REVELATION Chapter 21 "The People on the New Earth" This Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's transcription is provided with written permission by http://www.theseason.org As we consider Revelation 21, we must bear in mind that Satan, all unsaved Kenites, all of Satan's demonic angelic forces, and all men and women who have lived in this earth age and refused our Lord Jesus Christ's blood for their atonement for sin, will have perished. Their flesh bodies were lifeless at the sounding of the seventh trump, when Jesus Christ returned to set up His kingdom. [See I Corinthians 15:50-52.] The souls of all, good and bad, entered the Millennium age (1,000 year period) in an incorruptible (spirit) body. At that time those saints who did not take the "mark of the beast", either by not following the Antichrist as the true Christ, or doing his work to win other over for him, will put on their immortal (never to die) soul bodies. Those who were unfaithful in the tribulation, and in ignorance, followed the Antichrist will be in mortal (able to die) soul bodies. However, by overcoming in the Millennium age, they will pass judgment based upon their works, and will be given immortality (never to die) at the great white throne, when the books are opened. This is where we ended in Revelation 20.15. Praise to God, for from here on there is only happiness, joy, and the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. 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." At the close of chapter 20, the fire of hell that consume Satan and all his followers, will not exist. They will never again return in any form, and in their place will be a rejuvenated earth. Will this place be on some far off planet? No, but right here on earth. It will be perfect. We see in II Peter 3:10,11 that the existence of this present earth age will be changed with the all physical elements (evil rudiments) done away with, at the "day of our Lord". Then in II Peter 3:12, at the end of the Millennium age, the evil souls are turned to ashes. This is called the "day of God". II Peter 3:13 "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." This new heaven and new earth is a promise given by God to the earliest prophets, and we have seen throughout the Holy Scriptures that God does keep all his promises. II Peter 3:14 "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless." Revelation 21:2 "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." God allowed John to see in his vision this new city, the New Jerusalem; coming down to earth dressed in all its beauty. Christ made this New Jerusalem just as He would adorn it for His first love, His bride, and that is for you and me, that make up His church. My dear friend, if that doesn't make it all worth any trouble and trial we face on earth, then something's wrong with our thinking. Revelation 21:3 "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." The text reads, "the throne" instead of "of heaven", and we know that voice is the voice of God, our Heavenly Father. "Behold" in the Greek is "idou", and is the imperative "eidon". It is calling attention to a subject other than himself, and that subject is "the tabernacle of God". Hebrews 9:11 "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;" Hebrews 9:12 "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." We do not need the blood of sheep and goats anymore, for Jesus Christ is our sacrifice and tabernacle. Hebrews 9:14 "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Hebrews 9:15 "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." We don't serve a dead God, but a living Savior. He is our loving, living God. Here in verse 15 we see it is Jesus Christ that is our go-between, our tabernacle, which allows us humans to approach God. The Almighty Father is saying in verse 21:3 that this tabernacle (Jesus Christ) is going to be with men from here on, eternally. Jesus Christ will be with us, lead us, and we (all those who have accepted him) will be His people. Not only will we have our Lord Jesus Christ by our side in the new Jerusalem, but the Heavenly Father will be on earth dwelling also. I don't believe it's possible to fully imagine in our minds the splendor of these first three verses. Revelation 21:4 "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." The new soul body that each of us will be in, is an incorruptible body, which will never grow old. There is no pain or sorrow felt in that body, for all sin and guilt are blotted out by the blood of Christ. Some may say, "What about our loved ones which lay burning in hell fire?" Friend, those souls were burned to ashes, and all thought of them will be blotted even from your memory. It will be as if that loved one had never existed. All "former things" [Strong's #4413, #4453] in the Greek dictionary says; "protos", best previous, formerly, of root #4453; "poleo", to be busy, to trade, to peddle, to be sold." We will not be making and selling to earn a living, but tending to the rewards of a joyous life God has for us. The problems we face in this life will not be there. Work and backbiting won't exist. The problems of poor health and the handicap will be gone, and our nourishment will flow from the eternal fountain of God. Revelation 21:5 "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." It is the Heavenly Father talking to John here, and He told John to "write". The words are about Our Lord Jesus Christ, His son. This we know for in Revelation 19:11, Jesus Christ is named "true and faithful". Revelation 21:6 "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." What was done? All the wrath of God that was ever to be poured out on the wickedness of man, and Satan, and his fallen workers came as the seventh angel poured out his vile on the earth. See Revelation 16:17. We see here also those words from God, "It is done". God's plan will be over and completed with all of those children of God that were in disobedience, gone forever. We see God's name, "I am", and the reference to His eternal existence in "Alpha" and "Omega" (Greek), "the beginning and the end". God promises life to all who accept Christ, for that life is given to us only through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, by God our Heavenly Father. We see this in these three verses, as well as many more: [I John 5:12, Romans 6:10, II Corinthians 13:4) It's well worth your study time to look them up, and claim them for God's promise to you. This is why He deserves our praise. That fountain of living water does flow freely to all who ask. Eternal life has been paid for by Jesus' blood on the cross. Though it is free to you, it cost the highest price in the universe. God's own Son's blood and suffering. As you grow complacent in your salvation, there is not one thing you can do to earn any part of God's gift. Even if your works in the Millennium age allow you to pass over judgment and receive an immortal soul, it is still by Jesus Christ's blood that your immortality has been given to you. Revelation 21:7 "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." To inherit means we are to possess a share of the heavenly kingdom; that new and beautiful Jerusalem that has been prepared for those who wait on the true Christ and do not follow the Antichrist. Romans 8:17 "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together." Revelation 21:8 "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." Once again we see those who will not have an inheritance in the new Jerusalem. They will be destroyed in the hell fire, prior to the coming of the new Jerusalem. We know that all sins ever committed can be covered by the blood of Christ, except the sin of not allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through you, when you are delivered up before the synagogues of Satan, as written in Mark 13:11. That is the unforgivable sin. What is necessary is a repentive heart, and the confession and prayer of repentance. Revelation 21:9 "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." This is one of the seven angels we read about in Revelation 15:1,6, and 7. They were the angels that poured out the wrath of God upon the earth. John is going to be shown the bride of Christ by him. John is now taken in the spirit by this angel of the seven viles to visit the new Jerusalem. This was a time in the far distant future (beyond the Millennium age) when we occupy that city of joy. Revelation 21:10 "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." We know that the "great and high mountain" represents a place where all the saints of God are. These are the heirs of the New Jerusalem. John was there and is telling us what it was like, as we will see this place in person when our eternal home "descends out of heaven from God". Revelation 21:11 "Having the glory of God; and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;" This New Jerusalem, the place where John is taken in the spirit, is receiving its light by the heavenly fathers own glory shining forth. This "light" giving forth, as recorded in the Greek text is called "phoster". Used in the term of a "light bearer or giver". It is also used in Genesis 1:14,16. The light which will light the new Jerusalem will be a clear, pure light and its light will be eternal as God's new city prepared for His saints. Revelation 21:12 "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:" We have a double witness to these great walls of the new Jerusalem, for both John and Ezekiel wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Read Ezekiel's vision in Ezekiel 48:31-34. Revelation 21:13 "On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates." Revelation 21:14 "And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the name of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." We see the new Jerusalem will have each gate marked with the names of the twelve tribes of Jacob (Israel). These twelve tribes, we are told, were the "foundation" of the saints of God. Though many today think "it is the Jew who is the chosen of God", and they think the other ten tribes are somehow lost in a desert to both God and themselves. My Bible tells me they definitely are not. The minor prophet Hosea in his first 13 chapters issues a warning to Israel that God would divorce one of His wives, the "House of Israel", for their idolatry. Yet He would not divorce the "House of Judah". Then we see in the 14th chapter how Israel repents and God takes Israel back. How is this possible? Following the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, Isaiah 54 records how not only Israel, but all Gentile peoples have access through Christ's death and resurrection. In Ezekiel 37, Ezekiel is to prophecy to these "dry dead bones of the House of Israel". As he does, flesh comes upon them, and life comes back into them. Who are they? "The whole House of Israel." [See Ezekiel 37:11.] That nation is the one which Hosea the prophet said God had divorced, and brought back to himself following Christ's death. In Ezekiel 37:16-19, God told Ezekiel to take two sticks and write on one "Israel" and on the other "Judah". God then tells Ezekiel to put the two sticks together in one hand. This was to represent how God would deal with Israel and Judah (Jews) - - all twelve tribes - - as one. As we relate to these two separate nations; the ten-tribed "House of Israel" and the two tribes of the "House of Judah" (Jews), we see all the tribes have become the "foundations" of the gates of entry into God's new and holy city, "Holy Jerusalem". We see also the names of the twelve apostles written upon these foundations. These were the twelve men Jesus personally taught and commissioned to carry the message of the gospel with God's authority. It is upon them, and Paul that Jesus built his church. Revelation 21:15 "And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof." Revelation 21:16 "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." Revelation 21:17 "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." John is given the dimensions of the four square city of God, the "New Jerusalem". The dimensions are given in units of a reed, furlongs, and cubits. To bring this to units of measurement we can understand, a "reed" is about 3-1/2 of our yards. A "furlong" is approximately 220 yards, and a "cubit" is the length of an arm, about 21-25 inches in length. When we compare God's "Holy City" to the "holy of holies", we see they were both cubes and proportionate. The "Holy City" a cube of 12,000 furlongs to a side. The "holy of holies" being 20 cubits to a side. Revelation 21:18 "And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass." The stone "of jasper" is held as the most precious. In Exodus 28:20 we see that it was the stone in the high priest's breastplate as a symbol of purity, like "a crystal". The jasper stone is the most precious of all the gem stones which are used in Revelation 21:19-21, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. The jasper in the wall shows the importance our Lord held for His disciples, who were at His side when He walked, taught, died and arose while upon the earth, in the flesh. Revelation 21:19 "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, and emerald;" Revelation 21:20 "The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinith; the twelfth, an amethyst." Revelation 21:21 "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." What a city, streets of pure gold! In describing the streets, John could not relate the actual material element, and related it to be similar to pure gold. I feel there will be many surprises of pure splendor in this city which John, or any person in the flesh body could not explain or relate to. Revelation 21:22 "And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it." The temple is a place of worship, and atonement for sin. We see this New Jerusalem will not have a temple. The temple of the Millennium, where Jesus Christ set up His reign for the 1,000 years, is gone. So is sin, tears, sorrow, flesh, death, and all thought of it. There is no need for atonement for all is either blotted out as if it never existed, or burned to hell fire. The only need for a temple then, is to be a place of worship. We will be walking the streets of the New Jerusalem with our Heavenly Father, and the "Lamb", our Lord Jesus Christ. There will be no need for a temple, and that is why John saw no temple there. Revelation 21:23 "And the city had no need of the son, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Isaiah 60:19 "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 and everlasting light, and thy God thy glory." Isaiah 60:20 "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." Revelation 21:24 "And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it." Revelation 21:25 "And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there." Revelation 21:26 "And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it." All peoples of every ethnic background which were saved in this earth age, or the Millennium shall be in that great city of God. They will all know why they are there, and give our Lord Jesus Christ the praise. All those who do not, simply will not exist; not even the memory of them. All who are there as citizens of that city, and God's kingdom, are children of the Heavenly Father and joint heirs with Christ Jesus (the Lamb). You will go in and out of that city freely, just as you would now in your own home. There will be no night or darkness in the New Jerusalem. Will there be a need for rest and recuperation in the eternal life? No. For our bodies will be eternal and incorruptible. These bodies we will have will not see pain or need rest. These bodies are immortal. The kings and their nations spoken of in verse 24 are the"sheep" nations of His right hand during the Millennium reign recorded in Matthew 25:31-46. Each of these kings and nations will contribute to the glory and honor of God's beautiful "New Jerusalem". Revelation 21:27 "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." Why do we know that no sin or defiling thing will be allowed in the eternal city? Because all who followed Satan, and bowed to idolatry have been destroyed prior to the "New Holy City of God" coming down out of heaven. The only persons entering eternity are those whose names are recorded in the "Lamb's Book of Life", who have their sins covered and blotted out by Jesus Christ's shed blood. [See Revelation 20:15.] Is it worth taking chances in this life, and not paying attention to the warnings given us by Our Lord Jesus Christ? After reading Revelation 21, John 3:16-17 it makes much more sense. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:17 "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." That offer of eternal life is ours for the asking. Our Lord is a God of love, for he knew our weakness and our sins; and our way to Him is by confessing our sins, and asking him for forgiveness in Jesus Name. Jesus name is our only credentials before the throne of God. Is it hard to be saved? No harder than seeking help from a friend. The love and rewards cannot be compared to anything in this life.
Home .~ Plough .~ Seeds .~ Vine .~ Potter .~ Seasons .~ Sonshine .~ Rain .~ Field |