Chapter 21: 22-27

“But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ 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. ²⁴ 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. ²⁵ Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). ²⁶ And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. ²⁷ 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.”

Thanks for all the responses about these articles and lessons. The communication is very much appreciated. Today we will look at a third installment of Our New Home. There are always things to learn and to grow in when handling the Word of God. I keep learning stuff, and I hope that you will too as we move ahead in the study of God’s Word.

The last two times, we talked about the size and the sheer awesomeness of the New Jerusalem. It is massive. It will house billions of people and extend from earth all the way into space. We will have the ability, in our new bodies, to travel from earth into what we now call space. I am not sure how that will work, but it will. Our new bodies will be awesome; the limitations that sin put on us will all be lifted; and once again we will have the bodies that God intended us to have.

Along with the New Jerusalem, we saw earlier that we get a New Earth as well, and that there will be no more sea. We also get a New Heaven. This would refer to the atmosphere around us; the Heaven where God lives is eternal, so that will not change. But we will get a New Heaven and a New Earth and a New Jerusalem. The three are hand in hand. God intended us to know about these new places, to have a life that is focused on them, and so live in such a way that we are not comfortable here. This world is not our home, not our final destination.

We are going to take a look at some of the activities in and around the New Jerusalem and get a little, a very little glimpse of what life will be like.

1. God with us, verses 2-4 (prior text)

Jesus is called Immanuel, God with us. God met with Adam and his wife in the Garden of Eden. Over and over again in the books of Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus and Deuteronomy God proclaims to the people, ‘I am with you.’ He was there as a cloud by day and fire by night. 1 Corinthians 10:4 tells us that Jesus was the Rock that followed the nation of Israel in the wilderness. Jesus appears in dreams to people. He met with Gideon; He met with Manoah in Judges; He spoke to Daniel in Babylon; He was there; He is there; and then He came as a baby in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago.

When He left, He sent His Holy Spirit to live in us and to empower His local churches. But, one day soon, we will see Him face to face, no fear, no terror, just the wonder of His glory and presence. God will live with us and comfort us. We will never be separated ever again. Sin will never separate us and God ever again.

2. Neither the Sun nor the Moon are needed, verse 23

This will be weird. I am 53, and there has not been a day without the sun and the moon; but in the New Heavens that God makes, there will not be a need for the sun or the moon. God is the Light of the World; this is a good lesson to learn. God is so Holy that He provides more light than the sun. And, seeing as we will have new bodies, it does not appear that we will need much rest, as there is no night. Or rather, we will rest because we want to, not because we have to. This is just like what God did in the Creation; He rested on the seventh day because He wanted to, not because He had to.

God is glorious, His purity is tangible, and it is so amazing that it can override the sun and eliminate the need for the moon. His glory is all we need. We are not accustomed to this, and this is why we need new purified bodies with new minds and new eyes to be able to handle the glory of our God.

Remember back in Isaiah 6 that the prophet, upon seeing God, could only recognize his own sinfulness and the sinfulness of his people. Remember Moses in the wilderness, that after spending time with God in ‘face to face’ communications, his face glowed so much that the people of Israel made him wear a veil because they could not handle the shine on his face. Now imagine what it will be like when we can actually tolerate the glory of God. His glory will make the sun obsolete as the source of light in the galaxy.

3. The Lamb of God and the Lord Almighty are its Temple, verse 22

There is no more need for a Temple. You will recall from Daniel 9:27 that one of the parts of the ‘peace treaty’ that the Anti-Christ will make with the nation of Israel will be the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem:

“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”

See there that the sacrifices will begin again; and about halfway through the Tribulation, the Anti-Christ will defile the Temple. If one were to read Ezekiel 40-44, you will see the construction dimension for another Temple, what I understand to be a fourth temple in Jerusalem during the Millennium. In chapter 44 there are instructions about how the Prince will live in Jerusalem. As far as I can tell, there are two more Temples coming. I know that some will disagree, but the dimensions of the structure are huge, far bigger that the current Temple mount in Jerusalem. I am sure that I will learn more as I continue. But, in this New Jerusalem, there is no need for a Temple; there is no sin within the city walls.

Later, in verses 24-27 of chapter 21, we are told that the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor, but that nothing that causes an abomination or is a lie will enter. The sacrificing is gone forever, never to return.

4. There is commerce around the New Jerusalem, verse 24-25

This place never closes; it is busy all the time. From verse 24 we can surmise that there is life on earth beyond the gates of the New Jerusalem. There are kingdoms and kings who live outside the city. We are told that there are nations of those who are saved, but they were not a part of the Bride of The Lamb. Think about it; the opportunity to be a part of the Bride ends with the Rapture as far as we understand. Then, for the 7 years of the Tribulation, there are those Jews, for instance, that are redeemed; then there are Gentiles who, along with the Jews, refuse the ‘mark of the beast.’ They enter the Millennial Kingdom and thrive in an environment that has no natural death. There are no wars, no predators and no disease.

Those that are rebellious are killed at the last battle of the world at the very end of the Millennial Kingdom, and there are still billions left who worship and honor the Lord God Almighty; but these are not a part of the Bride.

According to the passage we are looking at today, there will be nations, and there will be kings. So, it seems there will be a whole world going on around this massive structure of the New Jerusalem. One last thing: the gates are open all the time. Twelve gates made of pearls are there, and they never close. These pearls are huge – we are told in verse 17 of our passage that the walls are 144 cubits. Now, I am not sure if that is tall or wide, but either way that works out to 216 feet, either tall or wide. If there is a pearl that is a gate, imagine the size of it. Folks, this place is going to blow our minds; well, maybe not our perfect minds, but it blows our finite minds.

The New Jerusalem, the New Heaven and the New Earth are going to be busy places – busy about the business of the Lord’s universe.

We have such a narrow view of the Universe and even of earth. We learn and discover new things on a regular basis.

In all my years, I have not heard much about the New Jerusalem or the Millennial Kingdom that precedes it. It is almost as if people are afraid to tackle these topics; maybe I just need to read more. But should we not want to know more about the place that Jesus has gone to prepare for us? We should be excited, intrigued, inquisitive and expectant. Rather, we are complacent; I know that I can be. We get excited about this earth’s wealth and perceived riches, and we get our eyes off eternity. We get our eyes off the real prize and get lost in the wilderness of life. Our new home is the bomb; it is going to absolutely rock. And it is here on earth, in this life, that we get to determine what our responsibilities will be in the Millennium and beyond.

Stay focused, eyes on Jesus. Keep our eyes on the real prize, the one that is eternal and permanent.

We even have churches that keep talking about Kingdom building. God has a kingdom already, a big one, and He does not need our help to build it bigger.

We have two goals as church-age believers: to win the lost and to become more like Jesus. The Great Commission and the Beatitudes; keep these in front of us, and we will be ready for work in the coming Millennium and then the New Jerusalem.

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

 

Chapter 21: 9-21

“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.’ ¹⁰ 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, ¹¹ having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. ¹² 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: ¹³ three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

¹⁴ “Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. ¹⁵ And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. ¹⁸ The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

¹⁹ “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, ²⁰ 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. ²¹ 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.”

We began our look into the New Heaven and the New Earth last week, and it is refreshing to come to the end of the damage and the destruction. From our present time until the end of the Millennium will be a down spiral around the world.

Right now, the religious freedoms of the Lord’s people are being restricted in the name of tolerance. I read a quote recently that basically said that, in a world of lies, the truth tellers are the enemy. Well, God’s people are the truth tellers, or at least we should be.

I had a great conversation with a dear sister in the Lord this week, and she recounted going to play golf with a lady who claims to be a minister for the Lord. Yet she says that there are some parts of the Bible that she willfully ignores or does not consider because it does not fit her beliefs. This kind of confusion is rampant in religion. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we see these words,

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

Notice the first words “ALL SCRIPTURE,” not just the ones we like, but ALL is given by the inspiration of God; another term is “God-breathed” and is profitable. For one to forgo some of the scripture is to question if it is God-breathed and its profitability This is the very height of arrogance. For a mere human to determine that something that God has said is not profitable is to declare that you, a mere human, knows more than God.

Since the scripture is profitable, since it is God-breathed, we are to hold it in high regard; we are to cherish it and study it, and find out what God is saying to us with the goal of being “perfect and thoroughly furnished (equipped) unto all good works.” Sadly, this kind of arrogance is eating into the very foundation of Christianity. One very prominent ‘church’ leader recently alluded to the idea that we no longer need the Old Testament, yet God says ALL scripture is profitable. Once again, a mere man trying to usurp God’s clearly stated directive. Run from these people; run I say! Run far! Find a Bible- believing, Bible-teaching and Bible-cherishing church, one where the Pastor carefully and deliberately handles God’s Holy word.

The Lamb’s Wife, verse 9-11

In john 14:1-3 we see these beautiful words of promise. Words that tells us the Jewish story of the betrothed man. In our case, Jesus is the betrothed husband and we the bride.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

John was there when Jesus said this. Now he is seeing it with his own eyes. This is the place where the Bride of Christ will live. Notice that John had to be carried to a great mountain to see this place in all its glory. This is like no other city you have ever seen. You mouth will be slack-jawed for a long time once your eyes set on this sight. This reminds me of the verses in 1 Peter 2:11; we are sojourners here and should long for our new home.

“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.”

Too many of us Christians are settled on earth, and we are content here. There is no real longing for our new home. No real desire to go there unless we are on our death bed; and all too often, we live as though we are not true resident aliens. I do believe in aliens; I am one. This world is not my home. I long, like Abraham, for a city whose builder is God (Hebrews 11:10). This beautiful place is our home; in it are our dwelling places, and they will be all we ever need. There will be no want there, no lack, no loss and no desire for more.

Our New Home, verses 12-21

This place is huge. Sometimes we do not get the size of it. Let me help you. The place is 2,250,000 square miles, but it is also 1,500 miles high, so it is actually 3,375,000,000-cubit miles in its size. The largest state in the US according to square miles is Alaska at 571,951. That is more than twice the state of Texas. The Holy city is almost 4 times the square miles of Alaska. In Canada, our province of Quebec relates the best to Alaska at 595,391 square miles. So, this Holy city is about 4 times the size of Quebec as well. This is huge. Think of how many cities we have in a province, yet this one city, the new Jerusalem, is 4 times the size of one of our provinces.

The population of this is going to be huge. Between the Bride of Christ and angels and whatever else or whomever else is here, this population is going to be like the sands of the seashore. Certainly, more than any could count. It is bright and beautiful.

There are 12 gates, each bearing the name of a Jewish tribe; we are not told which ones they will be. Tribes like Dan, for instance, that helped Israel go into idolatry may not get a gate, or maybe the tribe of Joseph is united as one tribe. Does the tribe of Levi get a gate or does God have some special place for them in accordance with their call as His special tribe? It may be that the names are written in the order that they lived in the wilderness. In Numbers 2 we find the order in which the tribes were placed around the Tabernacle. From the website www.steintothestory.ca we see the image.

There are twelve foundations upon which the city is built, and they are named after the 12 apostles. Once again, we cannot be sure which apostles; there were 11 left in Acts 1:15-26, and the people in the Upper room elected Mathias to take the place of Judas who had killed himself. But, not long after this, Jesus confronts Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus; and upon arriving in Damascus, he is met by Ananias and addressed as brother, in Acts 9:17. Then he is baptized. In 1 Corinthians 15:8, Paul addresses himself as an apostle born out of season,

“And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.” `

So, whose names will appear on these foundations? I do not know. You need to be there to see it for yourself. Jesus is the only way.

We find that those who love God, those who love Jesus, have always longed for a new place, a better place, a new home. See Hebrews 12:22-24,

“But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”

Further in Hebrews 13:12-14, we see that Jesus died outside the city as an identity with us, those who seek a new home, a new place. Those of us that are not settled here, we are out of place and longing for a new home.

“Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.”

We identify with Jesus as a people without a city. He came to the earthly Jerusalem, but the Heavenly Jerusalem is His true home. The earthly one rejected Him, but the Heavenly one welcomes Him. This earth rejects us because we are in Jesus. Thus, we look for a new home, a permanent home, a peaceful home; and here, in Revelation, John got to see it and talk a bit about it.

So, here is the question to you: is there a dwelling in this new Jerusalem for you? Has Jesus gone to prepare a place for you? John 14:5-6 completes the thought about how to have a place in this new Jerusalem; it is clear and simply, Jesus is the Way.

“Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca