Revelation 21 KJV
The New Heaven and New Earth
Revelation Chapter 21: The New Heaven and New Earth
This chapter explores themes of Heaven. Describes the new heaven and new earth - the eternal state
1nd 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.cf.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.cf.
3 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.cf.
4 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.cf.
5 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.cf.
6 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.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8 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.
9 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 Lambโs wife.
10 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,cf.
11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;cf.
12 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:cf.
13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.cf.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.cf.
15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.cf.
16 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.cf.
17 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.cf.
18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.cf.
19 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;cf.
20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.cf.
21 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.cf.
22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.cf.
23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.cf.
24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.cf.
25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.cf.
26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.cf.
27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lambโs book of life.cf.
Words in red are the direct words of Jesus Christ.
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Did You Know?
Describes the new heaven and new earth - the eternal state
'God shall wipe away all tears' (v.4) - no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain
The New Jerusalem descends from heaven - God comes to dwell with humanity
The city is a perfect cube (v.16) - like the Holy of Holies, but city-sized
12 gates named for the 12 tribes; 12 foundations for the 12 apostles
The city is approximately 1,400 miles in each direction - massive beyond comprehension
No temple in the city - God Himself is the temple (v.22)
No sun or moon needed - the glory of God provides all light (v.23)
'Behold, I make all things new' (v.5) - not all new things, but all things made new
The street is pure gold 'as it were transparent glass' - unimaginable beauty
Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain the first โ that is the former. passed away โ Greek, in A and B is "were departed" (Greek, "apeelthon," not as in English Version, "pareelthe"). was โ Greek, "is," which graphicallโฆ
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Revelation 21 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: The new heaven and earth: new Jerusalem out of heaven.
- 1
- the first โ that is the former. passed away โ Greek, in A and B is "were departed" (Greek, "apeelthon," not as in English Version, "pareelthe"). was โ Greek, "is," which graphically sets the thing before our eyes as present. no more sea โ The sea is the type of perpetual unrest. Hence our Lord rebukes it as an unruly hostile troubler of His people. It symbolized the political tumults out of which "the beast" arose, Re 13:1. As the physical corresponds to the spiritual and moral world, so the absence of sea, after the metamorphosis of the earth by fire, answers to the unruffled state of solid peace which shall then prevail. The sea, though severing lands from one another, is now, by God's eliciting of good from evil, made the medium of communication between countries through navigation. Then man shall possess inherent powers which shall make the sea no longer necessary, but an element which would detract from a perfect state. A "river" and "water" are spoken of in Re 22:1, 2, probably literal (that is, with such changes of the natural properties of water, as correspond analogically to man's own transfigured body), as well as symbolical. The sea was once the element of the world's destruction, and is still the source of death to thousands, whence after the millennium, at the general judgment, it is specially said, "The sea gave up the dead... in it." Then it shall cease to destroy, or disturb, being removed altogether on account of its past destructions.
- 2
- And I John โ "John" is omitted in A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and ANDREAS; also the "I" in the Greek of these authorities is not emphatic. The insertion of "I John" in the Greek would somewhat interfere with the close connection which subsists between "the new heaven and earth," Re 21:1, and the "new Jerusalem" in this verse. Jerusalem... out of heaven โ (Re 3:12; Ga 4:26, "Jerusalem which is above"; Heb 11:10; 12:22; 13:14). The descent of the new Jerusalem out of heaven is plainly distinct from the earthly Jerusalem in which Israel in the flesh shall dwell during the millennium, and follows on the creation of the new heaven and earth. John in his Gospel always writes [Greek] Hierosoluma of the old city; in the Apocalypse always Hierousaleem of the heavenly city (Re 3:12). Hierousaleem is a Hebrew name, the original and holy appellation. Hierosoluma is the common Greek term, used in a political sense. Paul observes the same distinction when refuting Judaism (Ga 4:26; compare Ga 1:17, 18; 2:1; Heb 12:22), though not so in the Epistles to Romans and Corinthians [BENGEL]. bride โ made up of the blessed citizens of "the holy city." There is no longer merely a Paradise as in Eden (though there is that also, Re 2:7), no longer a mere garden, but now the city of God on earth, costlier, statelier, and more glorious, but at the same time the result of labor and pains such as had not to be expended by man in dressing the primitive garden of Eden. "The lively stones" were severally in time laboriously chiselled into shape, after the pattern of "the Chief corner-stone," to prepare them for the place which they shall everlastingly fill in the heavenly Jerusalem.
Read all 27 notes on Revelation 21 โ