Daily Scripture Reading Revelation 21:9 - 22:5
Many people desire to have the greatest job, live in the greatest house, and reside in the greatest city and country. Many of those who have those desires pursue those dreams by pursuing earthly things.
Today’s passage describes the greatest city that will ever exist. Living in the city will not be accomplished by pursuing things of this world, it will be attained by pursuing spiritual things.
The first 10 verses of Revelation 21 tell us there will be a new heaven and a new earth. The tabernacle of God will be among men. There will be no more tears, death, mourning, crying, or pain. Some will inherit the new things. Others, the unbelievers, murderers, adulterers, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars will spend eternity in the lake of fire.
Rev. 21:9 ¶ Then one of the seven angels who have the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
The fifth chapter of Ephesians implies that the church is the wife of Christ. The 19th chapter of Revelation announces the marriage supper of the Lamb. Now in the 21st chapter we see a picture of the bride of the Lamb.
Rev. 21:10 ¶ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
Rev. 21:11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like precious stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
The new Jerusalem is the bride of the Lamb.
Rev. 21:12 It had a great and high wall. It had twelve gates and at those gates, twelve angels; and names have been written on those gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
Note the gates bear the names of the tribes of Israel, indicating God’s continuing loyalty to Israel.
Rev. 21:13 There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west.
Rev. 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Notice the twelve foundation stones will bear the names of the twelve apostles. The new Jerusalem will commemorate both the Old Testament and New Testament. The names of the tribes of Israel will commemorate the Old Testament and the names of the twelve apostles will commemorate the New Testament.
Rev. 21:15 ¶ And the one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and its wall.
Rev. 21:16 And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, 12,000 stadia; its length and width and height are equal.
A stadia is about 600 feet / 185 meters, so 12,000 stadia would be around 1,363 miles / 2,220 km.
Rev. 21:17 And he measured its wall, 144 cubits, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.
The wall will be 144 cubits thick, which is about 216 feet / 66 meters.
Rev. 21:18 And the material of the wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold, like pure glass.
Rev. 21:19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
Rev. 21:20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
Rev. 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
This passage describes the greatest city ever built. It will be huge, beautiful, and very valuable.
Many humans have a desire to have the greatest job, live in the greatest house, and reside in the greatest nation. People spend their lives pursuing their vision of paradise. However, any house, city, or nation existing on the present earth pales in comparison to the new Jerusalem. Therefore, the only way to ever live in the greatest city ever built is to be a servant of Jesus, because those who reject Jesus will not live in the new Jerusalem, they will spend eternity in the lake of fire.
Rev. 21:22 ¶ And I saw no sanctuary in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its sanctuary.
In the 1st century AD, the temple in Jerusalem was known as the sanctuary of God (Matt 27:5, Mark 15:38. Luke 1:9, John 2:20). Then the apostle Paul taught that believers are a sanctuary of God (1Cor 3:16, 6:19, 2Cor 6:16). In the new Jerusalem, the Lord and the Lamb will be the sanctuary.
Rev. 21:23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
The Bible tells us no man can look on God (Ex. 33:20, 1Tim 6:16). We see here in Revelation that the glory of God is so bright the sun is no longer needed for light.
Rev. 21:24 And the nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
Rev. 21:25 And its gates will never be closed by day, for there will be no night there;
Rev. 21:26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.
Rev. 21:27 And nothing defiled, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Think about the sins that are listed and the ones that are not listed. Lying is listed, but things such as murder, adultery, and prostitution are not. You could argue that abomination covers those sins. The point is lying is specifically called out. This teaches us that lying is something we should take very seriously.
The book of life is a term that is used in the Bible to refer to those who are saved (Ps 69:28, Phil. 4:3, Rev. 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, 20:12, 20:15, and 22:19).
Rev. 22:1 ¶ Then he showed me a river of the water of life, bright as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb,
Rev. 22:2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rev. 22:3 And there will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His slaves will serve Him;
Rev. 22:4 and they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
Look at the phrase “His name will be on their foreheads”. Just as the mark of the beast will be placed on people’s foreheads and that will be a method of indicating servitude and loyalty to the beast, so too in the new Jerusalem all slaves of the Lamb will have the name of God on their forehead as a marker of their servitude, devotion, and loyalty to God and the Lamb.
Rev. 22:5 And there will no longer be any night, and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them, and they will reign forever and ever.
Many humans have a desire to have the greatest job, live in the greatest house, and reside in the greatest nation. People spend their lives pursuing their vision of paradise, which usually means pursuing earthly wealth and possessions.
However, any house, city, or nation existing on the present earth pales in comparison to the new Jerusalem. Therefore, the only way to ever live in the greatest city which will ever be built is to be a servant of Jesus.
Do you spend your time on earth pursuing an earthly concept of paradise, or the true paradise which will only be found in Jesus?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”