Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 5.35

If some try to allegorize these things, they will not be able to square their readings with themselves on every point; the very words will convict them. For when the cities of the nations have been deserted, the houses left empty because no one lives in them, and the earth abandoned, see what Isaiah says: "The day of the Lord is coming, incurable, full of fury and wrath, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it" (Isaiah 13:9; Isaiah 13:19). And again he says: "Let him be taken away, so that he may not see the glory of the Lord." When these things have come to pass, God will prolong the days of men, and those left behind will multiply on the earth. They will build houses and inhabit them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. These words were spoken without controversy about the resurrection of the just, which takes place after the coming of the Antichrist and the destruction of all the nations that exist under heaven. In that time the just will reign on the earth, growing from the vision of the Lord, and through him they will become accustomed to taking the glory of God; the unity of spiritual things they will take up in the kingdom. They are those whom the Lord finds on the earth, waiting for him from heaven, who have endured tribulation and escaped the hands of the wicked. These are the ones of whom the prophet says: "And those who have been left behind will multiply on the earth." As many believers as God has prepared for this—to be left on the earth and to serve under the Kingdom of the Saints, ministering to this Jerusalem and the kingdom in it—Jeremiah the prophet has signified, saying: "Look toward the East, Jerusalem, and see the joy that comes to you from God himself. Behold, your sons whom you sent away will come, gathered from East to West by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory that is from your God. Put off, Jerusalem, the garment of your mourning and affliction, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from your God. Wrap yourself in the double garment of righteousness from your God; set upon your head the mitre of eternal glory. For God will show to her all your splendor under heaven. Your name will be called 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, carried in glory as on a royal throne. For God has decreed that every high mountain be humbled and the ancient hills brought low, that the valleys be filled to make the ground level, so that Israel may walk securely in the glory of God. The woods have shaded the sycamores, and the sweet-smelling wood, by God's command, for Israel. For God will lead them with joy, in the light of his glory, with mercy and righteousness that proceed from him.

But all these things cannot be understood as belonging to a super-celestial realm; for God says he will show to her what is under heaven, your splendor. Rather, they belong to the times of the Kingdom, when the earth has been recalled by Christ and Jerusalem rebuilt according to the pattern that is above—Jerusalem about which the prophet Isaiah says: "Behold, I have engraved your walls on my palms; you are continually before me." And the Apostle, writing to the Galatians, says the same: "But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother" (Galatians 4:26)—not from the fantasy of an erratic Aeon, nor by any virtue that flowed out of the Pleroma and the Prunicus, but from the Jerusalem that is described in the hands of God. And John saw her 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 on it; from his face earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them" (Revelation 20:11). And he describes the things of the general resurrection and judgment: "The sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and the books were opened. The book of life was opened, and the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire, the second death" (Revelation 20:12-14). This is what is called Gehenna, which the Lord called eternal fire. "And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:15). After these things 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. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: 'Behold, the dwelling of God is with men; he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away'" (Revelation 21:1-4). And Isaiah says the same: "They shall obtain joy and gladness." This is what the Apostle said: "The fashion of this world is passing away." Likewise the Lord says: "Heaven and earth will pass away." When these things have passed away, the Lord's disciple John says that the new and higher Jerusalem will be on the earth, as 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 the Jerusalem that existed on the former earth, in which the just are prepared for incorruption and made ready for salvation. Moses received the type of this tabernacle on the mountain; and nothing can be allegorized, but all things are firm, true, and substantial, made by God for the enjoyment of the just. For just as God truly raises man, so he truly rose from the dead, not allegorically, as we have shown through so many proofs. And just as he truly rose, so he will truly be prepared for incorruption, and will increase and flourish in the times of the kingdom, that he may become capable of the glory of the Father. Then, when all things have been renewed, he will truly dwell in the city of God. For he who sits on the throne says: "Behold, I make all things new." And the Lord says: "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me: "It is done." And this accords with reason.