Revelation 21:1-27

The Holy City

The enemies of the Lamb have been conquered. The Judgment is over. The old condition of things has passed away: cp. Revelation 20:11. Now St. John sees in a vision the blissful glory of heaven, in which the Lamb's redeemed people will dwell for ever.

1-8. The eternal dwelling-place prepared for the redeemed is seen from a distance (Revelation 21:1.), and the voice of God declares what it means (Revelation 21:3), and for whom its glories are (Revelation 21:7.).

Three points come out in the description. (1) The Presence of God with the Jew, symbolised by the tabernacle in the wilderness, will now be perfected by His dwelling ('dwell,' lit. 'tabernacle,' Revelation 21:3 cp. John 1:14; RM) with the redeemed of all races ('men,' Revelation 21:3). The 'peoples,' i.e. Gentiles, have become 'His peoples' (Revelation 21:3 RV), and He their Emmanuel ('God.. with them,' Revelation 21:3): cp. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23. He will take from them, and keep from them, all sorrow, pain, and death (cp. Revelation 7:17; Isaiah 25:8; Isaiah 35:10; Isaiah 65:16.), because these belonged to the first dispensation, while now, (2) all things are new. There is a new heaven, i.e. sky, and a new earth (cp. Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22), from which the sea, emblem of unrest and of separation, has departed (Revelation 21:1); there is a new society, 'new Jerusalem' (Revelation 21:2); and 'all things,' i.e. all ways and thoughts and circumstances of existence, are new: cp. 2 Corinthians 5:17; (Revelation 21:5). The word translated 'new' does not signify 'that which has never existed before,' but 'fresh,' 'that which has not been used or worn'; so it may be taken as meaning 'undimmed,' 'unspoilt.' The term 'new Jerusalem' is used figuratively for the divine society of the redeemed in glory, as 'Jerusalem' represents the society of the redeemed on earth: cp. Revelation 20:9; Galatians 4:26. It is a 'city' in the sense of being an organised community: cp. Ephesians 2:19; Hebrews 11:16. The New Jerusalem is compared to a bride (Revelation 21:2 contrast Revelation 17:1), to denote that the happiness of the redeemed springs from their union with Christ: cp. Isaiah 61:10.; Isaiah 62:1; Matthew 22:3; Matthew 25:10; Luke 12:36; Ephesians 5:25. (3) Those for whom these blessed things are in store: those who thirst for, i.e. intensely desire, God, righteousness, and eternal life, cp. Isaiah 55:1; Matthew 5:6; John 7:37; Romans 2:7; (Revelation 21:6), and who 'overcome' (Revelation 21:7). Thus the chief purpose of the book, in encouraging the tempted and persecuted to overcome by resistance unto death, is maintained to the end. The 'city' is not for those who are too cowardly to endure, who fall from faith and join in heathen abominations (Revelation 21:8).