Search
In this chapter we will continue our fellowship on the consummation of all the items in the Bible related to Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church in the book of Revelation. In the previous chapter we ended with the bronze altar, the altar of the offerings, and the golden altar, the altar of incense, in Revelation 8. Now we must see the temple of God which is in heaven (11:19) and the heavenly tabernacle (15:5).
The heavens were opened to John, and he saw the temple of God which is in heaven. In the temple was the Ark of His Covenant. We must say that there is a temple in the heavens because John saw it, and in that temple was the Ark of the Testimony. In Hebrews 9 Paul also speaks of the heavenly tabernacle (vv. 11, 24). Now we must ask whether or not there is a tabernacle in the heavens and a temple in the heavens at the same time. In the Old Testament these two did not exist at the same time. The tabernacle existed as a precursor to the temple, and the temple stood as a fulfillment of the tabernacle, or a replacement. The tabernacle became the temple. Why then does the Bible tell us that in the New Testament there is the heavenly tabernacle and also the temple in heaven?
We must see that when the old covenant was made, it was made by the sprinkled blood of the atonement. This blood was sprinkled on the tabernacle, not on the temple. Hebrews 9 tells us that this is a type (vv. 18-23). The earthly tabernacle was a type of the heavenly, and the earthly tabernacle was sprinkled with the blood of animal sacrifices for the enacting of the old covenant. Then to enact the new covenant, we see in Hebrews 9 that the Lord Jesus used His own blood to sprinkle the heavenly tabernacle, which is the real tabernacle in the heavens. In Revelation 11, however, we do not see a tabernacle in the heavens but a temple, because in Revelation it is not a matter of the enacting of a covenant but of the execution of God’s government. Actually, therefore, these two do not exist simultaneously. The tabernacle was for the enacting of the covenant, but in Revelation 11 we see a further stage — the temple for the execution of God’s government. In Exodus the tabernacle was for the enacting of the old covenant, but it became the temple in 1 Kings 8 because by that time there was a king to execute God’s government. In the New Testament, in Hebrews 9 it is the tabernacle for the enacting of the new covenant. Then in Revelation it is the temple for God’s execution of His kingdom.
At this point, we must look at Hebrews 9:24 carefully: “Christ did not enter into a holy place made by hands, a figure of the true, but into heaven itself.” Here is a strong verse that tells us that heaven itself is the tabernacle. This does not mean that within the heavens there is a tabernacle. The tabernacle is heaven itself. The reflexive pronoun itself is inserted to strengthen the thought that the heavenly tabernacle is heaven itself.
Hebrews 9:1 says, “Now then the first covenant also had ordinances of service, and its sanctuary was of this world.” The sanctuary in this verse is the entire tabernacle (Exo. 25:8-9). Then Hebrews 9:11 says, “Christ, having come as a High Priest of the good things that have come into being, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not of this creation.” This creation means the earth, a part of the creation. The earth to us is “this creation,” but another part of the creation is the heavens. All these verses show us that the heavenly tabernacle is heaven itself.
The translators of the Chinese version of the Bible translated heaven itself in Hebrews 9:24 into “heavenly mansion.” They also translated heaven in 1 Peter 3:22 into “heavenly mansion.” This is actually a Buddhistic translation because the Chinese term for heavenly mansion is a term used by Buddhism for a happy place. The Chinese version of the Bible in these verses has actually brought in a Buddhistic thought with a Buddhistic term. The Greek text of the Bible clearly uses two words in Hebrews 9:24 — heaven itself. Again we must see that the heavenly tabernacle is not something within the heavens in the same way that the earthly tabernacle was something on the earth, but the heavenly tabernacle is heaven itself. Such a wrong translation based upon a Buddhistic thought is misleading people.
Now we must read Revelation 11:19: “The temple of God which is in heaven was opened, and the Ark of His Covenant was seen in His temple.” This verse, however, says clearly that the temple of God is in heaven. This surely is God’s dwelling place in heaven. The word for temple in Greek in this verse is naos, referring to the inner temple. The throne with the rainbow in 4:2-3 is the center of all the judgments executed over the earth in chapters 6 through 11, on the negative side; whereas “the temple” with “the Ark” is the center of all God’s accomplishments in the universe carried out in chapters 12 through 22, on the positive side. The throne is the center of God’s administration before chapter 11. Then from chapter 12 the center of God’s government is no longer the throne but the temple with the Testimony, the Ark. Revelation 11:19 is continued by Revelation 15:5, which says, “After these things I saw, and the temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony in heaven was opened.” In this verse we see the temple of the tabernacle. Therefore, the tabernacle is the heavens, and the temple is the inner sanctuary. This inner sanctuary is the Holy of Holies, where the Ark is.
We also see in Revelation 21:10 that the New Jerusalem, considered by some others as the heavenly mansion, comes down out of heaven. Is this temple in Revelation 11:19 and 15:5 the heavenly mansion? Many Christians might say that this is the heavenly mansion, God’s dwelling place, which descends out of heaven in Revelation 21:10. John, however, said that he saw no temple in the New Jerusalem, because its temple is God and the Lamb (v. 22). We must remember, though, that the New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the tabernacle and of the temple in the Bible. The New Jerusalem is also called the tabernacle of God in Revelation 21:3.
First, in Hebrews 9:24 we saw that the heavenly tabernacle is heaven itself. Then in Revelation 11:19 and 15:5 we saw that in this tabernacle, which is heaven itself, is the temple of God, the Holy of Holies, within which is the Ark. Revelation tells us, though, that the New Jerusalem, the tabernacle of God, comes down out of heaven. Does this mean that the entire heaven comes down? The entire heaven could not come down, because the tabernacle of God comes down out of heaven. We also saw that in the New Testament there is first the tabernacle for the enacting of the new covenant, and then there is the temple to replace the tabernacle for God’s administration. In Revelation 21, though, the tabernacle as the New Jerusalem is without the temple because God and the Lamb Himself are the temple.
My burden in pointing out these things is to show you that all these complications indicate one thing — the New Jerusalem is a particular item that has nothing to do with the earthly tabernacle and the temple in the Old Testament. The New Jerusalem is not the tabernacle and the temple on this earth, nor is it the tabernacle and the temple in the heavens in Revelation 11:19 and 15:5. Many would interpret the passages in Revelation to mean that there is a temple in the heavens that eventually comes down out of heaven to be the New Jerusalem. Therefore, according to this interpretation, the New Jerusalem is a physical dwelling place to God, just as the temple in heaven is. These complications, though, indicate that the New Jerusalem is neither the heavenly tabernacle nor the temple in heaven. Some may ask, “After the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven, where did the heavenly tabernacle go?” My answer is that the heavenly tabernacle is heaven itself. When the New Jerusalem, God’s eternal tabernacle, comes down out of heaven, heaven is left there as it is.
Then others might ask, “Where is the temple in the heavens when the New Jerusalem descends?” My answer to this is that I do not know. We know from history that the temple in the Old Testament was destroyed, but the Bible does not tell us where the temple in heaven will go. The New Jerusalem cannot be the temple in heaven in Revelation 11:19 and 15:5, because in the New Jerusalem John saw no temple (21:22). According to some people’s concept, the New Jerusalem is a temple, and God and the Lamb are another temple. Then there would be two temples — a temple within a temple. Actually, though, God and the Lamb are the temple, and this temple is the New Jerusalem. This is not the temple in heaven in chapters 11 and 15 but a new temple, a particular temple. The temple in heaven surely was not God Himself, but this temple is God and the Lamb Himself.
By this we can see that the New Jerusalem was not the tabernacle and the temple of the Old Testament on the earth. The New Jerusalem is not even the heavenly tabernacle (Rev. 15:5), nor is it the temple in the heavens (11:19; 15:5). Let us summarize the two reasons for saying this:
(1) Hebrews 9:24 speaks of a heavenly tabernacle, but this verse also tells us clearly that this heavenly tabernacle is heaven itself. The New Jerusalem is called the tabernacle of God in Revelation; this is not, however, the heavenly tabernacle, because the heavenly tabernacle is heaven itself, but the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven.
(2) Revelation 11:19 and 15:5 speak of a temple in heaven. Then when the New Jerusalem came, John said that he saw no temple in it, because now the temple is God and the Lamb Himself. This indicates that this temple, the New Jerusalem, is not that temple in heaven. John told us that the temple he saw was not physical and not a place but personal. This temple is a person, God and the Lamb, but the temple in heaven surely is a place.
This strongly proves that the New Jerusalem is altogether a new thing apart from the tabernacle and the temple both on earth and in heaven. The temple in heaven in 11:19 and 15:5 is not in the holy city. In this city is the new temple — God and the Lamb Himself. This New Jerusalem as God’s tabernacle is God and the Lamb Himself as the temple. It is a particular tabernacle and a particular temple.
The New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the tabernacle and the temple in the Bible. We have seen that the New Jerusalem, as the tabernacle of God, is God and the Lamb Himself as the temple. The New Jerusalem is not something physical but personal. Even in the New Testament the Lord Jesus as the tabernacle (John 1:14) is not a physical item but a person. Also, the temple in the New Testament is firstly the Lord Jesus (John 2:19-21) and then the church (1 Cor. 3:16-17). The Lord Jesus and the church are not physical matters, but both are personal. The temple in the heavens surely is not personal, but the New Jerusalem as the temple will be God and the Lamb Himself, which is something personal. This means that the New Jerusalem is not the ultimate consummation of the Old Testament tabernacle and temple but the ultimate consummation of the New Testament tabernacle and temple, which are Christ and the church. This New Jerusalem is neither the heavenly tabernacle, which is heaven itself, nor the temple in heaven, which is a place.
We must see three sets of the tabernacle and the temple: (1) One set is in the Old Testament. The tabernacle and the temple here were physical and were types. (2) Another set is the New Testament tabernacle and temple. This set is not physical but personal — Christ and the church. (3) The third set is the heavenly tabernacle and the temple in heaven. Finally, the New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the tabernacle and of the temple. It is neither the ultimate consummation of the set on earth in the Old Testament nor of the set in the heavens in the New Testament. The New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the set of Christ as the tabernacle and Christ and the church as the temple in the New Testament. It is the ultimate consummation, the full development, of the tabernacle, which was Christ, and of the temple, which was both Christ and the church. Now the New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation in full of Christ and of the church as God’s eternal dwelling place and as our eternal dwelling place.
In the universe, before Moses, God had a dwelling place in heaven, and heaven, according to Hebrews 9:24, was God’s tabernacle. The tabernacle was heaven itself, and in that heavenly tabernacle was a spot where God stayed. This spot was the temple as the Holy of Holies of the heavenly tabernacle. This was the tabernacle with the temple as the Holy of Holies with the Ark in it. When God charged Moses to build the tabernacle, He charged him to build it according to God’s heavenly pattern (8:5). Therefore, the tabernacle built by Moses and the temple built by Solomon in the Old Testament were according to the heavenly tabernacle and the temple in heaven. One set in the heavens was real, and one set on the earth was a copy. The Old Testament tabernacle and temple were an earthly copy of the heavenly tabernacle and the temple in heaven. This copy was a shadow of Christ and the church as God’s tabernacle and God’s temple in the New Testament on this earth. The New Testament set of Christ and the church will consummate in the New Jerusalem. Therefore, the New Jerusalem is neither the set of the tabernacle and the temple in the heavens nor the set on earth in the Old Testament but the continuation and even the consummation of the set in the New Testament of Christ and the church.
We need to study the Bible in this way to purge out the leaven and to clear up the cloud so that we may see God’s New Testament economy and the New Testament ministry. This is the ministry that ministers the Triune God to produce the church and that will consummate in the New Jerusalem. We must realize that this ultimate consummation has been leavened and has been changed in every way in its intrinsic essence and element. It is not a small thing to fight against this leaven. This is the greatest leaven, which the woman took and put into the biblical fine flour (Matt. 13:33). By His mercy we must do our best to purge out this leaven.
Now we all should be able to see that the house in John 14 and the city in Revelation 21 are the ultimate consummation of Christ and the church. The truth concerning the house in John 14 and the city in Revelation 21 has been leavened, and this leaven in the past centuries has governed the Christian teachings; therefore, so many have been robbed, misled, distracted, frustrated, and held back. Now we are ministering the genuine thing of God’s economy. We must purge out this leaven. This is a big battle. All the items of these truths must be purely presented to the Christian public. If the house in John 14 and the city in Revelation 21 were physical things, they would have nothing to do with the Triune God working Himself into our being. Such a wrong interpretation is off of the line of the New Testament revelation.
The New Testament revelation shows us the Triune God and how He has gone through the processes to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit to work Himself into us to become our life, our life supply, and our everything. Such a dispensing of the Triune God into His chosen and redeemed people will consummate in the New Jerusalem, which is a mutual dwelling place for Him and for His redeemed ones. This is the basic line of the New Testament revelation according to God’s entire economy. To interpret the house in John and the city in Revelation as physical things would mean that they have nothing to do with the basic line of the New Testament revelation. This interpretation eventually robs the riches of the divine revelation and annuls all the proper principles of biblical interpretation, so we lose everything. The heart and the pulse of the New Testament ministry is lost, is gone. The house in John and the city in Revelation must be brought back to their rightful position in God’s New Testament economy. Both are the very illustration of the Triune God working Himself into our being to be the house and to be the city. In the house and in the city the Divine Trinity is fully portrayed.
John 14 through 17 is a great section of the New Testament telling us the details concerning the Triune God dispensing Himself in His Divine Trinity into our entire being. The ultimate consummation of the Triune God dispensing Himself into our being is this holy city, the New Jerusalem. This is not merely an interpretation of the Bible. What we have shared is very basic and very crucial. The Triune God is being dispensed into us to produce the house and to produce the city. The house is the result of the Triune God’s dispensing, and the city is the consummation of this result.
