"But you have come to Mount Zion and the City of the Living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, and to myraids of angels"
(Hebrews 12:22).

Dear fellow disciples of Christ,

When we read the Bible we are reading something that was prophesied two thousand or more years ago. We should remember that we are living in a time when those prophesies are being fulfilled right before our eyes. Let us not mistake them all for prophesies still for the distant future. Prophets spoke and wrote of visions they saw of today. They expressed those visions in terms of their own environment. So when we read about “New heavens and a new earth” or “New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven” we should not think of an actual piece of land or people falling down from the sky. We have to understand that these sort of prophesy were written in such a way to be elusive to the less initiated, perplexing for those who are not so determined in their search for the kingdom of heaven, and daunting for those who need a warning. A diligent scholar of the Bible on the other hand, will look to see if the visions mentioned in the Revelation to John and Peter, are also mentioned elsewhere in the Bible.

Jerusalem is mentioned in the context of new heavens and new earth in Isaiah 65. Ezekiel describes a city, similar to the Revelation account of New Jerusalem, which is all temple named: Yahwehshammah (the LORD is there). Jeremiah in chapter 3 prophesied that Jerusalem will be called the Throne of the LORD where all the nations will be gathered to it. Zechariah in chapter 2 also speaks of “many nations joining themselves to the LORD” and Jerusalem being inhabited without walls, the LORD Himself being a firewall around her and the glory in her midst…all this because of the multitude of men and beasts in it.

From what we witness today many nations have indeed “joined themselves with the LORD.” For Christ—who is one with the Father—has made in His body, both Jewish and Gentile believers into “one new-man.” We are no longer strangers and aliens but fellow citizens of “the common wealth of Israel” (Ephesians 2:11-22). “There is neither Jew, (not even Messianic Jew) nor Greek, …for we are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28 paraphrased). So it means there is no justification for another separate Jewish state for the “so-called circumcision” (so-called Jews) who are not the true “children" of Jerusalem as the Lord sees them (Ephesians 2:11; Luke 13:34). If the “so-called circumcision” were “children" of Jerusalem, they would have received the messengers of peace particularly the Prince of peace with joy. Jeremiah prophesied in chapter 9 as in the NKJV: 25“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that I will punish all who are circumcised with the uncircumcised— 26“Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, and all who are in the farthest corners, who dwell in the wilderness. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.”

I believe the current state of Israel has rendered a strike on the new-man by entering into a covenant with President Bush and Pope Benedict who come across as representatives for the new-man nation. The media did indeed portray both of them recently as friends of the current state of Israel.

The question is: Isn’t the “common wealth of Israel” with Jerusalem as capital, the home for the “new-man” nation? No doubt we have to be the “salt of the earth” and disperse, permeate and invigorate the whole earth beginning in Jerusalem. Yes, we ought to be in the diaspora (dispersion) to undertake the Great Commission, but there is also an aspect of making an Aliyah—ascending up or immigrating to Jerusalem—not just in the end but on an ongoing basis. For the Lord has said, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! Our Lord also spoke about this ongoing Aliyah program of the new-man nation into the kingdom of heaven in Luke 13:22-30:

24“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25“When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26“then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27“But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28“There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 29 “They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 30“And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”

One of the reasons for this ongoing Aliyah is, “many nations will join with the LORD” and will have referendums may be, to become one with the common wealth of Israel--a sort of lifting up Christ as Head. Another reason for the ongoing Aliyah is, we are not only the “salt of the earth” but also the “light of the world.” You do not place a lamp under a basket, meaning, in the dark corners of the world all the time as salt is kept to invigorate the whole earth... We have to bring that lamp and place it alongside with other lamps on the lamp-stand namely the Menorah so that all may be illumined and the Father gets the glory (Matthew 5:13-16). "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:2).

Referring to Jerusalem our Lord said, “A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” This speaks of the high scrutiny we will receive since God has “raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” But it also means that the heavenly place is ours for the sitting. It means that we should not set our city (Headquarters—Throne for the Lord) in some obscure place but on the mountain of the LORD! "Beautiful in elevation (for situation), the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion" (Psalm 48:2). Anything short of that will not satisfy our Lord. As Brother K. Phillip puts it, "He wants to see us seated in heavenly places experientially!" The author of Hebrews in verse 11:16 speaks of a heavenly place, which the faithful yearned for. The author later points to Mount Zion and the city of the living God--the “heavenly Jerusalem”--as that heavenly place (verse 12:22). Mount Sinai was in the wilderness but Mount Zion is in the Promised Land.

So what does it mean when Paul writes, "Now ... Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem , for she is in slavery with her children." (Galatians 4:25). He wrote that almost 2000 years ago speaking of Jerusalem of that day meaning not the place itself but the state of it at that specific point in time. Alas what have we done? We have thrown Jerusalem to the dogs. The British cleaned it up and gave it to "the so-called circumcision." "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ “And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. “Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first" (Luke 11:24-26). Paul writes further in Galatians 4:26: "But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother." Now "Jerusalem above" and the "heavenly Jerusalem" of Hebrews 13 are one and the same. They both correspond to a hypothetical Jerusalem estate consisting of all those who are in Christ who have made an "Yeridah" (opposite of Aliyah) just as Yeshua had done by laying down His life instead of rising up and ceasing the throne. He descended only to rise again. Indeed those who are today in Christ have died and have risen again in the waters of Baptism (Romans 6:1ff), which is the first resurrection. "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (Revelation 20:6). Now those who are being saved are dying daily to this day in the waters of Baptism and thus Christ is making Yeridah (descent/exile) through His disciples even to this day. Why? To show that we have been joined to Christ and therefore our roots are really in Jerusalem, which is the "Throne of the LORD," and that those who are forced to leave are actually 'descending' from something that is theirs, and not just choosing to live somewhere else.

Capernaum was well dug with miracles to plant the mustard seed by the Lord Himself for a purpose. Our Lord probably wanted to lay the foundation there for a headquarters of the kingdom of heaven since He knew that "the so-called circumcision" will remain to this very day and will reject Him as king and as the rightful heir to the throne of David (Luke 1:32), which is Jerusalem. So Capernaum it is for now, our Head's (Yeshua's) quarters--a village for comfort.

Now, there is a difference between the heavenly and the earthly. Brother K. Phillip of Jehovah-shammah in Chennai, India writes: “This heavenly aspect, which is emphasized by the apostle Paul in relation to the Church of which His House shown to David was so symbolic. The Lord's Church was in the mind of God "before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:4). The plan therefore was heavenly, from God. The Church was to be an expression on earth of all the love and harmony of the heavens and of the government of God there.”

So the pattern of the temple given to David speaks of Jerusalem materially or physically, and the pattern given to Paul speaks of the heavenly or the spiritual. There was, as Ezekiel saw in his vision, "an enlarging... still upward" (Ezekiel 41:7). So with the pattern given to David : the bottom "was five cubits... the middle ... six ... and third (upper)... seven" (1 Kings 6:6). It was an enlargement upward, a pointer surely to the “Inverted Pyramid Organization structure” because our Lord has said that the one who is least among us is the greatest (Luke 9:48b).

Now, how can we safeguard this paradoxical attribute of being both the salt of the earth (make Yeridah/be in the diaspora) as well as be the light of the world (make Aliyah) that our light may so shine that the world will see our good works and glorify the Father? The answer is in “network communications.” The Church-of-old achieved this with whatever means it had then—by walk, horseback, camel, ship, etc. Today the Body is more mature than ever before. It is no longer to be called the Church (a loose assembly) but it should be called the Bride, for it is a well integrated Body with many communication systems within her. We have “Airbuses” that can carry more than eight hundred passengers to make a physical Aliyah and alight in Jerusalem. And we have a corporate nervous system in the Internet to spread out and organize ourselves as in the heavenlies to do ministry at the speed of the Spirit in the diaspora. If there is any multi national corporation that could benefit from the Internet, it is the Church (the new-man nation). What is more, the Church should take the Internet to a new level by taking up the leadership of this technology. Today the Church uses it only as a means of disseminating information. But tomorrow she can use it to be an active embodiment of Christ!

Godspeed, as you prepare to make the Aliyah-Yeridah!

Your brother in Christ,
Caleb Motupalli
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P.S.: Our Lord compared the kingdom of heaven to a woman who took some leaven and hid it in three pecks of dough until the whole dough is leavened. So won’t you take some time to share this article in its entirety if possible, with some of your friends?
P.P.S.: Thus says the Lord just now: “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
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© 2006-2015 Caleb S. Motupalli

~Most of our problems will be solved if only we yield our freewill to the Lord's will.~

Last edited by Caleb on Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:04 am; edited 1 time in total

We hope Naomi--a type of the believing remnant of Israel-in-exile (the Messianic Jews)-- even as she is returning to her Savior, the Lord Yeshua, would make the Aliyah to Jerusalem. And the rest of the believers a type of Ruth would cleave to Naomi and also make the Aliyah to Jerusalem.

According to the the current State of Israel's Law of Return, Jews who have converted to another religion including Christianity have lost their right to return to Eratz Israel.

Therefore, let Naomi and Ruth first make the Aliyah to the New Jerusalem and glean in the Skyfeast. Then Boaz--a type of Christ--will spread His tabernacle over her.

The New Jerusalem will serve as a stopover before we enter into the Heavenly Jerusalem and make claim to what is rightly ours.
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© 2006-2015 Caleb S. Motupalli

~Most of our problems will be solved if only we yield our freewill to the Lord's will.~