The Eternal State
Revelation 21:1
After the solemn scene of eternal judgment, unfolded at the close of the preceding chapter, a vision of the unclouded beauty of the eternal state of blessedness is displayed before our eyes. The contrast is as abrupt as magnificent. No sooner had John recorded the doom of those who appeared before the great white throne than he proceeds: “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” (vs. 1). Isaiah is the first to make mention both of new heavens and a new earth. He says, speaking in the name of Jehovah, “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind” (Isa. 65:17). And again, “As the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain” (Isa. 66:22). However, while the words “new heavens” and “new earth,” appear in the prophecy, it is yet evident from the context of the passages cited that they do not contain the same significance as in our chapter. In Isaiah, indeed, scarcely more is meant than that the heavens and the earth shall be morally new during the millennium, that, as the heavens will be cleared from Satan and Satan’s power (see Eph. 6:12; Rev. 12:10), and the earth will be freed in large measure from the effects of the curse (see Psa. 67 and 72), they will be in this sense new. The Apostle Peter supplies the link between Isaiah and Revelation. Taking up, as led of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah’s prophecy, and giving to it a deeper meaning, he says, after describing the dissolution of all things, “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). This, as will be at once perceived, goes much further than the kingdom during the thousand years, the characteristic of which is that righteousness will reign (See Psa. 96-99; Isa. 32); inasmuch as Peter speaks of a scene wherein righteousness shall dwell. This could be no other than the eternal state, telling of a scene without and a scene within which answer to all that God is, a scene which is in fact the consummation of the new creation.
The first heaven and the first earth are thus forever displaced. (In fact, as we learn from 2 Peter 3:10-12, they will be destroyed by fire.) It is specially noted that there was no more sea. This fact may have a twofold significance. The first and most prominent thought is, since the sea interposes a barrier to being together, that there will be then no more separation. Then, as we remember the symbolic meaning of earth and sea in this book, that the earth speaks of ordered government, and the sea of insubject and unorganized masses of people or nations, it teaches that every part of the new earth will be in ordered subjection to and under the governmental control of God. All will be the perfect expression of His own will; and then will be fulfilled that far-reaching petition in the prayer the Lord taught His disciples, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10) It was so done by our Lord Himself; but in these “new and blessed scenes,” it will be also so done by every one among all the countless throng of the redeemed.
Revelation 21:2
Another event is now introduced: “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (vs. 2). It may be necessary to point out at once, for the sake of those who have not hitherto considered the subject, that the scene in verse 10 of this chapter is prior, by the thousand years, to this in verse 2. This will be more fully explained when verses 9 and 10 are reached; but it may be said now that in verse 10 John sees the “holy city, Jerusalem” (as it should be read) in her millennial glory and in relation to the millennial earth; whereas in verse 2, the millennial kingdom has forever passed away, and the “holy city” is seen descending from the position it occupied during the kingdom to take up her appointed place on the new earth, of which verse 1 speaks. It is the “holy city,” holy according to the nature of God (compare Eph. 1:4); and it is “new Jerusalem,” not the old described in the Old Testament scriptures. Paul speaks of it in Galatians as “Jerusalem which is above,” and as “our mother.” (Gal. 4:26) (So it should be read, and not “the mother of us all.”) It cannot be doubted, moreover, that the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews refers to the same city, when he describes Abraham as looking “for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10; see also vs. 16). It is thus a figure of the church, the church as seen from the next verse, as the tabernacle of God, God’s habitation through the Spirit as known even now (Eph. 2:22). Three things are predicated of her: her origin is “from God”; she comes “out of heaven,” she is heavenly in her character; (Compare 2 Cor. 5:1-2, as to the resurrection body, the body believers will receive in the resurrection.) and she is “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (vs. 2) The marriage of the Lamb has long since taken place, then His wife had made herself ready; but, notwithstanding the centuries that have elapsed, she is still seen arrayed in all her bridal beauty, as much without blemish or wrinkle, and as holy, as on the day of her presentation to her glorious Spouse.
Revelation 21:3
Together with her descent to the new earth, John hears “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” (vs. 3). There are then three things: the tabernacle, the men, and the relationship which God sustains towards the one and the other. The tabernacle is the holy city; and the holy city, as already explained, is the church; and, inasmuch as it is God’s tabernacle, it is presented to us as His dwelling-place. The reason for the use of the term tabernacle will be afterward seen. Then there are men, and these are all the saved from Adam down to the first coming of the Lord, and all the saved from the rapture of the saints, as described in 1 Thessalonians 4, until the close of the thousand years; and these have the blessed position of being God’s people, of having God with them, and having God as their God. They are not, as the church, the dwelling-place of God, but their place and blessing are as perfect in their relationship as are the church’s in hers. There are differences which God in His sovereignty has been pleased to make, but all these are but illustrative of His own perfections and grace; and all the redeemed, whatever their special relationships, will be eternally blessed, according to God’s thought, in the several positions in which by His grace they are found.
There is a special reason for the use of the word tabernacle in this place. The tabernacle was God’s first dwelling-place on earth amongst His people Israel, after their redemption out of Egypt. “Let them make me a sanctuary,” He said to Moses, “that I may dwell among them” (Ex. 25:8). (We do not cite Ex. 15:2, as there is considerable doubt as to the exact reading. The first thought of the sanctuary came from Jehovah Himself.) The tabernacle was erected, and, as we find in the first chapters of Numbers, the tribes were arranged round about it, Jehovah’s dwelling-place forming the center of the encampment. While still in the wilderness, giving instructions concerning their conduct when His people should be in the land, Jehovah gave this promise, a promise conditional upon their obedience, “And I will set My tabernacle among you: and My soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people” (Lev. 26:11-12). This promise, owing to Israel’s transgressions, was never entirely fulfilled; and hence it is repeated (for God never allows His purpose to be frustrated) through Ezekiel, and applied to the time of Messiah’s kingdom during the millennium: “My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore” (Ezek. 37:27-28). Coming to our scripture, we have the reproduction of almost the same words, only now not in the form of promise, but as a statement of fact and accomplishment. Connecting the three scriptures we learn, therefore, that it was ever God’s thought to surround Himself with His redeemed people; also, that His tabernacle was a figure of the church as His habitation through the Spirit; and, finally, that the encampment in the wilderness, and the sanctuary during Messiah’s glorious reign—which He Himself will build (Zech. 6:12-13), even as He is now building the church (Matt. 16)—are but foreshadowings of the eternal state, as portrayed in this scripture.
Revelation 21:4
In the next place John describes the eternal consolations of the redeemed: “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” (vs. 4). Speaking exactly, this language applies to the “men” of verse 3. The church forming the tabernacle is not in view save as the dwelling-place of God, but as such in the enjoyment of her own special blessedness. Two things may be noted in this description. It is God who wipes away all tears from the eyes of His people. The tears recall the sorrows of the pilgrim life; and now God Himself, in His infinite grace and tenderness, wipes them away from their eyes—a figure of the eternal consolation ministered to them by God Himself. Then, secondly, death, and all the trials, pains and griefs associated with human life in this world are gone, forever abolished. Sin has now been taken away (John 1:29, Heb. 9:26)—the final result of the death of Christ on the cross; and hence death, together with all the other bitter fruits of sin, is removed from the scene, swallowed up in the victorious scene of life. It is not the positive side of eternal blessedness, but the negative. But where is the heart which is not relieved at the glorious prospect of freedom forever, in the immediate enjoyment of the presence of God, from all the burdens that often bow us to the dust while treading the sands of the wilderness?
Revelation 21:5-6
The last clause of verse 4 may be considered in connection with what follows: “And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new” (vs. 5). In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we read, “If any man be in Christ, [there is] a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (Some prefer the reading, “New things have come.” The authorities are divided.) The correspondence between these scriptures cannot be unobserved. The difference is that in 2 Corinthians 5 the old things have passed away, and all things have become new for faith; whereas in our scripture the change is actually wrought, the former things having disappeared forever. In 2 Corinthians 5 all who are in Christ belong to the new creation; they are by faith introduced into this sphere—the sphere where Christ as its head, center, and glory. In Revelation the old creation has forever passed out of existence, and only the new remains. We wait for the latter; but it must not be forgotten that it is the privilege of the believer to anticipate this glorious scene—yea, even now to dwell in it—as well as to expatiate amidst its blessedness, inasmuch as in Christ he belongs to, and is himself a part of, it.
Thereon we read, “And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful” (vs. 5). This command must, we judge, be regarded as accomplished before the record of the following words: “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” (vs. 6). “It is done” may refer to the conclusion of the revelation, the natural close after the exhibition of the eternal state. It is the completion of the scene, followed by the solemn affirmation of the eternity of God. He is the commencement of all existence, and He is the end; and all duration is embraced in the two terms, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Grace still flows out; but the question is sometimes raised, Can there still be thirsty souls in eternity? This is to miss the significance of the announcement. If the words, “It is done,” (vs. 6) are preparatory to the eternal scene opened to our view, we have in addition a solemn setting forth of God’s ways in grace and in judgment while this eternal state is in prospect. There are, in fact, three principles of His actings in regard to man. The first is before us: “I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” (vs. 6) God is a giver (compare John 4:10-14), and He will give to every thirsty soul; and He will give him not only of the water of life, but of the fountain itself; for the announcement is made in view of the full end of receiving it, namely, eternal satisfaction and blessedness. And lastly, He will give it freely, gratuitously—without money, and without price. Truly our God is the God of grace!
Revelation 21:7-8
We have next, “He that overcometh shall inherit all [rather, these] things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son” (vs. 7). All God’s people must be overcomers, for they are passing through a hostile world and are exposed to all the arts and malice of a powerful adversary. We have a glimpse of a faithful remnant in conflict in a former chapter, and of them it is said, “They overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Ch. 12:11). As to the world, John writes, “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). In these two scriptures are given the means of victory; and in the passage before us we have encouragement ministered to us while we are engaged in the conflict. First, the overcomer shall inherit these things, all these forms of eternal blessing unrolled before our eyes; and, moreover, God will condescend to enter into relationship with him. “I will be his God, and he shall be My son,” (vs. 7) and this, as it is again the final end of the wilderness path, in its full apprehension and enjoyment. Such will be the eternal tie existing, according to the good pleasure of His will, between God and him that overcometh. Finally, the various classes are enumerated, in their moral aspects, who will not only be forever excluded from this blessed and eternal portion, but also whose part will be “in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (vs. 8). The devil, the beast, and the false prophet have already found their doom in this place, where they “shall be tormented day and night forever” (Ch. 20:10); and now we learn that all such as are depicted here will have their eternal home in the same prison of hopeless woe. How awful the contrast to the state portrayed in verses 3-4!
The Holy Jerusalem
Great mistakes have been made by many expositors on this portion of Scripture, from failing to perceive that the first part of the chapter presents the eternal state, and that here the Spirit of God takes us back to a description of the heavenly city in relation to the thousand years. From Revelation 19:11 to Revelation 21:8, as before shown, we have a consecutive narrative of events, from the appearing of Christ to the introduction of the state of eternal blessedness, wherein God is all in all. Then, commencing with Revelation 21:9, a new section begins, the object of which is to set forth the glories of the bride, the Lamb’s wife, the holy city, as the metropolis, the heavenly seat of administration of the earth during the millennial period. This will become clear to the reader as we pursue the details here given.
Revelation 21:9-11
John thus introduces the last section of the book: “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 show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (vs. 9). It was one of these seven angels who had shown John the judgment of Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. The parallel, or rather contrast, is designed. Babylon had claimed, but falsely, to be the bride of Christ. The angel had exhibited her in her true character, and the judgment from God with which she should be finally overwhelmed (Ch. 17). Consequent upon her destruction, the marriage of the Lamb took place in heaven (Ch. 19:1-8), and now the true bride, the Lamb’s wife, is shown in all her beauty—the expression of the thoughts of God, as Babylon had been the expression of the thoughts of man. To view Babylon, John was transported in the spirit into the wilderness—a scene of moral drought and desolation; to behold the holy city Jerusalem (The correct reading is probably, “The holy city, Jerusalem,” and not, as in our version, “That great city, the holy Jerusalem.”) he was carried away in the spirit to a great and high mountain. As Moses surveyed the promised inheritance from Pisgah; so John is permitted to behold the fulfillment of promise and prophecy in this glorious city, from the lofty eminence on which he was placed by the angel. Thence he saw her “descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal” (vss. 10-11).
Three features are marked; it was divine in its origin, and heavenly in its character; it had also the glory of God. As another has written: “It might be of God and earthly. It might be heavenly and angelic. It was neither: it was divine in origin and heavenly in nature and character. It was clothed with divine glory: it must be as founded on Christ’s work” (Synopsis, J. N. Darby, 5:561). We learn from 2 Corinthians 5 that all these features are true also of the individual believer, in respect of his resurrection body. It could not indeed be otherwise, inasmuch as the result for the whole church is but the collective expression of what is the result for the saint of the work of redemption. Let it also be remembered that while the glory, the actual glory, is yet future, the church is now as divine in origin, and as heavenly in nature, as she will ever be. To understand this is indispensable for the faithful occupation of her place on earth as God’s witness, and for her preservation from the contaminations of the world around. It is owing, alas! to the forgetfulness of this blessed truth, that she has sought and found (we speak of the whole church), like Pergamos of old, a home in the place where Satan dwells.
Her light, or her shining, was moreover like a jasper stone; and hence proceeds, as may be gathered from the significance of the jasper in Revelation 4:3, from the glory of God. (Compare Isa. 60:1.) The word translated light, or shining, is that found in Philippians 2:15, as applied to believers,—“among whom [a crooked and perverse generation] ye shine [or rather, appear] as lights in the world.” It is the word used of the heavenly luminaries; and we therefore learn that what believers should be now morally, the holy Jerusalem will be actually in the coming age; and that all the light in testimony that proceeds now, whether from the saints or the whole church, comes from the same divine source as the “shining” of the holy city in the future day of glory. (Compare 2 Cor. 4:6.) And the “shining” of the holy city will be like a jasper stone, clear as crystal, transparent and unclouded, and it will illumine the earth with its bright, blessed, and perfect rays. But while the natural eye will be able to perceive it, the heart, even as now, will need to be divinely opened to receive and bow to its blessed testimony.
Revelation 21:12-14
We pass now to another feature: “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: on the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Vss. 12-14). Before dwelling on the significance of the wall, it may be well to call attention to the recurrence of the number twelve in this description. It has the fixed meaning in Scripture of the perfection of governmental administration in man, that is, in Christ, and this in connection with Israel. Hence there were twelve tribes and twelve apostles, both mentioned here, and both connected in the words of our Lord to His disciples: “Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19:28). This at once explains the force of the number twelve and, at the same time, the character of the holy city as here presented; that the church, the Lamb’s wife, is displayed, not in her intimate relationship to Christ as seen in Paul’s epistles, but rather in connection with the government of the earth in the hands of Christ during the thousand years. Blessed and perfect as all is, as thus exhibited, it yet does not present to us the more intimate joys and affections of the Father’s house, nor our highest associations with Christ in heavenly blessedness, as, for example, set forth in the promise to the overcomer in Philadelphia. And yet, whoever is acquainted in any measure with Christian literature and hymnology can doubt that the “golden city” occupies a larger place in the minds of saints than the Father’s house?
The symbolic meaning of the wall will be security; and this is assured, as may be seen in verse 18, by the fact that “the building of the wall of it was of jasper” that is, the glory of God. Clothed with, she is also protected by, the divine glory, even as Isaiah speaks, “The glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.” All that God is, and all that God is in display, is the wall round about the New Jerusalem. But, as we may see further on, the wall not only encloses and secures the holy city, but it also excludes all evil; for “there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie” (Ch. 21:27; compare Ch. 22:15).
In the wall there are twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and written thereon the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. The gate of a city in Scripture was always the place of judgment, and inasmuch as there are twelve here, three on each side, it will denote the perfectness of the administration of justice in the government of that day. The kingdom character of this administration is denoted by the names of the twelve tribes on the gates, and indicating also, perhaps, at the same time, that it is through Israel as a center that the administration in government will be conducted. Twelve angels are stationed at the gates: in the dispensations previous to Christianity they were God’s providential agents in His governmental order; but they are now “the willing door keepers of the great city” which will be the heavenly metropolis of Messiah’s glorious kingdom. They are therefore subordinate, in the purposes of God, to the glorified saints of which the heavenly city is formed. There were, moreover, twelve foundations to the wall, the character of which is declared by the fact that they contained the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; for as we read in Ephesians, those who are the fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, “are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord” (Eph. 2:19-21). But the mention of the twelve apostles of the Lamb shows again that the church is not here “presented as the bride, though it be the bride, the Lamb’s wife. It is not in the Pauline character of nearness of blessing to Christ. It is the assembly as founded at Jerusalem under the twelve—the organized seat of heavenly power, the new and now heavenly capital of God’s government” (Synopsis, J. N. Darby, 5:561).
Revelation 21:15-17
In the next place the city and the gates and the wall are measured. The meaning of this symbolic act has already been explained in Revelation 11. There is a difference, however, to be noted in the measuring rods. There it was “a reed like unto a rod” (Ch. 11:1); here it is “a golden reed.” (vs. 15) In both cases the measuring betokens owning on the part of God, with the added idea of appropriation. The thing measured is according to His mind, and He thereby owns it to be so, and claims it as His; while the measuring rod being golden will testify that it is in righteousness He thus stamps the city, its wall and gates, with His approval. The result of the measurement is given. “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” (vs. 16). Like the holiest in the tabernacle and the temple, it is a cube, twelve thousand furlongs on every side—the symbol of finite perfection. That it is a given perfection needs scarcely be said, inasmuch as it had its origin in the counsels of God, and owes its existence to the death and resurrection of Christ. In all its perfection and beauty, the heavenly city is the expression of the grace of God.
The measurement of the wall is an hundred and forty-four cubits, twelve times twelve; so that in every detail the governmental character of the city is exhibited, and seen as divinely perfect.
Revelation 21:18-20
Following upon the measurement, the composition of the various parts of the city is given. That of the wall has been anticipated; it was of jasper, the symbol of the glory of God. Happy city to be surrounded with, and guarded by, the divine glory! And such will be the lot of the holy Jerusalem. “The foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones” (vs. 19). The names of the stones are then given, beginning with the jasper and ending with the amethyst. The list may be compared with the twelve precious stones on the breastplate of the high priest (Ex. 28); and it will be observed that the jasper which comes first in our scripture, is the last on the high-priest’s breastplate. The significance in this may be that whereas the church begins with the glory in the person of the Head, it lies at the end for Israel. To speak generally, “the precious stones,” as has been well said, “or varied displays of God’s nature, who is light, in connection with the creature (seen in creation, Ezekiel 28; and in grace in the high priest’s breastplate), now shone in permanent glory, and adorned the foundations of the city” (Synopsis, J. N. Darby, 5:562). Morally they exhibit therefore the history of souls—as creatures, then as subjects of grace taken up and put upon the heart of Christ, and finally as seen displayed in all His various beauties in the glory.
“The twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl” (vs. 21). The symbolic force of the pearl may be gleaned from the parable in Matthew 13—where the church is seen under the emblem of a “pearl of great price,” (Matt. 13:46) the preciousness and beauty of which led the merchantman (Christ) to sell all that he had to purchase it. The pearl speaks, therefore, of what is attractive to the heart of Christ—a beauty which, as seen in the counsels of God, ravished Him, so that He loved the church and gave Himself for it. (See Eph. 5:25-27.) And every gate of the holy city shone with this resplendent beauty, the fruit and end of Christ’s love and His redemption work.
Revelation 21:21-22
Moreover, “The street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” (vs. 21) The street represents the place wherein men walk; and it was of pure gold, divine righteousness, righteousness as suited to God’s nature, as befitted the place where He dwells, even as in the tabernacle and the temple all inside the holy place and the holiest was overlaid with gold. But the gold here is pure, and as “transparent glass,” (vs. 21) speaking of fixed and accomplished holiness—a purity answering to the nature of God Himself, and, blessed be His name, a purity that could never more be defiled.
Up to verse 21, we have had the nature, character, and composition of the holy city, but so far there has been no reference to its inhabitants. The reason for this is that the saints themselves form this heavenly structure, though, as will be seen in the next chapter, they are briefly introduced to set forth the nature of their eternal blessedness. But even here their existence is implied, as, for instance, in the next verse of this scripture: “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it” (vs. 22). For as soon as the absence of any temple is stated, the thought is necessarily brought in of saints enjoying the presence of God without let or hindrance. A temple, whatever the privileges of access and worship connected with it, speaks of distance between God and the worshipper, as was the case in the temple of the kingdom. Jehovah indeed dwelt in it between the cherubim over the mercy-seat; but the worshippers remained outside while the priest was burning incense in the holy place. (See Luke 1:10.) When therefore we read that there is no temple in the heavenly Jerusalem, but that the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it, we at once understand that all distance is abolished, and that the presence of God and of the Lamb, filling the whole city, is enjoyed by all in the full measure of its display. It could not be otherwise, seeing that all the saints forming the city are there according to the purpose of God in divine righteousness, conformed to the image of His Son. The fact of there being no temple is thus the expression of the perfect blessedness of the redeemed, all of whom are now holy and without blame before God in love (Eph. 1:4).
It will, however, be observed that the highest blessedness of the saint is not indicated; for the names of God here given are those found in the Old Testament—Jehovah-Elohim, Shaddai; all that God is, as so revealed, now made good in government in relation to the earth. This at once explains why these names are employed, inasmuch as the holy city is here connected with the government of the earth in and through the Lamb during the millennium. That the redeemed enjoy another relationship, into which they have been brought by the revelation of the Father in the Son, is known from other scriptures; but this character of blessedness is confined to the saints who compose the church, and consequently will not be known in the age to come. On this account it is that the Lord God Almighty is found in this scripture; but the Lamb is also introduced as the One in whom this state of blessedness has been secured, and in whom God has been revealed, and His character made good, first in the cross, and now in the kingdom, the epoch before us in His righteous government. A comparison of this statement that there is no temple in the heavenly city with Revelation 7:15 abundantly confirms the interpretation that the blessing of the Gentile multitude, however excellent, is earthly— and not heavenly.
Revelation 21:23
The presence of God and the Lamb fills the scene, and thus it is that John adds, “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 [the lamp] thereof” (vs. 23). Created light, as we learn from Genesis 1, is for earth; but after Adam’s fall the only light morally, even for the earth, was what came from the revelation of God. The Psalmist thus wrote, “With Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see light” (Psa. 36:9); and when the Lord was down here on the earth He said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). Where God is fully revealed, therefore, there could be no need of created light; and “the glory of God” (vs. 23) is but the expression for the display of all that God is as revealed in redemption before His redeemed.
The statement in connection with this, “And the Lamb is the light thereof,” (vs. 23) is most significant. Does it mean that while the glory of God illumines the whole city, the Lamb is the medium of its display? Stephen saw through the opened heavens “the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God;” (Acts 7:55) and here the glory of God and the Lamb are the beatific source of all the light that forms the blessedness of the holy city.
Revelation 21:24-26
The next three verses are important as affording a distinct clue to the interpretation of the whole vision. Many expositors see nothing here but a description of the blessedness of the eternal state, and this view is generally adopted by popular preachers. But these verses show beyond contradiction, that the heavenly city is here presented in connection with the millennial earth; for there are no “nations” in eternity, and no “kings of the earth” to bring their glory and honor into (unto) it. If this had been observed the mistake would have been avoided, and a valuable key would have been acquired to the understanding of the dispensations. We may therefore call attention to the force of these verses: “And the nations of them which are saved [The words, “Of them which are saved,” have been inserted without sufficient authority.] shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it” (vss. 24-26). Although the words, “of them that are saved,” must be omitted, the meaning will be unaltered, seeing that the nations existing during the millennial kingdom will be those that have been spared in the judgments connected with the day of the Lord, introduced at the appearing of Christ. These nations recognize that the glory of God, which streams down from the holy city, is for their blessing and guidance, and they accordingly walk by it. Morally the light which proceeds, however imperfectly, from the church in this age, is the only light the world possesses; and this fact will help the reader to understand the statement before us. To borrow another’s language, “The city enjoys the direct light within; the world [that is, the nations], the transmitted light of glory” (Synopsis, J. N. Darby, 5:563). (Compare John 17:22-23.) The kings of the earth, moreover, bring their glory and honor into (unto) it. (As to the earthly city in the day of its glory, Isaiah 60 may be read with advantage, as similar expressions are there found. The periods will coincide.) If we translate eis as unto, instead of into, the meaning will be that the kings of the earth will recognize “the heavens and the heavenly kingdom” to be the source of the authority under which they are placed, and of the beneficent blessings they enjoy under the sway of the King of kings, and Lord of lords; and they will bring of their wealth, like the Queen of Sheba when she came to Jerusalem, as offerings in token of their submissive homage. In what way these offerings will be presented is not revealed; but it is clear from many scriptures that a connection will be maintained between the heavenly capital and the earthly kingdom.
Following upon this, we are told that the gates of the city will be perpetually open, and that there will be no night. The significance of this may be best explained by a contrast. After Nehemiah had built the walls of Jerusalem, we read, “Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed, that I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem... And I said unto them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot; and while they stand by, let them shut the doors, and bar them” (Neh. 7:1-3). During the night, and even while there was the least trace of darkness on the scene, the gates were to be kept closed, lest evil with evil men, who ever love darkness rather than light, should steal in and corrupt the city. With the same object later on, Nehemiah, when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, “commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath” (Neh. 13:19); for there were servants of the enemy always on the alert to enter unawares to seduce the Jews to violate the sabbath day. In light of this contrast we learn then, when we are told that there will be no night in the heavenly city, that there will be the absence of all evil, and hence that the gates will never be shut. As typically in the days of Solomon, there will be “neither adversary nor evil occurrent” (1 Kings 5:4); and thus it is not only that evil is forever excluded, but there is also the impossibility of its ever finding entrance into that holy and blessed place.
In Revelation 21:26, it would seem to be the repetition of the statement in verse 24, which has already been considered. There is however a difference. In Revelation 21:24 it is the kings of the earth who bring their glory and honor, whereas, in verse 26, it is the glory and honor of the nations that are brought. The same distinction is observed in the millennial kingdom, when it says, speaking of the honor to be rendered to the Messiah, “All kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him” (Psa. 72:11). Both the monarchs and their peoples will be of one mind, and will respectively own that the “heavens do rule” (Dan. 4:26), and will offer their willing homage to the King of kings in His glorious heavenly capital. Now kings and nations serve and exalt themselves; but then, as we read in Zechariah, “every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles” (Zech. 14:16); and it may well be on these occasions that sovereigns and their subjects will present their glory and honor to the heavenly Jerusalem, thus owning their allegiance, and rendering their tribute to the exalted King of kings, and Lord of lords!
Revelation 21:27
Next, we are told, “And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (vs. 27). No doubt must be left about the character or qualifications of those who shall enter into this city of pure gold; and hence it is put in two ways, negatively and positively, the disqualification being given in the first place, and then the absolute and unable-to-be-voided title. No one with the guilt of sin still on him, for it is sin in its manifold forms and expressions that defiles; no one who possesses an evil nature, for it is sin in the flesh which, breaking out, works abomination; and no one who is morally of the seed of Satan, who is a liar, and the father of it (John 8:44), will ever pass through those gates of pearl. As the apostle has written, “Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortion, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-10). So too, in the next chapter of our book, it is said, “Without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whore-mongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie” (Ch. 22:15). Those only who are written in the Lamb’s book of life will have the privilege of entry, even as all those whose names will not be found written in the book of life will, at the session of the great white throne, be cast into the lake of fire (Ch. 20:15). This, it will be at once observed, is only the title; but there will be a moral qualification answering to the title, as stated in the next chapter: “Blessed are they that have washed their robes, [This is the right reading, and is accepted by the Revised Version.] that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Ch. 22:14). (Having washed their robes, according to the usage of this figure in Scripture, indicates that their practical state corresponds with their title.) It must necessarily be so, for the inhabitants of the holy city must themselves be holy, according to the nature of its Builder and Maker; but the title only is here given to remind us that it is due alone to grace, God’s blessed and sovereign grace, that any will find themselves within these gates. It is moreover the Lamb’s book of life; and this teaches us that if believers were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, these purposes of grace could only be accomplished in and through the death and resurrection of Christ—of Him who, as the Lamb of God, is the taker away of the sin of the world.