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Scripture Reading: Rev. 21—22
II. The New Jerusalem:
I. The unique, divine, and organic building in the entire universe:
1. Its wall with its foundations — Rev. 21:12a, 14, 15b, 17-20:
а. The New Testament believers, signified by the precious stones, consummated by God the Spirit in His transforming and building work, are the wall and its foundations — v. 18a:
1) The wall built with jasper separates the organic building from the nations around it.
2) The wall is the appearance of this organic building, which is the appearance of precious jasper. This is also the appearance of God (4:3), indicating that this organic building is just the expression of God shining as jasper, a most precious stone — 21:11.
3) The wall is great and high (v. 12) in the measurement of one hundred forty-four cubits (twelve times twelve — v. 17), indicating that this wall is for the divine administration of this organic building, which is twelvefold complete and perfect.
4) The foundations of the wall are also in the number of twelve (v. 14a), signifying that the foundation of the divine administration is twelvefold complete and perfect.
b. The twelve foundations of the wall, built with every precious stone (vv. 19-20), bear the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (v. 14b), indicating that this precious organic building is built according to the apostles’ teaching of the New Testament and that the New Testament believers are the main constituents of this organic building, to be the consummated section of this building for the building of its main structure for the saints to be built together as God’s eternal enlargement and expression.
Note: The three items mentioned above show us that this unique, divine, and organic building is a constitution of the processed and consummated Triune God with His redeemed, transformed, and glorified people.
2. Its center with its administration and supply — 22:1-2:
а. The center is the throne of God and of the Lamb (the redeeming Triune God), which signifies that the administration of this organic building is:
1) Built on the base (God the Father’s nature) as its foundation (cf. Righteousness is the foundation of God’s throne — Psa. 89:14).
2) Joined to the street, the communication of which, from the throne to the gates, signifies the execution of the administration of this organic building.
3) Flowing out the river of water of life (the consummated life-giving Spirit, as the consummation of the consummated Triune God — John 7:38-39; 4:14) in the middle of the street, and on the two sides of the river grows the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month (the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ, as the embodiment of the consummated Triune God — Rev. 2:7; 22:14), signifying the supply of this organic building (cf. II. I. 1. b.).
b. All the points mentioned above indicate that God’s nature, one of the attributes of which is righteousness, is the foundation of the throne and that out of this foundation proceeds the administration of this organic building that affords the base for the supply of this organic building. Thus, this organic building’s administration and supply are all issues from the divine nature of God the Father, who is the Originator of this organic building.
3. Its temple with its dwellers — 21:22:
а. The temple of this organic building is another aspect of the tabernacle of God and is the almighty God and the Lamb (the almighty redeeming God) for the eternal dwelling place of all of the redeeming God’s redeemed — Psa. 90:1; John 14:23.
b. This organic building as the tabernacle, mostly of the humanity of God’s redeemed, is the eternal dwelling place of the Triune God; this building as the temple of God, mostly of the divinity of the redeeming God, is the eternal dwelling place of God’s redeemed. This indicates that this building is a mutual abode of the redeeming God and His redeemed.
c. In this mutual abode the redeeming God as the Father with the redeemed as the Father’s many sons form a royal household.
d. In this royal divine household the sons as priests, the royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9), serve the Father and as kings reign over the nations as its subjects — Rev. 22:3b-5; 21:24-26; cf. II. I. 7. a.
4. Its light with its shining — vv. 23-24a:
а. The light of this organic building is the glory of God in the Lamb (the Redeemer) as the lamp. Therefore, this building has no need of the sun or the moon, the natural light created by God, and the lamp, the artificial light made by man, and there is no night — vv. 23, 25; 22:5a.
b. The glory of God as the light is in the redeeming Lamb as the lamp shining through this organic building as the light’s diffuser. This indicates that the Triune God is one with His redeemed in His expression (as what is revealed by the Son in John 14:20) shining as light over the nations.
c. The nations will walk by the light of this organic building. Thus, the entire eternal kingdom of God will be under the shining of God’s glory in the Redeemer through the redeemed.
In the previous chapter we covered two aspects of the New Jerusalem — its base with its street and its gates with its availability. In this chapter we will cover four additional aspects.
In the New Jerusalem the base is first as the basic factor. On this basic factor the gates are built. After this, the wall with its foundations is built. With the building of the wall, the entire structure of the New Jerusalem is completed.
The New Testament believers, signified by the precious stones, consummated by God the Spirit in His transforming and building work, are the wall of the New Jerusalem and its foundations (Rev. 21:12a, 14, 15b, 17-20). The wall and its foundations are built with twelve different kinds of precious stones (vv. 18-20). The first layer of the twelve foundations is jasper. This layer is continued by the wall itself, which also is jasper. Therefore, the foundations consist of eleven kinds of precious stones plus jasper, and the wall also is jasper.
In the previous chapter I said that the twelve gates of pearl were produced by God the Son through His redeeming and life-releasing death and His life-dispensing resurrection. There I used the word produced because this word refers to Christ’s creating work on the cross. In Ephesians 2:15 we are told that on the cross Christ created the Jews and the Gentiles in Himself into one new man. On the cross the Lord accomplished His redeeming and life-releasing death. The Lord’s resurrection continued His death to dispense the divine life released through His death on the cross. The releasing of life through Christ’s death and the dispensing of life through Christ’s resurrection were a creating work. Hence, Christ’s work on the cross was a work of creation. It is through this creating work that the pearls are produced for the gates of the New Jerusalem. However, the precious stones that constitute the wall of the New Jerusalem and its foundations are not created but consummated by God the Spirit’s transforming and building work.
Some may ask why we say that the Old Testament saints are the gates and the New Testament believers are the walls and the foundations. First, the twelve gates have the names of the twelve tribes of Israel inscribed on them (Rev. 21:12). Surely the twelve tribes here refer to the genuine Israelites, who represent all the Old Testament saints. On the wall’s twelve foundations the twelve names of the apostles are inscribed, the twelve apostles representing the New Testament believers. The wall is the main part of the city. When we see the city, we see the wall first. Then we look for the gates, which are needed for entering into the city. First, we enter into the city; then we are built into the wall. This signifies that the genuine Israelites of the twelve tribes were the first ones who entered into God’s New Testament economy. They were the first ones to participate in God’s grace. In other words, they were the first ones who entered into Christ. Thus, they became the child-conductors to conduct others into Christ (Gal. 3:24), and then they became the entrance. In this intrinsic sense, the Old Testament saints are the gates for others to enter into Christ. Through the transforming work of the Spirit, those who have entered into Christ through the gates become precious stones to build up the wall.
Formerly in my ministry I did not say that the pearls signify the Old Testament saints as the entrance for people to enter into God’s New Testament economy, and I did not say that the precious stones signify the New Testament believers as the majority for the main structure of the city. I received this light very recently.
To interpret the Bible is not an easy thing. This does not mean that those who are the pearls have only the experience of the pearl, that is, that they have only the experience of Christ’s death and resurrection and do not need to have the experience of the Spirit’s transformation. Neither does it mean that those who are the precious stones and have the experience of the Spirit’s transformation do not need to have the experience of Christ’s death and resurrection. We need to realize that the Old Testament saints and the New Testament believers are one entity. As one entity, they pass through Christ’s death and resurrection, and then they go on to pass through the Spirit’s transformation.
The entire New Testament teaches us that we, the people of God who are the God-men, need to be redeemed and to have the divine life that was released through Christ’s death imparted into us in His resurrection. Then we need to go on to experience the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, through which we become the precious materials. In 1 Corinthians 3:12 Paul speaks of both silver (corresponding to the pearls in Revelation 21:21) and precious stones, but he does not designate some believers as silver (pearls) and others as precious stones. In other words, on the one hand, we are pearls; on the other hand, we are precious stones. Thus, the Old Testament saints can claim that they are pearls as well as precious stones, and the New Testament believers can claim that they are precious stones as well as pearls.
The wall of the New Jerusalem built with jasper separates the organic building from the nations around it. The first function of the wall is to separate. The second function of the wall is to provide protection. A person may build a wall around his house to separate it and to protect it from the outside environment. In a similar way, the wall of the New Jerusalem separates the city from the nations around it and fully protects the interests of God within the city.
The wall is the appearance of this organic building, which is the appearance of precious jasper. This is also the appearance of God (4:3), indicating that this organic building is just the expression of God shining as jasper, a most precious stone (21:11). When we look at the city, we first see the appearance of the wall, which is the appearance of precious jasper. The entire wall is built with jasper. Thus, the appearance of the wall is the appearance of jasper. This is also the appearance of God, for in Revelation 4:3 we are told that the very God sitting on the throne looks like a jasper stone. This is very meaningful. The jasper God within the city is expressed by the jasper wall. Hence, the two are one. This indicates that the New Jerusalem is the expression of God.
According to Revelation 21:11 the shining of the New Jerusalem is the shining of jasper. The wall of the New Jerusalem is jasper, and God as the content of the city is also jasper. Both the wall and God shine as jasper. The color of jasper is dark green. In typology green signifies life, and dark green signifies life in its richness. Our God is the totality of life. Hence, in His appearance He is dark green. Revelation 4:3 also says that He looks like a sardius, a red precious stone. This indicates that God is also the redeeming God. He is not only a God full of life, but He is also the redeeming God.
The wall of the New Jerusalem is great and high (21:12) in the measurement of one hundred forty-four cubits (twelve times twelve — v. 17), indicating that this wall is for the divine administration of this organic building, which is twelvefold complete and perfect. The city proper of New Jerusalem is like a mountain with a length, breadth, and height of twelve thousand stadia (v. 16), whereas the wall itself, from the foundation to the top, has a height of one hundred forty-four cubits. The number twelve signifies absolute perfection and eternal completion in God’s administration. There are three aspects to the significance of the number twelve: the aspect of being eternal, the aspect of being complete, and the aspect of being perfect. Thus, this number signifies that God’s administration is eternal, complete, and perfect, unlike man’s administration, which is neither eternal nor complete nor perfect. One hundred forty-four is twelve times twelve, indicating that the divine administration of the New Jerusalem as God’s organic building is twelvefold eternal, complete, and perfect. How perfect and complete is the wall of the holy city in God’s eternal administration!
The foundations of the wall are also in the number of twelve (v. 14a), signifying that the foundation of the divine administration is twelvefold complete and perfect. Thus, the foundations are the same as the wall. Both are for God to administrate, to govern, the city.
The twelve foundations of the wall, built with every precious stone (vv. 19-20), bear the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (v. 14b), indicating that this precious organic building is built according to the apostles’ teaching of the New Testament and that the New Testament believers are the main constituents of this organic building, to be the consummated section of this building for the building of its main structure for the saints to be built together as God’s eternal enlargement and expression. The twelve tribes of Israel represent the law of the Old Testament, whereas the twelve apostles of the Lamb represent the apostles’ teaching of the New Testament. The gates of the New Jerusalem are the initial section of the building, and the wall is the consummated section.
The three items mentioned above — the base with the street, the gates, and the wall with its foundations — show that this unique, divine, and organic building is a constitution of the processed and consummated Triune God with His redeemed, transformed, and glorified people. The first item, the base of the city, is a figure signifying God the Father in His nature. God the Father is the first person of the Trinity. The gates of pearl signify the creation produced by God the Son, who is the second person of the Trinity. The wall and its foundations of precious stones signifies the transforming and building work of the Holy Spirit, who is the third person of the Divine Trinity. Thus, in these first three items we have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. Moreover, on the gates there are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, indicating the Old Testament saints, and on the foundations there are the names of the twelve apostles, signifying the New Testament saints. Hence, we have the Triune God mingled with all the saints, who are God’s redeemed, transformed, and glorified people.
The city of New Jerusalem is built on a golden mountain with gates and with a wall and its foundations. This is the complete building. This consummated building has a center — the throne of God and of the Lamb (22:1). This throne as the center of the city surely is on the top of the city, the top of the golden mountain.
The center of the city is the throne of God and of the Lamb (the redeeming Triune God). The two, God and the Lamb, signify the redeeming Triune God. The redeeming God is both God and the Lamb.
The throne signifies the administration of the New Jerusalem. This signifies that the administration of this organic building is built on the base (God the Father’s nature) as its foundation. Psalm 89:14 says that righteousness is the foundation of God’s throne. This implies that the very nature of God as the foundation of God’s administration refers, in this aspect, to God’s attribute of righteousness. God has a nature, and His nature is of many attributes, which include love, light, holiness, righteousness, kindness, etc. All these divine virtues are the attributes of God. Among all these divine attributes, the most important is righteousness. This is why we need to be saved according to God’s righteousness (Rom. 1:16-17; 3:21-22). If we are saved only according to God’s grace or according to God’s love, our salvation is not legally justified; it is not judicial. Anything that is of righteousness is judicial, is legal, according to the law.
The foundation of God’s throne is not grace or love. Such a foundation would not be sure to us. God’s throne is established on righteousness as its foundation. This righteousness is the main attribute in God’s nature. In the New Jerusalem both the street and the base are gold, signifying God’s nature in the attribute of righteousness. This is the foundation of the throne of God.
The administration of this organic building is also joined to the street, the communication of which, from the throne to the gates, signifies the execution of the administration of this organic building. In the New Jerusalem there is a street that is joined to the throne. The street is for communication. The street joined to the throne is for the governmental dealings, that is, the administration, in the New Jerusalem.
The administration in the New Jerusalem, as the divine, organic building, flows out the river of water of life (the consummated life-giving Spirit, as the consummation of the consummated Triune God — John 7:38-39; 4:14) in the middle of the street, and on the two sides of the river grows the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month (the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ, as the embodiment of the consummated Triune God — Rev. 2:7; 22:14), signifying the supply of this organic building.
In the middle of the street flows the river of water of life, and on the two sides of the river grows the tree of life (vv. 1-2). The river of water of life signifies the consummated life-giving Spirit, and the tree of life signifies the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ. The throne flows out the river, on the two sides of which grows the tree of life, and the river flows in the middle of the street. Thus, three things flow out of the throne: the divine administration, the river of water of life, and the tree of life. The latter two are the provision, the supply, of the holy city.
It is helpful to look at the picture of the New Jerusalem. First, there is the base of gold, and the street of gold is on the base. The street and the base are one piece of gold. At the top end of the street is the throne of God. Thus, the street comes out from the throne. In the middle of the street the river of life flows. Hence, the river of life also flows out of the throne. On the sides of the river the tree of life grows. The river of water of life and the tree of life are the supply of the city. This indicates that the administration of the city and the supply of the city all flow out of the throne, on which God and the Lamb, the redeeming God, are sitting.
This picture indicates that the redeeming God is the very source. From His righteousness as one of the attributes of His nature issues out the administration of His organic building, which is joined to the street. Furthermore, from His throne flows out the river of water of life, which grows the tree of life to be the life supply as the provision to supply the entire city. Thus, in this picture we have the administration, the provision, and also the communication, the street. All these come from God in His righteous nature. In summary, the base and the street are joined together as one piece of gold. At the top end of the street is the throne of God, and the redeeming God is sitting upon the throne as the source, from whom flows out the administration, the communication, and the provision of the city. This is the way to interpret such a picture.
The city of New Jerusalem is built with large, tall gates, and it also has its center. If there were no communication, no street, and if there were no administration and no provision of food and water, how could the city live? In the New Jerusalem the throne flows out the water, and the water grows the tree of life, which produces twelve kinds of fruit as the food. These three things — the administration, the communication, and the life supply — flow out of the God of righteousness to take care of the city.
All the points mentioned above indicate that God’s nature, one of the attributes of which is righteousness, is the foundation of the throne and that out of this foundation proceeds the administration of this organic building that affords the base for the supply of this organic building. Thus, the administration and supply of the New Jerusalem are all issues from the divine nature of God the Father, who is the Originator of this organic building.
The administration affords the base for the supply of the city. If there were no proper administration in the city of Anaheim, who would take care of the daily water supply? Anaheim has an adequate supply of water because it has a strong government. The administration of the government is the base to supply the city with water.
The picture of the throne joined to the street flowing out the administration, the communication, and the supply shows that the divine administration is from the throne of God, the divine communication goes along with the divine administration, and the divine supply comes from the divine administration and the divine communication under the authority of God’s throne. This indicates that if we want to participate in the divine supply in the New Jerusalem, we must submit ourselves to God’s throne of authority and to His divine administration and take care of the divine communication in the entire city of New Jerusalem.
We have seen the base, the gates, the wall, and the center of the New Jerusalem. It would seem that these things are sufficient. But who are the dwellers of the city? And what is the dwelling place of the dwellers? Revelation 21:22 says, “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” This verse says that there is no temple in the city, because God and the Lamb (the redeeming God) are the temple. Only the Holy Spirit could write in such a way. In verse 3 the city is called “the tabernacle of God.” The temple and the tabernacle are actually one. The tabernacle was God’s portable, movable building, a building that traveled in the wilderness. When the tabernacle became the temple, it was settled, no longer portable. God was in the tabernacle when the children of Israel were traveling for forty years in the wilderness. Thus, the tabernacle was God’s temple (1 Sam. 3:3). Within the tabernacle were the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place. When the children of Israel entered into the good land, they built the temple to replace the tabernacle. Within the temple also were the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place. The temple is not only the place where God stays to be worshipped but also the place where those who serve God live. Those who serve God live in the temple and take the temple as their dwelling.
The temple of this organic building is another aspect of the tabernacle of God and is the almighty God and the Lamb (the almighty redeeming God) for the eternal dwelling place of all of the redeeming God’s redeemed (Psa. 90:1; John 14:23). The temple is God’s dwelling place, but it becomes the place where God’s serving ones, the priests, live. Hence, the priests live together with God. The temple is God Himself. Thus, the very God worshipped by the priests is the dwelling place of the priests.
In Psalm 90:1 Moses wrote, “O Lord, You have been our dwelling place / In all generations.” Then, in Deuteronomy 33:27 he said, “The God of old is your habitation.” Even in the Old Testament, Moses considered God as Israel’s dwelling place. Later, Israel, under God’s punishment, was scattered among the Gentile nations. In Ezekiel 11:16 God said to them that in their dispersion He would be their sanctuary. Moreover, in the New Testament John 14:23 says that the Father and the Son will come to the one who loves the Son and make an abode, a dwelling place, with him. This dwelling place will be a mutual abode for the Father and the Son and the Son’s lover. When a young couple is going to be married, the young man may tell his bride that he will purchase a house that will be a mutual dwelling place for them as husband and wife. Eventually, the husband is the abode to the wife, and the wife is the abode to the husband. In the same way, God is an abode to us, and we are an abode to Him. The New Jerusalem will be a mutual dwelling place for God and His redeemed.
This organic building as the tabernacle, mostly of the humanity of God’s redeemed, is the eternal dwelling place of the Triune God; this building as the temple of God, mostly of the divinity of the redeeming God, is the eternal dwelling place of God’s redeemed. This indicates that this building is a mutual abode of the redeeming God and His redeemed.
The tabernacle is built mostly with the humanity of God’s people to be God’s dwelling place. The temple is built mostly of divinity to be the dwelling place of God’s redeemed. This indicates that God takes us as His dwelling place and gives Himself to us to be our dwelling place. The divine God lives in a human tabernacle, and the human redeemed live in a divine dwelling place. This indicates the mingling of divinity with humanity, in which both humanity and divinity became a mutual abode. Concerning God and His redeemed in the New Jerusalem, a new hymn says, “As man yet God they coinhere, / A mutual dwelling place to be.” The New Jerusalem as the tabernacle of God indicates that the redeemed of God are the dwelling place of God, and the redeeming God as the temple indicates that God is the dwelling place for His serving ones.
In this mutual abode, where both God and His redeemed abide, the redeeming God as the Father with the redeemed as the Father’s many sons form a royal household.
In this royal divine household the sons as priests, the royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9), serve the Father and as kings reign over the nations as its subjects (Rev. 22:3b-5; 21:24-26).
Thus far we have considered the base with the street, the gates, the wall of the city with its foundations, the center for the administration and the supply of the city, and the temple where God’s serving ones, the priests, dwell. In constructing a house, the last thing is to install the electrical wires to bring in light. As the divine, organic building, the New Jerusalem has its light with its shining (vv. 23-24a).
The light of this organic building is the glory of God in the Lamb (the Redeemer) as the lamp (v. 23b). Therefore, this building has no need of the sun or the moon, the natural light created by God, and the lamp, the artificial light made by man, and there is no night (vv. 23a, 25; 22:5a). In the New Jerusalem God is the light and Christ is the lamp. Although there will be no night there, there is still the need of light. However, the light is not the created light or the artificial light made by man, but God Himself in the Lamb as the lamp.
The glory of God as the light is in the redeeming Lamb as the lamp shining through this organic building as the light’s diffuser. This indicates that the Triune God is one with His redeemed in His expression (as what is revealed by the Son in John 14:20) shining as light over the nations. In the New Jerusalem there are the light, the lamp, and the diffuser to shine the divine light out. In John 14:20 the Lord said to His disciples, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” This shows that the light is in the lamp, and the lamp is in the diffuser. The light is God the Father, the lamp is God the Son, and the diffuser is the Body of Christ, the New Jerusalem, to shine the divine light over the nations, the peoples who live around the New Jerusalem.
The nations will walk by the light of this organic building. Thus, the entire eternal kingdom of God will be under the shining of God’s glory in the Redeemer through the redeemed as the diffuser. The eternal kingdom of God includes the New Jerusalem and the nations around it. The redeemed who constitute the New Jerusalem are the kings to reign, and the nations around the New Jerusalem are the subjects.
