I have a question about the inhabitants who will live in New Jerusalem during the millennium and beyond. People say the church, Bride Of Christ, will be those who dwell there. I agree, but a question always tugs away at the back of my mind about the city Abraham was looking forward to as recorded in Hebrews 11:10. “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God”. There is only one city that I can recall in scripture whose builder and maker would be God, and that’s the New Jerusalem. So, if Church age believers are going to be the only occupants of New Jerusalem, what city is Hebrews 11:10 all about?
Rev. 21:27 says only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life can enter the new Jerusalem. Most people take this as a reference to the Church.
By saying Abraham was looking for a city whose builder and maker is God, the writer of Hebrews wasn’t necessarily saying Abraham expected to live in the New Jerusalem. He could have simply been saying that Abraham wasn’t concerned with having a permanent dwelling during His lifetime because He knew by faith that God had prepared an eternal home for him. The idea of a New Jerusalem positioned above the Earth was not introduced in the Bible until Paul spoke of it in Galatians 4:26.