Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 5.35

If some have tried to allegorize these matters, they will not be found consistent with themselves in every respect, and the very words they discuss will convict them. For when the cities of the nations have been deserted, because they are not inhabited, and the houses, because there are no men, and the earth has been left desolate — behold, Isaiah says: the day of the Lord is coming, incurable, full of fury and anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it (Isaiah 13:9). And again he says: Let him be taken away, so that he may not see the glory of the Lord (Isaiah 13:19); and when these things have come to pass, God will remove men far away, and the forsaken will multiply on the earth. And they will build houses and inhabit them; they will plant vineyards and eat the fruit. These things are spoken without controversy concerning the resurrection of the just, which takes place after the coming of the Antichrist and the destruction of all nations under heaven, in which the just will reign on the earth, growing through the vision of the Lord, and through him becoming accustomed to receive the glory of God, the unity of spiritual things, in the kingdom. And those whom he finds in the flesh, waiting for him from heaven and having endured tribulation, who have also escaped the hands of the wicked — these are the ones of whom the prophet says: the forsaken will multiply on the earth. And as many as God has prepared from among believers for this purpose, to be left on the earth and to be under the Kingdom of the Saints, and to minister to this Jerusalem, and the kingdom within it, the prophet Jeremiah has signified, saying: Look toward the east, O Jerusalem, and see the joy that comes to you from God himself. Behold, your sons whom you sent away shall come; they shall come gathered from east to west by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory that comes from your God (Jeremiah 31:8–9). Put off, Jerusalem, the garment of your mourning and affliction, and put on the beauty of the glory from your God forever. Wrap yourself in the double mantle of righteousness from your God; set upon your head the mitre of eternal glory. For God will show your splendor to every eye under heaven. Your name shall be named by God forever: Peace of Righteousness and Glory of God's Worship. Arise, Jerusalem, stand on the height; look toward the east and see your children gathered from the rising of the sun to its setting by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the remembrance of God. For they went out on foot, led away by enemies; but God will bring them back to you, borne in glory as on a royal throne. For God has decreed that every high mountain shall be humbled and the everlasting hills, and the valleys filled up, to make the ground level, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God. The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at God's command. For God will lead Israel with joy in the light of his glory, with mercy and righteousness that proceed from him (Baruch 5:1–9).

Now such things as these cannot be understood as belonging to a super-celestial realm; for God, he says, will show her your splendor under the whole heaven — but in the times of the Kingdom, when the earth has been reclaimed by Christ and Jerusalem rebuilt according to the pattern of the Jerusalem which is above, of which the prophet Isaiah says: I have engraved your walls upon my palms; you are ever before me (Isaiah 49:16). And the Apostle, writing to the Galatians, says the same: But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother (Galatians 4:26) — not speaking from the fantasy of errant Aeons, nor from any virtue that fell from the Pleroma, nor from Prunicus, but from the Jerusalem depicted in God's hands. And John saw this Jerusalem descending upon the earth, new, in the Apocalypse. For after the times of the Kingdom, he says: I saw a great white throne, and him who sat upon it; from his face earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them (Revelation 20:11). And he describes the general resurrection and judgment: I saw the dead, great and small. The sea gave up the dead in it; Death and Hades gave up the dead in them; and books were opened. Also the book of life was opened, and the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their works. And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire — this is the second death, the Gehenna of which the Lord spoke, eternal fire. And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12–15). And after this he says: I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Revelation 21:1–2). And I heard a loud voice from the throne: Behold, the dwelling of God is with men; he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; death shall be no more, neither mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:3–4). And Isaiah says the same: they shall find joy and exultation in it (Isaiah 65:18). This is what the Apostle said: The form of this world is passing away (1 Corinthians 7:31). Likewise the Lord says: Heaven and earth will pass away (Matthew 24:35). When these things have passed away, the Lord's disciple John says there will be a new Jerusalem above, like a bride adorned for her husband; and this is the tabernacle of God, in which God will dwell with men. The image of this Jerusalem is that Jerusalem on the former earth, in which the just are prepared for incorruption and made ready for salvation. And Moses received the pattern of this tabernacle on the mountain. Nothing here can be allegorized; all is firm, true, and substantial, made by God for the enjoyment of the just. For just as God truly raises man, so he truly rises from the dead — not allegorically, as we have shown at length. And just as he truly rises, so he will truly put on incorruption, and increase, and flourish in the times of the kingdom, that he may become the glory of the Father. Then, when all things are renewed, he will truly dwell in the city of God. For he who sits upon the throne says: Behold, I make all things new (Revelation 21:5). And the Lord says: Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me: It is done. And this is according to reason.