Monday, May 9, 2011

Chapter 21

Revelation 21:1 "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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 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."

Final Restoration of Creation

21:1 - The sea here is the sea of glass, the deep talked about in Revelation 4 (Job 37:30, Job 41:31-33). Cross references: Isaiah 65:17, 66:22, 2 Peter 3:6

21:2 - New Jerusalem/Holy Jerusalem is for the Church, who is the Bride of Christ (Revelation 21:9-10, Galatians 4:26). The Father's Bride is Israel (Hosea 2:14-23). The new earth is for the Jews (Genesis 17:8, 8:21; Psalms 24:7, Isaiah 66:22-23, 9:6-7) and the new heaven is for the Gentiles.

21:3 - There may be a tabernacle on the earth for the Jews in eternity, but there is not a tabernacle in New Jerusalem for the Church Age saints (Revelation 21:22). Cross references: Ezekiel 37:27 and Leviticus 26:11

21:4-5 - Notice that the words a true and faithful, not figurative or symbolic. Cross references: Psalms 56:8, John 14:2, Revelation 19:9

21:6 - Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last letter. Christ is every letter in the alphabet. The invention is Church Age invitation, we know this because He is talking about New Jerusalem where the Christians go. The word freely is also found in Genesis 3:2. Cross reference: John 4:13-14, Revelation 1:8, 22:13, Romans 5:15

21:7 - This is a Tribulation overcomer (Revelation 2-3). Christians have already overcome because they are in Jesus Christ (1 John 4:4, 5:4).

21:8 - This is a literal Lake of Fire that burns forever. The fearful are the people that fear man rather than God (Proverbs 29:25, Matthew 10:28, 11:18; John 9:22, Hebrews 13:6). It is true that a lot of saved people commit some of these sins, but when a Church Age saint is saved, his body is cut away from his soul, therefore he is not any of these sins (Romans 6:2, Philippians 3:21, Romans 7:17). The unbelieving is found in John 16:9.

Revelation 21:9 "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. 10 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, 11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 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: 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 in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 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. 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. 18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 19 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; 20 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. 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. 22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23 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."

A description of New Jerusalem

21:9 - The Church is the Lamb's wife and is no longer engaged, but married (2 Cor. 11:2, Revelation 19:7). The Bride is likened unto a city.

21:10 - New Jerusalem does not land on earth, but hovers right above it. The city does not need the sun or moon for light, but both are still there giving light to the earth and measuring time (Revelation 21:23, Psalms 89:36-37).

21:11 - Jasper deals with carbon, which is involved with living things, hence this is a living city. The jasper is a diamond and the city will be clear as crystal that sparkles.

21:12-14 - The city's foundations are Peter, James, John and etc. Angels will be at the gates named after the twelve Jewish tribes.

21:15-16 - The city is 1,200 miles long, 1,200 miles wide and 1,200 miles high. Cross reference: John 14:2

21:17 - This shows that angels are 33 year old males without wings (Genesis 6:1-16, Genesis 18:1-22, 19:1-26; Judges 13:1-13, Galatians 4:14, Luke 24:3-6, 23).

21:18 - The city is pure gold, so pure that it looks clear as glass. The city also shines with the light of a jasper diamond.

21:19-20 - These twelve stones match the stones on the breastplate in the Old Testament with each stone matching one of the twelve tribes. 1. Emerald, green, Judah. 2. Sapphire, blue, Simeon. 3. Sardonyx, red and white, Dan. 4. Chalcedony, white translucent, Levi. 5. Topaz, light yellow/orange, Issachar. 6. Chrysolite, gold, Gad. 7. Beryl, frozen fire, Asher. 8. Sardius, brownish-red, Naphtali. 9. Jacinth, dusky red, Joseph. 10. Amethyst, light purple, Benjamin. 11. Crysoprasus, golden green, Zebulun. 12. Jasper, transparent crystal, Reuben.

21:21 - In New Jerusalem we will walk on gold, the thing we fight for today. The gates are pearl.

21:22-23 - There will be no temples in New Jerusalem. The glory of God and the Lamb is the light for the city, so there is no need for the sun and moon, even though they do light the new earth maybe.

Revelation 21:24 "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. 25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 27 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."

Salvation of the Gentiles nations in Eternity

21:24 - The nations that are saved in the Tribulation and Millennium do not have eternal life, so they have dying bodies. If there name is in the Book of Life at the White Throne Judgment then they and their children can partake of the Tree of Life, so they can live forever (Revelation 20:13). The phrase "kings of the earth" show that there will be fleshy bodies in Eternity (Isaiah 66:22-24). Cross references: Psalms 68:29, 26:2, 2 Chronicles 23:19.

21:25-26 - This is talking about Eternity.

21:27 - Nothing unclean can go into the city. Every Christian is clean because he is already written in the Book of Life and already has eternal life (Philippians 4:3, 1 John 5:12). The reference here is to the Tribulation and Millennium people that come into the city to get eternal life from the Tree of Life (Revelation 22:14). They obtain what was forbidden to Adam in Genesis 3:22-24.