“And the temple of God was opened in heaven and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament :”—Rev. 11 : 19.
The Temple of God in which is the ark of his testament, is in heaven. St. Paul while in vision, was caught up to the third heaven, or paradise which we believe is the New Jerusalem. The word heaven, is applied to other places beside the New Jerusalem, see Gen. 1:8 and 17; Rev. 14:6. But as they do not contain God’s Temple, I must believe that the heaven in which is the Temple of God, is the New Jerusalem. Old Jerusalem, and its Temple were types of the New Jerusalem, and God’s Temple which is in it. The ark containing the tables of stone, on which God wrote the ten commandments with his own finger, were put into the Holiest. When John had a view of the opening of the New Jerusalem Temple, he saw the ark in the same place in the antitype, that it was in the type.
Therefore it is clear that Old Jerusalem, its Temple, and the furniture of that Temple, have distinct antitypes in Paradise. That Paradise was taken up from the earth after the fall of man, is plain, as there is no such place on the earth which answers the description of it given by Moses.—Gen. 3 : 23, 24. Also, the prophet says: “Behold, the time shall come, that these tokens which I have told thee shall come to pass, and the Bride shall appear, and she coming forth shall be seen, that now is withdrawn from the earth.”—2 Esdras, 7 : 26. The foundations, walls, and gates, of the New Jerusalem, have certainly been formed in Paradise, since Old Jerusalem was built: if not, then the New, is older than the Old. Abraham by faith looked for this City “which hath foundations;” but he did not expect to find it, until the faithful were raised. The Temple of Old Jerusalem was built purposely for the Old Covenant worship. The Temple, or Sanctuary of New Jerusalem, of which Christ is a minister, the Lord pitched and not man, purposely for the New Covenant worship. Therefore, when Christ has finished his ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary, and has redeemed his people, there will be no more use for the New Jerusalem Temple, than there was for the Temple at Old Jerusalem, after Jesus had nailed the ceremonial law to the cross. John had a view of the Holy City when it shall come down, Rev. 21 : 10, at the close of the 1000 years, Rev. 20 : 7—9, and said, “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it”—Rev. 21 : 22. He does not tell us what had become of it; but his saying that he saw no Temple therein at that time, indicates that he had seen one there before. The Holy City is called the Tabernacle of God, Rev. 21 : 3; Isa. 33 : 20; but it is not called so, until it is situated on the New Earth. The City is also called the Temple of God, Rev. 17 : 15; but not until the saints are raised, and gathered up into the City, where they will serve God “day and night.” Then the Holy City alone, will be the Tabernacle, or Temple of God.
THE JUDGMENT.
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat. 25: 31–33.
This scripture evidently points out the most important events of the day of Judgment. That day will be 1000 years long.—2 Pet. 3: 7, 8. The event which will introduce the Judgment day, will be the coming of the Son of Man, to raise the sleeping saints, and to change those that are alive at that time.
The second event, will be the King’s sitting “upon the throne of his glory.” The King will not sit upon the throne of his glory, until those who have followed him are raised, and sit upon the thrones of Judgment with him.—Mat. 19: 28. John saw in Vision, the length of time that Christ, and the saints would set on the thrones of Judgment, and has written: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a THOUSAND YEARS,” Rev. 20: 4. The third event, will be the gathering of all nations before the King, in their separate places. All nations cannot be thus gathered, until the end of the 1000 years, when the wicked dead will be raised, and gathered up around the Holy City. The saints will then be in the City, and the wicked out side of it. All nations will then be before him.
The fourth event, will be the delivering of the sentence by the King. His sentence upon the whole host of Gog and Magog, will be, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels,” Mat. 25: 41. If this is not the final sentence of the judgment on the wicked, I think we shall not find it in the bible. Therefore the wicked are not sentenced before Christ comes; but they will hear their sentence after they are raised, at the close of the 1000 years.
It is not necessary that the final sentence should be given before the first resurrection, as some have taught; for the names of the saints are written in heaven, and Jesus, and the angels will certainly know who to raise, and gather to the New Jerusalem. The fifth event, will be the execution of the final judgment. Some have taken the ground, that the 1000 years will be taken up, in executing the judgment on the wicked: but this cannot be; for the man of sin is to be destroyed with the brightness of Christ’s second coming: therefore the wicked are to remain silent in the dust, all through the 1000 years. How can the judgment be executed on the wicked, before they are raised? It is certainly impossible. John saw the wicked, all raised and gathered up around “the camp of the saints,” at the end of the 1000 years. He also saw fire come down “from God, out of heaven,” which devoured them. This will be the execution of the final judgment on all the wicked.
God executed his judgments on the wicked, in the days of Lot, and Noah, and at the destruction of Jerusalem, and will execute his judgments on the living wicked, at the pouring out of the seven last plagues; but the pouring out of all these judgments cannot be the final execution of the judgment. That will be at the second death. Then God will make all things new. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”—Mat. 25: 34. Then God will have a clear Universe; for the Devil, and his angels, and all the wicked, will be burnt up “root and branch.”
JAMES WHITE.
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