John’s introduction to the Bride of Christ didn’t go as anticipated. This devotional reading looks at the description of the Bride, Jesus’ Church.
Nuggets
- John was shown the city from outside of it.
- God reveals to us His truth.
- New Jerusalem is beautiful because it is filled with God’s glory.
- A great, high wall surrounds the city of New Jerusalem.
- The wall is built of the same stone as God’s throne (Rev. 4: 3 ESV).
- Just as the Church was built on the foundation of the Apostles’ teaching, the wall is built on foundations with their names inscribed on it.
- There is access to the city but also protection.
- The pearly gates are made of a single, unique pearl.
- Since there never will be nighttime, the gates will never close.
Remember, the tour guide told John that he was taking him to see the Bride, the wife of the Lamb. “Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb’” (Rev. 21: 9 ESV).
Sounds like a person, doesn’t it? Nope.
Programming note: This devotion went real long. Additionally, topics were talked about in several places. So, instead of going verse by verse as we normally do, I am going to talk about each topic together and divide it where it seems appropriate.
Read on for this devotion. Then come back for the next one to finish Revelation 21.
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Devotions in the Eternity Begins series
A Great, High Mountain
“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain ...” (Rev. 21: 10-13 ESV)
John was shown the city from outside of it.
Only one sermon I read commented on John being taken to a mountain. Goodhard noted that New Jerusalem would be created on a hill.
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I like the thought of mountains still being part of the new world God will create. I remember years ago — long before I started putting devotions online — writing a devotion while I was on vacation and looking at a mountain outside my hotel room window.
Now that I live among hills, my fascination with mountains hasn’t gone away.
But yet, I wonder why the angel took John to the mountaintop instead of inside the city. Was it to give him a better view? Or was it because he wasn’t pure, so he could not yet enter?
Probably, a bit of both.
Showed Me the Holy City
“... and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21: 10 ESV)
God reveals to us His truth.
The angels showed John a unique city. He seemed to be struggling a little to take it all in.
We can’t understand God’s ways on our own. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55: 8-9 ESV).
We can’t even begin to comprehend God’s ways and thoughts without His revealing them to us. He is happy to do that. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (Jas. 1: 5 ESV).
God wants us to know His ways. He leaves the decision to us whether we want to follow Him or not.
We aren’t going to learn about God’s ways through science. Science is man’s best guess based on the information they think they have at the moment.
If God had wanted to give us undisputed evidence of Who He is and how He did things, He would have. Instead, He built our relationships with Him on faith. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11: 1 ESV).
Anything we learn any other way is heresy, a belief contrary to God’s doctrine. We start looking for answers in other places than at the foot of the cross, we’ll end up a goat.
Robertson told us how revelations are made. He wrote, “Revelation is made by a Spirit to a spirit. Christ is the voice of God without the man — the Spirit is the voice of God within.”
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That revelation is made out of love. “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’ these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God” (I Cor. 2: 9-10 ESV).
Robertson made an interesting observation. He said that love among mankind may contain pity (not tolerance). Our love for God can only mean true love for His character.
The part that confused me was “… coming down out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21: 0 ESV). I thought the city had already come down. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God …” (Rev. 21: 1-2 ESV).
I guess the eagle hadn’t landed yet. It was still in the process of coming down.
What we need to focus on is the city came from God, not its touchdown. If it comes from God, it isn’t from around here. It is celestial.
But that brings up a good point. Nowhere in God’s Word does it say that touchdown of New Jerusalem is achieved. We don’t know where the city finally ends up.
It sounds that, at a minimum, the city is close to the new earth. But then, that doesn’t eliminate the maximum. It may settle on earth. It may not.
The Glory of God
“... having the glory of God ...” (Rev. 21: 11 ESV)
New Jerusalem is beautiful because it is filled with God’s glory.
God’s glory comes from God’s face. “And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.” (Rev. 4: 3 ESV).
The best way John can describe God’s glory is to use jewels. That is a good choice, and not just because of the visual aspect.
The precious stones are durable, lasting thousands of years. I’m sure these will last for eternity,
This is because of their strength. They are not just a pretty face!
The best stones also have a purity about them. They aren’t corrupted.
“And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it,” (Rev. 21: 23-24 ESV)
I think we talk about this more in Revelation 22, but I didn’t want to skip over it. Though not much is said here about God’s glory, this verse shows its significance.
The sun and moon were destroyed in the judgments of the current earth. They will not be replaced.
God is all we need. The Light of Jesus is important to our new home.
A Great, High Wall and Its Foundations and Gates
“It had a great, high wall ...” (Rev. 21: 12 ESV)
A great, high wall surrounds the city of New Jerusalem.
John would have known the need for a great, high wall to surround a city. Walls were a basic defense in ancient times.
No, I don’t believe there will need to be a defense in eternity. Sin will have been defeated and will never again rear its ugly head.
Yes, walls not only keep unwanted things out but also keep in the wanted. But I don’t see God as holding us captive in Heaven.
I think the wall is more of a definition. All who are within are pure. All who are without aren’t.
“The wall was built of jasper ...” (Rev. 21: 18 ESV)
The wall is built of the same stone as God’s throne (Rev. 4: 3 ESV).
Greenhough believed it would be a different stone than we currently refer to as jasper. The jasper we know is not very precious.
That is why Greenhough thought John was describing a diamond. John described its characteristic.
But they probably should have had both during John’s time. Surely, he would have known the difference.
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“And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Rev. 21: 14 ESV)
Just as the Church was built on the foundation of the Apostles’ teaching, the wall is built on foundations with their names inscribed on it.
Way back in Chapter 4, we talked about what John must have felt if some of the elders were the Apostles. We don’t know for sure if they were or not because he really didn’t identify them.
John does say for sure that his name is going to be on one of the twelve foundations. That must have been humbling.
I wonder if John thought about his mother asking if he and James could sit on either side of Jesus (Mt. 20: 20-21). No, he was probably long past that and too busy taking everything in.
But think about it. The early church started because of the work of these twelve men. True, there were probably some others, but these men were instrumental in its creation.
They build the foundation of the early church. Now they are honored on the foundation of New Jerusalem.
But think about this. In another verse or two, we are going to find out that the wall is made of jasper. So, it is made of rock — stones.
- “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (I Pet. 2: 4-5 ESV).
- “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2: 19-22 ESV).
We are to be living stones that builds on the foundation given through the Apostles and prophets. So, we can’t skip the Old Testament.
We are being built into a spiritual house, a dwelling place for God. Sounds like New Jerusalem, doesn’t it?
Greenhough made a good point. If not for tradition and historical writings, we wouldn’t know what happened to the Apostles. Not one is mentioned outside of the Book of Acts.
Yes, we do have letters written by three: Peter, John, and Paul. But other than John saying he was on Patmos in this book, they don’t talk about themselves. We don’t get any clue about their lives.
The Apostles aren’t the stars of the show. God and Jesus are.
I don’t see the Apostles having any trouble with that. Greenhough agreed. He wrote, “They have been co-[laborers] with Him in His humiliation, and they are joint-heirs with Him in His glory.”
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Where we may think only God and Jesus being worthy enough to have their names engraved on the foundation of the wall, They will reward the Apostles for their service.
Each one of them had a hand in adding the living stones to the foundation — even the ones we only know their names through the list of Apostles (Mt. 10: 2-4; Mk. 3: 13-19; Lk. 6: 12-19).
Each Apostle is a precious stone.
“The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst” (Rev. 21: 19-20 ESV)
The foundation of the wall is made up of a variety of stones but each significant.
The stones in the foundation are many of the same stones that were in the High Priest’s breastplate (Ex. 28: 17-20). It is amazing how the different versions not only translate the stones differently, but they also put them in different rows in the breastplate.
The highlighted ones are the stones that are not in the other.
I can see why the stones are similar in both. God has not disowned the Jewish nation when they follow His laws and commandments. He told Abraham that the covenant was everlasting.
Greenhough made an interesting observation. He wrote,
“If you could take the twelve rows of stones, bring all their varied [colors] into combination, concentrate their diffused radiance, and remove all impurity, the result would be just such a brilliant diamond belt as the wall of jasper. As you trace the foundation stones from the base to the summit, you see them becoming continually more glorious and ethereal, nearer to the perfect white, the higher bands taking in all the [colors] of the underlying ones until the jasper completes and embraces all. And the thought is this, that the glory of the perfected Church will be made up, as it were, of all that it has been and done and suffered through all the ages of its history.”
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Wow. It is true that the experiences we have mold us into the persons we become. Our struggles in trials won’t be discounted.
To me, this is a celebration of that. It is a celebration of us navigating the Sanctification Road and a recognition of our growth in faith, hope, and love.
Don’t gloss over the fact of the variety of stones. Our personalities and our differences will still be a part of the spiritual us.
For all their variety, there is a common denominator. Collectively, the stones appear to be jasper.
“... with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels ...” (Rev. 21: 12 ESV)
There is access to the city but also protection.
If God wanted to keep us captive in Heaven, He wouldn’t have put in gates. He definitely wouldn’t have put in 12!
Curnock agreed. He wrote,
“The Church is not to be imprisoned, nor is it to imprison its members, or its influence, its light, its melody. But, at all times, and on all sides, it is to have perfect power to ‘go through the gates.’”
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There are gates on all four sides of the city. Access to Heaven is joyfully given — when we accept salvation God’s way.
John would have known what Isaiah said and what Jesus Himself said.
- “Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene” (Isa. 49: 12 ESV).
- “And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God” (Lk. 13: 29 ESV).
A gate — a door. Same basic concept. Both provide entrance.
“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (Jn. 10: 9 ESV).
Don’t think that multiple gates mean multiple avenues of access. We gain only receive salvation one way — admitting we are sinners, believing in Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer, confessing God as Sovereign Lord, and demonstrating that by walking in the Spirit.
- “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Ac. 4: 12 ESV).
- “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Ex. 20: 3-4 ESV).
- “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (Jn. 14: 6 ESV).
This is a visual to show us that God meets us where we are and brings us to where He wants us to be.
Walker said we travel to the gates from dissimilar regions. That ties in with Revelation 7: 9. “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (Rev. 7: 9 ESV).
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That is what I have long said. We approach from different life experiences. God meets each one where we are.
But then our experiences aren’t all different. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (I Cor. 10: 13 ESV).
Still, we have a gate close to us through which we are invited to enter.
Father God. Thank You for trusting John to tell us about New Jerusalem. We can’t wait to see it personally. Amen.
What do you think?
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