“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”

This is not a new teaching. The writer mentioned the same idea in connection with Abraham. The Jews were sure that Jerusalem would be the eternal city of God, but that was not the case. God made that plain by having the Gentiles destroy it and the temple, which made the city special.  No city on this planet will last. We now have a large group of non-Jews who are expecting God to rebuild earthly Jerusalem so that Jesus will have a place to reign. They envision a reign on the earth. The writer of Hebrews makes it plain that the Christian does not have an eternal city on the earth. We are not looking for a rebuilt city on the same planet. Our city is the heavenly Jerusalem.

The New Jerusalem will not be built in Palestine. It is not an earthly city but a heavenly one. It will not be inhabited by flesh and blood but with the spiritual saved ones of God’s kingdom. His kingdom is not going to be in Jerusalem in Palestine. If that were the case, he would have secured it while Jesus was on earth. Some would have you think that God couldn’t do it because the people wouldn’t let Him. Listen to Jesus, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” (John 18:36)

Jesus was not stopped from reigning by men. He began reigning as He said, just not in this world and not in Jerusalem. If Rome were the problem, Jesus had legions of angels at His disposal. He didn’t need them because He established His kingdom in spite of men. He is not coming back to reign in Jerusalem because He is already reigning in Jerusalem and every other earthly city.

Task for Today: Don’t confuse earthly Jerusalem with heavenly Jerusalem. Earthly Jerusalem will be destroyed at the last day, along with the rest of the universe. The heavenly city of God will be revealed. Jesus will sit on His throne. Don’t you want to reign with Him for eternity? Sure, you do. The seek the city to come.