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.
Isaiah 65:17 ¶ For, behold, I create new heavens and a new
earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
Isaiah 66:22 For as the new
heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the
LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
2Peter 3:12 Looking for and
hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire
shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise,
look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
In the new heaven and new earth
there will be no more sea. It is not certain if that means the world’s oceans
as it would by the first mention of sea in Genesis or by its linkage with
heaven and earth here if it refers to the space between the earth and the third
heaven now, which will not be in between God and man as we see with the New
Jerusalem coming to earth. The question here, as elsewhere in Revelation, is
the word sea a metaphor for something
else?
Remember, the church is the bride
of Christ so there is something linking the church with the city of the new
Jerusalem as in verse 2 is a simile prepared
as a bride while in verse 9 it is directly called the bride.
2Corinthians 11:2 For I am
jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband,
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
God will be with His people for
eternity and there will be no more death, sorry, crying, or pain. All things
will be made new by the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of all things.
Revelation 1:8 I am Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was,
and which is to come, the Almighty.
I will discuss water of life in the next chapter where
it is mentioned twice as literal.
Who he is that overcometh and
shall inherit all things has been defined previously.
1John 5:4 For whatsoever is born
of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world,
even our faith. 5 Who is he that
overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Also, in verse 7 remember who we
become when we receive Christ.
John 1:12 But as many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name: 13 Which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God.
There is a list of people whose
character keeps them from the New Jerusalem. These are things worth examining
in your own spirit as they are all impediments, even in the Age of Grace where
the Holy Spirit has sealed us, to growing in grace with Christ.
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.
If the church is the bride of
Christ and the new Jerusalem is the bride of Christ then it only follows, as
per the next chapter it is safe to believe that the church is the servants who
serve him in 22:3. It is reasonable to believe that our eternity will be
praising and serving God, just being with Him physically present, a glorious
event that makes even the most intense experience pale by comparison.
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,
This city, coming down from space,
which may already be on its way, is
physically visible so this is not simply a spiritual event.
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.
So far, this is pretty obvious
although one would presume that Paul was included in the twelve and not Judas,
of course.
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.
The city is a cube with
measurements of about 1500 miles on all sides. Note that it’s sides are not
just 1500 miles but its height is 1500 miles so that consists of space inside
of this cube is 1500x1500x1500 miles. This is over 3 billion miles of space
available within this cube. That seems like plenty of room for anything you can
imagine. This is God the Father’s house.
John 14:2 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.
Our modern understanding of a
mansion is a large manor house. An older definition is a luxury apartment in a
manor house. It is clear in the New Jerusalem there is room for anything you
can imagine.
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.
The city has a wall and I don’t
know how that works out with a cube so that may be an argument against the cube
or either way you see it the wall may be evident. It is around 225 feet high
depending on the length of a cubit, as there are small variations in the
measurement. Here is further evidence of what an angel looks like as it is
likened to a man. There are not angels with wings in the Bible and the phrase,
“angelic creatures,” does not exist either except in the imagination of some. I
defined angel from the Bible early
on.
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