Why are there walls in heaven

There are two, well technically three, problems both Jeffress and the ubiquitous Facebook meme seem to be oblivious to. The first problem is that proof-texting only ever makes you look like a fool.

In this case, the facts of the matter are the biblical context of this passage in Revelation. Revelation is unlike most of the Bible. Duh, you knew that right? But again, fear not, friend.

The point at hand is that if we take ancient apocalyptic imagery and try to shoehorn it into our present circumstances, particularly in a literal way, we only ever end up looking foolish. But that is not how the writer of a book like Revelation understood truth. In fact, some truths are best told through myth. The truth of Revelation is found in its message that the work of redemption and reconciliation begun with Jesus will come to completion, that the first will be made last, that the weak will be made strong, that death will be no more, that the powers and principalities of this world will be overturned, and God will dwell among us forever.

The truth of Revelation is not found in the moon literally turning to blood, in stars literally falling from heaven, in dragons literally roaming the earth, or in walls literally being built around heaven to keep out undesirables. For exactly the opposite reason that Robert Jeffress and the Facebook memes would like you to believe. Babylon is playing stand in for the Roman empire, the great oppressor of the ancient world when the book of Revelation was first written.

Nevertheless, the story of Revelation is a story of the fall of an empire, of all empires that oppose the kingdom of God.

The book of Revelation is a story about hope, hope that one day all things will be made new and the old order of things will pass away forever. Because the New Jerusalem is an image of the way life should be not a sanctification of the way life is now. The New Jerusalem is a subversive image that rejects the way of the Roman Empire, a way of sorrow and mourning, death and oppression, fear and exclusion.

City walls were commonplace in the ancient world. They kept the scary and often deadly outside world at bay. Walls provided a sense of safety and kept undesirables away from those on the inside. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The city has a tree of life, too, a tree that yields a different type of fruit each month It has no sun or moon either, because the glory of God illuminates it ; Try to imagine all the glory that beams forth from God the Father and God the Son bouncing off not only all that clear gold but also that clear river.

Oh, and did I mention that there is no night there ; ? There is, however, an important fact about those twelve gates inside that wall around that city, and this fact gets to the heart of this post. Those gates are never closed Revelation Furthermore, New Jerusalem is a city in which all kinds of different nationalities walk ; As Christians who take the Bible seriously, we have to be better than that.

Is illegal immigration a major issue in 21st century America? For the record, the city of New Jerusalem is not even the heaven that Christians go to now at death. That heaven is described in passages such as Isaiah , 2 Corinthians , and Revelation , and no mention is made of it having gates. Again, I just want us to understand scripture properly. If we can do, that will take care of most of our meme problems.

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. 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. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. Revelation , NASB. The wall is described as being made of costly stones. It contains gates and the dimensions of the walls are given in verses Why would the new Jerusalem have a wall for protection?

The answer is that the new Jerusalem does not need a wall since believers will no longer suffer Revelation and no wicked persons will be allowed in the eternal state Revelation , The wall is provided for symbolic reasons. It communicates that every believer in the eternal state will be protected. Every believer will be safe. So, what happens to all those lying nonbelievers? Do you suppose those foot walls are meant to muffle the screams from the lake? Like the aforementioned preacher, millions of people have read these sections of sacred scriptures or heard them preached for many a year.

Large numbers of the world, many living in extreme poverty outside the walled cities or walled minds, are dreaming of an eternity behind the high walls of the New Jerusalem sorry, no Jews this time with its gold, glitter, glory and gleaming God. A walk in the forest would feel heavenly right about now.

A real old-earth revelation. And no walls. You humiliate yourself before God. Yes, it will be a city with walls. Yes, we do currently have laws and boundaries to try to preserve some order. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account.