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Article Title
by
Adam Maarschalk
This article appeared in the
2024 Fall issue of Fulfilled! Magazine
Although it wasn't announced in the average wall calendar, the 9th
annual celebration of Parousia – New Jerusalem Day took
place on August 4, 2024. Groups of believers celebrated in
various ways in Marietta, Georgia; Long Island, New York;
St. Louis, Missouri; Sharon, West Virginia; Chennai, India;
and elsewhere. They hold in common a belief in fulfilled
eschatology and a belief that Jesus is currently present
with His people in the New Jerusalem.
The idea for this holiday came
from Joshua John Trent (Iron Scepter Worldwide Ministries),
and this was the original announcement in advance of the
first official celebration:
Parousia — New Jerusalem Day will
be celebrated for the first time on August 7, 2016 (the
first Sunday in August). On August 10th, AD 70,
the Second Temple fell in Jerusalem. Jesus is the
cornerstone of a new temple, God’s dwelling place made up of
people from all nations (Eph 2:19-22). “Parousia” is Greek
for “presence.” We celebrate the presence of Jesus in New
Jerusalem, the city of God, where Jesus dwells today with
His people (Rev 21:3; 2 Cor 6:16).
Some have worn purple
(representing royal dominion) and/or gold (representing
purity). Other practices have included giving away something
old (to charity) and obtaining something new (representing
the new covenant). There was a website devoted to this
holiday that was accidentally taken down, but hopefully it
can be restored. In August 2016, a total of 253 people
located in the United States, India, and Russia checked in
at a page on that website to confirm that they participated
in the first celebration.
The following is adapted from an
article that Joshua John Trent asked me to write nine years
ago regarding the meaning of this holiday’s name (originally
published on the website that is currently down):
Parousia – New Jerusalem Day is
celebrated on the first Sunday of August. This is close to
August 10th, the day that the Second Temple was
destroyed in Jerusalem in AD 70. While the old temple and
the old city of Jerusalem were desolate (Matt 23:38) and
marked for destruction (Matt 22:7, 24:1-3; Mark 13:1-4; Luke
21:5-7), Jesus became the cornerstone of a new temple, God’s
dwelling place made up of His people from all nations (Eph
2:19-22). New Jerusalem and the new covenant were chosen
while earthly Jerusalem and the old covenant were cast out
(Gal 4:21-31).
Definition of the Word
“Parousia”
The word parousia
(pronounced par-oo-see’-ah) is a Greek word which
means “presence.” It also means “arrival” or “official
visit,” and “was used in the East as a technical expression
to denote the arrival or visit of a king or emperor, and
celebrated the glory of the sovereign publicly.”1 The
word parousia appears 24 times in the New Testament.2
It is used to speak of the coming or presence of various
individuals: Stephanas, Fortunatas, and Achaicus (1 Cor
16:17); Titus (2 Cor 7:6-7); Paul (2 Cor. 10:10; Phil 1:26,
2:12); and the lawless one (2 Thess 2:9).
In the majority of instances (16
times), though, it is used in connection with the promise of
Christ’s coming. This word comes “from the present
participle of G3918 [‘pareimi’]; a being near, i.e.
advent (often, return; specially, of Christ to punish
Jerusalem, or finally the wicked); (by implication)
physically, aspect: — coming, presence.”3
“Parousia” in the New
Testament
Here are the 16 New Testament
passages (NKJV) where Christ’s parousia is promised:
1. “Now as He sat on the Mount
of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying,
‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the
sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’”
(Matt 24:3).
2. “For as the lightning comes
from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the
coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt 24:27).
3. “For as in the days before
the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
and did not know until the flood came and took them all
away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be”
(Matt 24:38-39).
4. “For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in
his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who
are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor 15:22-23).
5. “For what is our hope, or
joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the
presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?”
(1 Thess 2:19).
6. “And may the Lord make you
increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just
as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts
blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints”
(2 Thess 3:12-13).
7. “For this we say to you by
the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until
the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those
who are asleep” (1 Thess 4:15).
8. “Now may the God of peace
Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit,
soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 5:23).
9. “Now, brethren, concerning
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering
together to Him, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or
troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if
from us, as though the day of Christ had come” (2 Thess
2:1-2).
10. “And then the lawless one
will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath
of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His
coming” (2 Thess 2:8).
11 - 12. “Therefore be
patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See
how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth,
waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and
latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for
the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble
against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.
Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” (James
5:7-9).
13. “For we did not follow
cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power
and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were
eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).
14. “Beloved, I now write to
you this second epistle… that you may be mindful of the
words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of
the commandments of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior,
knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last
days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying,
‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the
fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from
the beginning of creation’” (2 Peter 3:1-4).
15. “But the day of the Lord
will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will
pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt
with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in
it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will
be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy
conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the
coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens
will be dissolved being on fire, and the elements will melt
with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which
righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:10-13).
16. “And now, little children,
abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence
and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (I
John 2:28).
More than 100 passages in the New
Testament declared that the events of the last days,
including the Great Tribulation and the coming of Christ,
were “near” and about to take place “soon” in
the first century.4 Jesus stated that the time
would come when, upon seeing all the things He predicted
taking place (earthquakes, wars, famines, etc.), His
listeners could recognize that He was “near, at the very
door” (Matt 24:33). James recognized this very thing and
declared that the Judge was “standing right at the door”
(James 5:8-9).
N. T. Wright explains in his
book, Surprised by Hope (2008), the typical use of
the word parousia in the first century AD:
When the emperor visited a colony
or province, the citizens of the country would go to meet
him at some distance from the city. It would be
disrespectful to have him actually arrive at the gates as
though his subjects couldn’t be bothered to greet him
properly. When they met him, they wouldn’t then stay out in
the open country: they would escort him royally
into the city itself. When Paul speaks of
“meeting” the Lord “in the air,” the point is precisely not
– as in the popular rapture theology – that the saved
believers would then stay up in the air somewhere, away from
earth. The point is that, having gone out to meet their
returning Lord, they will escort him royally into his
domain, that is, back to the place they have come from. Even
when we realize that this is highly charged metaphor, not
literal description, the meaning is the same as in the
parallel in Philippians 3:20. Being citizens of heaven, as
the Philippians would know, doesn’t mean that one is
expecting to go back to the mother city but rather means
that one is expecting the emperor to come from the
mother city to give the colony its full dignity, to rescue
it if need be, to subdue local enemies and put everything to
rights (pp. 132-133, emphasis added).
“Parousia” Is Closely
Connected with “New Jerusalem”
In Revelation 21:1 - 22:5, we
read that “the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will
dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God
Himself will be with them and be their God” (Rev 21:3).
We also see that the Lamb, Jesus, is the light of God’s city
(Rev 21:22-24; 22:5). New Jerusalem is filled with the
presence (parousia) of Jesus; New Jerusalem is His
dwelling place.
New Jerusalem
Isaiah prophesied that God would
create new heavens and a new earth, and “Jerusalem as a
rejoicing” (Isa 65:17-18). In those days, there would
still be childbirth, death, building, and planting (Isa
65:20-23), i.e., the realities we know and experience today.
There would also be joy, peace, satisfaction, glory, and
comfort like a mother’s comfort (Isa 65:19, 66:10-13).
The apostle Paul likewise
described “the Jerusalem above” as a comforting
mother (Gal 4:26-28). The author of Hebrews told the
first-century saints that they had already come to “the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem . . . to
Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant…” (Heb 12:22-24).
These two passages, along with the book of Revelation,
contrast two covenants (the old and the new), two women (the
harlot and the bride), and two cities (old Jerusalem and New
Jerusalem):
Bible Passage |
Two Cities/Mountains
|
Two Women
|
Two Covenants
|
|
Galatians 4:21-31 |
“. . . and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage . . . but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.” |
“. . . this Hagar is
Mount Sinai . . . Cast out the bondwoman and her
son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir
with the son of the freewoman. So then brethren we
are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.” |
“For these are the two
covenant: the one from Mount Sinai . . .” |
|
Hebrews 12:18-29 |
“For you have not come
to the mountain that may be touched . . . But you
have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” |
|
“For you have not come
to [Mount Sinai] . . . But you have come to .
. . Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant.” |
|
Book of Revelation |
“. . . the great city
which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where
also our Lord was crucified . . . standing at a
distance for fear of her torment, saying, Alas,
alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city!” “Then I, John, saw the
holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband.” |
“Come, I will show you
the judgment of the great harlot . . . and He has
avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by
her.” “. . . the marriage of
the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself
ready . . . Come, I will show you the bride, the
Lamb’s wife.” |
“Then the temple of
God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His
covenant was seen in His temple. And there were
lightnings, noises, thunderings, and an earthquake,
and great hail” (imagery of Mount
Sinai — see Exodus 19). |
Numerous parallels can be made
between John’s vision of New Jerusalem (Rev 21:1 – 22:5) and
the descriptions of the new covenant made by Jesus, the
apostles, and even some of the Old Testament prophets. Among
them are the following5:
|
Passage |
Description and
Parallels |
|
Rev 21:2 |
New Jerusalem is God’s
holy city, pictured as a bride. Jesus said that His
people are a city set on a hill, the light of the
world (Matt 5:14; see also Heb 12:22-24, Gal 4:26). |
|
Rev 21:3 |
God dwells with His
people, He is with them, and He is their God. See
Ezekiel 37:27, 43:7, 48:35; 2 Corinthians 6:16. |
|
Rev 21:9 |
John sees the New
Jerusalem as a bride, the Lamb’s wife. He contrasts
the bride with the harlot/great city of Revelation
17, old covenant Jerusalem (Rev 11:8). Paul also
contrasted two women/two covenants in Galatians
4:21-31. |
|
Rev 21:12-13 |
The new Jerusalem has a
high wall with 12 gates, bearing the names of the 12
tribes of Israel, three gates each on the east,
north, south, and west sides. Compare to Isaiah
60:18, Luke 13:29, and to Ezekiel 48:30-35 (“…and
the name of the city from that day shall be: THE
LORD IS THERE).” |
|
Rev 21:14 |
The city’s foundations
bear the names of the 12 apostles. Compare to
Ephesians 2:20. |
|
Rev 21:15-18 |
The new Jerusalem in
John’s vision is cube-shaped, as was the holy of
holies in Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 6:20). The holy
of holies was overlaid with pure gold, and the holy
city in John’s vision is also entirely made of pure
gold. |
|
Rev 21:19-21 |
The foundations of the
city walls are covered in precious gems. See Isaiah
54:11-12, and note that Paul clearly affirms that
Isaiah 54 is about the church (Gal 4:26-27). |
|
Rev 21:22-23 |
Jesus is the temple and
the light of this city. See Isaiah 60:19. |
|
Rev 21:24 |
The nations of those who
are saved walk in the light of this city. See Isaiah
60:3, 10. |
|
Rev 21:25-26 |
The gates of the city are
never shut, and the glory and honor of the nations
come in to the city. See Isaiah 60:5, 11. |
|
Rev 21:27 |
Only those who are
written in the Lamb’s Book of Life enter this city.
See Isaiah 60:21. |
|
Rev 22:1 |
A pure, clear river of
water of life flows from the throne of God and of
the Lamb. See John 4:13-14, 7:37; Zechariah 14:8;
Revelation 22:17. |
|
Rev 22:2 |
On both sides of the
river is the tree of life, which bears different
fruit each month. The leaves of the tree are for the
healing of the nations. See Ezekiel 47:1-12. |
|
Rev 22:5 |
There’s no night in the
city, and no need for a lamp. See Isaiah 60:1,
19-20; Daniel 12:3, Matthew 13:43, John 8:12. The
citizens of New Jerusalem reign forever and ever.
See Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 1:33, Revelation 1:6. |
The New Jerusalem means “the new city of peace.”6 Jesus’ presence, His parousia, is in this city. He is the Prince of Peace, and there will be no end to His government and peace (Isa 9:6-7); He is peace (Mic 5:5). Let’s rejoice and celebrate, not only annually on the first Sunday of August, but also every day that His presence is in our midst, in the city of God, the New Jerusalem.
1. Gustav Adolf Deissmann (1908).Light from the Ancient East: The New Testament Illustrated by Recently Discovered Texts of the Graeco-Roman World.
2. https://biblehub.com/greek/strongs_3952.htm
3. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3952/kjv/tr/0-1/
4. https://adammaarschalk.com/2013/07/23/101-preterist-time-indicators/
5. For an expanded view of these parallels, see https://adammaarschalk.com/2016/03/26/long-island-conference-what-was-the-purpose-of-the-end-times-part-2/
6. https://adammaarschalk.com/2016/05/25/the-vision-of-the-old-testament-prophets-for-this-new-covenant-age-preterist-conference-call/
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