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Revelation Segment 16:
The Final Segment of Revelation

All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. Before beginning this study, I suggest you pray and ask God to guide you through this study. I also suggest that you do you own study of this material in order to ensure its accuracy.
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 This is reflected in several other passages including these:

This is the beginning of what some called the eternity. It is certainly eternal, but it may be more accurately described as the New Earth Age. Of course, that means that we are at present living in an older earth age. I am of the belief that there are three earth ages. The first one occurred before the present creation as described in Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." The duration of first earth age is not mentioned in the Bible. The second verse of Genesis goes on to tell us: "And the earth became without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." The KJV says: "And the earth was without form . . ." But see Genesis Segment 1 for a discussion about the Hebrew word hayah, which was (I believe) incorrectly translated "was". I believe it should have been translated "became" because of what Bullinger says the Massorah indicates. Dr. Bullinger is a credible commentator on this subject because he was a very good Greek scholar who thoroughly studied the Massorah and translated a good portion of it before his death. The Massorah is the vehicle used by scribes to make very accurate and faithful reproductions of scripture. The Hebrew scriptures are exceedingly faithful to the original autographs as can be proven by the Dead Sea Scrolls containing the book of Isaiah. There is remarkably little difference between the excerpts of Isaiah contained in the Qumran manuscripts and present day Isaiah. The Qumran manuscripts were written 200 years before Christ walked the earth. The Massorah has been incidental in causing this circumstance to be true. The original manuscripts use the word hayah, conjugated hythah, meaning "came to pass" or "became." The KJV translates the word to mean "was" but does so only in this place. At all other places in the Bible, the KJV translators used "came to pass", or "become" or "became." They did not distinguish between the English infinitives "to be" and "to become." Most modern translations accede to this point, telling us in a foot note that the word could be rendered "became". So the earth became waste and void suggesting that it was not always so. It was not. In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Sometime later it became waste and void.

 To recap, there are three earth ages. The First Earth Age is described in Genesis 1:1. We do not know how long that age lasted. It could have lasted millions of years. That could explain the geological theory that the earth is 3 to 5 billion years old. The Second Earth Age is our present, which is currently about 6000 to 15,000 years old. The third or the New Earth Age will begin when the old heaven and the old earth pass away. Peter talks about the three ages:

Peter was not talking about the flood of Noah. How do we know that? By the literal translation of the Greek here. Here is the transliterated Greek: kai ge lex hudatos kai di' hudatos, which is literally translated "and earth by water and through water". "Lex hudatos kai di hudatos" (by water and through water) is an idiom meaning "primeval waters". So what we have here is a phrase that may be accurately parsed "and [the] earth in the primeval waters (or watery chaos)" Let us restate the verse with this knowledge: "That by God's Word the heavens were of old and the earth in the primeval waters." Primeval waters are those at the beginning of the age. The beginning of the age is described in Genesis 2:2. Then Peter says that the world that then was became flooded with water. Now alone, this could be applied to the flood of Noah, but the context of primeval waters places the event at the beginning of the age.

There is a passage in Jeremiah that refers to the destruction of the earth: Jeremiah 4:23-27 "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. {24} I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. {25} I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. {26} I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger. {27} For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land ['erets--earth] shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end." Jeremiah used the exact same Hebrew words that Moses used in Genesis 1:2, "without form and void", which are tohuw (waste) and bohuw (void) in Hebrew. Everything was destroyed and there was no man. If this was Noah's flood, there was a man; four in fact. They were Noah, Shem, Japhet, and Ham. Since there was no man, this was not Noah's flood. I believe it was the flood that caused the deep to cover the face of the earth. That happened in Genesis 1:2. The only thing around after that destruction was the Spirit of God hovering over the deep. Everything was destroyed and there was no light, no land, nothing but the deep.

I believe the earth of the first age was destroyed completely and all that was left was the deep (abyss) of water covering the earth. Genesis 9:11 seems to imply that God used floods to destroy earth and says that He will never do it again. Peter says He will destroy it next time by fire. Here in Revelation 21:1, we observe this event through the eyes of John. He touches on it only briefly, stating only that he saw a new heaven and a new earth. Other scriptures give a more detailed description of the event:

The previous verse briefly describes the end of the age. To learn more information about that ending, we must refer to other scriptures. John is not interested in expounding any further on this event. His main interest is the New Earth Age, which he describes here in detail. John goes into more detail about this later in the chapter.

The old Jerusalem has been destroyed and then the entire age passed away leaving a new heaven and earth without seas. Where is God's favorite place in the entire world? Jerusalem. Now that the old Jerusalem is gone, the new permanent one arrives. John's picture is that it arrives by descending from God out of heaven. Is this literal? Probably so but it may be figurative. Figuratively, God is up. When the Israelites went to worship at the temple, they always went up to Jerusalem. They went up because God was there in Jerusalem. So since God is up, the new city would come down from Him, no matter which direction, if any, it took. Figuratively this could mean simply that God created it. If literal, then this city actually descends out of the sky to Zion.

Remember that every time the Bible refers to the bride of Christ, it refers to this New Jerusalem. Nowhere in scripture are the words "the bride of Christ" found. While the church is traditionally called the bride of Christ, the scripture never specifically calls the church the bride. Jesus' disciples are referred to as the bride in John 3:29, but not the church. Of course the disciples were the original church so the church is implied there. In the last chapter, the church is called the wife of Christ. To be a wife, one must first be a bride. So the church must certainly have also been a bride. But the Bible is not explicit on this point, only implicit. But here the bride is explicitly the new Jerusalem.

How is a bride adorned for her husband? She is dressed very formally. She is decked with jewelry. She smells sweet, she looks beautiful, and she has the eye of the groom. That is exactly the appearance of the New Jerusalem.

This is a fulfillment of prophecy:

And many other passages.

Just as the former age has passed, so have the troubles of mankind. This is when there will be only joy and no tears, death, sorrow, disease, or anything bad. This is the Heaven we all look forward to. Our dwelling place will be there, for that is where Jesus has prepared a place for us.

Everything from this point on is new. The old has passed away never to return. John is to write the absolute truth. You can take it to the bank, for it will happen exactly as stated. Here is what he wrote:

God is Aleph and Tav, Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. Christ claims this title as well. See 22:13. Of course, Aleph and Tav are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet while Alpha and Omega are first and last of the Greek alphabet. He, the beginning and the end, the great I Am gives everlasting life to all who ask it of Him. The metaphor is the water of a fountain. Just as the water from a fountain springs forth cool and clear and refreshing, so does eternal life spring from the Father through the Son. Nothing quenches a hot and dry thirst like cool, clear, refreshing water. Like the song says "…cool, clear, water…(water!)". Eternal life is like that; it quenches the thirst for life.

Overcomes what? 1 John 5:4-5 "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. {5} Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" He that overcomes the world by his faith in Christ will be a son of God and Yehovah will be his God.

These ones do not overcome. We were all like that but through Jesus' blood we overcome and are found justified in God's sight. These were the faithful and true words of God.

John gives more details about his viewing of the New Jerusalem. An angel took him to a high place to watch this event. John now describes the city.

The first thing he noticed is that the light of the city was the glory of God and He likened this to a precious stone, the jasper, which is quartz. Here it is pure and clear and obviously like polished quartz.

We will later learn more about the depth of the wall and about the gates. Of course, the number twelve is significant. It is the number of governmental perfection. The number represents the twelve patriarchs, the twelve tribes, and the twelve Apostles. The gates are named after the twelve patriarchs.

Notice that the gates are called by the names of the twelve tribes. They do not include Levi, the thirteenth tribe and the priesthood. The foundations are called by the names of the twelve Apostles. This does not include Paul, who was the thirteenth. He was a Pharisee and that likened him to the Levites, who were the thirteenth tribe. He was the Apostle who represented the priesthood.

This figuratively indicates that the gateway to salvation was Israel, but the bedrock foundation of the saved is the church, represented by the twelve Apostles. Israel was chosen by God to receive the Law and to bring forth the Messiah, making them the gateway to salvation. The church was built upon the foundation laid by Jesus Christ through the Apostles. They were the foundation of the church.

The city is cubical in shape, though some expect it to be a pyramid. The length, width, and height are 12,000 stadia, or 1500 miles. It is 1500 miles long, 1500 miles wide, and 1500 miles high! The wall is 14 cubits, or 21 feet thick. These are profane cubits (according the measure of a man). That makes this cubit 18 inches. The "measure of a man, that is, of the angel." Literally means "by human measurements." A cubit was the average length of a man's arm--not an angel's! The phrase means that the angel used normal units of measurement that John could understand.

Jasper is a type of quartz. The gold is highly polished, giving the appearance of glass. The entire city is of this gold.

Here are the stones in the breastplate of the High Priest of Israel:

Here is a diagram of the two lists, the stones in the breastplate on the left and the foundations of the New Jerusalem on the right. Note that there are seven that correspond, sardius, topaz, emerald, sapphire, amethyst, beryl, and jasper.

I believe the significance here is that the old covenant, which was based on the law, was replaced by the new covenant of Jesus Christ. The two are divine in design but two different covenants. Therefore, the two retain seven of the same stones. Seven is the number of divine perfection indicating divine design in both lists. The old covenant is related to the new covenant because the old covenant pointed to the new. God is the connection, hence the seven corresponding stones.

There is another set of stones, that in Lucifer's breastplate. There were nine of them. Ezekiel 28:13: "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created." Each of these stones was seen on the breastplate of the High Priest plus three more (onyx or agate can be gold colored).

Twelve foundations. Twelve stones. Twelve gates. Twelve pearls. The stones are an obvious reference to the priesthood. But what of pearls? Here are two relevant scripture passages concerning pearls:

Each gate is of one pearl. Jesus compares pearls to the knowledge of Him. Knowledge of Jesus and who He is brings us to faith in Him. Faith in Jesus brings us into the Kingdom of Heaven. Trying to bestow that knowledge on the unwilling or the unworthy is useless. It is compared to casting pearls before swine, which are unclean animals. Swine have no use for pearls. Give them garbage and they are in "hog heaven" (pun intended). Give worldliness to those who do not want the gospel and they too are in hog heaven. The pearls are knowledge of the mystery, that Jesus in the Messiah and that our salvation is through Him. The twelve gates made of pearl are gateways to Christ. (Remember that the twelve tribes are the gateway to salvation through Christ, and that is the reason the gates are named after the twelve Patriarchs. But the Apostles provided our gateway to Christ. The gates give us two different figures). The Twelve Tribes gave us the knowledge of Christ, which is likened to a pearl of great price. The twelve Apostles provided our gateway to the narrow path through their spreading the gospel throughout the world. The pearly gates represent both the gateway to Christ (the Apostles) and the knowledge of Christ (the pearls). Note that there is no reference to Peter as the gatekeeper. (the legend of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates comes from this passage in Mat 16:18-19: "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven"). The streets are paved in gold. This gold is so highly polished it is almost translucent. Notice that the entire city is of this gold (21:18). This is symbolic of the preciousness and pricelessness of Heaven.

The temple was a shadow of things to come (Ex 25:40 & Heb 8:5). Here we see why. The Father and Son are the Temple. The temple provided a place for the presence of God to dwell with men. God dwells among us in the New Jerusalem, becoming its Temple.

Why? Isaiah 60:19, "The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory." And, John 8:12: "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."And, 1 John 1:5: "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." God is Light. No sun is necessary in the presence of God. Here we have the shekina, which is the visible presence of the glory of God. This was manifest in the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of smoke by day.

 This simply means that the saved will come form all walks of life and from every nation. Kings, presidents, senators, deacons, metal smiths, laborers, etc., will be present in heaven. The glory and honor of those who were in high office will pale in the true light of the glory of God. While they bring their glory and honor into the glory of God, His glory will overshadow any glory then men had.

There will be no need to shut the gates if there is no night. But symbolically speaking, there will be no evil there either so there will be no need to shut the gates to keep out evil. Again the glory and honor that men received will be there but it will be overshadowed by God's glory.

There will never again be any rebellion in heaven because God gave chance after chance for people to be saved. Those who we not saved were cast into the lake of fire. The reason that God gives us choice to choose whether or not we will enter into heaven is so that those who do not want to bow to the wishes of God will be made manifest in this life. They will not bow down to God now nor will they ever do so. That is how Satan will get so many to join him in the battle of Armageddon. If people did not rebel in this age, they will not rebel in the next. That is the very reason that Satan is loosed a little whole to go out and deceive the nations, Gog and Magog. It is so that those who wish to rebel against God will do so. Those types of souls will all be weeded out before the old earth passes away. Remember the parable of he wheat and the tares. We are not to weed out the tares. God will do so at the end. This is he picture of that. They will not enter the new earth nor the new Jerusalem. Only those written in the Lamb's book will have access. They will never rebel.

This water is mentioned many times in the word. To a human, water is the source of life on earth. Without water we would all die. Water is our lifeline. But the water we drink will sooner or later leave us thirsty again and we will need to consume more water to quench our thirst. We are in constant need of water in this life. We must seek it out or we must purchase it from water companies. Little survives where there is no water. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: {14} But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:13-14). The water that Jesus gives is this water that is pure and clear as crystal. It is everlasting life and proceeds from the throne of God.

The river of the water of life flows down the main street (or square for the word could be rendered square) of the New Jerusalem. The tree of life grows down the street on the banks of the river. Here is my rendering of a section of this street:

My understanding is that, like the picture shows, the river will flow in the middle of the street bounded on both sides by the Tree of Life growing in an avenue on the banks of the river. This tree produces fruit continually, monthly, twelve months out of every year. This time frame is given so that we might understand this in the flesh. Time will have no meaning in Heaven. These fruits are for the healing of the nations. In other words, they always provide eternal life to all.

There is no more curse. What is the curse? Galatians 3:10: "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." The curse of the law, that is the curse of sin and death will be no more. We will be in the presence of the throne and God will live among us. We will serve Him in truth and there will be no need for the law. God gave the law to rule us outside of His presence. With His presence we will not need the law. In this age, the law of God is written on our hearts. In the next age, His Name will be written on our foreheads, negating the need for law or curse. In this age, it is death to see the face of God (with the exception of special cases). In the next age we will see His face without harm.

Reiterating verse 21:25, John reminds us why there will be no night. The light comes from God, Who is light. See verse 23. The subject here is the subjects of God (previous verse) and we Christians are those subjects. We will reign forever there. What will we do there? Reign forever. While we will do much praising, the Bible doesn't explicitly say we will praise Him forever, though it implies that we will. It explicitly says we will reign forever. The Greek word means to rule or to reign. For a figurative meaning of this statement, let me use some metaphorical scenarios. At a major taco chain restaurant, tacos reign supreme. At a major burger joint, burgers reign supreme. At a popular cooking show, pork fat rules. On the earth, man reigns. Do these things actually rule over people in a sovereign or princely way? No, they are the main item. So reigning does not always mean to be a king or to rule over someone else. It can mean that an item is the majority item in a particular setting. At a burger joint, burgers are the main item and are figuratively said to reign. On earth, man is the main item and he is said to reign. To a certain chef, pork fat is the best ingredient in cooking and pork fat is said (by him) to rule. In heaven, could this not be the same meaning? God's people are the main ones in heaven and they are said to reign. Reigning then may figuratively mean to be the main item and not necessarily to rule over anyone. The main object of heaven is a place to reward mankind for faith in the Son and righteous acts after salvation. So man, mankind, will the main thing, After the Father, Son, and Spirit, of course.

Which means that you can take them to the bank. These things shown to John in this Revelation will happen and you can count on it because they are the faithful and true sayings of God. John was guided by the Angel of the Lord and shown all of these things.

Revelation 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

This is more accurately stated "Blessed is he that guards the saying of this book." This means to read them, meditate on them, and understand them so that you may guard them in your heart. Does this mean that you don't need to understand these things because you will be gone? No, it says to guard them. Those who teach that you don't need to understand the Revelation are employing what is known in the vernacular as a cop out. They don't understand it and are not willing to take the time to do so, so it is easier and more convenient to say that understanding these things in not necessary. They cop out instead of tackling it head on.

I admonish you. Bind these words into your heart and meditate on them and pray over them and seek to understand them. The Bible says that if you do so, you will be blessed. The Bible is the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation and we should seek to understand ALL of God's Word, including the Revelation.

When Jesus comes He expects us to be guarding the sayings of the prophecy of this book. If you will do so, you will not worship the beast or the false prophet or the image of the beast because you will be educated into the truth. The false prophet will claim to be Messiah and those who do not understand the prophecy of this book will be likely to worship the antichrist thinking him to be Christ. Do not do that!

This is a repeat of Revelation 19:10.

This book is not sealed. That means that anyone who seeks can find understanding of this book through the Holy Spirit. Daniel, on the other hand was a sealed book. It was sealed until the time of the end. (Daniel 12:4). This is another reason to know that we are in the time of the end. Daniel is now an open book. It was sealed and now is unsealed. Daniel is a book to be read and understood.

When Jesus returns, these states will be solidified. Up until then, the unjust may become just; the filthy may become clean; the unrighteous may become righteous; the unholy may become holy. After He comes all will remain the same.

Revelation 22:12-13 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. {13} I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

This reward will be given according to works, both good and bad. The reward of the saved will be eternal life and the others will receive the lake of fire.  

The gates of the New Jerusalem will never be closed and all may enter in. That being the case, this verse applies to this present age. In this age, if we do His commandment, that is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved, we have the right to the tree of life. All others are represented by the epithets listed in verse 15. They will be in the lake of fire.

Revelation 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

The first observation here is that (hush) (shhh!) the church IS mentioned after chapter 3. The rapture hawkers claim that the church is not mentioned after Revelation 3:14, therefore (they say) the church MUST have been raptured away after 3:14. What a load of nonsense. I guess that because you don't have to understand the Revelation (as they say); they must have not read this far in the book. Ah, to make friends and influence people! (To quote a famous teacher).

Jesus is echoing what the Bible has already said numerous times. This is also an apologist's proof text that the Messiah is of the lineage of David and is the root of such and that He is the True Bright and Morning Start (Lucifer is the false).

This is a last offer from God in His word to repentance and salvation. Take Him up on it. You will not be sorry. For it is the free gift of God. But you must believe on Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God who died and rose again three days later and presently is at the right hand of the Father making intercession for our sins.

Heed this warning. Many preachers and teachers don't. Traditions of men violate this command. Traditions add to or take away from this prophecy. Stick to the Bible.

Revelation 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Jesus, Yeshua, Joshua, the Christ, Immanuel, the Son of the Living God, Son of Man, Son of David, the Messiah, the Prince, the Captain of the LORD's hosts, the King of Righteousness (melki-tsedeq), the King of Peace (melki-salem), the Savior of the World, the King of kings and Lord of lords, Who is Wonderful, the Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, Almighty God, the Living Word, the Lamb of God, and the Light of the world, testifies to these things. And I say Amen, too.

 I echo John's sentiments:

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