New Jerusalem Descends
The next paragraph presents “New Jerusalem” to the book’s audience and concludes its third literary division. Having witnessed the destruction of “Babylon,” the “False Prophet,” the “Beast from the Sea,” and the “Dragon,” John receives a vision of what awaits the faithful, a portraited of the holy city, “New Jerusalem, descending from heaven to the earth.”
The promises made to “overcoming”
Christians in the letters to the “seven churches” find their fulfillment
in “New Jerusalem,” and the images of the “city” about to be
presented are described with language from those promises as well as ones made to
Ancient Israel in the Hebrew Bible.
But the company that receives the promises consists
of redeemed men and women from “every nation, tongue, nation, and people,”
not just Israel. And the promise of land for Abraham and his “seed”
finds its fulfillment in the “new heavens and new earth.”
- (Revelation 21:1-4) – “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more. And the holy city, new Jerusalem, I saw descending out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will tabernacle with them, and they shall be his peoples, and he shall be God with them; and he will wipe away every tear out of their eyes, and death shall be no more, and grief and outcry and pain shall be no more. The first things have passed away.”
NEW HEAVENS AND EARTH
Thus, John saw “a new heaven and a new earth.” This declaration draws on
language found in the book of Isaiah, namely, the promise to Israel of a
day when Yahweh would create a “new heaven and earth”:
- (Isaiah 65:17, 66:22) – “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind… For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says Yahweh, so shall your seed and your name remain.”
With the arrival of the holy city, “the
sea IS no more.” The Greek verb is
in the present tense - “is.” The text describes what John sees in “real-time,”
so to speak. The elimination of the “sea” is prominent since in Revelation
it is the source of malevolent forces, the place of the dead, and synonymous
with the “Abyss.”
The point is not the disappearance of the oceans, but the removal of all evil from the creation - (Revelation 9:1-10, 11:7, 13:1, 15:1-2, 20:8, 20:13).
“And I saw the holy city descending.” The Greek verb is a present tense participle,
signifying an action in progress. That is, John sees the “city” in
the process of descending rather than as a one-time event.
And that “descent”
began with the first advent of Jesus, although it awaits its consummation in
the future. The arrival of the city is in fulfillment of the promise to
overcoming saints:
- “I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, New Jerusalem, which is descending out of heaven from my God” - (Revelation 3:12).
LIKE A BRIDE
And the city
was “prepared like a bride.” The “marriage” of the “bride”
was anticipated at the heavenly celebration after the destruction of the “Great
Harlot.” Here, John compares the people of God to a “city” and to a
“bride.” This is a simile, not literal language (“like a bride”).
“New Jerusalem” is both a “holy city” AND a “pure bride.” The analogies emphasize different aspects of the final glory that awaits the “saints” - (Revelation 19:7-8).
From now on, “the Tabernacle of God
is with men.” These words echo several Old Testament passages, beginning with the
covenant promise to Abraham. This includes the promise of land to him and to “his
seed.” And that promise included “peoples,” plural, thus it was from
the start far more inclusive than the biological descendants of the patriarch -
(Genesis 17:7-8, Leviticus
26:11-12, Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 37:27, Zechariah 13:9).
When the city
descends, God “shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Previously, this promise
was applied to the “innumerable multitude” that John saw exiting the “Great
Tribulation.” The description echoes the promise in Isaiah to the
faithful remnant of Israel - (Revelation 7:9-17, 21:5-8, Isaiah 23:1-25:8).
“The former things have passed away.” This clause is another
allusion to a promise in Isaiah for the faithful remnant of Israel - “Behold,
the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare” - (Isaiah
42:9).
FAITHFUL AND TRUE
“Write, because these words are faithful and true.” The command for
John to “write” reiterates the command heard twice at the beginning of
the book, where also the description “faithful and true” is applied to
Jesus, the “faithful witness” - (Revelation 1:4-19, 19:9).
The clause rendered “it is done” (ginomai) is the same
declaration heard at the beginning and end of the “seven bowls of wrath”
that “completed” the wrath of God. Thus, the completion of His wrath
will mean the descent of New Jerusalem - (Revelation 15:1, 16:17).
And in this latest vision, John is guided by one of the seven angels who
had the “seven bowls of wrath.” The literary connection is deliberate.
The third literary division is an expansion and explanation of the “seven bowls of wrath.” And at this point in the book, it is describing what the completion of God’s wrath will mean for “overcoming” saints.
“I am the Beginning and the End.” The same description was heard
at the outset of the book. It is applied to God, the one “Who is and Who
was and Who is to come, the Almighty.” And the appellation, the “first
and the last,” is applied to Jesus because he died and lived again - (Revelation 1:8-18,
2:8, 22:13).
“They will have their part in the lake that burns with fire and
brimstone; the second death.” The sentence parallels the conclusion to the final
judgment scene at the “Great White Throne of Judgment.” In the end,
everyone will find him or herself in either “New Jerusalem” or the “Lake
of Fire.” One’s fate depends on how he or she responds to the “Lamb”
in this life.
In the vision, the stress is on the city of “New Jerusalem” that
is descending from heaven TO THE EARTH, and NOT the other way
around. The purpose behind the image is the redemption of humanity, indeed, of
the entire created order.
The fourth and final division of the book begins with the next
paragraph, the description of the “holy city” that will be inhabited by
multitudes and encompass the entire creation.
