Revelation 21 - 22

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Revelation 21 - 22

In this text, Steve Gregg discusses Revelation 21-22 and the idea of a new heaven and earth. Gregg notes that the descent of the New Jerusalem and the descent of the Lamb's wife are likely connected to the meeting of the church and Christ at his second coming. The city is depicted as having twelve foundations, each associated with one of the twelve apostles, and it calls to mind the Holy Holies, God's dwelling place among men. Gregg also touches on the idea of renewal and the removal of impurities, as well as the importance of righteous and holy living.

Transcript

In Revelation chapter 21, we are introduced to a new heavens and a new earth and a new Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem, as we shall see, is the church. There are two very different views as to this section in that some believe it is the church at the present time.

That is, they believe that it is a description of the new covenant ever since the fall of Jerusalem, or maybe ever since Jesus established the new covenant in the upper room. In other words, they see this as simply another figurative depiction of the age of the church in which we live. Probably a more common view is to see it as the church eschatologically after Jesus comes back.

The church resurrected, the church glorified, and living in a new creation, a new heavens and new earth. Now, there are arguments to go both ways. It may surprise you that in this case I am going to side with the futurist view.

It may seem like I am always going with the fulfilled view, but there are reasons, a great number of reasons, why I believe we are looking at the eschatological church in the end times after Jesus comes back in the new heavens and new earth. I will give my reasons, but first we need to read the material so that we will know the data that we are going to derive our opinions from. You will remember in chapter 20 and verse 11 a verse that I associated with the second coming of Christ in my commentary on it.

It says, Then I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. So the end of the heavens and the earth seem to be associated with the second coming of Christ as Peter said in 2 Peter 3 verses 10-13. And having seen the heavens and earth flee away, we now see in chapter 21 verse 1, I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.

Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, 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 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 will be with them and be their God.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

And he said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven last 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. And he carried me away in the Spirit into a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. And her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates and twelve angels at the gates, and the names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. Three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its walls. And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed twelve thousand furlongs, its length and breadth and height are equal.

It's a cube. Then he measured its wall, one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. Let's be clear about that.

The man was not a man, he was an angel. And the construction of its wall was of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. And 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 chasildony, I don't know if I pronounced that right, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, and the eleventh jacinth, or jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. Some of these stones I'm not familiar with their pronunciation. I haven't dealt much with gems in my life.

And 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. But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

And the city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. And the Lamb is its light, and the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day, and there shall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

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. Now the description continues into chapter 22, and we will take it up to verse 5 without first commenting. And he showed me a pure river of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there was no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.

And there shall be no night there, they shall need no lamp, nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. Now the rest of this, I believe, is sort of an epilogue to the book, and so the vision pretty much seems to end here. The description of the holy city is its primary interest, although it is part of a new heaven and a new earth.

Now, I'd point out to you that this is not heaven, although I suppose it could be symbolic for heaven, but there's no reason to see it as symbolic for heaven. Many people think that the eternal home of the saints is in heaven. This is simply a manner of speaking that Christians use.

Of course, heaven is not where we will live. We will live on the new earth. The new Jerusalem, which is the habitation of the saints and of God and of the Lamb, comes down from heaven.

We see a new heaven, a new earth, and from heaven coming down is the new Jerusalem. Presumably, it doesn't say it in so many words, but presumably it lands on the earth. There's a heaven, there's an earth, it's coming down from heaven, presumably it's to the earth.

And the reason I emphasize that is because there are a number of Christian teachers of a dispensational sort that I've heard who seem to think that the new Jerusalem doesn't ever land on the earth, that it's actually kind of in the sky between heaven and earth. There's certainly nothing in the passage to suggest anything like this, but that's how they picture it. In fact, my former pastor taught that it's sort of like a satellite going around the new earth and its size, which works out to about 1,500 miles cubed, he said its size is not really that different than the size of the moon.

And so it's kind of like the moon orbiting the earth. And I think he suggested that people will transport from the mothership to earth and so forth. He didn't use the term the mothership, but it kind of conveys an idea like that.

Maybe it's like a space station. Now, I cannot for the life of me imagine where teachers have gotten that idea, but I've heard others say it too, that the new Jerusalem is hovering somewhere. The description is the Jerusalem coming down from heaven.

Of course, it doesn't say how far it comes down, but without being told otherwise, we would assume it's coming down to the earth, which is contrasted with heaven in the vision. There's a new creation here and the new Jerusalem, the church comes down from heaven and it comes to the earth. And this is where we live.

Why should I think that? Well, Jesus said so in the Beatitudes, he said, bless her, the meek, they shall inherit the earth. That's what we will do. We'll inherit the earth, not heaven earth.

Now I do believe that if you died today and you're a Christian, your soul will go to heaven. That's my belief. There's many different beliefs about that.

Mine is that your immaterial self will go to be with the Lord in heaven, but only as long as he is there. When he comes here, you'll come with him. The church comes down from heaven at the second coming of Christ.

It comes down where he comes down to the earth. He's going to inherit the earth and you're going to inherit the earth with him. We need to remember that Adam and Eve, before they fell, were placed in the circumstances which they would have remained in forever had they not sinned.

In other words, the perfect earth as the habitation for perfect people was plan A for God. That was interrupted by the fall. The earth was corrupted and people were corrupted and the history since that time has been corrupted.

But Paul says that the whole of creation, which has been groaning since that time, will itself be delivered from the bondage of decay. It'll be delivered into the glorious liberty of the sons of God at the redemption of our bodies, the resurrection. The earth will be delivered from its fallen condition apparently.

If that is true, then we would have every reason to believe that God has restored what was lost in paradise. His original intention was for men to populate a perfect earth. Death interrupted because of sin.

When death is dealt with and death is abolished and the earth is cleansed, then plan A can continue and living on a perfect earth is what is described here. Of course, the language is symbolic, but the question is to what degree is it symbolic and to what degree is it not? It is possible to see the new covenant as the new heavens and the new earth, the environment that the church lives in. The church, the New Jerusalem lives in the new covenant and the new covenant could be seen as a new creation.

The arguments for this come from Isaiah, which is where we first learn our first read of a new heavens, a new earth. In Isaiah chapter 65 and verse 17, Isaiah 65 17, it says, Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth for the former shall not be remembered nor come to mind. Well, that certainly sounds like Revelation 21.

However, if you read the context of Isaiah 65, which actually we have done in the past few weeks, we've studied Isaiah together, I believe we will find that the best understanding of the new heavens, new earth in Isaiah is a reference to the new covenant replacing the old covenant and referring to the passing of the old order when Jerusalem is destroyed in the old covenant is abolished and the introduction of a new order. It's like a totally new creation. Why? Why do I think such a thing? Well, mainly from the context of the statement in Isaiah, but also confirmation from Paul in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17.

This is 2nd Corinthians 5 17. Paul said, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Then he goes on and says, old things have passed away.

Behold, all things have become new. Now to say old things have passed away is to say what Revelation 21 forces, the former things have passed away. That's how Revelation 21, four closes.

The former things have passed away. And then the next verse five says, he says, behold, I make all things new. So former things have passed away and all things have become new.

That's what Paul says is in the life of the believer today. If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. We could say he's in the new heavens and new earth and former things have passed away.

All things become new. Paul is not talking eschatology. He's talking about present here.

Therefore, there is certainly an argument to be made for this new heavens, new earth and new Jerusalem to be talking about the present time. Likewise, the new Jerusalem is identified as the church in other places in scripture. As for example, in Galatians chapter four, where Paul is making a contrast to the Jerusalem, which is on earth, which is earthly Jerusalem and what he calls the Jerusalem, which is above.

In Galatians four, 26, Paul said the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. It's the mother church of us all. We're all children of God.

He's our father and the church is our mother. And it is the Jerusalem, which is above. We've also seen on other occasions, what is said in Hebrews chapter 12 about the heavenly Jerusalem.

Hebrews chapter 12, verse 22, the writer says to the Christians, you have come. This is already, we have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Certainly this is the same as what Paul in Galatians four called the Jerusalem that is above.

It's the heavenly Jerusalem. In Revelation 21, that Jerusalem is seen coming down from heaven, but in the church age, it is a heavenly city. And he says in verse 23, that this is the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are written in heaven.

So we already have other books prior to revelation telling us that the church is the heavenly Jerusalem. And even if neither Paul nor the writer of Hebrews had told us such things, we could have deduced it from what we are told about it here in revelation chapter 21. For example, it is clearly said to be the lamb's wife in revelation.

The lamb is Jesus and Jesus's wife is the church. And we see in chapter 21, verse nine, at the end of verse nine, the guy says, one of the seven angels says, come, I will show you the bride, the lamb's wife. Okay.

So the lamb's wife, we're going to see the church. And he says, he carried me away in the spirit, verse 10 and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God. So the descent of the new Jerusalem is the descent of the lamb's wife, probably like coming down the aisle to meet her husband at, I say the second coming of Christ.

We'll, we'll see why shortly. There's another view. Another thing that would tell us that it's the church is verse 14, which says now the wall of the city had 12 foundations and on them were the names of the 12 apostles of the lamb.

Well, it's got 12 foundations. They are identified with the apostles. Paul said in Ephesians chapter two and verses 20 and 21, the last two verses, not, not, not exactly, not quite the last two verses 20 and 21 and 22.

For that matter, the last three verses of Ephesians two, Paul says that the church has been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God through the spirit in revelation 21, we read the tabernacle of God is with men in 21 three. And so God dwells with his people in the people. We are being built into a habitation of God.

The foundation we're built on is the apostles and prophets. The city is depicted as having 12 foundation stones, each associated with one of the 12 apostles. Also the city is likened to the holy of holies in the temple.

Now we encountered the holy of holies back in chapter 11 of revelation versus one and two, our Bible's translated the temple, but the Greek word is the holy of holies. It's translated as temple apparently wrongly chapter 11 versus one and two, as I understood them, refer to the church as the holy of holies being preserved while the outer temple structure is destroyed in 80, 70, the church, the spiritual temple survives. The church is the spiritual holy of holies in the sense that that's where God meets with people.

And we're not here at the church building. We're talking about the community of Christ. We're talking about the people of God.

We are the living stones. Peter said in first Peter two, five living stones built into a holy temple or a house, and it's the house of God. It's the habitation of God, but we are the living stones that are built up in this way.

We are therefore the habitation of God. We are the place where God lives and meets with his people, the house of God. Paul said to Timothy in first Timothy three, I think it's verse 15.

He says that if I'm delayed, you may know how to behave or conduct yourself in the house of God, which he said is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. So the house of God, the habitation of God, the tabernacle of God with men is the church. And it is like the holy of holies.

And this city is described symbolically that way, that it's cube shaped. The holy of holies was cube shaped in the tabernacle. The holy of holies was a cube 15 feet by 15 feet by 15 feet.

As it turns out, if you translate the dimensions of the city into our measurements, this city is 1500 miles by 1500 miles by 1500 miles, a very huge holy of holies by comparison. And so it is cube shaped. And like the holy of holies, it has no source of light except the glory of God in the tabernacle.

There was the outer court that had the sun and moon to lighten it. There was the, uh, holy place which had the lamp stand to lighten it. But in the holy of holies, there were no windows and no lamps, nothing to give it light and a thick veil covering the entrance so that it was completely dark unless God showed up.

And it was the glory of God that illuminated the holy of holies. Likewise, here in the city, we read in verse 23, the city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it for the glory of God illuminated it and the lamb was its light. Likewise, in verse five of chapter 22, revelation 22, five, there should be no night there.

They need no lamp nor light of the sun. See the outer court of the temple had the light of the sun, the holy place, the tabernacle had the lamp, but the holy of holies had neither the sun nor the lamp. Likewise, the holy city, like the holy of holies, doesn't have a lamp or sunlight for the Lord gives them light.

So the imagery we've been looking at calls to mind the holy of holies, the dwelling place of God among men. It's a huge holy of holies. The original one could only have one man in it at a time.

That's why I don't know how to be 15 by 15 by 15 feet, but a holy of holies that includes millions of people has got to be much larger. The church is not literally cubed shaped. Of course, it's not any shape.

It's made of people. It's not really a building. It's not really a city.

This is the imagery of the church, but it's like the holy of holies, which of course the church is also. It's the new creation. As I said, Paul said, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.

And in chapter 21, verse one, it says that I saw new heavens, new earth, old things are passed away. So the new Jerusalem is the church. But the question now is, is it the church now or the church after Jesus comes back? There is one other set of data I should probably bring up before we explore that question, that controversy.

And that is, it's another way of associating with the church. The number 12 in scripture is associated with the people of God. The old Testament people were divided into 12 tribes, descended from the 12 patriarchs, the sons of Jacob.

The church was founded upon 12 leaders, also the 12 apostles. And therefore 12 and multiples of 12, just as the number seven has its symbolic meaning, so 12 does. It symbolizes the people of God.

We saw earlier in chapter four, there were 24 elders, which I suggested represents the people of God of all time, old and new Testament people of God, 24 elders. Here, there's quite a few 12s and multiples of 12. We've got in verse 12, of all things, chapter 21, 12 mentions the 12 gates of the city associated with the 12 tribes of Israel.

In verse 14, we have the 12 foundations associated with the 12 apostles. The measurements of the city in verse 16 are 12,000 furlongs. This is why it says 1,500 miles, but 12,000 furlongs.

That's obviously a multiple of 12, 12,000. And the wall is measured at 144 cubits. We know that 144 is 12 times 12, another multiple of 12.

That's in chapter 21, verse 17. When you come to chapter 22, verse two, and we find that there's the tree of life and it has 12 kinds of fruit and it produces fruit each month. That means 12 times a year.

So the 12 numbers are just written through this whole section, which speaks of the people of God. This city is the church, the people of God, and all these 12s suggest that. Built on the foundation of the apostles, the heavenly Jerusalem, the Lamb's wife, all of this points to the church.

Now, I said that I believe it's the church at the coming of Christ and not the church at the present time. I pointed out that in Isaiah 65, where we first hear of the new heavens, new earth, I believe Isaiah is talking about the present time. I believe he's talking about the new covenant era replacing the old covenant era.

So it might seem inconsistent for me to say, this is not talking about the present time, but there's reasons for it. I'll tell you the reasons. One of them is that in Hebrews chapter six, there's a description of Christians who actually were Christians, but fell away.

But describing them during their Christian time, it describes them in verse five, as people who have tasted of the good word of God and of the powers of the age to come. Christians are those who've tasted of the word of God and have already tasted of the powers of the age to come. Jesus is the first born of the new creation.

He came to life. We have not yet, not physically. We will rise from the dead too into this new creation, I believe.

However, when we're born again, we already tasted the powers of that resurrection, of that new creation. We're resurrected in Christ and we experienced the spirit of God renewing us through regeneration. And this makes us a new creation.

So that in a sense, though there is a physical resurrection, there is also prior to that, a spiritual one. The physical resurrection, I believe, brings us into a physical new heaven and new earth. The spiritual resurrection into the spiritual enjoyment of the powers of that future age.

We receive eternal life now, not later. We find the renewing work of the Holy Spirit now, not later. There is a new covenant now, not later.

The powers of the age to come have already invaded the present age. And in that sense, the spiritual aspects of the new heavens, new earth are already being tasted and experienced by the church who comes into Christ. There is a not yet and a now, an already aspect of this.

I believe that Isaiah 65 is talking about the already. I believe that when Paul says, if any man's in Christ, he's a new creation, he's talking about the already part. That's already true.

I believe that Revelation 21 is talking about the not yet part. Now why? Well, there are evidences within the chapter, but there's also, of course, the cross-reference to Peter's words that we saw last time in 2 Peter chapter 3. In 2 Peter chapter 3, Peter says in verse 10, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise. The elements will melt with a fervent heat, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

And then in verse 13, nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Now, one thing I would point out is that if the new heaven, new earth is merely in Peter's mind, the new covenant, we don't have to look forward to that. Peter was living near the end of his life.

He had been spending most of his life already in the new heaven, new earth in that sense. He had already been a new creation from the time of Pentecost. He would not be anticipating that.

That's old news, but he's anticipating something future, a day of the Lord that had not yet come. Now, full preterists believe that that was the destruction of Jerusalem and the new heavens, new earth essentially begins with the destruction of the new Jerusalem. And although, you know, there was a sense in which the new covenant stood alone after that point, if we're talking about what we are looking forward to, Peter had no more reason to look forward to his own spiritual experience after the fall of Jerusalem than the spiritual experience he was already enjoying.

Peter did not live, in fact, until the fall of Jerusalem. He died before that at the hands of Nero, but had he lived beyond it, it would have been no change in his spiritual life than what it was already. There was not some new experience of the new covenant that Christians had in that transition between the before and after fall of Jerusalem.

No significant change occurred. Peter is not talking about the destruction of or the passing of the old covenant. He's talking about the passing of the heavens and the earth.

And in the context, it seems obvious because he compares it with the flood, which was a natural judgment of the natural planet. And in the earlier verses, he's saying there are people who don't think Jesus is going to come back and destroy the world. And they think, well, it's been a long time.

Nothing has changed because they don't realize that God did this once before in the flood. And that was the old earth. But he said the heavens and earth that now are, that is since the flood, are being reserved, he says in verse seven, for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Now, some may make this 70 AD. I do not. 70 AD was not the counterpart of the flood.

The flood didn't wipe out one city. It wiped out the human population of the earth. It's a global judgment.

And to say, well, God's going to wipe out Jerusalem someday is not a point that's enhanced or diminished by any reference to the flood. But to say God's going to wipe out the whole world someday, there is a correspondence with the flood there. It was water, then it'll be fire next time.

And we are looking for the coming of Christ when, in fact, he will dissolve the heavens earth and there will be a new heaven earth. Peter's talking about the not yet part. Okay.

Now in revelation itself, I believe there are strong evidences that this is the eschatological church after Jesus comes back, not the church in its present phase at this time. Let me give you my reasons. First of all, though not in order of appearance, in the chapter, in verse 11, he sees the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.

This is the church glorified. Now the apostles spoke about the glorification of the church or the glorification of the Christians as a future event to occur when Jesus returns. In Romans chapter 8, in verses just prior to him talking about the change of the creation from its groaning condition to its new delivered condition, that is in a passage for Paul, it has the new heavens, new earth in mind.

In Romans chapter 8 and verse 17, he said, if we are children, then we're heirs, heirs of God is Romans 8, 17 and joint heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. The time is coming when we, the church will together be glorified.

Not now we're suffering. Now we're suffering with him. Now the time will come when we are glorified.

Verse 18, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time, I take to mean this lifetime, are not worthy to be compared with the glory, which shall be revealed in us, which is not at this present time. There is a future time of glory. There is a present time of suffering.

And elsewhere in second Corinthians 4, 18, Paul says, I'm convinced that the sufferings of this present time, or no, he says that he says our light affliction, which is but for a moment works for us and exceeding eternal weight of glory. Now the glory is in the future. The suffering is in the present.

And anyone can see that simply by looking at the world right now, we are still suffering. The church is still suffering in exactly the same way that Paul and his first century Christians were suffering. The period of suffering is not over.

The period of glory has not yet appeared. In chapter, in Colossians chapter 3 and verse 4, Colossians 3, 4, it says when Christ, who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. So the church appearing in glory will occur when Jesus appears in glory.

When Jesus returns, then the church will be glorified. Revelation 21 is talking about the church having the glory of God. It is glorified.

And that shouldn't surprise us because it is a connection with the previous chapter. The second coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the general judgment were all at the end of chapter 20, including the abolition of the old heavens and earth. And now we have the new.

This is chronologically and logically following chapter 20 and therefore following the second coming of Christ. It is not the church at this present time, but at a future time. In chapter 21, verse 4, it says there is no more of several things.

God will wipe away their tears from their eyes. There'll be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. And there shall not be any more pain.

Now, if someone wanted to apply this to the present, they might say, well, no more death because we've got eternal life now. So that's the present. No more sorrow because we rejoice in Jesus and we have the fruit of the spirit, which is joy and so forth.

But it gets harder and harder when you say there's no more crying and no more pain. In what sense can we say that Christianity has inaugurated a season with no pain or crying? Paul said he even weeps as he writes in Philippians about those who are the enemies of the cross. I weep while I'm writing.

John himself wept much when he first thought there was no one to break the seals. Weeping is part of this present age. Pain is certainly part of the present age.

That has not been abolished yet. That is something that we must anticipate in the future. Also, of course, those in the New Jerusalem here are contrasted with those who are in the lake of fire.

In verse 8, it says after it describes the New Jerusalem, it says, but the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, have their place in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone of the second death. That's eschatological. There are two groups of people.

There's the New Jerusalem and then there's the people in the lake of fire. No one's in the lake of fire yet. That follows the last judgment.

So this is the same time frame that others are in the lake of fire. This Jerusalem is glorified. The city is described as being of pure gold.

Chapter 21, verse 18. The construction of its wall was of jasper. The city was pure gold, clear like glass.

By the way, the streets in it were also pure gold, like transparent glass in verse 21. This gold has been purified all the way. There's no more impurities to remove.

You can see right through it. By the way, you can't get gold that pure as far as I know. No matter how pure you get the gold, you're not going to be able to see through it.

This is figurative. But the point is, it's like they used to sell some kind of shampoo or something that was just clear like water. And they say, see, there's no impurities in there.

You can see right through it. I guess so. But there are some impurities.

They're invisible. I don't know that the fact you could see right through that shampoo means there were no impurities. There could have been alcohol or all kinds of things in there that you could see through.

But the impression here is the gold is so purified. You can see right through it. There's no impurities left.

It's been totally removed of dross. Now of course, Peter said in First Peter chapter one and verse seven, verses six and seven. First Peter one, six and seven.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found unto praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. I take the revelation of Jesus Christ to be the second coming of Christ and all our sufferings, which are like the purification process of gold, removing dross, it will redound to purity of product and glory at the time of Christ. The glorification of the church is when it's perfectly purged, our purging process being over, no more fiery trials, no more removal of dross.

This is later, not now. We're still being refined, but the city is described as completely refined. That there's no more curse in chapter 22, verse three is very indicative because the curse that came on the earth through sin is still with us.

There is death, there is sorrow, there is pain still. There are still thorns and thistles and there are still pain and childbearing for women. The curse has not been removed yet as we speak.

Even though 70 AD came and went, all these things continue as they were until there is a new heaven's new earth without the curse that's and so described here. Here it says in verse 22, verse four, his servants shall see his face. We don't see his face now, but in first John chapter three, beginning in verse one, he says, beloved, now we are the sons of God.

Or actually it begins by saying, behold, what manner of love the father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. And he says, and now we are the sons of God, though it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.

When he appears, we'll see him face to face. We'll see him as he is. And that then we'll be like him.

That'll be the manifestation of the sons of God that Paul talked about in Romans eight. John says, we are already sons of God, but that hasn't been manifested yet. It does not yet appear that we are sons of God.

It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know when he appears, we will be like him. That'll be the manifestation of our status as sons of God for every eye to see. For we shall see him as he is.

That's future in revelation 22, for they see his face. We do not currently see his face. Likewise in chapter 22, verse five, they reign forever, not for the thousand years.

The thousand year reign is during the church age. This is a reign forever after Jesus returns. And so these factors, the city has the glory of God.

There's no crying, death or pain. There's a contrast of these people with those who are now in the lake of fire. The fact that the city is pure gold, completely refined, that there's no more curse, that God's people see him face to face and that they reign forever rather than for the thousand year period.

All of these point to an eschatological state of the church after Jesus comes back. It is no doubt very symbolic. All the twelves, this cube shape, all of that.

These are impressionistic to give us ideas of the likeness of this two different things. The Holy of Holies, for example. It may be that the city of God will look exactly like this when it materializes in its glory, but I have no reason to believe it because it's rather hard to really press these things.

How could a city be dressed like a bride? And that's what he sees. He says, he sees the new Jerusalem coming out of heaven dressed like a bride. Obviously, we are not literally a city with walls.

We're not literally a bride either. We're not literally dressed with a bride's gown. None of this is quite literal.

It's all giving theological information about the eventual glory of being the people of God with God in our midst after Jesus returns. The throne of God in our midst, he that sits on the throne and the lamb and the river of life poured out. There's a lot of imagery here from Ezekiel, the tree of life bearing its fruits.

We've had things to say about that in previous lectures. The limits of our time right now prevent us from going into those things again. Now, the last part of chapter 22, beginning at verse six.

Then he said to me, these words are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show his servants the things which must shortly take place. Behold, I am coming quickly.

Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

This is a replay of chapter 19, verse 10. Then he said to me, see that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant and of your brethren, the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book.

Worship God. And he said to me, do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book. For the time is at hand.

We've made much of this previously. We'll not go into it again. Obviously, a reference to a soon fulfillment, which makes it inappropriate to seal the book up for some later generation.

He who is unjust, let him be unjust still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him be righteous still.

He who is holy, let him be holy still. Now, being unjust and filthy are mentioned in contrast to being righteous and holy. And the statement, whoever is like that, let him still be like that.

This is not really giving people permission to be bad. What it seems to be saying is this, the time is upon us. The time is short.

It is so immediate that basically there's not time for people to change. Those who have chosen to be filthy up to this point, well, I guess they're going to have to stay that way. Those who are already repentant and holy, they'll stay that way.

The judgment is imminent, and essentially it's kind of too late for people to change, too late to repent. So, those who find themselves unjust and filthy, I guess you just have to let them stay that way. Verse 12, Behold, I am coming quickly.

And again, coming could refer to the second coming, but I think not. Certainly, he didn't come quickly in that sense, but the coming quickly is his coming in judgment on Jerusalem, I believe. Again, these verses are not describing chapters 21 and the first part of chapter 22.

This is not talking about the vision of the new heavens, new earth. This is talking about the book as a whole. As a whole, the book is about the fall of Jerusalem.

There are segments like chapters 10 through 13, which look a little beyond that or even a long ways beyond that. And chapters 20 through 21 do the same thing. But in general, the book is about one thing, and that is the judgment of Babylon, the judgment of Egypt, the judgment of Sodom, all of which are the judgment of Jerusalem.

And that's what he's talking about when he says, I'm coming quickly. My reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. I'm Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

These titles were already used in the first chapter. Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates of the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie.

Some people think this is describing conditions on the new earth, that outside the city are all these sinners, but we've already passed from the description of the new heaven, new earth. These are concluding remarks and they pertain to the time that John is writing, that in the city today, in the body of Christ, are the righteous who keep his commandments. Outside are the immoral.

I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David. The root of David means the one from whom David sprang.

The offspring means the one who sprang from David. So here's an enigma. Jesus lives before David.

In fact, he's David's source because he's the source of all, but he's also the descendant of David. So in saying he's David's son, how is it that David calls him his Lord? Well, because he's more than David's son. He's also David's root.

He's David's God. He's David's creator. David sprang from him just as surely as he sprang from David.

And the spirit and the bride say, come, and let him who hears say, come, and let him who thirsts come, and whoever desires, let him take of the water of life freely. The same invitation Jesus gave in John chapter 7, verses 37 and 38. The water of life there in John 7, 39, is said to be the Holy Spirit.

So this is an offer the church and Christ, or I should say the spirit of Christ, and the church together are issuing this invitation to the readers. The church invites you to the wedding feast. The spirit invites you to come and drink of the water of life, the Holy Spirit, to enter into the taste of the powers of the age to come now.

This is what is being said. For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.

And if anyone takes away from the words of this book, of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in the book. Now, this is a strong warning. This business about not adding to the book or taking away.

Many people think of this as a reference to the canon of scripture. That the book of Revelation being the last book says don't let anyone else add to this book. But it's clear that it's talking about the book of Revelation, not the collected writings of the Bible.

Because it says if you add to this book, the plagues of this book will be added to you. You do not find in the 66 books of scripture, most of them having anything to do with plagues at all. Exodus does.

A few chapters of Exodus have to do with plagues. And, of course, you have a plague mentioned in Zechariah 14. Then you have the plagues of the book of Revelation.

Well, it certainly seems like the plagues of this book are not referring to the canon of scripture, but the book itself. Besides, Revelation may not have been the last book written. It's very likely that the gospel of John was written after this.

So, this would not be putting some kind of a seal on the canon of scripture saying no more books can be written, but rather don't change the book of Revelation. Don't add or take away from it or there are dire consequences for you. You can have your name removed from the book of life or the Alexandria text says from the tree of life.

Your part will be taken from the tree of life. But the point is you'll lose your salvation. Now, what is it that's being forbidden here then? It certainly doesn't mean don't have any more prophecies or any more books written because back in Deuteronomy, Moses said don't add to or take away from this law.

Yet, many books of the Bible were written after that. In Proverbs chapter 30 verses 5 and 6, it says every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him.

Do not add to his words lest you be found a liar. Don't add to his words. It says in Proverbs 30, Solomon wrote that.

Most of the books of the Old Testament and the Bible were written after that. So don't add to his words doesn't mean don't write more books. It means, of course, don't alter with your own modifications what God has said.

Don't change by adding or subtracting to what he has said. It does not mean that we are not allowed to comment on it or to interpret it or to suggest meanings, but we're not supposed to change it. This might even be an exhortation to those who would copy it out.

If so, they didn't follow instructions very well because the manuscript evidence for Revelation is as bad as it can get. Between the different manuscripts of Revelation, there are so many copyist errors. Somebody did some adding and subtracting, but whether these books came upon them, these plagues came upon them or not, I don't know.

But the point is, the exhortation is not to change what God has said, not to do any altering. Verse 20, he who testifies to these things says, surely I'm coming quickly. Amen.

Even so, come Lord Jesus, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. And thus ends the book of Revelation.

I think we've gotten something of a grasp of what its contents are about. There are still some things unsolved that you may spend as much of the rest of your life as you wish exploring, but this is all the time we have to explore together.