THE NEW JERUSALEM by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 31, 1872

THE NEW JERUSALEM.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.

TEXT.—Rev. 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.”

In order that we may properly understand the subject of our text, it will be necessary for us to first go back and notice some facts which are intimately connected with it. In Gen. 1, we read how God made the earth and arranged everything in perfect order upon it, and peopled it with living animals. It was a glorious work, in which God took delight, and over which the angels shouted for joy. When everything was thus made, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Gen. 1: 26.

This states the object for which man was made, viz., “to have dominion.” Where was this dominion to be? This is as plainly stated. It was to be over the cattle, and over the fowl of the air, and over every creeping thing, and over all the earth. Further, God says: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.” Verse 28. Thus we see that God designed that this earth should be filled with a race of men, whom he placed upon it to have dominion over it. In other words, this earth was created for man’s special abode, to be his dominion and kingdom. Thus the psalmist says: “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; but the earth hath he given to the children of men.” Ps. 115: 16.

God surrounded man with such circumstances that he would live forever, provided that he was obedient. Death never would have come upon this fair creation. God planted the tree of life, and gave man free access to it. Gen. 2: 8, 9, 16, 17. As long as he could eat of this tree he would not die. Gen. 3: 22, 24. Had Adam obeyed God and carried out his plan, this earth would shortly have been peopled by a race of undying men. But Adam and Eve sinned, and fell. Gen. 3: 1–6. And by this means the curse came upon the earth. Gen. 3: 17, 19. Not only did the curse fall upon man, but upon the whole creation. Rom. 8: 22, 23.

Now what was to be done? Must God abandon his plan of having the earth inhabited? Must he let it come to ruin and finally be destroyed? God forbid! This would be conceding a grand triumph to the devil. Christ, the second Adam (1 Cor. 15: 45; Rom. 5: 14), now comes in and undertakes to undo the work of Satan, rescue man and bring back the earth from the curse, and restore it to more than its original glory. In Gen. 3: 15, Christ was promised in the seed of the woman. He was to bruise the serpent’s head. Through him was to be carried out the purpose which the first Adam failed to accomplish. Thus Christ says of himself, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19: 10. What was lost? Not only man, but the earth itself was lost,—the dominion that God gave to Adam. Of Christ, the prophet says, “And thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.” Micah 4: 8. The first dominion, then, is to come back to Christ. This first dominion, as we have seen, was given to Adam; namely, the dominion of the earth. This he lost, and now it is to be restored through the second Adam. To this grand truth, Peter bears testimony in the following language. Speaking of Christ, he says: “Whom the heavens must receive, until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, since the world began.” Acts 3: 21. John testifies to the same thing in Rev. 11: 15: “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.” Mark; that he is to have these kingdoms, not simply a thousand years, but forever and ever. Again, look at the promise that God made to Abraham: “And the Lord said unto Abraham, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever.” Gen. 13: 14, 15. Here the promise is to Abram, that to him and his seed should the land be given. Stephen says, Acts 7: 1–5, that God has never fulfilled that promise to Abraham, so much as to set his foot upon. Further, Paul says that this promise to Abraham’s seed relates to Christ. Hear him: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” Gal. 3: 16. So we see that all this land which God promised to Abraham is finally to be given to Christ. And the psalmist says that this promise includes the whole earth. “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” Ps. 2: 8. So that indeed the first dominion will come to Christ.

Then again, God has promised that Christ shall sit on the throne of David, and reign over the house of Israel eternally. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Isa. 9: 6, 7. This promise is referred to by the angel when he said, “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke 1: 32, 33. He then will have the throne of David, and there will be no end to that kingdom. Peter refers to this promise on the day of Pentecost. “Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.” Acts 2: 29, 30. By this we see that Christ according to the flesh must sit on the throne of David. It will be David’s throne, and Christ a real, literal person, sitting on it. This we understand to be fulfilled when the earth has been redeemed from the curse, and brought back to its original Eden glory, and the saints get established in the new earth.

Now David not only ruled over territory and people, he not only had a throne and kingdom, but there was a capital to his kingdom, viz., old Jerusalem. So Christ, in his kingdom—the new earth—will have a capital. His throne will be in the capital. It cannot be old Jerusalem, nor the old throne literally on which David sat; for both of these have perished, ages ago, and do not exist; but the new and glorious city will be called the New Jerusalem; and the new and glorious throne will be built in that, which will be David’s throne. No one supposes that the very material that composed David’s throne will be gathered together, and be built up again, and Christ sit on it forever. It will be made out of different material, and by different hands, and yet it will be David’s throne; because God will build it for this purpose, and give it to him, that is, to his seed. So when Jerusalem is rebuilt, we do not suppose anybody will claim that the very material that formed the old buildings, the brick, the stone, and the timbers, which have long since perished, will be gathered together and built up again into a city! No; the city will be rebuilt, but with different hands and more glorious material.

Ezra and Nehemiah once rebuilt Jerusalem, and it was the same Jerusalem that was burned down; still it was not made at all of the same material of which it was formerly made. This fact is ever recognized in the rebuilding of any city. Chicago was burned down, and is now rebuilt. It is Chicago still, although much of the material in it was never there before. So it will be of the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the throne of David. God will rebuild it of the most glorious material. It will be placed in the very same situation where it was before, and ruled over by the same line of kings, viz., David’s posterity; by the same house, the house of Jacob; by the same people, the people of Israel; the same land, the promised land.

These facts are plainly taught by the prophets. Hear Isaiah: “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child; for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband; The Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.” Isa. 54: 1–5. To the same purpose, Amos says: “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.” Amos 9: 11.

Now that this rebuilding of Jerusalem and the throne of David takes place in Heaven, we have abundant proof. Thus Paul says: “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Gal. 4: 26. Then there is a Jerusalem above. Now what Jerusalem is this? It is the very one which God promised in the prophets should be rebuilt. Hear Paul again: “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.” Gal. 4: 26, 27. This, it will be seen, is a direct quotation from Isa. 54: 1–5, which contains the promise of rebuilding Jerusalem. So then this rebuilding of Jerusalem is done in Heaven, after which it is brought down to earth and becomes the capital of the new earth, Christ’s eternal kingdom, as soon will be shown.

Notice Christ’s promise to his disciples just before he ascended to Heaven. “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14: 2, 3. Here he speaks of his Father’s house and many mansions, and says that he had gone to prepare a place for them. Of Abraham, Paul says: “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Heb. 11: 10. That glorious city, then, which Abraham looked for, which will be the capital of that inheritance, which God promised him, is to be built by God himself.

Speaking still further of these ancient worthies, Paul says, “He [God] hath prepared for them a city.” Heb. 11: 16. Then God is to prepare the city in which the saints will finally dwell. In Heb. 12: 22, Paul says, “But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.” Here this city is called the heavenly Jerusalem. In the 13th chapter and 14th verse, he says, “For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” This city, then, which God is preparing, which Christ went to Heaven to prepare, is ever kept in view by the saints.

In Rev. 3: 12, Christ makes this promise to the overcomer: “I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of Heaven from my God.” Here we see that this city is to come down from God, after it is prepared. In Rev. 21: 2, John says: “And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Here it will be seen that when this city comes down it is all prepared, as a bride adorned for her husband. So this preparing is all done in Heaven before it comes down. This point is certainly very plainly stated. Then any other New Jerusalem, which is not prepared in Heaven, is not according to Scripture.

Notice some few facts: The New Jerusalem is the Lamb’s wife. The church is not the Lamb’s wife, as some have said. It is true that Paul illustrates the church by a chaste virgin, espoused to Christ; and it is

equally true that he has used many other illustrations of the church; but that does not prove that the church is the Lamb’s wife. On this point we have the direct statement of the Bible. Listen to one or two testimonies. Speaking of this New Jerusalem, Isaiah says: “For thy Maker is thine husband; The Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.” Isa. 54: 5. This is too plain to be evaded. The Maker of the New Jerusalem, then, is her husband. And John says he saw this New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Rev. 21: 2; and in verses 9, 10, he directly says that this New Jerusalem is the Lamb’s wife. “And there came unto me one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven from God.” Verses 9, 10. And further, to the same point, Paul says that this New Jerusalem is our mother. “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Isaiah says that this New Jerusalem is the mother of many children. “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child; for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.” Isa. 54: 1. This, Paul applies to the New Jerusalem, as we have seen in Gal. 4: 26, 27. If she be our mother and Christ’s wife, then Christ must be our Father; and so he is. Paul quotes and applies the following words to Christ: “Behold I and the children which God hath given me.” Isa. 8: 18, quoted in Heb. 2: 13.

Then Christ has children. Again, Isaiah 9: 6, Christ is called the Everlasting Father, The Prince. If he be the Father, he must have children. How is he the father of his people? Answer. By raising them from the dead and taking them out of the grave. He thereby gives them eternal life. Without this resurrection, they would never live in the world to come. This resurrection from out of the grave is in one sense a birth into life, hence they are called the children of the resurrection. Luke 20: 36. Christ was raised from the dead and Paul says that he is “the first-born from the dead.” Col. 1: 18. Now if Christ was born from the dead by his resurrection, then we also will be born from the dead at the resurrection, and Christ will be the one that gives this birth. In that sense he is our father. Notice Isaiah, in speaking of the resurrection. He says: “Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.” Isa. 66: 8. Thus we see,

That the New Jerusalem is prepared in Heaven.
That it comes down on the new earth as its eternal capital.
That it is the Lamb’s wife.
It is our mother.
Christ is our Father.

The marriage of the Lamb. We understand the marriage of the Lamb to be his reception of the holy city as the capital of his kingdom; that is, when God gives him the kingdom he gives him the city as its capital; and the ceremony of receiving this city and being crowned as king, we understand to be represented by this marriage. When and where does this marriage take place? The answer is evident. It is in Heaven, just before Christ’s return to earth. Thus we read: “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.” Luke 12: 35, 36.

By this we see that when Christ comes to earth after his saints, he comes from the wedding. This is decisive. The same fact is taught in the parable of the nobleman, showing when Christ receives his kingdom: “He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.” “And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom,” &c., Luke 19: 12, 15. This shows that he receives the kingdom in Heaven, just before his return. Daniel 7: 10, 13, 14, shows the same fact. Verse 10: “The Judgment was set, and the books were opened.” Verses 13, 14: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages, should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed.” Thus we see that when the Judgment sets, Christ comes in before the Father and receives his kingdom. In Rev. 11: 15–19, we have the same fact taught. Verse 15 declares that there were voices in Heaven announcing that the kingdoms of the world had become Christ’s. Verse 18 says that the time of thy wrath is come, and for the dead to be judged, and the saints rewarded. Verse 19 says that the temple of God was opened in Heaven. This takes place when Christ leaves the first apartment, or holy place, of the heavenly sanctuary, and goes into the most holy place, the temple, to perform the work of judgment. In Rev. 3: 7–11, we have this subject referred to again: “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.” Verse 7. He that hath the key of David, that is, he that received the throne of David; showing that this refers to the time that Christ received the kingdom. The opening and shutting refers to the opening of the inner apartment and closing of the outer door. “I know thy works; behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.” Verse 8. This opening the door has reference to the same thing, the opening of the inner apartment where Christ went in 1844. Verses 9–11, show that this applies just before Christ’s second advent, when he is about to come quickly.

In Matt. 25: 1–13, we have a most extended reference to the marriage of the Lamb. 1. Ten virgins go forth with their lamps to meet the bridegroom. 2. Five were wise, and five were foolish. 3. The foolish simply had their lamps, but no oil with them. 4. The wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered. 6. At midnight, the cry is made, The bridegroom cometh. 7. They arise to meet him. 8. But the foolish have no oil, and their lamps are out. 9. They ask the wise for oil, but are refused. 10. While they are gone seeking oil, the bridegroom comes, and the wise go in with him to the marriage, and the door is shut. 11. Afterward, the foolish come, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12. But he declares that he knew them not. This does not refer to the coming of Christ to the earth; for after the bridegroom is come, and has gone into the wedding, and the wise have gone in with him, then the foolish come, seeking admittance.

Now, if we apply this to Christ’s coming to the earth, it would prove that after he has come, and the righteous are accepted and translated, the wicked are seeking admittance into the same happy place. But this is contrary to all the teaching of the Bible; for when Christ comes, the wicked are destroyed by the brightness of his coming. 2 Thess. 1: 7–9; 2: 8. No. It refers to the change of Christ’s ministry from the holy to the most holy in 1844. The wise are those that followed him by faith into the marriage; while the foolish represent those who rejected the light on the sanctuary, and are in the dark with regard to its true work. When this marriage ceremony is fully completed, then Christ comes to the earth to take the guests—the saints—to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Rev. 19: 1–9. Here they remain, reigning with Christ during the thousand years. Rev. 20: 4. At the end of the thousand years, the New Jerusalem comes down upon the new earth. Rev. 21: 1, 2. Christ and the saints come with it. Jude 14, 15; Zech. 14: 4, 5. The tree of life is in the city. Rev. 22: 1, 2. This tree bears a different kind of fruit every month. In Isa. 66: 22, 23, the Lord says that the saints will come up to worship before the Lord every month; that is, they will go up each month to gather and partake of the fruit of the tree of life. Isa. 35: 10, says they shall go up with joy and singing. Then shall Jerusalem be a praise in all the earth. The nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it; and the kings of the earth shall bring their honor and glory in it. The glory of God shall light it. Death, and sin, and the curse, shall have passed away. And the city, we understand, will be a real fact, not an air castle, an imaginary Heaven, but a substantial reality, which the saints of God will possess throughout eternity.