Two Jerusalems In Revelation

The Book of Revelation mentions two Jerusalems:

Jerusalem #1: Old Covenant, Physical Jerusalem (Revelation 11:1-14)

- The great city where the two witnesses were killed and Jesus was crucified.

- The two witnesses proclaimed the message of Jesus and the judgment that was about to come upon first-century Jerusalem.

- This is the judgment Jesus foretold in Matthew 23-24; Matthew 26:64; Mark 13, Luke 19:41-44; Luke 21; Luke 23:26-30.

- The two witnesses were killed in Jerusalem but came to life and were taken to heaven.

- Jerusalem was figuratively called Sodom and Egypt because of their corruption.

- Jerusalem is called the great city which matches the great city of Mystery Babylon and the great prostitute.

- The great city (Jerusalem, the prostitute, Mystery Babylon) was judged by God and burned (Revelation 16-19; see also Matthew 22:7) by the Roman armies.

- Prior to burning, the Roman armies carried out God's judgment on Jerusalem with a 42 month siege.

Jerusalem #2: New Covenant, Spiritual Jerusalem (Revelation Revelation 21-22)

- John saw the new Jerusaelm.

- The reason John saw a new Jerusalem at the end of his vision was because the destruction of old Jerusalem was the subject of most of Revelation.

- John saw the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth, which is much like Peter seeing a sheet coming down from heaven (Acts 10).

- Peter is not seeing a real physical sheet or animals, and John is not seeing a real physical city.

- Both visions show the new covenant way God now relates to people.

- The new Jerusalem symbolizes believers in Jesus who God dwells in, bringing his presence to earth and growing his kingdom throughout the world.

- Believers (the new Jerusalem) shine the light of Jesus to the nations of the world.

- Heaven pours the water of life (the message of God's grace given to us in Jesus) through the new Jerusalem for the healing of the nations.

- As more and more people hear the good news of God's grace in Christ and place their faith in Jesus, the kingdom of God grows.

- The new Jerusalem is likened to the spiritual temple of God in Ephesians 2:11-22 where believers in Jesus from all nations form the temple of God...the temple where God dwells by his Spirit.

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