VII. The Seven New Things
Introductory Vision
THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH, AND THE NEW JERUSALEM.
Chapter. 21:1-8.
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the
first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and
the sea is no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3
And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying,
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he
shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples,
and God himself shall be with them, and be their God: 4 and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes;
and death shall be no more; neither shall there be
mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first
things are passed away. 5 And he that sitteth on
the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And
he saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true.
6 And he said unto me, They are come to pass. I am
the Alpha and the 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 these things; and I will be his God, and he
shall be my son. 8 But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators,
and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part
shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brim
stone; which is the second death.
In the first brief Vision, John beholds the New Heaven
and Earth, and the Holy City coming down out of
heaven from God. He hears the great voice out of the throne announcing
the passing away of the old things, of pain and sorrow
and death, and the making of all things new. Great and
precious promises are made to him that overcometh, and threat of doom most direful to the unbelieving, abominable and false. The great antitype of the encampment of the tribes
of Israel in the wilderness is announced at the very first
mention of the New Jerusalem: “Behold the tabernacle
of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and
they shall be his peoples;” In this Vision the nations are
seen grouped as “peoples” of God (Israel alone being
the “people of God” in the centuries of old), around the
New Jerusalem. And yet, as in solemn minor tone, the profound word
of warning touching the “lake of fire” as “the second
death” is also heard, but the angel enlarges rather on
the fulfilments of the promises, types and predictions of
a far off past, fulfilments blessed and glorious, vast and
enduring. Num. 1:47-54; 2:1-32; Rev. 21:1-3. THE GLORY AND BLESSEDNESS OF THE CITY.
Chapters. 21:9-22:5.
9 And there came one of the seven angels who had
the seven bowls, who were laden with the seven last
plagues; and he spake with me, saying, Come hither,
I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. 10
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain
great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coining down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God: her light was like unto a stone
most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as
crystal; 12 having a wall great and high; having
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
were three gates; and on the north three gates; and
on the south three gates; and on the west three
gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve
apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he that spake with
me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the
city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length
thereof is as great as the breadth; and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thou
sand furlongs: the length and the breadth and the
height thereof are equal, 17 And he measured the
wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four
cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is,
of an angel. 18 And the building of the wall thereof
was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like unto
pure glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the
city were adorned with all maimer of precious stones.
The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire;
the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; 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. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve
pearls; each one of the several gates was of one
pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it
were transparent glass. 22 And I saw no temple
therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the
Lamb, are the temple thereof. 23 And the city hath
no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine
upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the
lamp thereof is the Lamb. 24 And the nation shall
walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the
earth bring their glory into it. 25 And the gates
thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there
shall be no night there):26 and they shall bring
the glory and the honour of the nations into it:27
and there shall in no wise enter into it anything
unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a
lie: but only they that are written in the Lamb’s
book of life.
1 And he showed me a river of water of life,
bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of
God and of the Lamb, 2 in the midst of the street
thereof. And on this side of the river and on that
was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits,
yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the
tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there
shall be no curse any more: and the throne of God
and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his servants
shall serve him; 4 and they shall see his face; and
his name shall be on their foreheads. 5 And there
shall be night no more; and they need no light of
lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light:and they shall reign for ever and
ever.
Then is shown the marvelous structure of the City to
the Seer from a great and high mountain. After this,
in the final Vision, the blessed and eternal contents of the
City are seen. All the great typical forms of future
blessed realities for man and nature set forth in the in
spired Word of God, and all the shadowy tentative experiences of human history, Hebrew and Gentile, are now
shown at last in complete fulfilment and perfect realization. What sin once brought, grace has forever removed, and
in its stead has brought the more exceeding blessing. The Seven New Things of these visions are the New
Heaven, Earth, Peoples, City, Temple, Luminary and
Paradise. The centre and heart of all is the City of God, filled
with his glory and indwelt by all glorified beings. The
nations shall walk in its light and their kings shall bring
their glory and honour into it. Paradise is restored, but in a City of unimaginable
glories; the tree of life is seen again, but. more than one
and on either side of the crystal river of water of life
proceeding now out of the throne of God and of the
Lamb; the fellowship with God is unbroken and his
servants see his face, and there shall be no more curse;
no sanctuary is seen in the City, for the Lord God the
Almighty and the Lamb are now the Holy of Holies; no
night is there, no need of light of lamp nor light of sun,
for the glory of God shall lighten all, and the lamp of
the City is the Lamb; the New Jerusalem is now the
Mother of all the living, holy and heavenly, the Metropolis of the new earth; in brief, in this city, the joy
of the whole universe, is seen the once far off Goal and
End of divine purpose and human history, the long
hoped-for Consummation of the Redemption of Man
and of Nature, the Kingdom of God in its final, perfected, eternal form, all
enemies subdued and “God all in
all. THE EPILOGUE. Chapter. 22:6-21.
6 And he said unto me, These words are faithful
and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the
prophets, sent his angel to show unto Ms servants the
things which must shortly come to pass. 7 And be
hold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the
words of the prophecy of this book. 8 And I John
am he that heard and saw these things. And when
I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the
feet of the angel that showed me these things. 9
And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a
fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren the
prophets, and with them that keep the words of this
book: worship God. 10 And he saith unto me, Seal
not up the words of the prophecy of this book; for
the time is at hand. 11 He that is unrighteous, let
him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let
him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let
him do righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still. 12
Behold, I come quickly; and
my reward is with me, to
render to each man according
as his work is. 13 I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the
first and the last, the
beginning and the end. 14 Blessed are they that wash their robes,
that they may have the right to come to the tree of
life, and may enter in by the gates into the city. 15
Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the
fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and
every one that loveth and maketh a lie. 16 I Jesus
have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things
for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of
David, the bright, the morning star. 17 And the
Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth,
let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him
come: he that will, let him take the water of life
freely. 18 I testify unto every man that heareth the
words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall
add unto them, God shall add unto Mm the plagues
which are written in this book: 19 and if any man
shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree
of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in
this book. 20 He who testifieth these things saith,
Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus. 21
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen.
No wonder that when John saw these things he was
ready to fall down and worship before the feet of the
angel as if he were the Lord himself. Nor do we wonder that
the Lord Jesus, too, is most
desirous to have the saints
share with him all the glories
revealed in these Visions.
Thrice is heard the word “Behold
I come quickly” and to it the
response of all the saints
should ever be, “Amen; come,
Lord Jesus.” |