Our Eternal Abode Most Glorious
By Allen Moon
The Desert Shall Rejoice and Blossom as the Rose—The Redeemed Will Behold the Face of the Redeemer in Glory—They Shall Not Build and Plant for Usurpers—Eternity of Bliss Their Inheritance IT is interesting to note the definite manner in which the future abode of the saints is set forth in the word of God. In order that there be no room for doubt, a positive form of expression is used. For example, the Saviour said, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." Matt. 5: 5. Not some particular generation of the meek, but the meek of all generations shall inherit, is God's decree. Having promised that the upright shall inherit the earth in place of all the children of Adam, the Lord proceeds in the same positive manner to state His purpose as to conditions that will prevail in the new earth. Speaking of the mountains, which were not in His original plan for this world, but came after sin entered, the Lord has said, "The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed" (Isa. 54: 10); and again, "The mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall" (Eze. 38: 20). Mountains and hills and steep places have impeded man's progress in the earth, evidently because God purposed it; but He would make known His purpose to remove all these, and the manner of accomplishing it: "For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of His place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under Him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place." Micah 1: 3, 4. The Lord drew the curtain aside, and gave another of His servants a view, that he might bring to us the story of what he saw. He says: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." Rev. 21: 1. Mountains, hills, and sea are all gone. These, by divine wisdom, were found to be necessary to the sin-cursed earth, but do not belong to the eternal world, the home of the ransomed. THE WILDERNESS AND THE DESERT TO BLOSSOM AS THE ROSE
God will, in His own way, beautify the place of His people, as He has promised. He says: "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God." Isa. 35: 1, 2. The glory and excellency of our God will be revealed in His wonderful works for the children of men. For "instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." Isa. 55: 13. A beautiful picture of this home of the saved is presented in the following words: "I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah-tree, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the fir-tree, and the pine, and the box-tree together: that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it." Isa. 41: 18-20. THE WILDERNESS TO BE LIKE EDEN
In another place we have what the Lord caused His servant to say by way of summing up the glory and beauty of His new creation, and His purpose for His loved ones: "For the Lord shall comfort Zion: He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord: joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." Isa. 51: 3. The garden in which the Lord placed man in the beginning was a representation of his future home. Had not man sinned, his home would have been eternal. He was a candidate for immortal life. But he having sinned, the Lord shut him away from the tree of life and out of the garden before all the earth had been included in Eden. The Lord has reserved the completion of His work of beautifying the whole earth and making it like Eden until sin shall be no more. AFFLICTION SHALL NOT RISE UP AGAIN
"He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time." Nahum 1: 9. Sin and affliction are inseparable, therefore sin and iniquity shall not rise up a second time to mar God's beautiful handiwork. "Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." Isa. 51: 3. "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Hab. 2: 14. Many like words of promise are found in the word of God. His people are assured of an added joy not found in connection with the garden before the fall. The word is: "Be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying." Isa. 65: 18, 19. Jesus said He was going to prepare mansions for His people. Afterward, when He had gone to heaven, and His beloved disciple was in exile, the dear Redeemer opened up to John's vision the fulfilment of His promise: for he wrote: "And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God." Rev. 21: 2, 3. God will dwell among His people. How glorious the thought that the ransomed shall forever look upon the face of the Redeemer in the home that He has prepared for them! As He has said again: "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Rev. 7: 15-17. John had such a near view of the city which came down, that he has given a description; notably, twelve gates having in them names corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel; and twelve foundations, after the twelve apostles of the Lamb; walls great and high made of precious stones so radiant that the saved might walk in the light thereof; and the streets of the city were of pure gold. Those who inherit this beautiful home will have nothing to mar their happiness, for He has said: "The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity." Isa. 33: 24. Still further concerning the earth, its capital city, and the people that dwell therein, God says: "For Zion's sake will I not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou [Jerusalem] shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee." Isa. 62: 1-5. In the above, the Lord makes reference to Jerusalem of old having been forsaken, and the land of Israel lying desolate, when His people were removed during their captivity in Babylon, in spite of the fact that God had chosen Jerusalem to dwell in, and the land had been given to the families of Israel by lot. But Jerusalem the golden, the city that John saw, the Lord has named Hephzibah, His delight and never forsaken, and her land Beulah, married; for when God again brings His people into the land of promise, He will apportion it to the families of the redeemed. In the case of the typical promised land, the inheritance was only temporary, but the119allotment was designed to convey to the mind of God's people an understanding of His purpose for the future world. The term "married" indicates the perpetuity of the individual inheritance. See Ezekiel 48. He says finally of His people who have married the land: "They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of My people, and Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." Isa. 65: 21, 22. The elect will have a right to the tree of life, and will never again be shut away from it. In short, their inheritance is eternal, and throughout the ages of eternity they will enjoy the work of their hands. "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord." Isa. 66: 23.