All the enemies of God have now been vanquished, and nothing remains but to perfect the happiness and glory of the redeemed in their eternal home. To the description, accordingly, of this home the chapter now before us is devoted.... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:1. It is A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH that the Seer beholds, FOR THE FIRST HEAVEN AND THE FIRST EARTH WERE PASSED AWAY. Yet it is not necessary to think of an entirely new creation, as if the first had disappeared, and a second were called into existence by a fresh creative act of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:2. The Apostle beholds the metropolis of the renovated world under the figure of that metropolis which was so intimately associated with the memories and aspirations of the people of God, A NEW JERUSALEM. Her newness will be afterwards more particularly described, but even now we are t... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:3. The Seer next hears A GREAT VOICE OUT OF THE THRONE. The voice may not be actually that of God Himself, but it certainly expresses the Divine thoughts and purposes. BEHOLD, THE TABERNACLE OF GOD IS WITH MEN, AND HE SHALL TABERNACLE WITH THEM, AND THEY SHALL BE HIT PEOPLES, AND HE H... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:4. All the most precious fruits of such a fellowship shall also be experienced. HE SHALL WIPE AWAY EVERY TEAR FROM THEIR EYES. Not ‘all tears' are spoken of, but ‘every tear.' Each single tear they shed shall be wiped away, even before it falls. AND DEATH SHALL BE NO MORE. It has bee... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:5. What the Seer had before heard regarding the new creation had proceeded from a voice ‘out of the throne' (Revelation 21:3). Now God HIMSELF, HE THAT SITTETH ON THE THRONE, SPEAKS. For the first time in this book the direct voice of God is heard. Hitherto He has been veiled in His ow... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:6. The voice of God is continued, as He says, They, _i.e._ the words of Revelation 21:5, are come to pass. The future for which the saints of God have longed, and of which the prophets spoke, has come. All expectations are fulfilled; all hopes are realized; the end to which all things... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:7. HE THAT OVERCOMETH is the same as he that is ‘athirst,' and is only viewed in another aspect of his glorious position. In reference to Jesus he is always thirsty; in reference to the world and the devil he is always a conqueror. By the use of the word ‘overcometh,' the last part of... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:8. The happiness of the saints of God has been described. In contrast with this, the verse before us presents us with the fate of the ungodly, who are classified first in general terms, and then by the particular sins which they commit. The ‘fearful' are mentioned first as occupying a... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:9. At chap. Revelation 17:1 one of the angels that had the seven bowls had come to the Seer and shown him the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters, the mystic Babylon. In like manner one of the same group of angels, but more fully described as one of the seven WHO HAD THE SEVEN B... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:10. THE SEER IS CARRIED IN THE SPIRIT, FOR this purpose, TO A GREAT AND HIGH MOUNTAIN. The object is that he may command a more uninterrupted view of the holy city as she descends in all her glory from heaven to earth. It was from the top of an ‘exceeding high mountain' that Satan show... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:11. The description of the city begins, and first she is spoken of as HAVING THE GLORY OF GOD. This light lightens her both within and without. From the subsequent description it appears that the idea of the Holy of Holies is in the Seer's mind, and we cannot therefore be wrong in thin... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:12. HAVING A WALL GREAT AND HIGH, HAVING TWELVE GATES. The walls of ancient cities were for protection against enemies, and of such protection there was no need here. But so important in this respect were walls, that they were associated in the ancient mind with every-thing that in a c... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:13. The distribution of the gates follows in this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:14. From the gates we are next taken to the foundations. AND THE WALL OF THE CITY HAD TWELVE FOUNDATIONS (comp. Hebrews 11:10). We are not to think of foundations buried in the earth, but of great and massive stones rising above the soil as a pediment sustaining the whole structure. At... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:15. The city is to be measured, in order that its noble and fair proportions may be seen. The angel measures it with A GOLDEN REED, the metal of the reed corresponding in dignity and value to the city itself, which is of ‘pure gold' (Revelation 21:18). A measuring reed, though not of g... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:16. The city itself is first measured. IT LIETH FOUR SQUARE... THE LENGTH AND THE BREADTH AND THE HEIGHT OF IT ARE EQUAL. It was thus a perfect cube; and, remembering the general imagery of this book, there can be no doubt that the Seer has the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle in his e... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:17. The wall is next measured, AN HUNDRED AND FORTY AND FOUR CUBITS, ACCORDING TO THE MEASURE OF A MAN, THAT IS OF AN ANGEL. It is hardly possible to think that we have here the _height_ of the wall. So insignificant would it be when compared with the height of the city that the combin... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:18. The measuring has been completed. We have next the materials of which the city was composed. Those of the wall are first mentioned. AND THE BUILDING OF THE WALL OF IT WAS JASPER. We have been already told in Revelation 21:11 that the light shining from the city was like that of a j... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:19-20. The materials of the twelve courses of stones which formed the basement of the city are next mentioned (comp. on Revelation 21:14). They are not merely beautified with precious stones. The words GARNISHED WITH ALL MANNER OF PRECIOUS STONES might suggest such an idea, but the wor... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:21. Having described the foundations, the Apostle now passes to the gates and street of the city. AND THE TWELVE GATES WERE TWELVE PEARLS; EVERY SEVERAL GATE WAS OF ONE PEARL. No attempt is made to attain verisimilitude. It is enough that the figure helps to bring out the surpassing sp... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:22. The glory of the city is illustrated by other facts. AND I SAW NO TEMPLE THEREIN; FOR THE LORD GOD THE ALMIGHTY AND THE LAMB ARE THE TEMPLE OF IT. What a revelation do these words present of the local giving place to the universal, the outward to the inward, the material to the spi... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:23. As the city was independent of the outward and ordinary means of grace, so also it was independent of the outward influences which nature supplies for the help of man. IT HATH NO NEED OF THE SUN NEITHER OF THE MOON TO SHINE UPON IT. In our present condition all nature is sacramenta... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:24. The description of the glory of the New Jerusalem is continued in figures taken from the prophets of the Old Testament (comp. Isaiah 60:2-3). AND THE NATIONS SHALL WALK BY THE LIGHT OF IT. We are not required invariably to understand the heathen by the word ‘nations,' or the faithf... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:25. AND THE GATES OF IT SHALL NOT BE SHUT AT ALL BY DAY; FOR THERE SHALL BE NO NIGHT THERE. The design of the words is to set forth the perfect peace and security of the inhabitants of the heavenly city. How often had the gates of an ancient city to be closed, always by night, often by... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:26. AND THEY SHALL BRING THE GLORY AND HONOUR OF THE NATIONS INTO IT. Such shall be the use made of the open gates. The nations shall stream into the city with their gifts, to lay their best upon its altars, and to enjoy in turn its rest and peace and security and light. The New Jerusa... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 21:27. For these purposes alone shall the open gates be used. THERE SHALL IN NO WISE ENTER INTO IT ANYTHING UNCLEAN, OR HE THAT MAKETH AN ABOMINATION AND A LIE. There is indeed now nothing unclean; there is no wilful sinner of any kind to enter. All the enemies of God have been overcome:... [ Continue Reading ]