Today’s world seems to be completely dysfunctional. Every time I turn on the news I don’t know about you, but I get disgusted. Depressed even. Shootings occurring just blocks from my house. Robberies and break-ins in my own neighborhood!
This past October someone went on a murder spree in a little town in the state of Maine. So sad and despicable. Did you know there has already been over 530 mass shootings this year in the US? A mass shooting is defined when more than three people are shot. Over 530!! In 10 months!
Then we have Hamas invading Israel
Israel responds and invades Gaza
Mass graves are found in Sudan
Of course, there is the ongoing war in Ukraine
China and the Philippines arguing over an island only 5 sq miles big.
Senseless! Endless death. Endless wars. Desperate famine growing over the earth.
I think it is time for a reset don’t you? Otherwise, things seem rather hopeless on this little blue marble in the galaxy. I believe the book of Revelation gives us some hope.
PRAYER
Revelation gives us so much information. Some off it may be distressful, some scary but, some is very hopeful to those of us weary from what we are living with today on earth.
This last of the 66 books of the Bible kind of brings us full circle. Back in Genesis we begin our journey in the Bible with an empty hole in space. Verse 1 of Genesis 1 starts with “in the beginning.” God creates earth, stars and the moon. Day and night is created. Followed by God forming the earth with mountains and seas, plants and animals and ends with man.
God then places man in the Garden of Eden and tells him that he, man, has dominion over all of earth. (Genesis 1:26, 28) The dominion God granted man included all creation and the earth itself. He also instructed man to be fruitful and multiply.
As we all know, man sinned and was kicked out of Eden. Eventually, Eden was removed from earth. However, God’s authority granted to man to have dominion was never rescinded. David mentions it in Psalms 8.
So, what has man done with that authority? He has domesticated many animals to be food or pets. He has tilled the soil to grow crops and gardens.
He has built villages, towns and cities.
He has developed commerce and art.
He has beautified and destroyed.
Plundered and exploited. In other words, man has done both useful things and ruined things.
Over the millennia’s that man has been on earth God has watched, walked, assisted and spoke with man. At the same time he has rejoiced and cried. But, one thing is certain God has never forgotten about man nor left man alone. Yet, Satan has continued his inexorable determination to separate man from God. While pursuing this course of action all of man’s activities and creative endeavors have been tinged with the corrupting influence of sin.
Over the centuries, man has built and created. Wonderful cities have been built. The Bible and historians have mentioned many such as;
Babylon
Jerusalem
Ninevah
Sodom
Athens
Rome.
All of these cities demonstrated the ingenuity and creativity of man. Yet, they have also come short of what man intended because of sin. Man has also taken the meaning God intended with the phrase to exercise ‘dominion’ over the earth by creating powerful political entities and empires such as:
Babylon
Persia
Greece
Rome. But, again each of these failed and interestingly, each empire was weaker than the empire before it. Just as Daniel told us would happen in Daniel 2.
In spite of all the bad and terrible things that have occurred over the millenia since God created man and breathed life into his nostrils, man still has been able to create beauty.
In what is often referred to as the ancient world we can see the beauty of architecture in the Pyramids on the plains outside Cairo, Egypt and the temples to Anubis in Luxor. Then there is the Parthenon in Greece. The Van Fortress in Turkey. Persepolis in Persia. All of these were constructed before Christ was crucified on the cross. With the exception of Persepolis, all are still standing.
In art man has also created beauty. There is the bust of Nefertiti in Egypt which was created over 1,300 years before Christ. The statue of Poseidon crafted in Greece 400 years before Christ. There is the Terracotta warriors of China which were created 300 years before Christ.
These are just some examples of the beauty man has created in ancient history.
During the Middle Ages man decided that beautiful architecture should be prominently displayed by the churches and cathedrals they entered to worship God. Some beautiful examples can be found in Duomo in Florence, Italy, St. Peter’s in Rome, Notre Dome in Paris, France and Westminster Abbey in London, England. Additionally, you have the Palace of Versailles in Paris.
Man can create beauty, sometimes even magnificently. Yet it too is still tinged with sin.
Creativity is not exclusive to art though. Man has shown creativity in Commerce such as the banking system, including loans that the Arabs crafted over 1500 years ago and built upon by the Templar Knights around 1100 AD. Mechanical clocks were first crafted by the Chinese almost 1,800 years ago. The ancient Greeks created a vending machine for holy water over 2,000 years ago!
Why do I mention these things? Lets go back to Genesis chapter 1:26. God says “Let us make man in our own image...” Not only were we created to look like God and the Angels, he also gave us the intelligence and creativity. Certainly, we were not given the ability to create planets, plants and animals out of thin air, but we were given intelligence to create art and architecture. We knew husbandry of animals and horticulture of plants.
Being given dominion over Earth involved more than giving animals a name! It certainly did not mean creating empires by killing people and demolishing their homes and villages. That was sin corrupting God’s plans.
God intended on us maximizing the beauty of what he provided us with the Garden of Eden. Despite what has happened since sin corrupted earth, he still wants what he provided in Eden to be part of our life.
God will incorporate the best of human achievement within New Jerusalem. Achievements that include art, music and commerce.
This modern world of ours is not what God wanted. Death, disease, war, famine, pollution was never intended to be part of our world. Yet, it is part of prophecy of what is to occur before Christ comes again.
To give us hope we find many references in the Old Testament alluding that we will have a new home that is free from all we now suffer. No more death, disease war or famine. Ezekiel chapter 48, Joel chapter 3, Zechariah chapter 2 and of course Isaiah all tell us that there will be a new home free from sin.
Isaiah has numerous chapters (11, 35, 55 and 65 for example) giving us hope of a Savior and a new home. As the Pastor mentioned there are over 2,000 references in the Old Testament about Christ. There are nearly 100 references to a new earth. All of these references find there culmination in Revelation.
When we are introduced to Revelation we find that John is on the island of Patmos when he is taken into vision by God. Initially, he is told to write down what he is shown in the visions and that no one is to change one letter or word that John was to write.
The alternative name for Revelation is the Apocalypse of John as it shows what will occur in the end times. It tells us that there will be interference from Satan among our churches. Interference which will become more active and troubling as the last days of earth come closer. Thus, we have guidance given to the 7 churches. A message that is not just for the churches listed as history, has shown that the issues that plagued those churches have been found in many, many churches over time.
The guidance to the seven churches is followed by the 7 seals,
The 7 trumpets
The 7 bowls each with a different plague
There is also the 3 Angels message, the description of Christ on the White Horse and the fall of Babylon.
Finally, we come to the reward of the Saints. Satan and his followers are defeated in a great battle which results in Satan banished for a 1,000 years.
In Chapter 21 we see the final culmination of the The Great Controversy and that is a new earth and a new Jerusalem.
John had been taken to a high mountain so that he may an unimpeded view of the New Jerusalem descending from heaven. John states that the city is beautiful as beautiful as a bride for her groom on their wedding day. John also contrasts the old with the new.
He states that a New (kainos) earth and a New Jerusalem is the setting. The Greek word kainos means renewed rather than replaced. So substituting renewed in the verse it would be “I saw a renewed Jerusalem descend from heaven onto a renewed earth.”
I think this is an important point. God created Earth to be perfect for humanity. Why would He want to destroy and start over again. Earth was perfect and so was his creation, Man. So no, he would not destroy, but he would cleanse all of the corruption of sin. He would cleanse Earth, Jerusalem and more importantly, man.
Richard Bauckham, a professor of Theology at St. Mary’s College, put it this way in his book, The Theology of the book of Revelation; “In the beginning God had planted a garden for humanity to live in. In the end he will give them a city. In the New Jerusalem the blessings of paradise will be restored, but the New Jerusalem is more than paradise regained. As a city it fulfills humanity’s desire to build out of nature a human place of human culture and community. True it is given by God and so comes down from heaven. But this does not mean humanity makes no contribution to it. It consummates human history insofar as these have been dedicated to God...The city that both includes paradise unspoiled and is adorned with the beauty of paradise points to that harmony of nature and human culture to which ancient cities once aspired but which modern cities have increasingly betrayed.”
As amazing as it seems New Jerusalem built and crafted by God and perfect in every way, will also include ‘improvements’ by humanity. All of humanity taken up by God will be able to contribute. That is because God has given us talents. Talents that many of us did not even realize we had.
Additionally, this will be another defeat for Satan. God is telling Satan that he, God creates perfection and even though Satan tried to corrupt and destroy everything and everybody, God has rescued and redeemed everything, including us and brought it back to its pure and perfect state.
Turning now back to Patmos, John then says in Revelation 21:3 there is loud voice that comes from heaven. The loud voice proclaims to all that not only is the New Jerusalem descending to it’s new home on Earth, but that God will dwell in the city with mankind for evermore.
William Barclay in his commentary on Revelation states that this is a fulfillment of a long held dream of the Jews. The old Jerusalem had been conquered on more than one occasion. The temple had been violated and destroyed. Yet, the Hebrews had clung to the visions in Isaiah, Haggai and Ezekial that a New Jerusalem would replace the old. John is now stating that the promise of a New Jerusalem has been fulfilled.
Secondly, many Jews still recite a prayer first begun after the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. In their prayer they request that God return with compassion for his people and reside on the throne of David and establish his home therein. Revelation 21:3 tells us that God will descend with the New Jerusalem and dwell with man. The fulfillment of another promise a promise of fellowship with God.
Continuing with John’s vision, in verse 11 he begins to describe the city. He first tells us that it shined with the Glory of God. The light was like a precious stone similar to Jasper and yet as clear as a crystal.
He tells us surrounding the city is a high wall with 12 gates and an angel at each gate. On each gate is the name of one of the tribes of Israel. There are three gates on each side of the wall. Each gate has an angel on guard and the name of one of the tribes of Israel. 12 gates. 12 Angels. 12 tribes of Israel.
Then John says the city is laid out on 12 foundations and each foundation is named after one of the 12 Apostles.
In prophetic terms, the number 12 symbolizes completion. The arrival of New Jerusalem onto the renewed Earth brings to an end the story of the Great Controversy. A completion to the war between Satan and God.
The verse continues with the angel taking a golden reed and measures the length width and height of the city. Now, depending on which translation of the Bible you have, the measurement can be given in cubits, furlongs or stadia. After doing all the math to put into a measurement we understand the city is a perfect cube. It measures 1,500 miles long, 1,500 miles wide and 1,500 miles tall. Another way of putting it is that it covers 2,250,000 square miles. Plenty of room for all of us!
Finally, the wall itself is over 200 feet thick. Very stout.
John tells us the wall was made of Jasper and clear as glass. Each foundation was also made of precious stones. He names each of the gems: Jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, sardonyx, ruby, peridot, beryl, topaz, amethyst, jacinth, chrysopase and emerald. 12 foundations, 12 precious gems. One should note that nine of these gems were also used on Aaron’s priestly breastplate.
We are also told that each of the gates were composed of pearls. 12 gates, 12 pearls. Again a sense of completion.
In verse 22 John notes there is no temple in the city. But then he reminds us that the city had no need of sun or moon because the glory of God provided all the illumination needed. If one were to go back to Genesis and read the description of the tabernacle that God had the Jews build for their trip across the desert you will note that the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle was infused with the glory of God. The Hebrew term for glory is shikinah. In Revelation 21:23 the word used to describe glory is also shikinah.
One should also note that the measurements given to Aaron and Moses for the building of the portable tabernacle was also equal in length, width and height. A perfect cube. Thus, the New Jerusalem which shines with the shikinah glory of God and is built in a perfect cube means that the entire city is also the tabernacle of God. The temple of God resides on earth with man. God will not need another place to abide as He will be with His people for eternity.
God promised that he will make Israel his people and to be their God. He promised that he will never forsake them. This echoes throughout the Old Testament. “I will make my abode among you...and I will walk among you. I will be your God and you will by my people.” Leviticus 26: 11,12.
“I will be their God and they will be my people.” Jeremiah 31:33
“My dwelling place shall be with them; I will be their God and they will be my people. Ezekiel 37:27
“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” Song of Solomon 6:3
We have always been in God’s thoughts. He never wanted us to live in a sinful world. Never wanted us to suffer, be hungry or fall victim to disease and death. With the end of the world as we currently know it God has recreated and renewed the world. He will also renew us physically and mentally and restore us into his presence. Again, we see this promise percolate through out the Old Testament.
“They shall obtain joy and gladness....and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Isaiah 35:10
“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.” Isaiah 25:8
In Revelation 21:4 we see these promises fulfilled. “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Behold I make all things new.”
In verse 7 we see another promise fulfilled, “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be my son.”
I began this sermon by reviewing all the terrible events announced on the nightly news back in October. It is now November and nothing has changed. It made me wonder how can I and my family survive in such a horrid world. It leaves no doubt why the diagnosis of depression is increasing among people. The world is not supplying us with hope that this will all end. Indeed, based on what I have seen on TV and heard on the radio things are only getting worse.
When I opened the Bible and read what John has recorded in Revelation my depression has turned to hope. God has not forgotten my family and I. God has not forgotten his people. He is now preparing a place, a home for us all.
I have referenced ‘the Great Controversy’ a couple times as an event. However, you might recall there is a book by that title. So, let me read what Ellen G. White has to say. I will be reading from pages 674 and 675.
.......
We not only have the hope that this world will end and something grand and beautiful will replace it. A city for us. A city full of beautiful music and art. Shining bright as the sun with the shikinah glory of God. Even better it is not just a hope, it is a promise from God!
Henry Wright left us with a wonderful quote, “The handkerchief of Revelation will wipe away the tears of Genesis.”
Let me close with Revelation 22:17, “And the spirit and bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who thirsts, Come! Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely,”
