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The phrase "New Jerusalem" only appears in the Bible twice. Both times in Revelation.
Rev 3:12; 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
Rev 21:2; And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
There is almost a whole chapter of the Bible given to describe it, however.
Rev 21:1; Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
Rev 21:2; And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3; And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
Rev 21:4; and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."
Some people say the New Jerusalem is only Spiritual, some even go so far as to say it's already here. But there are a number of problems with that.
First according to the verses above, the New Jerusalem doesn't come down out of heaven until the old Earth and old Heaven pass away, there will be a new heaven and a new Earth.
But so far, the old Earth is still here. It would seem the old heaven is still around also.
The other problem here is, that verse 4 above says when the New Jerusalem comes down, there won't be any more pain, sorrow or death.
There is still plenty of pain, sorrow and death around today.
Rev 21:9; Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."
Rev 21:10; And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:11; having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
Rev 21:12; It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
Rev 21:13; There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west.
Rev 21:14; And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
I believe this is a literal description. Not a spiritual metaphor. There are a couple of reasons for this. First many times in the Bible, the word "like" is used.
Something is "like" something. For example...
Rev 1:14; His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire.
Rev 1:15; His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.
In this passage, His hair was not actually wool, but "like" wool, and "like" snow. His eyes weren't actually fire, but "like" fire. His voice wasn't actually water, but "like" many waters.
However we don't see this in the description of the New Jerusalem, the word "like" isn't used. It gives the materials and physical dimensions of the city. Spiritual metaphors do not have physical dimensions.
Rev 21:15; The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall.
Rev 21:16; The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.
Rev 21:17; And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.
Rev 21:18; The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
Rev 21:19; The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
Rev 21:20; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
Rev 21:21; And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
1500 miles long, 1500 miles wide, and 1500 miles tall. Almost the size of Australia, or 2/3rd's the size of the continental Unted States. Larger than 4 largest countries in Europe.
This is a massive city. The tallest mountain on the Earth in Mt Everest, actually Mauna Kea, which makes up part of Hawaii is taller, but much of it is under water. But even this is
less than 6 miles tall. The New Jerusalem will be 1500 hundred miles tall. Almost as tall as 250 Mauna Kea mountains stack on top of each other.
There is some debate on whether it will actually rest on the surface of the Earth or whether it will float above the Earth. I don't really know for sure.
Rev 21:22; I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
Rev 21:23; And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Rev 21:24; The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
Rev 21:25; In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;
Rev 21:26; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;
Rev 21:27; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
It also seems there will be sun or moon anymore, some say perhaps they will still exist, and simply not be needed.
It will never be nighttime in the New Jerusalem.
Rev 22:1; Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb,
Rev 22:2; in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rev 22:3; There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;
Rev 22:4; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
Rev 22:5; And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.
Rev 22:2; is similar to Ezekiel 47.
Ezek 47:1; Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar.
Ezek 47:2; He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side.
Ezek 47:3; When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles.
Ezek 47:4; Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins.
Ezek 47:5; Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded
Ezek 47:12; "By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing."
Isa 18:7; At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the LORD of hosts From a people tall and smooth, Even from a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation, Whose land the rivers divide—To the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, even Mount Zion.
Isa 24:23; Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, For the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory will be before His elders.
Mic 4:7; "I will make the lame a remnant And the outcasts a strong nation, And the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on and forever.
Mount Zion is possibly a metaphor for the New Jerusalem here. The thought here is, the New Jerusalem will be in the same place as the current Jerusalem.
Rev 3:12; 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
Rev 21:2; And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
There is almost a whole chapter of the Bible given to describe it, however.
Rev 21:1; Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
Rev 21:2; And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3; And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
Rev 21:4; and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."
Some people say the New Jerusalem is only Spiritual, some even go so far as to say it's already here. But there are a number of problems with that.
First according to the verses above, the New Jerusalem doesn't come down out of heaven until the old Earth and old Heaven pass away, there will be a new heaven and a new Earth.
But so far, the old Earth is still here. It would seem the old heaven is still around also.
The other problem here is, that verse 4 above says when the New Jerusalem comes down, there won't be any more pain, sorrow or death.
There is still plenty of pain, sorrow and death around today.
Rev 21:9; Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."
Rev 21:10; And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:11; having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
Rev 21:12; It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
Rev 21:13; There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west.
Rev 21:14; And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
I believe this is a literal description. Not a spiritual metaphor. There are a couple of reasons for this. First many times in the Bible, the word "like" is used.
Something is "like" something. For example...
Rev 1:14; His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire.
Rev 1:15; His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.
In this passage, His hair was not actually wool, but "like" wool, and "like" snow. His eyes weren't actually fire, but "like" fire. His voice wasn't actually water, but "like" many waters.
However we don't see this in the description of the New Jerusalem, the word "like" isn't used. It gives the materials and physical dimensions of the city. Spiritual metaphors do not have physical dimensions.
Rev 21:15; The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall.
Rev 21:16; The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.
Rev 21:17; And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.
Rev 21:18; The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
Rev 21:19; The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
Rev 21:20; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
Rev 21:21; And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
1500 miles long, 1500 miles wide, and 1500 miles tall. Almost the size of Australia, or 2/3rd's the size of the continental Unted States. Larger than 4 largest countries in Europe.
This is a massive city. The tallest mountain on the Earth in Mt Everest, actually Mauna Kea, which makes up part of Hawaii is taller, but much of it is under water. But even this is
less than 6 miles tall. The New Jerusalem will be 1500 hundred miles tall. Almost as tall as 250 Mauna Kea mountains stack on top of each other.
There is some debate on whether it will actually rest on the surface of the Earth or whether it will float above the Earth. I don't really know for sure.
Rev 21:22; I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
Rev 21:23; And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Rev 21:24; The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
Rev 21:25; In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;
Rev 21:26; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;
Rev 21:27; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
It also seems there will be sun or moon anymore, some say perhaps they will still exist, and simply not be needed.
It will never be nighttime in the New Jerusalem.
Rev 22:1; Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb,
Rev 22:2; in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rev 22:3; There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;
Rev 22:4; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
Rev 22:5; And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.
Rev 22:2; is similar to Ezekiel 47.
Ezek 47:1; Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar.
Ezek 47:2; He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side.
Ezek 47:3; When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles.
Ezek 47:4; Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins.
Ezek 47:5; Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded
Ezek 47:12; "By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing."
Isa 18:7; At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the LORD of hosts From a people tall and smooth, Even from a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation, Whose land the rivers divide—To the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, even Mount Zion.
Isa 24:23; Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, For the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory will be before His elders.
Mic 4:7; "I will make the lame a remnant And the outcasts a strong nation, And the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on and forever.
Mount Zion is possibly a metaphor for the New Jerusalem here. The thought here is, the New Jerusalem will be in the same place as the current Jerusalem.
