The Case of the Crystal City

This thread is to share what you believe about the description of New Jerusalem, as outlined in Revelation 21. From reading the description, it sounds like it's a flying, floating perfect cube, composed entirely of crystals of various kinds and gold, however, an irish author (Patrick Heron), believes it is depicting a crystalline and gem-studded pyramid.

10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass

19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

---

What's your opinion of this scripture?

not versed on it - can't comment. Beliefs & intrepretation are personal.
Not really my cup of tea though.

Originally posted by one_small_step
not versed on it - can't comment. Beliefs & intrepretation are personal.
Not really my cup of tea though.

That's true about anything, really. A belief system is a belief system, regardless of the topic, regardless of the evidence for or against it. An example might be how very convinced people in the Soviet Union were that communism would work. They were so convinced of it, they killed millions of people to prove it.

Still interested if anyone has read or had any opinions regarding the very extra-terrestrial description of New Jerusalem, as posted in my opening comment of this thread.

It's a city composed of crystals of various kinds.
It's either a cube or a pyramid in shape.
It's huge, immense even.
It descends to Earth.
There's no indication it lands on Earth. In fact, it may hover above the landscape?

Any thing come to mind? Any ideas? Any theories you've heard personally?


[edit on 23-3-2006 by undo]

Pure imagination I think. Just somebody trying to express the most magnificent and awe inspiring building they could imagine, made entirely from precious jewels. The measurements don't seem to make any sense - where does 12,000 furlongs come from if one wall is only 144 cubits?

It's odd that they keep referring to 'pure gold' as like clear glass..

Originally posted by mythatsabigprobe
Pure imagination I think. Just somebody trying to express the most magnificent and awe inspiring building they could imagine, made entirely from precious jewels. The measurements don't seem to make any sense - where does 12,000 furlongs come from if one wall is only 144 cubits?

It's odd that they keep referring to 'pure gold' as like clear glass..

It's not just a building. It's descending through the air. Which means, it's defying gravity. It's a massive series of crystals of various kinds. The pure gold like clear glass, sounds like some type of crystal that is gold in color

It is approximately 1380 to 1500 miles long, 1380 to 1500 miles wide, and 1380 to 1500 miles high.

Rev 21:17-AND HE MEASURED THE WALL THEREOF, AN HUNDRED AND FORTY AND FOUR CUBITS (thick) (or 216 feet), ACCORDING TO THE MEASURE OF A MAN (or by man’s measurement-NIV), THAT IS, OF THE ANGEL (or which the angel was using-NIV).
The KJV does not designate whether the 144 cubits denote thickness or height. The angel was using the same measurements that a man would use to measure the wall.

Rev 21:18-AND THE BUILDING OF THE WALL OF IT WAS OF JASPER (or of diamond): AND THE CITY WAS PURE GOLD, LIKE UNTO CLEAR (or pure) GLASS.
Consider a huge, cube-shaped city. The wall of the city was as a diamond. The city was pure gold, yet transparent like glass.

www.parentalguide.com...

In those days, tall cities weren't exactly the thing...so it doesn't surprise me there's no mention of height, other than the walls. It's obvious its base is square in shape...and it flies. Always sounded like a UFO to me....

Personally though, I think it's just more ideallic visualization....and the only way to impart the grandeur of heaven to the followers of the time was to go with the "untold riches" motif...(jewel encrusted walls, etc.). Face it, if this was all true...God has some gaudy taste, and his walls look an old lady's handbag....

Hrm, I dunno. It seems more like it has something to do with the atomic structure of crystals, and how they vibrate at specific frequencies. There's something important about them, other than the fact they look nice. They were also in the breastplates of the high priests. According to judaism, the breastplate gems would glow under specific circumstances, typically during an event when God was answering their request for knowledge regarding judgement. The Urim and Thummim were in the breastplace (a white stone and a black stone) , behind which was placed the Tetragrammaton (God's holy name). When they required an answer, the breastplate gems would glow, or more specifically, the urim and thummim would glow: white stone for yes, black stone for no. It almost sounds like a computer with a built-in communication device, based on crystal frequencies.

nah, that just doesnt make sense. i think its just another part of the story to make it more plausable to state that holy men were infallible

as far as the city goes, its most likly describing not new jeruselem, but rather god itself, in that its huge and glorius, but in the end you can only truly see it in your mind and if it was ever really here, it'd still be above you and out of reach

I guess this is in this forum because you think it is about a UFO sighting?

So let me ask, has there ever been a sighting similar to this? No, I think it's safe to assume it is just another description of the kingdom of heaven.

I do think there are interesting stories in the bible that do sound like ET visitations.

Originally posted by Hal9000
I guess this is in this forum because you think it is about a UFO sighting?

So let me ask, has there ever been a sighting similar to this? No, I think it's safe to assume it is just another description of the kingdom of heaven.

I do think there are interesting stories in the bible that do sound like ET visitations.

The text says it's descending to Earth. In the context of the prophecies in the Book of Revelation, it's an end time event. I've written an e-book on the subject of UFOs in Revelation, entitled "Nibiru and Wormwood." It's mostly a refutation that Nibiru is not the 10th or 12th planet. Nibiru was the name of Nippur, which etymologically evolved: Nibru, Nibbur, Nippur. And that Wormwood is not Nibiru, but rather a massive mothership that crashes into the ocean. The biblical prophecies have specific language and sets of symbols that are understood when the rest of the bible is taken into context. One such symbol is a star falling to earth, which is always a metaphor for an angelic visitation. If it's a meteor, the biblical texts will say a rock or bunch of rocks fall to earth. The ancient people were not stupid. Since I believe angels are other races created by God, in other places in the universe and various dimensions, I see their choice of vehicles as particularly relevant to this topic.

Patrick Heron further elaborates on the topic by outlining the preponderance of pyramidal structures on the planet. He believes these were made by the angels or with their guidance, in an attempt to mimic God's handiwork, and that New Jerusalem will be a massive, crystalline pyramid that descends to Earth. This makes sense for several reasons, the least of which is the references to prisms of light, and my book on the subject of Enki's E.ABZU, which was not an actual pyramid or ziggurat, but rather a space vehicle which doubled as a home away from home, as it were.

Considering they knew of pyramids during the writings, I'd imagine that if it was meant to be pyramid shaped, they'd have said so...

As for the breastplate...yes, it's interesting and an astute connection, but I've never read anything supporting any mystical reason for crystal use in the church, aside from the assumption that like other weatlthy components (gems, jewels, gold, etc.) in the church are usually used to enhance the grandeur of the experience.

For those who don't know, the poster is referring to the breastplate worn by the high priest in the Tabernacle, which has inset gems bearing the full name of God. The high priest would go in to commune with God, using the Ark of the Covenant, and a rope would be tied to him (in case he got fried by God for not being pious enough).

Getting back to the topic though....I think the descent to Earth is more about describing coming down to collect the worthy, more than describing an actual craft.

Originally posted by Gazrok
Considering they knew of pyramids during the writings, I'd imagine that if it was meant to be pyramid shaped, they'd have said so...

As for the breastplate...yes, it's interesting and an astute connection, but I've never read anything supporting any mystical reason for crystal use in the church, aside from the assumption that like other weatlthy components (gems, jewels, gold, etc.) in the church are usually used to enhance the grandeur of the experience.

For those who don't know, the poster is referring to the breastplate worn by the high priest in the Tabernacle, which has inset gems bearing the full name of God. The high priest would go in to commune with God, using the Ark of the Covenant, and a rope would be tied to him (in case he got fried by God for not being pious enough).

Getting back to the topic though....I think the descent to Earth is more about describing coming down to collect the worthy, more than describing an actual craft.

It wasn't a matter of not being pious enough, but not following the specific instructions of how to handle and be in the proximity of the ark. The ark was a capacitor. It was electrical. It could accumulate huge static electric charges and release those charges if the person didn't handle or enter the area where it was located in a very specific manner. For example, they had to wear a specific type of linen because it was electrically neutral. The furniture of the tabernacle and the surrounding elements, were designed to accentuate this static discharge, so that only the priests who knew what to do would be able to access the area safely. It wasn't about piety, other than following instructions!

As far as the worthy being picked up by New Jerusalem, that is not what the texts say. The worthy are already with God when this event begins. This is the arrival of an UFO, as it were. A massive, crystalline UFO, with its own, internal energy source.