analysis. His Spirit in us, further reveals He is life and truth and His ways are now shaped in us by how we live and act; putting aside works, as we now rest in Him in righteousness through Grace.
Apostolic Foundation:
Paul: For he that is entered into His rest, he has also ceased from his own works as God did from His. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of unbelief. (Hebrews 4:10-11)
Peter: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2Peter 1:4)
John: He that loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him. (1John 2:10)
James: Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27)
Paul: Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, unto to the glory and praise of God. (Php 1:11)
The Western Gates
Leah’s blessing of Zebulun: “God has provided me with good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me.”
Rachel’s blessing of Joseph: “God has removed my reproach and shall add to me another son.” But, Rachel died giving birth to her second son, and as she departed, she called his name Benoni meaning “son of my sorrow.” But Jacob named him Benjamin: “son of the right hand.”
Moses said of Benjamin: “The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.”
From the Western Gates comes the Gospel of Salvation cleansed and glorified in Zebulun. And in Joseph, we are marked with the Everlasting Covenant of Peace; for every knee shall bend and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD. And from Benjamin, the Bond of Perfectionrestored in the poor, the blind and the naked. As Judah and Joseph become one in the LORD’s hand, the Spirit and Bride are now also joined in the Tabernacle of Christ.
As the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, so the Gates follow the same pattern from birth to death; not a physical death but the putting to death of those things, which corrupt our faith. It is our journey to perfection, the joining of the Bride to the Husband; now one in Spirit inside the walls of the City of Completion, with the name of JESUS written upon us.
Apostolic Foundation:
Paul: Let us go on to perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. (Hebrews 6:1-2)
Paul was expressing a fundamental truth that while these things are important, they are not the entirety of salvation. They are our ways, not God’s ways. Our LORD is perfection and desires the same in us, as He said to Abraham walk before me and be thou perfect. (Gen 17:1) By His Grace, our faith is justified and cleansed when we stay in His word. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. (John 15:3)
John: If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us. (1John 4:12)
Peter: But the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. (1Peter 1:25)
Paul: For by one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14)
John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him … In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)
Zion’s Gates
And it shall come to pass, whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance … and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. (Joel 2:32) And the LORD mentioned by Joel is the same LORD declared by Peter. There is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
Isaiah made it very clear JESUS is Almighty God. (Isaiah 9:6) Many Prophets name the Almighty as our “Deliverance” “Sanctuary” and “Zion.” The Gates of New Jerusalem are Zion’s Gates; they bear the name of the LORD Jesus Christ. Zion, therefore, is the Word of God made perfect in us prepared as a Bride for her husband through which Salvation is assured. Now my husband will be joined to me…
So, New Jerusalem is not a tangible city; it never was and never can be. The LORD’s Jerusalem we attain through faith. It comes down out of Heaven with His Spirit to live in us when we meet the conditions of faith and baptism Jesus expects, and live in the foundation teachings of the Apostles and Paul. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them in New Jerusalem, the Promise fulfilled by love and devotion.
“Now I shall praise the LORD.” “The LORD has looked upon my affliction.” “God has removed my reproach.” “The LORD shall add…”
JESUS be praised and glorified in the Earth and the Heavens:
In love and peace as always,
James