Chapter BY Chapter

Revelation 21- A New Heaven and New Earth

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“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.  And I 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 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.  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.”

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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.”  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.  The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.  But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

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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.”  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, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.  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—on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

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And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.  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.  He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement.  The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass.  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, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.  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.

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And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.  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.  By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.  They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.  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.”

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As I write this today, Congress is at a stalemate about whether or not to continue measures for the security of our own citizens, the Episcopal Church is demanding that its churches and ministers allow same sex relationships, and the United Nations added a member to its Human Rights council that said, “Persecuting Christians is a right, not a crime.”

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The world seem to be going more and more in the direction of sexual immorality and persecution of Christians, just as depicted in the book of Revelation.  What should we be doing about these things, today? 

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In the previous 2 chapters, we saw Christ defeat the beast and the nations assembled against him.  He returned to rule the earth with all the resurrected saints, the Bride of Christ, which includes Old Testament saints, New Testament saints, and Tribulation saints.  There will be a few people left over from surviving the Tribulation, but these people too will bow down to Christ.  Satan is thrown into the bottomless pit for a thousand years.  After the restoration of the earth and the thousand year reign of Christ, Satan will be let loose to deceive the nations.  Again, they will assemble to make war against Christ and the saints, but they will be consumed by fire.  Satan and those whose names are not written in the Book of Life will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.  Being thrown into the Lake of Fire doesn’t mean that they just end.  Chapter 20, verse 10 says they will be tormented night and day forever and ever.

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Now we see in chapter 21 that there is going to be a new heaven and a new earth.

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This is a common theme throughout the Bible.

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Isaiah 65:17,

“For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.”

 

Isaiah 66:22,

“"For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will endure before Me," declares the LORD, "so your descendants and your name will endure.”

 

2 Peter 3:10,

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be dissolved in the fire, and the earth and its works will not be found.”

 

2 Peter 3:13,

“But in keeping with God's promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”

What is the significance that the new heavens and new earth are something that was taught by Isaiah in the Old Testament, then Peter in the New Testament, and is now in the Revelation of Jesus Christ given to John?

1. It is God’s plan all along.

2. The Old and New Testament teach the same doctrines.

3. The Revelation given to John is not just some allegory.It is a continuation and expansion of God’s revelation to men.

 

Would the rest of the Bible make sense if there was never going to be a new heavens and a new earth?  It would.  Now here is where the Bible and God’s revelation is so powerful.  We know from science that this present earth cannot last more than another 4-5 Billion years.  The God of the Bible is way ahead of science.  He knows that, and he already has a plan.  There will be a new heavens and new earth.  The new heavens and new earth will be based on a new physics that will never pass away.

What is different about the physical nature of this new heavens and new earth as far as we can see in the Bible?

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1. It is complete according to 2 Peter 3:10.Even the elements will be dissolved.

2. No more sea according to Revelation 21:1.

3. Gold and precious gems seem to be in great supply in Revelation 21:9-27.

4. No more death in Revelation 21:4.

5. Free and abundant water of life in Revelation 21, verse 6.

6. A giant city can come down from heaven. Now in verse 9, the angel says to John, “I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”The next thing that happens is that John sees the holy New city Jerusalem coming down from heaven.Now we know from other passages that the Bride of Christ is the saints redeemed by his blood.We can only conclude that the saints are in this new city.

7. According to verse 16, The New Jerusalem is a cube at 12,000 stadia, which is about 1,500 miles.For something to stick up in the air 1,500 miles from the face of a planet, we are talking about a whole new set of physics than what we now observe in the universe.Anything sticking out 1,500 miles from the face of a planet, any planet, even if it was made of gold, and even if the walls were 72 yards thick, would just get demolished.

8. By the way, The New Jerusalem can potentially hold 2.07x10 to the power of 19 people. That is 20,700,000,000,000,000,000 (20 Quintillion and 700 Quadrillion).That is over 20 Quintillion, which comes after quadrillions, which comes after trillions, which comes after billions, which comes after millions.That is a lot of people!Even if we all have a whole room in there, then there is at least 1 Quintillion people in that New Jerusalem.

9. Verse 22, no sun or moon because the glory of the Lord shines throughout it.

10. Verse 25, no night.

 

What is different about the non-physical nature of the new heavens and new earth?

1. God’s dwelling place will be with men and he will be their God, and they will be his people.

2. There will be no more sadness, death or pain. Verse 4 says, “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.”

3. We will be the sons of God.Verse 7 says, “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

4. There will be no more sin.Verse 8 says, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”Verse 27 says, “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.”

 

Now, what about that New Jerusalem? Can we find out more about the saints or about God from this heavenly city?

 

First question: Was this a teaching prior to the book of Revelation?

 

Isaiah 52:1,

 

“Awaken, awaken, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, Holy City! For the uncircumcised and unclean will not again enter you.”

 

Isaiah 61:10,

 

“I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a groom wears a priestly headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

Ezekiel talked about a future city in a vision, and in Ezekiel 48:35, it says,

“And the name of the city from that time on shall be, ‘The Lord Is There.’”

 

Galatians 4:26,

 

“But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.”

 

Hebrews 11:10,

 

“For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

 

Hebrews 12:22,

 

“Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels.”

 

Revelation 3:12,

 

“The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the New Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.”

So, yes, from Isaiah 52, it seems that a future Jerusalem was talked about.  Paul and the writer of Hebrews talked about a future heavenly Jerusalem, so it seems as though this could have been a teaching of Jesus Christ.  John starts talking about the New Jerusalem in Revelation chapter 3, before any future things are revealed to him.  So, that is another disciple of Jesus, another apostle that had the doctrine of a future New Jerusalem. 

 

What can we find out about the New Jerusalem that is applicable to us today?

 

In Revelation 21:3, we find out that a voice says, “The Dwelling place of God is with man, and He will live with him.”

 

This seems to be God’s purpose all along.

 

This seems to be the intention in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:8 says,

 

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

 

Exodus 25:8,

 

“And they are to make a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them.”

 

Exodus 29:45,

 

“Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.”

 

Leviticus 26:11,

 

“And I will make My dwelling place among you, and I will not reject you.”

 

Ezekiel 37:27,

 

“My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people.”

 

John 1:14,

 

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

 

John 14:23,

 

“Jesus replied, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our home with him.”

 

2 Corinthians 6:16,

 

“What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people."

 

So, yes, this is God’s plan all along – to dwell with men, and in men. 

 

Verse 11 – the city is shining with the glory of God like clear crystal jasper.  Remember back in Revelation 4:3, the one sitting on the throne is shining jasper.  So, the city is full of God & the city is also the Bride of Christ.

 

Verse 12 - The city has 12 gates inscribed with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. This corresponds to the vision in Ezekiel 48:31.  The gates of the city are named after the 12 tribes of Israel.

 

What is the significance of the gates being named after the tribes of Israel?

 

Verse 13 – There are 3 gates on each direction, North, South, East, and West.  This is the same as in Ezekiel 48. 

 

What is the significance of the gates being in the 4 directions of the earth?

 

Verse 14 – The wall has 12 foundations named after the 12 apostles of the Lamb.  What is the significance of the foundations named after the 12 apostles?

 

Verses 15-18,

 

“And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.  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.  He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement.  The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass.”

 

So, the city is 12,000 stadia, cubed!  That’s about 1,500 miles.  The walls are about 72 yards thick, made of jasper, and the city is pure gold. 

 

What are the implications of this? 

1. Physics would have to be completely different.A city made of gold 1,500 miles high would sink to the center of any planet.So what are some other things that might be improved in God’s new Heavens and Earth?

   • No more earthquakes.

   • No more tornadoes or hurricanes.

   • No more weeds.

   • No more mountains.

   • No more extreme weather (too hot or too cold).

2. Now, the heavenly Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s vision is about 2 ½ miles in diameter. You could probably cram a couple million people in that space.This New Jerusalem can hold Quintillions of people.Perhaps Ezekiel had a vision about how many saints there were then.John’s vision is a vision about how many saints there will finally be in the future.

 

Verses 19-20: The Foundations of the wall are adorned with every kind of precious stone.

 

Ephesians 2:19-22,

 

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

What happens when you are building something and you have some missing pieces?

 

One time, I helped my friend rebuild a Volkswagen Beetle motor.  When we were done, there were bolts left over and we didn’t know where they went.  It ran just fine, so it seemed.  My friend sold the car shortly after that, so I don’t really know how long it continued to run well. 

 

This passage in Ephesians says that we are being built into a dwelling place for God.  I think that God is going to do a better job on his building than what we did with that Volkswagen Beetle motor.  He’s not going to settle for any missing pieces.  That is why the foundation of the New Jerusalem is adorned with precious stones.  We are those precious stones! 

 

Notice also that in Ephesians 2:22 that we are being built into a dwelling place for God.  In Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem is the Bride of the Lamb, and it is also full of the glory of God. 

 

Verse 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.”

 

What is the implication of the gates being made of pearl?  Pearls grow in clams.  Living things such as clams, will live so long that you can have pearls that big.

 

What is the implication of the streets being made of gold?  In John’s time they threw out their broken clay pots onto the roads to pave the roads.  In the New Heavens and Earth, gold will be so plentiful that we will use it to pave the streets with.

 

Verses 22-27,

 

“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.  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.  By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.  They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.  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.”

 

Isaiah 60:19,

 

“No longer will the sun be your light by day, and the brightness of the moon will not shine on you; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your splendor.”

 

No night!  No need for sleep!  Constant enjoyment for eternity!  The gates will never be shut!  Why will the gates never be shut?

Because there will be no more sin & no more threats to people.

 

Song: ''The New Jerusalem'' Song W/Lyrics