Revelation 21: A Glimpse into the Future

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Revelation Chapter 21.1
June 17th 2018

Okay, you guys – last week we read the chapter that wraps the whole age up – chapter 20 of Revelation. In it DeathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God. and Satan and his angels were cast into the Lake of Fire, the Great White Throne was introduced, which means the judgement occurred of those of that age, and we now come to whatever God wanted the Seven Churches to know (and presumably us) about what is to happen next.

So, let’s get started by reading the text of chapter 21 beginning at verse 1. Many Bible commentators consider this chapter to be the RENEWAL of all things Chapter. Of course to the fulfillment view this chapter is describing what is and has been since everything has occurred that was described in chapter 20.

All Things Made New

We might break this chapter of a Renewal of ALL things down into three groups:

First, Revelation 21:1-8 = All Things Made New

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.”

New Jerusalem

The Second Part of Revelation 21 is located in verses 9-21 which describe the “New Jerusalem” mentioned in the first verse. These verses say:

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,

The New Jerusalem

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.

The final and third part of Revelation 21 is found in Revelation 21:22-27, which describes “The Glory of the New JerusalemThe spiritual reality of God's fulfilled presence with humanity—replacing Sheol after 70 A.D..”

The Glory of the New Jerusalem

John writes: 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. 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 honor 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 honor 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.

Okay, let’s first talk about the notion of a New Jerusalem. There is some compelling evidence in scripture that says that the new Jerusalem exists right now! We are not waiting for it – it was created in full at the end of the ageThe close of the old covenant era, fulfilled in 70 A.D.—not the end of the world. described in Revelation 20. In Revelation 21 verse 2, John sees the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven as a symbolic illustration of Philippians 3:20, Hebrews 11:13, and John 17:16.

Philippians 3:20 says that “our citizenship is in heaven.” Hebrews 11:13 refers to the saints as “strangers and exiles on the earth.” John 17:16 echoes this idea when referring to Himself and the saints, Jesus says, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” In Revelation 21:2, the New Jerusalem is depicted as “coming down from heaven to the earth,” illustrating the fact that the saints are of heaven (and not earth or the earthly Jerusalem) as stated in John 17:16. Therefore, I think the fact that the saints are “strangers and exiles on the earth[,]” “not of the world” and have their “citizenship in heaven” is depicted in Revelation 21 as the new Jerusalem seen coming down from heaven.

While I am on this subject, I have come to the conclusion that there is a better way to engage with this world due to this study of Revelation and the fact that Christians are part of a heavenly Kingdom and that is this: We, followers ought to see ourselves as visitors and guests on a world that is not ours. How do we expect guests that we are hosting to behave when in our home? We expect them to be gracious, and thankful, and considerate, and complimentary, right? I mean, how would we feel if we invited someone to our home and all they did was criticize us for the way we kept house, how we cooked, what we did for entertainment, etc. It would be pretty ugly, right?

Well, I think we have behaved the same way as non-citizens of this world when we walk about criticizing the ways of this world, and the things the citizens of this world engage in. To me, Christians ought to be loving to those of this world and the things they do in it, not participating, not endorsing or adoring, but loving those who are utterly consumed by the things of this world. Shining a light of love – the way we would want any house guest visiting our home, right? So, something to consider.

There is more to the imagery found in Revelation 21 and 22. The New Jerusalem is a symbolic depiction of the victorious church on earth, which is perhaps portrayed in the image of the Jerusalem that is in heaven, as mentioned in Hebrews 12:22, which says):

The Heavenly Jerusalem

“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,”

And Galatians 4:26, which says:

“But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”

This last passage tells us two important things – ONE, that there is a Jerusalem which is ABOVE (meaning, it is NOT of the earth) AND that she is the Mother of us all.

The New Jerusalem: Heaven and Earth

The description that the New Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all, is what we also call the BRIDE of Christ. More on this later. But bottom line, the New Jerusalem is quite literally “the new heaven and new earth” that is predicted in Revelation 21:1 by John.

Now here is something kind of cool. Lately on HOTM, we have had a guest on the show talking about Near Death Experiences. These “accounts of heaven” which I think may be part of what God is allowing ever since the end of the former age, often contain striking similarities to the New Jerusalem that is described here in Revelation 21.

Throughout Revelation 21 and 22, the triumphant Christian church, whether it exists in heaven or spiritually here on earth, is symbolically portrayed in the image of the Jerusalem that is in heaven. Because the Christian body is present both on earth and in heaven and because the Christian body members on earth are destined for heaven, the New Jerusalem is the church-body described in the likeness of heaven. Therefore, Revelation 21 and 22 follow the precedent set in Ezekiel 28 and 37 where “earthly realities” are portrayed in “heavenly revelations.” There is also some historical significance to this image used – for whatever it is worth.

For a thousand years after the Jewish War, Jerusalem grew to become an almost exclusively Christian city. Therefore, the fact that the Christian church on earth is called the New Jerusalem might also be an appropriate title. Since the New Jerusalem is the Christian church reigning on earth, it, of course, could represent the Christianized Jerusalem that was on earth during the thousand years between the Jewish War and the Crusades. So there could be some application there.

Symbolism and Contrast in Revelation

The New Jerusalem is also described as a utopia in order to symbolize and mirror the Jerusalem that is in heaven awaiting the saints at death. The New Jerusalem may be described in language that is meant to intentionally point to both the peaceful bliss after war in addition to symbolically hinting at the Jerusalem in heaven. Another idea into the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21 and 22 is that it was given this name so as to contrast it to the old, apostate Jerusalem which was called the whore of Babylon earlier in John’s vision.

In scripture, God divorces His previous wife, the Whore of Babylon, because of her adulterous affair with Rome, the beast (depicted in Revelation 17), and He then marries His new wife, the Christian church. During the thousand years between Israel’s first-century war with Rome and the first crusade, Israel and especially Jerusalem grew to become nearly exclusively Christian. Therefore, it is not a coincidence that in this way the New Jerusalem that is described here at the end of Revelation symbolically portrays the Christian church in Revelation 21 and 22.

Earthly and Heavenly Imagery

Revelation 21 also describes earthly things in heavenly imagery. As mentioned, the New Jerusalem might refer to the Christian church which literally and historically reigned over the earth after A.D. 70. Hebrews 12:23 says that the church has its names “written in heaven.” Because the Christian saints are destined for heaven after physical death, the church, of course, exists presently in heaven and earth. And because the church exists in heaven and earth, the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21 and 22 is a visionary depiction of the church as it exists in both realms.

In other words, the New Jerusalem then is the new heaven and earth mentioned in Revelation 21:1, called our Mother. In Revelation 21:2, John sees the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven, so it could be that here in Revelation 21 and 22 the royal church of Christ is depicted in the symbolic image of the Jerusalem that comes down in the lives and hearts of believers while remaining in heaven for the departed. The fact that there is a Jerusalem that is in heaven suggests that the Jerusalem on earth is a dark, earthly, even carnal shadow of the Jerusalem that is above in the same way that the inner sanctuary of the Temple is a dark shadow of heaven above.

Listen to Hebrews 8:5, speaking of the Jews it says: “They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.” This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build…

The New Jerusalem

The Tabernacle: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

The fact that the victorious church is called the New Jerusalem at the end of Revelation is an appropriate title since the Jerusalem that is on earth—like the Jerusalem in heaven—grew to become an almost exclusively Christian city during the thousand years between the Jewish War and the Crusades. Given the fact the Christian church permeated the Jerusalem on earth and that it is above too it is no surprise that the New Jerusalem is described as the Christian church in the image of the Jerusalem in heaven in the concluding chapters of the Revelation.

Very often people who have had near-death experiences (NDE’s) describe seeing cities of light of inexplicable grandeur much like the new Jerusalem. During an NDE, George Ritchie was “shown a distant city made of brilliant light. Its description resembled the city described in the Book of RevelationA symbolic prophecy fulfilled in 70 A.D.—not a prediction of future global events..”

Don Piper, an ordained minister since 1985 had a similar experience. After being brought back to life after a near-fatal car accident, Don describes having seen a city of immense beauty strongly resembling the new Jerusalem of Revelation 21. In his book, 90 Minutes in Heaven, he writes:

One thing did surprise me: On earth, whenever I thought of heaven, I anticipated that one day I’d see a gate made of pearls, because the Bible refers to the gates of pearl. The gate wasn’t made of pearls, but was pearlescent—perhaps iridescent may be more descriptive. To me, it looked as if someone had spread pearl icing on a cake. The gate glowed and shimmered. I paused and stared at the glorious hues and shimmering shades. The luminescence dazzled me, and I would have been content to stay at that spot. Yet I stepped forward as if being escorted into God’s presence. I paused just outside the gate, and I could see inside. It was like a city with paved streets. To my amazement, they had been constructed of literal gold. If you could imagine a street paved with gold bricks, that’s as close as I can come to describing what lay inside the gate. Everything I saw was bright—the brightest colors my eyes had ever beheld—so powerful that no earthly human could take in this brilliance.

Biblical Comparisons

In Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem is pictured in much the same way as it is in Isaiah 60.

18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.
19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.
20 Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

This “kingdom from heaven” bears a striking resemblance to the Jewish temple.

As suggested in Hebrews 8:5:

“Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”

And Psalm 78:69 suggests, saying:

“And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established forever.”

Symbolic Models

The temple appears to be a symbolic model of heaven and earth with the inner sanctuary of the temple being a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. G. K. Beale writes the following concerning the fact that the temple in Jerusalem was a symbol or model of heaven and earth:

“[T]he OT temple was a microcosmic model of the entire heaven and earth."

Again, one of the most explicit texts affirming this view is Psalm 78:69 which says (again):

“And he built the sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he founded forever.”

Josephus himself understood “the tripartite structure of the tabernacle to signify something interesting (which will be of interest to our flat earther fans out there) that the tripartite structure of the temple was a shadow of the earth and sea and heaven itself, saying

“the earth = outer court
and the sea = inner court
but the third portion = the holy of holies is reserved for God alone, because before the resurrection heaven was inaccessible to men (that’s in Antiquities 3.181; cf. 3.123).”

The Symbolic Depiction of New Jerusalem

New Jerusalem is also a symbolic depiction of the kingdom of GodGod’s spiritual reign—fulfilled and present, not political or future.. Indwelt with the Holy Spirit, every member of the body of Christ, according to 2 Corinthians 6:16, is said to be "a temple of the living God." And just as the spirit of God was believed to be present in both the Holy of Holies of the Temple as well as in heaven during Old Testament history, the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, is also present in heaven as well as in the hearts of the modern church, the new Temple of God, on earth.

We might wonder why would John describe "the body of Christ" as the temple of God? Here in verse 2 John may be hinting to a possible answer. But before addressing this question, John sees the new heaven and earth.

The Passing Away of Heaven and Earth

1 Then I saw a new heaven and earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

I am going to explain these passages from a fulfillment (or “Realized”) Eschatological View.

The New Heaven and Earth Explained

Given the fact that the Temple is a symbolic model of heaven and earth, it is not surprising that the Temple’s destruction in A.D. 70 occurred together with the destruction of the heaven and earth of THAT age. The passing away of heaven and earth is implied in Revelation 20:11. Here the earth and sky fled from the presence of God “and there was no place for them.” The destruction of heaven and earth is also described back in Revelation 6:12-14.

In these verses, the sky recedes like a scroll and the stars fall to the earth as an indication of the destruction of heaven. Then in v. 14 we read “every mountain and island was removed from its place.” The removal of the mountains, which often represent cities and kingdoms throughout the Bible (Psalms 2:6; 48:1; Isaiah 66:20; Jeremiah 51:25; Joel 3:17), is another way of expressing the fact that the land was made desolate, resembling the earth at its creation in Genesis 1:1—without form and void.

After the Romans conquered Judaea, they left its “mountains” (or cities) burned and destroyed to such an extent that Josephus says little sign of these settlements remained. After the passing away of that heaven and earth, God creates a new heaven and earth. This destruction, fulfilled in the Jewish War, and the recreation, may be depicted throughout the Book of Revelation in such a way as to mirror Genesis 1.

Understand, Israel was destructed and reconstructed several times throughout its history.

Biblical Portrayals of Conquest as Destruction

Whenever a Nation was Conquered by Another, the Bible often Poetically portrays this Conquest as the Destruction of Heaven and Earth itself. The destruction of heaven and earth is often understood to mean that God is going to destroy the whole world and rebuild a perfect one in its place. However, the destruction of heaven and earth did not just occur here. Whenever a nation was subjugated or conquered by another, the Bible will poetically portray this conquest as the destruction and subsequent creation of heaven and earth itself.

For example, when the Hebrew slaves subjugated and conquered the land of Canaan, this conquest is described in Isaiah 51:15-16 as the creation of heaven and earth when God said:

But I am the Lord your God, who divided the sea whose waves roared [at the crossing of the Red Sea during the exodus]—The Lord of hosts is His name. I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens, lay the foundation of the earth, and say to Zion, “You are My people.”

This verse and others help us understand the Words of Peter when he wrote:

2nd Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

And then

Verse 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?

Furthermore, in Ezekiel 32:7-9, Isaiah 13:9-13 and Isaiah 34:4-5 the fall of Babylon, Egypt and Edom (which was fulfilled in the sixth century B.C.) are all described as the destruction of heaven and earth itself.

The Symbolism of the "Sea" in Revelation

Not going to address today is that there could be – I haven’t looked into it heavily yet – but there could be some real meaning in the GENESIS ONE account of creation of the material world and the establishment of the new heaven and new earth spiritually. So we might look at that. Finally, with 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.”

According to Revelation 21:1 in the New Jerusalem “there was no longer any sea.”

The fact that there is a flowing river in Revelation 22:1-2 implies that “sea” may not be used literally in this verse. But if “sea” is a symbol, what does it symbolize?

It may point simply point out that at the Destruction of the Temple, the Romans Carried “the brazen sea in the temple) away as plunder. In other words, with the temple in Jerusalem a microcosmic model of heaven and earth (according to Psalm 78:69) with the Holy of Holies symbolizing heaven (Hebrews 8:5; 9:24-26) then there being no more sea does make some sense. See, within this temple was a large bronze bath called the Sea and when the Temple was destroyed by the Romans, the Roman army took the Sea and brought it as booty to Rome.

Links to Genesis

Additionally, the fact that v. 1 predicts that there will no longer be any sea at the creation of a new heaven and earth also points to Genesis chapter one. According to Genesis 1, the earth was “a water world” before its creation. The conquest of Israel, symbolized by the earth in Revelation, (by Rome) symbolized by “the sea,” represents a destruction of the earth by way of a metaphorical return to the primordial flood of Genesis one. Additionally, throughout Revelation, the earth is represented by Palestine and the sea by Rome or any Gentile Nation. This symbolism then portrays the conquest of Palestine by Rome as a metaphorical flood. This flood may signify the water world of Genesis 1:2 that the Spirit of God “moves over” before the creation of the earth. The Fact that “there was no longer any Sea” hints at Genesis 1:9 and the receding of the waters to Create the New Earth. In other words, the fact that there is “no longer any sea” represents the separation of the waters to expose the new earth in the same way that the earth was created by the separation of the waters in Genesis 1:6-9.

Symbolism of Unification

The Fact that “there was no longer any Sea” may also concern the unification or reconciliation of Jew and Gentile in Christ. As stated above, earth symbolizes Judaea and sea the Gentile nations in the Book of Revelation. The Israelites were to be a nation of priests, a holy people. They were to remain separate from the Gentiles as the land is separate from the sea. In this way, they would not be defiled and led astray by the unclean ways of the surrounding people. Perhaps the fact that there is no longer “any sea” representing Gentile nations that this is a way of saying that the Gentiles are no longer unclean? Remember what Paul said in Galatians 3:28:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Lastly, the Fact that “there was no longer any Sea” could symbolize some relation to verse 4 as well which says:

“There will be no more Death. . . ”

1st Corinthians 15:26, speaking of the end of the age says:

“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

Recall that in addition to representing the Gentile nations, the sea also represents death, Hades, and the Abyss throughout the Book of Revelation. The fact that there is no longer any sea appears to also symbolize what is literally stated later in v. 4:

“There will be no more death. . . .”

Since the fall physical death has reigned over the human race and continues to even after Jesus resurrected from the grave out until today, we know that when scripture says that “there will be no more death” it is speaking spiritually. We will talk about this in the weeks to come but I am of the opinion that having had the victory over sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace. and death, that all are reconciled to God by Christ since the end of

Awarded Life in Spiritual Teachings

that age, and what remains for all is not death, but the presence of awarded life – to some degree or another.

We will stop here.

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