Most Bible students agree on this, however the geographical size, a 12,000
furlong square (Rev. 21: 16) confuses many. A furlong being 1/8 of a mile,
would make this a 1500 mile square which would not fit into our boundaries,
but in Biblical days a furlong was 1/10 of a mile, reducing this square to
1200 miles, which fits very nicely. (See Smith's Bible Dictionary, tables of
weights and measures, page 813.)
This encompasses an area of 1,440,000 square miles, which eliminates,
not only Old Jerusalem, but the entire State of Israel. Yet, for fear of
the Jews, or lack of knowledge, many ministers preach that the bandit
State of Israel fulfills Bible Prophecy.
Some Bible Dictionaries appear to disagree with Smith; actually they are
just using the modern furlong which is 1/8 of a mile. Perhaps they did
not consider it important enough for an in depth study. In those days a
"foot" was the length of a man's foot and that is the exact and only reason
for calling it a "foot." It was customary to use the foot of the King or
ruler of that particular area, consequently the measurement varied from one
domain to another, depending entirely on the size of the King's foot. The
average man's foot is ten
inches or 5/6 of today's foot. Therefore the Biblical furlong would be 5/6
of today's furlong. This would back up Smith's statement that the furlong
was 1/10 of today's mile.