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| Chapter 21 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had 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 OVER COMETH 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." 9 ¶ And there came unto me one of the seven angels, who had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, "Come hither; I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife." 10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed 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 It had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were 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 on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he that talked with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city, and the gates thereof and the walls thereof. 16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as great as the breadth; and he measured the city with the rod: twelve thousand furlongs; the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 17 And he measured the wall thereof: a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. 18 And the wall was built 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 chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each separate gate was of one pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were, transparent glass. 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 gave it light, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24 And the nations of them who are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth 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 anything that defiled, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but only they that are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. |
v5-6 "Behold, I make all things new ---- it is done." v1 God creates a new heaven and earth, with no sea, this does not mean no more water, it indicates that the land mass is one and not separated by a sea. The old heaven and earth had gone, Matt 19:28 regenerated, 2 Peter 3:10-13 burnt up. v2,10-21 John describes the New Jerusalem. This city must exists in some fashion now in heaven, for Paul calls it "the Jerusalem which is above," Gal 4:26. It is very difficult to imagine what it will be like. John was requested to measure the earthly Jerusalem in Rev 11:1, this time an angel does the measuring and gives measurements which approximately give a size for the New Jerusalem of 1500 miles wide, 1500 miles deep (3/4 the size of the USA) and 1500 miles high, with walls over 200 feet, this wall has three gates on each side. The foundations are visible, made of layers of jewels of many colours. There will be walls of jasper, buildings of pure gold and crystal, a place of glory and beauty. John also points out that there will be no need for the sun or the moon, day or night, the glory of God will be the light. v9,10 John also refers to it as the "Bride, the Lamb’s wife," the city is also the people. v3,4 The most important thing is that God will live there, in that city, with His people, so there will be no tabernacle. It will be a city where neither sadness, pain or death exists, v8. Neither will there be anything or anyone which is evil, they have been put into the lake of fire. v6,7 This city will be for God and His people. The people will be very satisfied with their conditions, inheriting all the promises of God, "overcomes." Rev 2:7,11,17,26; Rev 3:5,12,21; 1 John 5:4-5. v24,26 John mentions "kings" and "nations," since there will only be glorified people the earth will not have nations as such, he is just indicating that there will be various nations in the people of God. |
Easy English Translation
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