Revelation 21 7. Great Christian Library

Now we are talking about the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven to Earth. That is, we are talking about a new organizational structure of the heavenly government, living in the heavenly “capital” headed by Jehovah, where earthly subjects will somehow be able to come to worship and resolve their issues. Below we will find out exactly how the inhabitants of the earth will be able to “visit” heavenly Jerusalem, but for now one thing is clear:
Until now, only the holy inhabitants of heaven were involved in the heavenly Jerusalem, however, from now on, the new Jerusalem extends to the earth, where the holy people of God will henceforth live.
Not in the literal sense, of course: the heavenly “Jerusalem” is a figurative explanation of the structure of heavenly rule over the earth. Therefore, this “city” will descend to Earth not in the literal sense, but through the management of the people of the Earth - from heaven.

In fact, in this period, the promise of antiquity will finally be fulfilled that the promised land, in which the people of God will live, will become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex. 19: 5, 6).

(according to the promise, the whole earth promised to the obedient people of Jehovah should become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. So it will be: thanks to the skillful leadership of God’s heavenly priests in the thousand-year reign of Christ (they are also co-rulers of Christ, Rev. 20:6) all obedient to God the inhabitants of the Earth (the promised paradise) will become saints (a holy nation)).

As we remember, Abraham looked forward to the city of the future, built on a strong foundation, a city whose architect and builder is God himself (Heb. 11:10).
This city of the future, which must stand on a solid foundation throughout all eternity, will be discussed in this chapter.

prepared like a bride adorned for her husband These words indicate that God was equipping, decorating, selecting “building material” and preparing this city for the reception of His earthly holy children - with the same diligence and care with which a bride prepares to meet her groom for marriage.

Below we will find out the essence of the structure of the new city of Jerusalem, we will find out who will live in it permanently and who will come to worship or “toil in its fields”, and fragments of the prophecy of Ezekiel will help us in this, describing the structure of the new city with the name “Lord/Jehovah” there" (Ezek.48:19,35)

21:3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them; they will be His people, and God Himself with them will be their God.
The picture of the descent of the new Jerusalem to Earth is accompanied by words about the tabernacle of God with people living on Earth. Therefore, the “earthly” part of the new Jerusalem is associated with the tabernacle of God (temple), where after the millennium of Christ every inhabitant of the paradise earth will be able to enter to communicate with the Almighty ( " Jerusalem coming down from heaven - Heretabernacle of God with people" in other words it sounds like this: "Jerusalem coming down from heaven This and there is the tabernacle of God with men" )

If we recall the picture of the tabernacle of antiquity (the earthly dwelling of God), and later the temple building, then it was located in a special part of Jerusalem. That is, if we talk about the new Jerusalem, then its entire earthly “part” will become that very special part (figurative “tabernacle”) where God will dwell and communicate with his holy people.

Next. In the premises of the temple and the courtyard of the temple, ancient people had the right to be only saints servants of God: the sanctified tribe of Levi, since only its representatives, at the request of God, underwent a special ritual rite of purification, sanctification and dedication to God (Ex. 40: 12-15; Num. 8: 10-14).
The rest of the people, due to their sinfulness, did not have the right to be in the tabernacle and the inner courtyard: for the “less pure” the outer courtyard of the tabernacle/temple, located outside the inner courtyard, was intended (Ezek. 10:3-5; 42:14; 44:19; 46:20).

Now, after the millennium of Christ, all the people of the Earth can be in the tabernacle (the earthly part of the new Jerusalem). Why? Because they all became pure: saints. And the outer courtyard of the “tabernacle of eternity” was abolished as unnecessary: ​​after all, there are no more sinful descendants of Adam on earth, therefore the outer courtyard is no longer needed in the worship of Jehovah.

That is, it is figuratively shown here that from now on the Creator can live together with people, and His soul does not abhor the new holy society of the Earth, as was predicted for the holy people in ancient times:
3 If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them,
4 Then I will give you rains in due season, and the earth will yield its growth, and the trees of the field will yield their fruit...
11 And I will make My habitation among you, and My soul will not abhor you;
12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you will be my people. (Lev.26:3,4,11,12).

Let us remember that Jehovah asked Israel to keep His commandments so that, according to the promise, the whole land promised to Jehovah’s obedient people could become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (Ex.19:5,6).
So it will be: thanks to the skillful leadership of the heavenly priests of God in the millennium of Christ (they are also the co-rulers of Christ, Rev. 20:6), all inhabitants of the promised earthly paradise obedient to God will become a holy people.

As a result, God will have an earthly kingdom (state), which is looked after by His heavenly priests, where the holy people live and worship God in a spiritual temple/tabernacle (in the earthly part of the new Jerusalem) - day and night (constantly living according to the commandments of God), as was predicted for people of the second group who achieved salvation(after 144,000 servants of the Most High):
Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His Temple,
and He who sits on the throne will pitch His tent over them: (Rev. 7:15, V. Kuznetsova)

So, John was shown a new earthly world order, which showed the presence of the Creator among the holy people of the Earth. It is illustrated figuratively by the example of the tabernacle/temple of old, located in Jerusalem. The inhabitants of the entire earth will be able to worship Jehovah and fellowship with Him according to their needs (in the figurative “tabernacle” with the Holy of Holies in heaven), turning to Him without the mediation of a high priest or priesthood (directly without Christ interceding for them with God and without the participation of heavenly priests) .

The Prophet Ezekiel, showing a picture of the future, partially explained how the Promised Land will be organized: it will be divided into inheritances for all inhabitants of the paradise planet, including Israel according to the flesh (Ezek. 47: 21-23); there will be a holy site for the Holy of Holies (Ezek.45:1-4), and the Holy of Holies will be located at the very top of the mountain (Ezek.43:12); there will also be a city where all the peoples of the Earth will have the opportunity to come at will, even for work, not only for communication with God (Ezek. 45: 5,6; 48: 15-19). The name of the city according to Ezekiel is “The Lord is there,” that is, according to John, this is the earthly part of the “new Jerusalem”, where God will be with his holy children, just as he was with Adam in Eden (Ezek. 48:35).

Moreover, the city where the people of the earth will be able to communicate with God will be located outside the Holy of Holies, intended for God and his faithful priests like the faithful Zadok (heavenly co-rulers of Christ, Ezek. 45: 2-4; 44:15).
Ezekiel’s description of the future world order also suggests that the Holy of Holies of the new Jerusalem will be located separately from the earthly part of the new “Jerusalem” - from the planet Earth: it will be located in the sky (in the heavenly “part of the new Jerusalem”).

That is why it is said that the new Jerusalem descends from heaven (from the Holy of Holies, the dwelling place of God and the celestials)- to Earth (to the tabernacle for holy people).
In other words, the presence of God in the eternal world order will be all-encompassing, spreading from heaven to the heavenly Earth.

21:4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death; There will be no more crying, no crying, no pain, for the former things have passed away.
As we see, everything that brought grief, grief and sadness to humanity (death and various ailments) will disappear completely and forever on earth- only after the millennium of Christ: not a single holy inhabitant of the Earth will ever face a single unpleasant problem (that’s why we think that death will no longer have an effect on animals either). See box

Some b Ibleists teach that death in Eden was shown to Adam through the example of a dead animal. But, firstly, in a perfect park, God would not darken the picture of perfection with dead animals: living in paradise and stumbling upon the corpses of animals would be extremely unpleasant for people.
Secondly, the dead and the consequences of the decomposition of corpses are an abomination in the eyes of God. He would not defile His dwelling with the abomination of carrion; in paradise there could be no question of this.
Thirdly, the task did not tell people to bury animals (Gen. 1:28)

Since nothing will ever darken the life of humanity in the eternal earthly world order, moreover, nothing will ever desecrate the presence of God THERE - the conclusion suggests itself that in the Kingdom of God there will be no death for anyone: neither for people nor for animals.

The same thing was essentially said for the second group of people, redeemed by Christ, dressed in the white robe of the righteousness of the saints of God and finally achieved salvation from sin and death - after a thousand years of life on Earth:
16 They will hunger no more and thirst no more, and the sun and no heat will beat down on them:
17 For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will feed them and lead them to living springs of water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.(Rev. 7:9-17).

This text reveals the secret of the role of Christ in the eternal world order of God: although he will hand over the reins of government to God (1 Cor. 15:24, 28), he will not cease to help the Father in managing the affairs of the Earth, like his co-rulers. But we will talk about this in other texts of chapters 21 and 22.

Note : Some believe, based on Revelation 21:4, that all good people go to heaven and that the blessings described in this verse apply to life in heaven. How can you show that we are talking about land? It is enough to pay attention to one detail from this verse: “ There will be no more death" Most likely, a person will agree that in order to achieve something gone, it is necessary that at first it was. Then you can emphasize that no one dies in heaven, that with death exists only on earth. Therefore, Revelation 21:4 speaks of future blessings on earth (Ps. 37:29).

21:5 And He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. And he says to me: write; for these words are true and true.
Jehovah God announced to John a radical and good change in the system of all things with the words “I am creating everything new.” From this moment (after the millennium of Jesus Christ), a new world order is established in the earthly world order, which should last forever: the new Jerusalem, descending from heaven, will become a stronghold of paradise eternity for the camp of the holy inhabitants of the Earth.

21:6 And he said to me: it is done! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; To the thirsty I will give freely from the fountain of living water.
At this moment, God Himself will believe that everything He initially planned for humanity has finally come true: in His name Alpha and Omega there is an allegory of the beginning and logical conclusion planned. Therefore, the mention of God as Alpha and Omega (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet) emphasizes the role of God in the new creation: He began to fulfill the plan of His creation, He began to complete it (bring all stages of His creation on Earth to its logical conclusion). Actually, He planned to give eternal life to people - He will reveal to them source of living water : will give access to the source of eternal life through communication with Himself.
As a result - in human history Finally, the blessed seventh and eternal “day” will come, where the new man will abide in the righteousness and holiness of truth, and God will be in the peace of a reliable “rear”, forever secured by the obedience of His heavenly and earthly spiritual family.

21:7 P the one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.
God recognizes all the winners of the power of sin over themselves (the consequences of the vicious essence of the descendants of Adam) as His children and will give them as an inheritance not only eternal life, but also the paradise planet with all its contents (everything that was created by God for the earthly world order from the beginning, Gen. 1:28-30).

The first conquerors of the sinful essence, as we remember, will be the co-rulers of Christ: they were the first to become like the sons of God, therefore they were awarded eternal life in heaven, and the Earth was given as a trusted “possession” of God, in need of wise management (Matt. 24:47)
Secondly, those who, in the eyes of God, will achieve the state of the “camp of saints” will conquer the Adamic essence in themselves: they will also become sons of God, only earthly: they will be given the Earth to live in.
Both, however, will have something in common: the two groups will become spiritual children of God, united in a family and kinship community - spiritual unity, as Christ asked for his disciples:
that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, [so] may they also be one in Us, (John 17:21)

The use of the word “son” here does not mean that in heaven everyone will be sons: God will have both sons and daughters, as it is written:
16.. this is what God said: “I will dwell with them, I will live with them, I will become their God, they will be My people.
17 Therefore leave them and separate yourself, says the Lord, do not touch unclean things, and I will receive you
18 And I will become a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters. Thus says the Lord Almighty (2 Cor. 6:17,18)

In Israel, only males were considered, for they were considered the strength and support of society (Gen. 46:26; Exod. 12:37), which is why it is said here about sons. In the eyes of God, men are the glory of God, but with every man there will be his wife, the glory of the husband (1 Cor. 11:7), for this is how God arranged the society of the Earth, so that a man and a woman would form a family (one flesh) - the stronghold of the society of the paradise Earth.

21:8 But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and fornicators and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars will have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death.
A list of qualities that are not pleasing to God: people who do not get rid of them will not live in God’s eternal world order (they will be destroyed forever in Gehenna, or in other words, by the second death)
The fearful are those who are indecisive, doubtful, do not trust God, have little faith, and are cowardly (lack of courage, fortitude, faith and determination).

All the rest are known, these are: those who betray God; people who have not overcome sexual promiscuity; all uncleanness in yourself; the bad ones are devoted to disgusting immorality; sorcerers - those who have a desire to do magic (practice spiritualism, fortune telling, etc.); lovers of finding idols for themselves and lying in any manifestation (verbally and in actions).
However, almost the entire category of liars is listed here: spiritualism - false prophecy, idolatry - false worship, fornication - deception of lawful marriage companions, infidels - deception of God.

The fate of such people is destruction forever (the second death or Gehenna are the same thing).

21:9 And one of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came to me and said to me: Go, I will show you a wife, the bride of the Lamb. (the bride who became the wife of the Lamb).
John is asked to show the church of the firstborn (co-rulers of Christ).

21:10 And he carried me away in spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, which came down from heaven from God.
In order for John to see the wife of Christ, he is again shown the new Jerusalem (here the saint), descending from heaven to earth, revealing a view of this city from a high mountain.
That is, the wife of the Lamb in the eternal earthly world order of God is essentially the “new (holy) Jerusalem” and is, only in a figurative sense, as, for example, the Upper Jerusalem is the spiritual “wife” of God or the organization of his heavenly helpers, thanks to which in this century all the future co-rulers of Christ, his “bride”, appeared on earth, Gal.4:26).
As we remember, Revelation previously called the last co-rulers of Christ figuratively “the holy city” (Rev. 11:2).

In Rev. 21:3 we talked about the fact that the “new Jerusalem” coming down from heaven to the people of the earth will cover the camp of the saints on earth - like a tent. That is why this new organizational structure is spoken of as the tabernacle/tent of God with people. Schematically, this city may look, for example, in the form of a cone with a base on Earth and a top in heaven (the tent of God is spread over people with the “top” of the tent in heaven), something like this:

But if the city is the “wife of Christ,” then how can it also be the tent of God with people?
Very simply: the new heavenly government over the earth, headed by Jehovah (starting from the brightest “top”) and consisting of His assistants (heavenly high priest and king Jesus Christ + 144,000 priests of God and co-kings of Jesus) will envelop people in the radiance of its care, as if protective cover: under the “dome” of the heavenly city built by God (Heb. 11:10), the camp of the saints of God, gathered for communication with God at the base of the “dome” on the ground , will forever feel safe.

Such a protective “cover” for people in God’s world was predicted:

1 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule by law; 2 and each of them will be like a shelter from the wind and a shelter from the weather, like springs of water in the desert, like the shadow of a high rock in a thirsty land . .(Isa.32:1,2)

The fact that the "city" (Christ's wife/co-rulers) comes down from heaven to Earth means that all guidelines, norms, recommendations, instructions, assignments, etc. for the inhabitants of the Earth - they will, figuratively, like a “sheaf of light” spread from the brightest heavenly peak - to the earth, therefore we can say that the peoples of the earth will forever walk in the light (under the control) of the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:24)

The prophet Ezekiel, describing the new world order for holy Israel, partially explained the principle of the temple or tabernacle of God with people:
This is the law of the temple: at the top of the mountain, all the space around it is the Holy of Holies; This is the law of the temple! (Ezek.43:12).

That is, at the very “top” of the new Jerusalem - in heaven - will be the abode of Jehovah, He is the brightest “luminary” for all the saints of heaven and Earth living in the place of His all-encompassing presence throughout all eternity.
The same idea is reflected in the following text:

21:11 He has the glory of God. It shone like a most precious stone, like a crystalline jasper stone.
The most main feature city ​​(Christ's wife) is the glory of God, a special, self-luminous light for him. This is the Lord God Himself.
That is, in its activities, the church of the firstborn throughout all eternity will shine with the glory of God: His principles of holiness, justice, love, truth, mercy, philanthropy, etc.

As for the luminary for the city:
in ancient times, the glory of God was presented to people in the form of a temporary luminous cloud, overshadowing certain territories at certain moments (during the consecration of the temple, for example, 1 Kings 8:10,11; on Mount Sinai during the conclusion of the Old Testament, Exodus 24: 16; the tabernacle of meeting, Ex. 40:34).

In the new world order, the glory of God for the city (the church of the firstborn) will be an enduring phenomenon: God will always be with the co-rulers of Christ, being in their midst.

That is why they will “have” the glory of God.

21:12,13 It has a large and high wall, has twelve gates and twelve Angels on them; On the gate are written the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
13 On the east there are three gates, on the north there are three gates, on the south there are three gates, and on the west there are three gates.
The wall of the spiritual "city coming down from heaven" and guarded by angels - like the wall of the literal Jerusalem with guards at the gates - speaks of its strong protection: the spirituality of the heavenly government of eternity will be protected by the "armor" of faith, like the walls of an inaccessible fortress, and - by powerful angels. Such a high degree of protection guarantees the highest degree of spiritual stability and integrity of all heavenly helpers of God.
The gates of the city show that the entrance to the “city” of God is not free; for access to God, a “gate system” is used, therefore not everyone can enter it (enter through the narrow gate, Matthew 17:13)

The message about the inscription of the 12 tribes of Israel on the gates of the city is reminiscent of the thought from Rev. 7:4, when all the co-rulers of Christ (his bride) were gathered from all the tribes of God's people of the New Testament. That is, belonging to God’s people serves as a passport to God.

21:14 The wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
The twelve foundations of the city walls are named after the twelve apostles of the Lamb

21:15,16 He who spoke to me had a golden reed to measure the city and its gates and its walls.
16 The city is located in a quadrangle, and its length is the same as its latitude. And he measured the city with a reed for twelve thousand furlongs; its length and breadth and height are equal.
Although, as Ezekiel said, the Holy of Holies is located at the very top of the mountain (in heaven, Ezekiel 43:12) - this abode in his visions on the mountain had the shape of a rectangle surrounded by a piece of territory for the priests serving God (Ezekiel 45: 1-4)

That is, just as Mount Moriah in literal Jerusalem had a level platform for the location of the temple on it (the abode of God and the priesthood), so the top of heavenly Zion will have some space for a new “city” (for 144,000 co-rulers):
Rev. 14:1, as we remember, shows just such a place. On Mount Zion, Jesus Christ stands with his 144,000 co-rulers. That is, the heavenly part of the “city” is located on top of that same “tent” with a luminary (city, see diagram 21:10), which will “descend from heaven to Earth” (spread the glory of God from heaven to the people of the earth, covering them the glory of God, like a dome/tent/tabernacle).

The measurement of the “city” shows that it is as if “measures were taken” from each co-ruler of Christ and it turns out that the “city” in space has the shape of a huge cube (with sides equal to 2,200 km each or 12,000 stadia), which is unrealistic for a literal the new city of Jerusalem, which the Jewish rabbis dream of restoring: its area is 14 times larger than the territory of modern times. Israel; in height he would stand in open space by 560 km, and the entire area of ​​the holy city would be equal to 5,760,000 square km. The rabbis dream that the restored city will extend all the way to Damascus and occupy all of Palestine. But a city with the same area as John's would stretch from London to New York (from Barclay's thoughts)

So, what do the “measures” of Christ’s co-rulers show?

In the ancient world, the cubic shape was considered a symbol of perfection

The Jews believed the same (the Holy of Holies in Solomon's temple, the altar of burnt offering, the altar of incense and the breastplate of the high priest were made in the shape of a cube, 1 Kings 6:20; Exodus 27:1; 30:2; 28:16).

The prophet Ezekiel also describes the new Jerusalem and the new temple in the form of a cube (Ezek. 41:21; 43:16; 45:2; 48:20).

Thus, firstly, the “measures” of Christ’s co-rulers correspond to the “dimensions” of their perfection. And secondly, the strictly ordered structure of the “city” itself shows that the society of heavenly rulers will have a certain organizational structure (it is impossible to imagine anarchy in the heavenly abode of God).
All the supreme heavenly helpers of God will be organized in their structure according to the type of any capital “city” with the distribution among them of rights, duties and responsibilities for certain areas in the life of the people of God:
Jerusalem, built like a city merged into one(between each other and with God, Ps.121:3)

21:17 And he measured the wall thereof to be one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, which is the measure of an angel.
The wall of the city, on the one hand, is nothing more than a protective “shell” of the co-rulers: the spirituality of the heavenly government of eternity will be protected by the “armor” of faith, similar to the strength of their faith and integrity. (see 21:12)

On the other hand, it has a height of only 144 cubits (about 70 m. Compared to the height of the urban space of 12,000 stadia or 2,200 km) - the city wall is completely minuscule: about 30,000 times less than the height of the urban space.

If, for example, the layout of a city yard is equal to a cube the size of a 10-story building (350 m), then the fence near this yard will be 12 mm high. There is practically none.

What does this mean? That the co-rulers of Christ will not be fenced off by a high fence from the inhabitants of the Earth: they will all be easily accessible, just like God himself - the luminary and the foundation of the city.
In the new earthly world order, the human measure will be equal to the angelic measure, that is, God’s requirements for angels and people in the world of God are the same.

Well, about the numbers: if you look at these numbers, you can see the ratio of 144,000 co-rulers selected from the 12 spiritual tribes of “Israel” - 12,000 from each tribe (Rev. 7: 3-8).

21:18 Its wall was built of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like pure glass.
The description of these materials seems strange: a wall, for example, may have the composition of a precious stone, but the city itself literally cannot be gold, similar to transparent glass.

But if we consider that we are talking about a symbolic description of the organization of Christ’s co-rulers, then in the eyes of God they are all gold, purified by the fire of trials (Mal. 3: 3), and their hearts are transparent and pure, like glass, there is not a drop of impurity in them opacities.

(see Rev. 15:2 about those who stand on a sea of ​​glass mixed with fire).

21:19, 20 The foundations of the city wall are decorated with all sorts of precious stones: the first foundation is jasper, the second is sapphire, the third is chalcedon, the fourth is emerald,
20 fifth sardonyx, sixth carnelian, seventh chrysolite, eighth virill, ninth topaz, tenth chrysoprase, eleventh hyacinth, twelfth amethyst .

The twelve foundations of the city are decorated with twelve precious stones, the same as those on the breastplate of the high priest. That is, the city descending from heaven to earth will have a priestly character: its foundations (the basis of the organization of heavenly priests) will be the function of priests, not only serving directly before God, but also instructing God’s people in His law as His faithful messengers ( Mal.2:7)

Beauty precious stones at the foundation of the city only emphasizes the dazzling splendor of the heavenly government of God, created by him for the eternal earthly world order. Indeed, at the foundation of the city wall there are 12 names of the apostles (21:14), that is, the foundation of the church of the firstborn (co-rulers of Christ) are the apostles, and each of them is like a precious stone in the eyes of God, having its own individual glory of treasure. Although these spiritual "stones" at the foundation of heavenly government are different, they are all equally precious in the eyes of God.

21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: each gate was made of one pearl. The city street is pure gold, like transparent glass.
From Rev.21:12 We remember that on the 12 gates are written the names of the 12 tribes of Israel, and each of them is a pearl in the gates of the city.
There are three associations here:
1) all the co-rulers of Christ (his bride) were gathered from all the tribes of God’s people of the New Testament (Rev. 7:4).
2) everyone who was selected as the bride of Christ for the heavenly city, like the merchant from Jesus’ parable about the pearl, for the sake of possessing the pearl (the Kingdom of God) left everything he had in this world (Matthew 13:45-46).
3) the spiritual “tribes of Israel” of God can also enter this city: the people of Jehovah, gathered in the millennium of Christ from all tribes and peoples, including those from Israel according to the flesh who were able to accept Christ in the Millennium.

City streets- pure gold, like transparent glass - a repetition of thoughts from Rev. 21:18: all the co-rulers of Christ in the eyes of God are gold, purified by the fire of trials (Mal.3:3), and their hearts are transparent and pure, like glass, there is not a drop of impurity in them. If you walk along these “streets,” you won’t get lost, all the deeds of Christ’s co-rulers are shining with gold and transparent to the eye, nothing is hidden here or hidden for one’s own gain, everyone is open to the gaze of those judging them, but each of them, like Samuel, has boldness to declare one's integrity openly without hiding (1 Samuel 12:3). These “streets” will never be filled with murdered prophets because of an unjust trial (Ezek. 11:6; Matt. 23:35; Rev. 11:8): the trial here will always be fair, and the heavenly rulers will only bring benefit to those who serve God .

21:22 But I did not see a temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb.
The bride/wife of Christ (the city) does not need a temple either as a place of God's presence or as a device for worshiping Him: co-rulers of Christ live together with God, they are located directly in the very place and center of the all-inclusive presence of God and His High Priest Jesus Christ - in heaven, in the true Holy of Holies.
Being here, they are already daily with Him and His Christ in the closest possible connection, spiritual communication and unity. Why would they need an additional place where they would have to go in search of the presence of God?

Let us remind you: for the holy inhabitants of the Earth, the temple will be a place of worship and communication with God, and the temple for them will be the earthly part of heavenly Jerusalem, which in the form of a dome will figuratively “descend” to Earth from heaven (from the place of God’s presence in the Holy of Holies) and “will cover” the camp of the holy inhabitants of the whole Earth (according to Ezekiel - in a certain “sacred area”, which the planet will become) - like a huge tent (tabernacle, see Rev.21:10.3)
That is, it will be possible to say about the holy inhabitants of the earth that they all worship God in the temple/tabernacle, which will be the whole Earth - with the Holy of Holies in heaven, being in communion with Him and the heavenly priests - all eternity ( Open 21:3;7:15). And about the inhabitants of heaven it is said that for them the temple is God himself and His Christ.

21:23 And the city has no need of the sun or the moon to illuminate it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
The city (Christ's wife) is illuminated at all times by the light of the Creator. That is, the heavenly priests and co-rulers of Christ will always be in the light of the spiritual truths of God, and therefore will never encounter spiritual darkness (they do not need not only a daylight, but also a night “luminary”).
And Jesus Christ will serve them as a spiritual guide, directing the activities of the heavenly rulers over the Earth throughout all eternity.

21:24 The saved nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honor into it.
Those of the Millennials on Earth achieved salvation(that is, who did not die the second death, who achieved holiness at the end of the thousand years and received the right to enter into the eternal day after the Millennium) - will live throughout all eternity under the leadership of the New Jerusalem (walk in the light of the eternal heavenly government headed by Jehovah and Christ His).

About the peoples those who have achieved salvation and therefore stepped into the everlasting day - John also spoke earlier as about a group a great many people in white clothes the righteousness of the saints of the Most High, redeemed by Christ and standing before the throne of God in such a countless number that no one could count it (Rev. 7:9)

kings of the earth What earthly kings glorifying the wife of Christ (New Jerusalem) can we be talking about here?
Not about the wife herself, at least: the co-rulers of Christ cannot bring their own glory and honor to themselves. Who are we talking about then?
As we remember from Psalm 44:10-17, during the thousand-year reign, Jesus Christ will appoint one of the inhabitants of the Millennium as princes throughout the whole earth. This means that the society of the holy inhabitants of the Earth will be organized throughout eternity: on the paradise Earth during the Millennium, a multitude of people will be formed, orderly “broken” into clans and families (see Rev. 20:3,7 about nations, ἔΘνος)

As a result, many different families (tribes, clans, peoples) will live there, whose life activities will need to be directed in accordance with the further plans of God. This is what the “princes” or “kings of the earth”, trained by the heavenly government, will do.
(the text from Rev. 20:12 also says that the society of the Earth after a thousand years will consist of small and great - stewards and stewards (great) helping the people of the Earth (little)

With their wise and just activities, these kings of the earth will glorify the “New Jerusalem” (they will bring their glory and honor to it): they will not take upon themselves the glory of wise rule, but will recognize that the one world heavenly government “established” by Jehovah over the entire planet is the most the best and only possible for the formation of a happy society on Earth throughout all eternity.

21:25 Its gates will not be locked during the day; and there will be no night there.
In ancient Jerusalem, the gates were locked at night, during darkness and sleep - for security purposes, so that no one could harm its inhabitants and visitors while everyone was sleeping (not yet able to think sensibly and protect the city from danger).
New Jerusalem in this sense will be completely safe: firstly, no one there will ever plunge into a state of “sleep” or spiritual “darkness” ( there will be no night there ). The heavenly rulers will always be vigilant over the establishment of a blessed life for the people of the paradise earth.

Secondly, nothing will threaten the “new Jerusalem” from the outside: Christ’s co-rulers throughout all eternity will not have to fear that some evil will one day “capture” them and harm them.
Thirdly, entry into the “New Jerusalem” will be free: every inhabitant of the earth will be able to turn to the always accessible heavenly government at any time - for help or on any other issue. In Rev. 22:4 this is reflected by the words they will be able to “enter the city through the gates”, that is, -on a legal basis, by the right of the conquerors of sin (they will enter through the gate, they will not climb over like thieves, John 10: 1, 9,10).

About the gates of heavenly Jerusalem : as we remember, Jacob saw a dream about the gates of heaven, through which the angels of God descended from heaven and ascended to heaven, and from where God spoke to Jacob (Gen. 28: 12-17). Jesus Christ also spoke to his disciples about the possibility of seeing angels descending and ascending into heaven (John 1:51).
Who knows, perhaps the organization of communication between the people of Earth and the heavenly rulers through the “gates of Jerusalem” will look exactly like this: certain special places will be established on Earth - “heavenly gates” for the possibility of free communication between people and the inhabitants of heaven. But these are, of course, just assumptions. The meaning of the “gate” is the ability of the holy society of the Earth to “get an appointment” with the Almighty and His government assistants - Jesus Christ and his co-rulers.

The prophets also have a picture of the people ascending to Mount Zion, so that God would teach them His ways (Isa. 2:2-4) And there is a message that one day all the nations of the Earth will be gathered to Jerusalem and will call it the throne of the Lord and will no longer be act according to the stubbornness of your evil heart (Jer. 3:17).
These prophecies have not been fulfilled in this age. They will be fulfilled after the millennium of Christ under the reign of the “New Jerusalem”.

21:26 And they will bring into it the glory and honor of the nations.
To this same city all the peoples of the Earth will bring their glory and honor (some translations talk about gifts):
the happy human society of the earth will also not arrogate to itself the glory of happiness and blessed life on earth, but will always realize that the blessing of eternal and happy life on earth - they are all obliged to rule the “New Jerusalem” over the earth (one world heavenly government over the earth). And they will not tire of expressing this heartfelt gratitude to the “New Jerusalem” - forever and ever.

21:27 And nothing unclean will enter into it, and no one devoted to abomination and lies, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Everyone who is written in the book of life of Jesus Christ will be able to enter this “city” (the heavenly rulers) (only the holy inhabitants of the Earth will be able to communicate with the heavenly rulers).
In his book of life, as we remember from Rev. 13:8, first of all, and even in this century, the first group of saints of the Most High were written: the first conquerors of the power of sin over themselves (co-rulers of Christ).
Main idea the records of the Lamb is that the first winners entered into his book of life immediately after their resurrection gained access to the tree of life and therefore - eternal life(Rev.2:7; 20:4,6).

All the other inhabitants of this age, whom God wished to see in the Millennium, were able to become conquerors of the power of sin over themselves by the end of the millennium:
as we remember, some of them died for their sins during the millennium (Isa. 65:20), and some succumbed to the temptation of the devil after the millennium (Rev. 20: 7-10).
All who remained on earth after the last test by the devil showed by their loyalty to God that they too became the camp of the saints of God, only secondarily.
This means that they too have now been awarded the right to be written in the book of life of the Lamb, in the book of the ever-living holy spiritual children of God.

Comments on Chapter 21

INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION OF JOHN

A BOOK THAT STANDS ALONE

When a person studies the New Testament and begins Revelation, he feels transported to another world. This book is not at all like the other books of the New Testament. Revelation is not only different from other New Testament books, it is also extremely difficult for modern people to understand, and therefore it has often been either ignored as incomprehensible scripture, or religious madmen have turned it into a battlefield, using it to compile heavenly chronological tables and graphs of what will happen when.

But, on the other hand, there have always been those who loved this book. Philip Carrington, for example, said: "The author of Revelation is a greater master and artist than Stevenson, Coleridge or Bach. John the Evangelist has a better sense of words than Stevenson; he has a better sense of unearthly, supernatural beauty than Coleridge; he has a richer sense melody, rhythm and composition than Bach... It is the only masterpiece of pure art in the New Testament... Its fullness, richness and harmonic variety place it above Greek tragedy."

We will undoubtedly find that this is a difficult and shocking book; but, at the same time, it is highly advisable to study it until it gives us its blessing and reveals its riches.

APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE

When studying Revelation, we must remember that, despite all its uniqueness in the New Testament, it nevertheless represents the most widespread literary genre in the era between the Old and New Testaments. Revelation is usually called Apocalypse(from the Greek word apocalypse, meaning revelation). In the era between the Old and New Testaments, a huge mass of so-called apocalyptic literature, the product of an irresistible Jewish hope.

The Jews could not forget that they were the chosen people of God. This gave them confidence that they would one day achieve world domination. In their history, they were waiting for the arrival of a king from the line of David, who would unite the people and lead them to greatness. "A branch will arise from the root of Jesse" (Isa. 11:1.10). God will restore to David the righteous Branch (Jer. 23.5). One day the people “will serve the Lord their God and David their king.” (Jer. 30:9). David will be their shepherd and their king (Ezek.34:23; 37:24). The Tabernacle of David will be rebuilt (Amos 9:11). From Bethlehem will come a Ruler in Israel, whose origin is from the beginning, from the days of eternity, who will be great to the ends of the earth (Mic. 5:2-4).

But the entire history of Israel has not fulfilled these hopes. After the death of King Solomon, the kingdom, already small in itself, split in two under Rehoboam and Jeroboam and lost its unity. The northern kingdom, with its capital in Samaria, fell in the last quarter of the eighth century BC under the blows of Assyria, disappeared forever from the pages of history, and is known today under the name of the ten lost tribes. The southern kingdom, with its capital Jerusalem, was enslaved and taken away by the Babylonians at the beginning of the sixth century BC. Later it was dependent on the Persians, Greeks and Romans. The history of Israel was a record of defeats, which made it clear that no mortal could deliver or save her.

TWO CENTURIES

The Jewish worldview stubbornly clung to the idea of ​​​​the chosenness of the Jews, but gradually the Jews had to adapt to the facts of history. To do this, they developed their own history scheme. They divided all history into two centuries: present century, completely vicious, hopelessly lost. Only complete destruction awaits him. And so the Jews waited for his end. Moreover, they expected the coming century, which was, in their minds, to be excellent, the Golden Age of God, in which there would be peace, prosperity and righteousness, and God's chosen people would be rewarded and take their rightful place.

How should this present age become the age to come? The Jews believed that this change could not be accomplished by human forces and therefore they expected the direct intervention of God. He will burst upon the stage of history in great force to completely destroy and destroy this world and introduce His golden time. They called the day of God's coming Lord's Day and it was to be a terrible time of horror, destruction and judgment, and at the same time it was to be the painful beginning of a new age.

All apocalyptic literature covered these events: sin this century, the horrors of transition and the bliss of the future. All apocalyptic literature was inevitably mysterious. She invariably tries to describe the indescribable, express the inexpressible, depict the indescribable.

And all this is complicated by another fact: these apocalyptic visions flashed even brighter in the minds of people living under tyranny and oppression. The more the alien force suppressed them, the more they dreamed of the destruction and destruction of this force and of their justification. But if the oppressors realized the existence of this dream, things would get even worse. These writings would seem to them to be the work of rebellious revolutionaries, and therefore they were often written in code, deliberately presented in a language incomprehensible to outsiders, and many remained incomprehensible because there was no key to decipher them. But the more we know about the historical background of these writings, the better we can discover their intent.

REVELATION

Revelation is the Christian apocalypse, the only one in the New Testament, although there were many others that were not included in the New Testament. It is written on the Jewish model and preserves the basic Jewish concept of the two periods. The only difference is that the Day of the Lord is replaced by the coming of Jesus Christ in power and glory. Not only the outline of the book itself is identical, but also the details. Jewish apocalypses are characterized by a standard set of events that were supposed to happen in last times; all of them were reflected in Revelation.

Before moving on to consider these events, we need to understand one more problem. AND apocalypses And prophecies relate to future events. What is the difference between them?

APOCALYPSE AND PROPHECY

1. The Prophet thought in terms of this world. His message often contained protest against social, economic and political injustice and always called for obedience and service to God in this world. The Prophet sought to transform this world and believed that the Kingdom of God would come in it. They said that the prophet believed in history. He believed that in history and in the events of history the ultimate purposes of God are realized. In a sense, the prophet was an optimist, for, no matter how severely he condemned the actual state of things, he believed that everything could be corrected if people would do the will of God. In the minds of the author of apocalyptic books, this world was already incorrigible. He believed not in the transformation, but in the destruction of this world, and expected the creation of a new world after this one had been shaken to its foundations by the vengeance of God. And therefore the author of apocalyptic books was, in a sense, a pessimist, because he did not believe in the possibility of correcting the existing state of affairs. True, he believed in the advent of the Golden Age, but only after this world was destroyed.

2. The prophet proclaimed his message orally; the message of the author of the apocalyptic books was always expressed in written form, and it represents literary work. If it were expressed orally, people simply would not understand it. It is difficult to understand, confusing, often incomprehensible, it needs to be delved into, it needs to be carefully disassembled in order to understand.

MANDATORY ELEMENTS OF APOCALYPSE

Apocalyptic literature is created according to a certain pattern: it seeks to describe what will happen in the last times and beyond bliss; and these pictures appear in apocalypses again and again. She dealt with the same issues over and over again, so to speak, and they all found their way into our Book of Revelation.

1. In apocalyptic literature, the Messiah is Divine, Redeemer, strong and glorious, waiting for His hour to descend into the world and begin his all-conquering activity. He was in heaven before the creation of the world, the sun and the stars, and is in the presence of the Almighty (En. 48.3.6; 62.7; 4 Esdras. 13.25.26). He will come to throw down the mighty from their places, the kings of the earth from their thrones, and to judge sinners (En. 42.2-6; 48.2-9; 62.5-9; 69.26-29). In the apocalyptic books there was nothing human or soft in the image of the Messiah; He was a Divine figure of vengeful power and glory, before whom the earth trembled in horror.

2. The coming of the Messiah was to occur after the return of Elijah, who would prepare the way for Him (Mal. 4,5.6). Elijah will appear on the hills of Israel, the rabbis asserted, and with a loud voice, heard from one end to the other, will announce the coming of the Messiah.

3. The terrible end times were known as the “birth pangs of the Messiah.” The coming of the Messiah should be like birth pangs. In the Gospels, Jesus predicts a sign last days and these words are put into His mouth: “Still this is the beginning of diseases” (Matt. 24:8; Mark 13:8). In Greek illness - one what does it literally mean labor pains.

4. The end times will be a time of horror. Then even the bravest will cry out bitterly (Zeph. 1:14); all the inhabitants of the earth will tremble (Joel 2:1); people will be gripped by fear, will look for a place to hide and will not find it (En. 102,1.3).

5. The end times will be a time when the world will be shaken, a time of cosmic upheaval, when the universe as men know it will be destroyed; the stars will be destroyed, the sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood (Isa. 13.10; Joel. 2.30.31; 3.15); the vault of heaven will be destroyed; there will be a furious rain of fire and all creation will turn into a molten mass (Siv. 3:83-89). The order of the seasons will be disrupted, there will be neither night nor dawn (Siv. 3,796-800).

6. In the last times, human relations will be disrupted, hatred and enmity will rule the world, and everyone’s hand will rise against the hand of his neighbor (Zech. 14:13). Brothers will kill brothers, parents will kill their children, from dawn to sunset they will kill each other (En. 100,1.2). Honor will be turned into shame, strength into humiliation, beauty into ugliness. The humble will become envious and passion will take possession of the man who was once peaceful ((2 Var. 48.31-37).

7. The end times will be the days of judgment. God will come like a purifying fire and who will stand when He appears? (Mal. 3.1-3)? The Lord will bring judgment on all flesh with fire and sword (Isa. 66:15.16).

8. In all these visions, the pagans are also given a certain, but not always the same place.

a) Sometimes they see the pagans completely destroyed. Babylon will come to such desolation that there, among the ruins, there will be no place for a wandering Arab to pitch a tent, or for a shepherd to graze his sheep; it will be a desert inhabited by wild beasts (Isa. 13:19-22). God trampled the pagans in His wrath (Isa. 63.6); they will come in chains to Israel (Isa. 45:14).

b) Sometimes they see pagans in last time gather for Israel against Jerusalem and for the final battle, in which they will be destroyed (Ezek. 38:14-39,16; Zech. 14:1-11). The kings of the nations will attack Jerusalem, they will try to destroy the shrines of God, they will place their thrones around the city and with them their unbelieving peoples, but all this is only for their final destruction (Siv. 3,663-672).

c) Sometimes they paint a picture of the conversion of the Gentiles by Israel. God made Israel the light of the nations so that God's salvation would reach to the ends of the earth (Isa. 49:6). The islands will trust in God (Isa. 51.5); the survivors of the nations will be called to come to God and be saved (Isa. 45:20-22). The Son of Man will be a light to the Gentiles (En. 48.4.5). Nations will come from the ends of the earth to Jerusalem to see the glory of God.

9. The Jews scattered throughout the world will in the last times be gathered again in the Holy City; they will come from Assyria and Egypt and worship God on the holy mountain (Isa. 27:12.13). Even those who died as exiles in a foreign land will be brought back.

10. In the last times, the New Jerusalem that existed there from the beginning will come down to earth from heaven. (4 Esdras 10:44-59; 2 Var 4:2-6) and will dwell among men. It will be a beautiful city: its foundations will be of sapphires, its towers will be of agates and its gates will be of pearls, and its fence will be of precious stones. (Isa. 54:12.13; Tov. 13:16.17). The glory of the last temple will be greater than the former (Hagg. 2.7-9).

11. An important part of the end-time apocalyptic picture was the resurrection of the dead. "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awaken, some to everlasting life, others to everlasting contempt and disgrace. (Dan. 12:2.3). Sheol and the graves will return those who were entrusted to them (En. 51.1). The number of those resurrected varies: sometimes it applied only to the righteous of Israel, sometimes to all of Israel, and sometimes to all people in general. Whatever form it took, it is fair to say that here for the first time hope arose that there would be life beyond the grave.

12. In Revelation, the view is expressed that the Kingdom of the Saints will last a thousand years, after which there will be a final battle with the forces of evil, and then the Golden Age of God.

BLESSES OF THE COMING AGE

1. The divided kingdom will be united again. The house of Judah will come again to the house of Israel (Jer. 3:18; Isa. 11:13; Hos. 1:11). The old divisions will be eliminated and God's people will be united.

2. The fields in this world will be unusually fertile. The desert will become a garden (Isa. 32:15), it will become like heaven (Isa. 51.3);"The desert and the dry land will rejoice, ... and blossom like a daffodil" (Isa. 35:1).

3. In all visions of the new age, a constant element was the end of all wars. Swords will be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks (Isa. 2:4). There will be no sword, no war trumpet. There will be one law for all people and great world on earth, and kings will be friends (Siv. 3,751-760).

4. One of the most beautiful ideas expressed in connection with the new century is that there will be no enmity between animals or between man and animals. “Then the wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the lamb, and the young lion and the ox will be together, and a little child will lead them.” (Isa. 11:6-9; 65:25). A new alliance will be made between man and the beasts of the field (Hos. 2:18).“And the child will play in the nest of the asp (snake), and the child will stretch out his hand into the nest of the snake.” (Isa. 11:6-9; 2 Var. 73:6). Friendship will reign throughout nature, where no one will want to harm another.

5. The coming age will put an end to fatigue, sadness and suffering. People will no longer languish (Jer. 31:12), and eternal joy will be over their heads (Isa. 35:10). Then there will be no premature death (Isa. 65:20-22) and not one of the inhabitants will say: “I am sick” (Isa. 33:24)."Death will be swallowed up forever, and the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces..." (Isa. 25:8). Diseases, anxieties and lamentations will disappear, there will be no pain during childbirth, reapers will not get tired, builders will not be exhausted by work (2 Var. 73.2-74.4).

6. The age to come will be an age of righteousness. People will be completely holy. Humanity will be a good generation living in the fear of God V days of mercy (Psalms of Solomon 17:28-49; 18:9.10).

Revelation is the representative of all these apocalyptic books in the New Testament, telling of the horrors that will happen before the end of time, and of the blessings of the age to come; Revelation uses all these familiar visions. They will often present difficulties for us and will even be unintelligible, but, for the most part, pictures and ideas were used that were well known and understandable to those who read him.

AUTHOR OF REVELATION

1. Revelation was written by a man named John. From the very beginning he says that the vision he is about to recount was sent by God to His servant John (1,1). He begins the main part of the message with the words: John, to the seven churches in Asia (1:4). He speaks of himself as John, brother and partner in sorrow of those to whom he writes (1,9). “I am John,” he says, “I saw and heard this.” (22,8). 2. John was a Christian who lived in the same area in which the Christians of the seven churches lived. He calls himself the brother of those to whom he writes, and says that he shares with them the sorrows that have befallen them (1:9).

3. Most likely, he was a Palestinian Jew who came to Asia Minor in old age. This conclusion can be drawn if we take into account his Greek language - lively, strong and imaginative, but, from the point of view of grammar, the worst in the New Testament. It is quite obvious that Greek is not his native language; it is often clear that he writes in Greek but thinks in Hebrew. He immersed himself in the Old Testament. He quotes it or alludes to relevant passages 245 times; quotations are taken from almost twenty books of the Old Testament, but his favorite books are the Books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Psalms, Exodus, Jeremiah and Zechariah. But he not only knows the Old Testament very well, he is also familiar with the apocalyptic literature that arose in the era between the Old and New Testaments.

4. He considers himself a prophet, and on this he bases his right to speak. The Risen Christ commanded him to prophesy (10,11); It is through the spirit of prophecy that Jesus gives His prophecies to the Church (19,10). The Lord God is the God of the holy prophets and He sends His angels to show His servants what is about to happen in the world (22,9). His book is a typical book of the prophets, containing prophetic words (22,7.10.18.19).

John bases his authority on this. He does not call himself an apostle, as Paul does, wanting to emphasize his right to speak. John has no “official” or administrative position in the Church; he is a prophet. He writes what he sees, and because everything he sees comes from God, his word is truthful and true (1,11.19).

At the time when John wrote - somewhere around 90 - prophets occupied a special place in the Church. At that time there were two types of shepherds in the Church. Firstly, there was a local pastorate - it lived settled in one community: presbyters (elders), deacons and teachers. Secondly, there was an itinerant ministry, the scope of which was not limited to any particular community; this included the apostles, whose messages were spread throughout the Church, and the prophets, who were itinerant preachers. Prophets were greatly respected; to question the words of a true prophet was to sin against the Holy Spirit, says the Didache,"The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles" (11:7). IN Didache the accepted order for administering the Lord's Supper is given, and at the end the sentence is added: “Let the prophets give thanks as much as they want” ( 10,7 ). Prophets were looked upon solely as men of God, and John was a prophet.

5. It is unlikely that he was an apostle, otherwise he would hardly have emphasized that he was a prophet. John looks back to the apostles as the great foundations of the Church. He speaks of the twelve foundations of the wall of the Holy City, and further: “and on them are the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.” (21,14). He would hardly have spoken about the apostles like that if he had been one of them.

Such considerations are further confirmed by the title of the book. Most translations of the book's title read: Revelation of Saint John the Theologian. But in some English translations Recently the name sounds like this: Revelation of Saint John, A Theologian omitted because it is absent from most of the oldest Greek lists, although it generally goes back to ancient times. In Greek it is theologos and used here in the meaning theologian, not in meaning saint. This very addition should have distinguished John, the author of Revelation, from John the Apostle.

Already in 250, Dionysius, a major theologian and leader of the Christian school in Alexandria, understood that it was extremely unlikely that the same person wrote both the fourth Gospel and Revelation, if only because their Greek languages ​​were so different. The Greek of the Fourth Gospel is simple and correct, the Greek of Revelation is rough and bright, but very irregular. Further, the author of the fourth Gospel avoids mentioning his name, but John, the author of Revelation, mentions him repeatedly. In addition, the ideas of both books are completely different. The great ideas of the fourth gospel - light, life, truth and grace - do not occupy the main place in Revelation. However, at the same time, in both books there are enough similar passages both in thought and in language, which clearly shows that they come from the same center and from the same world of ideas.

Elisabeth Schusler-Fiorenza, an expert on Revelation, has recently found that "from the last quarter of the second century until the beginning of modern critical theology, it was widely believed that both books (the Gospel of John and Revelation) were written by an apostle" ("The Book of Revelation" . Justice and punishment of God", 1985, p. 86). Such external, objective evidence was required by theologians because the internal evidence lying in the books themselves (style, words, statements of the author about his rights) did not seem to speak in favor of the fact that their author was the Apostle John. Theologians who defend the authorship of the Apostle John explain the differences between the Gospel of John and Revelation in the following ways:

a) They indicate the difference in the spheres of these books. One talks about the earthly life of Jesus, while the other talks about the revelation of the Risen Lord.

b) They believe that there is a large interval of time between their writing.

c) They claim that the theology of one complements the theology of the other and together they constitute a complete theology.

d) They suggest that the language and linguistic differences are explained by the fact that the recording and revision of the texts was carried out by different secretaries. Adolf Pohl states that sometime around 170, a small group in the Church deliberately introduced a false author (Cerinthus) because they did not like the theology of Revelation and found it easier to criticize a less authoritative author than the Apostle John.

TIME OF WRITING REVELATION

There are two sources for establishing the time of its writing.

1. On the one hand - church traditions. They point out that during the era of the Roman emperor Domitian, John was exiled to the island of Patmos, where he had a vision; after the death of Emperor Domitian, he was released and returned to Ephesus, where he enrolled. Victorinus wrote sometime at the end of the third century in a commentary on Revelation: "When John saw all this, he was on the island of Patmos, condemned by the emperor Domitian to work in the mines. There he saw the revelation... When he was subsequently released from work in the mines, he wrote down this revelation he received from God." Jerome of Dalmatia dwells on this in more detail: “In the fourteenth year after the persecution of Nero, John was exiled to the island of Patmos and wrote the Revelation there... After the death of Domitian and the repeal of his decrees by the Senate, due to their extreme cruelty, he returned to Ephesus, when the emperor was Nerva." The Church historian Eusebius wrote: “The apostle and evangelist John related these things to the church when he returned from exile on the island after the death of Domitian.” According to legend, it is clear that John had visions during his exile on the island of Patmos; one thing is not completely established - and it does not really matter - whether he wrote them down during his exile, or upon his return to Ephesus. With this in mind, it would not be wrong to say that Revelation was written around the year 95.

2. The second evidence is the material of the book itself. In it we find a completely new attitude towards Rome and the Roman Empire.

As follows from the Acts of the Holy Apostles, Roman courts were often the most reliable protection for Christian missionaries from the hatred of Jews and angry crowds of people. Paul was proud to be a Roman citizen and repeatedly demanded for himself the rights that were guaranteed to every Roman citizen. In Philippi, Paul frightened the administration by declaring that he was a Roman citizen (Acts 16:36-40). In Corinth, the consul Gallio treated Paul fairly, according to Roman law. (Acts 18:1-17). In Ephesus, the Roman authorities ensured his safety against the rioting crowd. (Acts 19:13-41). In Jerusalem, the captain saved Paul, one might say, from lynching (Acts 21:30-40). When the commander heard that an attempt was being made on Paul's life during the transition to Caesarea, he took all measures to ensure his safety (Acts 23,12-31).

Desperate to achieve justice in Palestine, Paul exercised his right as a Roman citizen and complained directly to the emperor (Acts 25:10.11). In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul urges his readers to be submissive to the authorities, for authorities are from God, and they are terrible not for good, but for evil. (Rom. 13.1-7). Peter gives the same advice to be submissive to authorities, kings, and rulers because they are doing the will of God. Christians should fear God and honor the king (1 Pet. 2:12-17). It is believed that in the Epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul points to the power of Rome as the only force capable of containing the chaos that threatens the world (2 Thess. 2:7).

In Revelation, only one irreconcilable hatred of Rome is visible. Rome is Babylon, mother of harlots, intoxicated with the blood of saints and martyrs (Rev. 17:5.6). John expects only his final destruction.

The explanation for this change lies in the widespread worship of the Roman emperors, which, combined with the accompanying persecution of Christians, is the background against which Revelation is written.

At the time of Revelation, the cult of Caesar was the only universal religion of the Roman Empire, and Christians were persecuted and executed precisely for their refusal to comply with its demands. According to this religion, the Roman emperor, who embodied the spirit of Rome, was divine. Every person had to appear before the local administration once a year and burn a pinch of incense to the divine emperor and proclaim: “Caesar is Lord.” Having done this, a person could go and worship any other god or goddess, as long as such worship did not violate the rules of decency and order; but he had to perform this ceremony of worshiping the emperor.

The reason was simple. Rome was now a diverse empire, stretching from one end of the known world to the other, with many languages, races and traditions. Rome was faced with the task of uniting this heterogeneous mass into a unity that had some kind of common consciousness. The strongest unifying force is a common religion, but none of the popular religions of that time could become universal, but the veneration of the deified Roman emperor could. This was the only cult that could unite the empire. To refuse to burn a pinch of incense and to say, “Caesar is Lord,” was not an act of unbelief, but an act of disloyalty; that is why the Romans treated so cruelly a person who refused to say: “Caesar is Lord,” and not a single Christian could say Lord anyone other than Jesus, because that was the essence of his creed.

Let's see how this worship of Caesar developed and why it reached its apogee in the era of the writing of Revelation.

One very important fact should be noted. The veneration of Caesar was not imposed on people from above. It arose among the people, one might even say, despite all the attempts of the first emperors to stop, or at least limit it. It should also be noted that of all the peoples inhabiting the empire, only the Jews were exempt from this cult.

The worship of Caesar began as a spontaneous outburst of gratitude to Rome. The peoples in the provinces knew well what they owed to him. Imperial Roman law and legal proceedings replaced arbitrary and tyrannical arbitrariness. Security has replaced dangerous situations. The great Roman roads connected different parts of the world; the roads and seas were free from robbers and pirates. The Roman world was the greatest achievement of the ancient world. As the great Roman poet Virgil put it, Rome saw its purpose as “sparing the fallen and overthrowing the proud.” Life has found a new order. Goodspeed wrote about it this way: "This was package of the novel. The provincials could, under Roman rule, conduct their affairs, provide for their families, send letters, and travel in safety thanks to the strong hand of Rome."

The cult of Caesar did not begin with the deification of the emperor. It began with the deification of Rome. The spirit of the empire was deified in a goddess called Roma. Roma symbolized the powerful and benevolent force of the empire. The first temple to Rome was erected in Smyrna back in 195 BC. It was not difficult to imagine the spirit of Rome embodied in one person - the emperor. Worship of the emperor began with Julius Caesar after his death. In 29 BC, Emperor Augustus granted the provinces of Asia and Bithynia the right to erect temples in Ephesus and Nicaea for the general worship of the goddess Roma and the already deified Julius Caesar. Roman citizens were encouraged and even exhorted to worship at these sanctuaries. Then the next step was taken: Emperor Augustus gave the inhabitants of the provinces, Not who had Roman citizenship, the right to erect temples in Pergamum in Asia and Nicomedia in Bithynia for the worship of the goddess Roma and to myself. At first, worship of the reigning emperor was considered acceptable for residents of the province who did not have Roman citizenship, but not for those who had citizenship.

This had inevitable consequences. It is human nature to worship a god who can be seen, rather than a spirit, and gradually people began to worship the emperor himself more, instead of the goddess Roma. At that time, special permission from the Senate was still needed to build a temple in honor of the reigning emperor, but by the middle of the first century this permission was increasingly granted. The cult of the emperor became the universal religion of the Roman Empire. A caste of priests arose and worship was organized in presbyteries, the representatives of which were accorded the highest honor.

This cult did not at all seek to completely replace other religions. Rome was generally very tolerant in this regard. Man could honor Caesar And their god, but over time, the veneration of Caesar increasingly became a test of trustworthiness; it became, as someone put it, a recognition of the rule of Caesar over the life and soul of man. Let us trace the development of this cult before the writing of Revelation and immediately after that.

1. Emperor Augustus, who died in 14, allowed the worship of Julius Caesar, his great predecessor. He allowed the inhabitants of the provinces, who did not have Roman citizenship, to worship themselves, but forbade this to his Roman citizens. Note that he did not show any violent measures in this.

2. Emperor Tiberius (14-37) could not stop the cult of Caesar; but he forbade the building of temples and the appointment of priests to establish his cult, and in a letter to the city of Giton in Laconia, he decisively refused all divine honors for himself. He not only did not encourage the cult of Caesar, but also discouraged it.

3. The next emperor Caligula (37-41) - an epileptic and a madman with delusions of grandeur, insisted on divine honors for himself, tried to impose the cult of Caesar even on the Jews, who had always been and remained an exception in this regard. He intended to place his image in the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem Temple, which would certainly lead to outrage and rebellion. Fortunately, he died before he could carry out his intentions. But during his reign, worship of Caesar became a requirement throughout the empire.

4. Caligula was replaced by Emperor Claudius (41-54), who completely changed the perverted policy of his predecessor. He wrote to the ruler of Egypt - about a million Jews lived in Alexandria - fully approving of the Jews' refusal to call the emperor a god and giving them complete freedom in the conduct of their worship. Having ascended the throne, Claudius wrote to Alexandria: “I forbid the appointment of me as a high priest and the erection of temples, because I do not want to act against my contemporaries, and I believe that sacred temples and all that in all ages have been attributes of the immortal gods, as well as the special accord given to them honor".

5. Emperor Nero (54-68) did not take his divinity seriously and did nothing to consolidate the cult of Caesar. He, however, persecuted Christians, but not because they did not respect him as a god, but because he needed scapegoats for the great fire of Rome.

6. After the death of Nero, three emperors were replaced in eighteen months: Galba, Otto and Vitelius; With such confusion, the question of the cult of Caesar did not arise at all.

7. The next two emperors - Vespasian (69-79) and Titus (79-81) were wise rulers who did not insist on the cult of Caesar.

8. Everything changed radically with the coming to power of Emperor Domitian (81-96). It was like he was the devil. He was the worst of all - a cold-blooded persecutor. With the exception of Caligula, he was the only emperor who took his divinity seriously and demanding observance of the cult of Caesar. The difference was that Caligula was a mad Satan, and Domitian was mentally healthy, which is much more terrible. He erected a monument to “the divine Titus, son of the divine Vespasian,” and began a campaign of severe persecution of everyone who did not worship the ancient gods - he called them atheists. He especially hated Jews and Christians. When he appeared with his wife at the theater, the crowd must have shouted: “Everyone salutes our master and our lady!” Domitian proclaimed himself a god, informed all provincial rulers that all government messages and announcements should begin with the words: “Our Lord and God Domitian commands...” Any appeal to him - written or oral - had to begin with the words: “Lord and God".

This is the background of Revelation. Throughout the empire, men and women had to call Domitian a god, or die. The cult of Caesar was a deliberately implemented policy. Everyone was supposed to say: “The Emperor is Lord.” There was no other way out.

What could Christians do? What could they hope for? There were not many wise and powerful among them. They had neither influence nor prestige. The power of Rome rose up against them, which no people could resist. Christians were faced with a choice: Caesar or Christ. Revelation was written to inspire people to such hard times. John did not close his eyes to the horrors; he saw terrible things, he saw even more terrible things ahead, but above all this he saw the glory that awaits the one who refuses Caesar for the love of Christ.

Revelation appeared during one of the most heroic eras in the entire history of the Christian Church. Domitian's successor, Emperor Nerva (96-98), however, abolished the savage laws, but they had already caused irreparable damage: Christians found themselves outside the law, and Revelation turned out to be the trumpet call that called for remaining faithful to Christ until death in order to receive the crown of life .

A BOOK WORTH STUDYING

We must not close our eyes to the difficulties of Revelation: it is the most difficult book of the Bible, but its study is extremely useful, because it contains the burning faith of the Christian Church in an era when life was pure agony, and people were waiting for the end of the heaven and earth they knew, but still They believed that behind the horrors and human rage is the glory and power of God.

NEW CREATION (Rev. 21:1)

John saw the death of the wicked, and now he sees the happiness of the blessed.

The dream of a new heaven and a new earth had deep roots in the Jewish worldview. “For behold,” God said to Isaiah, “I am creating a new heaven and a new earth, and the former will no longer be remembered and come to the heart.” (Isa. 65:17). The prophet Isaiah speaks of a new heaven and a new earth that God will create, life in which will be a continuous act of worship (Isa. 66:22).

This picture is present everywhere and all its elements are identical. Sorrow will be forgotten, sin will disappear, darkness will cease; what is transitory in time will become eternal. This constant faith testifies to unquenchable immortal desires human soul, about the inner feeling of sin and a person’s faith in God.

NEW JERUSALEM (2) (Rev. 21:2)

And this is another eternal and cherished dream of the Jews - the dream of restoring Jerusalem, the holy city, and this dream has two sources.

One of them is essentially Greek. One of the greatest contributions to the treasury of world philosophy is the teaching of the Greek philosopher Plato about Judea or forms, according to which in the invisible world there exist perfect forms or ideas of everything that exists on earth, and that all earthly objects are but imperfect copies of heavenly realities. In this case, there must be a heavenly Jerusalem, of which the earthly Jerusalem is an imperfect copy. For example, Paul thinks about this when he talks about the highest Jerusalem (Gal. 4:26), and also in the Epistle to the Hebrews, when it speaks of the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22).

This way of thinking also left its mark on the Jewish visions of the inter-Testament era. We read that in the messianic age the invisible Jerusalem will appear (3 Rides 7.26). The author of the Second Book of Ezra, as he states, was granted a vision of him, if at all possible, that human eyes could bear the spectacle of heavenly glory (3 Rides 10:44-59).

This concept of pre-existing forms may seem strange. However, at its core lies the great truth that the ideal really exists. It follows further that God is the source of all ideals. An ideal is, in fact, a challenge that, even if it is not realized in this world, will reach its fulfillment in the world to come.

NEW JERUSALEM (2) (Rev. 21:2 continued)

The second source of the concept of the New Jerusalem is of purely Jewish origin. In the synagogue, Jews still pray today:

And return to Jerusalem, Thy city, with compassion, and dwell in it, as Thou hast promised; and build it again quickly in these days, an everlasting building; and the throne of David will soon be established there. Blessed be You, O Lord, Builder of Jerusalem.

John's vision of the New Jerusalem used and amplified many of the dreams of the prophets. We will present here some of these dreams and it will immediately be clear that in Revelation the echo of the Old Testament sounds again and again.

The prophet Isaiah had such a dream.

“Poor, storm-tossed, inconsolable! Behold, I will set your stones in rubies, and make your foundation of sapphires; and I will make your windows of rubies, and your gates of pearls, and all your walls of precious stones.” (Isa. 54:11.12).

“The sons of foreigners will build your walls, and their kings will serve you... And your gates will always be open, they will not be shut day or night... You will be satisfied with the milk of the nations, and you will suck kings’ breasts... Instead I will bring you gold instead of copper, and silver instead of wood, and copper instead of wood, and iron instead of stones... You will no longer hear violence in your land, desolation and destruction within your borders, and you will call your walls salvation and; your gates will be your glory. The sun will no longer be the light of the day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine for you; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will no longer be your glory, and your moon will not be hidden. everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be ended." (Isa. 60:10-20). The prophet Haggai had a dream: “The glory of this last temple will be greater than the first, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give peace, says the Lord of hosts.” (Hagg. 2.9). The prophet Ezekiel has his own dream of a rebuilt temple (chapters 40 and 48), in which we even find a picture of the twelve gates of the city (Ezek. 48:31-35).

It is easy to see that the New Jerusalem was the eternal dream of the Jews, and that John lovingly collected into his vision various visions - precious stones, streets and buildings of gold; open gates day and night; the radiance of the glory of God, making the light of the sun and moon superfluous; the coming of nations and the bringing of gifts.

This is where faith is demonstrated. Even when Jerusalem was razed to the ground, the Jews never lost faith that God would restore it. They, it is true, expressed their dreams in material objects, but these are only symbols of their confidence in eternal bliss for the faithful people of God.

UNION WITH GOD (Rev. 21:3-4)

Here is the promise of unity with God, with all the ensuing consequences. This is the voice of one of the angels of the presence.

Tabernacle God will be with people. Greek skinny - Means tent, tent, but in the religious vocabulary it has long since lost the meaning of temporary residence. There are two main ideas here.

1. Tabernacle - tabernacle was originally a tent in the desert. This means that God wants to honor people with His presence forever. Here on earth, among transitory things, we are only sometimes aware of the presence of God; and in heaven we will constantly feel His presence.

2. Two words, completely different in meaning, but similar in sound, were very connected with each other in the worldview of the early Church: skin it And Shekinah - the glory of God. Sound unity Tabernacle Shekinah led to the fact that people could not think about one without thinking about the other. In other words, to say that tabernacle God will be among people, meant to say that shekinah God will be with people.

In ancient times shekinah imagined it as a luminous cloud that came and went. So, for example, we read about the cloud that filled the sanctuary at the dedication of Solomon's temple (3 Kings 8,10,11). In the new age, the glory of God will not be something fleeting; she will constantly abide with the people of God.

UNION WITH GOD (Rev. 21:3-4 (continued))

God's promise to make Israel His people and become their God is reflected throughout the Old Testament. “I will make My dwelling place among you... and I will walk among you, and I will be your God, and you will be My people.” (Lev. 26,11.12). In Jeremiah's account of the new covenant, God promises: "I... will be their God, and they will be my people." (Jer. 31:33). Ezekiel had this promise: “And they will have My habitation, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” (Jer. 37:27).

The highest promise is intimate union, when we can say: “I belong to my beloved, and my beloved belongs to me.” (Song. P. 6.3).

This union with God in the Golden Age brings with it certain things. Tears, grief, sobs and pain passed. The prophets of antiquity also dreamed about this. “Eternal joy will be over their heads; they will find joy and gladness, but sorrow and sighing will be removed.” (Isa. 35:10).“And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad for my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will no longer be heard in it.” (Isa. 65:19). And there will be no more death. And the ancient prophets dreamed about this. “Death will be swallowed up forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.” (Isa. 25:8).

This is a promise for the future. But even in this world, blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted; and death will be swallowed up forever for those who have known Christ, and the participation in His sufferings and the power of His Resurrection (Matt. 5:4; Phil. 3:10).

ALL THINGS NEW (Rev. 21:5-6)

And now for the first time God Himself will speak; He is the God who can make all things new. And here we are again among the dreams of the Old Testament prophets. The prophet Isaiah heard God say: “You do not remember the former things, neither do you think about the old things. Behold, I am doing a new thing.” (Isa. 43:18.19). Paul testifies: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (2 Cor. 5:17). God can create man and recreate him, and will one day create a new universe for the saints whose lives He has renewed.

The order to write is given not by God, but by the angel of presence. These words need to be written down and remembered; they are true and can be completely relied upon.

“I am Alpha and Omega,” God says to John, “the beginning and the end.” We have already encountered these words from the Risen Christ in 1,8. And again John hears the voice that the great prophets heard: “I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God.” (Isa. 44:6). Alpha - first letter of the Greek alphabet, omega - the last one. And further John strengthens this phrase: God is beginning and end. Start in Greek - arche and that means it is not only the first in time, but also source of all things. End in Greek it is - telos and that means not only the end in time, but also target. John thereby says that all life begins in God and ends in God. Paul expresses the same thing when he says, perhaps a little more philosophically: “For all things are from Him, by Him, and to Him.” (Rom. 11:36); or: "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all" (Eph. 4:6).

It is impossible to say anything greater than this about God. At first glance, it may seem that this removes God so far from us that we are nothing more to Him than flies on a window pane. And what comes after this? “To the thirsty I will give freely from the fountain of living water.” God puts all His greatness at man's disposal. God so loved the world that He gave His Son." (John 3:16). God uses His greatness to satisfy the thirst of the seeking heart.

GLORY AND SHAME (Rev. 21:7-8)

Bliss and happiness do not await everyone, but only those who remain faithful even when everything strives to turn him away from his fidelity. To such a one God gives the greatest promise: “I will be his God, and he will be My son.” The same promise, or very close to it, was given to three different people in the Old Testament. First, to Abraham: “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and between your descendants after you,” God said to Abraham, “I will be the God of yours and of your descendants after you.” (Gen. 17:7). Secondly, it was made to the son who would inherit the kingdom of David. “I will be a father to him,” God said, “and he will be a son to Me.” (2 Kings 7:14). The third such covenant was made in a psalm, which Jewish theologians interpreted as messianic: “I will make him the firstborn, above the kings of the earth.” (Ps. 89:28). This is great. God gives to the overcomers the same promise as was given to Abraham, the founder of the people; Solomon in the person of his father David; and the Messiah himself. There is no greater honor in the entire universe than that which God gives to a person who is faithful to Him.

But there are also those who are convicted. Fearful - these are those who loved peace and comfort more than Christ and who on the Day of Judgment are ashamed to show whose they are and whom they served. By the way, the translation of the Greek deplos How timid, gives the wrong impression, because it is not fear that is condemned. The highest expression of courage is to do the right thing in spite of great danger and remain faithful. And what is condemned here is cowardice, which denies Christ for the sake of its own safety. Infidels - these are those who abandoned the Gospel or recognized it only in words, but showed by their lives that they did not accept it. Bad - these are those who have allowed themselves to be saturated with the abominations of this world. Killers - these are perhaps those who killed Christians during the persecution. Fornicators - these are those who led an immoral lifestyle. Ephesus was full sorcerers. IN Acts 19.19 it is said that after preaching the name of Christ, many of those who practiced witchcraft burned their books. Idolators - these are those who worshiped the false gods with which the world is full. Liars - these are those who are guilty of lies and silence that amounts to lies.

CITY OF GOD (Rev. 21:9-27)

It is better to read the description of the city of God first in its entirety before moving on to the details.

HE WHO BRINGED THE VISION (Rev. 21:9-10)

The one who brought the vision of heavenly Jerusalem may surprise the reader. This is one of the seven angels who had bowls filled with the last plagues; The last time we saw such an angel was when he brought a vision of the destruction of Babylon, the great harlot. It is extremely important to note that in 17,1 the angel's invitation sounds: "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot," and the invitation to 21,9 perhaps even the same angel, sounds: “Come, I will show you a wife, the bride of the Lamb.”

No one can reliably explain much of the symbolism in this chapter. Perhaps John wants to show us that the servant of God does not choose his tasks, but must do what God expects of him, and says what God instructs him to say.

This angel, says John, took him up in spirit to a great and high mountain. The prophet Ezekiel describes his feelings in the same way: “In visions of God He brought me to the land of Israel and placed me on a very high mountain.” (Ezek. 40:2). Sweet points out that it would be wrong to take this literally; rising up symbolizes the exalted spirit in which a person is when a vision comes to him and he hears the words coming to him from God.

LIGHT OF THE CITY (Rev. 21:11)

In connection with the translation of this passage, certain difficulties arise. The Greek word used here is foster, translated in the Russian Bible as light. Light in Greek phos and foster usually used to refer to heavenly bodies sun, moon, and stars; for example, in the story of creation in Life 1.14. Does this mean then that the luminary that illuminated the city was like a precious stone? Or does this mean that the light emanating from him played over the entire city like a jasper?

It seems to us that this refers to the radiance over the city; the text below specifically states that the city does not need any celestial body, like the sun or the moon, which gives light because the glory of God has illuminated it.

What does this symbolize then? Sweet believes the starting point can be found in Phil. 2.15, where Paul says of the Christians in Philippi, "You shine as lights in the world." In the holy city live thousands and thousands of God's saints, and it is quite possible that it is the light of their holy lives that gives this brilliant light.

WALLS AND GATES OF THE CITY (Rev. 21:12)

There is a large and high wall around the city. And here John relies on the pictures of the prophets describing the recreated Jerusalem. The song of the land of Judah sounds like this: “We have a strong city; He has given salvation instead of a wall and a rampart.” (Isa. 26:1).“I will be for him, says the Lord, a wall of fire around him.” (Zechariah 2:5). The easiest way to interpret the wall is as an insurmountable wall of faith. Faith is the wall behind which the saints of God are safe from the attack of the world, the flesh and the devil.

There are twelve gates in the wall, and on the gates are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. The word used by John and translated in the Bible as gate is interesting; this is not an ordinary word. The word commonly used bullet, and the word used here poulon, which can mean two things. The large house was built around an open courtyard, which opened onto the street through a large gate in the outer wall that led to a spacious entrance hall. Perhaps this is exactly what is meant here. But poulon can also mean a gate watchtower in a large city, like the gate of a castle surrounded by a battlement. Two things should be noted here.

1. There are twelve gates in total. This symbolizes versatility Churches. A person can get into the Kingdom in many ways, for “there are as many paths to the stars as there are people who are ready to climb to them.”

2. On the gate are written the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. This clearly symbolizes continuity Churches. The God who revealed himself to the patriarchs is the God who was revealed even more fully in Jesus Christ; The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament.

GATE OF THE CITY (Rev. 21:13)

On each of the four sides of the City of God there are three gates. John borrowed some part of this picture from Ezekiel (Ezek. 48:30-35). We do not know what else John wanted to express with this arrangement other than the universality of the Church. There is one symbolic interpretation, although it is unlikely that John put it here, but, nevertheless, it is beautiful and comforting.

On east three gates. The sun rises in the east and the day begins there. Perhaps these gates symbolize the paths to the holy city of those who come to Christ young.

Three gates are located in northern wall. The north is a cold part of the world. Perhaps these gates symbolize the paths to the holy city of those who come to Christianity through intellectual reflection, that is, they found their way with their minds, and not with their hearts.

Three gates lead to south. The south is a warm country where a warm wind blows and there is a mild climate. This gate may symbolize the ways in which people driven by their feelings come to the holy city; people whose hearts were filled with a feeling of love at the sight of the Crucifixion.

And on west There are three gates. In the west the sun sets and the day dies. This gate may symbolize the paths of those who came to Christ at the end of their days.

MEASUREMENT OF HAIL (Rev. 21:15-17)

The painting of a man with a measuring stick dates back to Ezek. 40.3.

1. We must take into account the quadrangular square shape of the city. This was not unusual; Nineveh and Babylon both had this form. But the holy city has not only a square shape, but also a perfect cubic one. Its length, width and height are equal. This is very important because in the ancient world the cubic shape was considered perfect. Plato and Aristotle point to this. What kind person called tetragon, quadrangle (Plato: "Protagoras", 339, B; Aristotle: "Nicomachean Ethics", 1.10.11; "Rhetoric", 3.11).

The Jews thought the same. The altar of burnt offering, the altar of incense and the breastplate of the high priest were made in the shape of a cube (Ex. 27.1; 30.2; 28.16). This form appears again and again in the prophet Ezekiel's visions of a new Jerusalem and a new temple. (Ezek. 41.21; 43.16; 45.2; 48.20). But most importantly in Solomon's Temple, the Holy of Holies was made in the shape of a perfect cube (1 Kings 6:20). There is no doubt that John put into his painting symbolic meaning. He wants to show us that the entire holy city is the Holy of Holies, the dwelling place of God.

2. We must note the size of the city. Each side of it is equal to 12000 stages. One stage is approximately 200 m, and each side is therefore 2400 km, and the entire area of ​​the holy city was equal to 5,760,000 square kilometers. The rabbis' dreams of a restored Jerusalem had already gone far enough. They said that he would go all the way to Damascus and occupy all of Palestine. But a city with an area the size of John's would stretch from London to New York. It is quite obvious that John thereby wants to say that in the holy city there will be a place for everyone. People tend to fix the boundaries of their church in order to exclude anyone who believes differently from them or does things differently.

It is interesting to note, however, that with the wall things are different. Its height is 144 cubits, that is, about 69 m, not very high; the walls of Babylon were more than 91 m, and Solomon's portico - 60 meters. The height of the wall cannot be compared with the enormous size of the city itself. And there is some symbolism in this. The wall does not serve for protection and defense, because all hostile forces - human and demonic - have been destroyed or thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone. The wall only separates the city and the fact that it is not high shows that this division is, in fact, not very important. It is more important for God to bring people to Himself than to isolate them from the rest of the world, and the Church should be the same.

PRECIOUS STONES OF THE CITY (Rev. 21:18-21)

The city itself is made of pure gold, like pure glass. It is quite possible that John thereby emphasizes one feature of the earthly temple. Josephus describes Herod's temple this way: “And on the outer façade in front there was nothing missing that could strike either the mind of a man or his eyes; for it was covered from top to bottom with sheets of gold very heavy weight, and at sunrise it reflected a burning splendor and forced those who tried to look at it to turn away their eyes as if from the sun. But to newcomers who were at a distance from it, it seemed like a mountain covered with snow, because those parts of the temple that were not gold were completely white" (Josephus: "Jewish Wars" 5,5.6).

John goes on to talk about the twelve foundations of the city walls. The twelve gates were connected by long walls, which rested on twelve huge foundations, each made of a huge solid stone. And again, John, perhaps, was thinking about the huge stones that lay at the foundation of the Jerusalem temple. The passage from Josephus we just quoted speaks of stones more than 20 m long, more than 2 m high, and almost 3 m wide that lay at the base of the temple walls. IN 21,14 John says that on these foundations stood the names of the twelve apostles. These were the first followers of Jesus and His first messengers and messengers, and they were indeed the literal foundation of the Church.

In the city of God, these foundation stones were also precious. Jasper - This is not modern jasper, but a transparent green rock crystal.

Sapphire mentioned in the Old Testament as the stone from which the stool on which God stood was made (Ex. 24:10). But this, again, was not a modern sapphire. The Roman historian Pliny said that sapphire is a sky-blue stone with golden inclusions. Most likely this is the stone now known as lapis lazuli. Chalcedon, or chalcedony - a green variety of quartz. It is compared in color to the green tint of the feathers on the neck of a dove or in the tail of a peacock. Smaragd - modern emerald, which Pliny defines as the greenest of all green stones. Sardonyx - this is onyx, a white stone with layers of pink and brown; it was especially used for making cameos. Sardolicus got its name from the city of Sardis. It is a blood red colored stone that was widely used to make gems. ABOUT chrysolifum It's hard to say anything definite. In Hebrew its name means stone from Tarshish. Pliny characterizes it as a stone with a golden radiation. It may be yellow beryl or golden-colored jasper. Virill like an emerald; the best stones are sea green in color. Topaz - a transparent stone of greenish-golden color, which was very highly valued among the Jews. Job talks about Ethiopian topaz (Job 28:19). Chrysopras - A variety of chalcedony colored with nickel oxide to a transparent oily green. Hyacinth - according to the description of ancient authors, it is a purple, blue-red stone. It is quite possible that this is a modern sapphire. Amethyst characterized as a stone very similar to hyacinth, but more shiny.

Do these stones have symbolism?

1. It should be noted that eight of them are stones on the breastplate of the high priest (Ex. 28:17-20). It is possible that John used the breastplate as a model.

2. It is also possible that John only wanted to emphasize the splendor of the city of God, in which even the foundations are made of priceless precious stones.

The most striking thing in this whole picture of precious stones is the gates of the city of God, each of which is made of one huge pearl. In the ancient world, pearls were valued above all precious stones. A merchant could spend his whole life looking for a good large pearl, and having found it, decide that it was worth selling his entire fortune to buy it (Matthew 13:46). The pearly gates are a symbol of unimaginable beauty and inaccessible wealth.

THE PRESENCE OF GOD (Rev. 21:22-23)

IN 21,22 John notes a unique feature of the city of God: it has no temple. This is amazing when you think about what the temple was to the Jews. But we have already noted that the city is built in the shape of a regular cube, which indicates that the city itself is the Holy of Holies. The city does not need a temple because God is constantly present there.

This symbolism is obvious to everyone. Neither the building, nor the liturgy, nor the form of government, nor the procedure for ordaining priests makes the Church. The Church does only the presence of Jesus Christ; Without Him there can be no Church; only with Him any gathering of people becomes a real Church.

The city of God does not need created light, because in the middle of the city there is God, the uncreated light. “The Lord,” says Isaiah, “will be your everlasting light.” (Isa. 60:19.20).“In Your light,” says the psalmist, “we see light.” (Ps. 35:10). We see things as they really are only when we see them in the light of God. Some things that seem extremely important turn out to be insignificant when viewed in the light of God, and some things that seem intolerable turn out to be the path to glory.

THE WHOLE EARTH IS TO GOD (Rev. 21:24-27)

Such a passage gives us an opportunity to correct the wrong done to the Jewish worldview. Here all nations go to God, and all the kings of the earth bring Him their gifts, their glory and their honor. In other words, this is a picture of universal salvation. It was often said that the Jews did not expect anything other than the destruction of the pagans. But many voices speak of a time when all people will know and love the God of Israel.

The prophet Isaiah has a picture of how all nations will ascend Mount Zion and He will teach them His ways (Isa. 2:2-4). God will raise the banner of the Gentiles and all nations will gather (Isa. 11:12). God says to Israel: “I will make you a light for the nations, so that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (Isa. 49:6). The islands will trust in God and hope in His hand (Isa. 51:5). The sons of foreigners will learn to serve God and love Him; God will gather others to himself (Isa. 56:6-8). Israel must share the glory of God among the Gentiles (Isa. 66:19). All the ends of the earth will turn to God and be saved (Isa. 45:22). All nations will be gathered to Jerusalem and will call it the throne of the Lord and will no longer walk according to the stubbornness of their evil heart. (Jer. 3:17). Pagans will gather to God from all ends of the earth, confessing and repenting of their past sins (Jer. 16:19-21). All nations will serve Him (Dan. 7:14). He will be worshiped - each from his place - by all the islands of nations (Zeph. 2:11). God will give the nations clean lips, so that everyone will call on the name of the Lord (Zeph. 3:9). All flesh will be silent before God (Zech. 2:13). Nations and inhabitants of many cities will come to Jerusalem; many tribes and peoples will come and “take hold of the half of Judah and say: We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” (Zech. 8:20-23). The day will come when the Lord will be King over all the earth; on that day there will be one Lord (Zech. 14:9).

Drawing a picture of the nations marching in the light of the city of God, and the kings bearing their gifts to Him, John predicted the fulfillment of the hope that had always glimmered in the hearts of his great fellow tribesmen.

ACCEPTANCE AND REJECTION (Rev. 21:24-27 continued)

Before moving on to the next chapter, there are three points to note.

1. John repeatedly points out that there will be no night in the city of God. The ancients, like children, were afraid of the darkness. In the new world there will not be this terrible darkness, because the presence of God will provide eternal light. And even in our world of time and space, where God is, the night is as bright as day (Ps. 139:12).

The English theologian Sweet sees another symbolism in this. There will be no darkness in the city of God. It often happened that a brilliant century was followed by an age of darkness, but in the new century darkness will disappear forever and there will be only light.

2. Like the ancient prophets, John repeatedly speaks of the pagans and their kings bringing their gifts to God. The peoples truly brought their gifts to the Church. The Greeks brought her the power of their mind. In their view, as Plato expressed it, “an unexamined life is not worth living,” and, therefore, an unexamined faith also does not need to be adhered to. We owe theology to the Greeks. The Romans were the world's greatest management experts. They brought to the Church the ability to organize, govern, and formulate laws. When a person enters the Church, he must bring his gift with him; writer - the power of words; artist - the power of colors; sculptor - the art of line, form and mass; musician - music; artisan - craft. There is no gift that Christ could not use.

3. The chapter ends with a threat. All who do not give up their unclean deeds and behavior will not enter the city of God. There are sinners who sin against their will, but the entrance to the city of God is closed not to the repentant sinner, but to the One who shows open disobedience.

Commentary (introduction) to the entire book of Revelation

Comments on Chapter 21

As we read the words of this Prophecy, our hearts should be filled with praise to our Lord for the grace that has saved us from all that is to come in this age. Another blessing for us is the assurance of final victory and glory. Arnaud S. Gabelin

Introduction

I. SPECIAL POSITION IN THE CANON

Uniqueness last book The Bible is obvious from the very first word - "Revelation", or, in the original, "Apocalypse". This is the word that means "secrets revealed"- equivalent of our word "Apocalypse", a type of writing that we find in the OT in Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah, but only here in the NT. It refers to prophetic visions of the future and uses symbols, imagery, and other literary devices.

Revelation not only sees the fulfillment of all that was foretold and the final triumph of God and the Lamb in future, it also connects the disjointed endings of the first 65 books of the Bible. In fact, this book can only be understood by knowing the entire Bible. Images, symbols, events, numbers, colors, etc. - almost We have encountered all this previously in the Word of God. Someone rightly called this book the "great main station" of the Bible, because all the "trains" arrive at it.

What kind of trains? Trains of thinking that originate in the book of Genesis and trace the idea of ​​atonement, ideas about the people of Israel, the pagans, the Church, Satan - the enemy of God's people, the Antichrist and much more, running through all subsequent books as a red thread.

The Apocalypse (since the fourth century so often erroneously called the "Revelation of St. John" and so rarely the "Revelation of Jesus Christ," 1:1) is the necessary climax of the Bible. He tells us how everything will happen.

Even a cursory reading of it should serve as a stern warning to unbelievers to repent, and an encouragement to God's people to persevere in the faith!

The book itself tells us that its author is John (1.1.4.9; 22.8), writing at the command of his Lord Jesus Christ. Long-standing compelling and widespread external evidence support the view that the John in question is the Apostle John, son of Zebedee, who spent many years working in Ephesus (Asia Minor, where all the seven churches addressed in chapters 2 and 3 were located). He was exiled by Domitian to Patmos, where he described the visions that our Lord vouchsafed him to see. Later he returned to Ephesus, where he died in a good old age, full of days. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Clement of Alexandria and Origen all attribute this book to John. More recently, a book called the Apocryphon of John (circa 150 AD) was found in Egypt, which quite definitely attributes the Revelation to John, the brother of James.

The first opponent of the authorship of the apostle was Dionysius of Alexandria, but he did not want to recognize John as the author of Revelation for the reason that he was against the teaching of the Millennial Kingdom (Rev. 20). His vague, unsubstantiated references first to John Mark and then to “John the Presbyter” as the possible authors of Revelation could not withstand such convincing evidence, although many modern more liberal theologians also reject the authorship of the Apostle John. There is no evidence in church history confirming the existence of such a person as John the presbyter (elder), except the author of the 2nd and 3rd epistles of John. But these two epistles are written in the same style as 1 John, and are also very similar in simplicity and vocabulary to Heb. from John.

If the external evidence given above is quite strong, then internal evidence are not so certain. The vocabulary, rather of a crude "Semitic" Greek style (there are even a few expressions that philologists would call solecisms, stylistic errors), as well as the word order convince many that the man who wrote the Apocalypse could not have written the Gospel.

However, these differences are understandable, and there are also many similarities between these books.

For example, some believe that Revelation was written much earlier, in the 50s or 60s (the reign of Claudius or Nero), and Gospel John wrote much later, in the 90s, when he had improved his knowledge of the Greek language. However, this explanation is difficult to prove.

It is quite possible that when John wrote the Gospel, he had a scribe, and during his exile to Patmos he was completely alone. (This in no way violates the doctrine of inspiration, since God uses the personal style of the author, and not the general style of all the books of the Bible.) In both the Gospel of John and Revelation we find common themes such as light and darkness. The words “Lamb,” “overcome,” “word,” “faithful,” “living waters,” and others also unite these two works. In addition, both John (19:37) and Revelation (1:7) quote Zechariah (12:10), while in the meaning of “pierced” they use not the same word that we find in the Septuagint, but a completely different word with the same meaning. (In the Gospel and Revelation the verb is used ekkentesan; in the Septuagint in Zechariah its form katorchesanto.)

Another reason for the differences in the vocabulary and style of the Gospel and Revelation is the very different literary genres. In addition, much of the Hebrew phraseology in Revelation is borrowed from descriptions common throughout the OT.

So, the traditional opinion that the Apostle John, son of Zebedee and brother of James, really wrote Revelation, has a historically solid basis, and all the problems that arise can be resolved without denying his authorship.

III. WRITING TIME

The earliest date for the writing of Revelation is believed by some to be the 50s or late 60s. As noted, this partly explains the less skillful artistic style Revelations.

Some believe that the number 666 (13.18) was a prediction about the Emperor Nero, who was supposedly supposed to be resurrected.

(In Hebrew and Greek, letters also have a numerical value. For example, aleph and alpha - 1, beth and beta - 2, etc. Thus, any name can be represented using numbers. Interestingly enough, the Greek name Jesus ( Iesous) denoted by 888. The number eight is the number of a new beginning and resurrection. It is believed that the numerical designation of the letters of the name of the beast is 666. Using this system and slightly changing the pronunciation, “Caesar Nero” can be represented by the number 666. Other names can be represented by this number, but we need to avoid such rash assumptions.)

This suggests an early date. The fact that this event did not happen does not affect the perception of the book. (Perhaps he proves that Revelation was written much later than the reign of Nero.) The Church Fathers quite specifically point to the end of the reign of Domitian (about 96) as the time when John was on Patmos, where he received the Revelation. Since this opinion is earlier, well-founded, and widely held among orthodox Christians, there is every reason to accept it.

IV. PURPOSE OF WRITING AND TOPIC

The key to understanding the book of Revelation is simple - to imagine that it is divided into three parts. Chapter 1 describes John's vision of Christ in the robe of a Judge standing in the midst of seven churches. Chapters 2 and 3 cover the Church age in which we live. The remaining 19 chapters deal with future events following the end of the Church Age. The book can be divided as follows:

1. What John saw that is, the vision of Christ as Judge of the churches.

2. What is: a survey of the Church age from the death of the apostles to the time when Christ takes His saints into heaven (chapters 2 and 3).

3. What will happen after this: description of future events after the rapture of the saints into the Eternal Kingdom (chap. 4 - 22).

The contents of this section of the book can be easily remembered by making the following outline: 1) chapters 4-19 describe the great tribulation, a period spanning at least seven years when God will judge unbelieving Israel and the unbelieving Gentiles; this judgment is described using the following figurative objects: a) seven seals; b) seven pipes; c) seven bowls; 2) Chapters 20-22 cover the second coming of Christ, His reign on earth, the Great White Throne Judgment, and the Eternal Kingdom. During the Great Tribulation period, the seventh seal contains seven trumpets. And the seventh trumpet is also the seven bowls of wrath. Therefore, the great tribulation can be depicted in the following diagram:

Inserted episodes in the book

The above diagram shows the main plot of the entire book of Revelation. However, there are frequent digressions throughout the narrative, the purpose of which is to introduce the reader to various important personalities and events of the great tribulation. Some writers call them interludes, or inserted episodes. Here are the main interludes:

1. 144,000 sealed Jewish saints (7:1-8).

2. Believing pagans during this period (7.9 -17).

3. Strong Angel with a book (chapter 10).

4. Two witnesses (11.3-12).

5. Israel and the dragon (chapter 12).

6. Two beasts (chapter 13).

7. 144,000 with Christ on Mount Zion (14:1-5).

8. Angel with the candlelight Gospel (14.6-7).

9. Preliminary announcement of the fall of Babylon (14.8).

10. Warning to those who worship the beast (14:9-12).

11. Harvest and grape gathering (14:14-20).

12. Destruction of Babylon (17.1 - 19.3).

Symbolism in the book

The language of Revelation is mostly symbolic. Numbers, colors, minerals, precious stones, animals, stars and lamps all symbolize people, things or various truths.

Luckily, some of these symbols are explained in the book itself. For example, seven stars are the Angels of the seven churches (1.20); the big dragon is the devil, or Satan (12.9). Clues to understanding some other symbols are found in other parts of the Bible. The four living creatures (4:6) are almost the same as the four living creatures in Ezekiel (1:5-14). And Ezekiel (10:20) says that these are cherubim. The leopard, bear and lion (13.2) remind us of Daniel (7), where these wild animals represent the world empires: Greece, Persia and Babylon, respectively. Other symbols are not clearly explained in the Bible, so one must be very careful in interpreting them.

The purpose of writing the book

As we study the book of Revelation, and indeed the entire Bible, we must remember that there is a difference between the Church and Israel. The Church is a people belonging to heaven, their blessings are spiritual, their calling is to share the glory of Christ as His Bride. Israel is God's ancient people living on earth, to whom God promised the land of Israel and a literal Kingdom on earth under the leadership of the Messiah. The true Church is mentioned in the first three chapters, and then we do not see it until the wedding feast of the Lamb (19:6-10).

The period of great tribulation (4.1 - 19.5) in its nature is predominantly the period of the Jews.

In conclusion, it remains to add that not all Christians interpret Revelation as stated above. Some believe that the prophecies of this book were fully fulfilled during the history of the early Church. Others teach that Revelation presents a continuing picture of the Church of all times, from John to the very end.

This book teaches all of God's children that living for the sake of what is transitory is meaningless. It encourages us to be a witness to the lost and encourages us to wait patiently for the return of our Lord. For non-believers, this is an important warning that all who reject the Savior will face a terrible destruction.

Plan

I. WHAT JOHN SAW (Ch. 1)

A. Theme of the book and greeting (1.1-8)

B. Vision of Christ in a judge's robe (1:9-20)

II. WHAT IS: MESSAGES FROM OUR LORD (Ch. 2 - 3)

A. Epistle to the Church of Ephesus (2:1-7)

B. Epistle to the Church of Smyrna (2:8-11)

B. Epistle to the Church of Pergamum (2:12-17)

D. Epistle to the Church of Thyatira (2:18-29)

E. Epistle to the Sardinian Church (3:1-6) E. Epistle to the Philadelphia Church (3:7-13)

G. Epistle to the Laodicean Church (3:14-22)

III. WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER THIS (Ch. 4 - 22)

A. Vision of God's Throne (Chapter 4)

B. The Lamb and the Book Sealed with Seven Seals (Ch. 5)

B. Opening of the Seven Seals (Chapter 6)

D. Saved During the Great Tribulation (Ch. 7)

D. The Seventh Seal. Seven trumpets begin to sound (Ch. 8 - 9)

E. Strong Angel with a book (Ch. 10)

G. Two Witnesses (11.1-14) H. Seventh Trumpet (11.15-19)

I. Basic characters in great tribulation (Ch. 12 - 15)

J. The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath (Ch. 16)

L. The Fall of the Great Babylon (Ch. 17 - 18)

M. The Coming of Christ and His Millennial Kingdom (19.1 - 20.9).

N. Judgment of Satan and all unbelievers (20:10-15)

O. New heaven and new earth (21.1 - 22.5)

P. Final Warnings, Consolations, Invitations and Blessings (22:6-21)

O. New heaven and new earth (21.1 - 22.5)

21,1 The question arises: Do chapters 21 and 22 tell only about the Everlasting Kingdom, or do they describe both the Millennial Kingdom and the Everlasting Kingdom? Since the Millennium and eternity are similar in many ways, it is not surprising that in the apostle John's descriptions they sometimes merge.

Here the Eternal Kingdom is named a new heaven and a new earth. They should not be confused with the new heavens and new earth described in Isaiah (65:17-25).

It refers to the Millennial Kingdom because sin and death are still present. They will be removed from the Eternal Kingdom forever.

21,2 John sees the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The fact that there is no mention of him landing leads some to see him hovering over the new land. The names of the tribes of Israel written on the gates of the city indicate that redeemed Israel will have access to the city, although it is not part of the Church itself. The distinction between the Church (the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb, v. 9), Israel (v. 12), and the Gentile nations (v. 24) is constantly maintained.

21,3 John hears the message from the sky, What the tabernacle of God is with people and that He will be live with them. How His people they will enjoy closer fellowship with Him than they ever dreamed of. God Himself will be with them and will be their God in closer and dearer communication.

21,4-5 Expression "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" doesn't mean there will be tears in heaven. This is a poetic device to say that they will not be there! There won't be no death, no crying, no illness! All this will disappear forever from the life of God's people.

Seated on the throne will create everything new. His the words are true and true and, of course, they will come true.

21,6 The proclamation of the Eternal Kingdom marks the completion of God's plans for the earth on which we live.

How Alpha And Omega- the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, so He is The beginning And The end Creator and Purpose of creation; He is the One who began and the One who finishes, abiding forever. This is what He gives living water(salvation) for nothing those who thirsts her.

21,7 It is He who blesses the overcomer with a full inheritance and a new intimacy, the same as between the Father and Son. As noted earlier, the overcomer is the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:5). By faith he overcomes the world (1 John 5:4).

21,8 But not everyone is a winner. Some fearful- are afraid to confess Christ; incorrect- do not want to trust the Savior of sinners; sinners(we find in most manuscripts) - remain in their sins, whether they are guilty of these obvious iniquities or not; nasty- devoted to disgusting immorality; killers- malicious and ruthless killers; fornicators- those who commit fornication and other types of sexual sins; sorcerers- having contact with evil spirits; idolaters- those who offend God by worshiping idols; And everyone is a liar- inveterate deceivers. Their fate is lake of fire, where is their final destiny.

21,9 One of the seven angels who had the bowl of judgment, invited John to examine in more detail the new Jerusalem, called Bride, Wife of the Lamb. This may mean that the city is the place of residence Brides.

21,10-11 Ascended in spirit to a great and high mountain, John saw Jerusalem again descending from heaven, emitting light from glory of God and sparkling like a precious stone.

21,12-13 He was completely surrounded wall, in which there was twelve gates with twelve angels on them.

The gate was worn names of the twelve tribes of Israel. Each side of the world was facing three gates.

Number twelve mentioned twenty-one times in this book and seven times in this chapter. It is usually explained as government or management.

21,14 Twelve wall bases wear names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

This can be correlated with the fact that with their teaching about Christ they laid the foundation of the Church (Eph. 2:20).

21,15-16 By using gold measuring stick the angel determined that length, width and height cities approximately twelve thousand furlongs(2250-2400 km). Whether it is shaped like a cube or a pyramid, it extends far beyond the borders of restored Israel.

21,17 The city wall is thick one hundred and forty-four cubits. Expression "by the measure of a man is the measure of an angel" means that the angel in verses 9 and 15 uses human units of measurement.

21,18 Description walls (jasper) And cities (pure gold), although it is difficult for us to imagine them, they are designed to feel the splendor and grandeur. And success has been achieved.

21,19-20 Twelve reasons decorated with twelve precious stones, the same as those on the breastplate of the high priest, which represent the twelve tribes of Israel. It is impossible to accurately identify all stones or determine their spiritual meaning.

21,21 Twelve Gates- twelve pearls, a reminder that the Church is a pearl of great price, for the sake of which the Savior left everything he had (Matthew 13:45-46).

The streets of the city are pure gold, like transparent glass, which speaks of immaculate glory.

21,22-23 But the city is missing something. No need for temple, because there Lord God Almighty And Lamb. There's no sun, neither moon, because the glory of God shines on him and Lamb.

21,24 The pagans will enjoy its beauty, and kings of the earth will give tribute to the Lord.

21,25 There are no locked ones gate, because there is complete security and free entry. There's no nights; this is the land of the unfading day.

21,26 As already noted, peoples bring all their wealth to this city, glory And honor.

21,27 Never go there won't go in nothing unclean but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

And I, John, saw the holy city Jerusalem, new, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And this is another eternal and cherished dream of the Jews - the dream of restoring Jerusalem, the holy city. And this dream has two sources. One of them is essentially Greek. One of the greatest contributions to the treasury of world philosophy is the teaching of the Greek philosopher Plato about ideas or forms, according to which in the invisible world there exist perfect forms or ideas of all that exists on earth, and that all earthly objects are but imperfect copies of heavenly realities. In this case, there must be a heavenly Jerusalem, of which the earthly Jerusalem is an imperfect copy. For example, Paul thinks about this when he talks about the highest Jerusalem (Gal. 4:26), and also in the Epistle to the Hebrews, when it speaks of the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22).

This way of thinking also left its mark on the Jewish visions of the inter-Testament era. We read that in the messianic age the invisible Jerusalem will appear (3 Rides 7.26). The author of the Second Book of Ezra, as he states, was granted a vision of him, if at all possible, that human eyes could bear the spectacle of heavenly glory (3 Rides 10, -44-59).

This concept of pre-existing forms may seem strange. However, at its core lies the great truth that the ideal really exists. It follows further that God is the source of all ideals. An ideal is, in fact, a challenge that, even if it is not realized in this world, will reach its fulfillment in the world to come.

Revelation 21:2 (continued) New Jerusalem (2)

The second source of the concept of the New Jerusalem is of purely Jewish origin. In the synagogue, Jews still pray today:

And return to Jerusalem, Thy city, with compassion, and dwell in it, as Thou hast promised; and build it again quickly in these days, an everlasting building; and the throne of David will soon be established there. Blessed be You, O Lord, Builder of Jerusalem.

John's vision of the New Jerusalem used and amplified many of the dreams of the prophets. We will present here some of these dreams and it will immediately be clear that in Revelation the echo of the Old Testament sounds again and again.

The prophet Isaiah had such a dream.

“Poor, tossed by the storm, inconsolable! Behold, I will set thy stones in rubies, and make thy foundation of sapphires; And I will make your windows of rubies, and your gates of pearls, and all your walls of precious stones.” (Isa. 54:11 12)

“The sons of foreigners will build your walls, and their kings will serve you... And your gates will always be open, they will not be shut day or night... You will be satisfied with the milk of the nations, and you will suck the breasts of kings... Instead of copper, I will bring you gold, and instead of iron - silver, and instead of wood - copper, and instead of stones - iron... Violence will no longer be heard in your land, devastation and destruction will be heard no more within your borders; and you will call your walls salvation and your gates glory. The sun will no longer serve as the light of day, and the radiance of the moon will shine for you; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God your glory. Your sun will no longer set, and your moon will not be hidden; For the Lord will be an everlasting light to you, and the days of your mourning will end.” (Isa. 60:10-20).

The prophet Haggai had a dream.

“The glory of this last temple will be greater than the first, says the Lord of hosts; And in this place I will give peace, says the Lord of hosts." (Agg 2.9). The prophet Ezekiel has his own dream of a rebuilt temple (chapters 40 and 48), in which we even find a picture of the twelve gates of the city (Ezek. 48, -31-35).

It is easy to see that the New Jerusalem was the eternal dream of the Jews, and that John lovingly collected into his vision various visions - precious stones, streets and buildings of gold; open gates day and night; the radiance of the glory of God, making the light of the sun and moon superfluous; the coming of nations and the bringing of gifts.

This is where faith is demonstrated. Even when Jerusalem was razed to the ground, the Jews never lost faith that God would restore it. They, it is true, expressed their dreams in material objects, but these are only symbols of their confidence in eternal bliss for the faithful people of God.

Revelation 21:3.4 Union with God

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death; there will be no more crying, no crying, no sickness; for the former things have passed away.

Here is the promise of unity with God, with all the ensuing consequences. This is the voice of one of the angels of the presence.

Tabernacle God will be with people. Greek skini - Means tent, tent, but in the religious vocabulary it has long since lost the meaning of temporary residence. There are two main ideas here.

1. Tabernacle - tabernacle was originally a tent in the desert. This means that God wants to honor people with His presence forever. Here on earth, among transitory things, we are only sometimes aware of the presence of God; and in heaven we will constantly feel His presence.

2. Two words, completely different in meaning, but similar in sound, were very connected with each other in the worldview of the early Church: skin it And Shekinah - the glory of God. Sound unity skini - shekinah led to the fact that people could not think about one without thinking about the other. In other words, to say that tabernacle God will be among people, meant to say that shekinah God will be with people.

In ancient times shekinah imagined it as a luminous cloud that came and went. So, for example, we read about the cloud that filled the sanctuary at the dedication of Solomon's Temple (3 Kings 8,10,11). In the new age, the glory of God will not be something fleeting; she will constantly abide with the people of God.

Revelation 21:3.4 (continued) Union with God

God's promise to make Israel His people and become their God is reflected throughout the Old Testament. “I will make My dwelling place among you... and I will walk among you, and I will be your God, and you will be My people.” (Lev. 26,11.12). In Jeremiah's account of the new covenant, God promises: “I... will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Jer. 31:33). Ezekiel had this promise: “And they will have My habitation, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” (Jer. 37:27). The highest promise is intimate union, when we can say: “I belong to my beloved, and my beloved belongs to me.” (Song. P. 6.3).

This union with God in the Golden Age brings with it certain things. Tears, grief, sobs and pain passed. The prophets of antiquity also dreamed about this. “Eternal joy will be over their heads; they will find joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing will be removed.” (Isa. 35:10).“And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will no longer be heard in it.” (Isa. 65:19). And there will be no more death. And the ancient prophets dreamed about this. “Death will be swallowed up forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.” (Isa. 25:8).

This is a promise for the future. But even in this world, blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted; and death will be swallowed up forever for those who have known Christ, and the participation in His sufferings and the power of His Resurrection (Matt. 5:4; Phil. 3:10).

Revelation 21:5.6 All things are new

And he who sat on the throne said, “I am making all things new, and he says, write to me, for these words are true and faithful.”

And he told me it was done! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, to the thirsty I will give freely from the source of living water.

And now for the first time God Himself will speak; He is the God who can make all things new. And here we are again among the dreams of the Old Testament prophets. The prophet Isaiah heard God say: “You do not remember the former things, and do not think about the ancient things. Behold, I am doing something new." (Isa. 43:18.19). Paul testifies: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (2 Cor. 5:17). God can create man and recreate him, and will one day create a new universe for the saints whose lives He has renewed.

The order to write is given not by God, but by the angel of presence. These words need to be written down and remembered; they are true and can be completely relied upon.

“I am Alpha and Omega,” God says to John, “the beginning and the end.” We have already encountered these words from the Risen Christ in 1,8. And again John hears the voice that the great prophets heard: “I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God.” (Isa. 44:6). Alpha - first letter of the Greek alphabet, omega - the last one. And further John strengthens this phrase: God is beginning and end. Start in Greek - arche and that means it is not only the first in time, but also source of all things. End in Greek it is - telos and that means not only the end in time, but also target. John thereby says that all life begins in God and ends in God. Paul expresses the same thing when he says, perhaps a little more philosophically: “For all things are from Him, by Him, and to Him.” (Rom. 11:36); or: “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all” (Eph. 4:6).

It is impossible to say anything greater than this about God. At first glance, it may seem that this removes God so far from us that we are nothing more to Him than flies on a window pane. And what comes after this? “To the thirsty I will give freely from the fountain of living water.” God puts all His greatness at man's disposal. God so loved the world that He gave His Son.” (John 3:16). God uses His greatness to satisfy the thirst of the seeking heart.

Revelation 21:7.8 Glory and Shame

He who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son;

But the fearful and unbelieving, the abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; this is the second death.

Bliss and happiness do not await everyone, but only those who remain faithful even when everything strives to turn him away from his fidelity. To such a one God gives the greatest promise: “I will be his God, and he will be My son.” The same promise, or very close to it, was given to three different people in the Old Testament. First, to Abraham: “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and between your descendants after you,” God said to Abraham, “I will be the God of yours and of your descendants after you.” (Gen. 17:7). Secondly, it was made to the son who would inherit the kingdom of David. “I will be his father,” said God, “and he will be my son.” (2 Kings 7:14). The third such covenant was made in a psalm, which Jewish theologians interpreted as messianic: “I will make him the firstborn, above the kings of the earth.” (Ps. 89:28). This is great. God gives to the overcomers the same promise as was given to Abraham, the founder of the people; Solomon in the person of his father David; and the Messiah Himself. There is no greater honor in the entire universe than that which God gives to a person who is faithful to Him.

But there are also those who are convicted. Fearful - these are those who loved peace and comfort more than Christ and who on the Day of Judgment are ashamed to show whose they are and whom they served. By the way, the translation of the Greek deylos How timid, gives the wrong impression, because it is not fear that is condemned. The highest expression of courage is to do the right thing in spite of great danger and remain faithful. And what is condemned here is cowardice, which denies Christ for the sake of its own safety. Infidels - these are those who abandoned the Gospel or recognized it only in words, but showed by their lives that they did not accept it. Bad - these are those who have allowed themselves to be saturated with the abominations of this world. Killers - these are perhaps those who killed Christians during the persecution. Fornicators - these are those who led an immoral lifestyle. Ephesus was full sorcerers. IN Acts 19.19 it is said that after preaching the name of Christ, many of those who practiced witchcraft burned their books. Idolators - these are those who worshiped the false gods with which the world is full. Liars - these are those who are guilty of lies and silence that amounts to lies.

Revelation 21:9-27 City of God

It is better to read the description of the city of God in its entirety first before moving on to the details.

And one of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came to me and said to me: Go, I will show you a wife, the bride of the Lamb.

And he carried me away in spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, which came down from heaven from God:

He has the glory of God, his light is like a most precious stone, like a crystalline jasper stone,

It has a large and high wall, has twelve gates and twelve Angels on them, on the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel:

There are three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the west; The wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.

He who spoke to me had a golden reed to measure the city and its gates and its walls.

The city is located in a quadrangle, and its length is the same as its latitude. And he measured the city with a reed for twelve thousand furlongs; its length and breadth and height are equal.

And he measured the wall thereof to be one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, which is the measure of an angel.

Its wall was built of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like pure glass.

The foundations of the city wall are decorated with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation is jasper, the second is sapphire, the third is chalcedon, the fourth is emerald,

The fifth is sardonyx, the sixth is sardolith, the seventh is chrysolif, the eighth is virill, the ninth is topaz, the tenth is chrysoprase, the eleventh is hyacinth, the twelfth is amethyst.

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: each gate was made of one pearl. The city street is pure gold, like transparent glass.

I didn’t see a temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty is his temple, and the Lamb.

And the city has no need of either the sun or the moon for its illumination; for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

The saved nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honor into it.

Its gates will not be locked during the day, and there will be no night there.

And they will bring into it the glory and honor of the nations;

And nothing unclean will enter into it, and no one devoted to abomination and lies, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation 21:9.10 Bringer of Vision

The one who brought the vision of heavenly Jerusalem may surprise the reader. This is one of the seven angels who had bowls filled with the last plagues; The last time we saw such an angel was when he brought a vision of the destruction of Babylon, the great harlot. It is extremely important to note that in 17,1 the invitation of the angel is: “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot,” and the invitation in 27:9, perhaps even of the same angel, is: “Come, I will show you the wife, the bride of the Lamb.”

No one can reliably explain much of the symbolism in this chapter. Perhaps John wants to show us that the servant of God does not choose his tasks, but must do what God expects of him, and says what God instructs him to say.

This angel, says John, took him up in spirit to a great and high mountain. The prophet Ezekiel describes his feelings in the same way: “In visions of God He brought me to the land of Israel and placed me on a very high mountain.” (Ezek. 40:2). Sweet points out that it would be wrong to take this literally; rising up symbolizes the exalted spirit in which a person is when a vision comes to him and he hears the words coming to him from God.

Revelation 21:11 Light of the city

In connection with the translation of this passage, certain difficulties arise. The Greek word used here is foster, translated in the Russian Bible as light. Light in Greek phos and foster usually used to refer to the celestial bodies - the sun, moon, and stars; for example, in the story of creation in Life 1.14. Does this mean then that the luminary that illuminated the city was like a precious stone? Or does this mean that the light emanating from him played over the entire city like a jasper?

It seems to us that this refers to the radiance over the city; Below the text specifically states that the city does not need any celestial body like the sun or moon to give light, because the glory of God has illuminated it.

What does this symbolize then? Sweet believes the starting point can be found in Phil. 2.15, where Paul says of the Christians in Philippi, “You shine as lights in the world.” In the holy city live thousands and thousands of God's saints, and it is quite possible that it is the light of their holy lives that gives this brilliant light.

Revelation 21:12 Walls and gates of the city

There is a large and high wall around the city. And here John relies on the pictures of the prophets describing the recreated Jerusalem. The song of the land of Judah goes like this: “We have a strong city; He gave salvation instead of a wall and a rampart.” (Isa. 26:1).“I will be for him, says the Lord, a wall of fire around him.” (Zechariah 2.5). The easiest way to interpret the wall is as an insurmountable wall of faith. Faith is the wall behind which the saints of God are safe from the attack of the world, the flesh and the devil.

There are twelve gates in the wall, and on the gates are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. The word used by John and translated in the Bible as gate is interesting; this is not an ordinary word. The word commonly used bullet, and the word used here poulon, which can mean two things. The large house was built around an open courtyard, which opened onto the street through a large gate in the outer wall that led to a spacious entrance hall. Perhaps this is exactly what is meant here. But poulon can also mean a gate watchtower in a large city, like the gate of a castle surrounded by a battlement.

Two things should be noted here.

1. There are twelve gates in total. This symbolizes versatility Churches. A person can get into the Kingdom in many ways, for “there are as many paths to the stars as there are people who are ready to climb to them.”

2. On the gate are written the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. This clearly symbolizes continuity Churches. The God who revealed himself to the patriarchs is the God who was revealed even more fully in Jesus Christ; The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament.

Revelation 21:13 Gates of the City

On each of the four sides of the City of God there are three gates. John borrowed some part of this picture from Ezekiel (Ezek. 48:30-35). We do not know what else John wanted to express with this arrangement other than the universality of the Church. There is one symbolic interpretation, although it is unlikely that John put it here, but, nevertheless, it is beautiful and comforting.

On east three gates. The sun rises in the east and the day begins there. Perhaps these gates symbolize the paths to the holy city of those who come to Christ young.

Three gates are located in northern wall. The north is a cold part of the world. Perhaps these gates symbolize the paths to the holy city of those who come to Christianity through intellectual reflection, that is, they found their way with their minds, and not with their hearts.

Three gates lead to south. The south is a warm country where a warm wind blows and there is a mild climate. This gate may symbolize the ways in which people driven by their feelings come to the holy city; people whose hearts were filled with a feeling of love at the sight of the Crucifixion.

And on west There are three gates. In the west the sun sets and the day dies. This gate may symbolize the paths of those who came to Christ at the end of their days.

Revelation 21:15-17 Measuring hail

The painting of a man with a measuring stick dates back to Ezek. 40.3.

1. We must take into account the quadrangular square shape of the city. This was not unusual; Nineveh and Babylon both had this form. But the holy city has not only a square shape, but also a perfect cubic one. Its length, width and height are equal. This is very important because in the ancient world the cubic shape was considered perfect. Plato and Aristotle point out that a good person was called tetragon, quadrangle (Plato: “Protagoras”, 339, B; Aristotle: “Nicomachean Ethics”, 1.10.11; “Rhetoric”, 3.11).

The Jews thought the same. The altar of burnt offering, the altar of incense and the breastplate of the high priest were made in the shape of a cube (Ex. 27.1; 30.2; 28.16). This form appears again and again in the prophet Ezekiel's visions of a new Jerusalem and a new temple. (Ezek. 41.21; 43.16; 45.2; 48.20). But most importantly in Solomon's Temple, the Holy of Holies was made in the shape of a perfect cube (1 Kings 6:20).Not one has to doubt that John put a symbolic meaning into his painting. He wants to show us that the entire holy city is the Holy of Holies, the dwelling place of God.

2. We must note the size of the city. Each side is equal to 12,000 stages. One stage is equal to approximately 200 m, and each side, therefore, is 2,400 km, and the entire area of ​​​​the holy city was equal to 5,760,000 square kilometers. The rabbis' dreams of a restored Jerusalem had already gone far enough. They said that he would go all the way to Damascus and occupy all of Palestine. But a city with an area the size of John's would stretch from London to New York. It is quite obvious that John thereby wants to say that in the holy city there will be a place for everyone. People tend to fix the boundaries of their church in order to exclude anyone who believes differently from them or does things differently.

It is interesting to note, however, that with the wall things are different. Its height is 144 cubits, that is, about 69 m, not very high; the walls of Babylon were more than 91 m, and Solomon's portico - 60 meters. The height of the wall cannot be compared with the enormous size of the city itself. And there is some symbolism in this. The wall is not for protection and defense, because all hostile forces - human and demonic - have been destroyed or thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone. The wall only separates the city and the fact that it is not high shows that this division is, in fact, not very important. It is more important for God to bring people to Himself than to isolate them from the rest of the world, and the Church should be the same.

Revelation 21:18-21 Precious Stones of the City

The city itself is made of pure gold, like pure glass. It is quite possible that John thereby emphasizes one feature of the earthly temple. Josephus Flavius ​​describes Herod's Temple this way: “And on the outer façade in front there was nothing missing that could strike both the mind of a person and his eyes; because it was covered from top to bottom with sheets of gold of very large weight, and at sunrise it reflected a burning splendor and forced those who tried to look at it to turn away their eyes as if from the sun. But to newcomers who were at a distance from it, it seemed like a snow-covered mountain, because those parts of the temple that were not gold were completely white” (Josephus: “Jewish Wars” 5,5.6).

John goes on to talk about the twelve foundations of the city walls. The twelve gates were connected by long walls, which rested on twelve huge foundations, each made of a huge solid stone. And again, John, perhaps, was thinking about the huge stones that lay at the foundation of the Jerusalem Temple. The passage from Josephus we just quoted speaks of stones more than 20 m long, more than 2 m high, and almost 3 m wide that lay at the base of the temple walls. IN 21,14 John says that on these foundations stood the names of the twelve apostles. These were the first followers of Jesus and His first messengers and messengers, and they were indeed the literal foundation of the Church.

In the city of God, these foundation stones were also precious. Jasper - This is not modern jasper, but a transparent green rock crystal.

Sapphire mentioned in the Old Testament as the stone from which the stool on which God stood was made (Ex. 24:10). But this, again, was not a modern sapphire. The Roman historian Pliny said that sapphire is a sky-blue stone with golden inclusions. Most likely this is the stone now known as lapis lazuli. Chalcedon, or chalcedony - a green variety of quartz. It is compared in color to the green tint of the feathers on the neck of a dove or in the tail of a peacock. Smaragd - modern emerald, which Pliny defines as the greenest of all green stones. Sardonyx - this is onyx, a white stone with layers of pink and brown; it was especially used for making cameos. Sardolicus got its name from the city of Sardis. It is a blood red colored stone that was widely used to make gems. ABOUT chrysolifum It's hard to say anything definite. In Hebrew its name means stone from Tarshish. Pliny characterizes it as a stone with a golden radiation. It may be yellow beryl or golden-colored jasper. Virill like an emerald; the best stones are sea green in color. Topaz - a transparent stone of greenish-gold color, which was very highly valued among the Jews. Job talks about Ethiopian topaz (Job 28:19). Chrysopras - A variety of chalcedony colored with nickel oxide to a transparent oily green. Hyacinth - according to the description of ancient authors, it is a purple, blue-red stone. It is quite possible that this is a modern sapphire. Amethyst characterized as a stone very similar to hyacinth, but more shiny.

Do these stones have symbolism?

1. It should be noted that eight of them are stones on the breastplate of the high priest (Ex. 28:17-20). It is possible that John used the breastplate as a model.

2. It is also possible that John only wanted to emphasize the splendor of the city of God, in which even the foundations are made of priceless precious stones.

The most striking thing in this whole picture of precious stones is the gates of the city of God, each of which is made of one huge pearl. In the ancient world, pearls were valued above all precious stones. A merchant could spend his whole life looking for a good large pearl, and having found it, decide that it was worth selling his entire fortune to buy it (Matthew 13:46). The Pearly Gates are a symbol of unimaginable beauty and inaccessible wealth.

Revelation 21:22.23 The Presence of God

IN 21,22 John notes a unique feature of the city of God: it has no temple. This is amazing when you think about what the Temple was for the Jews. But we have already noted that the city is built in the shape of a regular cube, which indicates that the city itself is the Holy of Holies. The city does not need a temple because God is constantly present there.

This symbolism is obvious to everyone. Neither the building, nor the liturgy, nor the form of government, nor the procedure for ordaining priests makes the Church. The Church does only the presence of Jesus Christ; Without Him there can be no Church; only with Him any gathering of people becomes a real Church.

The city of God does not need created light, because in the middle of the city there is God, the uncreated light. “The Lord,” says Isaiah, “will be your everlasting light.” (Isa. 60:19.20).“In Your light,” says the psalmist, “we see light.” (Ps. 35:10). We see things as they really are only when we see them in the light of God. Some things that seem extremely important turn out to be insignificant when viewed in the light of God, and some things that seem intolerable turn out to be the path to glory.

Revelation 21:24-27 All the earth to God

Such a passage gives us an opportunity to correct the wrong done to the Jewish worldview. Here all nations go to God, and all the kings of the earth bring Him their gifts, their glory and their honor. In other words, this is a picture of universal salvation. It was often said that the Jews did not expect anything other than the destruction of the pagans. But many voices speak of a time when all people will know and love the God of Israel.

The prophet Isaiah has a picture of how all nations will ascend Mount Zion and He will teach them His ways (Isa. 2:2-4). God will raise the banner of the Gentiles and all nations will gather (Isa. 11:12). God says to Israel: “I will make you a light of the nations, so that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (Isa. 49:6). The islands will trust in God and hope in His hand (Isa. 51:5). The sons of foreigners will learn to serve God and love Him; God will gather others to himself (Isa. 56:6-8). Israel must share the glory of God among the Gentiles (Isa. 66:19). All the ends of the earth will turn to God and be saved (Isa. 45:22). All nations will be gathered to Jerusalem and will call it the throne of the Lord and will no longer walk according to the stubbornness of their evil heart. (Jer. 3:17). Pagans will gather to God from all ends of the earth, confessing and repenting of their past sins (Jer. 16:19-21). All nations will serve Him (Dan. 7:14). He will be worshiped - each from his place - by all the islands of nations (Zeph. 2:11). God will give the nations clean lips, so that everyone will call on the name of the Lord (Zeph. 3:9). All flesh will be silent before God (Zech. 2:13). Nations and inhabitants of many cities will come to Jerusalem; many tribes and peoples will come and “take hold of the half of Judah and say: we will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” (Zech. 8:20-23). The day will come when the Lord will be King over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be one. 14,9).

Drawing a picture of the nations marching in the light of the city of God, and the kings bearing their gifts to Him, John predicted the fulfillment of the hope that had always glimmered in the hearts of his great fellow tribesmen.

Revelation 21:24-27 (continued) Acceptance and Rejection

Before moving on to the next chapter, there are three points to note.

1. John repeatedly points out that there will be no night in the city of God. The ancients, like children, were afraid of the darkness. In the new world there will not be this terrible darkness, because the presence of God will provide eternal light. And even in our world of time and space, where God is, the night is as bright as day (Ps. 139:12).

The English theologian Sweet sees another symbolism in this. There will be no darkness in the city of God. It often happened that a brilliant century was followed by an age of darkness, but in the new century darkness will disappear forever and there will be only light.

2. Like the ancient prophets, John repeatedly speaks of the pagans and their kings bringing their gifts to God. The peoples truly brought their gifts to the Church. The Greeks brought her the power of their mind. In their view, as Plato expressed it, “an unexamined life is not worth living,” and, therefore, an unexamined faith also does not need to be adhered to. We owe theology to the Greeks. The Romans were the world's greatest management experts. They brought to the Church the ability to organize, govern, and formulate laws. When a person enters the Church, he must bring his gift with him; writer - the power of words; artist - the power of colors; sculptor - the art of line, form and mass; musician - music; artisan - craft. There is no gift that Christ could not use.

3. The chapter ends with a threat. All who do not give up their unclean deeds and behavior will not enter the city of God. There are sinners who sin against their will, but the entrance to the city of God is closed not to the repentant sinner, but to the One who shows open disobedience.