Bible Poetry Reading Plan: Job 25-26
The Heavenly City is Huge!
Hebrews 13:14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the City that is to come. (ESV)
At the end of the book of Revelation the apostle John saw a picture of Heaven, in the future,
coming down to earth – and what did he see? A city descending to the earth; this city is huge,
to be sure, but it has walls, clearly defined boundaries, and clearly defined measurements. It is
not infinite in size – it does not go on forever and ever, nor does it have fuzzy borders, nor is it a
‘spiritual’ place as opposed to a physical place. It is a real, physical, and material city that exists
somewhere in the universe today (see Revelation 21:1-4, 9-18, 21-26; 22:1-3). Heaven is not in
another dimension, if so; it couldn’t come down and rest on the earth. Since John called this city
the New Jerusalem many Christians have mistakenly believed that it is new in the sense that it
will only come into existence in the future. The New Jerusalem that John saw was nothing else
then Heaven itself, it’s the same place God is living right now, the place He has always lived. John
uses the words “New Jerusalem” to differential it from the Jerusalem that is presently on earth in
Israel. The New Jerusalem will come down and replace the earthly Jerusalem. This Heavenly city
is also very huge; in fact, it’s about 1500 miles by 1500 miles (Rev. 21:15-18). This means that
it would cover an area from Thunder Bay to Vancouver, down to San Diego. If the Heavenly city
had a perimeter it would take you 100 hours of steady driving with no breaks, at highway speeds,
to drive around it. By comparison, you could fit 1,606 New York City’s inside the New Jerusalem.
Remember, the New Jerusalem is a city therefore there won’t be miles and miles of empty land or
farmer’s fields. This city will be filled wall to wall, with people, angles, houses, shops, businesses
and magnificent buildings and architecture. The population of such a city could easily reach 12 or
13 billion people, almost twice as many people as live on the entire earth right now.
PRAYER and MEDITATION
Read Revelation 21.
1. What are some of the amazing things about the New Jerusalem?
2. In what way is your view of Heaven changing as you read this passage of Scripture?
3. Ask the Lord to impart to your heart joy as you meditate on the magnificence of Heaven.
Ask Him to awaken something in your spirit so that you can grasp the splendor of your
eternal dwelling place.
