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.
In the ancient world, starting
with the city named after Cain’s son, Enoch, in Genesis 4:17 the city was a
religious entity, a type of church, started all at once with invited families
who would share in the same worship and the same gods, although the individual
family would have its own singular worship and gods which represented their
lars familiaris or familiar spirits (see Leviticus 20:27), the guiding
divinities of ancestors dead. (21) It is likely that Cain’s false religion was
carried on through his city.
In addition, each home in the
ancient world was to have a sacred flame which was the religious center of the
home and must not be permitted to go out. (22) This eternal flame, like the
lamp in the tabernacle in Exodus 27:20, must never go out. This was a
counterfeit city in the ancient world, a city of man’s creation, man’s poor
attempt to replace what God intended. In God’s city, though, He is the light
and the glory of it and there is no need for any other. In this passage we can
see the religious significance of the sun and the stars as evidence of God’s
sacred handiwork, placing in our temporal tabernacle lights that reflect on
earth that never go out.
(21) Numa Denis Fustel De
Coulanges, The Ancient City: A Study of
the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1864, repr.
Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2006), 134.
(22) Ibid., 25.
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.
Now, clearly, here in eternity,
there will be people inhabiting the earth. Some commentators believe the Jews
will inherit the earth and grow to a great number as mankind was originally
intended to populate the universe. Although we don’t have enough evidence to
declare this as being the case it is clear that there will be people on earth
and their leadership will have to bring glory and honor to the heavenly city.
Only those persons whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will have a presence apart from the Lake of
Fire.
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