At one point or another, most of us have felt the need for a fresh start in life. One Friday night, we finished our work, and looked at our paycheck, and decided that it wasn't worth it. We were tired of difficult bosses, or rude customers, or just the work itself. We looked at our job, and decided that it'd be easier to start over somewhere else, than try to fix things where we were.
Many of us, when we were still dating, looked at our girlfriends or boyfriends at some point, and told ourselves that they weren't worth it. At first, all we could see was the good, and the attractive. And then, when we got to know them, we started seeing more and more flaws. The relationship became more and more difficult, and we decided it'd be better to start over with someone else.
Even once we are married, my guess is that many of us have struggled with this at some point. You wake up one day, and look over at your spouse sleeping, and you think, "What a mistake." You find yourself wondering if it'd be better to start over with someone else. You want a fresh start.
Or even with church. Sometimes, we struggle to get along with each other. We talk to each other in ways that we're embarrassed by, when we think about them later. In the heat of the moment, we made a big deal about things that were small things. We realize we were immature, and didn't show each other grace. When that happens, it's much easier to leave, and start over at the church down the street, than to seek forgiveness, and reconciliation, and patch things up.
Life is often hard. It often doesn't work out, nearly as well as we'd hoped. And we find ourselves longing for a new life-- a better life. We want a fresh start.
At the same time, we know it's hard to make a truly fresh start. Quit a job, and you'll probably find that the new job isn't as amazing as you'd hoped. Break up with a girlfriend or boyfriend, and there's no guarantee you'll find someone better. Divorce your spouse, even though, as a rule, God hates divorce except in cases like unfaithfulness, or abuse. Go through with it, and you'll probably find your life is harder, and more complicated, on the other side. And when you break up with someone, whether it's dating or marriage, you'll usually find that you gave someone a piece of your heart. Maybe, you broke promises. You betrayed trust. You don't usually come out any relationship whole.
So, there are times when we want a fresh start. But it's rare, when we truly get to start something over. A truly clean break, is a hard to find. Running, often doesn't fix our problems. Most of the time, our attempts at a fresh start are messy. We leave a train wreck of broken relationships and promises behind.
So life is often hard. There's no easy solution. There's no easy escape. And this is true for everyone. The world is a tough place. But for Christians, it's especially true. We've seen in Revelation, that the church will often suffer. Christians will be hunted. They'll be boycotted, and jailed, and killed. Wealth and power flow out, toward Babylon. We maybe have a few small luxuries we allow ourselves, but the true luxury belongs to others.
In Genesis 1, at the end of God's creating the world, He gives the world to people. He gives them authority and dominion over it, to rule over it. But what ends up happening, is that the world only belongs to a few. And those few, as a rule, are those who have been empowered by satan to do his bidding on earth. Satan gives his authority, and throne, and power, to nations, to turn them into evil superpowers. The centers of those superpowers, are Babylons. The Babylons are the center of luxury, and pleasure, and power. And if you don't join Babylon, you're left out.
What we've seen, up to this point in Revelation, is God will one day fix all of this. God will topple his enemies, and ours, one after another. In chapter 18, we hear about the fall of Babylon. In chapter 19, the two beasts are thrown into the lake of fire, and all the kings of the earth were killed by King of Kings. In chapter 20, satan is thrown into the lake of fire. If we find a comfortable chair, and just read from chapter 17 to 20 in one sitting, what we will see is a promise from God, that He will one day wipe out everyone who opposes him. Everyone who destroys the earth (Revelation 11:18), will be gone. Everyone who opposes God, and fights his people, will be gone.
At this point in Revelation, the fate of all of God's enemies has been sealed. Everyone's been judged, one way or another. The world has been cleansed, and purified.
This week, in Revelation 21, the focus is more on our future. What will life look like, on the other side, for those of us who conquer, and are faithful?
Let's start by reading verses 1-2. In these verses, John "sees" something cool:
(1) and I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
For the first heaven and the first earth departed,
and the sea wasn't in it any longer,
(2) and the city-- the holy one-- a new Jerusalem-- I saw descending from heaven from God,
having been prepared like a bride adorned for her husband,
Right now, our universe is divided up in three main ways (arguably): the heavens above, the earth, and the sea below.
What we see in these verses, is a fundamental change to all of that. There is a new heaven, and a new earth. The sea just isn't there. So the old three, have become two new things. And into all of that, John sees the holy city, a New Jerusalem, descending from God. This city is beautiful, like a bride dressed up for her husband.
Let's just pause for a second, and try to see what John sees. Reflect on verses 1-2...
So John sees a new heaven, and a new earth. And into that, he sees "the city" descending from God. It's a holy city. It's a new Jerusalem. And it's beautiful. It's dressed up like a bride, ready for her husband.
If we let ourselves really see this, we will find ourselves encouraged. We maybe have no idea what to make of it. There's a lot of details that John doesn't see. But what John sees, is a fresh start.
So in verses 1-2, John "sees" two separate things. Right? He sees a new heaven and earth. And he sees a new Jerusalem. Starting in verse 3, John is going to "hear" three separate things. And what John hears, shows us how to interpret what he saw. There's an interplay, again, between seeing and hearing.
The first thing John hears, is in verses 3-4:
(3) and I heard a great voice from the throne, saying,
"LOOK! The tabernacle of God [is] with the people,
and He will tabernacle/dwell with them, [Exodus 33:12-16; 40:34-38; 1 Kings 8:9-30]
and they, his peoples, they will be ["his peoples" is focused],
and God himself, with them, He will be ["with them" is focused],
(4) and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,
and death, there will no longer be,
Neither mourning, nor wailing, nor pain will any longer be.
The first things departed (same verb as vs. 1),"
What's the significance of the heavenly city of Jerusalem? What should we see?
God tells us what we should see. For only the second time in the whole book (Revelation 1:8), God himself speaks.
And what God says, is that the main the main thing that we need to see, by far, is this: the heavenly city of Jerusalem is a symbolic way of describing God's presence with his people. The city, is God's tabernacle. His tent. And God will live with his people, inside this tent.
What we are hearing, is kind of a merging together of two different, big ideas in the OT.
We saw in our Exodus study that everything God did in the book for his people, built up to the moment when his glory filled the tabernacle. His goal was to save, and create, a holy people who He would dwell with.
Let's turn to Exodus 33:12-16 (NRSV updated no reason):
12 Moses said to the LORD, “See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ 13 Now if I have found favor in your sight, please show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider, too, that this nation is your people.” 14 He said, “My presence (or: face) will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 And he said to him, “If your presence will not go, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.”
So Moses, pretty boldly, tells God that there's no point in bringing the people out of the wilderness, unless God promises to go with them. Moses wants his presence, or his face, to be with them. And God agrees to this. God travels with the people, in his tabernacle. His tent. Let's turn to Exodus 40:34-38 (NRSV updated no reason):
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36 Whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on each stage of their journey, 37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud[a] by night, before the eyes of all the house of Israel at each stage of their journey.
Later, under King Solomon, the tabernacle is replaced by a temple, built in the city of Jerusalem. At that point, the temple becomes God's earthly home. Or, if you widen your perspective, you could say that Jerusalem, which is the same thing as Mount Zion, becomes God's earthly home. Let's read from Joel 3:17-21 (NRSV updated no reason):
17 So you shall know that I, the LORD your God,
dwell in Zion, my holy mountain.
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
and strangers shall never again pass through it.
18 In that day
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
the hills shall flow with milk,
and all the streambeds of Judah
shall flow with water;
a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD
and water the Wadi Shittim.
19 Egypt shall become a desolation
and Edom a desolate wilderness,
because of the violence done to the people of Judah,
in whose land they have shed innocent blood.
20 But Judah shall be inhabited forever
and Jerusalem to all generations.
21 I will avenge their blood, and I will not clear the guilty,[d]
for the LORD dwells in Zion.
In the OT, God makes an earthly home among his people. First, in the tabernacle. Then, in the temple, in Jerusalem.
I say that, but everyone in the OT is aware that it's more complicated than this. God doesn't fully dwell on earth. Or, you could say, He doesn't only dwell on earth. God also has a heavenly home (1 Kings 8:27; Isaiah 6). So God is genuinely present on earth with his people. But He's also genuinely present in heaven. Maybe we can say that He has two homes.
When we turn back to Revelation 21, what we are seeing is that heaven and earth merge into one. The divide between them disappears. The heavenly city of Jerusalem comes to earth. And God's two homes become one.
So we know that God has lived with his people throughout history. He lived with them in the tabernacle, and in the temple. He lived with them in the person of Jesus. To see Jesus, is to see the Father. And even now, we know that God dwells among us through the Holy Spirit. Each one of us is the Spirit's temple. And we, as a church, are also the Spirit's temple.
God's people know what it's like to have God dwell among them. And we don't know this simply as a theological truth. We've felt God's presence. We've been led by the Spirit. We partner with the Spirit, as a way of life. This isn't abstract, complicated theology. This is normal, everyday life.
But even on our very best of days, when we feel God's anointing on us, when we know we can ask for anything and receive it, when God makes our hands, his hand, and our mouths, his mouth-- even on our very best, closest of days with God, we know that God also still lives in heaven. We know that there is a gap. We know that we never stop seeking God's face, and presence. We know that God can still come closer, and that we can still come closer to God.
But one day, that will change. In God's fresh start, He will dwell directly, and fully, with his faithful people.
At this point, let's reread verse 4:
(4) and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,
and death, there will no longer be,
Neither mourning, nor wailing, nor pain will any longer be.
The first things departed (same verb as vs. 1),"
Right now, life is hard. There's lots of things to cry about. There are reasons to mourn, and sob, and cry out (Revelation 6:9-11). Verse 4 encourages us, by calling these experiences "the first things." They are part of this current heaven and earth. And when God makes a fresh start, these things will disappear as well.
In verse 5, John "hears" God say a second thing:
(5) and He says,
"Write that these words, faithful and true, they are ["faithful and true" is focused],"
When we look at the world, our natural reaction is to assume that life will go on like this forever. Babylon will forever reign as queen, and she will never be a widow (Revelation 18:7). The Beasts will hunt Christians down, forever. We will find ourselves living a world that tests our courage, and our faithfulness, forever.
Verse 5 tells us that these words God has spoken can be trusted. God will come through. God will destroy all of our enemies. He will come to dwell among us.
In verses 6-8, John "hears" God say a third thing. Let's read the whole thing, and then go through verse by verse:
(6) and He said to me,
"It has happened.
I [am] the Alpha (the "A") and the Omega (the "Z"), The Beginning and The End.
I, to the thirsty, I will give water from the spring of water of life, freely/as a gift [contrast 17:4].
(7) The one conquering will inherit these things,
and I will be to him, God,
and he will be to me, a son [2 Samuel 7:14; Psalm 2:7].
(8) Now, to the cowards and the faithless and detestable and murderers and sexually immoral and
sorcerers and idol-servers and all liars-- their share [will be] in the lake burning with fire and sulfur, which is
the second death."
God is the one who has the last word about how this world turns out. He was the one there at the beginning; He will be the one at the end.
Since that's true, He's the one you should attach yourself to. When I used to do tree trimming, I'd often end up 30 or 40 feet off the ground in some tree. Highest I ever got was roughly 85 feet. When you're up that high, you're really careful about which branch you trust your life to, and how you tie that knot. You seek out a branch that looks like it will last forever. You don't trust something that's rotten, or broken.
That's the idea here. God says, "Entrust your life to me. Seek my cup. Seek the One who will always be there. Seek the One whose water gives eternal life."
With this, we come to verse 7. Let's reread it:
(7) The one conquering/overcoming will inherit these things,
and I will be to him, God,
and he will be to me, a son [2 Samuel 7:14; Psalm 2:7].
This fresh start, with God dwelling among his people, and comforting them, and giving them life, is for those who conquer. God's promise to be in a committed family relationship, is given to those who conquer.
What does it mean to conquer? What do you have to conquer? Verse 8 gives us the clearest picture in the book of what conquering means, by showing us the flip side:
(8) Now, to the cowards and the faithless and detestable [17:4] and murderers and sexually immoral [17:2] and sorcerers [17:12-14] and idol-servers and all liars-- their share [will be] in the lake burning with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
What does God want us to conquer?
(1) The fear, that keeps us from openly telling people about Jesus ("cowards").
(2) The desire to compromise by seeking the world AND God ("detestable").
(3) The desire to bow down to idols, and the one true God.
(4) The desire to have spiritual power, apart from God ("sorcery").
(5) The desire to avenge ourselves, and violently resist the Beast ("murderers").
(6) The desire to hide that we follow by the Lamb, by lying, and saying, "I never knew him."
Those are the kinds of things that get you thrown in the lake of fire. Now, this is supposed to scare us, if we find ourselves in this list. But it's not supposed to make us feel hopeless. God gives us this list, so that we can renew our resolve to be conquerors. Today, we repent. We decide again that we will overcome these things. We will be brave, and faithful, and follow the Lamb. We will thirst for God, and his water. We will persevere, so that we get to live with God, in God's fresh start.
Next week, as we continue in Revelation 21, we will find ourselves reading about streets of gold, and pearly gates, and all sorts of precious stones. But we need to remember what's the most important part of all this. The new heavenly Jerusalem is about a fresh start in God's relationship with people. He will create a world where there is no divide between heaven and earth, where He fully lives among his people, and is their God. All the things that make life hard will disappear. God himself will comfort us, by wiping the tears from our eyes. And He will give us the living water, that gives life forever.
And who does God do this for? "Those who conquer."
Translation:
(1) and I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
For the first heaven and the first earth departed,
and the sea wasn't in it any longer,
(2) and the city-- the holy one-- a new Jerusalem-- I saw descending from heaven from God,
having been prepared like a bride adorned for her husband,
(3) and I heard a great voice from the throne, saying,
"LOOK! The tabernacle of God [is] with the people,
and He will tabernacle/dwell with them,
and they, his peoples, they will be ["his peoples" is focused],
and God himself, with them, He will be ["with them" is focused],
(4) and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,
and death, there will no longer be,
Neither mourning, nor wailing, nor pain will any longer be.
The first things departed (same verb as vs. 1),"
(5) and He says,
"Write that these words, faithful and true, they are ["faithful and true" is focused],"
(6) and He said to me,
"It has happened.
I [am] the Alpha (the "A") and the Omega (the "Z"), The Beginning and The End.
I, to the thirsty, I will give water from the spring of water of life, freely/as a gift.
(7) The one conquering will inherit these things,
and I will be to him, God,
and he will be to me, a son.
(8) Now, to the cowards and the faithless and detestable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idol-servers and all liars-- their share [will be] in the lake burning with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.
