How easily we lose our way, if we become distracted by efforts to make sense of these things from a human viewpoint! This chapter is filled with images from Old Testament promises, freshened and clarified by New Testament teachings of other writers. As it is throughout this Apocalypse, logical consistency as we think of it is hardly a consideration. Rather, let us lose ourselves in a vision of God's promise, a promise which can only be hinted at, not fully told.
John begins with a new Heaven and Earth in the sense of "fresh" -- as opposed to something just now created. Since mankind could remember, the original, regardless how beloved, always somehow fell short of God's glory. These are not something hitherto unseen, but restored to their original perfection as God had intended from the start. All traces of the Fall have been wiped away. This had been promised by the prophets (Isaiah 65:17, 66:22-23), and somewhat literally described by Peter (2 Peter 3:10-13).
The vision includes a fresh Holy City, Jerusalem of God. The meaning of this was clearly established by Paul (Galatians 4:26) and more fully developed by the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 11:10, 16, 12:22, 13:14). The morality of living in the wilderness was a reaction to knowing no city built by man would ever be clean and righteous. Only the city built by God could fulfill the hopes men have ever had when building cities. Outside of Christ, living in the city simply exchanges one set of threats, one set of predators, etc., for another. In the New Jerusalem, people won't need to lock their doors.
In ancient Eastern kingdoms, a city was regarded as wed to her king. While reality may vary, there was an assumption of affection, and the ruler was to be warm and visible, not aloof. He would protect them, be able to heal their woes, would renew and repair broken infrastructure, making them boast proudly of him to foreigners. John indicates all this was ever supposed to mean finds its ultimate manifestation in our God. Indeed, John quotes Him directly, speaking from His throne to give it full force of Law: "Behold! I make all things fresh." Our God will be known for a renovation of all Creation. Then, to insure it was recognized as a fundamental element of understanding Him, God commanded John to be sure this was recorded.
God spoke further, but the word is impossible to translate simply. "It is done" falls short. This is a single word in Greek, based on the verb translated "to generate" -- in this context, pointing to the source (God) and the state of completion by His command. It takes into account this is a vision of things to come, yet the final end of the matter decreed in Eternity. He refers to Himself as in 1:8, and as the source of the Water of Life. Anyone who prevails over the powers of this world by His power will stand before Him in Christ, as a natural born heir. We then are given a representative list of exclusions: timid, rejecting faith, disgusting, murderous, gigolo, sorcery, pagan idolaters, and deceivers. These are people whose souls are unredeemed, destined for the Lake of Fire.
The same angel of the Seven Bowls who showed John the Harlot city (17:1) in the wilderness will, by contrast, take him up a high mountain to see how God does it: The Bride of the Lamb. This was hardly built up over time by human effort, but descends complete from Heaven. It's beauty beyond description, John lapses into images of symmetry, precious stones, transparent materials, and light. This place will be more secure than any city ever was on earth, with angels for guards. Each gate will be named for a Tribe of Israel, yet built on the priceless foundation of the Twelve Apostles.
The size of the city is not a matter of physical distance, but of symbolic numbers already well known: multiples of 12 as the Trinity combined with the number of mankind (3x4) to represent God's Kingdom among men, and multiples of 10 to represent the full range or totality of things. The transparency of materials signifies purity beyond imagination. The stones are not precisely recognized, but appear similar to those in Exodus 28:17-21, used on the High Priest's breastplate to bring the names of the Tribes before God. As they are here the foundation, they remain present eternally. The mention of pearls may be a reference to Jesus' warning (Matthew 7:6) about entrusting the Truth of God to fools; the pearly gates represent the Word as the means to enter the City.
There will be nothing resembling a temple, because God and His people will be of one household, united in a fellowship which transcends human understanding. Unlike the withdrawal of God from the Nation in the Wilderness, we have the promise of God's literal presence. In Exodus 33 we see the Lord requiring Moses to move the tent of meeting outside the camp, because the Lord knew His holiness would destroy the nation if His presence remained in the camp. In the New Jerusalem, we will participate in that holiness directly. Built of light itself, and filled with the Presence of Eternal Light, no one will lack understanding -- it will be the nature of our new existence to grasp it all intuitively. There will be no glory separate from, as a mere reflection of, that Eternal Light. All who are left alive will have free access. Nothing out of place will ever come near the City, because the only ones living will be those listed in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Thus, we come to the realization no language exists to describe something infinitely better than the best we have here. For example, how would we describe an existence not marked by the passage of time, nor even the awareness of time? We cannot, yet we are told it will be so. John offers his flock a vision so vastly other than their current precarious existence, it demands a different outlook on things.
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Ed Hurst
23 October 2007
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