Where is the New JerUSAlem? Part 1

It's kind of important for Christians to properly understand the bible. Because of this it's also important to determine where the prophetic city of Jerusalem is in the bible and where the new Jerusalem is going to be when it comes to earth as described in Revelation 21. In Isaiah 2:3 it says “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

A place called Jerusalem is going to be where the messiah will lead the nations from. The name of the city has a few different definitions such as abode of peace, instruction of peace, or God's city. No matter what your definition is you should agree that it is the place where the Messiah is or rules from.

For some unknown reason some get hung up on this word. Not only is this one word confusing to some, but there are other terms in the bible that are just as equally or more so that some people have problems with.

Take for example the word "Jew" it can mean a race of people, it can mean a religion, it can mean an economic ideal such as "Jew him down", and some even call the Israelites from the tribe of Judah “Jews.” For the record I call the people from Judah Judahites and not Jews because it leaves no doubt in your mind to what I'm talking about when referring to Israelites from the tribe of Judah.

Another word in prophecy is the word "Babylon." Babylon was an ancient city that was destroyed before the time of the Messiah, So obviously when the bible speaks of the futuristic prophetic city of Babylon, obviously something else is meant rather than this ancient city or a city that is in this exact location.

The word Jerusalem is also confusing to most clergy simply because they seem to think that the city in futuristic prophecy is the same ancient city of the bible, and will have the same geographical location as the ancient city that was in Palestine. 

The city of Jerusalem was an ancient city that was destroyed just like the city of Babylon  was, it was destroyed and Solomon's temple was looted in 587-586 B.C. 

After 70 years of being captive in Babylon the Judahites that came from Judah returned to the area where Jerusalem was. In the book of Ezra and Neamiah we are told there were less than 45,000 Judahites that returned to this area once called Jerusalem and was now occupied by aliens that were transplanted there by the Babylonians. These aliens practiced what was called the Traditions Of The Elders that the Messiah spoke out against. Today we now know this false system of worship as Talmudism or Talmudic Judaism. When the true Judahites returned from their 70 years of captivity they were definitely the minority in their own land. It's also worth mentioning that this Anti-Christ city that they called Jerusalem then was destroyed again in 70 A.D. by a Roman named Titus (this is not the same Titus the New Testament book of the bible was named after).

But enough of me talking about Jerusalem being destroyed, lets now look to see what the bible says about this city. In Matthew 23:37-39 The Messiah said that Jerusalem has killed the Prophets and your house will become desolate. This obviously cannot mean the prophetic city of Jerusalem because the futuristic city of Jerusalem is going to have a glorious future!

The Prophet Zechariah talked about the destruction of this city to the Israelites of the Babylonian Captivity and also the Assyrian Captivity. The return of less than 45,000 total Israelites from all tribes as mentioned above cannot possibly constitute a regathering of Israel by the stretch of any imagination. Let's see what Zechariah said about the city of Jerusalem:

In Zechariah 1:14-17 the Prophet Zechariah said that Jerusalem will be spread abroad. At that time Zechariah was in Jerusalem, so where is the prophetic Jerusalem going to be? Hint: it's not where the old Jerusalem was at that time.

Zechariah 2:1-4 The plural word “towns” is used to describe the new Jerusalem. Many men and cattle will be in it. It is to be so large it would take an angel to measure it. This is because it had been spread abroad as prophesied in Zechariah 1:17.

In Zechariah 8:2-3 God says he will be in both Zion (seat of government of Jerusalem) and in the whole nation of Jerusalem. If we really believe that Christianity is the true faith, then we also have to realize that the city has to be a Christian nation(s).

Zechariah 8:7 God said he will bring his people to this new futuristic land and we will be his people, in other words the people will be called "Christians" that occupy these new lands.

We can also look at the words of the Messiah to get a clue about the regathering of Israel.

In Matthew 10:6 and verse 23 the Messiah told his apostles to only go to the lost sheep of Israel. If the cities of Israel were in Palestine the Apostles could have covered those cities within just a few weeks, however he did say that the cities of Israel would not be gone over until his return. This is because as in Zechariah 1:17 the cities of Israel would be many and would be spread abroad, and by history, where did they go? To Judea, Samaria, (which both at that time had a small remnant) and then into the utter most parts of the earth. 

Note: When researching this topic I found there is tons of information on this subject. I am going to have to put it in different posts to try to keep it brief I hope all will bare with me because it's kind of important to understand the words that are in the bible to fully understand the bible. Whether or not people agree with me personally or not, I pray they will put forth the effort to fully understand the bible!