VII. THE SEVEN NEW THINGS

Introductory Vision

THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH, AND THE NEW JERUSALEM. Ch. 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 brimstone; 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 fulfillments of the promises, types and predictions of a far off past, fulfillments blessed and glorious, vast and enduring. Num. 1:47-54; 2:1-32; Rev. 21:1-3.

THE GLORY AND BLESSEDNESS OF THE CITY. Chs. 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, coming 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 thousand 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 manner 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 inspired 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.”