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Week 14 — Day 1
Rev. 1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to Him to show to His slaves the things that must quickly take place; and He made it known by signs, sending it by His angel to His slave John.
The New Jerusalem revealed in the last two chapters of the book of Revelation is not only the conclusion of the book itself and of the New Testament; it is also the conclusion of the whole Bible. In the sixty-six books of the Bible, all the records of plain words, prophecies, and types in the Old Testament, beginning from God’s creation, progressing through Satan’s rebellion, man’s fall, God’s promise of redemption to fallen man, God’s dealings with the Patriarchs, God’s calling of His chosen people, their redemption, their being formed into a nation, their failure, and their recovery, and concluding with their looking to and waiting for Christ; and all the records of plain words, prophecies, and signs in the New Testament, beginning from John the Baptist and the ministry of the Lord Jesus, progressing through the Lord Jesus’ death, resurrection, ascension, and ministry after His ascension, the work of the apostles, the calling, salvation, and maturity of the believers, the establishment and building up of the church, the Lord Jesus’ second coming and the things that He will do in His second coming, the establishment of the millennial kingdom, the termination of Satan and his followers, including demons and human beings, and the passing away of the old heaven and the old earth, and concluding with the coming of the new heaven and new earth, are consummated in the New Jerusalem. She is the goal of God’s eternal economy and the crystallization of God’s work throughout the ages.
The New Jerusalem is the conclusion not only of the whole Bible, but also of the entire divine revelation.275 The Triune God, His economy, Christ’s redemption, God’s salvation, the believers, the church, and the kingdom all consummate in this one item — the New Jerusalem,276 which is the greatest and highest divine sign in the New Testament, and the one richest in meaning. She is the heart’s delight of the loving God; she is also the meaning of life of God’s beloved in eternity. This shows the important position of the New Jerusalem in the Bible and her profound contents in the divine revelation. We must not interpret this noble revelation in God’s Word according to our natural view or religious superstition.277
The book of Revelation itself indicates that we should interpret the New Jerusalem not according to the letter but as a sign [1:1].278 If we would understand the significance of the New Jerusalem as a sign, we need to see the crucial importance of the first verse of Revelation. This verse is the key to open up the entire book. Without this key, the book of Revelation will be closed to us.279 A sign is a symbol with a spiritual significance, such as the seven lampstands, signifying the seven churches; the seven stars, signifying the messengers of the churches (v. 20); and the beast from the sea, signifying Antichrist (13:1). In 5:6 Christ is presented as a Lamb. Since Christ is not literally a lamb, the Lamb here must also be a sign. In John 1:29 Christ is called “the Lamb of God.” In the typology in the Old Testament, the Passover lamb (Exo. 12:3) signifies Christ as the One offered to God for our redemption. This is the spiritual significance of the sign of the Lamb in the book of Revelation. Just as the Lamb in Revelation 5 is a sign, so the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 and 22 is also a sign. Only when we interpret the New Jerusalem as a sign with a spiritual significance will we have a clear view and a proper understanding of the New Jerusalem.280
Week 14 — Day 2
Rev. 21:2 And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God...
Heb. 12:22 But you have come forward to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem...
All the designations of the New Jerusalem imply its constituents, elements, composition, and constitution. This is why it is important for us to find out the significances of all these designations.281
Why does the Spirit use the word “new” in the designation “New Jerusalem”? The Bible reveals to us two creations — the old creation and the new creation. There is nothing of God’s nature involved with any item in the old creation. In other words, God is not in the old creation. In everything of the new creation, however, God’s divine nature is in it. The old man has nothing of God in it, but the new man is not only born of God but also created and constituted with God [John 1:12-13; 2 Cor. 5:17; Col. 3:10].
The old Jerusalem was a physical city. In its constituents there was nothing of God’s nature. However, the New Jerusalem, just like the new man, has God wrought into it. It is new because God has been added in. Anything that is without God is old, but anything in which God is added is new.282
The title “Jerusalem” is composed of two Hebrew words — Jeru means foundation and Salem means peace. Paul tells us in Hebrews 7 that the king of Salem is the king of Peace (v. 2). Salem is peace and Jeru is something founded, something built, something laid as a foundation. Thus, Jerusalem means the foundation of peace....The Bible indicates that peace is God Himself [Phil. 4:7, 9; 1 Thes. 5:23]....When we consummate in the New Jerusalem we will be in peace, that is, in the Triune God.283
The New Jerusalem is the holy city (Rev. 21:2, 10)....In the New Testament the word holy means not only separated unto God but also saturated with God, whereas in the Old Testament to be made holy is only to be separated unto God. There is no saturation of God in the Old Testament, and the holiness, or sanctification, there is only positional, not dispositional. In the New Testament, however, we see both objective, positional sanctification and subjective, dispositional sanctification (Matt. 23:17, 19; Rom. 6:19, 22; 1 Thes. 5:23). In positional sanctification there is only a change of position, but in dispositional sanctification there is the transformation in nature and in element....Based upon this principle, we can see that the holy city, the New Jerusalem, cannot be a physical city since a physical city cannot be saturated with God. The New Jerusalem is a city composed of living persons who have been separated unto God and saturated with Him.284
Hebrews 11:14-16 reveals that the Old Testament saints longed after a better country, a heavenly country, and that God has prepared for them a city. In 12:22, however, the writer tells us that we have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem. This verse does not say that we will come to the heavenly Jerusalem but that we have come to this city. If the Mount Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem in 12:22 were material, how could we have come to them today? This would be impossible.
The fact that, according to Hebrews 12:22, we have already come to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, indicates that it is not a material city. Many Christians are waiting to go to the New Jerusalem, but we need to realize that we have come to the New Jerusalem already. The church is the house of the living God (1 Tim. 3:15). Hence, the church is God’s home, and it is also our home today. When the church is enlarged to be a city, it becomes a heavenly country. Our heavenly country is a city — the heavenly Jerusalem — to which we have already come.285
Week 14 — Day 3
Rev. 21:3 ...Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men...
9 ...Come here; I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
Gal. 4:26 But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.
Week 14 — Day 4
Rev. 21:18 ...And the city was pure gold...
21 ...And the street of the city was pure gold.
Week 14 — Day 5
Rev. 21:14, 18-19 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb....And the...wall was jasper....The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone: the first foundation was jasper...
22:1-2 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street. And on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month...
We see the twelve names of the twelve apostles on the twelve foundations of the city.306 The apostles here represent the grace of the New Testament, signifying that the New Jerusalem is built upon the grace of God. While entrance into the holy city is according to the law of God, the city is built upon the grace of God. Apostles here implies that the New Jerusalem is composed not only of the Old Testament saints, represented by Israel, but also of the New Testament saints, represented by the apostles.307 Peter, the first of the twelve apostles, was originally named Simon. When Simon was brought to the Lord, the Lord changed his name to Peter, meaning a stone (John 1:42). Later, the Lord called him by that name when He spoke concerning the building of His church (Matt. 16:18). Precious stones are not created but are produced by the transforming of things created. All the apostles were created as clay, but they were regenerated and were transformed into precious stones for God’s eternal building. Every believer needs to be thus regenerated and transformed that he may be a part of the New Jerusalem.308
The first layer of the wall’s foundation, as well as the entire wall of New Jerusalem, is built with jasper [Rev. 21:18-19].309 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.310 According to 21:11, the jasper is “a most precious stone...as clear as crystal.” Its color must be dark green, which signifies life in its richness. Jasper [in 4:3], as indicated in 21:11, signifies God’s communicable glory in His rich life (2, John 17:22).311 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.312
The first item of the furnishings of the New Jerusalem is the throne of God and the Lamb as its center. This throne is joined to the street, on which flows the river of life with the tree of life as the supply.313 That the one tree of life grows on the two sides of the river [Rev. 22:2] signifies that the tree of life is a vine that spreads and proceeds along the flow of the water of life for God’s people to receive and enjoy....Christ as the tree of life [John 1:4; 14:6; 15:1, 5] is the life supply available along the flow of the Spirit as the water of life. Where the Spirit flows, there the life supply of Christ is found. This is all in and with the divine nature as our holy way, signified by the street.314 With the street we have the communication for administration, and with the river we have the water of life and the fruit of the tree of life for supply. The water of life is for drinking, and the fruit of the tree of life is for eating. This is a matter of provision. For administration this throne is the throne of authority, and for provision this throne is the throne of grace. Hebrews 4:16 tells us that we may come to the throne of grace to “receive mercy and find grace for timely help.” If there were not such a throne, then in the New Jerusalem there would be no administration, no communication, no food, and no water. Thus, there is the need of the throne as the first item of the furnishings.315
Week 14 — Day 6
Rev. 21:22 And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
The second item [of the furnishings] is...the temple.316We need to consider why the temple is considered a furnishing of the holy city and not part of the structure itself. The structure itself is called the tabernacle of God (21:3). The writer of Revelation tells us that he did not see the temple. Because he was used to the temple, he was looking for it, but he saw no temple. Instead, he saw that the temple was the redeeming God [v. 22].317 The holy city as the tabernacle of God is for God to dwell in, and God and the Lamb as the temple are for us to dwell in. In eternity we will not dwell in a material city; we will dwell in the Triune God.318 Thus, the redeeming God is not only the basic factor for the structure of the New Jerusalem but also the very central furnishing. We human beings created by God need a temple. Our temple is the redeeming God as a part of the furnishings of the New Jerusalem.319
The last of the furnishings is the light with its shining. The glory of God as the light is in the redeeming Lamb as the lamp.320 [Revelation] 21:23...indicates that God and the Lamb are one light. God is the content, and the Lamb, Christ, is the light-bearer, the expression.321
The light of the holy city is the unique eternal divine light in which the redeemed elect live and move within the city, needing not the natural light, the sun and the moon, created by God, nor the artificial light made by man (Rev. 21:23, 25; 22:5a).322 God Himself, the very divine person, is the light....Such a light needs a lamp, and the Lamb is the lamp of the city....Without the Lamb being the lamp, God’s shining over us would “kill” all of us.323 However, with the redeeming Christ as the lamp, the divine light does not kill us but instead illumines us. First Timothy 6:16 says that God dwells in unapproachable light. In Christ, though, God becomes approachable.324 The divine light shines through our Redeemer. [Hence,] this light has become so lovable and touchable, and we even walk in this light (1 John 1:7).325
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....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.326
The supply of the New Jerusalem is the river of water of life which proceeds out of the throne of the Triune God, with the tree of life growing on the two sides of the river [Rev. 22:1-2]; the light of life also illuminates the entire city. In eternity God’s redeemed will drink of the water of the river of life, eat of the fruit of the tree of life, and walk in the light of life. The light of life signifies the Father (1 John 1:5); the tree of life, the Son [John 11:25; 15:1]; and the water of life, the Spirit (John 7:39). The Triune God becomes the life and enjoyment of His redeemed. He is their content, and they are His expression; they dwell in Him, and He dwells in them.327 [This] is the New Jerusalem — the universal incorporation of the union and mingling of divinity with humanity — the processed and consummated Triune God incorporated with His regenerated, renewed, sanctified, transformed, conformed, and glorified tripartite elect.328
1. How glorious, how bright it shines,
The holy, new Jerusalem;
It is God’s dwelling place with man,
The spotless bride of Christ, the Lamb.
2. Saints of the Old and of the New,
Heirs of the promise God bestowed,
Components of the city are,
Together built for God’s abode.
3. Perfectly square the city lies,
All sides are equal — length, width, height;
No measurement more long or short,
No part oblique, it stands upright.
4. The city with its street pure gold
As clear as glass transparent is,
Showing that God’s transcendent life
Its quality and nature is.
5. Twelve city gates are each one pearl;
Thus man is through redemption shown
Reborn and as a pearl transformed,
Entering to a realm God’s own.
6. The twelve foundations of its wall
Are with twelve precious stones adorned;
Through fire and pressure recomposed
And with eternal value formed.
7. The wall of jasper, crystal clear,
God’s glory by it fully shown;
His glorious light through it does shine,
And He appears as jasper stone.
8. The wall a separation makes,
Excluding all that is unclean;
Gold, pearls, and precious stones alone
The holy city has within.
9. God and the Lamb the Temple are!
We shall behold His glorious face;
His presence never will depart,
We’ll worship Him thru endless days.
10. The city needs no sun nor moon
For God’s own glory is its light;
The Lamb’s the lamp the city bears,
In all directions blazing bright.
11. Out from the throne of God and the Lamb
Flows midst the street a living stream,
And on its banks, on either side,
The tree of life is thriving seen.
12. This signifies the life of God
Not just for food or water flows,
But carries God’s authority
As it throughout the city goes.
13. The street of purest gold therein
God’s nature as the way doth show;
A river in it flows for drink
And fruits of life abundant grow.
14. The number twelve means government,
Perfection which eternal is;
God blent with man it also tells —
Three multiplied by four shows this.
15. Darkness and death shall be no more,
Sorrow and pain shall pass away,
Old will be gone and all be new,
God will abide with man for aye.
16. The city has God’s image full,
It rules for Him, the sovereign King,
Fulfilling His eternal plan,
Complete content to Him to bring.
