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New Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Old Testament
Scriptures, it is nevertheless true that this `city which hath
foundations' constituted a real and blessed hope in Old
Testament times. When we read such verses as Hebrews
11:9,10,13-16, we may feel at first that here at least the apostle
is saying something more than `the prophets and Moses did say
should come'. Let us observe, however, exactly what is written
in Hebrews 11.
We know, from the record of Genesis, that Abraham `believed'
and had `faith'. The nature of faith is not enlarged upon by
Moses and the prophets to the extent that it is so treated in the
New Testament, and the reason is fairly obvious.
To teach that Abraham's faith was `the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen' is certainly an
expansion of the Old Testament account, but it is not an
addition. How shall we intelligently interpret the fact that
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were willing to be tent-dwellers in the
very land of promise, dying in full faith without possessing more
than a burial ground in the land, unless we believe that they
knew that the promise upon which they rested demanded the
resurrection of the dead for its fulfilment and enjoyment? Paul
himself tells us that `they that say such things, declare plainly'
(Heb. 11:14 A.V.) or `make it manifest' (R.V.). While we may
have to admit that some of the deductions tabulated in Hebrews
11. 9,10 and 13-16, were not so `manifest' to us, our own
poorness of insight is surely not the standard whereby we must
judge the apostle. From the recorded attitude of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, it is `manifest' that they sought a country, and it is
also clear that if they had had an earthly country in mind, they