Revelation 21:1-27 - Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

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The Holy City

The enemies of the Lamb have been conquered. The Judgment is over. The old condition of things has passed away: cp. Revelation 20:11. Now St. John sees in a vision the blissful glory of heaven, in which the Lamb's redeemed people will dwell for ever.

1-8. The eternal dwelling-place prepared for the redeemed is seen from a distance (Revelation 21:1.), and the voice of God declares what it means (Revelation 21:3-6), and for whom its glories are (Revelation 21:7.).

Three points come out in the description. (1) The Presence of God with the Jew, symbolised by the tabernacle in the wilderness, will now be perfected by His dwelling ('dwell,' lit. 'tabernacle,' Revelation 21:3 cp. John 1:14; RM) with the redeemed of all races ('men,' Revelation 21:3). The 'peoples,' i.e. Gentiles, have become 'His peoples' (Revelation 21:3 RV), and He their Emmanuel ('God.. with them,' Revelation 21:3): cp. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23. He will take from them, and keep from them, all sorrow, pain, and death (cp. Revelation 7:17; Isaiah 25:8; Isaiah 35:10; Isaiah 65:16.), because these belonged to the first dispensation, while now, (2) all things are new. There is a new heaven, i.e. sky, and a new earth (cp. Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22), from which the sea, emblem of unrest and of separation, has departed (Revelation 21:1); there is a new society, 'new Jerusalem' (Revelation 21:2); and 'all things,' i.e. all ways and thoughts and circumstances of existence, are new: cp. 2 Corinthians 5:17; (Revelation 21:5). The word translated 'new' does not signify 'that which has never existed before,' but 'fresh,' 'that which has not been used or worn'; so it may be taken as meaning 'undimmed,' 'unspoilt.' The term 'new Jerusalem' is used figuratively for the divine society of the redeemed in glory, as 'Jerusalem' represents the society of the redeemed on earth: cp. Revelation 20:9; Galatians 4:26. It is a 'city' in the sense of being an organised community: cp. Ephesians 2:19; Hebrews 11:16. The New Jerusalem is compared to a bride (Revelation 21:2-9 contrast Revelation 17:1-5), to denote that the happiness of the redeemed springs from their union with Christ: cp. Isaiah 61:10.; Isaiah 62:1; Matthew 22:3; Matthew 25:10; Luke 12:36; Ephesians 5:25. (3) Those for whom these blessed things are in store: those who thirst for, i.e. intensely desire, God, righteousness, and eternal life, cp. Isaiah 55:1; Matthew 5:6; John 7:37; Romans 2:7; (Revelation 21:6), and who 'overcome' (Revelation 21:7). Thus the chief purpose of the book, in encouraging the tempted and persecuted to overcome by resistance unto death, is maintained to the end. The 'city' is not for those who are too cowardly to endure, who fall from faith and join in heathen abominations (Revelation 21:8).

Related Commentaries of Revelation 21:1

Revelation 21:1-27

1 And 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.

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And 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.

4 And 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.

5 And 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.

6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things;a and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

9 And 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.

10 And 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,

11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

12 And 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:

13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.