Unit 3: The Word: The Great Hope of the Saints
Key Verse:
Revelation 21:14 NLT
14 The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Beloved, pay attention. You play a significant role in the makeup of the New Jerusalem. Hallelujah!
What you need to know
Revelation 21:9 NLT
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
We left off last week with a dramatic turn from the wrath and fury that was poured upon the earth in God’s judgments against it. In that turn, John reveals a new vision; new truth, as it were. In this new truth, a new Heaven and new earth are revealed to John’s audience. Brand new. The old has passed away, consumed by fire. God has recreated both anew to be inhabited by His people. This will be a place of permanent Sabbath (Rest) for the people of God.
Revelation 21:9 NLT
9 Then, one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come with me! I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
So complete is the turn from God’s wrath to His Rest that we see one of the seven angels who was a major participant in God’s judgment upon earth has now been repurposed as John’s personal tour guide for the remainder of God’s great reveal. We proceed now, from the glory revealed in the spectacle of the new Heaven and new earth being unveiled to an even greater reveal: the new city of Jerusalem.
The Lesson
Revelation 21:10 NLT
10 So he took me in the Spirit[b] to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.
Ezekiel 40:1-2 NLT
1 On April 28,[a] during the twenty-fifth year of our captivity—fourteen years after the fall of Jerusalem—the Lord took hold of me. 2 In a vision from God, he took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. From there, I could see toward the south what appeared to be a city.
Interestingly, this vision of the holy city is very similar to Ezekiel’s vision of the New Jerusalem. Ezekiel’s vision was a promise to a generation of exiles that God would one day restore His people. They were not forsaken. For those who are in John’s audience, the revelation includes the entire earth. Everything is new. And upon this new earth, God places an entire city; fully functional, upon the mountains in what was previously, southern Judea, very probably in the exact location of ancient Jerusalem; New Mount Zion.
Revelation 21:11 NLT
11 It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal.
The entire city is made of a substance like jasper. Jasper is an opaque material, comparable to granite, that may be any of several colors, red, yellow, and green are most common. Because of its translucent, crystalline structure, it will act as a receptor and reflector of God’s Glory in such a way, that to all observers, the entirety of the city will beam with the splendor of God’s Glory
Tobit 13:16-18 KJV
{13:16} For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires and emeralds, and precious stone: thy walls and towers and battlements with pure gold. {13:17} And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl and carbuncle and stones of Ophir. {13:18} And all her streets shall say Alleluia; and they shall praise him, saying, Blessed be God, which hath extolled it forever.
The apocryphal book of Tobit (included in the lesson standard) describes the city of New Jerusalem as a beautiful place, bejeweled throughout with precious stones of every king. In Tobit’s description, an extra dimension of God’s glory is described, The very streets praise God!
Psalms 148:3 NLT
3
Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all you stars of light!
Job 38: NLT
7
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Beloved, there is evidence that the sun, moon, and stars all reflect the glory of God not only with light but with sound. Most secular scientists know that all heavenly bodies have a resonance, a frequency that can be measured. That resonance, in some cases, is caused by the radio waves (light waves) generated by those bodies and, or by the light waves reflected by those heavenly bodies. It is believed, by creation scientists, that with the presence of the firmament on the new earth, those light waves, when dispersed by the firmament over the new earth (prism effect), those harmonics will be heard, and they will be heard praising God!
One more thing…
Genesis 1:3 NLT
3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Beloved, since God said, “Let there be light”, light has never stopped being. All scientists agree that the universe has not ceased in its expansion since the beginning of time. In essence, the glory that set time and space into motion is still actively at work in the persons of our Triune God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the new creation, untainted by sin and death, everything will respond to the vibrance of the glory of God…forever. It stands to reason that the City of God, the New Jerusalem, will respond with that same vibrance… in worship.
Revelation 21:12 NLT
12 The city wall was broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates.
John continues by describing the wall surrounding the city and the twelve gates by which one may entire. Each gate is guarded by an angel, a messenger of the Lord. Beloved, what we are observing here is a picture of the church: you and I. The angels are representative of the ministers who hold fast to the truth of the Living Word of God, that Jesus is Lord! It is upon that truth that the Church is built, but it is through the preaching of the Gospel by God’s ministers that this truth is communicated. Faith comes by hearing. It is those whose robes have been washed by the blood of the Lamb who will inhabit this holy city; New Jerusalem.
Revelation 21:13-14 NLT
13 There were three gates on each side—east, north, south, and west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
John further describes New Jerusalem by telling us that the foundations of the city are twelve stones, each carrying the name of one of the Apostles. This is a continued description of the Church of God, the very Bride of Christ, where God will be with His people eternally. Notice that there are three gates, points of entry, on each side, thus signifying that the makeup of the church will include people from every locale, every ethnos, nation, and tongue. Amen!
Revelation 21:15-17 NLT
15 The angel who talked to me held in his hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 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.[c] 17 Then, he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick[d] (according to the human standard used by the angel).
The angel who is escorting John at this point in the revelation describes something that defies the imagination. The new city of Jerusalem will exceed the original in scale. In Jesus’ day, Jerusalem covered an area of less than one square mile. Today, Jerusalem has an area of forty-eight square miles. The New Jerusalem, made by God in Heaven, will measure 1400 miles in length and 1400 miles in width, giving it an area of 1,960,000 square miles. That will cover an area about half the size of the United States. Add to this the thought that the city walls will reach 1400 miles vertically. Beloved, outer space is only sixty-two miles above the earth. The New Jerusalem will tower into space as a beacon, a witness to all of Creation of the majesty and power of God. Finally, The walls will measure 216 feet in width, which is appropriate for a structure of this magnitude. (This is a Selah moment)...
Revelation 21:18-20 NLT
18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. 19 The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones:[e] the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.
Now that we have established the sheer magnitude of the city, go back and think of what was described earlier from the Book of Tobit. It is similar to what John is shown by the angel in this passage. The walls of jasper, as hard as granite. Each of the twelve foundations is inlaid with precious stones. The city is covered with pure gold. The puree the gold, the more translucent it becomes. Thus everything in New Jerusalem glorifies God, both in light and in sound. Everything has ‘breath’. Everything praises God.
Revelation 21:21 NLT
21 The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass.
And finally, imagine, if you will, the oyster bed from which God harvests pearls that are miles in diameter, oysters so large that a single pearl can be used for each gate. Even if, the gates of the city are of normal size, those are still huge pearls, and huge oysters from which they are formed. Let me stop here. You may think, “Wayne is pulling my leg.” That may very well be true, but the alternative must be considered. What if there are … extraterrestrial oysters from which God harvests oysters? Or, what if God, by His Word, sets a process in motion whereby pearls of this size are created by a process similar to how pearls are formed naturally? Beloved, the Bible describes many creatures that defy our imaginations. Anything is possible with God. Verse twenty-one closes with the description of the streets paved with gold. For a moment, think of the miles and miles of streets in New Jerusalem paved in the purest gold. I could go on and on, but I will close with this. Beloved, how majestic is our God!
Selah,
wb
Psalm 8:1 NKJV
1
O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth,
Who have set Your glory above the heavens!
Isaiah 55:12 NLT
12
You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
Psalm 8:1 NKJV
3
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
I really loved this lesson Wayne Great Job Brother !!
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