Revelation 21

A New Heaven and a New Earth

21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more.

Chapters 21 and 22 contain new information that has never been revealed.  The Jews knew of a Messianic Kingdom to come, but they did not know that the Kingdom would end and be superseded by a new eternal order. The first heaven and first earth will disappear. It will be replaced by the new heavens and new earth. 

There will be no more sea in the new heavens and earth. The sea was placed upon the earth as judgment. When Satan was ruling on this earth, the whole earth was a mineral garden. This mineral garden earth ended in judgment. Seas covered the whole earth on day one. Dry land appeared on day two. In Genesis 7, the earth was judged again by the flood. There will be no seas in the new heavens and new earth, because all judgment will be lifted from the earth. 

21:2 And I saw the holy city – the new Jerusalem – descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. 

The New Jerusalem will be brought down from heaven and relocated on earth. Just as the city of Babylon was a prostitute, the New Jerusalem will be a virgin bride being adorned for her husband. 

The New Jerusalem was mentioned in three places of Scripture. In Galatians 4, it was called a free city. In Hebrews 10, it was called a city that Abraham sought. In Hebrews 12, it was called the home of the redeemed.

21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence of God is among human beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them.

During eternity, God will be living with man in the New Jerusalem. God will not be separated from His creation by heaven and earth, as He is today. 

21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more – or mourning, or cry in, dwell-, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.”

With the curse eliminated, there will be no more pain, suffering, tears, or death.

21:5 And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new!” Then he said to me, “Write it down, because these words are reliable and true.”

God told John to write down his visions of the New Jerusalem. These words will bring blessing and encouragement to many throughout history who suffered because of their testimony of Christ.

21:6 He also said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water free of charge from the spring of the water of life.

The Greek word for "it is done" is γίνομαι (ginomai), a perfect active indicative verb, meaning to transfer from one condition to another. The perfect tense demonstrates that the action took place in the past and this condition will continue forever. The indicative mood means that this statement is a 100% fact.

The alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. God can accomplish anything that this alphabet can spell. The Greek word for "I am" is ἐγώ εἰμι (ego eimi), a present active indicative verb, meaning to continually exist forever as the Alpha and the Omega and the First and the Last.

God is the beginning and the end of all things. The Greek word for "end" is τέλος (telos), meaning the completion of the end goal. The end goal of God was to bring the eternal order into existence.

21:7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

The one who conquers the sin nature is the one who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.

21:8 But to the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, idol worshipers, and all those who lie, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. That is the second death.”

There will be no evil men in the eternity order. It is possible that they could have been in one of these conditions while they were living in their sin nature on this earth, but it is also possible that God redeemed them from this slavery and made them a new creature by the new birth.

The New Jerusalem Descends

21:9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb!”

The city of Babylon is the harlot city. The New Jerusalem is the city of the beautiful virgin bride who is adorned for her husband. 

21:10 So he took me away in the Spirit to a huge, majestic mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.

The Holy Spirit took John to a large mountain so that he could look down upon the New Jerusalem

21:11 The city possesses the glory of God; its brilliance is like a precious jewel, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper.

The Shekinah Glory will be in the midst of the New Jerusalem. The city will shine with brilliance throughout eternity.

21:12 It has a massive, high wall with twelve gates, with twelve angels at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel are written on the gates.

There will be a very high wall around the city. There will be 12 gates in the city. There will be 12 angels guarding the gates. Each of the gates will be named after the twelve tribes of Jacob. 

21:13 There are three gates on the east side, three gates on the north side, three gates on the south side and three gates on the west side.

There will be three gates on each side of the city. 

21:14 The wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

There will be 12 foundations of the city. Each of the foundations will be named after the twelve apostles. 

21:15 The angel who spoke to me had a golden measuring rod with which to measure the city and its foundation stones and wall.

The angel is going to measure the city to see how large it is so that he can give a report to John. This report will be placed in writing. The large size of the city will become an encouragement to many who have suffered for Christ throughout history. Those who study the Book of Revelation will be blessed.

21:16 Now the city is laid out as a square, its length and width the same. He measured the city with the measuring rod at fourteen hundred miles (its length and width and height are equal).

The Greek word for "square" is τετράγωνος (tetragonal), meaning a four cornered square. There are some commentators who teach that the city will be a pyramid, but the Greek language does not allow this interpretation. The New Jerusalem will be 1400 miles high and 1400 miles wide, and 1400 miles long meaning that it is perfect cube.

21:17 He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits according to human measurement, which is also the angel’s.

The Greek word for "cube" is πῆχυς (paichus), meaning the distance from the elbow to the fingertip. This distance is about 18 inches.

21:18 The city’s wall is made of jasper and the city is pure gold, like transparent glass.

The city's wall is made of jasper, which is a bright red stone. The city is made of pure gold, but the gold is transparent as glass.

21:19 The foundations of the city’s wall are decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,

The 12 foundations of the city are made of 12 different precious stones. The jasper is red. The sapphire is blue, the agate or chalcedony is grayish-blue, the emerald is green. 

21:20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.

The sardonyx is fiery reddish yellow, the carnelian is reddish brown. The chrysolite is aqua green. The beryl is greenish yellow. The topaz is gold. The chrysoprase is green. The jacinth is violet. The amethyst is purple. Half of these precious stones contain a greenish tint.

21:21 And the twelve gates are twelve pearls – each one of the gates is made from just one pearl! The main street of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass.

The 12 gates will be made of one large pearl. The main street will be singular, made of pure gold that is transparent like glass.

21:22 Now I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God – the All-Powerful – and the Lamb are its temple.

There will be no temple in the city. It is no longer needed in eternity. The last temple of earth will be the Millennial Kingdom Temple. 

21:23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb.

There will be no need of sun or moon, because the Shekinah Glory will light up the precious stones of the city.

21:24 The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their grandeur into it.

There will be a governmental order, nations, and kings during the eternal order. All nations and governments will have access to the New Jerusalem.

21:25 Its gates will never be closed during the day (and there will be no night there).

Gates were closed at night to keep the enemy from sneaking into the city, attacking the city, and enslaving the people. There will be no enemies during the eternal order, so the gates will remain  open around the clock. Open gates are a condition of peace, safety, and security.

21:26 They will bring the grandeur and the wealth of the nations into it.

 All the wealth of the nations will be brought into the New Jerusalem.

21:27 but nothing ritually unclean will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or practices falsehood, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Only redeemed can enter the city. Those who are not redeemed will be burning in the Lake of Fire forever.