Revelation Chapter 21‏

Hello Friends!

Welcome back! During this week’s fellowship time, we’ll continue our study of Revelation.

Revelation Chapter 21
 

This week we will investigate chapter 21 in our journey of the end times.

The conclusion of this great book of the Bible is now close at hand via this chapter and the next. The Apostle John is viewing all of these things that are set for eternity future from the vantage point of the New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem. The description of the Capital City of Heaven begins in chapter 21 and runs all the way to chapter 22 verse 5!   

 

These two chapters provide a view that is not widely written of concerning the eternal future for every person whose name is written in the “Lamb’s book of life.” There are some other passages in scripture that look forward to this time. Some of the passages that do describe this future are similar to the Apostle Paul writing to the Romans, where he said that this is the time that all creation has been waiting for:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance – Romans 8:18-25

The beginning of future eternity is described here – the most glorious time with permanence for all who are in Jesus Christ. This time fulfills all that the Lord had intended for His people and the desire of His heart that He saw when He laid down His life willingly for us sinners! Because of the great love of God – all believers have been brought together in Jesus Christ. We will be able to enjoy our rest in His presence and in His glory! 

 

In fact, the Apostle Paul also referred to these times when he wrote to the church in Ephesus:

That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him – Ephesians 1:10

As we discovered in chapter 20, it concluded God’s plan of redemption for mankind and judgment. By the time we arrive here in chapter 21, the following end-times events will have occurred:

• The Rapture of the church has passed
• The Tribulation period of judgment on the earth – death and destruction has passed
  
• The great battle of Armageddon has passed
• The destruction of the Day of the Lord has passed
  
• The thousand-year Millennial Kingdom has passed
• All sinners are in the eternal Lake of Fire sent there from the Great White Throne Judgment
  
• Heaven and earth have been “uncreated” due to the holocausts of God’s righteous wrath and judgment

The passing away of the heavens and earth is the “great division” between the past era and the future eternity spoken of by Jesus Christ Himself:

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away – Matthew 24:35

God will totally erase any remnant of the past fallen creation. Think about it: All of our satellites which we have sent into deep space will be destroyed. There will be no fossil record or archaeological artifacts to discover to provide a record of man's activities and his sinful ways in general. Instead, we will be looking forward to see all of the creative works God will continue to do in this new Earth and Heaven.

We have seen the vision of the doomed, the damned and the unblessed. We have felt the scorch of eternal hell and the isolation of separation and the relentless pain of everlasting punishment. John further observes that there are no more seas – which in scripture have served as a natural barrier to nations intermingling and an impediment to nations interacting with one another. The seas have also been associated with the sinful will of man. These have all been reduced by divine destruction. God has recreated the New Heaven and the New Earth which is known as the Eternal State.

All Things Made New

The Apostle John now sees a new heaven and new earth and reports that both had “had passed away”:

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea – Revelation 21:1

Now the vision is of the domain of the blessed. The final eternal home of all the redeemed – beautiful New Heaven and New Earth!

 

And in the middle of it we find this diamond jewel capital city called the New Jerusalem. Time as we know it is over and eternity is resumed. John sees the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven. However, note that it does not say that it comes to reside on earth. What he does describe in this verse is the beauty of the “holy city”:

Then I, John, 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 heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God” – Revelation 21:2-3

John hears a loud voice from the throne – God's voice – announcing three very important and unique relationships:

• The tabernacle of God is with men
• He will dwell with them
• They shall be His people

The Lord first walked in the garden with Adam and Eve before sin entered into the world – separating man from God – which only the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross could settle once and for all!

John then hears the loud voice of the Lord from the throne describing aspects of this new environment that He prepared for eternity future:

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful” – Revelation 21:4-5

In the new heaven and new earth there are:

• No more “tears”
  
• No more “death”
  
• No more “sorrow”
  
• No more “crying”
  
• No more “pain”  

The old order of things has passed away. All “things” we knew in the world are no more. God affirms to John – “Behold, I make all things new!”

It Is Done

John then tells us that Jesus Christ proclaims:

And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son – Revelation 21:6-7

What is “done” here? All the work God had done to restore mankind to Himself since Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden exposed in Genesis chapter 3. 

The Lord also reiterates His title as the “Alpha” and the “Omega” such as was first revealed earlier in the first chapter. The Lord then lists those who will not take part of this “new heaven” and “new earth” creation:

But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death – Revelation 21:8

Their part is in the “lake which burns with fire and brimstone” which is equated to the “second death” – Anyone cast into the “Lake of Fire” will be there eternally.

The New Jerusalem

John is then taken in the spirit to another location – a great, high mountain – to witness the descending “great city, the holy Jerusalem” coming “out of heaven from God.” An angel associated with the group of seven that poured out the Bowl judgments of chapter 16 onto the unbelieving world now shows John the “bride” – the “Lamb’s wife” – which is the place of her dwelling:

 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God – Revelation 21:9-10

The “holy Jerusalem“ is then seen by John to shine brilliantly like the glory of God and with the quality of a very “precious stone” jewel:

…having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb – Revelation 21:11-14

• The city has a ”high wall” with ”twelve gates” with “angels” at the gates
• There are three gates on each side of the city – “north”, “south”, “east” & “west”
  
• On each gate is written the names of the ”twelve tribes” of Israel
• The city has ”twelve foundations” named after the ”twelve apostles” of the “Lamb”

The angel then displays a “gold reed to measure the city” which is “laid out” like a cube:

And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass – Revelation 21:15-21

Although we cannot to be dogmatic about the following thought, it appears that the holy city is located above the earth so that the light from God can shine upon the world, as there will be no night in the city. Whether or not earth will experience an evening is not known. However, with God’s light beaming from the New Jerusalem, the notion of a nearly equal division of night and day will probably not occur as we experience in this world. This may indicate that light and other physical properties may be quite different than what we observe today – this side of Heaven.

Fun fact: In US measurements, the footprint of the new Jerusalem is about 1,500 miles square and could cover the entire eastern half of the United States! In fact, if one were to envelop the holy city in a crystal sphere such as a “snow  globe” the size of that sphere would have to be about 2% larger than our moon’s diameter – about 2,159 miles. If there were a sphere enclosing the holy city, it would have to be about 2,598 miles in diameter!

No More Temple

John continues to remark on what he sees. Notably, there is no temple in the city:

But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life – Revelation 21:22-27

Recall that during the Seven Year Tribulation period, John reported seeing the temple of God and His throne where as John could see into the Holy of Holies. He was quite familiar with what the temple looked like, so its absence would be obvious to him. Instead, the “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” and reside with mankind. Unlike times past and the future 1000-Year Millennial Kingdom, the temple was the central focus of the Jewish people, where they provided blood sacrifices to the Lord. In the “new heaven”, “new earth, and “new Jerusalem” there will be no sacrifices that are either observed by John or recorded to occur.

John also observes that the “city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it” because the glory of God gives the light and the “Lamb is its light” – As a result:

• The nations of the earth will walk by God’s light
• The kings of the earth will bring their splendor
  
• The gates to the city will never be shut
• Nothing impure will ever enter into it
  
• Only those whose name written in the Lamb’s book of life will enter

Final Points:

A possible construct of the saints during eternity future may be as follows:

The Church – made up of believing Jews and Gentiles in their resurrected, glorified bodies – may reside in the “holy city, New Jerusalem” with Jesus Christ, the Groom. 

The Old Testament saints – in their resurrected, glorified bodies – may reside on the “new earth” enjoying all of the fulfilled promises of God made to them, along with those believers who lived through the 1000-Year Millennial Kingdom. 

Either way, the whole economy of living in eternity for the saints is so foreign to what we know today, one can only imagine what it will be like – Praise the Lord Jesus Christ! Maranatha!

With this information as a foundation for your studies, please read through Chapter 21 of Revelation.


Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s edition as we investigate chapter 22 of Revelation…


Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!

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