Morning Light – Revelation 21: New Jerusalem Coming Down!

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Today: [Revelation 21:] New Jerusalem Coming Down. In chapter 21 we see the appearance of the New Jerusalem coming down to affix itself on the surface of a new earth. God will then move His throne out of the third heaven into the first heaven to abide with the Lamb and the saints forever.
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[Rev 21:1-27 KJV] 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. 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. 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.
In the previous chapter John witnesses the first and then the second resurrection detailing the reward of the righteous and the judgment of the ungodly. Chapter 21 opens with a new heaven and a new earth. To what extent does this new heaven and new earth replace the old? Peter foresaw this as well:
[2Pe 3:10 KJV] 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which, the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Peter’s apocalypse envisions the heavens and earth being destroyed right down to the decompiling of the elemental table at a subatomic level. This is the climactic end of all that God spoke into existence in Genesis one. A new heaven is constituted with no sea making room for a vast repopulation of the human race. Crowning this recreation is the appearance of a new city, a holy city coming down from heaven as the personal dwelling place of God in the first heaven of the natural realm. Not only now does Jesus in his glorified body live upon the earth but God the Father as the one who sits on the throne will set His place of abode physically on the reconstituted planet.
In this new creation, we see elements of things as God intended them before the fall. He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there will be no more death for death is cast into the lake of fire. There will be no sorrow, and no crying or pain for all the former things are passed away. John is really showing himself to be a time traveler in this chapter as he hears the Father upon the throne command him directly to write these things down for they are true and faithful.
The Father on the throne continues speaking with John saying “It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end and I will give to him that is thirsting of the fountain of the water of life freely…” He then promises to the overcomers to inherit all these things that are revealed to John and declares Himself to be their God and refers to not just individuals but a son in the singular, a corporate son, referencing the child born to the sun-clothed woman in Rev. 12 who is caught up to God and to His throne. We see then two companies of saints. There are those that are part of the fire-baptized woman in Revelation 12 and those who come out of her as a second company – a church within the church who attain to the third heaven and a level of promotion and experience not available to those of the sun-clothed woman company.
What of the ungodly? The fearful, the unbelieving, the abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire that burns forever. Note that the first two peoples who preceded everyone else into the lake of fire are the fearful and unbelieving. We tend to treat fear and unbelief as something we suffer from and are victimized by. God says they are sin. It is a sin to fear. It is a sin to be without faith, and the result of these sins is unthinkable eternal punishment. Next time someone tells you they are fearful tell them to quit sinning. Next time someone is struggling with unbelief tell them to stop sinning. This is a very different thought contrasted to the anemic and casual way we treat these things today.
One of the seven angels with the seven vials appears and carries John away to a high mountain to show him the bride the Lamb’s wife. It is the holy city, Jerusalem come down from heaven. It is a city surrounded by the glory of God with beams of light as that which shines like a prism through a jasper stone. Jasper is deep red in color.
There is a wall around the city and twelve gates and guarding the gates are twelve angels. Each of the twelve gates has the twelve names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There are three gates to a side north, south, east and west. Underneath the level of these gates are twelve great foundations of the city with the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. It will be interesting if the twelfth foundation will have the name of Matthias elected by the eleven or Paul.
In verse 16 we see the most remark aspect of the city being built almost cube like in dimensions, 12000 furlongs on a side. Twelve thousand furlongs is 1500 miles. The walls are 66 feet high. The walls of the city are of jasper (blood red), and the primary construction of the city within the walls is of gold so pure it is transparent like glass, being garnish with jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, and chysoprasus.
Now each of these stones corresponds to the stones on the breastplate of the high priest in the Old Testament. The order of the stones in the New Testament is different from the order of the stones in the New Jerusalem. In the ephod, the emerald is first, and in the New Jerusalem, the jasper connected with the tribe of Benjamin is first.
The twelve gates were of twelve pearls. Pearls are made layer upon layer as the oyster forming them coats an irritant in its shell with layers to overcome its uncomfortableness. This speaks of entering into the city by overcoming. If the city is the church, we are entering into there are many irritations people have about being a part of the church which is why in these days there is a large contingent of evangelical Christians who choose not to enter in. To what extent is that acceptable to God. The composition of the gates tells you that God acknowledges the shortcomings of the church but calls us to enter in anyway overcoming the offense and being a part as God ordains.
One thing that you don’t see in the city is a temple because God Himself and the Lamb are the living temple in it. That means that we are no longer His temple, but He in himself is our temple. When we worship, we are entering into Him to worship and fellowship in His presence. Neither are there lights in the sky for the glory of God is the light, and the Lamb is the light. What is that like? Recently we were in Sterling, VA for meetings and normally before the cameras, the lighting is normal and then on camera the light inexplicably over exposes causing everything to glow. This was so without preamble that no one seemed to notice, but it is a phenomenon that continues to this day at Revival River church under apostle Ricardo Watson.
We see the nations of the earth going in and out of this city whose gates are never shut and during which time there shall be no more night for our bodies will not grow tired or fade in strength so as to need sleep. Neither shall anything enter in that would defile the city or any worker of abomination or falsehood but only those whose names are in the Lamb’s book of life.
Question: is your name recorded in the Lamb’s book of life? Are you sure? On what basis do you lay claim to that possibility? Because you are good person? Because of good works or the fact that you are no worse than anyone else? The only way to assure that your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life is to ask Jesus to be your Lord and savior and invite him into your heart to rule and reign forever.