The Jewels Of Heaven

THE JEWELS OF HEAVEN based on Rev. 21:9-21

By Glenn Pease

Henry Schober of Edmonton, Canada, was cutting a loaf of bread to make a sandwich, when he his amazement he found a diamond engagement ring. It was later appraised at $700. As a result of a lot of publicity, the owner of the ring was found. It is not likely that gem favored bread will ever catch on, but the fact is, there are many gems in the Bread of life--the Word of God. Not just gems of truth, but actual literal gems. There are hundreds of verses in the Bible dealing with over 50 jewels and precious stones. It would take hours just to read all that the Bible has to say about gems. The KJV has an astonishing total of 1,704 references to gemstones and minerals under 124 Greek and Hebrew names. You could devote a life time to the study of this subject.

There are three main lists of gems in the Bible, and one of them takes us back to Eden where we thought the only clothes worn were drab animal skins. But there is a lot we do not know about what was going on in the heavenly realm at that time. It seems that the archangel Lucifer was rebelling against God in pride, and was cast out of heaven before he came to deceive Eve through the serpent. What is amazing is the beauty of this servant of God. Satan is the first being that we have any record of who was clothed with precious stones. In Ezek. 28, he is described as the model of perfection in beauty. Then in 28:13 we read, "You were in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared."

This verse makes it clear that jewelry was not man's invention at all. God was making jewelry of great beauty, with gold and precious stones, before man was ever created. He made Satan a fabulous garment of jewelry when he was created, which was long before man was created. So the study of jewelry is not only prehistoric, but preexistence of the universe. In other words, jewels existed in God's realm of existence in eternity before God created what we know as the universe. Jewels are heavenly elements that existed before the universe, and will be a part of heaven when the universe, as we know it, is no more. There are fascinating histories of great jewels, and how they have been passed down from one royal family to another for centuries. All of them will end up in the royal family of God, who will, in eternity, possess all the jewels God has ever made.

God was a jeweler before He created our world, and thus we see from the start, God is a great lover of jewels. This explains why He is so extravagant with them in the walls of the New Jerusalem. If artists and architects got together to plan the New Jerusalem, they may have thought that a crown of diamonds and rubies over each of the twelve gates would give an elaborate and luxurious look to it. Who would ever dream of twelve strings of precious stones circling the entire 5,600 miles of the city walls. I have calculated that this is equivalent to a necklace which is 67,200 miles long. You don't have to get out your Guinness Book of Records--I can assure you that this is the longest piece of jewelry ever created. It would stretch over two and one half times around the world.

So let's face this fact--God is fanatical about jewels. If you think it is a waste of time to study jewels, you are mistaken. God loves us to study them, just like anyone enjoys people who learn to love their hobby.

God made jewels play a major role in the life of His Old Testament people, in the second great list we see this. The high priest was to wear a special breast piece when he came into the presence of God. It was to be a marvelous work of art made of gold and fine linen. Then we read this in Ex. 28:17-21, "Then mount four row of precious stones on it. In the first row there shall be a ruby, a topaz and a beryl; in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald; in the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper. Mount them in gold filigree settings. There are to be 12 stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the 12 tribes."