789. As for what this church is going to be like, the other prophets gave predictions about it in many passages. I will present just a few here. In Zechariah,
There will be a day, which is known to Jehovah - it will not be day or night, but around the time of evening there will be light. In that day living waters will go forth from Jerusalem, and Jehovah will become king over the whole earth. In that day there will be one Jehovah, and his name will be one. (Zechariah 14:7-9)
In Joel,
And on that day it will happen that the mountains will drip with new wine and the hills will flow with milk. And Jerusalem shall remain from generation to generation. (Joel 3:18-20)
In Jeremiah,
At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all the nations will be gathered together to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem. No longer will they go toward the obstinacy of their evil heart. (Jeremiah 3:17; Revelation 21:24, 26)
In Isaiah,
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful dwelling place, a tabernacle that will not be taken down. Its stakes will never be removed and its ropes will not be broken. (Isaiah 33:20)
[2] In these passages, Jerusalem means the holy New Jerusalem, which is described in Revelation 21 and means the new church. Again, in Isaiah,
A branch will come out of the trunk of Jesse. Justice will be his loincloth, and the truth will wrap his thighs. Then the wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard [will lie down] with the goat. The young ox and the young lion and the fatted calf will be together, and a little child will lead them. The bull calf and the bear will graze; their offspring will lie down together. A nursing child will play over a cobra's hole, and a weaned child will reach a hand over the den of a poisonous snake. They will not do evil and they will not defile themselves anywhere on my holy mountain, because the earth will be full of the knowledge of Jehovah. In that day the nations will seek the root of Jesse, who stands as a banner for the peoples, and glory will be his rest. (Isaiah 11:1, 5-10)
As we all know, these conditions do not yet exist in the churches, least of all in the most recent church. In Jeremiah,
Behold, the days are coming when I will make a new covenant. This will be the covenant. I will put my law inside them. I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. They will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Revelation 21:3)
[3] Again, it is a well-known fact that conditions like these have not come about yet in the churches. The reason is that we have not turned to the God who can be seen - the God we "will all know. " Yet he himself is the Word or the law that he will put inside us and write on our heart. In Isaiah,
For Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until its justice goes forth as brightness and its salvation burns like a lamp. You will be called by a new name that the mouth of Jehovah will announce. You will also be a beautiful crown and a royal miter in the hand of your God. Jehovah will be pleased with you, and your land will be married. Behold, your salvation is coming, and his reward is with him. They will call them "a holy people" and "those redeemed by Jehovah. " You will be called a sought-after city, and not a deserted city. [Isaiah 62:1-4, 11-12]
