Apocalypse Now - Lesson6
“Apocalypse Now”
Lesson 6 – “The things which will take place: Rev. 21-22”
1. Introduction: What are you looking forward to?
- Abraham? (Heb 11:8-10; 13-16) _________________________________________________
- Moses? (Heb 11:23-26) ________________________________________________________
- Paul? (Rom 8:16-19) __________________________________________________________
- Peter? (2 Pet 3:10-13) _________________________________________________________
- Other heroes of the Faith? (Heb 11:32-39) _________________________________________
QUESTION: If this world is not worthy of them then what world were they looking forward to that is worthy of them? ANSWER: The same world looked forward to by (All Christians that have gone before us and the same one that everyone in this room should be looking forward to). And it is precisely the world that God has graciously allowed us to get a glimpse of in Revelation chapter 21!
2. The New Heaven & New Earth (21:1-2)
- “the first heaven and the first earth passed away” – Where did they go? (Rev 20:11-15 à 2 Pet 3:7,10-12 à 13)
- “I saw a new heaven and a new earth” - How did the new heaven and earth come into existence? (21:5a à just like in Gen 1:1)
- QUESTION: I wonder what that will look like and will we be able to watch it happen?
- QUESTION: What will this new earth be like (i.e. no more sea)?
- Isaiah and Jesus prophesied about this new city thousands of years ago (Isa 65:18 à Jn 14:2-3)
3. The New Life (21:3-7)
- (vs. 3a) “Loud” + “Behold” indicates a very important announcement is going to be made
- (vs. 3b) Incredible emphasis on God living with us…
o “tabernacle”, “dwell”, “be”, “God himself”, “among men… among them… among them”
o QUESTION: Have you ever wondered what it would have been like…
§ To walk and talk with God like Adam
§ To walk and talk with Jesus (Immanuel)
o QUESTION: And how did the disciples feel about Jesus leaving them? (Jn 14:1-5)
o Consider the promises of comfort given earlier in Rev 3:12 & 7:15
o How awesome will that be - To live with the same God that Moses, Israel, Isaiah & John…
o Robert Thomas says it this way: “This new relationship is the supreme and immeasurable reward far surpassing all the other benefits that the New Jerusalem will afford.”
- (vs. 4) The curse is gone – Sin and its effects are gone
o “tears”, “death”, “mourning”, “crying”, “pain”
o Rev 22:3a - “there will no longer be any curse”
o 2 Pet 3:13 – “new heaven and new earth, which righteousness dwells”
o What will this be like? The perfect application of Gal 5:16-25 every day
o Let’s make it more personal: Think about one of your best days…
o QUESTION: How can it be this way? ANSWER: verse 5
- (vs.5a) “all things are going to be new” à clearly things will be different
- QUESTION: How certain can we be of these things?
- (vs.5b) “faithful & true” à we can count on them more than we can count on anything
- QUESTION: Who are all of these amazing things for?
- (vs.6-7) “the one who thirsts”, “the one who overcomes”, those who are sons of God
- This is our inheritance à IT’S WHAT WE SHOULD BE LOOKING FORWARD TO!
NOTE: But what about the others “the non-thirsty”, “those who fall short”, “those who are sons of the devil”?
QUESTION: Are these promises for them? Is this what they have to look forward to?
We know that most people think. They think - YES!
But God, in His graciousness, reminds them otherwise while there is still time: in vs.8
4. The 2nd Death (21:8)
- (vs.8a) This is a very similar statement to what Paul writes in (1 Cor 6:9-10)
- Notice that Paul emphasizes this by saying twice “will not inherit the Kingdom of God”
- In Rev 21:8 we see that it is the same thing: the unbeliever will not inherit all that is being described in this new world.
- QUESTION: So, if this is not their inheritance then what happens to them?
- (vs.8b) ”their part” à “The second death”
- As it is described previously in Rev 20:12-15
- This is the picture of hell that the Bible tells us about
o In Mark 9:43-48 - three times “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched”
o And in Rev 14:11 - “and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night”
- So, not only are they unable have the truly AWESOME experience of being in God’s new world, but they instead must endure the endless wrath of the one and only Holy God.
- Let the UNBELIEVER consider his worst day on this earth…
- COMMENT: One looks forward to ultimate “JOY”; the other looks forward to ultimate “SUFFERING”
- QUESTION: Which one are you looking forward to? How can we know… (1 Cor 6:11)
NOTE: But those of us who have been justified have much to look forward to – and God has chosen to give us just a glimpse of this amazing new home à vs.10.
5. The New Jerusalem (21:9-22:6)
a. Vision of the Bride (v. 9)
- A contrasting invitation to the one describing the judgment of the “great harlot” (Rev 17:1)
- “I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb” à CONTEMPLATE the scene from v.2 and here in v.9
o “the bride” is typically understood in the NT as the “church” (Eph 5:22-32)
o The term “wife” is used because the marriage has already taken place (Rev 19:7-9)
o So in context, it is reasonable to see that the New Jerusalem is called the bride and the wife because that is who occupies her (21:3,6,7,27; 22:3-5)
o (Beckwith agrees) – “As in common practice the name of the material city stands for the community composed of its inhabitants. The bride is both the people of God and the seat of their abode, the New Jerusalem.”
o It also seems that the bride has been expanded to include the redeemed of all ages (21:27)
NOTE: A picture of the bride-city in which the redeemed are forever joined together with God and he Lamb
b. Physical Features of the City (21:10-21)
- The Destiny of the Bride (v.10-11)
o What a scene! “the holy city” à A scene of worship & beauty: consider (Psa 48:1-2)
o Look at the terms: “glory of God”, “brilliance”, “crystal clear jasper” à Diamonds!
o QUESTION: What did this look like? (MacArthur: a giant light bulb)
o Scripture is filled with prophecy that looked forward to this day: (Rom 8:18; 1 Thess 2:10-12; 2 Thess 2:14; Heb 2:10; 1 Pet 5:1,10)
NOTE: Our destiny is Glory! This is the world that we belong to! We should preoccupy our thoughts with this glory so that we walk(live) worthy of that glory.
- Commemoration of God’s Covenants (v.12-14)
o Picture this: “high wall”, “12 gates” à “names of 12 tribes of Israel” à “3-3-3-3”
o Similar picture to that of Numbers 2 à Surrounding the tent of meeting on all sides
o They memorialize God’s covenant with Israel forever (similar to Joshua 4:6-7)
o Then we see: “12 foundation stones”, “12 apostles”
o They memorialize God’s covenant with His church (Eph 2:19-22)
NOTE: But it’s not just symbolic – it’s an actual wall with dimensions
- Dimensions of the wall (v.15-17)
§ This is approximately 1500 miles long, wide & high & 75 yards deep
§ Consider the vastness of this city à One commentator described it in this way
| Fifteen hundred miles is the distance between New York City and Dallas. The city is a perfect cube. If you make a box with Minneapolis, MN as the Northeast corner, Seattle WA as the Northwest corner, San Diego CA as the South west corner and Little Rock AR as the Southeast corner you would have a picture of this great city in terms of its breadth. A fifteen hundred mile high, wide and long city would equal 3,375,000,000 cubic miles. Such a city could accommodate one billion believers with each able to have a 14,000 square foot apartment with room left over. |
§ CONSIDER now what Jesus said to his disciples in (John 14:2-3)
§ QUESTION: Is this a real city with real walls or is it just symbolic?
§ Some quotes from those who believe the city is merely symbolic:
| Swete: “Such dimensions defy imagination and are permissible only in the language of symbolism… Everything shows that a literal exegesis… is entirely out of the question.” |
| Chilton: “The numbers are obviously symbolic, the multiples of twelve being a reference to the majesty, vastness and perfection of the church.” |
o Robert Thomas gives a great explanation as to why it is completely reasonable to take this whole section as if it is a real city with symbolic meaning.
| She is a real city with a material existence… To hold that ‘literally there never was, is not now, and never will be such a city,’ flies in the face of the language of the text… This is not to say that the tangible aspects of the city’s architecture are without symbolic meaning. The abstractions embodied in the physical features of the city are strikingly clear… John has conveyed what he saw as far as words are capable of doing so. He actually saw what he describes accurately under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit… Because the nature of the city stretches human understanding to its limits, the wiser course is to accept the details of the description at their face value… The materialistic nature of the new creation is unquestionable… This is not merely an ideal and fantastic city, but a true, real, substantial and eternal one. |
§ CONSIDER: Even if John is describing the unimaginable, the unimaginable will certainly be far better than his description – which we must agree, is awesome!
§ BUT the dimensions do seem to provide some symbolic meaning in relation the dimensions of the Holy of holies (Cube à 1 Ki 6:19-20 à see Rev 21:22)
§ CONSIDER: What a grand picture! All of us: Living inside the Holy of holies!
NOTE: Now John turns his attention to the material characteristics of this awesome wall. Allow your mind to imagine what this looks like as I read.
- Construction materials of the wall and the street (v.18-21)
o Picture this: Wall à Jasper (diamonds): Foundation stones à precious stones (diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc) à some we know and some we don’t
o CONSIDER this wall: 9 Million square miles of diamonds!
o Pearls the size of a gate à How big do you think the gate is? (Hyderabad illus.)
o Streets made of gold à (pure - clear) like no gold we have ever seen
o QUESTION: Why the focus on these physical aspects of the city?
· Certainly it shows us its MAGNIFICENT and INCOMPARABLE beauty
· He wants us to look forward to it!
· Gold, Diamonds and pearls were of great value in John’s day.
· However, the things we value now will be of little or no value in the new creation (Matt 6:19-20; Luke 16:10-11)
· CONSIDER: Nothing in this world comes with is into our world, except PEOPLE
c. Life Inside the City (21:22 – 22:5)
- The glory of God (v.22-23)
o “no temple” à no need for one since we will always be in God’s presence (see 21:3)
o Kiddle: “What for so long was a symbol in the earthly tabernacle and temple, the presence of God with men, now gives place to reality.”
o Because God dwells there, His glory is there, and there is no need for light coming from another source
o Thomas: “It will be a condition of constant brightness and brilliance”
o Isaiah prophesied about this concerning Israel (Isa 60:19-20)
o CONTRAST this to the way it is now: (Dwelling in men’s hearts – glory is veiled, darkness abounds, prince of darkness, hiding is the modus operandi, Adam and Eve)
- The glory of the Nations (v.24-26)
o QUESTION: Who are the “nations”? Very difficult to interpret
- Thomas proposes at least 10 different views (all very speculative)
- He says they represent the “nations” not deceived in the millennium
- Are they current kings of nations
o who are ruling in the new order
o who are giving up their rule
- What we do know about them is the following:
o They are “Believers” à names are written in the Lamb’s book of life
o They walk or live by the light of the Lamb
o They are still recognized as distinct nations with their kings
o They are in possession of true glory and honor that comes with them
- Those not allowed in the city (v.27)
o There is no reason to believe that what is being suggested here is that some unbelievers are hanging around outside the city but just are not allowed in (see Rev 20:15)
o But it is, yet another instance of God reminding us that only true Christians will experiencing this amazing eternal destiny – Universalism is clearly refuted here. What about you?
-
- River of Life and Tree of Life (22:1-2)
o A river flowing from throne: “water of life” à calls to mind Jesus and the woman at the well (Jn 4:10,11,14) à a picture of eternal life à instead of death
o “tree of life” à As in the garden (Gen 2:9; 3:22) à For the overcomers (Rev 2:7)
o “healing of the nations” à therapeutic à “life-giving” or “health-giving”
o CONCLUSION: Paradise is a place of both life and health
o CONTRAST that to this life
- Eternal Life (22:3-5)
o “No longer any curse”: as Paul discussed looked forward to in Rom 8:19-22
o “We will serve him”: as described in Rev 7:15-17
o “We will see His face”: unlike Moses (Ex 33:18,20)
o No night, no need of light (Jn 1:4-5; 1Jn 1:5-7)
o We will reign (cf. Gen 1:26)
o “Forever and ever”