It is important to always take into account the context of the scriptures when trying to understand what was meant to be understood (exegesis) and not read into the scriptures that which was not meant (eisegesis). Context and how the disciples would have understood what Jesus said is very important. They knew their own scriptures which we call the Old Testament very well and had an expectation the Messiah would set up His Kingdom in Israel centered in Jerusalem as prophesied by the prophets. They just did not realise that Jesus was going to have die first and then return to fully implement His Fathers overall plan. This started all the way back in the book of Genesis initially alluded to by with Genesis 3:15 and then revealed more and more throughout the OT via the prophets and the Psalms etc.
John 14:1–3 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
The Pretribulational interpretation is that Jesus went to heaven to prepare mansions there for us, where we will live with Him in heaven.
First, the usage of the word “mansions” is actually only found in the KJV and is not an accurate translation of the Greek word. The word is simply “room” “space” or “dwelling place.” It has become so ingrained as the KJV was the most read and readily available bible in English for over 350 years until in the 20th century more English translations were produced using all the newer information and understanding of Greek.
The second problem is that Jewish, Messianic, Biblical expectation is not heavenly; rather it is earthly. The Gospel does not promise that Christians will go to heaven forever. It promises a physical resurrection of the body, a restored Kingdom of Israel, and a renewed earth.
John 5:28–29 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”
Acts 1:3,6 “To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’”
Matthew 25:31–32 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him…”
The third problem is that John 14 is about Jesus’ “coming.” Pretribbers say this is about the rapture, not His second coming.
John 14:3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
The fourth problem is that any Biblically literate Jew would understand Jesus’ words to refer to the Messianic Temple, not heaven.
“How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You. To dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, your holy temple.” Psalm 65:4
“For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Psalm 84:10
“Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits; and the width of the side chambers, four cubits, all around about the house on every side. The side chambers were in three stories, one above another, and thirty in each story; and the side chambers extended to the wall which stood on their inward side all around, that they might be fastened, and not be fastened into the wall of the temple itself. The side chambers surrounding the temple were wider at each successive story. Because the structure surrounding the temple went upward by stages on all sides of the temple, therefore the width of the temple increased as it went higher; and thus one went up from the lowest story to the highest by way of the second story.” (Ezekiel 41:5–7)
The Messianic Temple is not simply a Temple, but a whole campus. The apartments along the side of the Temple are three stories, with ninety total apartments.
“The prince shall have land on either side of the holy allotment and the property of the city, adjacent to the holy allotment and the property of the city, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.” Ezekiel 45:7
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:5–6)
The fifth problem is that whenever Jesus used the phrase, “My Father’s House” he was referring to the Temple.
And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume me.” John 2:13–17
After three days they found him in the temple. He was sitting among the teachers, listening to them and putting questions to them. Everyone who heard him was amazed by his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were shocked. His mother said, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Listen! Your father and I have been worried. We’ve been looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father’s house?” Luke 2:45–49
The sixth problem is that Jesus specifically taught His disciples that after He returns, they would sit on thrones beside Him, judging Israel:
Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Matthew 19:27–28
In a parallel passage, it is crystal clear that this is speaking of after Jesus returns:
“You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Luke 22:28–30
Finally, the Bible tells us exactly what Jesus did once He arrived in Heaven. He entered the heavenly Temple and sealed the New Covenant, in order that we could be saved. This is the meaning of “preparing a place for you.”
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption… For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:11-13,15)
In Summary
Jesus is coming back to the earth to rule and reign from Jerusalem. When Christians hear “My Father’s House” they wrongly think this means heaven. When a first century Jew heard this phrase, they understood that it referred to the Temple. Jesus was simply promising His disciples a future in His kingdom. Even better, they would actually live with Him in His “Father’s House”—the Messianic Temple.
When I was a child, when I heard the phrase “Guerrilla Warfare” what I imagined is very different than what it actually meant.
The Pretribulational position is that Jesus went to heaven to prepare temporary mansions for us there, to live for seven years, and then come back with Him to the earth. John 14:1-3 promises no such thing. Rather Jesus assured His disciples that although He was going away, He would make sure that when He comes back, they would live with Him in His Father’s House, i.e., the Millennial Temple.
The above is based on an article by Joel Richardson who is a Post Tribulation rapture teacher and author of many books including The Islamic Antichrist and When a Jew Rules the World.
Living as a Christian in this World 