Going to heaven or making Aliya?

In mainstream modern Christian theology, it seems the goal of living a righteous life and trusting in Jesus is to go to heaven.

I want to bring a more Biblical view to the finish line. The last word in the Hebrew Bible is the word "aliyah." Actually, aliyah is a more modern translation of an ancient Hebrew word, but that's the way the Jews say it today, so that's the word we're going to use.

It's the last word in the Hebrew Bible as the Hebrew Bible finishes with 2 Chronicles as it's organized differently than the Christian Bible. The word means "go up." And it has taken on the meaning "go up to Jerusalem."

Jerusalem is on a hill in comparison to the rest of the topography so the phrase "going up to Jerusalem" would always be used for Jerusalem regardless of which direction you were coming from.

The last passage in the Hebrew Bible (2 Chronicles 36:23) is King Cyrus giving an edict to release the Jews to go up to Jerusalem. He released them from their exile in Babylon and they were free to go back to their homeland and rebuild the Temple.

In 1st century AD, the Jews were once again removed from their Homeland and dispersed throughout the nations of the world. God gave a promise that He was going to regather the Jewish people back to their Homeland. You can find it several places in Scripture such as 2 Chronicles 6:36-39, Isaiah 11:11-12, Isaiah 43:5-7, or Ezekiel 36:22-30.

Last century we began to see this Biblical prophecy taking place as Israel was declared a sovereign Nation in 1948 and more and more Jews are returning to their Homeland everyday since then. Jewish people call this "making Aliyah." Going home. Going up to Jerusalem.

So what does this have to do with gentiles or modern believers? Well, the last four chapters of the Christian Bible are also about gentiles making Aliyah. In fact it's about all saints whether Jewish or gentile making Aliyah. The righteous believers united with their God in the New Jerusalem.

As we know in the covenant with Christ Jesus, God opened up the Abrahamic covenant to all of the nations of the world, that they were able to become sons of Abraham and enter into God's family by faith in Jesus Christ. Paul illustrates this as another branch being grafted into an olive tree.

A look at the last four chapters in the Christian Bible in the Book of Revelation shows us that the New Jerusalem will be for the gathering of the saints where we will dwell with God together for eternity.

So the final destination of the church in the Christian Bible is not defined as going to heaven. It's defined as returning to their Homeland to be with God in the City of the Great King, Jerusalem.

Let me add some more. Jesus would often make reference to a place in which the wicked would be sent. The place that He referred to was the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, translated as Gehanna in Greek, and most English Bibles use a word from Norse mythology - they use the word hell.

The Valley of Ben-Hinnom was a spot outside of the city of Jerusalem. In the Old Testament, the valley is depicted as a place of idolatrous practices and child sacrifice to the god Molech. This association with pagan worship and horrific rituals gave the valley a reputation as a cursed or desecrated place. Key references include 2 Kings 23:10 and Jeremiah 7:31-32, where prophets condemned the actions that took place there and spoke of God’s judgment on those who committed such acts. King Josiah ultimately desecrated the valley to end these sacrificial practices, making it a symbol of rejection and divine judgment.

So a Biblical view of the finality of all things in this age presents the righteous arriving in the City of the Great King, the New Jerusalem, and the wicked arriving in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, the lake of fire.

Now of course, the righteous that fall asleep early will still go to heaven, but only as their temporary abode until The Resurrection when they make Aliyah.

So regardless if you are gentile or Jew, as long as you are a righteous chosen one of the Lord, one day you will be making Aliyah🙂 And believing Jews that return to their Homeland in this age will get to make Aliyah twice 🙂

Hebrews 11:8-10
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.