How can you say that God won't make distinctions among His people in the future? At the very least He will choose His priests and co-rulers from among them. Isaiah 66:21, Revelation 5:9-10
You study the Prophesies; why do you ignore the many scriptures that say how the people who will live in the holy Land after the Lord has cleared and cleansed all of that area, Deuteronomy 32:34-43, will be divided into 12 groups, named after the 12 sons of Jacob? They parade before Him; Psalms 68:24=27
Ezekiel 48:1-35 carefully defines their respective areas.
Also read and understand Ezekiel 47:21-23, where it says the aliens among the people will receive their share.
1st, I think these are very difficult prophecies to interpret. The language of prophecy, from OT to NT, is by default difficult because the language of the covenants have to somehow be incorporated as it changes from one covenant to another.
I'm certainly not saying that there won't be eternal distinctions among men and groups. We are united only in terms of our spiritual unity in Christ, and not in terms of God's creative differences that He produced in us as a society.
Everything under the Law, however, has to go through this change, which under the Law could not be fully disclosed. The Scriptures say so. It was hidden as a "mystery," according to Paul. And while the Law was in effect it was important that the Jews not think beyond the requirement to obey every law.
So when Ezekiel describes, at the time of the Captivity, the future construction of the temple, he speaks in terms of the then-applicable Law of Moses, and only projects into an unknown future with a new future covenant.
The expression of equality among tribes in this future inheritance is therefore not literal in fixing boundaries between tribes. It is only literal in the sense that there will be an equal share among all tribes. Every true Jew will have an equal share in the land inheritance. The vision utilizes symbolism to express real truths.
The same thing takes place in the book of Revelation. The 144,000 indicate, like Ezekiel, there will be an equal inheritance among all Jews, who do represent all 12 tribes of the past. This also is a vision, and uses symbolic language. But the present reality is no longer that the tribal distinctions exist--only that all 12 tribes are somehow represented in the Jewish People today, who represent a fulfillment of God's promises to all 12 tribes.
Brother, I do see that the New Jerusalem is largely descending from heaven in the size of the entire Middle East. And since the name is "Jerusalem," it may indeed be located in the Middle East. We may all live there, or not.
This may just be the center of the Kingdom of God on earth. Actually, it seems futile for me to understand this--it's just talking about a city the size of the entire Middle East and reaching up past satellites and into space! How can I hope to understand this as our being taken to the Middle East?
I believe the language of prophecy focused, under the OT, upon Israel and upon their restoration after a very long period of seeming abandonment. Jesus spoke of a restoration, and the book of Acts speaks of a restitution of the Jewish People.
Therefore, when Christ returns he will, I believe, restore the Jews who are left in the Diaspora, and will establish a new spiritual Israel, who follow Christ and his Law. I don't believe this has anything to do with non-Jewish believers.
Jewish believers in the present age will be given rule over the restored Christian nation of Israel, to prevent any more satanic rule over that territory. And the same will be true of Christians in other nations--they will be given to rule, spiritually, over their own territories. How this is divided up I don't claim to know?
I believe the Revelation focuses primarily on Israel and on Jerusalem because Israel had been designed, from ancient times, to be a model for the whole world, for all nations. Now, in NT times, and well past the time of John, Christian nations have emerged, just like Israel, filling the whole world with Christian civilization.
The thought has never been to revert back to exclusively Israel and exclusively Palestine. Rather, the thought has been to fulfill what only began with Israel, completing it in an inheritance that includes both Israel and many nations who like Israel embrace Christ.
Our future rule in the Millennium may begin as a heavenly rule that is established on earth, though those of us who have been glorified may remain in heaven, just as Jesus is presently in heaven. We don't even know what "in heaven" literally means, let alone understand it! I believe it is less "up there" in the sky, and more, entering into a different dimensional existence in an area defined by God.
As Christ presently rules over the earth from heaven, so we will, I think, rule from heaven over the Millennial earth. But it is our destiny to eventually physically live on the New Earth. We can only speculate what this might be like?
At the end of the Millennium I think the Kingdom of God will be established on earth forever, forever excluding Satan and men who refuse to follow Christ. These things are not essential to our Salvation, but they are interesting to ponder. We may disagree, but who can prove things one way or another? But thanks for your thoughts, as always.