Question & encouragement from Revelation 21:16-18?

Question

Here are the verses:

Revelation 21:16-18
"The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass."

12,000 stadia is equal to about 1400 miles.......and 144 cubits is equal to roughly 200 feet. Can you imagine just how immense the kingdom of heaven will be?

One length of the wall will stretch 1400 miles! That's like drawing a straight line between New York & Miami.

If there are any mathemeticians out there, try and figure out approximately how many people could fit comfortably in a cube that is 1400 miles x 1400 miles.

-Primo

These verses loudly proclaim the vastness & infinite nature of our God & Savior.

William,
I use the NIV.......which is a brilliant translation of the Scriptures.

Answer 1

Actually, this is just Jerusalem. It does not even talk about the other cities.

The sky and even space is part of the limited physical restraints of time-space. Heaven is part of another dimension with no such limitations. Sound, light, smell, and taste are not limited by a small bandwidth of experience.

The apostle Paul had a small glimpse of heaven. It was so different for him, he could only speak of it from the third person. He said he saw things that would be unlawful to try and describe it was so glorious.

Can you imagine color beyond the mere spectrum of light? Or sound beyond the puny 20hz-20khz we hear now? What wondrous music we have today that gives us joy. And that with a limitation of only SEVEN whole notes!

1 Corinthians 2:9
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Answer 2

I know not what translation you are using, but my KJV reads 'furlongs' which is 220 yards or 1/8 th of a mile. When you divide 12,000 by 8 you get 1500 miles. A cubit is measured on the length of the fore arm (17-21 in.), taking 18 in. and the mean measurement, 144 x 18 = 11520 in. or 960 ft. thick. This is the city of God, and He can make it a large or as small as He wishes.

Answer 3

There is no question about it; the early Christian copyists were wiser than their pagan professional contemporaries by reason of what they copied. None other than the Son of Almighty God had come to earth and upon parting had given instructions to his followers to “make disciples of people of all the nations.” This ‘publishing of the good news,’ as it was called, began orally at Pentecost. But oral publishing has limitations. For the sake of accuracy, permanence and wider distribution the good news needed to be put in writing. For these and other reasons the holy spirit moved men to put this vital message in writing. And so it was that within little more than thirty years of Pentecost, with the exception of John’s writings, all the Christian Greek Scriptures had been penned. Not that Christian publication was to be limited to these writings. Obviously the Gospels were intended for general circulation, requiring copies to be made. The very way James begins his letter (and Peter begins his similarly) shows the need of publication: “To the twelve tribes that are scattered about.” Publication is also implied by the warning, recorded by John, against adding or taking away from the book of Revelation.

Answer 4

i figured it out to be about 103,488,000 people.

that is at 10 square feet per person.

1 mile = 5280 feet.

1400 x 1400 = 1,960,000 x 5280 = 10,348,800,000 / 100 = 103,488,000

but this also depensd on your definition of "fitting comfortably" this would give each person approximately 4 feet with arms straight out to the sides, from the nearest person.

and i figure this as if you stand in the very center of the 10 feet, and put your arms out, your arms measure nearly six feet. that gives you 4 feet total, or 2 feet per arm, from the edge. as the same with everyone else. if you are 2 feet from either side of your 10 foot section, as is everyone else, then you are essentially 4 feet from the other person. (but this doesnt include the variances of size of people)

that was fun. =]

Answer 5

I am NOT a mathemetician, so I cannot even help you with that one, BUT I did study this book a while back and we did figure out the distances and such...and I remember we discussed since we would have NEW bodies, who knows how big we would be, or small we would be-- so therefore God is able to fit more than we think in Heaven. Or less! Remember our bodies will be changed....we could be thin as glass, or small as pebbles- or as BIG as trees! who knows!

Answer 6

I am the diametric opposite of a mathematical genius, so this one flies quickly over my head, brother (although I *did* know about the 1400 miles stuff). But I'm sure someone can figure it out for you. I'm curious to see the (respectful) answers.

EDIT: Chippy, you're my "math hero."

Answer 7

Well..seeing that the city is so "huge"..have you considered how "large" the new Earth" will have to be in order for it to sit "flat" on the Earth without cracking the foundation? (curvature of the earth and all that) just something extra to add to the kitty.... have a nice day! "Peace!" ")

Answer 8

More than I can possibly imagine...WOW....Just think about sliding on those glass streets in a pair of socks.

Answer 9

Math is not my thing at least not yet, I trust God to help me over come that. but this is a beautiful illustration of God's awesomeness.

Answer 10

As you well know Jesus said our minds and hearts can not "imagine" what is in store for us.We do not need math,
there is room for us all.