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Editor’s note: Ewin Lutzer introduces Janet Willis for this episode of Bible Prophecy Daily™ Get his excellent book No Reason to Hide: Standing for Christ in a Collapsing Culture.
This episode introduces Janet Willis’s series on the topic of God’s city, New Jerusalem. Understanding what God says about this city can prepare us for difficult times that might lie ahead. The long view helped the heroes of the faith persevere. Abraham was “looking for the city . . . whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10).
Today, many hunger to know about the future, especially about heaven, but they often look in the wrong places. People tend to look to contemporary claims of supernatural experiences. Jesus warned us that signs and wonders are powerful and can deceive us. A correct understanding of what God’s Word says about our future home can protect us from this kind of deception. Jeremiah says dreams and visions are not trustworthy like Scripture. He says it’s like choosing straw instead of grain (Jer 23:28-29).
When it comes to understanding heaven, specifically the New Jerusalem, we need to trust the grain, God’s Word. What we believe about Jesus certainly matters, but also what we believe about the Bible matters. John’s gospel records how Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word” (John 14:23). The book of Revelation highlights this by coupling these two doctrines six different times, particularly in relation to the perseverance of the saints.
In this series, as we examine what the Bible says about New Jerusalem, we will see that God has provided far more details about our future home than most people realize. Many prophecies specifically about Jerusalem have yet to be fulfilled. For example, Ezekiel gives us important details about a city to come that will have three gates on each side named for the twelve tribes of Israel. He goes on to say, “The name of the city from that day will be ‘The LORD is there!’” (Ezek 48:35) This series presents a fresh careful look at the shape, the size, and the timing of when New Jerusalem will arrive. As we study and compare what both testaments reveal, an exciting harmony will give us a clear view of the long view.
For more resources go to her website.
