Some false theologians and scholars hold the opinion that the Holy City, New Jerusalem, should be interpreted figuratively, not literally. Jerusalem is the figure of the Church of God. I believe where the Bible is figuratively speaking, it should be figuratively interpreting. When the Bible is clearly and plainly making statements of fact, they should be interpreted as statements of fact. The Holy City, New Jerusalem is a place–more real than Shanghai, London or Paris. The Holy City, New Jerusalem is the capital of the Kingdom of Heaven; the eternal abode of the Saints, Christians, and Children of God. Everything the Revelation says about the Holy City, New Jerusalem, is faithful and true. Do not let false theologians and scholars fool you.
The Holy City, New Jerusalem means the Holy City, New Jerusalem. It does not mean the Church, the Body of Christ. The more Bible knowledge I have, the more tired and weary I am of those theologians who misrepresent the truth of the Bible. The Church is not the Holy City; — the Church is a holy assembly, holy priesthood, holy people, holy temple, and a holy nation; never a holy city. Christians can be sure grace and truth have come by Jesus Christ and that Christ is the truth. I reluctantly mention the predestination doctrine taught by John Calvin was and is wrong. So I do not wish to mention the spiritualizing theory of so-and-so is also false and wrong.
Biblical interpretation is a big subject which is not the subject of this article. So I am not dwelling on it. While in passing I want you to know that spiritualizing method of interpreting the Bible is unsound and should be rejected by all believers. You need to take the Word of God as faithful and true.
With all my heart, I hold Revelation Chapter 21 is no figure or parable. In fact, I believe it is the fulfilment and answer to Jesus following statement,
Jhn 14:2-3, “In My Father’s home are many mansions; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be.”
I believe with all my heart and mind, the Holy City, New Jerusalem of Revelation Chapter 21 is the place Jesus has prepared for His followers. I also believe,
1Co 2:9, “but just as it is written:
“THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND WHICH HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HUMAN HEART, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
The Holy City, New Jerusalem, of Revelation Chapter 21, is also what God has prepared for those who love Him. Every word as it is written is FAITHFUL AND TRUE. Therefore, do not let unbelieving theologians and scholars fool you, Revelation Chapter 21 is real as it is written. The Holy City, New Jerusalem is real. They are prepared for those who love God and Jesus Christ. They are the Kingdom of Heaven where God will dwell with His children for ever and ever.
| 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. |
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 21
Re 21:1-27. The New Heaven and Earth: New Jerusalem Out of Heaven.
The remaining two chapters describe the eternal and consummated kingdom of God and the saints on the new earth. As the world of nations is to be pervaded by divine influence in the millennium, so the world of nature shall be, not annihilated, but transfigured universally in the eternal state which follows it. The earth was cursed for man’s sake; but is redeemed by the second Adam. Now is the Church; in the millennium shall be the kingdom; and after that shall be the new world wherein God shall be all in all. The “day of the Lord” and the conflagration of the earth are in 2Pe 3:10, 11 spoken of as if connected together, from which many argue against a millennial interval between His coming and the general conflagration of the old earth, preparatory to the new; but “day” is used often of a whole period comprising events intimately connected together, as are the Lord’s second advent, the millennium, and the general conflagration and judgment. Compare Ge 2:4 as to the wide use of “day.” Man’s soul is redeemed by regeneration through the Holy Spirit now; man’s body shall be redeemed at the resurrection; man’s dwelling-place, His inheritance, the earth, shall be redeemed perfectly at the creation of the new heaven and earth, which shall exceed in glory the first Paradise, as much as the second Adam exceeds in glory the first Adam before the fall, and as man regenerated in body and soul shall exceed man as he was at creation.
1. the first—that is the former.
passed away—Greek, in A and B is “were departed” (Greek, “apeelthon,” not as in English Version, “pareelthe”).
was—Greek, “is,” which graphically sets the thing before our eyes as present.
no more sea—The sea is the type of perpetual unrest. Hence our Lord rebukes it as an unruly hostile troubler of His people. It symbolized the political tumults out of which “the beast” arose, Re 13:1. As the physical corresponds to the spiritual and moral world, so the absence of sea, after the metamorphosis of the earth by fire, answers to the unruffled state of solid peace which shall then prevail. The sea, though severing lands from one another, is now, by God’s eliciting of good from evil, made the medium of communication between countries through navigation. Then man shall possess inherent powers which shall make the sea no longer necessary, but an element which would detract from a perfect state. A “river” and “water” are spoken of in Re 22:1, 2, probably literal (that is, with such changes of the natural properties of water, as correspond analogically to man’s own transfigured body), as well as symbolical. The sea was once the element of the world’s destruction, and is still the source of death to thousands, whence after the millennium, at the general judgment, it is specially said, “The sea gave up the dead … in it.” Then it shall cease to destroy, or disturb, being removed altogether on account of its past destructions.Revelation 21:1 A new heaven and a new earth.
Revelation 21:2 The new Jerusalem.
Revelation 21:3-7 The blessedness of God’s people.
Revelation 21:8 The judgment of the wicked.
Revelation 21:9-27 A description of the heavenly Jerusalem.
Chapter Introduction
This chapter begins with the vision of the new heaven and the new earth, …mentioned Revelation 20:1-3, in which (as was said) the church should enjoy great quiet and peace.
1. That interpretation carrieth on the history in order; whereas, according to the other, we must say the history, Revelation 20:1-5, was interrupted by the battle with Gog and Magog, and the account of the day of judgment, Revelation 21:7,15.
2. In reason, as the close of the former chapter gave us an account of the issue of the day of judgment, as to wicked men, so this should give us some account how it should fare with the saints.
3. We shall find some things in the new Jerusalem here described, which will agree to no state of the church upon earth: see Revelation 21:22,23.
A new heaven and a new earth; a new and glorious state of things relating to the church.
For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea; for now there was an end to the world, and all the troubles that the people of God had met with in it, as well as the material earth, heaven, and sea, were passed away. This new heaven was prophesied of of old by Isaiah, and more lately by Peter, 2 Peter 3:13”.
| And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. |
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
2. And I John—”John” is omitted in A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and Andreas; also the “I” in the Greek of these authorities is not emphatic. The insertion of “I John” in the Greek would somewhat interfere with the close connection which subsists between “the new heaven and earth,” Re 21:1, and the “new Jerusalem” in this verse.
Jerusalem … out of heaven—(Re 3:12; Ga 4:26, “Jerusalem which is above”; Heb 11:10; 12:22; 13:14). The descent of the new Jerusalem out of heaven is plainly distinct from the earthly Jerusalem in which Israel in the flesh shall dwell during the millennium, and follows on the creation of the new heaven and earth. John in his Gospel always writes [Greek] Hierosoluma of the old city; in the Apocalypse always Hierousaleem of the heavenly city (Re 3:12). Hierousaleem is a Hebrew name, the original and holy appellation. Hierosoluma is the common Greek term, used in a political sense. Paul observes the same distinction when refuting Judaism (Ga 4:26; compare Ga 1:17, 18; 2:1; Heb 12:22), though not so in the Epistles to Romans and Corinthians [Bengel].
bride—made up of the blessed citizens of “the holy city.” There is no longer merely a Paradise as in Eden (though there is that also, Re 2:7), no longer a mere garden, but now the city of God on earth, costlier, statelier, and more glorious, but at the same time the result of labor and pains such as had not to be expended by man in dressing the primitive garden of Eden. “The lively stones” were severally in time laboriously chiselled into shape, after the pattern of “the Chief corner-stone,” to prepare them for the place which they shall everlastingly fill in the heavenly Jerusalem.”
| 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. |
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
A Voice from Heaven of Blessing and Judgement, Revelation 21:3-83. out of heaven] Read, out of the Throne; cf. Revelation 19:5.
the tabernacle of God] i.e. the Shechinah, the divine Presence, see on Revelation 7:15. So in the next words,
he will dwell with them] Lit., have His tabernacle with them, the verb being the same as in St John’s Gospel John 1:14; though the prepositions “among” and “with” are different.
his people] The word is a plural: peoples, though used in modern English, at least as a Gallicism, is scarcely (see however Revelation 10:11, Revelation 17:15) admitted in the English of the A. V. It would not do to translate “His nations,” for in Hellenistic language, representing O. T. usage, “the nations” means Gentiles, and “the people” Israel. Here therefore the use of this word in the plural has a special significance: all nations shall be God’s people, in the sense that one nation only has been hitherto.
(and be) their God] There is considerable authority for the omission of this clause. If it be retained, it is a question of taste whether to insert the words in brackets, or to render “God Himself, their own God, shall be with them”—something like Psalm 67:6. There may be a reminiscence of the name Immanuel: there certainly is of Jeremiah 24:7 &c.; Ezekiel 11:20 &c.; Zechariah 8:8, whether on St John’s part or only on that of his copyists.”
| 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. |
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes – This will be one of the characteristics of that blessed state, that not a tear shall ever be shed there. How different will that be from the condition here – for who is there here who has not learned to weep? See the notes on Revelation 7:17. Compare the notes on Isaiah 25:8.
And there shall be no more death – In all that future world of glory, not one shall ever die; not a grave shall ever be dug! What a view do we begin to get of heaven, when we are told there shall be no “death” there! How different from earth, where death is so common; where it spares no one; where our best friends die; where the wise, the good, the useful, the lovely die; where fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, sons, daughters, all die; where we habitually feel that we must die. Assuredly we have here a view of heaven most glorious and animating to those who dwell in a world like this, and to whom nothing is more common than death. In all their endless and glorious career, the redeemed will never see death again; they will never themselves die. They will never follow a friend to the tomb, nor fear that an absent friend is dead. The slow funeral procession will never be witnessed there; nor will the soil ever open its bosom to furnish a grave. See the notes on 1 Corinthians 15:55.
Neither sorrow – The word “sorrow” here – πένθος penthos – denotes sorrow or grief of any kind; sorrow for the loss of property or friends; sorrow for disappointment, persecution, or care; sorrow over our sins, or sorrow that we love God so little, and serve him so unfaithfully; sorrow that we are sick, or that we must die. How innumerable are the sources of sorrow here; how constant is it on the earth! Since the fall of man there has not been a day, an hour, a moment, in which this has not been a sorrowful world; there has not been a nation, a tribe – a city or a village – nay, not a family, where there has not been grief. There has been no individual who has been always perfectly happy. No one rises in the morning with any certainty that he may not end the day in grief; no one lies down at night with any assurance that it may not be a night of sorrow. How different would this world be if it were announced that henceforward there would be no sorrow! How different, therefore, will heaven be when we shall have the assurance that henceforward grief shall be at an end!
Nor crying – κραυγὴ kraugē.” This word properly denotes a cry, an outcry, as in giving a public notice; a cry in a tumult – a clamor, Acts 23:9; and then a cry of sorrow, or wailing. This is evidently its meaning here, and it refers to all the outbursts of grief arising from affliction, from oppression, from violence. The sense is, that as none of these causes of wailing will be known in the future state, all such wailing will cease. This, too, will make the future state vastly different from our condition here; for what a change would it produce on the earth if the cry of grief were never to be heard again!
Neither shall there be any more pain – There will be no sickness, and no calamity; and there will be no mental sorrow arising from remorse, from disappointment, or from the evil conduct of friends. And what a change would this produce – for how full of pain is the world now! How many lie on beds of languishing; how many are suffering under incurable diseases; how many are undergoing severe surgical operations; how many are pained by the loss of property or friends, or subjected to acuter anguish by the misconduct of those who are loved! How different would this world be, if all pain were to cease forever; how different, therefore, must the blessed state of the future be from the present!
For the former things are passed away – The world as it was before the judgment.”
| 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. |
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
5. And he that sat upon the throne said] The first time that He speaks. The reference is rather to the eternal throne of Revelation 4:2 than to the judgement-throne of Revelation 20:11, so far as the two can be distinguished.
Behold, I make all things new] Some O. T. parallels are alleged, e.g. Isaiah 43:19; Jeremiah 31:22; but really the only close parallel is 2 Corinthians 5:17; and the meaning of this passage is, of course, even fuller than of that.
he said unto me] Read only, he saith. It is doubtful whether the speaker is still “He that sat on the throne;” for a similar command to “write” has been given already,—Revelation 14:13, Revelation 19:9; cf. Revelation 10:4—either by an impersonal “voice from heaven” or by the revealing angel. The question is best left open. The repetition of the words “He said unto me” in the next verse is a reason against ascribing all three speeches to Him that sat on the throne; the fresh mention of a revealing angel in Revelation 21:9 is perhaps a stronger one against supposing an angel to be speaking here; and the form of the words themselves against their referring to an impersonal voice.
Write: for] Or perhaps, “Write, ‘These words are’ ” &c.: lit. that these words are”.…
true and faithful] Read, faithful and true, as at Revelation 3:14, Revelation 19:11, and still more exactly Revelation 22:6.”
| 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. |
Revelation 21:6-8. And he “that sat upon the throne” said to me, It is done — All that the prophets have spoken is fulfilled. This is the consummation of all things: and now all the promises of God, and the desires of his faithful servants, shall be fully accomplished I am Alpha, &c. — Greek, το αλφα, και το ωμεγα, the Alpha and the Omega; the beginning and the end — The latter clause explains the former; the everlasting. I will give unto him that is athirst — That sincerely and earnestly desires it; of the fountain of the water of life — Refreshing consolation, which shall abundantly satisfy his most enlarged desires and most exalted expectations; happiness which shall ever flow in upon him, as water from a perpetually flowing fountain; freely — Δωρεαν, as a free, unmerited gift. He that overcometh — To do which is much more than to thirst; shall inherit all things — Which I have made: the whole creation shall be laid open to his enjoyment. And I will be his God — A source of complete and everlasting blessedness to him; and he shall be my son — And consequently mine heir: the inheritor of my eternal kingdom, yea, and a joint-heir with my only-begotten and well- beloved Son. But the fearful and unbelieving — Who have not courage to face the difficulties which an open profession of my religion requires, and therefore do not overcome; and the abominable — All who indulge themselves in abominable vices to gratify their lusts; and murderers — Of the bodies, souls, or reputation of their fellow-creatures; and whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars — All who allow themselves, in their words or actions, to violate the eternal and immutable laws of truth and righteousness; shall have their part in the lake, &c. — All these shall have their portion with Satan, to whose party they joined themselves, and whose will they obeyed; and shall with him undergo the punishment of the secured death. Let this therefore be recorded, that every future generation of men may carefully peruse and seriously consider it; that every sincere believer, however weak, may be encouraged, and that every obstinate sinner may be terrified, and, if possible, awakened; and that none, in the day of my final judgment, may complain that they have not been warned and cautioned, with the greatest plainness and the greatest solemnity.”
| He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. |
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
7. He that overcometh] Carries back our thoughts to the promises at the beginning of the book, Revelation 2:7, &c. There is perhaps some significance in the Father thus taking up and repeating the language of the Son. all things] Read, these things; viz. the new heavens and earth, and the things in them which, like them, have just “come into being.”
I will be … my son] Lit. I will be to him a God, and he shall be to Me a son. The form of the promise therefore resembles 2 Samuel 7:14, at least as closely as Jeremiah 24:7, &c.: and the sense combines that of both. The finally victorious share in the privileges, not only of God’s people, but of the Only-begotten: see Revelation 3:21.”
| 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. |
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable . . .—Better, But for the cowardly and unfaithful (or, unbelieving) and defiled with abominations, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and for all the false, their part (is) in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which thing is the second death. The list here given points to those classes of character which cannot find a place in the Holy City. Nothing that defileth shall enter in. The less glaring faults stand first, the cowardly and unbelieving. There is a high and holy fear in which the Christian passes the time of his sojourn here (1Peter 1:17); but there is a base and selfish fear, a fear of man, which brings a snare; those who have faith enter boldly the strife, following the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, and conquering by faith. The cowardly sink into companionship with the faithless and unbelieving, with the workers of iniquity. The abominations spoken of here have reference to those mentioned in Revelation 17:4. The characters, it has been thought, form four pairs. Fear and unbelief go hand in hand (Deuteronomy 20:1-8; Matthew 8:26); the workers of abomination and the murderers, the fornicators and the sorcerers are united as those who sin in secret; the idolaters and the false, as those who change God’s truth into a lie. (Comp. Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5; Philippians 3:19.) These who are thus shut out from the heavenly city stand in contrast to those who are admitted; yet among those admitted arc such who have sinned through fear, faithlessness, and fleshliness. Sin indeed excludes from the city, but it is sin loved sin unrepented of, which alone can close the gate of the city whose gates lie open day and night.”
| 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. |
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And there came unto me one of the seven angels,…. Either the first of them, as one of the four beasts is the first of them, Revelation 6:1 or it may be the last, and very likely the same as in Revelation 17:1
which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues; that is, the wrath of God poured out by them on the antichristian party; see Revelation 15:1.
And talked with me, saying, come hither; see Revelation 17:1.
I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. The “Lamb” is Christ, who is often so called in this book; see Revelation 5:6 Revelation 19:7 and is the Son of God, the heir of all things, the Maker and Governor of the universe, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; and who, as Mediator, has all accomplishments and qualifications to recommend him as a bridegroom, such as beauty, riches, and wisdom: the bride, his wife, is not any particular believer, nor any particular church; not the Gentile church, nor the Jewish church only, but all the elect of God, consisting of the raised and living saints at the coming of Christ; who will make up one body, one general assembly, and be as a bride, prepared and adorned for her husband: these were first betrothed to Christ in eternity, and were openly espoused by him, one by one, at conversion; and now being all gathered in by the effectual calling, the dead being raised, and the living changed, and all glorified, the marriage is consummated, and they are declared publicly to be the bride, the Lamb’s wife; See Gill on Matthew 22:2. And now, though John had had a sight of her before, Revelation 21:2 yet that was but a glimmering one, at a distance, he being in the wilderness, Revelation 17:3 wherefore the angel calls him to him, and proposes to give him a clear, distinct, and particular view of her, in all her glory; and a glorious sight this indeed! to see the bride brought to the King in raiment of needlework, and the queen stand at his right hand in gold of Ophir. This is a sight of a quite different nature from that of the filthy strumpet, which the same angel proposed to give to John in Revelation 17:1.”
| 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, |
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And he carried me away in the Spirit,…. John was in an ecstasy, as in Revelation 1:10 and in the thoughts and apprehensions of his mind and spirit, it seemed to him as if he was carried away from one place to another; for this was not a corporeal sight, nor were any of the visions he had, but what was represented to his mind or spirit; it being with him as it was with the Apostle Paul when he was caught up to the third heaven, who knew not whether he was in the body or out of the body. The Ethiopic version renders it, “the Spirit brought me”; not the evil spirit Satan, who took up our Lord corporeally, and carried him to an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of this world, and their glory, Matthew 4:8 but either a good angel, or the Spirit of God:
to a great and high mountain; to such an one was Ezekiel brought in the visions of God, when the frame of a city and temple was shown him, with their dimensions, Ezekiel 40:2 as here a city is shown to John, with its wall, gates, foundations, and their measures: and he was brought to such a place, partly that he might have the more plain and full view of it; and partly to suggest unto him, that now the church of Christ was established upon the top of the mountains, and exalted above the hills, and was a city on a hill, which could not be hid, Isaiah 2:2.
And showed me that great city; which is no other than the church, the bride, the Lamb’s wife; just as the apostate church, all along in this book before, is called the great city, Revelation 11:8 but now that being demolished, there is no other great city in being but the church of Christ, called a city before; Revelation 21:2 here a “great one”, not only because of its prodigious large dimensions, Revelation 21:16 but because of the number of its inhabitants, being such as no man can number; and because it is the residence of the great King, the tabernacle of God will be in it; though this epithet is left out in the Alexandrian copy, and in the Vulgate Latin and all the Oriental versions: “the holy Jerusalem”; called “the new Jerusalem”, Revelation 21:2 here “holy”, in allusion to the city of Jerusalem, which was called the holy city, Matthew 4:5 on account of the temple in it, the place of divine worship; but here this city is so called, because it is the residence of the holy God, Father, Son, and Spirit, inhabited only by holy men, made perfectly so, and encompassed by holy angels.
Descending out of heaven from God; See Gill on Revelation 21:2.”
| Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; |
Having the glory of God – A glory or splendor such as became the dwelling place of God. The nature of that splendor is described in the following verses.
And her light – In Revelation 21:23 it is said that “the glory of God did lighten it.” That is, it was made light by the visible symbol of the Deity – the “Shekinah.” See the Luke 2:9 note; Acts 9:3 note. The word here rendered “light” – φωστὴρ phōstēr – occurs nowhere else in the New Testament except in Philippians 2:15. It means, properly, a light, a lightgiver, and, in profane writers, means commonly a “window.” It is used here to denote the brightness or shining of the divine glory, as supplying the place of the sun, or of a window.
Like unto a stone most precious – A stone of the richest or most costly nature.
Even like a jasper stone – On the jasper, see the notes on Revelation 4:3. It is used there for the same purpose as here, to illustrate the majesty and glory of God.
Clear as crystal – Pellucid or resplendent like crystal. There are various kinds of jasper – as red, yellow, and brown, brownish yellow, etc. The stone is essentially a quartz, and the word “crystal” here is used to show that the form of it referred to by John was clear and bright.”
| 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: |
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12, 13) And had a wall great and high . . .—Or, better (for the construction is continued), Having a wall great and high, and having twelve gate-towers, and at the gate-towers twelve angels, and names inscribed which are (names) of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel: from the sun-rising (i.e., facing east) three gate-towers; from the north three gate-towers, from the south three gate-towers; from the sun-setting three gate-towers. On this arrangement of gates Numbers 2, Ezekiel 48, and Revelation 7 should be compared. In the encampment in the wilderness (Numbers 2) the tribes were arranged as follows: on the east, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun; on the south, Reuben, Simeon, Gad; on the west, Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin; on the north, Dan, Asher, Naphtali. There is perhaps allusion in the present passage to this wilderness encampment, and to the re-adjustment of the order of the tribes in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 48); but there is more than order here: the gates lie open to all quarters; there is no refusal of admission to any people. The representatives of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, are (Revelation 7:9) in the city of Christ; in Him there is neither barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but all are one. The diversities of human nationality and character, of age and race, and climate, are brought into one communion and fellowship. (Comp. Note on Revelation 7:4.) “The wall great and high” is mentioned to assure us of the security and peace of that city where no foe “or thief approacheth” (Isaiah 26:1; Zechariah 2:5).”
| On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. |
Verse 13. – On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. The following are the dispositions of the tribes in the Old Testament: – Order in Numbers East
Judah.
Issachar.
Zebulun. North –
Dan.
Asher.
Naphtali. South –
Reuben.
Simeon.
Gad. West –
Ephraim.
Manasseh.
Benjamin.
Order in Ezekiel 49:30. East –
Joseph.
Benjamin.
Dan. North –
Reuben.
Judah.
Levi. South –
Simeon.
Issachar.
Zebulon. West –
Gad.
Asher.
Naphtali. Revelation 21:13”
| And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. |
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
14. And the wall … twelve foundations] Probably each of the twelve sections into which the wall is divided by the gates rests on an enormous jewel, reaching from gate to gate. This symbolises the solidity as well as the beauty of the divine structure: and was itself symbolised by the enormous size of the stones used in the foundations of the earthly temple. See St Mark 13:1 and parallels. Had is literally having, a solecism like that of Revelation 21:12.
twelve names of the twelve apostles] Expressing the same doctrine as St Paul in Ephesians 2:20, and (probably) our Lord in St Matthew 16:18. It is absurd to suppose that there is any pointed insistance on the Apostles being only twelve, St Paul being excluded: to introduce thirteen or fourteen would have spoilt the symmetry characteristic of the whole vision. We might just as well say, that there ought to be thirteen gates for the thirteen tribes; counting Ephraim, Manasseh and Levi all as coordinate with the rest. Really, it is idle to ask whether the twelfth name was that of St Paul or St Matthias. St John does not notice his own name being written there, though of course it was (cf. St Luke 10:20); the Apostles are here mentioned in their collective and official, not in their individual character. (See on Revelation 5:5.)
of the Lamb] His identity is taken for granted with the Jesus of the earthly ministry, as in Revelation 14:1 with the Son of God.”
| And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. |
Revelation 21:15-16. And he that talked with me had — Like the angel who appeared in vision to Ezekiel; a golden reed, &c. — A measuring-rod, with this circumstance of illustrious distinction, that it was golden; to measure the city, &c. — In the several parts thereof; by which measure was signified the greatness and extent of the city, with the exact order and just proportion of every part: to show figuratively that this city was prepared for a great number of inhabitants, how small soever the number of real Christians may sometimes appear to be; and that every thing relating to the happiness of this heavenly state was prepared with the greatest care and exactness. And the city lieth four-square — Upon measuring it appeared that the city was an exact square, of equal length and breadth, and of a very large extent. For it appeared on measure to be twelve thousand furlongs — Or one thousand five hundred miles, not, it seems, in circumference, but on each of the four sides. Jerusalem was thirty-three furlongs in circumference; Alexandria thirty in length, ten in breadth; Nineveh is reported to have been four hundred furlongs round, Babylon four hundred and eighty. The length, and the breadth, and the height of it — That is, says Bishop Newton, of its walls and buildings; are equal — Are everywhere of the same beauty, strength, and proportion. For this equality, as Grotius observes, seems to belong to the walls and buildings compared with each other, not with the length and breadth of the city. For to understand the height of the city, whether of its walls or buildings, to be equal to the length or breadth of it, would make its houses and walls to be out of all proportion. For how large soever men may conceive the extent of the city, and of the contiguous buildings, houses twelve thousand furlongs high are beyond all propriety in the boldest figures…. Nor is it easy to say what end could be answered by making the height of the buildings so enormous, unless to render the city a perfect cube, for which no reason can be assigned; a perfect square rendering the emblem full as perfect. The truth is, the numbers themselves are evidently typical, taken from twelve, the number of the apostles, multiplied by one thousand. For as before, the number of the members of the Christian Church was represented by one hundred and forty-four thousand, the square number of twelve multiplied by one thousand; so this manner of numbering will very properly signify a city, of which true Christians are to be the happy citizens and settled inhabitants; a city which shall have incomparably greater extent, and more strength and beauty, than ancient Babylon, Rome, or any other seat of empire ever known in this world.”
| 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. |
According to NLT, New Living Translation:
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Rev 21:16, “When he measured it, he found it was a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles.”
According to AMP, Amplified Bible (AMP).
Amplified Bible Copyright (c) 2015 by
The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631 All rights reserved.
For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.
Rev 21:16, “The city is laid out as a square, its length being the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod—twelve thousand stadia (about 1,400 miles); its length and width and height are equal.”
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And the city lieth four square,…. To the four corners of the world, from whence its inhabitants come, and denotes the regularity, uniformity, perfection, and immovableness of it.
And the length is as large as the breadth; this church state will be all of a piece, perfect, entire, and wanting nothing.
And he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs; or fifteen hundred miles; a monstrously large city indeed! such an one as never was upon earth; see Ezekiel 48:35 … here being room enough for all the twelve tribes of Israel; that is, for all the elect of God; for as in Christ’s Father’s house, so in this kingdom state of his, there will be many mansions, or dwelling places, enough for all his people. This city will hold them all. The Jews (h) say of Jerusalem, that in time to come it shall be so enlarged, as to reach to the gates of Damascus, yea, to the throne of glory.
The length, and the breadth, and the height of it are equal. A perfectly uniform state! according to the Ethiopic version, it is in length twelve thousand furlongs, and every measure equal, so that it is so many furlongs in length, breadth, and height.
(h) Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 24. 1.”
The Holy City, New Jerusalem, it is a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles.
The Holy City, New Jerusalem, is such an enormous city unheard of. It can house all the redeemed of all ages and generations. Only God knows the number of His children, probably between 1 to 2 billions. Such a mega City will take a long time to get acquainted, it will take even longer to get to know its residents. I am very excited and thrilled about everything written about the Holy City, New Jerusalem.
I do not know whether “friendship” is allowable in the Kingdom of Heaven. Because friendship implies preference, favoritism, and selfishness. No matter what, I shall comply with the Mandate of Heaven, and obey willingly the Will of my Heavenly Father.
Given a choice, however, I sure want to make friends with Abraham, Enoch, Noah, Joseph, Moses, David, Jonathan, Nathan, Elijah, Isaiah, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego, Stephen and all martyrs, Paul, John, John the Baptist, Mary the mother of Jesus, Ruth, Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, etc. Regarding angels include Michael, Gabriel, and the angel who used great chain to bound Satan. On the history of the world I would like to make friends with Martin Luther, John Bunyan, Immanuel Kant, Arthur Mouw, D. Edmond Hiebert, Blaise Pascal, Helen Kelly, Augustine, G. Campbell Morgan, J.C, Ryle, Charles Spurgeon,
ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, Charles H. Mackintosh , etc.
| 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. |
Revelation 21:17-18. And he measured the wall thereof — That is, Lowman thinks, the height of the wall; one hundred and forty-four cubits — The square of twelve: about seventy-two yards high, according to the lesser cubit, or about eighty-six yards according to the greater, a height sufficient to express the most perfect security against all attempts of any surprise by an enemy. Doddridge understands these cubits of the thickness of the wall, with the same view, namely, to signify the great strength of the city, and that it might defy all assailants. According to the measure of a man — A measure common among men; that is, of the angel — For such was the measuring-rod, made use of by the angel. And the building of the wall was of jasper — The wall appeared to be built with unparalleled strength and magnificence, not of brick, or squared and polished stones, but of some precious stone, as solid, firm, and beautiful as a jasper. And the city was of pure gold — Namely, its houses and other buildings, separate from the wall; like unto clear glass — Or crystal. It seems it is the city in general, and not the gold, which is represented as shining like glass or crystal. It is not easy to understand how pure gold should shine like crystal: but a city adorned with crystal, set in gold, may easily be supposed to shine in that manner.’
| And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. |
And the building of the wall of it – The material of which the wall was composed. This means the wall above the foundation, for that was composed of twelve rows of precious stones, Revelation 21:14, Revelation 21:19-20. The height of the foundation is not stated, but the entire wall above was composed of jasper.
Was of jasper – See the notes on Revelation 4:3. …
And the city was pure gold – The material of which the edifices were composed.
Like unto clear glass – The word rendered “glass” in this place – ὕαλος hualos – occurs in the New Testament only here and in Revelation 21:21. It means, properly, “anything transparent like water”; as, for example, any transparent stone or gem, or as rock-salt, crystal, glass (Robinson, Lexicon). Here the meaning is, that the golden city would be so bright and burnished that it would seem to be glass reflecting the sunbeams. Would the appearance of a city, as the sun is setting, when the reflection of its beams from thousands of panes of glass gives it the appearance of burnished gold, represent the idea here? If we were to suppose a city made entirely of glass, and the setting sunbeams falling on it, it might convey the idea represented here. It is certain that, as nothing could be more magnificent, so nothing could more beautifully combine the two ideas referred to here – that of “gold and glass.”
Perhaps the reflection of the sunbeams from the “Crystal Palace,” erected for the late “industrial exhibition” in London, would convey a better idea of what is intended to be represented here than anything which our world has furnished. The following description from one who was an eyewitness, drawn up by him at the time, and without any reference to this passage, and furnished at my request, will supply a better illustration of the passage before us than any description which I could give: “Seen as the morning vapors rolled around its base – its far-stretching roofs rising one above another, and its great transept, majestically arched, soaring out of the envelope of clouds – its pillars, window-bars, and pinnacles, looked literally like a castle in the air; like some palace, such as one reads of in idle tales of Arabian enchantment, having about it all the ethereal softness of a dream. Looked at from a distance at noon, when the sunbeams came pouring upon the terraced and vaulted roof, it resembles a regal palace of silver, built for some Eastern prince; ‘when the sun at eventide sheds on its sides his parting rays, the edifice is transformed into a temple of gold and rubies;’ and in the calm hours of night, when the moon walketh in her brightness, the immense surface of glass which the building presents looks like a sea, or like throwing back, in flickering smile, the radiant glances of the queen of heaven.”
| 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; |
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) And the foundations of the wall . . .—Better, The foundations of the wall of the city (were) adorned with every precious stone. We may compare the adornment of the harlot (Revelation 17:4). Her robe was decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls. …. The comparison reminds us, in a vivid and figurative way, of our Master’s often-repeated teaching. He that saveth his life, loseth it; he that loseth, saveth it; he that is content to pass by the dazzling attractions of the world, refusing splendour from the outstretched hand of Babylon, will win the true spiritual riches. There is no man that has turned away for Christ’s sake from the attractions of the world-spirit, that hath forsaken houses and lands for Christ’s sake and the gospel, but shall receive manifold more, &c. (Mark 10:28-31). The “jewels of right celestial worth” are part of the heritage of him who can nobly hold cheap the degrading hire of the world. (Comp. Isaiah 54:12.)
The foundation are various. There were in the foundation of the Church diversities of gifts and administrations, but the same Lord and the same spirit. In the heavenly city we have harmony, not monotony; variety, not sameness; unity, not uniformity. The stones are not arranged in the order of the high priest’s breastplate, but according to their various shades of colour, beginning from the foundation.
1. Jaspis, dark opaque green.
2. Sapphirus, Lapis-lazuli, opaque blue.
3. Chalcedon, an Emerald of a greenish hue.
4. Smaragdus, bright transparent green.
5. Sardonyx, white and red.
6. Sardius, bright red.
7. Chrysolite, our Topaz, bright yellow.
8. Beryl, bluish green.
9. Topazion, or Peridot, yellowish green.
10. Chrysoprasus, a darker shade of the same colour.
11. Hyacinthus, Sapphire, sky blue.
12. Amethystus, violet.
“Chrysoprasus is probably an error for Chrysopaston, a dark blue stone, studded with gold, by which substitution all the shades of blue will follow each other.” (See King, On Gems.)
With this blended harmony of colour the foundation-stones would encircle the heavenly city as with a rainbow belt. In the seer’s view the light of the heavenly city would shine with hues that betoken the advent of the morning. The varying tints would glow like pledges of a dayspring from on high.
“Along the tingling desert of the sky,
Beyond the circle of the conscious hills
Were laid in jasper-stone as clear as glass
The first foundations of that new, near Day,
Which should be builded out of heaven to God.
Jasper first, I said;
And second, sapphire; third, chalcedony;
The rest in order;-last, an amethyst.”
The foundation-stones are twelve. “As twelve, they indicate their numerical completeness (Revelation 7, 14); as shining with a common lustre, their unity; as stones of different hues, their manifoldness; as brilliant stones, the glorification of this earthly life through the light of Heaven” (Lange).”
| 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. |
The fifth, sardonyx – This word does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. The “name” is derived from “Sardis,” a city in Asia Minor (notes on Revelation 3:1), and ὄνυξ onux, a nail – so named, according to Pliny, from the resemblance of its color to the flesh and the nail. It is a silicious stone or gem, nearly allied to the onyx. The color is a reddish yellow, nearly orange (Webster, Dictionary).
The sixth, sardius – This word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It is also derived from “Sardis,” and the name was probably given to the gem because it was found there. It is a stone of a blood-red or flesh color, and is commonly known as a “carnelian.” It is the same as the sardine stone mentioned in Revelation 4:3. See the notes on that place.
The seventh, chrysolite – This word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It is derived from χρυσὸς chrusos, “gold,” and λίθος lithos, “stone,” and means “golden stone,” and was applied by the ancients to all gems of a golden or yellow color, probably designating particularly the topaz of the moderns (Robinson, Lexicon). But in Webster’s Dictionary it is said that its prevalent color is green. It is sometimes transparent. This is the “modern” chrysolite. The ancients undoubtedly understood by the name a “yellow” gem.
The eighth, beryl – This word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. The beryl is a mineral of great hardness, and is of a green or bluish-green color. It is identical with the emerald, except in the color, the emerald having a purer and richer green color, proceeding from a trace of oxide of chrome. Prisms of beryl are sometimes found nearly two feet in diameter in the state of New Hampshire (Webster).
The ninth, a topaz – This word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. The topaz is a well-known mineral, said to be so called from “Topazos,” a small island in the Arabian Gulf. It is generally of a yellowish color, and pellucid, but it is also found of greenish, bluish, or brownish shades.
The tenth, a chrysoprasus – This word χρυσόπρασος chrusoprasos does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. It is derived from χρυσὸς chrusos, “gold,” and πράσον prason, “a leek,” and denotes a precious stone of greenish golden color, like a leek; that is, “apple-green passing into a grass-green” (Robinson, Lexicon). “It is a variety of quartz. It is commonly apple-green, and often extremely beautiful. It is translucent, or sometimes semi-transparent; its hardness little inferior to flint” (Webster, Dictionary).
The eleventh, a jacinth – The word does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. It is the same word as “hyacinth” – ὑάκινθος huakinthos – and denotes properly the well-known flower of that name, usually of a deep purple or reddish blue. Here it denotes a gem of this color. It is a red variety of “zircon.” See Webster’s Dictionary under the word “hyacinth.”
The twelfth, an amethyst – This word, also, is found only in this place in the New Testament. It denotes a gem of a deep purple or violet color. The word is derived from α a, the alpha privative (“not”), and μεθύω methuō, to be intoxicated, because this gem was supposed to be an antidote against drunkenness. It is a species of quartz, and is used in jewelry.”
| 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. |
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls,…. Denoting the purity and preciousness of Christ, by whom the saints enter, and of the saints who enter in thereat, as well as of the place into which they enter.
Every several gate was of one pearl; the pearl of great price, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only gate, door, and way into this happy state: this shows that this account cannot be taken literally, but mystically, for no such pearl was ever known, large enough to make a gate of.
A pearl is a hard, white, shining body, usually roundish, found in a shell fish resembling an oyster, but is three or four times the size of the common oyster; and which ordinarily yields ten or twelve pearls, and sometimes more. Those of the largest size that have been known are that of Cleopatra, valued by Pliny at centies H S, or at 80,000 pound sterling; and that brought in 1574 to Philip the Second, of the size of a pigeon’s egg, worth 14,400 ducats; and that of the Emperor Rudolph, mentioned by Boetius, called “la peregrina”, or the incomparable, of the size of a muscade pear, and weighing 30 carats; and that mentioned by Tavernier, in the hands of the emperor of Persia in 1633, bought of an Arab for 32,000 tomans, which, at three pounds nine shillings the toman, amounts to 110,400 pounds sterling (p).”
But what is one of these pearls to make a gate of, for a wall which was an hundred and forty four cubits high? Revelation 21:17. The Jews say (q), that the holy blessed God will bring precious stones and “pearls” of thirty cubits by thirty, &c. and place them “in the gates of Jerusalem”, as it is said, Isaiah 54:12 which must be understood also not in a literal but mystical sense: and L’Empereur (r) makes mention of an ancient commentary on Psalm 87:1 which says, that the holy blessed God will make a gate at the east (of the temple), and in it two doors, each of one pearl. So R. Joshua ben Levi says (s), that there are in paradise two gates of agates or diamonds; some render the word rubies.
And the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass; denoting the preciousness and delightfulness of the saints’ conversation one with another; and the purity and cleanness of it, there being no mire and filth of sin in these streets; and the sincerity and openness of it, each one walking in his uprightness; which will be seen and known of all, as clearly as anything can be beheld in a transparent glass. So the Jews say (t) of paradise, that the ground is paved with precious stones, the lustre of which may be compared to the light of burning torches.
(p) Chambers’s Cyclopedia in the word “Pearl”. (q) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 100. 1. & Bava Bathra, fol. 75. 1. & Yalkut, par. 2. fol. 54. 1.((r) Misn. Middot, c. 4. sect. 2. Vid. Yalkut Simconi, par. 2. fol. 54. 1.((s) Yalkut Simeoni, par. 1. fol. 7. 1.((t) Sepher. Avodah Hakkodesh, fol. 46. 1.”
| And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. |
Revelation 21:22-27. And I saw no temple therein — The whole city being, properly speaking, a temple; the Lord God and the Lamb surrounding, filling, and sanctifying the whole, and being more intimately present in every part of it, and with every individual, saint or angel, than had ever been known on earth. And the city had no need of the sun — To give light to its inhabitants; for the glory of God — Infinitely brighter than the shining of the sun; did lighten it — The illustrious manifestation of his presence rendered every other light unnecessary. It seems the whole city appeared to St. John like a luminous object, sending out rays on every side, which he knew to be the consequence of God’s dwelling there in a peculiar sense. And the nations of them which are saved — From the guilt and pollution of sin before they leave this world; shall walk in the light of it — In a higher degree than they could possibly do on earth: for they shall no longer see through a glass darkly, but face to face; shall no longer know in part, but shall know as they are known. And the kings of the earth — Those of them who have a part there; do bring their glory and honour into it — Not their old glory, which is now supposed to be abolished, but such as becomes the new earth, and receives an immense addition by their entrance into this city. Or the sense may be, as Doddridge thinks, “If you were to conceive all the monarchs upon earth uniting all their treasures to adorn one single place, they could produce nothing comparable to the glory of this city.” And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day — That is, shall never be shut; for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory, &c., of the nations into it — Whatever is most desirable among all nations seemed to meet together to adorn that place, where good men of all nations shall dwell and reign with God for ever. Or all that can contribute to make any city honourable and glorious shall be found in it; as if all that was rich and precious throughout the world was brought into one place. And there shall in nowise enter any thing that defileth — Greek, κοινον, common; that is, unholy; or that worketh abomination — That is impure or vicious; or maketh a lie — Is chargeable with hypocrisy, falsehood, or deceit; but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life — Namely, true, holy, persevering believers. This blessedness is enjoyed only by such, and such as these only are registered among them who are to inherit eternal life.”
| 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. |
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) And the city had no need of the sun . . .—Rather, And the city hath not need of the sun, nor of the moon that they should shine on (or, for) her; for the glory of God enlightened her, and her lamp is the Lamb. The Shechinah is again alluded to. Light is the emblem of knowledge and holiness. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1John 1:5). Christ the Lamb, came as the Light of the World. Now in the heavenly Jerusalem is the light seen as a lamp that burneth. The imagery is drawn from Isaiah. “The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory” (Isaiah 60:19). No more will there be needed subsidiary or intermediate luminaries. He who makes the righteous to shine like stars, and causes His churches to shine like lights in the world, will be Himself the Light and Sun of His people: they shall see Him as He is. It is again to be noticed that the emblem of the Lamb is used to describe our Lord in this verse, and in the last, as it was also in Revelation 21:14. The memory of Christ’s work on earth is never obliterated: still in the intense splendour and joy of that city of light the remembrance of Him who was led as a lamb to the slaughter gives depth and fulness to its joy.”
| 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. |
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And the nations of them which are saved,…. In distinction from them that will be deceived by Satan, Revelation 20:8. These are not all the nations of the world, which will be gathered before Christ, the Judge, for all will not be saved, there is a world that will be condemned; nor the Gentiles only, which shall come into the church state of the Jews when called, for that state is not here designed; and besides, all Israel shall be saved then; nor the living saints at Christ’s coming, who shall have escaped, and are saved from the general conflagration; for these, with the raised ones, will be caught up together to Christ, and descend and dwell together on earth, and make one church state; but all the elect of God, both Jews and Gentiles, whom God has chosen, Christ has redeemed, and the Spirit has called out of all the nations of the earth: these are only saved ones; such are already saved, not only are determined to be saved, and for whom salvation is wrought out by Christ, and to whom it is applied at conversion, and who are representatively set down in heavenly places in Christ, and are already saved by hope and faith, and with respect to the certainty of salvation; all which may be said of saints in the present state; but these will be such, who will be actually and personally saved, will be in the full possession of salvation, enjoying all the blessings of it: they will be partakers of the first resurrection, and the glories of it: the tabernacle of God will be with them, they will be free from all sorrows and death, and will inherit all things: the Syriac version reads, “the nations that are saved”; who are redeemed and saved by Christ: this may teach us how to understand those phrases, which seem to favour general redemption, as all men, the world, the whole world; see Isaiah 45:20. These words, “of them which are saved”, are left out in the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, but are in all the copies. These nations are the inhabitants of this city, and they shall walk in the light of it, which is Christ; they shall enjoy it; they shall have the light of life, and be partakers of the inheritance with the saints in light, and that continually: they shall not only come to it, but continue in it, and walk at it, and by the light of it: the walk of these will be different from the walk of saints now, who walk by faith, and not by sight; but these shall walk by sight, enjoying the beatific vision of God, and the Lamb. The Jews say (b), that Jerusalem, in time to come, will be made a lamp to the nations of the world, , “and they shall walk in its light”, or by the light of it, which is the sense of Isaiah 60:3 “the Gentiles shall come to thy light”; see Isaiah 9:1
and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it; by whom may be meant either mystically all the saints, who will be kings as well as priests unto God, and will reign as such with Christ in this state, will cast their crowns at his feet, and give him all the honour and glory; or literally, the kings of the earth, who shall have relinquished antichrist, hated the whore, and burnt her with fire, and who will have been nursing fathers in the spiritual reign; or rather all good kings that ever have been in the earth: not that they will be kings of the earth at this time, for now all rule, authority, and power, will be put down; nor will any worldly riches, honour, and glory, be brought by them into this state, nor will they be needed in it; but it is to be understood of who have been kings on earth, though not of their having brought earthly riches and grandeur into the interest and churches of Christ; as David gave much towards the building of the temple, which was begun and finished by King Solomon his son, and as Constantine greatly enriched and aggrandized the church when he became emperor; but the sense seems to be this, that such who have been Christian kings on earth will prefer the happiness of this state to all their riches and greatness here; and that could all the glory of the kings of the earth be put together, it would not equal, but be greatly inferior to the glory of the new Jerusalem; Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of the inhabitants of this place; see Revelation 20:6 besides, these shall do all homage, and submit to Christ the King of kings in the midst of the church, which may be meant by “glory” and “honour”.
(b) Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 56. 3.”
| And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. |
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day,…. Which does not design the free communication between the living saints on the new earth, and the raised ones in the new heaven, as some have thought, for these shall be together, and make up one body; but rather the universal collection, and free admission of all the saints from all parts into this city; though it seems best to interpret it of the safety of the inhabitants, see Jeremiah 49:31 who will have no enemy to fear, and therefore need never shut their gates; the beast and false prophet will have been taken, and cast into the lake of fire long ago; ungodly men will be destroyed in the general conflagration, and Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit during the thousand years:
for there shall be no night there; this is a reason given why it is before said the gates shall not be shut by day, since it is unusual to shut gates in the day, unless in time of war, because there will be no night in this city, and so no need of ever shutting the gates; the night time being the season for thieves and robbers, and for enemies to make their incursions, and to surprise: but here will be no night; either literally, times and seasons, as measured by the revolutions of the sun and moon, will be no more, they will not have the use they have; at least this city will stand in no need of them. The Jews say (c), that the world to come will be , “all day”: or mystically and figuratively, there will be no night of spiritual darkness and desertion, of drowsiness, sleepiness, and inactivity, of error and heresy, or of calamity and distress of any kind; all which are sometimes signified by night in Scripture; see Sol 3:1 Isa 26:9.
(c) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 91. fol. 79. 4.”
| And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. |
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. The glory of the nations are the people of God, who, though they are reckoned the filth of the world, are the excellent in the earth; these will be brought into this city, and be presented to the King of it, in a glorious manner, and that by the kings of the earth; either such who have been ecclesiastical rulers over them, who will introduce them as their joy and crown of rejoicing; or who have been political governors of them, their fathers and protectors; or the sense is as before, that whatever is great and glorious in the nations of the world, will be counted as nothing in comparison of the glory and magnificence of this state, and not to be mentioned with it: the Arabic version renders it, “the nations shall bring glory and honour to it”; in the sense before given..”
| 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. |
And there shall in no wise enter into it: in the Greek there are two negative particles, which though in the Latin they make an affirmative, yet in the Greek make a stronger negative, which we translate in no wise, or by no means.
Any thing that defileth: this strongly denying particle is brought to make the bar excluding all unclean persons from heaven evident. And alas! How often had this need be denied, to make men and women, mad of their lusts, believe it! The word translated, that defileth, signifieth, what is common; nothing, no person that hath not by a holy life separated himself from the world, and all sin and wickedness, and dedicated himself to God.
Neither whatsoever worketh abomination; no profane or lewd person.
Or maketh a lie; nor any false or lying hypocrites, nor any idolaters, for idols are lies.
But they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life; none but those whose names are written in the book of life, predetermined to salvation, and redeemed with the blood of Christ. Some am not pleased with this sense; but what other thing can be meant? This is, at least, the sixth time we have met with this phrase in this book, Revelation 3:5 Revelation 13:8 17:8 20:12,15. It is also mentioned, Philippians 4:3. And what else can be meant in Moses’s prayer, Exodus 32:32? It is twice {Revelation 13:8 17:8} said, that names were written in it from the foundation of the world. God hath a particular, certain, infallible knowledge who are his, and had it from eternity; and whence he should know it, without willing of it, is very hard to conceive. It is called the Lamb’s book, to let us know, that the act of redemption by Christ bears proportion to the counsels of election.”
If you repent of your sins, believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of mankind, you can obtain forgiveness of sins, and your name may be written in the Book of Life and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. I would like to explore the New Heavens and New Earth. It will take eternity; thank God I will have eternity.
WILLIE WONG THOUGHT
WILLIE WONG
AUGUST 8, 2025
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