NOTES for Rev 21:9-22:5
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. |
1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. |
2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. |
3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: |
4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. |
5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. |
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The heavenly Jerusalem is shown to the apostle in a vision in considerable detail. And at the foundation of its architectural dimensions lies the number twelve, a number, of course, symbolic, connected both with the fullness of the people of God, consisting of twelve tribes, and with the fullness of the messianic community, consisting of twelve apostles.
The fullness of the Church is shown to John as the unity of the fullness of the people of God and the fullness of the messianic apostolic community that grew out of it. There can be no doubt that the heavenly Jerusalem is an image of the heavenly Church: it is called "the bride of the Lamb," and in the New Testament books this is precisely what the Church of Christ is called. The precious stones mentioned in the book, with which the foundation of the city is adorned, are the same sacred stones used to adorn the Tabernacle: thus the whole city is revealed to the apostle as one great sanctuary.
The river of living water mentioned in the book recalls Ezekiel's vision, in which he sees this river flowing from under the foundation of the Temple; in John's vision it flows through the city, sanctifying it and giving it life. The trees along the riverbanks are the same as in Ezekiel's vision. There is no uncleanness, "nothing accursed," in the city: the Kingdom and abiding in it are incompatible with any evil and any sin.
But purification and transfiguration are possible for everyone who wants them, and only those who are "devoted to abomination and falsehood," who have chosen them and do not want to part with them, remain outside the Kingdom. As for the Temple, the sanctuary, there is no sanctuary in the earthly sense in the Kingdom; it is not needed there. The sanctuary of the Kingdom is that very Throne of glory which some saw in the Temple during worship as if from afar and through a barrier. Now there is no barrier, and the Throne of glory as the spiritual center of the Kingdom is open to everyone. In this way, in the form of the Throne, the point in creation where God's will meets the world created by God, determining its being, is revealed to the inhabitants of the Kingdom.
This point is the spiritual center not only of the Kingdom, but of the whole universe. And the King of God's Kingdom becomes the Messiah risen from the dead - now, at last, no longer hidden, but manifest to everyone. And the light of the heavenly Jerusalem is not the physical light of the untransformed world, but the light of God's presence, the very light that permeated the world on the first day of creation. The world regains the fullness of being and is transfigured by the breath of the Kingdom, which has become the center and meaning of its existence.
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