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Revelation 21

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The New Heaven and the New Earth 1–8

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. ​
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 overcometh 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. ​

The Glory of the Holy City 9–21

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. ​
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,
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
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:
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 in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. ​
15
And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
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. ​
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. ​
18
And the building of the wall of it was 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, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; ​
20
The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
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.

The New Jerusalem 22–27

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 did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. ​
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. ​
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 honour of the nations into it.
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. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Revelation 21

Verse 1

a new heaven and a new earth — 'New' is kainos, new in freshness, the word of 'new Jerusalem' (3:12). It takes up Isa 65:17, 'I create new heavens and a new earth', and 2 Pet 3:13, 'wherein dwelleth righteousness'. 'Passed away' is the verb of Matt 24:35. The sea 'gave up the dead' (20:13), and the beast rose out of it (13:1).

Verse 2

the holy city, new Jerusalem — The name appears in 3:12 for 'the city of my God'; Paul calls 'Jerusalem which is above… the mother of us all' (Gal 4:26). 'Adorned' is kosmeo, the verb of 'garnished' for the foundations in v.19; Isa 61:10 has 'as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels'. John names himself here, in 22:8 and in 1:9.

Verse 3

the tabernacle of God is with men — Skene is a tent, and 'dwell' (skenoo) is to pitch a tent, the verb of John 1:14, 'dwelt among us'. The promise is that of Lev 26:11–12, 'I will set my tabernacle among you… and will be your God, and ye shall be my people', and Ezek 37:27.

Verse 4

wipe away all tears — Isa 25:8: 'He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces'. The same line is in Rev 7:17. Death, 'the last enemy' (1 Cor 15:26), is cast into the lake of fire in 20:14. 'The former things' is the word for 'first' in v.1; sorrow and death recall Gen 3:16–19.

Verse 5

Behold, I make all things new — Kainos again (vv.1–2); the verb is present tense, 'I am making'. Compare 2 Cor 5:17, 'all things are become new', and Isa 43:19, 'I will do a new thing'. 'Write' is the command of 1:19 and 19:9; 'faithful and true' are the words of 22:6, and the names of the rider in 19:11.

Verse 6

It is done — Gegonen, a perfect tense. The same two words come from the throne when the seventh vial is poured out (16:17). 'Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end' is Christ's own title in 22:13. 'Freely' (dorean) is the word of 22:17 and Rom 3:24; Isa 55:1 reads 'without money and without price'.

Verse 7

He that overcometh — Nikao. Each of the seven letters closes with a promise to him that overcometh (2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21), and this verse gathers them. 'I will be his God, and he shall be my son' recalls 2 Sam 7:14, 'I will be his father, and he shall be my son' (cf. 2 Cor 6:18). 'Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world' (1 John 5:4).

Verse 8

the fearful — Deilos, timid or faithless, found only here, in Matt 8:26 ('Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?') and in Mark 4:40. Eight kinds are named, set against 'he that overcometh' in v.7. The lake of fire is 'the second death' (20:14), from which the overcomer 'shall not be hurt' (2:11).

Verse 9

the bride, the Lamb's wife — One of the seven vial angels opens with the same words in 17:1, 'Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore'; John is shown the great whore and the bride in the same way. 'The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready' (19:7).

Verse 14

twelve foundations — Themelios is used in Revelation only here and in v.19. The foundations carry 'the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb', as the gates carry the tribes (v.12). Compare Eph 2:20, 'built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets', and Heb 11:10, 'a city which hath foundations'.

Verse 16

foursquare — Tetragonos, four-cornered, found only here. Length, breadth and height are equal, as in the oracle of Solomon's temple: 'twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof' (1 Kings 6:20). The measuring recalls Ezek 40:3, and the city's name in Ezek 48:35, 'The LORD is there'.

Verse 17

an hundred and forty and four cubits — The number is twelve times twelve, as in the 'hundred and forty and four thousand' of 7:4 and 14:3. 'Cubits' is pechus. The measure is 'of a man, that is, of the angel': the angel measures with the golden reed of v.15 in a man's unit.

Verse 19

garnished with all manner of precious stones — Kosmeo, the verb of 'adorned' in v.2. Isa 54:11 has 'lay thy foundations with sapphires'. Twelve stones are named in vv.19–20, as on the breastplate of Ex 28:17–21, where they bore 'the names of the children of Israel'; here the foundations bear the apostles' names (v.14).

Verse 22

no temple therein — Naos, the sanctuary. 'The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.' Pantokrator, 'Almighty', occurs nine times in Revelation (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7, 14; 19:6, 15; 21:22). Earlier 'the temple of God was opened in heaven' (11:19); cf. John 4:23, 'in spirit and in truth'.

Verse 23

the Lamb is the light — Luchnos is a lamp, the word John 5:35 uses of the Baptist, 'a burning and a shining light'. Isa 60:19 states the pattern: 'The sun shall be no more thy light by day… but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light'. Christ says, 'I am the light of the world' (John 8:12).

Verse 24

the nations of them which are saved — Ethnos, the nations. 'Walk' (peripateo) is the verb of John 8:12, 'shall not walk in darkness'. Isa 60:3 says 'the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising', and Isa 60:11 that 'their kings may be brought'. Verse 26 repeats 'the glory and honour of the nations'.

Verse 27

written in the Lamb's book of life — Koinoo, 'defileth', is to make common or unclean (Mark 7:15, 'defile the man'). Isa 52:1 has 'there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean'. 'Abomination' recurs in the 'cup in her hand full of abominations' of 17:4. The book is 'the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world' (13:8).