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From: Bill Steidtmann
C: Whacha doin'?
P: I'm dreaming about the pearly gates, and walking the streets of gold.
C: New Jerusalem?
P: Yeah. It sure is heavenly. Don't you want to live there?
C: Nope.
P: The only other place to spend eternity is in hell.
C: Actually I'm planning to go to heaven.
P: Well, then you'll be living in the New Jerusalem.
C: Why would heaven need a new one? It doesn't have an old one.
P: The old one is in Israel.
C: You mean here on earth?
P: Of course. And the new one is in Revelation 21:2 "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."
C: Why does it say "coming down"?
P: It must be a happenin' thing.
C: Why does it say "out of heaven"?
P: It must be ultra-heavenly.
C: Maybe it means the New Jerusalem will be down on the new earth, not in the new heaven.
P: I don't care what you say, I'm gonna walk the streets of gold.
C: Well, be sure to look up, I'll wave to you.
P: What are you, some kind of Holier Than Thou?
C: No. Those destined for heaven were chosen by God before the "foundation of the world".
P: And the people who live on the new earth, what are they?
C: They are chosen from the "foundation of the world", not before.
P: So how do you know which group you're in?
C: Before Acts 28:28 God was dealing with the earth group, and after that, the heaven group. Before Acts 28:28 there were 7 epistles from the apostles of the Jews, 7 epistles from Paul the apostle of the Gentiles, one of which he wrote anonymously, and 7 epistles through John in Revelation. After Acts 28:28 there were 7 more epistles from Paul.
P: How do you know Paul wrote one anonymously?
C: I don't, but I highly doubt that God would have him write a total of 13 letters. When the apostle of the Gentiles writes to the Jews, he is out of character, so he writes anonymously. If we ascribe it to Paul, there is numerical structure, and if we don't, a big mess. So let's call it faith.
P: That sure is a lot of sevens.
C: Maybe God is trying to tell us something.
P: Like what?
C: Well, here's one: Most of Revelation is about the earth group.
P: You're saying that New Jerusalem, with pearly gates and streets of gold, is not a description of heaven?
C: It's a nice place to live, but you wouldn't want to overextend a visit.
P: Then what is heaven like?
C: If you need to know, you've missed the point of why you're going there.
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