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Grace & Peace

Grace & Peace: Revelation 112

Douglas Wilson on September 13, 2018
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Grace & Peace: Revelation 111

Douglas Wilson on September 4, 2018

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

“And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass” (Revelation 21:9-21).

The New Jerusalem descending from Heaven to earth is a glorious vision of the Christian church. But before considering the details of the symbolism, we should reinforce the point that it is symbolism. The city is described as being a perfect cube — with each side being 1200 stadia, which calculated into a modern measurement is about 1500 miles. If this were to be taken as a literal city, if it landed, its base could cover over half of the United States with its eastern base covering Baltimore, and its western base barely missing Denver. Then because the city is as tall as it is wide, it would be sticking 1500 miles up into space, knocking a goodly number of satellites out of the sky. On top of that, in each 1500 miles stretch along the base, there are three gates, 12 in all. Each gate is made out of a single pearl. The gates are enormous, and each one is fashioned from one pearl. If literal, then God apparently has an oceanic planet somewhere with some giant oysters. We are better off looking for the meaning that these symbols bring to us.

One other thing should be mentioned briefly. Many of our popular tropes for Heaven come from this passage (pearly gates, streets of gold), but John is revealing the nature of the Church to us, not the nature of Heaven. This is not a symbol of the afterlife, but rather a symbol for the bride of Christ.

There is a strong juxtaposition between this virgin bride and the great harlot. In both places, John is taken in the Spirit to a particular place to be shown a woman. In both places, an angel prefaces it with come, I will show you. In this vision, John is carried in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, where he is shown the bride. Earlier in Revelation (17:1), he is taken in the Spirit into the wilderness (17:3), to be shown the judgment of the harlot. We are given to understand that both women are beautiful, but one in a pure way and the other in a corrupt and decadent way. The New Zion is beautiful for situation (Ps. 48:2). The angel who shows John this glorious vision was one of the angels who had poured out one of the bowls full of wrath—indicating that God’s purposes of wrath and mercy are ultimately one.

Both are priest’s daughters, but this New Zion is a worthy daughter. The old Jerusalem is burned with fire because she played the whore in her father’s house.

“And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire” (Rev. 17:16).

“And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire” (Lev. 21:9).

The bridal dress for the New Jerusalem is the Shekinah Glory. She is described as “having the glory of God” (v. 11). In a sense, all of church history should be understood as us yearning for that dress, yearning to be adorned with that glory (Rom. 2:7; Rom. 5:2; Rom. 8:18; Col. 1:27, and many others).

Remember that Paul teaches us elsewhere that the Christian church is built on the cornerstone of Christ Jesus, and on the foundation stones of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20). We have the same image here in the description of this great city. There are twelve gates, and each gate has the name of one of Israel’s tribes inscribed (v. 12). There are twelve foundation stones, and on them were the names of the twelves apostles (v. 14). There was an angel at each gate, and each angel is associated with a particular tribe. This lends support to the idea that the angel of the churches in the early chapters were human messengers, human “angels.”

“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: And the Lord hearkened, and heard it, And a book of remembrance was written before him For them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, In that day when I make up my jewels; And I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” (Mal. 3:16–17).

The city has great walls, walls that are 144 cubits tall. These walls are the walls called Salvation, and they run all the way around the base of this towering skyscraper of a city.

“Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, Wasting nor destruction within thy borders; But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise” (Isaiah 60:18).

The gates are called Praise, which is the meaning of the name of the tribe of Judah. Judah is the tribe through whom the Christ came, and so we should understand Judah as representing all Israel, which is why John mentions that each tribe is associated with a gate.

The foundation stones that are the apostles are not limestone or granite. They are represented by means of an array of precious stones. We are not told which apostle goes with which precious stone, but there appears to be a meaning in how John arranges it. Predicting the church, the prophet Isaiah says this:

“O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones” (Isaiah 54:11–12).

Isaiah’s gemstones and those are Revelation vary, but John appears to have a point to the order he presents them. These are the precious stones associated with the signs of the zodiac—but John lists them in reverse order.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 110

Douglas Wilson on August 29, 2018

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:1–8).

There are four basic approaches to interpreting the book of Revelation. One of them is the futurist, which regards the events predicted as being fulfilled overwhelmingly in our future. The second is the idealist approach, which takes the book as something of a cosmic parable, with no specific earthly fulfillments. The third is the historicist, which takes the fulfillment of the prophecies as an unfolding reality, down through all of church history. The last, and the approach that has been taken throughout this commentary, is the preterist. This comes from the Latin word for past, and means that the prophecies given were fulfilled in the prophet’s future, but in our past—and for the most part overwhelmingly in the first century.

I mention this because we are now in the part of the book where such clean distinctions are hard to maintain. In the previous chapter, we saw the Second Coming (futurist), and in these last two chapters we see a historicist description of all of church history, as the New Jerusalem descends. I would simply encourage everyone to sit loose in the saddle, and to maintain a sense of humor.

We are seeing here the transition between the first heaven and first earth (the Judaic aeon) and the new heaven and new earth (the Christian aeon). I do not take the new heaven and new earth as referring to the post-Second Coming eternal state for various reasons. The first is that the prediction of the new heaven and earth comes from the prophet Isaiah, and he describes it for us.

“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: And the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. . . .  There shall be no more thence an infant of days, Nor an old man that hath not filled his days: For the child shall die an hundred years old; But the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed” (Isaiah 65:17, 20).

What do people do in the new heavens and new earth? Well, among other things, they die. That will not be the case after the Second Coming.

Secondly, Peter talks about Isaiah’s prophecy as something that was right on top of his readers, and Jude apparently interprets him that way also. And when Jude refers to those who “separate themselves,” he has particular faces in mind.

“Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).

“But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.” (Jude 17–19).

So I take the first heavens and earth as the Judaic aeon and the new heavens and earth as the Christian aeon, and these two aeons overlapped—the latter beginning at Pentecost, and the former ending with the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. The destruction of that Temple has been one of the major themes of this book of Revelation.

So the New Jerusalem is the bride of Christ, which is explicitly stated in the next section (v. 9), which means that she is the Christian Church. Church history is the time it takes for this bride to walk down the aisle. By the time she gets to the front of the cathedral, she will be without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish (Eph. 5:27). When she arrives at that final destination, then all sorrow will have been banished, and there will never again be any more tears.

As she is descending out of Heaven, a great voice declares that the tabernacle of God is now with men. The Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and this is how it is possible for God to dwell with men. And this is how it is possible for every form of sorrow to be sponged away.

The process of world evangelization is the process by which God is making all things new, which is the declaration He makes in this passage. The old world order is passing away (1 John 2:17), so that the new order may be established on the firm foundation of the Word of God. For the Christian, all things have become new (2 Cor. 5:17).

It is striking that the one who sits upon the throne here (Christ) says the same thing that He said from the cross. It is finished (John 19:30). When Babylon, the evil city was destroyed, a loud cry from the Temple said that it was “done” (Rev. 16:17). And here, again, it is said that it is “done” (Rev. 21:6).

And so, as Christ’s bride is working through her wedding prep, as she is adorning herself for that great and final day of consummation, she needs to remember that all of church history is nothing but wedding prep. Her bridegroom, the Alpha and Omega, summons her. He is the beginning and the end, the whole point of all history. He promises living water to anyone who thirsts, and shows us His tender care for His people. He promised this to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:10, 14), and later He gives the invitation at a great Jewish festival (John 7:37ff). He speaks the same word here.

The one who overcomes will inherit everything, and this characteristic promise reminds us of how He spoke to the seven churches at the beginning of the vision. And a somber note is also struck, when we are reminded that this is to be a holy bride, and so excluded from her are all vile lovers of vile living. One harlot has already been put away and judged for such things, and so they have no place with the new bride who is preparing herself.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 104

Douglas Wilson on July 19, 2018

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

“And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:1-10).

Just a few verses earlier, a general invitation to rejoice over the destruction of Babylon is issued. This passage sees the invitation received and acted on.

“Rejoice over her, thou heaven, And ye holy apostles and prophets; For God hath avenged you on her” (Rev. 18:20).

The rejoicing begins, and we see the use of the word *Alleluia* four times. This is the only time that this word is used in the New Testament, and it is striking that the occasion for using it is the destruction of Babylon. Alleluia, the smoke from her ascends forever. Because Babylon is Jerusalem, we see here that her destruction is, in effect, her divorce. Because of her great harlotry, God has finally put her away. And this is why the scene immediately turns to the marriage of Christ to the New Jerusalem. As the New Jerusalem replaces the old Babylon, this makes it clear that the old Babylon is the old Jerusalem.

Salvation, glory, honor and power are given to God for His true and righteous judgments, and these praises are rendered by a great voice of many in heaven. The great whore had corrupted the earth with her fornication, and the blood of Gods servants was finally and completed avenged. This smoking ruin of a city was by this point not a tragedy, but a cause of great rejoicing. Alleluia, the smoke from her ascends forever.

As they had done before earlier in the book, the elders and the living beasts worshiped the God who sat on the throne, and they added their assent by saying, Amen. Alleluia.

And then an unidentified voice came out of the throne, and invited all Gods servants, everyone who feared, whether small or great, to join in the praise. The invitation is offered to *all* Gods servants, and from what happens, it appears that all of them joined in with the praise. A voice like a great multitude responded, a voice like many waters, a voice like multiple thunderings, layered on top of one another, and all together they added the fourth *Alleluia*the Lord God omnipotent reigns.

The joy was not simply over the removal of corrupt Babylon, but also because it made room for the marriage that was Gods intention all along. They said they would be glad and would rejoice, and would give Him honor, because the marriage of Lamb had come. This is the first indication that we have that the book is going to climax with a wedding. But the bride has known about it because she has spent all this time making herself ready. She did this through her righteous behaviorthat behavior was her bridal garment, her white linen.

The angel turned to John, and told him to write out a blessing for those who receive an invitation to this wedding. It is a gloriously mixed metaphor the saints are the bride, the saints righteousness makes up the bridal garment, and the saints individually receive invitations to attend the wedding as guests. Those who are invited are blessed, and the angel affirms that these are the true words of God. There was something about this last solemn pronouncement that undid John, and so he fell on his face to worship the angel, who then rebuked him sternly. He said that he must not do that the angel is just a fellow servant to John, and a fellow
servant to anyone else who has the testimony of Jesus. He is told simply to worship God the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation #32

Douglas Wilson on August 23, 2016

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11)

“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 3:11–13)

The Lord tells the believers in Philadelphia to hold on tight to what they have, and they are to do so because the Lord is coming “quickly.” This means that the coming referred to had relevance to them, two thousand years ago. The Lord is encouraging them to allow no man to take their crown. The fact that they were in present possession of that crown meant that they were already ruling with Christ. They had a crown they were not to surrender, and were to hold fast to it through the coming trial that would culminate in the Lord’s coming. Comparing this passage with the rest of Revelation we can see that this is the coming of the Lord in judgment on Jerusalem, which was finally destroyed in 70 A.D.

The one who overcomes is going to be given rest from battle. The expression “go no more out” is used to describe Moses at 120 years old, unable to go across the Jordan to the war of conquest (Dt. 31:2). And when David is almost killed in battle and Abishai rescued him (2 Sam. 21:17), the men of David swore that he should “go no more out.” In this case, the battle would have been won, and the saints of Philadelphia are old and honored warriors, overcomers. They have been made pillars in the Temple.

The Temple is referred to again in another way. They have the name of God written on them, and they have the name of the city of God, which is the New Jerusalem, also written on them. They are pillars in that Temple, and are part of city that is built entirely out of living stones. We are being given a glimpse of the theme of the entire book of Revelation, which is the replacement of the old Jerusalem with the New Jerusalem, the replacement of old Israel with new Israel, the replacement of the nation of Israel with the cosmic and ultimate city, the Church.

The Jerusalem above is the mother of us all (Gal. 4:26), the Church. The angel later in Revelation tells John that he will show him the bride, the wife of the Lamb (Rev.21:9), and goes on to show him the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:10). The New Jerusalem is a perfect cube, which is the shape of the Holy of Holies (1 Kings 6:20). The Christian Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19), and all together we are a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5). The history of the world since Pentecost should be understood as that bride walking down that aisle, the great aisle that comes down from heaven.

The overcomers of Philadelphia (and every overcomer since) have three names written on them. The first is the name of God, the second is the name of the Church, and the Lord’s “new name.” Those who have an ear to listen should make sure they listen.


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