Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisrael and Mishpachah, welcome to Part LXXIII (73) of our study of the Book of Revelation. We paused last week to review the various ideas that believers entertain, and have entertained, on the Millennium and today we are resuming where we left off two week's ago at the White Throne Judgment.

Please remember, as we get underway in Chapter 21 today that this chapter division is artificial. We are still, strictly speaking, 'in' the 7-fold division that began at chapter 19, verse 11, and will end it with today's portion of chapter 21. In case you have forgotten, please take a look at Appendix II at the end of the website article. I can understand why the unknown bishop who divided the chapters up and began a new one at chapter 21 did what he did because the atmosphere changes suddenly and dramatically. If there may be said to be a 'division' of some sort this point, it is between 'old' and 'new'. Nevertheless we must not forget that verses 1 to 5 are still technically a part of what went before and that, new though everything suddenly becomes, we are still looking at a prophetic sequence; and that sequence isn't quite over yet.

But before I start waxing lyrical, let's dive straight into today's text so that we don't end up needlessly repeating ourselves as there are so many things we must simultaneously keep in focus today. Remember, as we go through this. that the New King James Version (NKJV), like the King James Version (KJV) before it, is worded slightly differently from all other translations because (when it comes to the Book of Revelation at least) it uses a Greek manuscript called the Textus Receptus (Received Text) which was incomplete, the 1611 translation committee being forced to reverse translate Jerome's later Latin Vulgate Bible in places to reconstruct, as best it could, the missing parts; and though this doesn't change the meaning of the text doctrinally, you might, for instance, wonder why in verse 2, the NKJV uses 'Elohim/God' instead of 'throne' - this is the reason. In the end, it's Elohim's (God's) throne just the same, but in the interests of complete accuracy, it's important that we restore the original wording. There are also some missing phrases which we find in the Aramaic that I have restored here:

"1 Now('Then' - NEB, KNT) I saw ('perceived' - CLNT) a new ('renewed' - ISRV) heaven ('Heaven' - JBP; 'sky' - Amp.V, AENT) and a new ('renewed' - ISRV) earth (Is.65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet.3:13), for the first ('old' - NLT, JNT; 'former' - HRV, ISRV, CLNT) heaven ('Heaven' - JBP; 'sky' - Amp.V) and the first ('old' - NLT, JNT; 'former' - HRV, ISRV, AENT, CLNT) earth had passed away ('disappeared' - NLT, JB, JBP; 'departed' - HRV; 'vanished' - Amp.V; 'were gone' - Barclay) (Rev.6:14). Also there was no ['longer' - NASB, JB, NEB, NIV] more ('any' - NASB, NIV) sea ['was no longer there' - JNT; 'no longer existed' - Barclay, Amp.V; 'no more' - ESV, Moff., NRSV, JBP, ISRV, AENT] ('the sea had gone' - NLT) (Is.65:17; 66:22). 2 Then I, John ('Yo[c]hannan' - ISRV), saw the qadosh (Holy, 'set-apart' - ISRV, AENT) City (Neh.11:18; Is.52:1; Rev.11:2; 22:19), ['and the' - JB] New ('renewed' - ISRV) Jerusalem ('Yerushalayim' - JNT, HRV; 'Urishlim' - AENT), coming down ('descending' - Amp.V, AENT) out of heaven from Elohim (God) ['with the sons of men' - HRV] (Heb.11:10; 12:22; Rev.3:2), prepared ('[made] ready' - Moff.,NASB, NEB, Barclay, CLNT; 'all dressed' - JB; 'dressed up' - KNT) as a ['beautiful' - NLT, JB, Amp.V] bride (Rev.19:7) adorned ('prepared' - NLT, AENT; 'beautifully dressed' - JNT, JBP, NIV; 'arrayed' - Moff., Amp.V; 'dressed in all her finery' - Barclay) for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud ('great' - RSV, AENT; 'mighty' - Amp.V) voice ('shout' - NLT) ['calling' - JB; 'proclaiming'- NEB] from ('out of' - Moff.) heaven ('the throne' - NLT, JB, JNT, NEB, KNT, Moff., RSV, NRSV, JBP, Barclay; Amp.V, NIV) saying ('crying' - Moff.; 'for all to hear' - Barclay; 'with distinct words' - Amp.V),

"'Behold ('See!' - JNT, JBP, Amp.V; 'Lo' - Moff., CLNT), the tabernacle ('Booth' - ISRV; 'home' - NLT, JB, Moff., Barclay; 'dwelling [place]' - ESV, Moff., NIV; 'abode' - Amp.V) of Elohim (God) ('God's Sh'khina - JNT) ['in all His glory' - Barclay] is with men ('man' - ESV; 'mankind' - JNT; 'humans' - KNT; 'mortals' - NRSV) ('among His people' - NLT) ('with men will He dwell' - Moff.), and He ('God' - KNT) ['Himself' - NLT, KNT] will ['personally' - Amp.V] dwell ('live' - Barclay, NIV) ['among' - NEB] ('live' - NLT; 'tabernacle/encamp/tent' - Amp.V) with them (Ex.25:8; 2 Ch.6:18; Exek.48:35; Zech.2:10), and they shall be His people ('they will be His people[s]' - RSV, NRSV, JBP) ['as their Elohim/God' - ESV] (Ezek.37:27). Elohim (God) Himself will be with ('among' - NASB; 'live with' - JNT) them ('His Name is Elohim/God-with-them' - JB, JNT) and be their Elohim (God) (Lev.26:11-12b; Is.7:14; 8:8,10; Jer.31:33; Ezek.37:27; 2 Chr.6:18; 2 Cor.6:16). 4 And Elohim (God) ['who sits on the throne' - NASB] will wipe ('brush' - CLNT) away every tear from their eyes (Is.8:8; 25:8; Rev.7:17; 1 Cor.15:26; Rev.20:14); there shall be no ['longer any' - NASB] more ('an end to' - NEB) death ('shall/will be no more' - Moff., RSV, NRSV; 'shall cease to exist' - Barclay), nor ('no more' - Moff., RSV, NRSV, Amp.V; 'never again' - JBP) sorrow ('mourning' - NASB, JNT, KNT, ESV, RSV, NRSV, AENT; 'grief' - HRV; 'wailing' - Moff., AENT; 'anguish' - Amp.V; 'clamor' - CLNT), norb ('neither' - Amp.V; 'no more' - Moff., NRSV, JBP) crying ('sadness' - JB; 'weeping' - KNT). There shall be no more pain (Is.35:10; 65:19), for the former ('first' - NASB, KNT, NRSV; 'old' - NLT) things ('matters' - ISRV) have ('the old order [of things] has' - JNT, NEB, Barclay, NIV) passed away ('gone' - Barclay; 'are past and gone' - JBP; 'gone forever' - NLT; 'the world of the past has gone' - JB) (2 Cor.5:17).'



"5 ['And it went away.' - HRV] Then He ('the One' - JB, JNT, KNT) who sat on the throne (Rev.4:9; 20:11) said, 'Behold ('Lo' - Moff., CLNT; 'See' - NRSV, Barclay, Amp.V), I make ('am making' - NASB, NLT, JNT, JBP) all things ('matters' - ISRV; 'the whole creation' - JB; 'everything' - JNT, Barclay) new.' ['(' - NEB] And He said to me, 'Write ['this [down]' - NLT, Moff., RSV, NRSV] ('Record this' - Amp.V), for these words are true and faithful ('accurate, incorruptible' - Amp.V; 'trustworthy [and genuine/true]' - NLT, JNT, Moff., RSV, NRSV, Amp.V; 'to be trusted' - JBP; 'sure and will come true' - JB; 'indeed they are already fulfilled' - NEB; 'because you can believe what I am saying' - Barclay)' [')' - NEB] (Is.43:19; Rev.19:9; 22:6)" (Rev.21:1-5, NKJV).

¤BIBLE VERSIONS KEY: AENT = Aramaic English New Testament (NT, Gabriel Roth), Amp.V. = Amplified Version (1958 ed.), Aram.Pesh. = Aramaic Peshitta (NT), Barclay = William Barclay New Testament, B.Wilson = Benjamin Wilson's Emphatic Diaglot, Vatican MS 1209 (NT), CLNT = Concordant Literal New Testament, CJB = Complete Jewish Bible (David Stern), HCSB = Holman's Christian Standard Bible, HRV = Hebraic Roots Version (James Trimm), JBP = J.B.Philips New Testament, MRC = Messianic Renewed Covenant (NT), NASB = New American Standard Bible, NIV = New International Version (1984 edn.), NKJV = New King James Version, NRSV = New Revised Standard Version (1995 edn.), ISRV = Institute for Scripture Research Version ('The Scriptures', 2009 edn.), JB = Jerusalem Bible (1st edn.), JNT = Jewish New Testament (David Stern), KJV = King James Version, Moff. = Moffat Translation, NEB = New English Bible (1974 edn.), NLT = New Living Translation, RNAB = Revised New American Bible, RSTNE = Restoration Scriptures True Name Edition (2005 edn., Moshe Koniuchowsky), RSV = Revised Standard Version (1952 edn.), Tischendorf = Tauchnitz Edition, Vol.1000, 1869 (NT), S&G = Smith & Godspeed // ¶ = new paragraph

Well, I don't know about you, but for me chapter 21 begins with a great sense of relief - the whole atmosphere has completely changed as compared with what came before in chapters 1 to 20. The dark clouds have rolled away and the sun is shining again - except, as we shall see next week, the sun has also disappeared, to be replaced by the much more brilliant glory of Elohim (God) (Rev.21:23).

Chapters 21 and 22 are the final act of redemption, bringing salvation to the whole universe. This has always been far more than just about planet earth. This is what I like to call the 'cosmic' work of Christ, something the Saviour first makes mention of in Matthew, chapter 19, verse 18:

"I tell you the truth, at the renewal of ALL things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you (12 apostles) who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Mt.19:28, NIV; cp. Ac.3:21; Col.1:20; Heb.2:8).

The scale of this renewal is no better described than by Paul in Romans, chapter 8:

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of Elohim (God) to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the One who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of Elohim (God).

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the bikkurim (firstfruits) of the Ruach (Spirit), groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently" (Rom.8:18-25, NIV).

I need to now introduce you to a new concept - or rather, not so much 'new' as 'expanded'. What do I mean by that? Up until now I have told you that the Hebrew word shammayim, which we translate as 'heaven' or 'heavens' (as it's a plural word), can either mean the place called 'Heaven' (with a capital 'H') or the 'sky' or 'atmosphere' of planet earth but a better word for the latter would be what we call, in our scientific age, 'space'. This is the same word in Revelation 20:11 and 21:1:

"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away" (Rev.20:11, NKJV).

By this time believers have already received new resurrected physical bodies, which occurred when Yah'shua (Jesus) came back to the old earth right before the Millennium began. But now these new resurrected bodies are also to be given a new environment too, an environment corresponding in glory to the glory of those new bodies. As far as planet earth is concerned, this takes place in two stages:

• 1. The Millennium, where the glory of the resurrected body is greater than the glory of the earth overall; and
• 2. The Post-Millennial Era, where the glory of the resurrected body is now the same as the glory of the earth overall.

People often mistake the Millennium to be a 100 per cent perfect and fully glorified world. We have seen this cannot be so because it will be inhabited not only by the resurrected Elect Remnant from all generations but also by mortal (unresurrected) survivors from the nations who are brought into involuntary subjection in Messiah's New Kingdom. As we have already seen, these are not perfected people but whose descendants rebell in great numbers when Satan is released one last time at the end of the Millennium and they readily chose him over Christ the King. These compelled subjects will die natural deaths and be taken to She'ol (the place of the dead) where they will await their judgment along with the rest who are waiting for the second round of the resurrection. Clearly, those who join Satan in the final insurrection at the end of the Millennium will receive the "resurrection of condemnation" (Jn.5:29, NKJV). So as you can see, the assortment of humans during the resurrection is perhaps a little different from what you may have been taught or imagined. Not only are there resurrected and unresurrected inhabitants sharing the same planet, but when the unresurrected ones die - whether the offspring of the resurrected or unresurrected - they must be judged and resurrected too...the unjust to condemnation and the just to glory. (My own belief concerning the righteous children of the resurrected is that they will resurrected in the same way their fathers were when Christ returned....in "the twinking of an eye" (1 Cor.15:52, NKJV) but that, I admit, is speculation even if I think it to be a logical conclusion based on the limited information we have been given).

It is at this point we need to remind ourselves that most of the prophecies about the Millennium in the Tanakh (Old Testament) concern, not the whole world, but the nation of Israel in its future messianic boundaries about which we know little to nothing. (We should not assume that the divisions are the ones spoken of by Ezekiel because this was a conditional prophecy that was not fulfilled when it was rejected by the exiles of Israel and Judah). This millennial Israelite territory will be separated from - made distinct from - the rest of the planet, as it was anciently, not just as consecreated land as it was in the Old Covenant maintained by a military like all the other nations, but as territory upon which the glory of resurrection power is brought to bear in its fullness as it will exist in the post-millennial world. Resurrection power will, to be sure, be brought to bear by the force of righteous government and will so impact the rest of the planet but there the glory will not exist in its fullness. Only the resurrected qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) and their descendants will be allowed to live in this heavenly real estate, which will fill up with a new population over a thousand years, the descendants of the resurrected Remnant Bride. This territory, divided up into 12 tribal territories or allotments once again will not only supply the kingly and priestly rulers of the nations but be the glorious home of the Elect during the Millennium). This heavenly territory is not only described as 'Israel' (or 'Messianic Israel') in the Millennium but as 'Jerusalem' (or the 'New Jersualem' during the 1,000 years), the Holy City's name being used to designate the whole territory too as we have also seen.

I'm purposefully telling you all this now, and underlining it, so that you can understand:

• A. The distinction between Millennial Israel and the 'nations' in the Millennium; and
• B. The difference between the overall spiritual and physical 'state' of the Millennial earth as compared with the Post-Millennial one, for they are not the same.

• i. The Perfect Post-Millennial world (physically and spiritually) in the sacred territory of Messianic Israel itself and in those designated areas in the nations where these resurrected Messianic Israelite rulers live with their families; and
• ii. The semi-perfected mortal world outside of Israel and the separate Residence of the Priest-Kings set over the nations by Christ.

Each nation in the Millennium will be under the direct rule of the New Jersualem by the Messiah's appointee kings and royal cohenim (priests) from the Assembly (Church) of the Firstborn (Heb.12:23). Each nation will have its own capital city, separate from the rest of the cities and towns of that nation, rather like the 'Forbidden City' of the ancient Chinese Emperors within Beijing (Peking) itself where the Emperor lived with his family, servants and court attendants. The ordinary folks were not allowed to live within its walls. The Elect Rulers will be able to go out of these 'forbidden' areas into the national territories over which they rule but those living outside will not be able to go in unless called to momentarily enter it to give an account of their stewardship. To use a more readily understood biblical metaphor, the cities of the rulers will be of a 'greater light' (like Messianic Israel and the New Jerusalem itself) to the 'lesser light' of the world outside them inhabited only by mortals. They will be a bit like the ancient Levitical Cities of Refuge, built for the priestly Levite clans and their families only, that were scattered through the tribal territotries of Old Covenant Israel. And even better illustration would be like the ancient city of Salem ruled by Melchizedek which I will say more about now.

One might even refer to these Elect cities as 'Holy Melchizedek Order Cities'. A similar arrangement existed in pre-Mosaic, Patriarchal times though then there was only one such Holy Order Melchizedek City where Melchizedek himself lived (the King of Salem) and to whom Abraham, you will remember, was subject and to whom he paid his tithes (Heb.7:1-6). Ten of the 12 Books of Abraham, an important revelation given to this ministry, give us insights into how such a Holy Order City functions and in particular details the way its inhabitants live, being a foreshadowing of the spirituality of the millennial cities about which I am speaking today. As the Last Exodus and Final Gathering get under way, so the nucleus of these millennial Melchizedek communities will form. That's largely what this work and ministry is about.

So the Millennial world is still a 'mix' of the 'higher' and the 'lower' as in the present world, only the presently oppressed become the millennial rulers and the former oppressive rulers become the ruled. All of this is in anticipation of the Cosmic New Creation to come when the transitional Millennial world comes to an end after the final release of Satan and the permanent removal of all rebels and impurity. The Millennium will contain the New Creation Nation of Messianic Israel and pockets of the New Creation in the Melchizedek Order cities scattered throughout the nations.

I hope, in saying this, I have successfully deconstructed the prevalent notion that the Millennium is, to all intents and purposes, a perfect world. It is only perfect in the especially set-apart places - the Land of Messianic Israel itself and the Order Cities in the nations. Universal perfection only comes about in the post-millennial world and universe as a whole. Yes, absolutely, all things will be made 'new' in the Millennium, as Scripture teaches, but not all things are made perfect until the Post-Millennial world. As I said, we tend to confuse the Millennial world with the Post-Millennial world, understandably, given that so little detail is provided beyond the last two chapters in the Book of Revelation. So there is much to carefully unpack in the next few weeks. Today I am prophetically prepping you for that.

Just as in the ancient Temple there were three different areas of 'holiness' - the 'Holy of Holies' containing the Ark of the Covenant (which only the Cohen Gadol of High Priest could enter once a year at Yom haKippurim); and just as there was the 'Holy' place in the Temple itself containing a very large perpetually lit Menorah with a number of other sacred objects (for the rest of the Levitical Cohenim or Priests); and just as there was a space beyond that ('the Outer Courtyard') for all the non-priestly Israelies - so in the Millennium there will be a distinction between the 'Most Holy' places of the resurrected priest-kings (the Messianic Israel territory as a whole plus the 'forbidden cities' outside it in the nations), the descendants of the resurrected Rulers (the 'Holy Place') and the rest of the world or 'nations' themselves (the 'Outer Courtyard'). This is how the divine tavnith or pattern of the threefold division of government and the governed works in every æon or age until the Cosmic Renewal at the end of the Millennial Age and the final separation occurs. It will be no different in the millennial world. This is likely a new concept for most of you to adjust to and it will take time to 'settle' as you become more familiar with the fully biblical vision of the millennial world-to-come. More of this is taught in the Holy Order where the New Covenant Melchizedek Priesthood is trained. We are only scratching the surface here, again as a means to prepare the called-out ones.

My task that lies ahead in chapters 21 and 22 is not an easy one and as you have probably already noticed I sometimes struggle for the right words to convey new concepts that are completely unfamiliar to those coming out of the various church traditions. This will require patience and forbearance. Given all the confusion as to what the Millennium is (as we saw in last week's special study), it will take time to, first, deconstruct all the false theologies you will have picked up in the denominations, and then carefully assemble this 'new picture' for you.

Many of the ideas will seem very radical indeed, putting flesh, as it were, onto the bare bones of principles only hinted at in Scripture and about which the ancients were forbidden to speak - you will remember that that both Daniel and John (e.g. Rev.10:4) were forbidden to write down certain things as knowledge of them was reserved for the end times. Paul also made hints about the mystery of the Ark of the Covenant which he was forbidden to share in his day too (Heb.9:1-5) and we have examined the controversy over the different endings of the Gospel of Mark in a previous study that concern a similar issue, hinting at deep things thzat wer shared before their time by one or more unwise talmidim (disciples), necessitating their hurried removal. Now it is true that these hidden things have been used to justify the existence of a number of false, occultic teachings by the gnostic cults claiming 'special wisdom' which no one else has - such as the modern Mormons in their secret temple practices - with which to seduce the unwary away from the true Gospel but we must not be scared away simply because Satan counterfeits everything. Rather, we should make an effort to know the biblical truth and know it so well that we will not be fooled by the lies for we have been warned that the deceptions will be so great in the end times that even the elect will come close to being deceived (Mt.24:24; Mk.13:22). The reason there is so much confusion in the Body of Christ is precisely because believers to not know their Bibles well; and even fewer have examined the scholarship that is available. Here we try to do both.

So I ask you to be patient and allow time for these new concepts to distill out and crystallise, something that those who are the children of the first resurrection will be eager to learn about and implement in their lives. For in the Millennium we are not just talking about a new spiritual reality, but a new physical reality in addition to the combined resurrected reality of the two. The point being that resurrected beings are a 'little' bit different from unresurrected ones - in attitude, temprement, motivation and indeed the way they live - and this will not only take the inhabitants from the nations to get used to but also the resurrected persons themselves as they are presented with the fullness of the ways of the Kingdom. So I guess I will be answering the 30 or so different questions I posed a couple or so weeks ago as we go along from now on.

So let's get back to today's text. The first two verses of chapter 21 cover the last or 7th vision in the sequence of seven which John 'saw' in Revelation 19:11 to 21:2, the climax to the final events of history. There is more than a new universe here. Within the 'general creation' is a 'special creation'. Just as within the first universe Yahweh planted a garden (Gen.2:8), so here He has designated a 'garden city' which even Abraham knew about and looked forward to:

"For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is Elohim (God)" (Heb.11:10, NIV).

This garden 'city' is the millennial New Jerusalem, made in heaven, that descends to the earth both in the metaphorical and literal, physical sense. This Holy City 'extends' to the very borders of millennial Messianic Israel itself, 'New Jerusalem' being additionally a metaphor for the whole territory just as, for example, 'Washington, D.C' can be used to represent the whole of the United States of America or 'Moscow' the whole of the Russian Federation. So if you're a keen gardener you'll feel right at home in the Millennial Israel and its Garden Cities!

Just as the new 'heaven and earth' are recognisably similar to the old to bear the same names, this city is given the name of David's capital. Jerusalem has a place in the New Testament as well as the Old. Yah'shua (Jesus) called it "the city of the Great King" (Matt 5:35, NIV) which is a quotation from the opening verses of Psalm 48:

"Great is Yahweh, and most worthy of praise,
in the city of our Elohim (God), His holy mountain.
It is beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth.
Like the utmost heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion,
the city of the Great King" (Ps.48:1-2, NIV).

It was just 'outside a city wall' that Christ died, rose again and ascended to Heaven. It is to this city that He will return to sit on the Throne of David and in the Millennium this will be "the camp of Elohim's people, the city He loves" (Rev.20:9, NIV). Now, of course, the earthly city - both anciently and the one today in the Republic of Israel - was always in a sense a replica of "the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living Elohim (God)" (Heb.12:22, NIV) and it is that heavenly city that supernaturally descends to the earth at the start of the Millennium (the City of Sarah, the Free Woman), entirely flattening, destroying or removing the current earthly one (the City of Hagar, the Bond Woman - Gal.4:24-25). Who are the citizen-inhabitants of this New Jerusalem? Torah-obedient believers in Yah'shua (Jesus) (Rev.12:17), together with all the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) from all the æons (ages) of history, together with the faithful malakim (angels):

"But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living Elohim (God). You have come to thousands upon thousands of malakim (angels) in joyful assembly, to the Assembly (Church) of the Firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to Elohim (God), the Judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect..." (Heb.12:22-23, NIV).

None of this means that in the past the original Jerusalem, the former Jebus (and before that, Salem), is somehow less real than the earthly copy, that one is merely 'material' and the other wholly 'spiritual'. The main difference between them is one of location. And that will change at the commencement of the Millennium. The heavenly city will come "down out of heaven" (Rev.3:12; 20:1; 21:2,10), both spiritually and literally, and be sited on the renewed millennial earth. It will be a real, tangible city, though constructed of rather different materials than the stones, bricks and concrete of the present one.

Unfortunately, ever since Augustine's Platonic separation of the physical and spiritual realms that we talked about last week, the 'Church' has had real difficulties in accepting the concept of a 'new earth', never mind a 'new city' on it. The equation of 'spiritual' and 'intangible' has done immense damage to Christian hopes for the future. The point being this (and I need to remind you of this often so you don't forget): this new universe and its metropolis will not be less 'material' than the old one. Once that concept is permanently lodged in your head, the rest of the Bible will become conspicuously clearer!

Revelation 21:3-8 is an explanatory comment on this final vision, the last 3 verses of which we'll be looking at next week along with the rest of the chapter. What happens at verse 3 is that our attention is immediately diverted from the New Creation to its Creator. Note again the transition from what John 'saw' to what he 'heard'. But whose 'loud voice' did he hear? It speaks of Elohim (God) in the third person ('He'), then in the first ('I'). If you compare this with Revelation 1:15, this is surely Messiah speaking. The phrase "seated on" the throne is the same as in the previous chapter (Rev.20:11 cp. 21:5). In both contexts judgment is expressed and the 'lake of fire' mentioned (cp. Rev.21:6 with 22:13). However, the "throne of Elohim (God) and of the Lamb" are later seen as one, combined Throne (Rev.22:1).

Three startling statements follow - we'll consider two of them today:

• 1. Yahweh-Elohim the Father is changing His residence from Heaven to Earth when the Millennium is over! He will come to live with human beings at their address, no longer as 'our Father in Heaven' (Mt.6:9) but also as 'our Father on earth', leading to the most intimate relationship ever between human and Divine Persons. Since all death, sorrow and pain are contrary to His nature, they will have no place in His space. There will be no more separation, no more tears and sighing. In passing, we recall the only other mention of Elohim (God) on earth in the Bible: His evening stroll in the Garden of Eden (Gen.3:8). Once again, the Bible has come full circle, Revelation joining with Genesis, making a proper understanding of pivotal in our understanding of future events;
  Satan vigorously opposes a true understanding of
  Genesis & Revelation and has sought to discredit both

• 2. The second startling thing is the announcement that "I am making everything new" (Rev.21:5). Here the carpenter of Nazareth claims to be the Creator of the new universe, as He was of the old one (Jn.1:3; Heb.1:2). His work is not limited to regenerating people, though that also is "the new creation" (2 Cor.5:17). He is restoring all things as well, something only Elohim (God) can do, and something that those messianics who blasphemously deny the deity of Messiah need to finally humble themselves and acknowledge.

I'll come to the third startling statement in a minute but first let's try, if we can, to pick up and immerse ourselves in the phronema, atmosphere, spirit or outlook that this, chapter 21, brings. Has there, for example, ever been a moment in your life when you have said to yourself, 'This is new'? And I don't just mean a car with a few new gadgets, or a new iphone with new features, or a new meal with a different combination of sauces and seasonings...though these, too, may point us in the right direction. What I am thinking is more in terms of major life-experiences in which we think to ourselves, 'Everything is going to be different now. This is quite new. This is a whole new world opening up,' because this is the sense or phronema here.

One area where Christians disagree among themselves is what this word "new" actually means. Is this 'new' universe simply the old one 'renovated' or 'renewed' or is it a brand new manufacture? Thre are certainly two Greek New Testament words for 'new' (kainos and eos) but they are somewhat synonymous and the use of the former here does not settle the issue. References to the old universe as being "destroyed by fire" (2 Pet.3:10) and having "passed away" (Rev.21:1), at least AFTER the Millennium is over, suggest to me eradication rather than mere transformation such as we expect for, and during, the Millennium, at least in the land of Messianic Israel and the Order Cities in the nations. Which brings us back to what I was saying earlier - and have been saying throughout this course - and that is the idea of an ongoing PROCESS.

That 'process', like sanctification, has already begun - it began 2,000 years ago with the resurrection of Yah'shua (Jesus). His 'old' body began decomposing or dissolving inside the grave clothes and He came from death with a new "glorious" body (Phil.3:21). Indeed something similar happened when the decaying body of the dead Lazarus was brought back to life (a rescusitation rather than a resurrection) by the pre-resurrected Messiah so you could argue that the moment the Son of Elohim (God) incarnated, and most especially from the moment He began His three year ministry, divine power was being brought to bear in the healing of the sick and the raising from the dead (the son of the widow of Cain and the daughter of Jairus being earlier examples still). That divine resurrection power operates in those who believe and obey Christ even now in the operation of the miraculous and is a foreshadowing of the resurrection of the Elect and the renewal of the earth. I'll leave you with these thoughts for now as we move on to take another look at the idea of being made 'new' from a slightly different perspective.

Let me try to put across this idea of 'newness' in another, more practical way. Such experiences might well include some major life-events: birth, marriage, full recovery from a long and dangerous illness, the experience of someone new coming to live with you. I mention these specifically because all of them, interestingly, feature in the list of images which John uses as he builds up this breathtaking picture of the new heaven and the new earth. "I will be his Elohim (God) and he shall be My son" (v.7, KNT) - in other words, a final 'new birth', the final act of salvation...or 'salvation-future' as I often call it. Again, the Holy City is like "a bride dressed up for her husband" (v.2, KNT), in other words, a wedding. There will be "no more death, or mourning or weeping or pain or sorrow" (v.4, KNT) - the great recovery. And, central to this whole picture, and indeed explaining what it all means, is the great promise: "Elohim (God) has come to dwell with humans" (v.3, KNT)...the new, permanent guest. This is how the first century listeners would have felt, seen and received this prophetic imagery...as a new birth, a new wedding, and a new new resident, all wrapped up together-into-one.

Of course it's much more than this and it's here we must be careful not to over-simplify. Like all symbolism, these are signposts pointing into the unknown future. At every point, John is saying, 'It's like, but much, much more so.' The 'new heaven' and the 'new earth' will be 'new' in a new way - newness itself will be renewed, so that instead of a mere transition within ongoing human life, what Yahweh has planned will be the renewal of all things - of everything: "Look," he said, "I am making all things new" (v.5, KNT) - the new heaven, the new earth, the new Jerusalem, the new Temple (which is the same thing as the New Jerusalem because, as we shall soon see, there is no temple building in the new city because the Elohim (God)-in-residence is the new temple)...and not least, the new people, resurrected people who have woken up to find themselves back on earth but this time beyond the reach of death, tears and pain. In other words, "the first (former, earlier, old) things have passed away" (v.4, KNT).

Let's be very, very clear - this is not - I repeat, NOT a picture of 'heaven' in the sense that most people use the word 'heaven' today as that etherial place full of disembodied spirits that the dead go to temporarily while they await the resurrection reunion with their physical bodies but this time in a perfect form. That would be a big mistake to make. To view the scene in Revelation 21 like that would be to completely fail to see the full glory of what John is saying and what most Protestants, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox are saying whose vision of the future is mixed together with Greek paganism. Plato was wrong. It isn't a matter - it was never a matter - of 'heaven' being the perfect world to which we shall (hopefully) go one day, with 'earth' being viewed as the shabby, second-rate temporary dwelling from which we shall be glad to depart for good. Not at all! Not remotely!

If you're thinking this way, you've missed the whole point of the resurrection. As we have seen throughout the Book of Revelation, 'earth' is a glorious part of Yahweh's glorious creation along with everything else you can see in the night sky, and 'heaven', though Yahweh's abode or dwelling place is also the place where the 'sea' stands as a reminder of the power of evil (remember, this isn't literal sea that's being spoken of in the first instance), so much so that at one point there is "war in heaven" (Rev.12:7). Think how a first century Christian would have thought of the sea as that terrifyingly unknown and untamable place full of monsters. Read the Book of Job. That's what is going to disappear or be absent in the new world - both the dangers to our lives we face here and the fear we have of them. The point is this: Yahweh's two-level world (physical and spiritual) needs renewal in both its elements...and that's precisely what has happened here in chapter 21.

You see, when this renewal of both spheres has happened, we are left not with a 'new heaven' only, but a 'new heaven' and a 'new earth' - they are joined together inseparably, like a husband and his wife forever married, 'le-olam-va-ed, 'from the æons of the æons', from one age to the next ad infinitum.

Now the word 'dwell' in verse 3 is crucial, because the word John uses here conjures up the idea of Elohim (God) dwelling in the Temple in Jerusalem (a concept every first century Jew and Christian would have understood) , revealing His glory in the midst of His people. And to add contrast to this first century consciousness, remember that by the time the Book of Revelation was written in the 90's, the Temple at Jerusalem hads been destroyed for at least two decades - it's gone - and so there is this longing for its return once again. And this, in chapter 21, is how it's going to return, not as some building constructed by modern Zionist Jews in the current Jerusalem of the Republic of Israel in which animal sacrifices after the old Levitical system (that has passed away) are pointlessly offered all over again which the death of resurrection of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) totally abolished forever! The New Temple is the Father and the Son dwelling in the New Jerusalem on the glorified earth (Rev.21:22) as we shall see next week! Until that day, we - spiritually regenerated, Torah-obedient believers - are collectively that Temple by virtue of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) dwelling in us (1 Cor.3:16; 6:19). Do you see the big lie of Zionism? Do you see how millions of evangelical Christians have been hoodwinked by the devil? Zionism's temple theology negates both Revelation 21 & 22 and 1 Corinthians 3 & 6! [2]

What we find, therefore, in chapter 21, clarifies the difference between Hagar-Zionism...fleshy zionism...and what the Gospel of John says about Yah'shua (Jesus): the Davar, Logos or Word become flesh, He who lived, 'dwelt', pitched His tent, 'tabernacled' in our midst, and we gazed upon His glory (e.g. Lk.9:32) - that's to say, spiritual Zionism. What Elohim (God) did in Yah'shua (Jesus), coming to an unknown world and an unwelcoming people, He is now (in chapter 21) doing on a cosmic scale. He is coming to live for ever, in our midst, a healing, comforting, celebrating presence, in two stages, beginning at the Millennium and climaxing in the post-millennium æon (age) when He will be joined by the Father, Yahweh Himself. And the idea of incarnation, so long a key topic in our thinking about Yah'shua (Jesus), which dreadful messianic translations like the RSTNE (also [3]) utterly demolish in blasphemously reducing the incarnate 'Word' or Saviour of mankind to merely the Torah, is revealed to be the key theme in our thinking about Yahweh's future for the world. Heaven and earth were inseparably joined together in Yah'shua (Jesus), who is the intersection point, and likewise heaven and earth will one day be joined inseparably for ever and ever. This is the hope that we have, this is what we live for in anticipation of the future. This is what Paul said to the Ephesians in the first chapter, verse 10:

"And He (Yahweh, the Father) made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ" (Eph.1:9-10, NIV).

That is why the closing scene in the Bible is not a vision of human beings going up to heaven, as in so much of the paganised popular imagination, nor even of Yah'shua (Jesus) Himself coming down to earth (though He does this too at the very beginning of the Millennium), but rather the image we are presented to absorb is that of the New Jerusalem itself coming down from heaven to earth where it will remain. At first sight, this is a bit of a shock: surely, you may be asking, the New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb, consists of the people of Elohim (God), and surely they are on the earth already? How, you may ask, can they have been in heaven as well?

Here is the clue. Paul says in Colossians 3:3 that our "life is now hidden with Messiah (Christ) in Elohim (God)" (Col 3:3, NIV). When someone belongs to the Messiah, they continue with their life on earth, as we're doing now, but they have a secret life as well, a fresh, new gift from Yahweh, which becomes part of the hidden reality that will be 'revealed' at the last day (Col.3:4; 1 Jn.3:2). That is why, in those great scenes in Revelation 5, 7 and 19, there is a great uncountable number of people standing around Elohim's (God's) throne in heaven, singing glad songs and shouting out their praises. This is the heavenly reality which corresponds to the (apparently) weak, feeble praises of the Messianic Community (Church) on earth. And one day this heavenly reality will be revealed, revealed as the true partner or allegorical spouse, bride or wife of the Lamb, now transformed, Cinderella-like, from slave-girl to Bride.

Again, let us be absolutely clear; the newness of this vision is not a matter of Elohim (God) throwing away His first creation and, as it were, trying again, having a second shot to see is He can get it right this time. That is the superficial impression that many have received from chapter 20, verse 11 (when heaven and earth flee from Yahweh's presence), and from the statement in chapter 10, verse 6, that there would be "no more time" (KNT, HRV) - which, as we have seen, is not saying that time itself will be abolished, but that "there will be no more DELAY" (as other versions like the NIV, NRSV, NKJV, JNT, etc. also correctly render it [3]). So what we have in Revelation 21 and 22 is the UTTER TRANSFORMATION of heaven and earth by means of Yahweh abolishing, from within both heaven and earth, everything that has to do both with the as-yet incomplete plan for creation and, more particularly, with the horrible, disgusting and tragic effects of human sin.

The new world, in other words, will be like the present one in the sense of its being a world full of beauty, power, delight, tenderness and glory, just as our resurrected physical bodies will be like the present mortal one. That's the future hope. In this new world, for instance, the temple, which was properly there in heavenm as well as on earth (Rev.11:19), will be abolished (as we'll see next week in Rev.21:22), not because it was a stupid idea for Elohim (God) to dwell among His people, but because the Temple was the advance model of Yahweh's great hidden plan for the whole cosmos, now at last to be realised. Again, I repeat, the new world will be like the present one, but without all those features, particularly death, tears, and everything that causes them, which make the present world what it is - partly revolting and partly attractive.

That is what is meant, I firmly believe, by there being 'no more sea', at the very least spiritually. If you want to also believe that there will still be literal oceans in the millennial world, which I believe will be here (otherwise what will happen to all the sea creatures?), then that's fine too so long as the principle symbolic meaning is recognised. Throughout the Book of Revelation, and the mindset of first century peoples, as in much of the Bible, the sea represents the dark force of chaos which threatens Elohim's (God's) plans and Elohim's (God's) people. As one who has traveled by sea a great deal in my life, and been through some terrible storms in the Bay of Biscay and elsewhere, and seen how helpless little humans on a bobbing boat are, I 'get' that. Ships sink. One ship I traveled on, the Pyrrhus, sank on the very next voyage after the one my mother and I had been on so that was a close call in my life. And I have had a few of those! The sea is the element from which the first Beast or Monster emerged (Rev.13:1; 15:2). It is contained in the first heaven, - 'contained', that is, both in the sense that it is there as part of the furniture and in the sense that its boundary is strictly limited. Evil is only allowed to do enough to overreach itself and to bring about its own downfall. But in the New Creation there will be no more 'sea', no more chaos, no more any place from which Godzilla-type monsters might again emerge.

With all of that said and the correct emphases made, I hope, we must remember that the centre of the picture is not - or not yet - the new world itself, but the one true Elohim (God) and Father who made the first creation and loved it so much that He sent the Lamb to redeem and renew it. Up to now, "the One who sits on the throne" (v.5) has been mentioned only obliquely. He has been there all along, of course, and He has been worshipped as our Heavenly Father, Yahweh, but all the talking has been done by Yah'shua (Jesus), or by a malak (angel), or by "a voice from heaven" (v.3). Now, at last, for the first time since the opening statement in Revelation chapter 1, verse 8, Yahweh Himself addresses John, and through him adresses His congregations (churches) and ours. This personal address by Elohim (God) the Father Himself is, it seems, part of the newness, just as in verse 4 Elohim (God) Himself "will wipe away every tear from their eyes", an act of utter gentleness and kindness to be performed not by some junior heavenly official but by the Creator Himself. Though this is a revelation of Elohim's (God's) eternal character, most of us, contemplating this wonderful prospect, will feel a whole new world opening up before us.

This brings me to the third and final startling statement:

• 3. The spelling-out of the practical implications for the readers of Revelation (and note, if you will, that John has had to be reminded to keep writing down what he is hearing because "these words are trustworthy and true" (Rev.21:5, NIV),

That said, we will finish for this week. May Yahweh bless and keep you all in Yah'shua's (Jesus') safe-keeping. Amen.

Endnotes

[1] Not to be confused with the city assigned to the tribe of Gad (Josh.13:24,27), Mount Zaphon was regarded by the pagans as the home of all the gods, and not only Ba'al and his sister. It is located on the modern Syrian-Turkish border near the mouth of the Orontes River on the Mediterranean Sea. Today it is called, in Arabic, Jebel Aqra. The psalmist is comparing Mount Zion to Zaphon to indicate its supreme importance in Israel.
[2] Do not be deceived by the 'Christian Zionist' doctrine that the physical temple building currently planned by Zionist Jews for the modern city of Jerusalem, with attendant animal sacrifices, is necessary as some kind of 'memorial' to the past and/or required so that the Tribe of Levi can finally making 'offerings in righteousness'. Once the type (the Levitical system) had been fulfilled (by Messiah as our Final Sacrifice) 2,000 years ago, the type must, of necessity, have vanished altogether...and did. Only Mormons teach that animal sacrifices will be resumed in the Millennium.
[3] Unfortunately the KJV rendition, "that there should be time no longer" tends to have been misread to mean that time itself will cease to exist, an error the RSTNE (which is based on the KJV) perpetuates even more emphatically by rendering this, "that time should no longer exist."

Acknowledgements

[1] Tom Wright, Revelation for Everyone - The New Testament for Everyone Commentary Series, Vol.19 (SPCK, London: 2011)
[2] N.T.Wright & Michael F.Bird, The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature and Theology of the First Christians (Zondervan Academic, SPCK, London: 2019)
[3] E.W.Bullinger*, Commentary on Revelation (Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, Michigan: 1984)
[4] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary (JNT Publications, Clarksville, Maryland: 1992)
[5] ESV Study Bible (Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois: 2011)
[6] The NIV Study Bible (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan: 1995)
[7] Ed. J.R.Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (MacMillan, London: 1909)
[8] David Pawson, Unlocking the Bible: A Unique Overview of the Whole Bible (Collins, London: 2007)

*E.W.Bullinger was a brilliant Anglican clergyman and scholar whose works merit careful study by serious students of the Bible. He was, however, seriously in error in at least three main areas, namely, (1) he believed the 'Church' has been raptured before the Book of Revelation opens, (2) he believed that the 7 churches in Revelation 2-3 are 7, literal Jewish churches or assemblies yet to come, and (3) he believed in a pre-tribulation, pre-millennial rapture.

• C. The Far Future
  • C1. Chapter 19
    
    • C1.1. Yahweh's Victory Celebration (19:1-10)
    • C1.2. The Beast Defeated (19:11-21)
  • C2. Chapter 20
    
    • C2.1. The Millennial Reign (20:1-6)
    • C2.2. The Final Judgment (20:7-15)
  • C3. Chapter 21:1-21
    
    • C3.1. The New Heaven & Earth (21:1-5)
    • C3.2. The New Jerusalem (21:6-21)
  • C4. Chapter 21:22-22:21
    
    • C4.1. New Jerusalem (21:22-22:7)
    • C4.2. 'I am Coming Soon' (22:8-21)