Rev. #77~21:1-12 THE 12 GATES 10-30-10
Last time I told you why that I thought that the Lord Jesus could call out His Church just any time as I talked about the 7 dispensations of time, and that we are today in the closing hours of the 6 th dispensation which is the grace dispensation, and that the 7th is next and that King Jesus would be here for the 7th one, the Kingdom dispensation.
So today I’ll read the 1st 8 verses again and then try to make a few comments, listen as I read.
Rev..21:1-8
1And 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.
2And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Ø Notice-prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband—
The meaning here is that this city that John sees coming down will be exceedingly dressed, or garnished in this case, and we’ll read about all the beautiful Jewels that this city will be garnished in.
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3And 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. God Himself will dwell among mankind when all things are made new.
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4And 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.
This is not talking about the church, verses 3 & 4 are dealing with the people that are occupying the new earth, remember, some of these dear people endured the tribulation, they had seen sorrowful and painful times, God will remove even the memory of their hardships.-(all things are made new)
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5And 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.
6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.** (this is to do with the 1st and last letters of the Greek alphabet, He is the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Final Judge of all things, the eternal purpose of God to gather a holy, devoted people for Himself has now been accomplished.
I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.**( John 4:14 He tells the woman there at the well that the water that He gives springs up into eternal life)
7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; (He that overcometh is the one who has genuine, saving, persevering faith, he will inherit all that belongs to the Lord Jesus as a son of God, we are heirs and joint heir with Christ)
Romans 8:17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;--
--and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
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8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers,**(drugs as well as witchcraft) and idolaters,** (people that worship objects and fictitious gods) and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Sinners, who have shown their rebellion against God by their life-style of sin, have already been
cast into the lake of fire back in chapter 20:
Heaven is a place of ceaseless activity and meaningful responsibility, without the limitations of space-time-or mortality. Christians will reign forever (22:5), and since we’re going to reign forever and ever this tells us that there will be much activity and responsibility. The New Jerusalem will be our home, and we will descend to the new earth at will as we will be reigning some where out in His Kingdom on the new earth, that is why it’s so important to be faithful to Him and His cause now.
Some seem to think that when we leave this life and go to heaven that all heaven amounts to is for us just to float around in space some where twanging on a harp, but according to the Bible we’ll always have an enjoyable and fruitful time, never a dull moment, we’ll have a body at that time like the Lord Jesus, that is, we’ll have a glorified body,
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
We’ll have a glorified body such as He has, what ever that might be, and it will certainly be alright with us, what ever it might look like will be fine with us.
-- it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him.
We will travel at the speed of thought; listen as I read to you a portion of the account of Philip baptizing the eunuch and notice how fast Philip travels with the aid of the Holy SPIRIT.
Acts 8: 36-40 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. 40But Philip was found at Azotus: -- Philip found himself at Azotus before he realized it.
Ø Jesus remember walked through the doors and walls to come into the presents of the disciples there in
John 20:26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
So according to the Bible we’ll have a body like HIS.
Since there will be no more sea in the New earth, the increased land space will be fully capable of handling large numbers of redeemed people from all dispensation of time.
The sea occupies most of the earth’s surface today; approximately three-fourths of the total surface is water.
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9And 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.
We’re not told which of the 7 he is, but he was one the 7 Angels that poured out the bowl judgments onto the world and he now guides John to show him the bride, the wife of the Lamb, which is the place of her dwelling. John is taken in the spirit to another location, a great, high mountain, to witness the descending of the holy city, Jerusalem, coming out of heaven, he speaks of the New Jerusalem as being like the Bride.
The description of the holy city as given in 21:2 is identical to the description in 21:9, so we’re to consider them to be the same.
The heavenly city is seen here as it will appear in the eternal state, here in the entire passage beginning in verse 1 of this chapter 21:
So God calls new Jerusalem the bride, the wife of the Lamb, as the Lord is making his bride today, the church, spotless and pure according to Eph.5:26-27, he will also make beautiful the new Jerusalem as a bride is beautiful and gloriously adorned, so will be the new city.
Ø 21:9–21. These verses describe the beauty and glory of the holy Jerusalem. It is called Christ’s bride in verse 2, a reference to the church as the city’s principal inhabitant. It is an expression of the glory of God.
The wall shows its security and protection. Its gates show accessibility. It has dimensions of approximately 1,500 miles cubed.
The gold and precious stones may be earthly materials glorified. They picture the glory, beauty, and eternal quality of the city.
There appears to be only one street according to 22:2 and its also made of pure, radiant gold.
Ø This city comes down out of heaven. She originates in heaven, and the Lord Jesus is the MASTER BUILDER.
Although the city comes down out of heaven, there is no suggestion that she comes down to the earth. The earthly city never goes to heaven, and the heavenly city never comes to earth. Just how far down the city descends I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.
Although the new Jerusalem will eventually be the home of all the redeemed, it will first be the home of the church, the bride of Christ, who will also be on display during the Millennium, as the marriage feast will be here on earth for the entire 1000 years. This is the home that He is preparing for us at this present time, Jesus said in
John 14:2-3 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
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10And 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, 11Having the glory of God: and her**
Light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
12And 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:
There are twelve gates to the city, three gates on each side. On each gate is the name of one of the tribes of Israel. This suggests the order in which the children of Israel camped about the tabernacle in the wilderness wanderings. The tribe of Levi was the priesthood tribe and served in the tabernacle proper.
Lets realize that each of the 12 tribes of Israel are the names of the 12 son’s of Jacob, and their names are Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issacar, Joseph, Benjamin, Zebulon, let me say that Dan’s name may not be on a gate because of sins that that tribe committed.
So the names that are to be on the 12 gates are not told to us, therefore we don’t know which sons are included, or omitted, however, It seems as though the list John provides in Rev. 7:5-7 would be the names since it is the last order used in the scriptures. And in that list Jacob’s son Dan is not listed, neither is Joseph’s son Ephraim.
Instead, Manasseh, Joseph’s other son is numbered with the tribes of Israel. Why is the tribe of Dan omitted?
The Danites committed abominations against God. Particularly, the sins of blasphemy, and
Idolatry.
Ø --blasphemy---
Lev. 24:10-16 And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp; 11And the Israelitish woman’s son blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:) ***
12And they put him in ward, that the mind of the LORD might be shewed them. 13And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 14Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. 16And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.
So the Israelitish woman’s son who was of the tribe of Dan blasphemed the name of the Lord. This account describes the serious nature of blasphemy against the Lord.
God’s name was to be revered and respected. The third commandment forbids taking God’s name in vain. So we see here that the son of Shelomith, a Danite, swore and cursed while in a heated argument. He was apprehended and confined to await sentencing.
God Himself gave the command for him to be stoned. The witnesses were to lay their hands on his head, signifying that guilt rested solely upon him.
Ø The Danites were also guilty of worshipping other gods, which is idolatry-
Judges 18:30-31 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. 31And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
So we believe that this is why Dan’s name will not be on one of the 12 gates of pearl, instead will be Manasseh just as it says in Rev. 7: 6 although Dan was a son of Jacob.
So the names of the tribes on the gates communicate the unity and heritage that the people of God, the church, have with Israel. God will never forget the tribes of Israel, even unto eternity.
In Revelation 7 Dan & Ephraim or omitted and Levi & Mannasah are inserted, but from what I understand, EPHRAIM” will come under the banner of Joseph, his earthly father.
Levi is a son of Jacob, but his duties was to be different than the other tribes because they were the priestly tribe.
· Tribe of Levi becomes known as the “priestly tribe, all temple officials had to belong to this tribe. Twelve men, one from each tribe except Levi, are chosen to recon the land of Canaan. Also each of the tribes of Israel gives several cities to the Levites,
Mannaseh and Ephraim were the sons of Joseph and his Egyptain wife while he was in Eygpt, Joseph if you’ll recall became 2nd in command in Eygpt, only Pharoeh was more powerful.
Jacob is the Daddy of all 12 sons’, Leah bare 6 sons, and her sister Rachel bare 2 son’s and Zilpah Leah’s handmaid bare 2 sons and Bilah Rachel’s handmaid bare 2 sons, —and these 12 son’s are where the 12 tribes of Israel come from, today when we speak of Israel we’re actually talking about the 12 tribes, that was headed by Jacobs 12 son’s.
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