Revelation 21:1-27
John describes a new heaven and new earth, the holy city, New Jerusalem, with its dazzling beauty, God’s presence, and the blessings for those who inherit it.
- A New Heaven and a New Earth:
- John describes seeing a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
- He sees the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
- God’s Dwelling with Humanity:
- A loud voice from the throne announces that God’s dwelling is now among the people, and He will live with them.
- They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.
- God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
- God’s Proclamation:
- He who was seated on the throne declares, “I am making everything new!” and instructs John to write these words down for they are trustworthy and true.
- He announces that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty, He will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
- The Fate of the Unrighteous:
- Those who overcome will inherit all this, and God will be their God, and they will be His children.
- However, the cowardly, unbelieving, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, idolaters, and all liars will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
- Description of the New Jerusalem:
- An angel carries John away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high to show him the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
- The city shines with the glory of God, and its brilliance is like that of a very precious jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal.
- It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
- Measurements and Foundations:
- The wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
- The city is laid out like a square, as long as it is wide. He measures the city with the rod and finds it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long.
- The wall is 144 cubits thick, according to human measurements, which the angel was using.
- Materials and Purity:
- The wall is made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.
- The foundations of the city walls are decorated with every kind of precious stone. The twelve gates are twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl.
- The great street of the city is also made of pure gold, like transparent glass.
- Presence of God and the Lamb:
- There is no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
- The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
- Open Gates and Universal Kingship:
- The gates of the city will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there.
- The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.
- Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.