New American Standard Bible Chapter 21 Verse 9

The New Jerusalem, Revelation Chapter 21 Verses 9-14 (NASB)

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And one of the seven ANGELS who had the seven bowls full of the seven LAST PLAGUES, came and spoke with me, saying, How interesting these ANGELS are! They are temple ANGELS (Revelation 15:1) and have had to deal out the worst PLAGUES upon the old earth, and yet, they are also privileged to show John the best of the new earth/heaven, the BRIDE. These ANGELS must be unique in appearance inasmuch that John recognizes this one as one of the seven ANGELS. We know that celestial creatures have unique appearances even as the four living creatures looked different from each other (Revelation 4). The implications here is that even the created ANGELS have some sort of genetic code.

"Come here, I shall show you THE BRIDE, the WIFE OF THE LAMB." Even in the new earth/heaven system, one is invited "Come here,". Jesus in His old earthly ministry invited, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give rest....for your souls." (Matthew 11:25-30). So here the ANGEL is going to show John these 'souls who are resting.' They are none other that those whose names are found in the book of life (Revelation 20:15), who have been blood-bought (Hebrews 9:11-22) and who have overcome (verse 7).

Using the term 'WIFE' indicates that the relationship between the LAMB (Jesus Christ - Revelation 5:6) and the BRIDE has matured. The LAMB and His WIFE will live together FOREVER; there is no more DEATH to ever terminate the relationship, because DEATH has been thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14).

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a GREAT and HIGH MOUNTAIN, The Revelation of Jesus Christ is a study in contrasts. We know of the Holy Trinity (God, the Father; Jesus, the Son; and the Holy Spirit) from the New Testament. Here in Revelation, we have been introduced to the Unholy Trinity (the Devil; the AntiChrist; and the False Prophet). Even as John was transported to a wilderness (assumed flat and arid land) to see the harlot and her undoing (Revelation 17:3), here we see John transported in the Spirit to a GREAT and HIGH MOUNTAIN.

This is much more spiritual than physical; however, it is real and not imagined for John wrote what he was shown. It reminds us of Psalm 121 where when we lift our eyes to the mountains, we receive help forever. We find an equivalence between the mountains and God. So, too, in this verse, the same equivalency exists.

and showed me THE HOLY CITY, JERUSALEM, coming down out of HEAVEN from GOD, John has already been given a preliminary view of this HOLY CITY in verse 2. From the vantage point, now, of the HIGH MOUNTAIN, John will get a more detailed view. And he describes that view in the verses that follow. It is an interesting exercise to compare this description to the one Ezekiel gives of 'the temple' (Ezekiel 40-44).

It is THIS HOLY CITY that Abraham was looking for (Hebrews 11:8-12). It is a HOLY CITY and the "capital" of the new heaven and new earth, for it retains the name, JERUSALEM, of the former heaven and earth. This is a pure city even as GOD is pure, and those who dwell in it will be pure because of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:10-13).

having THE GLORY OF GOD. John understands what the angel (verse 9) is showing him. During John's old world life, he had seen this happen to Jesus, God's Son while up on a mountain top (Matthew 17:1-2-8). For a moment, Jesus went beyond his old earth appearance into a transformed state, When God is pleased, His GLORY blossoms forth. For example, at the announcement of Jesus' birth to the shepherds (Luke 2:8-9-20), they were frightened by the GLORY of the Lord that surrounded the angels.

HER BRILLIANCE was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear JASPER. The 'HER' here refers back to the Bride (verse 9). And describing HER with the BRILLIANCE attribute shows the equivalency of the Bride with Christ. She truly has become Christ's WIFE (verse 9). We are seeing the glorification of the believers in the new earth/heaven/Jerusalem just as Paul in Romans 8:12-17 says would happen. That we are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ becomes visually apparent. However, we are reminded that this came at a 'very costly' price, the price of Christ's death and resurrection, is signified by this stone of crystal-clear JASPER.

A side thought: In physics, BRILLIANCE is associated with a lot of energy. If Einstein's concept that the ratio of energy to mass (matter) is the square of the speed of light (E/m = c²) is true, then the Bride here is a very much transformed body (old earth mass) to a bundle of energy (new Jerusalem BRILLIANCE). Paul describes this in another way in Philippians 3:17-20-21.

It had a GREAT and HIGH WALL, A GREAT and HIGH WALL indicates the new Jerusalem will provide supreme protection for Christ and His Wife. The size of the wall is given in verse 17. It sounds like a GREAT WALL, and yet in comparison to the size of the city (verse 16), the GREAT WALLS are relatively small. In previous verses, the new Jerusalem was depicted more in spiritual terms, e.g. the holy city (verse 10) and {the city} having the GLORY of GOD (previous verse).

When one reads Zechariah 2:1-5-5, it appears as though the prophet Zechariah is seeing the same thing that John is describing here. However, in Zechariah's description, the WALL is the Lord himself and the WALL is described as a WALL of fire. This description fits very nicely with the BRILLIANCE of the previous verse.

with twelve GATES, and at the GATES twelve ANGELS; and NAMES were written on them, which are those of the twelve TRIBES of the SONS of ISRAEL.

GATES are the places where people intermingle as some are entering the holy city, while others are leaving the holy city. It might seem strange to have ANGELS at the 12 GATES as gatekeepers. In the Old Testament, it was considered an honor to be counted as one of the gatekeepers. These ANGELS were specifically assigned one to each of the 12 TRIBES of the SONS of ISRAEL. This shows us that the covenant made with Abram (Genesis 12:1-3) is an everlasting covenant and has carried through to the new Jerusalem. GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES!

Angels also are messengers. At the beginning of this study, we found that ANGELS were messengers, one assigned to each of the seven churches (Revelation 1:20). In this verse, we may wonder what kind of messages are these ANGELS carrying? With the foundations of the WALL allocated to the 12 apostles (verse 14), perhaps the angels are sharing the love of God between the Jews signified by the twelve TRIBES of the SONS of ISRAEL and the non-Jews signified by the twelve apostles. Personally, as a non-Jewish believer, I would very much like to know about the covenant that the Jews have with God. It is unique. Just listen to the evening news, and you soon realize that the world understands the significance of ISRAEL too.

GATES also appear to have a special meaning to God. In Psalm 87:2, we see that the Lord loves the GATES of Zion, and in Psalm 118:19-21, the GATES are GATES of RIGHTEOUSNESS. The new Jerusalem is a place of RIGHTEOUSNESS that the Lord loves. In Ezekiel 48:30-35, Ezekiel calls the city, "The Lord is there" (see previous verse - 'having the GLORY of GOD"), and Ezekiel gives the specific names for each of the GATES.

Here we sense vaguely the way the tribes of Israel where encamped around the tabernacle (Numbers 2). The tribe of Judah was one of those on the east side. Jesus Christ is from the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5) and that is perhaps why the three GATES from the east are listed first. Otherwise, the east, north, south, and west listing may only indicate that if you are a resident of the new Jerusalem, you can enter it from any direction. In other words, all true believers (the wife of Christ in verse 9) are welcomed into the city.

Spiritually, with the angelic gatekeepers representing the 12 tribes of the sons Israel (previous verse), we all, Jew and non Jew, enter only in light of the eternal covenant God made with Abraham. The passport for each of us, formerly dead as Ephesians 2:1-10 puts it, is issued written in the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus as the firstborn from the dead (Revelation 1:5) is the only one who can grant us that privilege. So even here in the 12 GATES we see another side of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

And the WALL of the city had twelve FOUNDATION STONES, This FOUNDATION was talked about when Jesus directly addressed Simon Peter, one of the apostles, in Matthew 16:13-18-20. It gives support to the concept that the new Jerusalem is a collection (city) of souls (church = bride, verse 2).

and on them were the twelve NAMES of the twelve APOSTLES of the LAMB. One can have a disagreement over exactly whom these twelve APOSTLES are (Acts 1:15-26). However, there is no argument that they belong to the LAMB (bridegroom = husband, verse 2).

Interestingly, the twelve NAMES will be shown in full view. Earlier in our discussions (Revelation 20:15), we have shown our genetic makeup is what makes us unique. And with the twelve NAMES of the apostles shown, their spiritual genetics, if you will, are made known. We, as soul occupants in the new Jerusalem, will understand our "relatedness" to our husband, Jesus Christ, through the testimony of the twelve apostles.

Also, prior to the new Jerusalem, the names of believers, the bride, were kept hidden (Revelation 2:17), but one must be aware of the parallel to this verse inasmuch as the 'hidden' name, too, was written on a white STONE. STONES, particularly FOUNDATION STONES, indicate permanence or in our spiritual language, everlasting or eternal life.

"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 Used by permission."

References to the Revelation of Jesus Christ are in bold italics. All other references are in bold only