December 29th: Psalm 144 & Revelation 21:1-14

Alastair Roberts

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December 29th: Psalm 144 & Revelation 21:1-14

December 28, 2020

Alastair Roberts

Deliverance from treacherous foreigners. The vision of the descending holy city.

Reflections upon the readings from the ACNA Book of Common Prayer (http://bcp2019.anglicanchurch.net/).

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Transcript

Psalm 144 of David. Like a passing shadow, bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down. Touch the mountains so that they smoke.

Flash forth the lightning and scatter them. Send out your arrows and rout them. Stretch out your hand from on high.

Rescue me and deliver me from the many waters, from the hand of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. I will sing a new song to you, O God. Upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you, who gives victory to kings, who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.

Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace. May our granaries be full, providing all kinds of produce.

May our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields. May our cattle be heavy with young, suffering no mishap or failure in bearing. May there be no cry of distress in our streets.

Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall. Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. Psalm 144 is a psalm attributed to David that draws heavily upon Davidic material elsewhere in the Psalter, perhaps most especially Psalm 18.

This drawing from elsewhere in the Psalter, particularly Psalm 18, can be seen in the opening verses. For instance, Psalm 18 verse 34 and 47 are both recalled here. He trains my hands for war so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze, and the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me.

James Mayes writes, Psalm 144 bears an obvious resemblance to Psalm 18, the long psalm of thanksgiving for deliverance composed for use by Davidic kings. Verses 1 to 7 are woven of material that also appears in Psalm 8. The correspondence of Psalm 144 to Psalm 18 are 144 verse 1 to 18 verse 1 and 34, 144 verse 2 to 18 verse 2 and 47, 144 verse 3 to 18 verse 2 and 47, 144 verse 5 to 18 verse 9, 144 verse 6 to 18 verse 14 and 144 verse 7 to 18 verse 16, 44 and 45. His servant David, in 144 verse 10, may reflect the superscription of Psalm 18.

James Mayes suggests that we should read this psalm as an example of using existing psalms to compose new ones. It's a remixing of existing material for new situations, taking up the phrases and the imagery of older psalms associated with David and applying them to a new situation. The psalmist speaks of the Lord as his rock, the one who protects him from assaults, but also as the one who trains his hands for war, who equips, empowers and guides him in the art of war.

The Lord also is the one who subdues peoples under him, who makes his efforts successful. In Psalm 8 verses 3 to 4 the psalmist said, When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? In Job chapter 7 verses 17 to 18, What is man that you make so much of him, and that you have set your heart on him, visit him every morning, and test him every moment? In verse 3 here we have a similar expression but with a different shade of meaning. In Psalm 8 it was the contrast between man and the magnitude of the heavens that made the psalmist wonder at the fact that the Lord paid attention to man.

In Job it was the great juxtaposition between God's greatness and humanity's weakness and frailty and smallness that raised the question of how God could have meaningful dealings with humankind to begin with. Here however it is the ephemerality of man's life in comparison to God's eternity that really stands out to the psalmist. Man is like a breath, his days are like a passing shadow.

This is similar to imagery that we find explored in the book of Ecclesiastes. Psalm 18 spoke of the theophanic deliverance of the Lord as a past event, but here the psalmist appeals on the basis of the Lord's praiseworthiness that he would act and provide such deliverance in his situation. In verses 7-8 we see an expression that would be repeated again in verse 11.

The psalmist asks for deliverance from the hand of foreigners whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. What seems to be in view here is a broken oath or treaty on the part of the foreigners. The right hand of falsehood is either the right hand raised in a false oath or the right hand shaken in a false friendship.

After such a theophanic deliverance which might recall events such as the deliverance at the Red Sea, the psalmist promises to sing a new song to the Lord, taking up the language of Psalm 33 verses 2-3. Here we might recall the song of Moses at the Red Sea. Verse 11 returns to the expression of verses 7 and 8. The psalmist appeals to the Lord to be delivered from the treacherous foreigner.

The psalm ends in verses 12-15 with a request for blessing. It asks for the blessing upon the household, upon sons and upon daughters. The sons compared to sturdy plants and the daughters to attractive corner pillars.

From the blessing upon the members of the household the psalmist looks out to the possessions, to granaries, to sheep and to cattle. The final verse of the psalm traces everything back to its source. The people who enjoy such good things are blessed and the ultimate source of such blessings is the Lord.

Ultimately it is in relationship to the Lord that Israel knows its blessing. Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. A question to consider.

Comparing the verses of Psalm 18 in their original context with the way that the psalmist has re-situated them here, what contrasts emerge? Revelation chapter 21 verses 1-14 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I 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 the throne, saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.

He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new.

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

To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and spoke to me, saying, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. Having the glory of God, his radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper clear as crystal, it had a great high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed.

On the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Revelation chapter 1 verses 1 to 28 concludes the third vision of the book, which began at the start of chapter 17.

Babylon has fallen, the rider on the white horse has come forth to conquer, Satan has been bound for a thousand years, released for a brief window of time, defeated, and then cast into the lake of fire. The final judgment has also occurred. Now, at the beginning of Revelation chapter 21, we see the destiny of those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life, a holy city descending from heaven.

Peter Lightheart makes the perceptive point that there are two descents of the holy city in this chapter, the first in verse 1 and the second in verse 9. The two cities also have different characteristics. The city of the first eight verses seems to describe the final form of the city. Death has been destroyed, there is no sorrow nor pain, and the wicked are in the lake that burns with fire.

The city of the verses that follow, by contrast, has gates from which things come in and out, impure things still exist but yet are excluded, there are still treasures to be brought in. The city of these verses is not yet consummated. Recognizing such things, we might observe the importance of the descent of the city.

The city does not come all at once, rather it comes through a sort of gradual descent, as the heavenly city slowly takes form on earth. The declaration of a new heaven and a new earth and other descriptions of these verses take up language familiar from the Old Testament in Isaiah chapter 65 verses 17-25. For like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them. Before they call, I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food.

They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord. The new heavens and the new earth described in this prophecy of Isaiah is not the final completely restored creation awaited after the final resurrection. Death is still present, as are sinners.

Rather Isaiah's prophecy is primarily about the return from exile. As Lightheart points out, we've seen the establishment of a new heaven and a new earth in history in the book of Revelation. Heaven has changed as the lamb and the 144,000 have been raised up and enthroned, and as the dragon has been cast down.

The earth has changed as the power of the beasts has been broken, and the reign of Christ established. The statement in verse 1 that there is no more sea may relate to the sea of the Gentiles. With the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple and the end of the old covenant order, the Jew-Gentile polarity no longer operates in the same way.

The sea, which symbolises the Gentiles, is no more. All humanity is now land. We should notice that the city starts in heaven and descends to earth, rather than beginning on earth and being raised up into heaven.

The heavenly pattern is being impressed upon the earth. The tabernacle and temples in the scripture were constructed according to heavenly patterns. God gave Moses the pattern for the tabernacle on the top of Mount Sinai.

It was a heavenly pattern for that building. In the end of the book of Ezekiel, there is a vision of a heavenly temple. A heavenly temple that is never built, but which provides the pattern for the reordering of Israel's life after the period of the exile.

Later in the chapter, John will be placed on a very high mountain, much as Ezekiel was in chapter 40 of his prophecy. This vision is of a heavenly pattern that will be brought down to earth. God's will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The city is prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. In scripture more generally, and also in the book of Revelation, cities are often described as women. And these feminine cities are described in marital terms.

They are either faithful or unfaithful. A few chapters earlier, we've read about the downfall of Babylon the Great. She was the harlot city and the mother of prostitutes.

The faithful were called out of her in order that they might not share in her ruin. Warren Gage has suggested the possibility that the bridal city of this chapter is related to the harlot city of a few chapters earlier. The bride is formed by people called out of the harlot.

Thinking about this typologically, this would not be unfitting. In the book of Joshua, Rahab the harlot is called out of a city that is destroyed with seven trumpets as she is delivered from the ruin of Jericho. Gage also observes possible parallels between the story of John's gospel and the Samaritan woman at the well.

He writes, The Samaritan woman's past bore much in common with the horror of Babylon, but her meeting with Jesus transforms her so that she becomes like the bride of Christ at the end of Revelation. We begin by noting the patterns of the correspondence between the Samaritan woman and the horror of Babylon. The gospel account begins with Jesus sitting upon the well, a posture that corresponds to the horror of Revelation who sits upon many waters.

The Samaritan woman is thirsty and comes to the well with her water pot to draw. Similarly, the Babylonian whore is depicted with a cup in her hand, satisfying her thirst with abominations and fornication. When challenged by Jesus, the Samaritan woman lies about her marital status, claiming that she has no husband.

In fact, Jesus tells her that she has had five husbands and the one she is now living with is not her husband. But when the Samaritan woman and the villagers receive Jesus, he remains among them for two days. Similarly, John tells us that the Babylonian whore also lies about her marital status, claiming, I am not a widow.

But in fact Babylon has known five kings who have fallen, and one is, and the other has not yet come. When he comes, however, he will remain with her a little while. Christ redeems the Samaritan woman in spite of her impure past and transforms her into a picture of the bride of Christ.

Her thirst having been satisfied, she leaves the one she loves at the well, going back into the village to share with everyone the love she has found without cost. And so she calls for the people, any who thirst for living water, to come out of the city to meet Jesus, who gives so freely by the well waters. In this she conforms to the picture of the bride in Revelation, who invites all who thirst to come out of the city and partake of the water of life without cost.

Gage's thesis is remarkable and surprising. Even though it is likely overstated, it most properly has some merit. Marital themes have been present to this point in the book.

The book begins with Christ being portrayed as the heavenly bridegroom, with what is called a wasif describing him from his garments upwards. There have been anticipatory references to the wedding feast and also to wedding garments. As the Messiah and bridegroom, Christ is fulfilling themes that we see in the Old Testament, not least in the book of Song of Songs.

The king is a husband of the people, and in places like the books of Samuel is described as a sort of romantic figure. The relationship between the people and their king has a sort of erotic flavour to it. The people desire and love their king.

This also returns us to the themes of Genesis chapter 1 to 3. In this and the chapter that follows, we see a garden city, a garden city that fulfils the garden sanctuary that we have in Genesis chapter 2. In Genesis chapter 2 the man and the woman were brought together. Now at the end of the scriptures there will be another union as the lamb and his bride are united. In Genesis chapter 2 we saw the riches of the surrounding lands, precious stones and gold.

Now those treasures of surrounding lands have been brought in to dress the city. And in verses 9 and following we see a city that has pearls as gates, the riches of the sea, not just the riches of the land. Water flowed out from the garden of Eden to water the surrounding lands.

And here there are also waters that flow out, the river of life that quenches thirst and brings healing. These chapters at the end of Revelation also fulfil other biblical themes. The tabernacle theme of God dwelling with his people is taken up here and fulfilled.

God will dwell with his people. There will be a union of heaven and earth, no longer separated by the firmament, there will be a marriage of the heavens above and the earth beneath. The statement that God will be their God and they will be his people is one that comes as a refrain throughout the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel and is taken up here again.

This bridal city is a place where this promise will be fulfilled. All things will be made new. John is instructed to write this message down.

There is also the offer of the water of life to the thirsty. This is reminiscent of Jesus' teaching in John's gospel, especially in the conversation with the woman of Samaria at the well. It also harkens back to Isaiah chapter 55 verses 1 to 3. Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.

And he who has no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me and eat what is good and delight yourselves in rich food.

Incline your ear and come to me, here that your soul may live, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. The promise to the one who overcomes is that God will be his God and that he will be God's son. This might take up the language of the Davidic covenant.

Isaiah chapter 55 verse 3 promised to establish the everlasting covenant of David with those who responded appropriately. And here those who overcome seem to be offered a Davidic status. After this vision of the descending holy city, there is another vision given to John.

He is taken by one of the seven angels with the seven bowls and he is brought to a high mountain in the spirit. There he sees the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. Once again we should see the book of Ezekiel in the background here.

This is like the great vision of the temple with which the book concludes. Like in Ezekiel chapter 40, John is brought to a high mountain. The fact that it is one of the bowl angels that takes him to see this vision may juxtapose it with the vision of the harlot back in chapter 17.

In that vision it was also one of the bowl angels that introduced it. The city described in these verses should probably be understood in an already not yet fashion. This is a city that has already been inaugurated.

In Galatians chapter 4 Paul can talk about Jerusalem above being free and being the mother of us all. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 22 speaks of the new covenant and to the sprinkle blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. The 144,000 were raised up above the firmament earlier in the book of Revelation and others have joined them of the church.

The church is being formed in this heavenly realm and this church being formed in heaven is also impacting upon the earth. In Ephesians chapter 2 verses 19 to 22 Paul describes the formation of this building, this new city that's being constructed by God. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit. As in Ephesians chapter 2 the foundation stones here are set by the 12 apostles. We might also think here of the words of Christ to Peter that he would be the rock on which he would build the church.

This is a new edifice that's being built and the fact that the apostles play the role of foundation stones raises the possibility that we are to think of these foundation stones as graves. It is in the laying down of lives in witness that the foundation of the church is built whether by the apostles or by the 144,000. The city also has an Israel shape.

There are 12 gates with the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel inscribed. As the ordering of these gates east, north, south and west helped us to understand the ordering of the tribes back in chapter 7 we should probably connect this with the 144,000 that are sealed at that point. A question to consider in verse 8 we see a list of people who are excluded from the holy city.

These people are cast into the lake of fire which is the second death. How can the teaching of this chapter inform our understanding of the doctrine of hell?