SSL 12 - Rev. 21:1-22 Summary
Introduction: Following the judgment of the great white throne described in chapter 20-you remember that, I hope-John's attention is directed to the new heaven and the new earth which replace the old heaven and the old earth, which both "fled away" in Rev. 20:11. As this chapter opens, you will recall from Rev. 20:11-15, last week, that all of the fallen sinners of all the ages, including demons, Satan, the beast, and the false prophet, are all in the lake of fire forever. The whole universe as we know it has been destroyed, and God creates a new universe to be the eternal dwelling place of the redeemed. As we get into the lesson, we will cover the first eleven verses one or two at a time, and then I will summarize the remaining 15 verses.
Read Rev. 21:1 - New Heaven and New Earth Presented
1 Then 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.
v. 1: "And as I saw" is the first of three such statements by John that mark the major elements of revelation. First, he sees the original heaven and earth replaced by a New Heaven and a New Earth, as prophesied by Isaiah (cf. Isa. 65:17; 66:22), so that the present universe will accordingly be cleansed from all the effects of sin. Since there will be "no more" sea, the increased land area will be fully utilized to accommodate the huge numbers of redeemed people from all the ages. Currently three-fourths of the world's surface is water, but new earth will feature a new environment which will be governed by entirely different climatic conditions. In other words, the new earth won't be crowded and won't suffer from extreme weather conditions that occur now. As to the makeup of the new heaven, most commentators believe it simply refers to the atmosphere around the new earth. The new heaven and new earth will be, on a vastly enlarged scale, patterned after what the Garden of Eden had been on old earth.
TRUTH 1: The new heaven and new earth will ne patterned after the GARDEN of EDEN.
Read Rev. 21:2 - First Vision of the New Jerusalem
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
v. 2: Second, "New Jerusalem" that will be the capital city of new heaven and earth, a place of perfect holiness. It is seen "coming down from heaven," which suggests that it already existed and is now descending into the new heaven and earth from its place on high. John identifies the city "as a bride adorned for her husband." "Bride" is a common representation of the church and "husband," likewise, refers to the Lord Christ. Believers (the bride) in the New Jerusalem will come to join with Christ (the bridegroom) in the final ceremony of redemptive history. So we see from this that God has brought home a bride for His beloved Son, who will all live together in the Father's house (Jn. 14:2), and this will be Christ's kingdom.
TRUTH 2: New Jerusalem, the capital, will be a place of perfect HOLINESS.
Read Rev. 21:3-4 - God to Dwell with Humankind
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 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."
v. 3: John uses the term "great" or "loud voice" 21 times in the book of Revelation to announce that God is about to say something of great importance and authority. In contrast to the Tabernacle where God dwelled "among" His people in the OT, John informs us that He will now dwell with men. This means God Himself with be present with us, in continuous, direct fellowship , and just as God walked in the garden of Eden with Adam, and He will walk with us in New Heaven and Earth forever.
v. 4: All pain, sorrow, tears, and death will be removed from New Heaven and Earth, where we--the redeemed-will live. This effectively reverses the curse of Adam's sin in Gen. 3:16-19. Death, the great fear endured by every generation since Adam, is gone forever. And gone with death is sin and all the misery and harm it has caused humankind since the fall of Adam. Every negative thing is gone.
TRUTH 3: Since God will dwell among us-eternally-there's no need for a TEMPLE.
Read Rev. 21:5-6 - All Things Made New
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6 And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
v. 5: Here, John sees God sitting on His throne and "making all things new." This tells us that God will not merely repair the creation but will fully recreate it for us-the redeemed-to enjoy for all eternity. The Greek word for "new," kainos, mean both new in character and newly-made. In a similar manner, we become "new creations" when we are saved, and we will fully experience the ultimate reality of it when we join God in eternity.
v. 6: With the words, "It is done!" God Himself announces that His eternal purpose to gather His own unto Himself has been accomplished. The "Alpha and the Omega" (the beginning and the end)-the title given to Christ when He was introduced in Rev. 1:8-refers to the work accomplished throughout the whole drama of human history prior to the eternal state. This announcement doesn't necessarily mean that there will be no further works of God in the eternal state but simply that this major work has been brought to completion. The "spring of the water of life" is a metaphor for the abundant character of eternal life and all the blessings (i.e., eternal sustenance and provision) that flow from it. This is was the same "living water" Jesus referred to in John 4:10-14 in His encounter with the woman at the well.
TRUTH 4: When God declares, "It is done!," in v. 6, He means that His eternal purpose for gathering all saved Christians unto Himself has been ACCOMPLISHED. This doesn't necessarily mean that there will be no further works of God to be done in eternity, but that this major work has been brought to completion.
Read Revelation 21:7-8 - Blessings for He (or She) Who Overcomes
7 He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 8 But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and ]brimstone, which is the second death."
v. 7-8: An "overcomer" is a person who exercises saving faith in Jesus Christ, a person who, in faith, drinks the "living water" of salvation in v. 6, which is freely offered by God. Each of the letters to the seven churches in Chapters 2 and 3 end in the promise the he who overcomes "will inherit these things." Just as a bride becomes an equal heir to all that belongs to her husband, so too will the bride of Christ inherit everything that is His. By contrast, those who reject this free gift, recognized by their core characteristics, have no inheritance, will suffer the second death, and end up in the lake of fire.
TRUTH 5: An "OVERCOMER" is someone who exercised saving faith in Jesus Christ. In the same way a bride becomes equal heir to all that belongs to her husband, we, too as the bride of Christ, will inherit everything that is His. By contrast, those who reject this free gift, recognized by their core characteristics, have no inheritance, will suffer the second death, and end up in the lake of fire.
Read Revelation 21:9-11 - New Jerusalem as the Bride
9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
v. 9: An angel, who had first appeared to John in chapter 15 (seven bowls full of plagues), now takes John to show Him the Lamb's wife, insofar as the marriage had already taken place in Rev. 19:7, so the wife is now a metaphor for the church. New Jerusalem is equated to a wife because the redeemed are forever united for life, which is now eternity, to God and the Lamb.
v. 10: As happens in this verse, John's incredible visions began in Rev. 1 when he was "carried away in the Spirit." Remember that John's visions weren't dreams, but spiritual realities he was shown from various vantage points. He is watching these things take place and telling us what he's seeing.
v. 11: This magnificent city is where the bride/wife will live forever. The overriding characteristic of the holy city is the presence of God's glory, which is described as a brilliant light like a rare jewel. This verse recalls the glory that departed from the old Jerusalem as reported in Ezek. 8-11, is restored to the New Jerusalem. This visible glory is the kind of light John talked about in 1 John 1:5, where he said, "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." This entire vision and the wondrous city it depicts emphasizes how changed the eternal world will be and the joy awaiting the people who dwell there.
TRUTH 6: The entire vision of these verses and the wondrous city it describes points out how CHANGED the eternal world will be and the JOY awaiting the Christians who will dwell there.
Read Rev. 21:12-21 - the Wall and Gates of New Jerusalem (Summary)
12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed- 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
Summary: Notice all the twelves in the wall and gates, which is a divine number that signifies completeness and perfection: 12 gates, 12 angels, 12 foundations, names of the 12 tribes, names of the 12 apostles, length and width of 12,000 stadia (1 stadia = 607' x 12K) are 1,363.6 mi. per side, which is 1,859,454 sq. mi. of interior volume-pretty big place. (New York City, the world's largest in terms of area, comprises 305 sq., mi., so by comparison, New Jerusalem will be 6,097 times larger.) The walls, 144 (12 x 12) cubits = 144 x 1.5, are 216 feet tall, about the same as a 20-story building. The mean height of the Great Wall of China, by comparison, is 21' 4". The materials used to form all these things represent elements we consider to be scarce and immensely valuable but can miraculously and instantly spoken into existence by our Divine Creator: the foundations are various types of precious jewels, the city and the streets are made of pure gold like glass, and gates of are solid pearl. There is much symbolism in all of this, too much to describe today. But if you are interested, you can easily access John Walvoord's extensive Revelation Commentary at Bible.org.
Read Rev. 21:22-27 - The Glory of Eden Restored
22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day-and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Summary: As John's third vision of the new city continues, he can't see a temple because none was needed (a continuation of the theme of v. 3). In place of the temple, God "Almighty" Himself will be there in person, together with the Lamb, His son Jesus Christ. (Note: "Almighty" is a title of God that signifies his absolute power and sovereignty over everything.) Added to that, since God will provide the light and Jesus will be His lamp, there will be no need for a sun and a moon to provide illumination and warmth (v. 11 calls light a manifestation of God's glory). The gates mentioned in v. 21 are never shut because there is no night and no need for protection. (Note: night and darkness are often associated with fear, evil, and sin, which no longer exist.) You might also remember from Chapter 7, a couple of weeks ago, that glorified bodies need no rest and enjoy days of continuous activity with no distinction for night and day. This will be a perfect environment in complete contrast to the centuries upon centuries of a world corrupted by human sin. Do you remember the discussion we had some months ago, where we all reached the conclusion that despite all of the advances in technology over the past 100+ that have made life easier and longer, we've haven't solved any of the world's major problems and have instead made it a much more dangerous place to live. One day-in New Jerusalem-we will live in perfect peace and harmony with God and each other-forever and ever. And don't forget that Jesus made all of this possible.
