The Millennium has past, the rebellion has been dealt with, we are entering into eternity.
Verse 1
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”
A completely new heaven and earth are created, there is no more of the old heaven and earth left, this is not new to us as it is mentioned in various places in the Bible Mt 24:35; Isa 65:17; 66:22; Heb 11:13-16; 2 Pet 3:7-13; Mt 6:10; Heb 1:10-12; 12:26,27.
Why does it say there will be no more sea?
Some suggest that it is not required anymore for it’s cleansing action.
Other suggest that the sea is evil. In Mt 8:26 Jesus rebuked it and in the same chapter the demons take refuge in the sea. There are many references which refer to the sea as evil. (Job 26:5-6; Isa 27:1; Jonah 2:1-6; Lk 8:30-3; Ps 69:14-15)
In John’s day the sea meant danger due to the storms etc. It also meant separation, John was on an island at this time.
Verse 2
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
This is a new Jerusalem, a replacement for the old.
Notice it comes down from Heaven, some have noted that it does not actually say that it touches the earth.
There are many speculations about what this New Jerusalem looks like, but no-one really knows.
Verse 3
“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”
This is very exciting, God is coming to dwell with man.
God has dwelt with sin, took over the earth. Ruled it perfectly for 1000 years, dealt with the final rebellion and is accomplishing His goal which is to dwell with men.
Verse 4
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
This is something to look forward to, what a future God’s children have to look forward to. Many people have a problem with God, in that they ask why He lets suffering, war, pain etc, but the people who ask this forget who the Lord of this world is at present - Satan. It is his doing.
Verse 5
“And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”
God is underlining what had been told to John. It is the Word of God - it is true. All will happen exactly as has been told.
Verse 6
“And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”
It is finished, over.
Alpha and Omega appears 4 times in Revelation.
We will have access to the fountain of life for all etenity.
Verse 7
“He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”
Let’s just stop here a moment and think about this. It does not say most things or many things, but ALL THINGS. What a promise.
Here we become the sons of God. We receive our inheritance.
Verse 8
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Here we have a list of people that will be cast into the lake of fire to suffer eternal punishment. Many in the list do not surprise us, but a couple to note are:
Liars - Many today think nothing of telling lies. Some think that it is OK to tell business lies, some that there is a difference between white lies and black lies, but no distinction is made here. Some think that misleading people is not a lie, but it is. When we sing the hymns from the hymn book do we tell lies as we sing those words?
Fearful - This is really surprising. Fear is a sin” If we are fearful then we are not trusting in God. Remember the children of Israel did not enter the Promised Land because of fear, because of this they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and only entered in when that generation had died.
Verse 9-10
“And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.”
“And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,”
This is one of the seven that we encountered a few chapters ago.
Commentators are divided here, some say that the Bride here is the city, some the church. But I think we can assume that the city is the dwelling place of the Bride. Up until now there has always been a clear distinction between Israel and the church, but now we can point to both Israel and the Church from the descriptions that are to follow. So the Bride here could be all believers, both Church and the saved of Israel and end times.
We are now going to look at the New Jerusalem.
Verse 11
“Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;”
This city is described in terms of light.
A problem we have with these descriptions are the used of precious stones is that the names of stones changed over time and in different peoples.
John is trying probably to describe the light he sees in terms of stone colours.
Verse 12
“And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:”
Here we are confronted with something that is not Church.
Verse 13
“On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.”
This takes us back to our study of the encampment of the Children of Israel, with three on each side of the tabernacle. The names of the gates could well match that layout.
One thing to notice here is that there are twelve gates and Peter is not at any of them!
Verse 14
“And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
The apostles are our foundation, the Church was founded by them, they suffered so that we could receive the Gospel. We owe it all to them.
Verse 15
“And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.”
This is the angel that had the measuring rod, we are now going to find out the size of the city.
Verse 16
“And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.”
We seem to be looking at a cube. 12,000 furlongs is 1500 roman miles which is in modern day miles 1377 miles on each side.
Verse 17
“And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.”
Some think this is the angel measuring the height of the wall, but the height has already been measured, it seems more likely that this is referring to the thickness of the wall. 216ft thick.
Verse 18
“And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.”
Here we see John with a problem, gold is the colour but not made from it, it is clear.
Verse 19-20
“And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;”
“The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.”
As we have said we do not know exactly the colours or stones referred to here but as close as we can get there is a list below.
Note the many colours, God is a God of beauty, it deems He loves colours and beauty. For example look at the flowers, many wonderful beautiful colours, but there is no real practical reason for the colours, bees are partially colour blind.
Jasper - Clear
Sapphire - Blue
Chalcedony - Greenish
Emerald - Green
Sardonyx - Red
Sardis - Fiery Red
Chrysolyte - Golden Yellow
Beryl - Green
Topaz - Greenish Yellow
Chrysoprasus - Gold-green
Jacinth - Violet
Amethyst - Purple
These stones may also be related to the stones on the breast plate of the High Priest. They also seem to be connected to the signs of the Hebrew Mazzeroth (zodiac)
Verse 21
“And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.”
This is surprising, because pearls were not an acceptable thing for the Jews to have. Matt 13. They come from the sea, they grow in response to an irritation and they are removed from their place of growth to become an item of adornment. These gates are never cloesd.
Verse 22-23
“And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”
“And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”
John 14:3 tells us of Jesus’ promise to return for us and take us to this place prepared for us.
Verse 24
“And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.”
The New Jerusalem will give light to the earth, but notice that it seems to say that the kings of the earth do not live in it, they will live outside of it on the earth.
Verse 25
“And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.”
The gates will not be shut during the day, but there is no night, so the gates will never be shut, there will always be an entrance available into God.
Verse 26-27
“And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.”
“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.”
Here it is reiterating that no sin will be there, only the saved.
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