Welcome to Geography 101! Although most people would agree that "geography" is the study of the features of the Earth and the distribution of life on Earth. In this class we will focus on three locations, one located on Earth, which is Israel, and two locations not on this Earth ... Heaven and New Jerusalem, and Hell.
The order of our study will be Heaven and New Jerusalem, Hell, and Israel. Ready to get started? Let's go!
Heaven and New Jerusalem
Heaven is a word used to describe many different things, from how food tastes to a state of mind. Remember the song by Belinda Carlisle, Heaven is a Place on Earth? Wouldn't that be a scary thought given the way things are on Earth with murders, rape, child abuse, etc?
So what exactly is Heaven? According to God's Word, there are three heavens.
These are:
The first heaven is the atmosphere surrounding the Earth, our sky ... Acts 1:9-11.
The second heaven is space, which includes our solar system, stars and other galaxies ... Gen 1:14-18, Psalm 8:3.
And the third Heaven is the location of God's throne, from where He governs the entire universe ... 2 Cor 12:2.
For the purposes of this class, we will look at the third Heaven.
Heaven just happens to be the residence of Almighty God ... Psalm 11:4, Matt 6:9. And for those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, heaven is their home too ... 2 Cor 5:8! So, let's learn about some of the characteristics of God's heaven.
Heaven is called Paradise and is where Jesus is right now, sitting at the right hand of the throne of the Father, doing such things as running the universe and making intercession on our behalf, which is a fulltime job ... Luke 23:43, Eph 1:20-23, Heb 7:25.
Heaven is the home of all those who believe in Jesus and He has prepared a place in heaven for those who believe in Him ... 2 Cor 5:8, John 14:2. Kinda cool, isn't it!
Looking for joy and pleasure evermore? Heaven is the place for you. God says that in His presence is joy and at His right hand are pleasures that will last throughout eternity ... Psalm 16:11.
There is no death, sorrow, or crying in Heaven because God Himself will wipe away all tears ... Rev 21:4.
We will see God face-to-face ... 1 John 3:2. Can you imagine seeing the Creator of the Universe, your Creator?
We all get a new body in Heaven, the ultimate makeover ... 1 Cor 35:49! Imagine "Body by God".
This is just a brief look at what Heaven is about and what it will be like. However, this wouldn't be complete without a look at the Holy City of Heaven, New Jerusalem ... Rev 21:12.
New Jerusalem will be the final residence of all believers in eternity and God among them ... Rev 21:2-3.
The size of the City is amazing ... 1,500 miles wide, 1,500 miles long, and 1,500 miles high ... Rev 21:16. This equates to 3,375,000,000 square miles!
The foundation of the City is made with twelve different stones, such as jasper, sapphire, emerald, and amethyst ... Rev 21:19-20, all the hues of the rainbow.
The City has twelve gates and each gate is a single pearl ... Rev 21:21.
The streets in the City are pure gold, so pure it's like looking through glass ... Rev 21:21.
Jesus Himself will be the light in the city, and there will be no more need for the sun and moon ... Rev 21:23.
There will be a River of Life, which is clear as crystal, in the middle of the street, and the Tree of Life on either side of the River, bearing twelve kinds of fruit ... Rev 22:1-2.
Once you really get an understanding of this place, God's residence, and ours too, you will be blown away. There's also a book by David Jeremiah called Discover Paradise that is worth reading because it brings it all to life.
Hell
Unfortunately, Hell isn't a joke. Many people like to laugh it off and say there is no Heaven or Hell. Or some people say there is no Hell and that a loving God wouldn't send a person to Hell, in which case they are correct. God doesn't send anyone to Hell ... it's our choice. Regardless, saying and/or believing there is no Hell doesn't make it so. Hell is a real place, so let's learn about this place.
Hell is forever and was made for Satan and his angels ... Matt 25:41.
Can you imagine total darkness? This is used to describe Hell ... Matt 22:13.
Hell is a place of an eternal unquenchable fire ... Mark 9:43-48.
Think you won't remember in hell? Think again, anyone in Hell will be fully conscious, a place of memory and remorse ... Luke 16:19-31.
If you think Hell will be fun, you are wrong. Hell will be a place of misery and torment ... Rev 14:10-11.
Hell is a place of everlasting punishment and eternal separation from God ... 2 Thess 1:9.
So serious is the reality of Hell that when talking to His disciples Jesus said that if your foot or hand causes you to sin, it is better to cut it off and enter into eternal life maimed or lame than to enter Hell where the fire is never quenched having two feet or two hands. Jesus also said that if your eye causes you to sin that it is better to pluck it out and enter the kingdom of God with one eye rather than Hell with two eyes. In all instances when speaking, Jesus references Hell as a place where the worm does not die and the fire is never quenched ... Mark 9:43-48.
It is not God's desire that anyone should go to Hell but to have eternal life through Jesus Christ ... John 3:16-17, 1 John 5:11-12, 2 Peter 3:9; however, God leaves the decision in our hands ... Rom 10:9-13 ... choose wisely!
Israel
Anyone who isn't aware that Israel is certainly in the spotlight a lot anymore must be the person who lives under a rock. Have you ever wondered why Israel seems to be in the news so much? Let's look at Israel from the Word of God and see what God says about Israel.
One of the first things to know is that Israel is the "apple of God's eye" ... Zech 2:8, so it's important to know as much as possible about Israel. Here are just a few facts as they pertain to Israel.
God promised He would make Abraham a father of many nations ... Gen 12:1-3, Gen 15:5.
When Abraham was almost 86 years old and his wife Sarah about 76, God promised them an heir through which He would establish His covenant ... Gen 15:4.
Sarah doubted God's Word because she was old, so she had her maidservant, Hagar conceive the child with Abraham ... Gen 16:4, which was born Ishmael ... Gen 16:11.
Although Ishmael lived to be 137 years old and have 12 sons, Ishmael was not the one who God would establish His convenant with ... Gen 17:18-19, Gen 25:12-18.
God again told Abraham that Sarah would bear a son, Isaac, through which He would establish His covenant ... Gen 17:21.
Isaac was born when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 ... Gen 21:5.
Isaac married Rebekah at age 40, and at age 60 had twin sons, Esau and Jacob ... Gen 25:20, Gen 25:23-26.
Although Esau was the firstborn, he sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew, which then entitled Jacob to receive the blessing from his father, Isaac ... Gen 25:29-34, Gen 27:1-40.
Israel is a nation that was born from one man whose name was Jacob; however, God changed Jacob's name to Israel ... Gen 35:9-11, and Israel would father twelve sons. These twelve sons would become the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel.
That's how the nation Israel came into existence. Today, many Arabs recognize they are descendants of Ishmael, while Jewish people recognize they are descendants of Isaac, but all are descendants of Abraham.
Since God specifically said He would make His covenant with Jacob, who God renamed Israel, let's look at some of God's promises to Israel through His covenants with Israel.
Abrahamic Covenant
This is the covenant God maked with Abraham in which He promised to make him a great nation. In addition, this is the covenant in which God promised the land, from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euprates River, that will be Israel's ... Gen 12:1-3, Gen 15:18.
Mosaic Covenant
This is the covenant God made with Moses, and the nation Israel, on Mt Sinai, where God gave His divine law, which included the Ten Commandments ... Exodus 20:1-17. This covenant is set apart from other convenants in that God's blessing on Israel was dependent upon Israel's obedience to the Law. If Israel was obedient then God would bless them, but if they disobeyed then God would punish them. In the event of disobedience to God's Law, the law required that people offer animal sacrifices as atonement for their sin and maintain a right standing with God ... Exodus 24:4-8. God established the Mosaic Covenant on the basis of blood sacrifice, involving the death of innocent animal substitutes for humans. This would ultimately pave the way for the New Covenant, the one in which Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, would be the final sacrifice and shed His blood for the remission of sins
The Mosaic Covenant is especially significant because in it God promises to make Israel "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation", separated from all other nations and devoted to God ... Exodus 19:6. It is significant because it is here that Israel received the Mosaic Law that was to be a schoolmaster pointing the way towards the coming of Christ ... Gal 3:24-25. The Mosaic Law would reveal to people their sinfulness and their need for a Savior and it is the Mosaic Law that Christ Himself said that He did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it instead ... Matt 5:17.
Davidic Covenant
This is the covenant God makes with King David in which God promises David and Israel that the Messiah (Jesus Christ) would come from the line of David and the tribe of Judah, and would establish a kingdom that would endure forever ... 2 Samuel 7:10-13. In this covenant, God reaffirms the land He promised to Israel, and that David's descendent or "seed" will succeed Him as king of Israel and that David's throne wouldl be established forever ... 2 Sam 7:16.
New Covenant
The new covenant is first spoken of in the book of Jeremiah. Remember, the old covenant (Mosaic Covenant) that God had established with His people required obedience to the Old Testament law. Because the wages of sin is death ... Rom 6:23, the law required that people perform an animal sacrifice to atone for their sin and maintain a right standing with God.
According to the prophet Jeremiah, there would be a time when God would make a new covenant with the nation of Israel where His laws would be put in their mind and written in their hearts rather than being written in stone. And He would be their God and they would be his people ... Jer 31:31-33.
Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law of Moses and create a new covenant between God and His people by shedding His blood for those who would believe in Him ... Matt 5:17, Luke 22:20. With the onset of the new covenant, we are not bound by the law, rather we are given the opportunity to receive salvation as a free gift from God ... Eph. 2:8-9.
