Gates of Pearl, Streets of Gold
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Revelation 21:21-22
Recap:
· We looked at each stone that the city was built upon, the foundations of the city of New Jerusalem. Each of these stones represents the life and works of an apostle.
· The stones are precious and of great value, just like the work that the apostles put into building the church that Jesus founded.
· As John continues his tour of this city, he gives us some more highlights. And highlights is all John is capable of doing, as the splendor of this city is to wonderful to even be put into words.
Verse 21 – The Gates
· Earlier in this chapter, we were made aware that there were 12 gates, and each of these gates were named after the tribes of Israel – this we find in Rev 21:12
· Now we are given some more details regarding the gates and the material they are built out of.
· The scripture tells us that they are made out of pearls. Now this is not your typical pearl.
· First, when we think of pearls, we think of the small round beads that a lady might wear with her outfit.
· Now round pearls are what we are accustomed to seeing, but pearls can come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
· Pearls are typically formed when an oyster or mollusk has an irritant such as a wayward food particle becomes trapped in the mollusk.
· It can take 6 months to several years to form a common size pearl.
· Now interestingly, the biggest pearl that man has found is called the Giga Pearl. The pearl has been verified at 26 inches in length, 12 inches in width and weighing nearly 75 pounds. It is valued at $100 Million.
· As we read the scripture, we can assume that these pearls are much larger than this pearl. These pearls are used as gate entrances.
· Now remember the size of the wall? These entrances are not tiny, that means that these pearls will be immensely huge!
· Notice that it says that each gate was made of one pearl. It is unclear if the pearl will be round or irregular in shape, but what we find is that people will go through these pearls to enter into the city.
· Talk about an elaborate entrance!
· Now why does God use the pearl for the entrance? Well, let’s think about what the scripture has said about pearls.
· First, the animal that makes the pearl is an unclean animal. Deuteronomy 14:10 “And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.”
· So, God tells the Israelites that this is an unclean animal to you. But remember, these gates are named after the Israelite Tribes.
· This then seems a little contrary to what God instructed in the Old Testament. Why the change?
· Well, lets examine a New Testament passage that may help shed the light on the meaning.
· Matthew 13:44-46 “Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”
· Now when we examine what the Lord is saying, he talks about first a treasure hid in a field. Many believe as do I, that he is referring to Israel, the Jewish people. That they are this treasure that is among this field.
· Remember, Jewish people are associated with land. We saw this earlier in Revelation when we encountered the Antichrist and False Prophet.
· So, what does that have to do with pearls? Well, the last two verses that we just read talk about a man that is seeking pearls. Where are pearls found? They are found in the sea.
· The sea is a reference to Gentile nations and people. As the scripture taught about the antichrist rising out of the sea, he is likely to be a gentile.
· So, the pearl produced in the sea, is a reference to Gentiles.
· Now Jews are not to partake unclean foods, or touch unclean things. But what does Christ do with the unclean?
· Acts 10:9-16 On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: 10 and he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, 11 and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: 12 wherein were all manner of four footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. 14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. 15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. 16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
· God cleansed it through Jesus Christ. Not right after this encounter with the Lord, Peter is then met by a group of Gentiles. Cornelius, a gentile was invited into Peter’s house, and through this encounter came to know the Lord.
· I tell you all of that, because I believe the Lord uses a pearl here, to represent that by Israel, the gentiles have an entrance into the Holy City of God.
· Gentiles were once considered unclean, but like the story of the man who sold all he had to buy the pearl, Jesus did that for us. We might have been unclean but we were of great value. And God cleansed us through Jesus Christ.
· So, this city has entrances that allow Jew and Gentile to enter through.
The Streets
· As John walks into the city, he gives us another amazing detail. The city streets are made of pure gold.
· Now in our previous studies, we learn that earthly gold has a mixture of other elements in it to give it the color we are accustomed too. But the gold that God uses, is not mixed. It is pure meaning that there is no impurity or defilement about the gold.
· Thus, with not impurities, the gold is transparent. Hard like metal, but clear as John describes like transparent glass.
· There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to be able to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him.
An angel hears his plea and appears to him. "Sorry, but you can't take your wealth with you." The man implores the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules.
The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him. The angel reappears and informs the man that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with gold bars and places it beside his bed.
Soon afterward the man dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven to greet St. Peter. St. Peter seeing the suitcase says, "Hold on, you can't bring that in here!"
But, the man explains to St. Peter that he has permission and asks him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough, St. Peter checks and comes back saying, "You're right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I'm supposed to check its contents before letting it through."
St. Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, "You brought pavement?!!!"
· New Jerusalem will be an amazing place, the value of this city will be beyond what we can calculate.
· The wealth of our nation is locked up in vaults, we do not display or bring it out, for fear that someone will come in and steal it.
· This is not the case with this place. Its wealth and beauty is on display. The precious jewels and metals are not hid but meant to be seen, to be inhabited, to be used.
· What God is saying with this city, is I am giving you my best, because I love you. What an extraordinary place!
Verse 22 – Temple
· Now John observes another interesting fact, that there is no temple building.
· The temple has played an important role in Israel’s history. Though it does not exists at the moment, it will be rebuilt two more times before the eternal city comes down.
· The temple serves as a place to where a person can come to God. A place where one must prepare himself to enter. Sacrifices must be made. An offering must be given.
· It is the seat where the spirit of God resided. No one could just enter. Only those who were separated from the people were allowed to enter in.
· It was the place where sin atonement was sought. A building that in ancient times was elaborate and beautiful, to be destroyed and rebuilt in more modest terms.
· Yes, the temple has a significant role in end times, but at the end, there is no temple.
· Why? Because there is no need for the temple structure anymore.
· You see, the temple served as a dwelling place for God, but here in this city, God dwells within it.
· There is no need to come and offer sin atonement anymore, because sin is gone. Man may freely commune with God. This means, no more curtains, no more sacrifices, no more incense that must be burned. We will be able to approach God, at home.
· For us, we have a church building we come to worship the Lord at. That won’t be the case in New Jerusalem. He will be among us. We will be able to see him face to face.
· Now I like what John tells us here. He makes the distinction of God the Father and Son here.
· Remember God is a trinity, but He is one. Now you try to define the trinity you will lose your mind, but if you deny the trinity you will lose your soul.
· Oh, the beauty that John describes of this city is wonderful. From the glimmering jewels to the crystal clear streets. The majesty of this city is incomprehensible to us, we can only use our imaginations. But as elegant as this place might be, what really makes it special is that Jesus will be there.
· Heaven without Christ would not be heaven. This place would not be what it was meant to be either, if Jesus wasn’t there. What a sight we have yet to behold.