It was common enough for cities to be built in the form of a square; both Babylon and Nineveh were like that. The Church shall be the metropolis of the world; it shall be honoured and esteemed among the nations of mankind. The word for "beginning" is arche ( G746) , and does not simply mean first in point of time but first in the sense of the source of all things. The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is full of this universal hope. That age of visible glory is inefficacious to change the heart of man, though in the absence of the enemy and the controlling presence of the great King, they render feigned obedience for a long while. And murderers - See the Romans 1:29 note; Galatians 5:21 note. Scripture records no name whatever among those judged written there. The polluted are those who allowed themselves to be saturated by the abominations of the world. "Come," he said, "and I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb." as the Complut. He is dwelling amongst His people. Who are the persons thus invested with judicial authority of so glorious a nature and to reign, as we see later, with Christ? The sardonyx was an onyx in which the white was broken by layers of red and brown; it was specially used for cameos. Second, it was made to the son who was to inherit David's kingdom. I think, therefore, that the elders and the living creatures comprehend both the Old Testament saints and the church, the bride of Christ, that consequently, when the bride is mentioned, there were these others who had been included in the elders and the living creatures, but who are now seen as a separate body. But the church consists of souls called out from the earth, and is not of the world: consequently to the church the time is always at hand. Line-By-Line Order: Verse-Reference. Instead of taking warning from the wickedness of those before her, who had seduced on the one hand, and persecuted. All this description closes in verse 5. They will then treat her with contempt and shameful exposure. And what kind God may create after us, who knows? 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and honor him; for the time has come for the wedding banquet of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. It is also clearly a personal reward to those who had suffered. Thus the divine testimony is not confined to the gospel or the church, but the prophetic Spirit which characterizes the Revelation as a whole, after the church is translated, is equally a testimony of Jesus. That is what Paul is thinking of when he speaks of the Jerusalem that is above ( Galatians 4:26), and also what is in the mind of the writer to the Hebrews when he speaks of the heavenly Jerusalem ( Hebrews 12:22). 21:8 Greek NT: Stephanus Textus Receptus 1550 , Revelation 21:8 Hebrew Bible , Revelation 21:8 Aramaic NT: Peshitta , Deuteronomy 20:8 And the officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall , Judges 7:3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, , Isaiah 51:12 I, even I, am he that comforts you: who are you, that you should , Isaiah 57:11 And of whom have you been afraid or feared, that you have lied, and , Matthew 8:26 And he said to them, Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Their eternal existence will be a life dominated by the sins mentioned in Revelation 21:8. Line-By-Line Order: Verse-Reference. This brings in idolatry, real shameless idolatry too, not merely that subtle working of the idolatrous spirit that every Christian has to guard against. See the notes on Mark 16:16. Unbelief is never a consequence of knowledge, education, intelligence, or "honesty." He was the word of God in the revelation of grace; when known, by and by, it will be as the executor of God's judgments. 2. b T. Bab. . And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations unto it. 21:8 Greek NT: Greek Orthodox Church , . There is no real proof that man is the first order that God created upon the earth here. Who were they? "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away." But, in point of fact, in giving the description of Babylon, the Holy Ghost enters even more into an account of her relations with the beast, the imperial power of which we saw not a little last night. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." there is a son in the family, who, instead of being admonished by his father's wickedness, takes license from it to indulge the same. Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein. Not because any of their names were written therein, but in proof that they were not. She does not, it is true, say, "Come quickly." We have already seen that the Babylonian story of the creation of the world is of a long struggle between Marduk, the god of creation, and Tiamat, the dragon of chaos. They shall be his people; their souls shall be assimilated to him, filled with all the love, honour, and delight in God which their relation to him requires, and this will constitute their perfect holiness; and he will be their God: God himself will be their God; his immediate presence with them, his love fully manifested to them, and his glory put upon them, will be their perfect happiness; then he will fully answer the character of the relation on his part, as they shall do on their part. And he said: "Write, for these are words that are trustworthy and true." And he carried me away in [the] spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God." Usually God is pictured as dwelling in heaven and people as dwelling on earth. It is no longer a question either of celebrating the ways and counsels of God, or of the war with the beast and king. "These shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, beholding the beast that he was, and is not, and shall be present." These remain as yet in the condition of separate spirits. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, 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. The murderers may well be those who in persecutions slaughtered the Christians. Chapter 21 THE NEW CREATION (Revelation 21:1) 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had gone; and the sea was no more. John has seen the doom of the wicked, and now he sees the bliss of the blessed. The dream of a new heaven and a new earth was deep in Jewish thought. In the city of God there will be no darkness. He will not fail to take up the gage He has given our hearts. But the fearful Those who, for fear of losing life or their property, either refused to receive the Christian religion, though convinced of its truth and We. The millennial nations, "the number of whom is as the sand of the sea," fall a prey to Satan. The very reverse is the undeniable fact. "His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many diadems." And whoremongers Adulterers, fornicators, whores, prostitutes, and rakes of every description. We read that in the Messianic Age the Jerusalem which is invisible will appear ( 2Esther 7:26). Here is seen the holy city coming down out of heaven from God, which is declared to be the bride, the Lamb's wife, in the plainest contrast with the great harlot. But the fearful Those who, for fear of losing life or their property, either refused to receive the Christian religion, though convinced of its truth and importance; or, having received it, in times of persecution fell away, not being willing to risk their lives. The race was now in the resurrection state either for good or for evil; and thus it must be for ever. There is a sinner who sins against his will; there is a sinner who deliberately sins. We do not mend matters by hasty conclusions, we only complicate the truth. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of water of life freely ( Revelation 21:6 ). See the notes on Romans 1:26 ff. You need no meeting place where you go to meet God. . . If ancient times failed fully to meet the requirements of the chapter, it is evident that the middle ages are passed without its fulfilment as a whole. The city of God needed no created light, because God the uncreated light was in the midst of her. Pliny describes it as shining with a golden radiance. Line-By-Line Order: Verse-Reference. They broke up the beast yet more than Babylon. It is simply said that the glorified are to follow the Lord in victorious power, and nothing more, "clothed in fine linen, white, pure." The day will come when the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day there will be one Lord ( Zechariah 14:9). And unbelieving Those who resist against full evidence. The political side of this is described here with surprising brightness and brevity. There are three gates on each of the four sides of the city of God. They were judged every man according to their works. This is not unrighteous, but, on the contrary, the highest justice from a divine point of view. "And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. Then heaven is opened, and for a sight most solemn. A new world now opens to our view (Revelation 21:1; Revelation 21:1): I saw a new heaven and a new earth; that is, a new universe; for we suppose the world to be made up of heaven and earth. They are not seen here as the bride. Without price I will give to the thirsty of the fountain of the water of life.". In short, it is as we saw in Revelation 17:1-18, after Babylon had been brought before us in the course of the prophecy. Isaiah speaks of the new heaven and the new earth which God will make, in which life will be one continual act of worship ( Isaiah 66:22). But still it is a very solemn fact to read, and that which we are bound to preach that even in the perfect state of eternity, while there is the brightness of the heaven and of the earth into which no evil can enter, you have all the evil that ever has been all the wicked of every clime and of every age cast into the fixed condition of eternal judgment in the lake of fire. "And when the thousand years are completed, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to war." "The kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour unto it" not into but unto. Behold, I am doing a new thing" ( Isaiah 43:18-19). Then the book concludes after a solemn warning against either adding to or taking from its contents. 3. [1.] Line-By-Line Order: Verse-Reference. The rabbinic dreams of the re-created Jerusalem were vast enough. I believe the New Jerusalem will actually be an orbit around the new earth. The towers of Jerusalem shall be builded with gold. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. We are not going to sit around after that age and say, "Remember down on earth we used to". 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. Here were joined good and evil in godless union, for the worse, not for the better, this alliance, unholy in principle, irremediable therefore in practice, between God and the natural man, who substitutes rites for the grace and word of God, for the blood of Christ, and the power of the Spirit, and employs the name of the Lord as a cover for grosser covetousness and ambition, yet more aspiring than the vulgar world. This city is seen now as the holy vessel of divine power for governing the earth during the millennium, "having the glory of God: and her brightness was like a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.". But it really is. John 16:7-11 (KJV) 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come u WebRev 21:8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, [fn] 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. The New Jerusalem ( cf. If alive before the thousand years, he will live after the thousand years; in fact, literally he will never die, though I do not doubt, on general principles, that the saints of the millennial earth will be changed at the very time when the heavens and earth disappear. Verse Only. There was the sad register of undeniable sin on the one side; there was no writing of the name on the other side. After that we have the admonitions to the end of this book. But a voice issues from the throne, saying, "Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. "But it is not of natural fear and timidity that John speaks; it is that cowardice which in the last resort chooses self and safety before Christ. Ephesus was full of sorcerers; Acts 19:19 tells how at the preaching of the name of Christ in the early days the magicians burned their books. The only thing the wall can do is delimit the area of the city; and the fact that it is so low shows that delimitation is comparatively unimportant. The question is, why is she thus designated? (2) THE NEW JERUSALEM ( Revelation 21:2 continued). God will renew his creation (2Esdr 7:75). This chapter explains how it was that Babylon was so offensive to God, and wherefore He judged her thus sternly. He is coming, and coming soon for us. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Romans 1:29-32; Galatians 5:19-21; 2 Timothy 3:2-5; cp. The topaz was a transparent, greenish-gold stone, very highly valued by the Hebrews. It can govern and bless but not convert man. See the notes on Romans 8:17. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for night shall not be there. And now the eternal state comes into view. Garland approaches the text from a literal perspective and also assesses the weaknesses of various non-literal interpretations. What confusion! Some things which seem unbearable are seen to be a path to glory when seen in the light of God. With that love of freedom which they carried from their German forests, they would not allow the one iron rule of the ancient empire to subsist longer, but set up each their own kingdom in the different fragments of the dismembered empire. And unquestionably God has been awakening the attention of His people in a remarkable manner to the value of His word, and not least of all to the portion we are now examining. The city itself was of pure gold, so pure that it seemed like transparent glass. In this way there never has been anything of the kind before. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." What empire has existed, then sunk, and finally reappeared, with higher pretensions and power, only to perish horribly? This is clearly of moral importance. There is no scriptural reason to infer that any saint dies during the thousand years, but rather the contrary. 21:5-6 And he who is seated upon the throne said: "Behold, I make all things new." The account given of Babylon inRevelation 17:1-18; Revelation 17:1-18 does not follow Revelation 14:1-20 or Revelation 16:1-21 in point of prophetic time, but differs from them in structure. This too must not be viewed as if it were a loss. The thousand years of peace and plenty will have given occasion for an ever-growing population, spite of a world thinned by divine judgments which open that era. Not so. The, nature of the case exempts of course the saints of the millennium;* and this very simply, because they are never said to die at all. Webwhich is to be understood not of the renovation of persons at conversion, when a new heart and spirit are given, and men are made wholly new creatures; for this is the work of the Spirit, and which is done daily, and is not peculiar to any particular period of time; nor of the renewing of the church state at the beginning of the Gospel, when the The God who revealed himself to the patriarchs is the God who also, and far more fully, revealed himself in Jesus Christ; the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. But the holy city was not only square; it was in the form of a perfect cube. Centuries after came in, not only the division into east and west, but the broken up state of the west, when there ceased to be an imperial chief. This is probably a reference, primarily, to participants in the rites of paganism and the unmentionable perversions and debaucheries that attended them. Who knows? This verse declares it, and there is no other interpretation that can stand even a moment's fair discussion. This is of great importance. To them, as Plato said, "the unexamined life was the life not worth living," and so the unexamined faith was the faith not worth having. "And his name is called The Word of God." (ii) There are two words totally different in meaning but similar in sound which in early Christian thought became closely connected. This very naturally filled him with intense wonder. Hence the effort of some to prop up a manifestly false reading. But it is for the last time, not of the age only but of the various dispensations of God. One of the great contributions to the world's philosophical thought was Plato's doctrine of ideas or forms. "That day" does not mean a time when everybody will be converted, but when the Lord Jesus will govern righteously when overt evil will be judged, and good be sustained perfectly for a thousand years. [19] Leon Morris, Tyndale Bible Commentaries. "And no curse shall be any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him." Consequently there will be an increase in population such as never has been approached since the world was made, yet it afterwards appears, that Satan will not fail to turn the masses of the nations into one vast rebellion against the objects of God's special favour on the earth the saints wherever they may be, and the beloved city of Israel, as we have seen. It is written to be believed, not to be ignored or explained away. Matthew Arnold spoke of "the salt, estranging sea." The true reading here is neither hard nor doubtful save to unbelief. Hebrew number 3939 365 - 39 = 11/22, JFK murdered 3,939 COMMA = 45 3 + COMMA (45) + 939. Does this, then, mean that the body which illumined the city was like a precious stone? "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. That is, Babylon is viewed in this chapter not so much in her mysterious and religious form, giving currency to every kind of confusion of truth and error, of good and evil, intoxicating, corrupting, and seducing, as all can see, through her wickedly religious influence; but she is viewed here as the most conspicuous aider and abettor of the world in its luxuries and delights and the pride of life, of what men call "civilization." The holy city is inhabited by thousands and thousands of the saints of God, and it may well be that it is the light of these saintly lives which gives it this glittering glow. see notes at Revelation 9:17; and Revelation 14:10; and Revelation 19:20; and Revelation 20:10. which is the second death . It may be that John wishes us to see that the servant of God does not choose his task but must do whatever God sends him to do, and must speak whatever word God gives him to speak.