Welcome to The MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my 169th episode. In this episode I want to continue with our study of the book of Revelation. We are in chapter 21. This episode is like a part two to the previous episode. In the previous episode we took a look at verses 1-8 and in this episode we will finish with verses 9-27. If you haven’t listened to the first part of this chapter I suggest checking it out. The first eight verses of this chapter function like an introduction to the vision of the new Jerusalem. The remainder of the chapter tightens the focus and gives a more particular revelation. This chapter is one of great hope which Christians should lean on when life is difficult and unfair tragedies strike them. God is good and the perfection of heaven reflects His goodness and His love for us. Let’s read verses 9-27:
Rev 21:9 Then one of the seven angels who had 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.”
Rev 21:10 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,
Rev 21:11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very valuable stone, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
Rev 21:12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
Rev 21:13 There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.
Rev 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Rev 21:15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.
Rev 21:16 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, twelve thousand stadia; its length, width, and height are equal.
Rev 21:17 And he measured its wall, 144 cubits, by human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.
Rev 21:18 The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
Rev 21:19 The foundation stones of the city wall were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
Rev 21:20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
Rev 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.
Rev 21:22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
Rev 21:23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Rev 21:24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
Rev 21:25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;
Rev 21:26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;
Rev 21:27 and nothing unclean, 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.
John’s vision of the new Jerusalem was presented to him by one of the seven angels who had the bowls full of the seven last plagues. By observing the angel in this chapter we can see how God chooses to use angels for all manner of work. Sometimes angels are called on to warn the wicked of impending judgment. Other times angels are tasked with carrying out God’s judgment. And sometimes they are used to reveal insight to God’s prophets – as is the case with the apostle John and this heavenly revelation. Angels are different from human beings in that they never hesitate to obey God’s will. When God instructs them to do something they execute the plan immediately. Humanity struggles on this point because unfailing obedience to God requires a great deal of faith in Him. Often we claim to follow God on faith when in reality we’ve already plotted our own course and retained control of the situation. I’m not suggesting wisdom or self-control are bad things at all, I’m just saying that sometimes we can’t see the goodness in God’s plan and the only faithful option is to trust that He will work it out for the ultimate good. Even when the world has ended and God’s redemptive plan is complete, His angels will continue to stand at the ready to carry out His work for all eternity.
When the angel gave John this vision he took John up onto a high mountain. Undoubtedly John was in a state of spiritual rapture – it was probably the kind of experience that alters your life forever. From this elevated position John could see distant lands and cities. One idea here that if you wish to get a better view of heaven you should always be aiming up. Focus and meditate on all that is good, and practice spiritual disciplines like prayer and reading your Bible. These are good ways to reach up closer to heaven while not losing your grounding here on earth. As Christians we want to avoid building our faith entirely around what’s good in this moment and around our mortal lives. I’m not saying to neglect these things, but I’m saying maintaining your well-being in the here and now is very difficult to do without thinking in terms of eternity. We should always keep the promised land in our minds because Jesus is trustworthy and heaven is an integral part of the story He has revealed to us. To forget about heaven and to live as if this life is all you have is to make a perceptual error when it comes to the truth about reality. Acting on a belief system which excludes the truth of heaven will cause unnecessary difficulties in your life on earth. So always keep heaven on your mind.
The vision given to John by the angel revealed the church of God in her glorious, perfect, and triumphant condition. This gathering of the saints is represented by Jerusalem in this passage. Again, you can take the vision of the new Jerusalem literally but I also think it’s useful to pull apart the layers of meaning. When this broken world passes away and the new is ushered in the church will shine in the glory of God. The beauty which the church shall enjoy is beauty imparted to her by Jesus Christ. Indeed, the goodness of the church today as well as the goodness which flows through us as individuals is a reflection of the goodness of God.
The sanctification which transforms your heart and makes you like Jesus is a free gift given to you by the grace of God. You cannot be righteous on your own, but because He loves you Jesus covers you in His own perfect righteousness. He uses us as broken vessels to do His good work in the world. That’s why when we do good things we should always glorify God and when we watch others do good things we should remember to thank God and give Him the credit. Otherwise we run the risk of thinking ourselves or our neighbors can be righteous on their own merit. This false apprehension will lead to disappointment on the order of betrayal once we realize our idols are just as fallen as we are. What follows in this passage is a description of the heavenly church under the emblem of a city which is the new Jerusalem. John was given descriptions of both the exterior and the interior part of the city.
First is a description of the wall and the gates of the city. When we get to heaven we will finally be in a safe place. We will be protected by God Himself and eternally separated from all evil and all enemies. The wall in John’s vision is 144 cubits or about 70 yards high. The wall was made of jasper which is a precious gemstone. This wall surrounding the new Jerusalem is both precious and impenetrable. The security which attends a relationship with God through Jesus Christ is quite similar. As Christians we count the spiritual security which God gives us as precious. It’s a peacefulness which goes beyond comprehension. I want to be careful to avoid suggesting bad things will never happen to you if you are a Christian. A common mistake for Christians is to think God will protect them from all evil or even from the consequences of their own sins. This just isn’t true. Christians all across the world have been subjected to trauma and evil despite their faith and sometimes even because of it. But your salvation is safe and there is no force in heaven or on earth which can take you away from Jesus spiritually. So long as you keep your faith in Christ and your mind fixed on the kingdom of God, your spirit will be surrounded with precious and impenetrable walls.
Notice the uniformity of the city revealed in John’s vision. The church on earth has long sought this kind of purity and perfection – but it’s never been able to achieve it. The protestant church is divided into many denominations which cause needless animosity between Christians. It also builds up unnecessary barriers which prevent people from loving each other and fostering healthy relationships. These kinds of things can even happen under the roof of one church when it splits over trivial issues. But the new Jerusalem, which represents the church perfected, will be triumphant in unity under Jesus.
Another standout feature of this new city is the sheer size of it. The Bible measures it at 12,000 furlongs or 12,000 stadia on each side. This works out to be somewhere around 1,380 miles on each side or 1.9 million square miles. To give you an idea of just how massive this city is, the largest city in the world by area today is only 4,669 square miles. This is what Jesus means when He says there are many mansions in the Father’s house. Our God is big and His infinite wisdom and strength is reflected in the vastness of the cosmos as well as the unimaginable size of the new Jerusalem.
This great city is described to have twelve foundations which symbolically represent the twelve apostles of Jesus. The city of God is founded on the promise and power of God and our place there is purchased by the blood of Christ. Sometimes we wonder how it’s possible to live eternally in a state of safety and happiness – but these questions are born of the fact that all we know is our broken world. We don’t have the frame of reference to understand what life will be like when our well-being is built entirely on the power of God. The twelve foundations represent the twelve apostles preaching the gospel which built the church as we know it in this world. Jesus Christ Himself is the chief cornerstone of the gospel, the church here on earth, and the future new Jerusalem. The composition of these foundations is a variety of precious stones which denotes the excellency of the doctrines of the gospel, the graces of the Holy Spirit, and the personal excellencies of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The gates to the city represent the accessibility of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus, by His sacrifice, opened a way for us to walk into the holiest place of all which is the presence of God Himself. All who are justified by their faith in Christ are given free access into heaven. The Spirit of God sanctifies our hearts so that we are not shut out from Him in eternity. We have to be careful not to be thrown off by the number of gates revealed in this vision. John saw twelve gates but there is only one way to the Father and that is through the Son. That’s why Jesus said no one comes to the Father except through Him. The twelve gates in this vision represent the twelve tribes of Israel. These gates show us that all who makeup God’s chosen people will be welcomed into the new Jerusalem. Stationed at the gates are twelve angels who receive the faithful into the city of God. The names of the twelve tribes of Israel are inscribed on the gates to show that the tree of life is the inheritance of all who follow Jesus.
There are three gates on each side of the city and there are four sides to the city. This shows us that people from all directions are bound for heaven and shall be received there. Jesus doesn’t favor individuals on the basis of race or ethnicity the way humanity tends to. Entrance into heaven is equally free and accessible to all people from the west, north, east, or south. The most powerful kings on earth are no more favored than a lowly prisoner who has given his heart over to Jesus. Jesus is the great equalizer across all dimensions whether they be economic, ethnic, or geographical. There will be people of all languages from all different generations in the kingdom of heaven.
The gates to the city are made of pearls and each gate is made up of one pearl. This could mean the pearl is singular and massive or it could also mean each gate is made up of the same type of pearl. I don’t think there’s anything on earth which can prepare us for the goodness, glory, and magnificence of God. There’s no natural phenomenon by which we can measure His majesty. John used the most valuable resources he could conceptualize to describe the city of God – but undoubtedly these also will fall short of it’s actual beauty. That’s the thing to keep in mind when reading chapters like this one. John was given a revelation and his descriptions of what he saw are merely human representations of a divine reality. That’s not to say his account in unreliable – indeed all Scripture is breathed out by God and is perfectly reliable. But it’s just to say if words existed which could describe heaven to us we certainly would not be able to understand them. There’s nothing we can give which is valuable enough to purchase entrance into the city of God. God understands this and that’s why Jesus came to earth to bridge the gap between our fallen world and the perfection of the hereafter.
Inside the city the first thing you’ll notice is a street which John describes as made of pure gold transparent as glass. I think this is meant to show that even the most valuable substances here on earth are merely walked upon in the kingdom of heaven. The city of God is so marvelous and so desirable that even its streets are made of the finest gold. Everything in the city is ordered and each one of us has our proper place there. We serve a God of order and peace. It’s also the case that heaven will be action oriented and we won’t be passively floating in the presence of God. We will walk in His light and we will be in communion with Him as well as with each other. The chaotic anxiety of uncertainty will be gone forever and every step we take will be on stable footing. Sin and evil will have passed away so there will be nothing to cause us shame in heaven. Like the streets of gold which are found there, we ourselves will be as transparent as glass in terms of our character.
When John saw the city of God he noticed there was no temple in it. The temple in the old Jerusalem was used to carry out the sacrificial ordinances established by God in the law. There is no longer any need for these ordinances in heaven. God Himself will be our temple because we will finally be in perfect and immediate communion with Him. That’s really the entire story of life: Adam and Eve walked in communion with God, then came the Fall, then came Jesus to redeem humanity so that we may walk in communion with God once more. Our lives are like preparation for heaven and the gospel is the key piece of information which restores our relationship with God so that His Spirit may transform our hearts.
In heaven there will be neither sun nor moon. These will no longer be needed for light because the kingdom of heaven it lit by the glory of God Himself. Sunlight brings hope, warmth, and pleasure into our lives right now. Sunlight also exposes wickedness and chases the darkness away. We are drawn to light because we are designed to live in the light of our creator. As wonderful as light feels in this life, the light of the glory of God will reach beyond comparison. In heaven Jesus Christ will be an everlasting fountain of knowledge and joy for us to bask in. Our God is gracious and He shines the warmth of the sun on both the righteous and the wicked in this life. But in heaven the faithful will live in the perfect light of God and these earthly comforts will no longer be necessary any more than candlelight is necessary during the height of the day.
John saw multitudes of people when this glimpse of heaven was revealed to him. It was probably more people than we can imagine because they are saved from all nations and all generations. Each person will have been sealed by the blood of Jesus on earth and saved in heaven. In the city of God there will reside people from all walks of life. There will be those who were dignitaries on earth like great kings and rulers. There will also be those who were of a lowly station like prisoners and slaves. In heaven your earthly glory will become irrelevant because it will be swallowed up by the heavenly glory afforded to each child of God. This heavenly glory is worth so much more and gives you a position eternally higher than even the most vaunted kings on earth. The gates to the kingdom of heaven will never be shut because there will be no danger there. The sanctified in Christ Jesus will be able to move about with abundant freedom and without any need for restriction. In our most prosperous societies on earth we can create facsimiles of this freedom (indeed we’ve done so in the western world). But nothing we’ve been able to do in the way of liberty will match the divine freedom we will have in heaven with Jesus Christ. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
Freedom is one of the good things we share in this life. There are many other good things like satisfying meals, loving relationships, and finer things like that. All of these good and valuable things will be there for us in heaven as well – but they will be there a degree we can’t really imagine right now. They will be refined and purified so that we will enjoy them as they were always meant to be. Our materials will be cleaner and brighter, our meals will be ever more delicious, and our sense of honor and love will be set free from the negativity which attends being part of the fallen world. There’s probably no word or no frame of reference to describe the mood you will experience in heaven. The best we can do is picture our most cherished memories and understand that even these memories were made in the matrix of a fallen creation. The truth is heaven will bring peace, meaning, love, and joy which goes eternally beyond even your brightest moments in this life.
When we get to heaven all of us will be purified of the wickedness which defiles our nature. When we die and we experience glorification the Spirit of God will have finished His work of sanctification and we will be just like Jesus – sinless and perfected. Even the most faithful servants of God here on earth struggle with a mixture of grace and corruption. Sin continuously interrupts our communion with God and we don’t know what it’s like to experience the direct light of His countenance without this hindrance. But when we get to heaven we will be covered in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and thus we will be presented to the holy Father without blemish. Even the most well-operated churches on earth must deal with corruption and wickedness sprouting in the midst of the faithful.
On earth there’s no where we can go to escape sin and evil because these things spring up inside our own hearts. That’s why, despite atrocious efforts, humanity has ever been able to construct a perfect society on earth. Such a society is impossible if humans are going to be a part of it. But this will not be the case in heaven. In heaven those who are profane or who work abominations will be gone forever. Generation after generation we hear about religious leaders using their public standing to work evil or to glorify themselves. Such occurrences will not be found in heaven. The sacred will be pure and safe from desecration forever.
On earth it is all too difficult for us to judge the hearts of others. That’s one of the reasons we’re instructed against condemning other people and encouraged to be merciful. None of us are omniscient so none of us and see into the condition of another person’s heart. This fact and this limited insight is perhaps one of the leading causes of pain in this world. We just don’t know when and where evil is going to corrupt the heart of a person and cause him or her to do something terrible. We try so hard to protect ourselves and others from the wolf in sheep’s clothing but one of the tragedies of life is that we’re never perfect at it. We’re not even effective enough at protecting our own hearts from such corruption.
In this life there are snakes everywhere and you can never slip into the naivety of believing you are safe from evil. It is much better to face this wickedness head-on by faith that the Spirit of God is infinitely more powerful than the darkest spirits which infect humanity. It is much better to face the realities of tragedy and evil and to find your peace of mind in Jesus by knowing that He has already overcome the world – and with Him by your side so will you. The Holy Spirit resides in your heart to protect you from corruption by the principalities and powers of this world, Jesus has beaten death itself so that you will live, and heaven is perfectly protected by the Everlasting Father who sees in secret.
If you enjoy this podcast, please rate it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to it. You can follow The MHB Podcast on Facebook or Twitter @mhbpodcast. Tell your friends about it and share it on social media. If you’d like email notifications of new episodes or if you’d like to support my work directly, please consider becoming a paid subscriber on my website at mhbpodcast.com. This work is made possible by listener support so your generosity is greatly appreciated. Thank you all for joining me, and I will see you in the next episode.
The MHB Podcast 