Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
Bob and Stan were good buddies and baseball friends. One day at a ballgame, they made a vow to each other that, whichever friend died first, that friend would send a message back to earth to let the other friend know if there was baseball in Heaven.
Sure enough, one day Bob died. After a while, he sent a message back to Earth to Stan: "Hey, Stan, this is your old baseball buddy, Bob. I have good news and I have bad news for you from Heaven."
Stan thought about it and said, "Let’s hear the good news!" Bob said, "Well, the good news is there is a lot of baseball going on in Heaven! Mickey Mantle is hitting home runs a mile long and you should see Babe Ruth hit a baseball up here, too! It really is baseball Heaven!"
Stan smiled and said, "Hey, Bob. What about that bad news?"
There was a long pause. Finally, Bob spoke from Heaven and said, "The bad news is........YOU ARE SCHEDULED TO PITCH UP HERE TOMORROW NIGHT!" (Larry Peton, Sermon Central)
We are in the final focus in our study of Revelation; the New Jerusalem. Understand that this is the Kingdom that all of saints have been longing for, ever since Abraham. We are looking forward in faith to a greater home. It is a promised inheritance, a place of everlasting joy, an eternal home.
But now, they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:16 LSB)
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, (Hebrews 12:22 LSB)
For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the one to come. (Hebrews 13:14 LSB)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, having been kept in heaven for you, (1 Peter 1:3–4 LSB)
But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. (Galatians 4:26 LSB)
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, (Philippians 3:20 LSB)
And the world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:17 LSB)
“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:2–3 LSB)
What all these verses are talking about is described in vivid detail here in Chapters 21 & 22. The tragedy that has become popular in recent years is that this is somehow spiritualized into something it is not. Someone will come along and say, “The Bible describes this as 12 gates made of one pearl, but let me tell you what it really says...” Who are they to claim some special knowledge of Scripture?!
I believe that the Bible speaks for itself and everything it says will come to pass. Just as Jesus fulfilled every prophesy pertaining to his first coming just as the Scriptures were written so it will be for the days that are about to come. “If it at plain sense makes sense, then don’t look for any other sense, or you’ll end up with nonsense.” (Dr. David Reagan)
The New Jerusalem described in Revelation 21-22 is the description and fulfillment of the promise of Jesus he made in John 14:2-3. This is the description of the place Jesus is preparing for us today. To read it virtually leaves little to expound. It is given plain vivid detail. There is no need to hyper-spiritualize it. There is no need to make it say something that it is not.
Remember, the Rapture of the Church is completed, the world has gone through the Great Tribulation with all the judgments of God upon the unbelieving world. We see the destruction from the Battle of Armageddon, the Second coming of Christ, the Millennial Reign of Christ, the Great White Throne Judgement of Christ, and the old world uncreated for the new heavens and new earth to emerge. Satan, all of his fallen angels, and the unbelieving world have been cast into the lake of fire.
We have seen the complete destruction of this fallen worldly system under the rule of Satan and ultimately under the reign of the Antichrist. With all these things now passed away, all that is left is the Divine Glory of the Almighty as John describes a New Heaven and a New Earth. What John sees next is nothing more than the eternal home all saints have been longing for...
"Then one of the seven angels who have the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like precious stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. 12 It had a great and high wall. It had twelve gates and at those gates, twelve angels; and names have been written on those gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And the one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and its wall. 16 And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, 12,000 stadia; its length and width and height are equal. 17 And he measured its wall, 144 cubits, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. 18 And the material of the wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold, like pure glass. 19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; 20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 And I saw no sanctuary in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its sanctuary. 23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 And the nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 And its gates will never be closed by day, for there will be no night there; 26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 And nothing defiled, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Revelation 21:9–27 LSB)
There is little more I can add to enhance the majestic description of the Heavenly City of Jerusalem. Let me hit a few important highlights. First, Heaven is a real place and the Holy City will be a real place where we live eternally. Jesus talked about heaven as being a real place and as he described in John 14, He is preparing it for us to live eternally with him.
Secondly, we notice it is a Divine Place. It is a place where we will be there, but even more, we will be there in the eternal presence of God. It is described as God’s home… His temple. God’s glory is going to light the entire city. Verse 23 says there is no need for the sun and the moon. The blaze of God’s light, shining from the radiance of His Glory will provide all the light for all the city.
“No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have Yahweh for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. (Isaiah 60:19 LSB)
Notice that throughout the description of the city, there are materials that are ordinarily opaque that are described as clear. Revelation 21:18 “18 And the material of the wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold, like pure glass.” and Revelation 21:21 “21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.” There will be no shadows, no darkness, no lack of brilliance of any kind. The city is one massive diamond gem. This will be a place of unending, unbelievable, immeasurable beauty.
There was a rich man who was distressed on hearing he could take none of his riches to heaven. He pleaded with God to make an exception. Finally, God said, "Okay, whatever you can fit into a garbage bag can be brought in."
The man immediately thought of gold. He joyfully went and spent his time accumulating gold. Then, it came time for him to die. He went to the pearly gates, a black garbage bag filled with gold in tow. When the angels questioned him about the bag the man declared that God allowed it.
When it was confirmed, they asked him if they could see what was so special inside this bag. The man proudly opened the bag to show them its contents. The angels looked at each other in bewilderment. Then one of them asked the man, "Why did you bring pavement?" (Derrick Tuper, Sermon Central)
Notice also that everything is in perfect symmetry. We have twelve gates, with the names of the 12 Apostles over each gate, made of one solid piece of pearl, and at the gates are twelve angels. What does that mean? It means that at the New Jerusalem, there will be twelve gates made of one solid piece of pearl, and at the gates are twelve angels. There are also 12 foundation stones that contain the 12 tribes of Israel.
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, (Ephesians 2:20 LSB)
The other thing we should notice of the New Jerusalem is its enormity in size. Revelation 21:16-17 “16 And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, 12,000 stadia; its length and width and height are equal. 17 And he measured its wall, 144 cubits, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.” I think John included the later part of verse 17 to confound those who try to allegorize or spiritualize the description. 30 feet is 30 feet for people the same that it is for angels.
According to the measurements found in Revelation 21:16, the size of the city is 1,380 miles cubed. 1,380 miles is a little longer than going from Jacksonville, FL to Portland ME. Now you may wonder how all the redeemed are going to live in a place just under 1400 miles cubed. Listen to how Henry Morris (a scientist) describes the vastness of such a place:
“This kind of geometry makes it easier to understand how all the redeemed of all ages could be living in a single city. Although there’s no way to know precisely how many people will be there, one can make at least a somewhat accurate guess. It can be calculated,” – he says – “that the total number of people who have lived between Adam’s time and our time is about 40 billion. Then assuming that a similar number will be born during the millennium, because of the conditions, and allowing another 20 billion who died before or soon after death and never really populated the earth, it is reasonable that about 100 billion men, women, and children could have been members of the human race, past, present and future.
“Assume, for the sake of argument, that twenty percent of these will be saved, including all of those who die in infancy. It’s obviously only a guess, but the Lord Jesus did make it plain that the large majority will never be saved, right? If this figure is used, then the new Jerusalem would have to accommodate 20 billion residents. Also assume that twenty-five percent of the city is used for the dwelling places of the inhabitants, with the rest allocated to streets, parks, public buildings, etcetera.”
Morris says that that the average space assigned to each person would correspond to a cubicle block with about seventy-five acres on each face. Obviously, there’s adequate room in the holy city for all who will be there. Yes, it is big enough!
Finally, notice there is no temple in the New Jerusalem. God will literally occupy the whole of the new heaven. There’s no need for a temple, no need to go to church, no need for a place of worship, or even a day of worship. We will be the worshippers God has always sought. We will live in the eternal manifested glory of God. Revelation 21:22.
And I saw no sanctuary in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its sanctuary. (Revelation 21:22 LSB)
It will be as pure and beautiful as God originally intended His creation to be, and the presence of Satan, the fallen angels, sin, and anything that could defile it, according to verse 27 will be there. How can you know that you will be there? Be sure your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
