Chapter Twenty-Seven/God's Kingdom Is Born!

 Aboout eight centuries earlier, Jehovah had addressed his symbolic wife, saying: "All your sons will be persons taught by Jehovah." (Isaiah 54:5, 13) Jesus quoted this prophecy and showed that these sons were his faithful followers, who later formed the congregation of anointed Christians. (John 6:44, 45) So members of this congregation, spoken of as God's sons, are also children of God's symbolic wife. (Romans 8:14) The apostle Paul adds the final piece of information when he says: "The Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother." (Galatians 4:26) The "woman" seen by John, then, is "the new Jerusalem above."

Exactly what, though, is Jerusalem above? Since Paul spoke of her as "above," and John sees her in heaven, she is clearly not an earthly city; neither is she the same as New Jerusalem," since that organization is the bride of Christ, not Jehovah's wife. (Revelation 21:2) Notice that she is crowned with 12 stars. The number 12 is associated with completeness in an organizational setting. Hence, these 12 stars indicate that she is an organizational arrangement in heaven just as ancient Jerusalem was on earth. Jerusalem above is Jehovah's universal organization of spirit creatures that acts as a wife, both in serving him and in producing offspring. 

Next time: Chapter Seven/God's Kingdom Is Born! 

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