/ / , . Even though this passage does not say that sin will be absent in the eternal state, is seems quite clear that there will be none since the consequences of sin will be absent. The greatness of this future felicity is declared and illustrated, 1. If there was any Gentile power since John's day, which did not sustain but persecute and suppress Jerusalem, it was Rome, instead of being a gaudy harlot mounted on that vast empire. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come." And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. For a short time (what a mercy that it must be only for a short time!) Matthew Arnold spoke of "the salt, estranging sea." To the Christian this book is not sealed. Then again the character of it, as derived from Christianity having already taken its place, is asserted. The cube was the symbol of perfection. And whoremongers; all unclean persons, that indulge themselves in impure lusts, in fornication, adultery, and all lewdness; as the clergy of the church of Rome, who being forbidden to marry, and being under a vow of celibacy, and making great pretensions to chastity and singular holiness, give up themselves to all lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. There is no scriptural reason to infer that any saint dies during the thousand years, but rather the contrary. Such is the hard bondage which mere historical tradition imposes on its votaries. God will set up an ensign to which all the nations will come ( Isaiah 11:12). Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.". Take this quite simply and literally. Isaiah has a picture of the day when all nations will go up to Mount Sion to be taught the law and to learn to walk in the ways of God ( Isaiah 2:2-4). 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. 207-209. There may be lights of the heaven to mark times and seasons for the earth, and again on the earth. You must with the best authorities leave out this addition, if you would have the true force of the verse. Again, to my mind it seems demonstrably true that the relation to the beast here brought before us must in all fairness be allowed to look onward to a later stage of Babylon. The heavenly city is not an improved version of the present earthly city. It is true, the beast's judgment is only referred to as a defeat under the hand of the Lamb. Everything that could attract the natural man was there; and all that which to him looks fair enough on the side of religion. The passage is summed up in the words of the reigning Christ: "Behold, I am making all things new." It is true that the nations did bring their gifts to the Church. He with the glorified saints will have their home on high, but none the less shall they reign over this very world for the allotted time. It is thus that God is wont to deal as a rule in His judgments, not necessarily on the one that first introduces an evil, but on those that inherit the guilt, and perhaps aggravate it, instead of taking warning by it. John must have meant something by making the same angel the bearer of such different messages. Some things which seem permissible enough are seen to be dangerous when seen in the light of God. While these sins do mark some believers who follow the dictates of their flesh (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21), they more generally identify the lost. Hebrew number 3939 365 - 39 = 11/22, JFK murdered 3,939 COMMA = 45 3 + COMMA (45) + 939. But, further, we find that the saints who had suffered for Christ, during the time that the others were in heaven, are now reunited to their bodies and live, the Lord waiting for the last martyr that He might not leave out one of those who had died for His name. Verse Only. It further means that God is the source of all ideals. When the beast dares to fight with the Lamb He shall overcome the beast; and they that are with Him, "called and chosen and faithful" terms, as a whole, entirely inapplicable to the angels. The towers of Jerusalem shall be builded with gold. And what shall we say of the wonderful wisdom of the Lord? Then comes not the destruction only of these rebels by divine judgment, but the dissolution of heaven and earth. It is a description, and not one of the visions that carry us onward. He has to use whatever language and illustrations he can find in an attempt to describe the spiritual quality of life in the eternal state.Johns visions symbolize spiritual realities. (ii) On the gates are the names of the twelve tribes. All these things have their place in Babylon the great. This is the meaning of "one hour with the beast.". There never has been a like experience. Their misery helps to illustrate the glory and blessedness of the saints, and the distinguishing goodness of God towards them, Revelation 21:8; Revelation 21:8. Exodus 20:13-17; cf. The length, breadth and height were the same. Unbelief is never a consequence of knowledge, education, intelligence, or "honesty." Can anything be less reasonable (even taking that ground, low as it is) than that the various rulers of the western powers, Catholic kings, join the Pope in destroying his own city, or his own church, whichever Babylon may be made? "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. [2.] You can believe it. The sins mentioned here are some that typically characterize unbelievers, the other group in contrast to overcomers. It is an order that is holy and beautiful, where God and his people live together in the closest fellowship. This very naturally filled him with intense wonder. WebRevelation 19:6-8Living Bible. "Called" is most evidently inapplicable, because calling supposes that the person is brought out of one condition and raised into another and a better one. Here were thrones, and people sat upon them, changed 'before this into the image of Christ's glory. [So it is a square] And he measured the wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man ( Revelation 21:13-17 ). See the notes on Romans 1:26 ff. , , , 21:8 Greek NT: Nestle 1904, 21:8 Greek NT: Westcott and Hort 1881, 21:8 Greek NT: Westcott and Hort / [NA27 and UBS4 variants], 21:8 Greek NT: RP Byzantine Majority Text 2005, 21:8 Greek NT: Greek Orthodox Church, 21:8 Greek NT: Tischendorf 8th Edition, 21:8 Greek NT: Scrivener's Textus Receptus 1894, 21:8 Greek NT: Stephanus Textus Receptus 1550. There will be a new creation accomplished which will endure to eternity (Enoch 72:1). It is the way to all, if it be not the actual entrance into and enjoyment of it. We are going to inherit the whole new universe that God creates. And the building of the wall was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. There is one symbolic interpretation which was unlikely to be in his mind, but which is none the less very beautiful and very comforting. Separate Line. Why then is the book of life mentioned? The bride breathes out this word to the bridegroom; and the Holy Ghost it is that gives strength to her desire that He should come. Thus there is a completeness and perfection about it suited to its present character. 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. Those who triumph through persecution and temptation prove the genuineness of their faith, and will enjoy a specially close relationship with God their Father. Web8 But as for the cowards and unbelieving and abominable [who are devoid of character and personal integrity and practice or tolerate immorality], and murderers, and sorcerers [with 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). 23 The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine for it, for the glory of God illumines it, and its lamp is the Lamb. It will be understood when one says "spiritual" that none is meant save of a wicked kind. The particulars are reserved for a later point in this prophecy. 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. But the holy city was not only square; it was in the form of a perfect cube. And it is pretty well ascertained that there was a discussion among them, even to the suggestion by one of the most wicked of their emperors, whether Christ should not be owned and worshipped in the Pantheon, hundreds of years before Constantine, indeed from the earliest epoch of the gospel. A mighty angel takes a stone and says, when he cast it into the sea, "Thus with violence shall be thrown down Babylon the great city, and shall be found no more at all." It is Israel's task to declare God's glory among the Gentiles ( Isaiah 66:19). Is not this reason enough for saying that not even the shadow of solid ground appears for the system? And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gates was one pearl [or one huge pearl at each gate]: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass ( Revelation 21:18-21 ). These sins have often been commented upon in this series; the principal significance of their appearance here lies in the fact that "God is the speaker!" In the passage which we have just quoted Josephus speaks of stones in the Temple foundation walls of almost 70 feet in length, 8 feet in height, and 9 feet in breadth. Here is faith! Christians often discuss topics from the book of Revelation, including the Millennium, [5] a 1000-year period when Christ will rule the earth. is a myth. "I will make him the first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth" ( Psalms 89:27). It supposes the effect and the exercise of faith. The Egyptians saw it as the power which swallowed up the waters of the Nile and left the fields barren. "And the city has no need of the sun, nor of the moon, that they should shine for it." Then follows another scene still more solemn the most awe-inspiring of all we can contemplate, at the same time full of blessing for the Christian to look onward to as that which will for ever put aside every trace of evil, and vindicate good where man must altogether fail. .," pp. (i) More than once John insists that there will be no night in the city of God. We think the word must describe the radiance over the city; it is later quite distinctly said that the city needs no heavenly body like the sun or the moon to give it light, because God is its light. there was no more sea in Revelation 21 1 1:11 means that there will be no oceans no 1:14 seas and no large bodies of even fresh 1:17 water in the new Heavens in the new 1:21 Earth now this point is based simply on 1:24 the apparent Clarity of the statement 1:27 here in this verse there no effort is 1:30 made to obtain a theological 1:32 Who knows? The abominable are those who practice abominationsthat is, the blasphemous and licentious practices associated with idolatry. There is a repelling force of positive charges, tremendously powerful repelling force.The atom bomb illustrates to us the true nature of an atom. (Revelation 21:5). Reference-Verse. It cannot be done till the moment comes. In Daniel's time it was not at hand. I am not aware of any MS. in its favour, though some versions represent it. WebThe third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. "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. "Faithful" is what belongs to a man. Verse Only. This is never the case with an angel. WebGreek Reverse Interlinear Layout for Revelation 8:1. Reference-Verse. The dream of a new heaven and a new earth was deep in Jewish thought. John 8:31) (MSB), abominable . This verse declares it, and there is no other interpretation that can stand even a moment's fair discussion. And I heard the great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, [God is now going to dwell in the midst among His people.] Verse 6 commends these sayings afresh. Holman Christian 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. "The tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, their God. This phrase has a double background. In 2Baruch it is said that God made the heavenly Jerusalem before he made Paradise, that Adam saw it before he sinned, that it was shown in a vision to Abraham, that Moses saw it on Mount Sinai, and that it is now present with God ( Bar_4:2-6 ). And he said: "Write, for these are words that are trustworthy and true." Without price I will give to the thirsty of the fountain of the water of life.". "I will be his father," said God, "and he shall be my son" ( 2 Samuel 7:14). In the new age the glory of God is not to be a transitory thing, but something which abides permanently with the people of God. There are three gates on each of the four sides of the city of God. 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. The wall is 144 cubits high, that is, 266 feet, not very high. But "out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron." It is not the gospel, nor the Holy Spirit, but the lawless revived Latin empire with its vassal kingdoms of the west, that combine and destroy Babylon. "The Lord," said Isaiah, "will be your everlasting light" ( Isaiah 60:19-20). Thus the only use that seems made of the book is negative and exclusive. God in His providence did sanction the great empires of old; and the principle continues as long as the church is here below. That which we highly prize and value that men will lie for, kill for and steal for will have no value up there. The first foundation was jasper; the second was sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And who would defraud either the soul of salvation, or the Lord of showing it? And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. The "saved" is a term which, so far from belonging to the nations, is expressly applied to the Jewish remnant when it is a technical term. But alas! It is God's word of privilege to Israel: "I will give you for a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth" ( Isaiah 49:6). And he carried me away in the Spirit to a 10 great and lofty mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, and it had the glory of God. But here is a mystery altogether different: "Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of the harlots and of the abominations of the earth.". . Compare Revelatio. He will not fail to take up the gage He has given our hearts. In the city of God there will be no darkness. Tears and grief and crying and pain are gone. In the eternal state no such distinction exists, because God now dwells with his people in an order of life never before experienced. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. All this description closes in verse 5. Idolaters and liars Idolatry, whether the worship of pagan gods, as in the days of John, or the worship and adoration of self above the God of heaven, can never be pleasing to God. Exactly the same thing is repeated here, and what makes it more apparent is the similarity of the introduction on each occasion. In the ancient world pearls were of all stones most valued. Let it be carefully observed here that the first resurrection does not mean all rising exactly at the same moment. I do not acknowledge the language to be either difficult or ambiguous. Again John is thinking in terms of the prophetic pictures of the re-created Jerusalem. He comes to execute vengeance, and with a sign of death for rebels. On these I may say but a very few words. This conception of preexisting forms may seem strange. 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. But to the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part [is] in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.". "And the dead were judged," but not out of the book of life, which has nothing to do with judgment. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. . But there is one curious point. And it appears to me that here we are bound to account for the presence of these others that are at the marriage-supper of the Lamb, but appear as guests, and not at all in the quality of the bride. The heavens will be on fire. 22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, is its temple, and the Lamb. It is entirely in His hand, and in none other's. 2. There were two particular effects of her evil: the one, illicit commerce with the kings of the earth; the other, intoxicating the inhabitants of the earth with the wine of her fornication. But the attempt, again, to apply what is said here to a future city of Babylon in Chaldea seems to me no less vain. He was a divine person, whatever new position He assumes for the world. They have been often before in tears, by reason of sin, of affliction, of the calamities of the church; but now all tears shall be wiped away; no signs, no remembrance of former sorrows shall remain, any further than to make their present felicity the greater. Surely we are meant to see that in the holy city there is room for everyone. God's promise to make Israel his people and to be their God echoes throughout the Old Testament. Their doom was awful, but by no means after the same sort as their two leaders. Line-By-Line Order: Verse-Reference. Death, too, shall be gone. Consequently they sat upon the thrones at once; while the two latter classes, described in the rest of the verse, were still in the separate state "and the souls." And in speaking it into existence, He spoke into existence a scientific puzzle. It "shall go into perdition," it is therefore added, "and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and shall be present." Not so. From Rome saints had suffered; and it was easy to see that the revealed persecutress is called Babylon, and identified with the governing city of Rome. WebRevelation 21:8 New King James Version 8 But the cowardly, [ a]unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the See note on the "second death" at Revelation 20:6; (cf. There Paul says of the Christians at Philippi: "You shine as lights in the world." In Revelation 21:22 John lays down a unique feature of the city of God; in it there is no temple. Again, death and hades are said to come to their end, personified as enemies. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. [Note: See Peterson, "Does the . The Spirit of God regards it in its final shape and completeness, as far as it was permitted to attain it, "The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls." 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. In the east there was the idea of the city of the gods in the skies. Since then the world has not seen the imperial power to which all bow. Reuchlin. The pulon could be either of two things. The writers between the Testaments had their dreams. Again John is hearing the voice that the great prophets had heard, "I am the first, and I am the last; besides me there is no God" ( Isaiah 44:6). But a city with that area would stretch nearly from London to New York. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." Observe, 1. The polluted are those who allowed themselves to be saturated by the abominations of the world. He is dwelling amongst His people. 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. It will be cubed however rather than round and it will be fourteen hundred miles cubed.Now, if we lived dimensionally at that time, you know we live on the surface of the earth, but if you had a cube and we lived dimensionally, it is interesting to get out your pencil and notepad and figure how many square miles you could get in a cube that was fourteen hundred miles in each direction. For the first time God himself speaks; he is the God who is able to make all things new. In the coming of the Lord all include His coming to the habitable earth. "I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you," God said to Abraham, " to be God to you and your descendants" ( Genesis 17:7). But what I particularly call your attention to is the exceeding importance of heeding the retrospect at the bride, or new Jerusalem here, and the consequent removal of the difficulty caused by taking the last vision of this book as part of the prophetic series which begins in Revelation 19:1-21. The ideal is a challenge, which, even if it is not worked out in this world, can still be worked out in the world to come. Then follows the proclamation of the angel, and the invitation to the supper of the great God, to eat the flesh of all the great ones of the earth. It is very possible. * It is to Him that God has given all judgment not necessarily to us. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, Line-By-Line Order: Verse-Reference. on the other, she had, when she could, gone on increasing in both, until at last the blow of divine judgment came. It is plain that they are not in this city. We shall find, on the contrary, its aspect is toward the universe, yet is there the special place of Israel; and quite right it is that it should be so. As for the earthly land and city, the moon will have her light increased to that of the sun, and the sun shall be sevenfold. Hence the horns and the beast join together and desolate the harlot. See the notes on Mark 16:16. It sounds like a fairy tale. 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. And when God does judge, it is not merely for the evil of those then judged, but of all from the first budding of it till that day. We do not mend matters by hasty conclusions, we only complicate the truth. When its own season arrives, as it surely will, the divine hindrance is to be removed, and the devil then is allowed to do his worst. In Daniel's time, and even to Daniel himself, the book was sealed. Here is the promise of fellowship with God and all its precious consequences. He intends us to see that the whole of the holy city is the Holy of Holies, the dwelling-place of God. But we had gone astray from the path of the Eternal, and with, foolish heart worshipped the work of men's hands, idols and images. The subject-matter of this vision is so great, and of such great importance to the church and people of God, that they have need of the fullest assurances of it; and God therefore from heaven repeats and ratifies the truth thereof. The gospel had been preached there, as she of Chaldea was not without law and prophet. It is certain that we ought to read (not "upon" but) "and* the beast." Usually God is pictured as dwelling in heaven and people as dwelling on earth. It would be impossible to say anything more magnificent about God. Of course the application to the Roman empire would be immediately in the mind of any Christian at Rome. It was said that it would reach to Damascus and would cover the whole of Palestine. Line-By-Line Order: Verse-Reference. Line-By-Line Order: Verse-Reference. Even the worst of governments is better than none. Its gates will never be shut by day, 26 for, as for night, there will be no night there. It is very evident, therefore, that the saints in a glorified state are here represented as following the Lord out of heaven. It is true that there is a strain of Jewish thought which expected the annihilation, or at least the enslavement, of the Gentiles; but there is much on the other side, and voice after voice speaks of the time when all men shall know and love God. They received their power as kings when the beast ceased to exist. Here accordingly is seen but one throne. Moral elements too were not wanting: the mystery of lawlessness had long been at work, though the enemy had not yet brought in the apostacy, and still less the manifestation of the lawless one. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of water of life freely ( Revelation 21:6 ). All the energy to mislead men in the presence of the first beast was long in his hands, and now nothing more is spoken of. Men are not regarded as composing this tabernacle; they co-exist. Champion of humanity, Most High liberate to set free, vindicating to reconcile the inhabitants without delay, to answer, return and revive. He measured the city with his measuring rod, and the measurement was twelve thousand stades. . What would be the meaning, if so read? ( cf. And so it is with this very Babylon that comes before us here. The street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. [ 3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. Then the word is, "Award her even as she awarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she mixed, mix to her double. In other words, here is a picture of universal salvation. There is nothing in Jesus to harm him; there is every thing to bless there is Himself to be enjoyed, even if they have failed in the full knowledge of it here below. Amen. There are probably but few, if any, here who do not understand it as the fore-shadow of a real resurrection. The whole material universe following the natural laws with the protons repelling each other, and this whole material universe will go out of existence in a moment's time.And then God said, "Behold, I create all things new," Isaiah sixty-six. The beast is the expression of the will of man setting itself up in direct antagonism to 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. "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb."
