The Daily Word of Righteousness

An Examination of Current Teaching, #11

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. (Revelation 21;23)

There will be a Gentile church in Heaven and a Jewish kingdom on the earth.

The "city" is the Bride of the Lamb, the new Jerusalem. It is the glorified Christian Church and shall be located forever on the new earth, not in Heaven.

If there is a Gentile Church in Heaven, and the new Jerusalem is a Jewish kingdom on the earth, then the Jewish kingdom is vastly superior to the Gentile Church.

The Throne of God and of the Lamb are in the new Jerusalem, supposedly the Jewish kingdom. Its glory fills the whole earth. The Holy Spirit is a river of eternal life flowing from the Throne of God. The Jewish saints will govern the creation of God forever.

Will the Gentiles be lying on their couches in their mansions during this time?

Can you see what unscriptural folly such teaching is? It is obvious the new Jerusalem, being the Bride of the Lamb, is the glorified Christian Church. It is composed of those Jews and Gentiles who are the one new man in Jesus Christ.

Whether or not there are any spiritual beings left in the new heaven we do not know. The fact that Christ was made a high priest after the order of Melchizedek suggests there may be orders and races of which we know nothing.

We know one thing, however: On the new earth will be located the glorified Christian Church, and it shall govern the works of God's hands for eternity.

The Old Testament has a great deal to say about the coming of the Kingdom of God and the rule of God over the earth. There is no indication whatever that there will be a kingdom of Gentiles in Heaven and a Jewish kingdom on the earth. There is only the one Kingdom of God. It is in Heaven now and will come to earth when Jesus returns.

This is the Kingdom into which we are born when we are born again, whether we are Jewish or Gentile by race.

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. (Psalms 2:8)

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. (Psalms 145:13)

At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. (Jeremiah 3:17)

In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. (Daniel 2:44)

In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."  (John 3:3)

But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. (Acts 8:12)

Encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. (I Thessalonians 2:12)

To be continued.