Revelation 21

1. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared. Now there was no sea.

God speaks and things are made out of nothing. Psalm 33:9

Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. Isaiah 65:17

2. And I saw the holy city coming down out of heaven from God. This holy city is the new Jerusalem. It was prepared like a bride dressed for her husband.

God slowly brings the city down so that everyone can see it!

Abraham waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Hebrews 11:10

3. I heard a loud voice from the throne. The voice said, “Now God’s home is with men. He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them and will be their God.

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. Matthew 25:34

4. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone.”

We see how different it is to be with the Lord compared to the things that have been happening on the earth. When we are there we will feel that the pressure of the world is gone and it was all worth it for the joy of being with Him! Isaiah 25:8

5. The One who was sitting on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this, because these words are true and can be trusted.”

People say, “I am not sure if I can trust God or not. How can I know for sure that all He says is true?” What have you got to lose? Where else is there to go? What has He (not people) ever done to make you not trust Him?

6 – 7

The One on the throne said to me: “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give free water from the spring of the water of life to anyone who is thirsty. Anyone who wins the victory will receive this. And I will be his God, and he will be My son.

Everything that we have ever needed and everything that the Lord has promised will now be complete.

8. But those who are full of fear, who refuse to believe, who do evil things, who kill, who are sexually immoral, who do evil magic, who worship idols, and who tell lies. All these will have a place in the lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

When people are afraid to let others know that they follow Christ. This fear leads to more things that they give up to allow Satan to have a place in their lives. If they choose to keep living this way it will open the door to more evil and they will leave Christ completely.

9. One of the seven angels came to me. This was one of the angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last troubles. He said, “Come with me. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

We join together with Jesus calling people to come to Him. Revelation 22:4 – 5

10. The angel carried me away by the Spirit to a very large and high mountain. He showed me the holy city, Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God.

The city we saw in verse 2 is still coming down slowly. Ezekiel 40:2

11. It was shining with the glory of God. It was shining bright like a very expensive jewel, like a jasper. It was clear as crystal.

We can compare this to the evil things that can be seen in the city of Rome (Babylon).

12 – 14

The city had a great high wall with twelve gates. There were twelve angels at the gates. On each gate was written the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel.

There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. The walls of the city were built on twelve foundation stones. On the stones were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

We can see the Old Testament promises and the New Testament promises are now joined together. Ezekiel 48:30–31

15. The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod made of gold. He had this rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.

This measurement is to show that the city is perfect. There are other places in the Bible where God measured to see what the condition of a person or city was.

16. The city was built in a square. Its length was equal to its width. The angel measured the city with the rod. The city was 1,500 miles long, 1,500 miles wide, and 1,500 miles high.

The city is a perfect square equal on all sides which reminds us of the Holy of Holies.

17 – 18

The angel also measured the wall. It was 216 feet high, by man’s measurement. That was the measurement the angel was using. The wall was made of jasper. The city was made of pure gold, as pure as glass.

The Holy of Holies had a floor made of pure gold. 1 Kings 6:30, Isaiah 54:11–12

19 – 20

The foundation stones of the city walls had every kind of jewel in them. The first cornerstone was jasper, the second was sapphire, the third was chalcedony, the fourth was emerald, the fifth was onyx, the sixth was carnelian, the seventh was chrysolite, the eighth was beryl, the ninth was topaz, the tenth was chrysoprase, the eleventh was jacinth, and the twelfth was amethyst.

These jewels remind us of the breastplate found in Exodus 28:17–20.

21. The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each gate was made from a single pearl. The street of the city was made of pure gold. The gold was clear as glass.

We are told that when gold is completely pure you can see through it.

22. I did not see a temple in the city. The Lord God All-Powerful and the Lamb are the city’s temple.

Ezekiel said that God would be our temple. Ezekiel 11:16

23. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it. The glory of God is its light, and the Lamb is the city’s lamp.

Isaiah talked about this also. Isaiah 60:19

24. By its light the people of the world will walk. The kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

Some teachers say that the city will be seen in the sky during the 1000 years. If this is true people will see it every day and they will decide if they want to live in the city forever or control their own lives.

25. The city’s gates will never be shut on any day, because there is no night there.

God showed this to Isaiah. Isaiah 60:11

26 – 27

The greatness and the honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing unclean will ever enter the city. No one who does shameful things or tells lies will ever go into it. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will enter the city.

If we have a habit of lying and not confessing it to God it is a very serious thing! This does not mean that if we have ever told a lie we will go to hell. It is talking about people who make a lifestyle out of it which grows into a separation between them and God.