Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisrael and Mishpachah, welcome to Part LXXV (75) of our study of the Book of Revelation, the penultimate lesson of this amazing last book of Scripture course which our Father in Heaven seems to have timed to end on the very last day of the current biblical year which itself ends an important segment of prophetic time. I did not plan this course to end when it will next week for as you know there have been many unforseen delays and postponements caused either (most commonly) by illness (like this last week's hospitalisation) or because extra lessons were needed to cover important material. And as is always true of such studies, a lot is left unsaid that I would like to have said. Perhaps new appendices will be added later with this for now unspoken and unwritten material.

Right now, though, before we get into today's segment, I need to review some of the things we discussed last week both to give contect for today's teaching as well as to share further insights into what's going on. This is one way I can share things I didn't get around to sharing on each previous week. This process of 'recapitulation' - of going over the main points or of making summaries - is actually something that John himself does too under inspiration of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) as this is Yahweh's way of making sure the readers of Scripture don't forget anything. So there is a biblical precendent for what I am doing.

Last week a malak or angel took John on an exciting conducted tour of the New Jerusalem and its life, itself a kind of recaputulation of the 'old' Jerusalem in the Millennium. The description is breathtaking, straining vocabulary to the limit, which raises once again the oft asked question: how much of what we read is literal and how much is symbolic?

We have seen, and understood by now, I hope, that taking it entirely literally just doesn't work. What John is describing is undescribable, a problem Paul faced too when he was shown heavenly realities. Do you remember what he said in his second letter to the Corinthians?

"I know that this man - whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but Elohim (God) knows - was caught up to Paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell" (2 Cor.12:3-4, NIV).

Why is "man...not permitted to tell"? There are two possible reasons:

• 1. Because he isn't allowed to as it's a secret shared between Elohim (God) and the revelator...this happens when a navi (prophet) is shown something that is exclusively for his own comfort or informatation; or - as I believe is the case here,
  Some truths just have to remain hidden from the world

• 2. Because to try and express in human words something that can't would be to attempt to do the impossible, and result in something beautiful and wonderful being mangled, and thereby leading people to make false conclusions that would result in the birth of a false teaching and tradition.

In short, to try and relate in human words some of the realities of the heavenlies is to destroy Yahweh's purpose in revealing something in a higher dimension. I have had such experinces where I have been shown things in vision which I have found utterly impossible to put into words, and when I have tried, I have ended up mutilating that experience which was a revelattion to my spirit only. That is why John was either not permitted to write many things which he saw or the reason he was forced to use limited analogies. This is what is happening when he uses such words as "like" and "as" in verses 11, 18 & 21 in chapter 21, and in verse 1 of chapter 22.

The best example, which is commonly but wrongly taken to be literal (however physically absurd) by ill-informed Christians, is verse 2 of chapter 21, where the Holy City of New Jersualem is described coming down out of heaven from Elohim (God) "as (like) a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev.21:2, NRSV) because that's what the glory of this experience reminds John of. And the point that we should be taking from this is this: the realities imperfectly portrayed here must be more wonderful than this, not less.

With that mindset, we will not misintepret as, for example, the dangerous, rapidly growing Korean Shincheonji Church of Jesus or New Heaven and New Earth (NHNE) doomsday cult does, a newer version of the Moonies (who were very active when I was young and which I investigated) who openly lie and deceive to make new recruits by infiltrating churches, and who claim that the New Jerusalem is already here on earth and that their leader, Lee Man-hee, is the immortal and infallible Messiah (much as Sun-Myung Moon called himself the 'Lord of the Second Advent'). Exposing these end-time cults and helping their deceived victims not lose faith in Christ altogether is another reason this Book of Revelation course was prepared.

So what we're reading cannot possibly be taken entirely literally. Some things, yes, but not all. Equally, though, it can't be taken entirely symbolically either as others going to the other extreme are wont to do. If you do this, the whole picture dissolves into a sort of pseudo-spiritual 'unreality', a reason why some who take this unreasonable position have accused John of being high on some drug like LSD. Such an attitude fails to do justice to the 'new earth' as the unambiguous literal, physical location of all of this. This is all happening in physical time and space which we will see with our own natural eyes, touch with our own natural hands and walk on with our own natural feet, as natural, physically resurrected beings. It's important to remember this so as not to fall into the medaeval Catholic trap of allegorising everything away, whether the Book of Revelation or other texts like the Song of Solomon.

If I might highlight the problem, we can profitably ask ourselves this question: does the New Jersualem represent a place or a people? The question arises because she is is called "a bride", which previously indicated a people, the Messianic Community (Church) in chapter 19, verses 7 & 8:

"'Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.' And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones)" (Rev.19:7-8, NKJV).

At first, this is only an analogy [1] (in 21:3, "as a bride") and anyone who has seen a Semitic wedding will understand the likeness of the highly coloured clothes bedecked with jewellery unlike our own traditional Western marriages where the bride wears a white bridal gown with very few jewells. Later, however, the city is specifically designated "the bride, the wife of the Lamb" (Rev.21:9). The malak (angel), promising to show 'the bride' to John , shows him the city (Rev.21:10), though the vision moves on to reveal the life of its inhabitants (Rev.21:25-22:5) as we're soon to see in today's segment.

Now the answer to this dilemma is much more obvious to a Jew, Messianic or a Middle Easterner than a Western Christian because 'Israel', the bride of Yahweh, was always a people and a place simultaneously (just as the Bride is both monogamous and polygamous simultaneously), because they are inextricably involved with each other, and hence all the prophetic promises of the ultimate restoration of the people to their own land (which didn't take place in 1948 but will take place just before Messiah returns - that's what the 12-tribed Last Exodus and Final Gathering are for). Right now, believers are a people without a place or a land, strangers, pilgrims, and sojourners scattered throughout the nations, a 'diaspora' - we are a dispersed and exiled people of Elohim (God) for now (Jas.1:1; 1 Pet.1:1).

So for now heaven is our home until the land of Israel is restored to us for the Millennium when heaven is literally coming down to the physical earth along with all the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) from the past. (Unfortunately, this biblical truth gets all distorted in Christendom because of the man-made doctrine of dispensationalism which teaches that Jews and Gentiles are two separate peoples of God [2] which they're not - there is only ever one People of Elohim (God) at any one time). So this is why the names on the city are the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles because believers are Israel - Messianic Israel; that's why they sing the Song of Moses and the song the Lamb' (Rev.15:3), not because Jews and Gentiles are two separate peoples mysteriously conjoined even though they practice different, incompatible, opposite religions (the former denying Israel's true Messiah) as Zionism would have us believe but because the people of the New Jersualem are Torah-obedient, Christ-trusting people - one, echad, physical/spiritual, first-resurrection people.

The unification of heaven and earth, as I have said many, many times, is fundamental to Yahweh's eternal purpose "to bring all things...together under one head, even Christ" (Eph.1:10; Col.1:20). So the 'bride', who becomes one in both herself and with her allegorical husband, is a people and a place. And what a place that will be!

Clearly the measurements, which we described last week, are important. Did you notice that they are all multiples of 12? The size too is enormous, over 2,000 kilimeters in each of three dimensions. Literally taken, the city would cover most of Europe or the equivalent of the land area of the former Roman Empire. You will also recall, I pointed out the significance of the shape of the city which was a cube rather than a pyramid (even though square-based pyramids like the ones in Egypt each contain a cube, making a pyramid a legitimate representation too), indicating that a 'holy' city would thus resemble the cube-shaped 'Holy of Holies' in the Tabernacle and Temple. The walls define the outside rather than the inside, since the gates are always open. There is no threatened danger so the inhabitants can freely leave to visit the outside and return at any time, unlike the outside, second-resurrection people who cannot come in except by special invitation onm certain occasions (e.g. for the three annual Pilgrim Festivals of Pesach, Shavu'ot and Sukkot).

Another image to help you visualise the scene is to consider that were the moon to be hollow, the New Jerusalem would just fit into it, the distance from opposite corners of the cube being about the same as the moon's diameter!

Because of the prophetic signifiance of the number 12, which is the symbol of governmental perfection or rule - and specifically Yahweh's rule over the whole creation, and because the cube would be too massive to rest on the surface of the earth without totally destabilising the planet, poking out way beyond the limit of the earth's atmosphere and into the vaccuum outer space, we are forced to scientifically conclude that these measurements are to be taken symbolically and not literally, though I did suggest to you a compromise might be to visualise the city as the earth itself as it will be after the Millennium, or with the cube inside the earth as a kind of 'spiritual core' to represent the holiness of the glorified world cleansed from all sin.

Now for something really interesting about the rare and precious gemstones used in the construction which give us a glimpse into heaven, something that is known only to us thanks to modern science which the ancients did not know, thus contributing evidence that the Book of Revelation is divinely inspired. This will, I hope, fascinate you and strengthen your testimony. You see, the list of gems is one of the most remarkable proofs of the divine origin of this book which I will now explain for your edification.

Now that physicists can produce 'purer' or polarised, laser light, a hitherto unknown quality of precious stones has been revealed, a truly astounding truth can be made known. When thin sections of precious gems are exposed to cross-polarised light (as when two lenses from sunglasses are superimposed at right-angles), they fall into two very distinct categories:

• 1. Isotropic stones which lose all their colour, for they depend on random rays for their billiance (e.g. diamonds, rubies and garnets); whereas
• 2. Anisotropic stones which produce all the colours of the rainbow in dazzling patterns, whatever their original colour.

All the stones in the New Jerusalem are ANISOTROPIC and no one could possibly have known this when the Book of Revelation was written - except, of course, Yahweh-Elohim, who is Himself 'anisotropic' possessing, as He does, seven Ruachot or Spirits (Rev.1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6) that correspond to the seven festivals of Messianic Israel which are likewise represented in the seven-armed Menorah, on a human-level by the uni-plural seven congregations of Asia Minor in chapters 2 and 3 of the Book of Revelation, and in nature as the rainbow! He who understands these things understands the divine tavnith or pattern in all created and uncreated things! For Yahweh-Elohim 'Himself' is both a Bridegroom and a Sevenfold Bride

Moreover, not only is each foundational stone unique but all have this sevenfold rainbow property or the 'Isaiah 4:1 principle', the number of completion or spiritual perfection, because that is what the first resurrection, Remnant, bridal, firstborn qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) possess, the number of holy echad marriage.

There is one more fascinating understanding to be gleaned from the description of the Holy City that imposes itself on our minds before we get into today's segment and it is this: in just 32 verses there are over 50 allusions to the Tanakh (Old Testament), mainly from Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Zechariah. Every single feature of the New Jerusalem is, in fact, the fulfilment of Israelite hopes expressed in prophecy. Why is this significant in a New Testament book? Because it clearly indicates to the reader that Old and New Testament prophecies all spring from the same source, proving (as if that were needed) that the whole Bible is a unified text, as testified by the apostle Peter:

"Concerning this salvation, the nevi'im (prophets), who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Ruach haMashiach (Spirit of Christ) in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow" (1 Pet.1:10-11, NIV).

"For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from Elohim (God) as they were carried along (moved) by the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit)" (2 Pet.1:21, NIV).

Having said all that about the difficulty involved in finding an adequate vocabulary to describe the reality of the Holy City, I think we are now in a better position to evaluate the various translations of today's segment. Those Bible versions which are 'dynamic equivalents' (like the NIV) rather than literal word-for-word renditions (like the KJV, NKJV and NASB) offer a fascinating variety of alternative textures and nuances that I personally find quite stimulating, with the understanding that many of these are provisional only. We will be using our virtually word-for-word New King James Version (NKJV) as usual as this is definitely the safest thing to do with this kind of prophetic literature even if that does not necessary unlock the meaning in the kind of detail we might wish.

We must remember the strict warning made at the end of chapter 22, which we shall be considering again next week in the last part of this course, not to alter (by additing or subtracting) anything in this Book, thus once again underlining our responsibility to be accurate. Not everything clearly can be understood simply because it is 'other-worldly' and beyond the ken of our earthly minds. So treat the dymanic-equivalent translations with caution and do not cite them dogmatically because they do interpret and could potentially be 'adding or subtracting' (Rev.22:18-19). Consider them as possible explanations and allow the Ruach (Spirit) to guide you in what to do with them.

Let me further explain using a helpful illustration that N.T.Wright liks to use [7]. I am sure you are all familiar with scaffolding which is basically a temporary structure or poles or tubes and plants providing workman with a platform to stand on while building or repairing a house. Scaffolding is normally extremely functional: it's made to do a job, not to look pretty. Once the house has been constructed or repaired, it is disassembled and stored away for the next job. But imagine, if you will, that a builder decided to construct a beautiful shell of scaffolding? Supposing he made it so stunningly beautiful that people came to admire the scaffolding itself, without even realising that there was something far, far more impressive being built inside it? When the building was finished, some might be sad at the thought that this wonderful sight was to be taken away. But the builder would, of course, insist on removing the scaffolding, however splendid it looked. That was the whole point of it in the first place, to do its job and then be dismantled so that the ultimate reality - the real new building - could be seen in all its glory.

With that firmly in mind, let's now read today's text:

"22 But I saw no temple ('Dwelling Place' - ISRV) (Jn.4:21) in it ('the city' - JB, JNT, ESV, RSV, NRSV), for ['Master' - AENT] Yahweh-Elohim ('the [sovereign] Lord God' - NEB; 'YHWH El Shaddai' - ISRV) ['the' - NASB; Almighty ['Himself'] - Amp.V, AENT] ('Omnipotent' - Amp.V; 'of heaven's armies' - JNT) (Rev.1:8) and ('together with' - KNT) the Lamb['kin' - CLNT] ['Himself' - Amp.V] (Rev.5:6) are ('were themselves' - JB) its temple ('Dwelling Place' - ISRV) ('it was lit by the radiant glory of God and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it' - JB) (Rev.1:8). 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in ('[up]on' - NEB, JNT; 'enlighten' - AENT) it, for the glory (Sh'khinah - JNT; 'radiance' - Amp.V; 'esteem' - ISRV) of Elohim (God) illuminated ('lightened' - ISRV; 'enlightens' - AENT) it ('gives it light' - JNT). The Lamb is its light ('lamp' - NASB, JNT, Amp.V, ISRV) (Is.24:23; 60:1,19-20; Rev.22:5). 24 And the ['pagan' - JB] nations of those who are saved shall walk in ('by' - NASB, NRSV; 'live by' - JB) its light, and the kings ('rulers and leaders' - Amp.V) of the earth bring their glory ('wealth' - NEB; 'splendour and majesty' - Amp.V) and honour [3] ('splendour' - JNT, NEB) into it ('their treasures to it' - JB) ('the kings of the earth bring it praise' - HRV; 'the sovereigns of the earth bring their esteem into it' - ISRV). 25 Its gates ('portals' - CLNT) shall not be shut ('locked' - CLNT) at all ('never close' - JNT; 'on no day' - NIV) by day (there shall be no night there) (Is.60:11; Zech.14:7; Rev.22:5). 26 And they ('people' - NRSV; 'of those who are saved' - ISRV) shall bring the glory ('esteem' - ISRV) and the honour ('honour and splendour' - JNT; 'appreciation' - ISRV) of the nations into it. 27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles ('contaminates' - CLNT; 'polluted' - AENT) ['or profanes or is unwashed' - Amp.V] ('nothing unclean' - NASB, JB, ESV, HRV, RSV, NRSV; 'nothing impure' - JNT, NIV; 'that has not been made holy' - KNT;), or causes an ('practices' - NASB, HRV, NRSV; 'ways' - NEB) abomination ('unclean, detestable, morally repugnant' - Amp.V; 'shameful and deceitful' - NIV) or a lie ('lying' - NASB; 'tells lies' - KNT; '[practices] falsehood' - Amp.V, RSV, NRSV, ISRV) ('no one practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty' - NLT; 'no one who does what is loathsome ('detestable' - ESV) or false [or foul]' - JB, NEB; 'no one who does shameful things or lies' - JNT) (Is.51:2; Joel 3:17; Rev.22:14-15), but only those who are written ('listed' - JB; 'inscribed' - NEB; 'registered' - AENT) in the Lamb['kin' - CLNT]'s Book of Life (Dan.12:1; Rev.20:12).

Revelation 22

"22:1 And he ('the angel' - JNT, NRSV) showed me a pure river (Ps.36:8; 46:4) of ('with the' - NLT) water of life (Jn.4:10), clear ('bright' - ESV, HRV, RSV, NRSV; 'transparent' - AENT) as ('sparkling like' - JNT, NEB, Amp.V, KNT; 'resplendant as' - CLNT) crystal (Rev.4:6), proceeding ('coming [out]' - NASB, HRV, ISRV; 'flowing' - NLT, JNT, NEB, RSV, Amp.V, NIV, KNT; 'rising' - JB; 'issuing out' - CLNT) (Ezek.47:1; Zech.14:8) from the throne of Elohim (God) and of the Lamb['kin' - CLNT]. 2 In ('Down' - JB, NEB) the middle ('midst' - HRV) ('center of its square' - CLNT; 'Coursing down the center' - NLT) of its ['main' - NLT, JNT; 'broad' - HRV, AENT] street['s' - HRV] ('avenue' - AENT), and on ('near' - AENT) either ('each' - NLT) side ('bank' - KNT) of ('and on this side and on that side of' - HRV, AENT) the river [4], was ('grew' - NLT; 'were' - JB) the tree['s' - JB] ('log' - CLNT) of life (Rev.2:7), which bore ('produced' - HRV) twelve ['kinds of' - NASB, JNT, ESV; 'varieties of' - Amp.V; 'crops of' - NLT, JB, NIV] fruit[s], each tree yielding ('giving/gave' - HRV) its fruit ('a fresh crop' - NLT, Amp.V; 'a different one' - JNT) every ('each' - ESV, RSV; 'one in/for each' - JB, NEB) month. The leaves of the tree ('log' - CLNT) were for the healing ('cure' - CLNT) ['and restoration' - Amp.V] ('used for medicine' - NLT) of the nations ('are the cure for the pagans' - JB) (Gen.2:9; Ezek,47:12). 3 And there shall be no more curse ('doom' - CLNT; 'accursed, detestable, foul, offensive, impure, hateful or horrible' - Amp.V; 'The ban will be lifted' - JB; 'Every accursed thing shall disappear' - NEB; 'there shall no more be anything accursed' - RSV; 'Nothing accursed will be found there any more' - NRSV) (Zech.14:11), but ('for' - HRV) the throne of Elohim (God) and of the Lamb['kin' - CLNT] shall be in it ('there' - NLT; 'in its place' - JB), and His ['bond-' - NASB]servants ('slaves' - CLNT) shall serve ('worship' - JNT, NEB, ESV, Amp.V; 'pay divine honours to' - Amp.V) Him ('do Him holy service' - Amp.V) (Zech.14:21). 4 They shall see His face ('Him face-to-face' - NEB) (Rev.21:29), and His Name sh8all be 'written' - NLT; 'bear/born' - NEB] on their foreheads (Ps.17:15; Rev.7:3). 5 There shall be no night there ('Night will no longer exist' - JNT) (Rev.21:25; Zech.14:7): They need no ['light of [a]' - NASB, NRSV] lamp ('lamplight' - Amp.V, CLNT) nor light of the sun ('sunlight' - Amp.V), for ['Master' - AENT] Yahweh-Elohim (the Lord God; 'Adonai YHWH' - HRV [5]) gives them light ('shall illumine them' - NASB; 'will shine on them' - NLT, JNT) (Is.60:19-20; Rev.21:23). And they shall reign ['as kings' - JNT, Amp.V] forever and ever ('for evermore' - NEB; 'through the eternities of the eternites' - Amp.V; 'for the eons of the eons' - CLNT; 'le-olam-va-ed' - RSTNE) (Dan.7:27; Rev.20:4).

"6 Then he ['of the seven angels further' - Amp.V] said to me (Rev.1:1), 'These words ('statements' - Amp.V) are faithful ('trustworthy' - NLT, NEB, ESV, RSV, NRSV, ISRV, NIV, KNT; 'reliable - worthy of confidence - and genuine' - Amp.V) and true ('All that you have written is sure and will come true' - JB) (Rev.21:5).' And Yahweh-Elohim (the Lord God) of ('who 'inspires' - NEB) the qadosh (holy, set-apart, 'spirits of the' - NASB, JNT, ESV, RSV, Amp.V, CLNT, NIV, KNT) nevi'im (prophets) [6] ('gives the spirit to the prophets' - JB) (1 Cor.15:32; Heb.12:9) sent His malak (angel, 'messenger' - Amp.V) (Rev.1:1) to show ('make known and exhibit to' - Amp.V) His ['bond-' - NASB]servants ('slaves' - CLNT) the things which must shortly ('swiftly' - CLNT; 'soon' - NIV) take place ('happen' - NEB; 'occur' - CLNT) ('tells His prophets what the future holds' - NLT). 7 Behold ('Look' - NLT; 'And remember' - NEB; 'And lo' - CLNT, AENT), I am coming quickly ('[very] soon [now]' - NLT, JNT, ESV, NEB, JB, RSV; 'speedily' - Amp.V, ISRV; 'swiftly' - CLNT) (Mt.16:27)! Blessed ('Happy' - NEB, Amp.V, CLNT; 'to be envied' - Amp.V; 'God's blessing be upon' - KNT) (Rev.1:3; 16:15) is he ('the man' - NEB; 'the one' - KNT) who keeps ('guards' - ISRV; 'heeds' - NASB, NEB; 'obeys' - NLT, JNT; 'observes and lays to heart' - Amp.V) the words ('sayings' - CLNT) of the prophecy of ('written/contained in' - JNT, NEB) this book ('scroll' - NLT, CLNT)" (vv.10,18-19) (Rev.21:22-22:7, NKJV).

So as we regard this text as scaffolding to prepare us for a greater reality-to-come, it should become apparent to us that this is what we have largely been dealing with throughout the previous 70 or so parts of this long course on the Book of Revelation. This is how we must read the first two verses (vv.22 & 23) in today's segment. We really shouldn't be surprised, then, to learn that there is 'no temple' in the new city (as there was both in the early Jerusalem and also in its heavenly counterpart, as also in two other places in chapters 11 and 15:

"Then Elohim's (God's) temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of His covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm" (Rev.11:19, NIV).

"After this I looked and in heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, was opened. Out of the temple came the seven malakim (angels) with the seven plagues..." (Rev.15:5-6, NIV).

This kind of imagery is hard for most Christians and Messianics to visualise. Let's take the picture of the temple in the text, for instance. The problem that 21st century believers who are well versed in the Bible have, is that they have become so visually 'attached' or 'acclimatised' to the temple of Solomon's familiar structure with its architecture and furnishing that they have never really conceived of the temple as really being anything else. Preachers have for centuries been urging their listeners to look forward to the rebuilding of the old Temple again in Jerusalem or something like it during the Millennium, so that the idea of one never being needed again is hard for them to accept. To suggest that no temple will ever be constructed again with Yahweh's approval is therefore often met with resistance or outright hostility because we prefer the familiar to the unfamiliar. Yet we must deal with reality. Those waiting for a new temple to be built are waiting in vain owing to false zionist theology based on a faulty understanding of Ezekiel. (Remember, the prophecies in Ezekiel are not arranged chronologically). For not only will no earthly temple ever be built again, the last one offered through Ezekiel being rejected by the two sets of Exiles in Assyria and Babylon, but the one in heaven will cease to exist too! When heaven and earth combine in the resurrection, everything changes.

We have hopefully already realised that Elohim's (God's) own dwelling in the New Jerusalem, and the shape of the city as a giant cube, are telling us that there cannot be a 'temple' as a specific place within the city where Yahweh lives. The temple in Jerusalem that was finally destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, and now the one that has ceased to exist in heaven too, were but advance signposts to that great, almost unthinkable reality to which nevertheless so much of the New Testament points, that "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea" (Hab.2:14, NRSV). That is the goal towards which so much of Scripture is pointing, a goal forgotten by those who imagine that the whole aim is the leave earth behind and go to heaven permanently instead. Yet Heaven, we're told, has come down to earth, so why would we want it to be otherwise? We have a new reality so we don't need the signpost anymore.

So when, in today's text, the angelic demonstration moves on to the life enjoyed by the inhabitants of the Holy City, there are some surprises. Unlike the Old Jerusalem whose epicentre was the temple, here, in the second half of Revelation 21, the biggest contrast is the complete absence of a dominating temple to focus worship at a particular place or even at a particular time. The whole city is His temple, in which the redeemed "serve Him night and day" (Rev.7:15), which suggests that work and worship have been blended together again, as they were for Adam (Gen.2:15). It is more a state of being than a concrete structure defined by the Deity and creatures living within the cities walls.

This means that at some point in the future that there won't be a sabbath day or festivals anymore. My own belief is, because of the various prophecies concerning the millennial earth where the festivals with their sabbaths will still be celebrated, that this is describing a post-millennial earth. In any case, those who teach the sabbath has been done away with and refuse to congregate once a week with other believers are therefore treading on very thin ice. We haven't reached that level of resurrection perfection yet where work and sabbath are comingled. The world we live in is still fallen and we still need both our weekly day of rest and set-apart time for congregational worship which otherwise we will neglect and this will in turn negatively impact our spirituality. So if you haven't been resurrected yet, the sabbath and festivals are most definitely still binding and remain as much a test of faithfulness for Messianic Israel as it was anciently for ancient Israel:

"You must observe My Sabbaths. This will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am Yahweh, who makes you qadosh (holy, set-apart)" (Ex.31:13, NIV; cp. Ezek.20:12,20).

And then, what is very clearly a reference to the beginning of the Millennium following the slaughter of the Great Tribulation, and beyond, and using exactly the same language as the Book of Revelation, Isaiah says:

"'As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before Me,' declares Yahweh, 'so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before Me,' says Yahweh. 'And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against Me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind'" (Is.66:22-24, NIV).

There can therefore be no two ways about it. If in the Millennium the divine moedim (appointments) will still be binding upon us, then what presumption leads modern believers to suddenly claim that they are not binding upon us today? How on earth will they vindicate their rebellious behaviour before the Great Judgment Throne of the Almighty at the Last Day? Has all fear of Elohim (God) departed from them? Since when did Yahweh ever give mitzvot (commandments) to one generation, then tell the second generation to stop obeying them, and then finally re-instruct the third generation to obey them again? What kind of inconsistency and illogic is that? Far better for you to swallow your stubborn pride and do what He says else you will most likely wind up as a post-Millennium, Second Resurrection child of disobedience.

With that warning securely tucked under our belt, what else can we learn from today's text? Well, the Holy City will apparently be enriched in some way by the nations (Rev.21:24,26) bringing their "glory and honour" though what form this will take isn't necessarily made clear at first. My own provisional view is that this is in major part the cultural fruit of the nations (the ones that make it past the judgments, that is), each with its own unique national characteristics, refined and brought to perfection by submission to Messiah's rule. I ave lived in four countries in my life - Malaysia, Great Britain, Norway and Sweden - and I have both come to appreciate, adopt and imitate many of their national characteristics in my life. Think of your own country, what its greatest national virtues are, and then imagine that brought to Gospel perfection - I think that is what John is seeing here rather than their only bringing tribute.

Imagine the nations, like the Holy City itself, free from being polluted with immoral behaviour (Rev.21:27). Just as compromised believers are in very real danger of having their names erased from "the Lamb's book of life" (Rev.3:5; 21:7-8), so compromised nations who won't repent won't survive into the Millennium. They will be dissolved. And as I have said before, we may very well see not only nations disappearing forever but the restoration of old nations that were exterminated for a variety of reasons (like Prussia, Assyria and some of the Amerindian nations) but peoples who have never been given nations before (like the Basques, Sorbs, Kurds, Baluchis or Transnistrians).

Remembering that the Millennial earth will contain both resurrected believers and mortals who are survivors of the Great Tribulation as well as the offspring of the children of the First Resurrection, we're told the River and the Tree of Life will ensure continuous health. At the beginning, the diet will be fruit rather than meat (Gen.1:29), though there is no obligation to be a vegetarian before then (Gen.9:3; Rom.14:2; 1 Tim.4:3). What the timetable for this is, isn't clear as the Annual Festivals, including Pesach or Passover must include the eating of lamb so, unless Passover is reformed, the slaughtering of lambs will still be required, at the very least outside the Holy City. We must remember that the rules vary slightly between æons (ages) as, for example, in respect of the exact composition of the Torah between the pre-Mosaic and Mosaic era, remembering that the latter introduced many new ceremonial rules. Within the Holy City itself there is no death so presumably nothing can be killed there. In the fallen, unresurrected world vegetarianism for non-religious reasons is permitted but is considered a weakness (Rom.14:1-3), remembering that Yah'shua (Jesus) ate meat when He was mortal, eating a fish breakfast with His talmidim (disciples) by the shore of the Sea of Galillee (Jn.21:8-14) as well as eating broiled fish with them in Jerusalem (Lk.24:40-42) after He was resurrected. And yet just as in the Garden or Eden, it does look as though the resurrected qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) will only be eating fruits and nuts again. So that is an interesting observation as far as diet in the Millennium and after it is concerned.

The most important thing to learn in today's segment, though, is the first resurrection qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) will live in the presence of Elohim (God)! They will actually see the face not only of the Son, Yah'shua (Jesus) but Yahweh the Father too, a privilege given to very few before (Gen.3:30; Ex.33:11) but then to all who are of the firstborn glory (1 Cor.13:12) that is like the sun in brilliance (1 Cor.15:41; Heb.12:23) because they will reflect Him in their own faces, knowing as theu are known. His Name (Yahweh) will be on their foreheads, as once others bore the number of the 'Beast' (Rev.13:16). They will "reign forever and ever" (Rev.22:5) thoughout all the future æons of time, presumably over the New Creation as well as the children of the second resurrection, thus fulfilling the original intention of Genesis 1

"Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Gen.1:28, NIV).

Let me once again underline this vital truth and corrective to traditional orthodox Christian doctrine: human beings have not gone to 'heaven' to be with Yah'shua (Jesus) forever - rather, He has come to earth to be with them forever and ever. The New Jerusalem is at once the eternal divine and human dwelling place, their permanent residence, and the whole Universe will be restructured around it when the New Creation arrives.

And as before, John has to be reminded to write all this down because it's important even though his distraction from the task is quite understandable. This is why I have been commanded to write down everything Father has taught me and create the-by-now-very-large nccg.org website. Imagine our loss if John hadn't written down the Book of Revelation because he had been too self-absorbed in the fantastic vision he was being shown! Father wants His truths recorded for all mankind to read. Not always, mind you - sometimes we are forbidden from writing a revelation down because it is not the time for mankind generally to have certain kinds of knowledge. That's why Daniel was told to seal certain things up until the end time. And that's why I am, only now, now unfolding certain truths that I have had to sit on for most of my ministry. Everything has its time and season.

So now we are being shown a new reality both for the temple and for the new residence of Almighty Elohim (God). He is quite literally changing His address. But in verse 23 it isn't only the Temple that is no longer needed. Even the sun and the moon, the two great lights that played such an important rôle in the First Creation and are celebrated as such in many scriptural passages (think of the sun in Psalm 19, where it is an image of Yahweh's qadosh (holy, set-apart) Torah itself) - even the light of the sun and moon will become redundant at least for those living in the New Jerusalem (and by extension the Land of Messianic Israel). Obviously they're still up in the sky for the rest of the world to make use of otherwise why would man be commanded to still observe Rosh Chodesh, the New Moon Festival of Israel during the Millennium? (Is.66:23) How would you be able to calculate the New Moon and the Sabbaths and the Annual Festivals without the New Moon?

Now what happens to them after the Millennium, when the whole planet becomes the Holy City, and only the children of the First Resurrection are living on it, is another matter. Then it might be right to view these heavenly bodies as part of the old 'scaffolding', as it were. We have no idea what the earth will look like in the eternities - it might be elevated as a whole to an entriely new level of reality beyond our current Solar System, who knows, where it needs no star to revolve around to be illuminated or have its gravity regutated, and no moon to control biological cycles and be a marker for the seasons, because the Omnipotent Creator's Presence will do all of that. We shall have to wait and see as the Bible is silent on such matters.

The point in any case is that Elohim (God) Himself is the Light of His people, inwardly and outwardly, providing immediate spiritual as well as physical illumination. Yahweh is here seen to be the Light of His people, shining and radiant. And so it may well be that we will one day rub our eyes from the perspective of being inside the Holy City and discover that the glorious world of Genesis 1 was the beginning of something, rather than an end in itself. The Garden of Eden was itself a great signpost, pointing to the world (which as we have seen is a combination of both garden and city) that Elohim (God) always intended to make out of it, of which the literal city of Babylon, with its magnificent hanging gardens, was a satanic parody, attractive to men because something like it fulfilled a deep need of the human soul, though holy and unadulterated unlike Babylon.

I guess I am in search of an over-arching message in today's text, a simple truth that should always be the focus of our attention, and which should be central to the world view of every Christian and Messianic. The whole of New Covenant theology is based in the goodness of creation, yet the goodness of creation consists partly in this, that it points beyond itself to the New Creation. What we see around us in this amazing universe is but a shadow of what is to come. It isn't the case that the New Creation was an afterthought, a 'Plan B', as it were, once the first creation had gone so badly wrong. Human sin has meant that Elohim's (God's) eventual design has had to be arrived at by a long, winding and often tear-stained and blood-spattered route, the most important tears and blood being those of Elohim (God) Himself, in the Person of the Lamb. He has not been an idle, distant observer, but an active Participant and Prime Mover. But, as with the triumphant conclusion of the First Exodus out of Egypt, so with Revelation, the goal is achieved by the power of sheer mercy and grace, the mercy and grace through which creation is not abolished but fulfilled, not thrown away and replaced by some disembodied spirit world but renewed and transformed from top to bottom through resurrection power. Yahweh is not in the business of 'throwing away' but of restoring by-the-by.

The mystery then unfolds a step further. For most of the Book of Revelation, 'the nations' and their kings have been hostile. They have shared in the idolatry, sexual persion and economic violence of Babylon; they have oppressed and opposed Yahweh, His purposes and His people. But the earlier hints of His wider redeeming power now come fully into play. The witness of the martyr-community of Messiah (church of Christ) in chapter 11 resulted in the nations, which had been raging against Elohim (God), coming instead to give Him glory (Rev.11:13). Now here they come in procession, in the long fulfilment of scriptural prophecies beginning with Psalm 72:

"The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores
will bring tribute to Bim;
the kings of Sheba and Seba
will present Him gifts.
All kings will bow down to Him
and all nations will serve Him"
(Ps.72:10-11, NIV).

"Praise be to His glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen" (Ps.72:19, NIV).

Recall also Isaiah 49 and Zechariah 14:

"[Yahweh] says,
'It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.'


"This is what Yahweh says --
the Redeemer and Qadosh (Holy, Set-Apart) One of Israel --
to him who was despised and abhorred by the nations,
to the servant of rulers:
'Kings will see you and rise up,
princes will see and bow down,
because of Yahweh, who is faithful,
the Qadosh (Holy, Set-Apart) One of Israel, who has chosen you'"
(Is.49:6-7, NIV).

"Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, Yahweh-Elohim Tsevaoth (Almighty, of Armies), and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh-Elohim Tsevaoth (Almighty, of Armies), they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. Yahweh will bring on them the plague He inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot)" (Zech.14:16-17, NIV).

And above all, recall the whole of chapter 60 of the Book of Isaiah [8] which you can read through afterwards. Recall, that this is the chapter which anticipates several elements in John's vision. Here they come, bringing their glory into the City through the wide-open gates. The city is not a tableau, a static picture with people simply gazing at at the glorious golden streets or indeed Elohim (God) Himself and the Lamb. It is a bustling community, filled with activity and business, as the nations come to worship and do homage.

Note too that John is especially careful to add the warning that this inclusivity specifically does not stretch to those who practice abomination or tell lies - the unbelieving and idolatrous children of the Second Resurrection. This is a 'regenerated, Torah-obedient believers-only' city, believers who have been wholly sanctified to be able to stand in the presence of Elohim (God) and the Lamb. Those of the third tier 'glory of the stars' (1 Cor.15:41) can never have any part of the New Jerusalem. This is necessary for the same reason that one does not allow smoking in a library or the playing of radios in a concert hall. That which ruins the beauty and holiness of Elohim's (God's) new city is ruled out by definition.

But this isn't just a picture of non-residents coming into the city from outside. Life, liquid life, the water of life, the mayim-Chayim, is flowing from the city to the world around rather like a power station generating electricity and channelling it through its network of cables beyond itself. Yahweh's generous ahavah (love) is the source and goal of all things, even for those who are not of the First Resurrection and who do not dwell in the New Jerusalem but outside it. How can the City where He and the Lamb are personally present by none other than the great wellspring of life, not sustain the whole of the New Creation, flowing out to those who need it, even those of the lesser glories? So from the ultimate fulfilment of Genesis 1, viâ Isaiah 60, John turns to the ultimate fulfilment of Genesis 2, viâ Ezekiel 47 [9], which again you'll have to read afterwards to appreciate the full impact of what I am trying to convey today as we begin to wind up this whole course.

Once Yahweh's glory has returned to the newly built Temple in Ezekiel 43, we discover that this temple is actually a kind of New Eden, from which a river will flow out to irrigate the world around it. In Genesis, there were four rivers flowing from the Garden (4 signifying the physical Creation), but in Ezekiel's New Eden there is only one (1 signifying the unity, primacy and beginning of everything...the Creator Himself). This singular river grows deeper and deeper until it pours itself down the great Judean escarpment (the long steep face of a flat plateau) to make the Dead Sea fresh. Ezekiel saw in his vision fruit trees on either bank of the river (Ezek.47:12), with their fruit for food and their leaves for healing. John, in one of the most moving reworkings of biblical imagery in his entire book, sees the river of the water of life flowing sparkling on its way through the city streets and out into the countryside beyond. And though it is clear enough in Ezekiel that this is a rebirth of Genesis 2, in John it is even clearer, and more sharply focussed. The tree which grows in profusion on either bank of the river is "the tree of life", the tree which was forbidden to Adam and Eve as they were expelled from the garden...it would have been utterly disastrous for them to have been made immortal in their sinful state!

You see, the 'Tree of Life' is not merely there to provide healing for this person, or that, for this Adam or that Eve. The vision of John has always conncerned the larger realities, the huge and often hard-to-see social, cultural and political pains and puzzles too, the ignorant armies clashing by night and the would-be 'world leaders' who turn out to be the blind leading the blind. It would not be wrong, then, to view the New Jerusalem not simply as a tableau or picturesque presentation but a project. Yahweh established the City of His Presence in order that the nations may not only come to do homage but may also be healed. This may take time. It probably won't be instant. The city is to be priestly and patriarchal, gathering up the praises of the rest of creation; it is also to be royal, the source of that healing, wise order through which Yahweh's rule is to be established. What a far cry from the childish notions we have been led to believe that the afterlife is some sort a cloudy heaven with angels playing harps and people milling around not doing much of anything! Eternity is busy, creative, and industrious but qadosh (holy, set-apart), not a place of idleness, stagnation and boredom. And it is very physical where life revolves around Elohim (God), marriage and the family - big, vibrant, plural families (Is.4:1) as in former days before the Flood, not forgetting the faithful malakim (angels) with whom we will also dwell, and their families...at last, for which they have patiently awaited and which is their reward, unlike the rebellious malakim (angels) who refused to wait and instead, in their wickedness, seized the daughters of man, and created a violent race of evil giants or nefilim who today languish in Tartarus!

You will forgive me for belabouring this point and taking extra time today but it is so important that I get this message across to you clearly, for I only have one lesson left in this course after this one to do it in its proper context. It thus appears that the New Jerusalem, in John's Vision, is not the whole of the New Creation. It is the centrepiece and glory of it, the fountain from which there flows freely all that the world could need. It is the Holy of Holies, that sacred 'cube', but actually the whole earth is to be full of Yahweh's glory, and is to be its ultimate temple. So it is as I said before - the whole planet becomes a kind of extension of the Holy City. This is what is meant when John describes the servants of Elohim (God) and the Lamb not only worshipping (Rev.22:3), not only seeing His Face (v.4), but also reigning 'le-olam-va-ed', 'for the æons of the æons', 'forever and ever' (v.5). From the start of the book we were told that the Lamb's followers were to be a Royal Melchizedek Priesthood (1 Pet.2:9), and now we see what this actually means. It is from the City - the City which is the Bride, the Bride which is the Lamb's followers - that healing, restoration, and restorative stewardship is to flow. This is how the Creator-Elohim (God) will show, once and for all that His creation was 'good', and that He Himself is full of mercy.

Have you ever wondered why Father pictures the First Resurrection Believers as a 'Bride'? On one level, as we have already understood, the metaphor of marriage is used to describe the deep, intense relationship between spiritually regenerated believers and Christ. But it is also a very female image, remembering that this female 'Bride' consists of men and women. In the same way that Elohim (God) or the Elohimhead (Godhead) is described as 'He' and 'Him' even though it contains the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) who is Female (our Heavenly Mother), and in the same way that the Ruach haQodesh is a respresentation for all seven Ruachot or Spirits of Elohim (God), so in the New Jerusalem women will outnumber men 7-to-1, making the Bride or Body appropriately represented as collectively 'female'. We men are a part of something 'female', not because this is a matriarchal society (it isn't - it's patriarchal), but because seven-times as many women as men prove to be worthy of the First Resurrection, evidence of which you will see in the gender statistics of the Remnant as it gathers. This is a reason why plural marriage was built into creation right from the beginning, to depict a natural, heavenly reality. It isn't some abberation or freak accident of life in a fallen world that Elohim (God) tolerated for a while, even if as a practice it has undoubtedly been abused and fallen into disrepute like just about everything else Yahweh ordained, but it is part of the fabric of eternity. That is why I am called to prepare you for it because it is a reality the Remnant must face and eventually learn to embrace. So you are being given advance notice, an opportunity to prepare your minds and hearts.

John's vision, then is of a New Eden - not the simple old one consisting only of Adam and Eve, but the greater one. And yet, as I have mentioned two or three times now, it is a city, not simply a garden as the original Eden was. You must carefully bear that in mind. All the elements of the original Garden of Eden are there to be sure, but now enshrined and enhanced within and around the City. We know in our bones that we were made for both, something we unwisely fight against when we naïvely suppose we can ignore and simply live in a garden naked and alone as a single monogamous pair. That has all changed. The same beauty, innocence and holiness will return to this New Garden-City but it will consist of vast numbers of people, men and (mostly) women. I am sure that you, like me, love the idea of a romantic country idyl, and we shall get that too, but we have grown beyond living exclusively in a Garden. The New Paradise is maturer and grander but just as wonderful.

So the New Creation draws the double vision of City and Garden together in the same way it draws the Spiritual and Physical together into a New Resurrection World. This union between City and Garden, and between Matter and Spirit, I call the 'Astara-Eden Principle' that will be taught to the Remnant as it makes its preparations for the fullyness New Creation life and world to come. As Heaven and Earth come together, as the Bride and the Lamb come together, and as Husbands and Wives come together in Holy Echad Marriage - the first two being signs that the dualities of Genesis are at last united, as was always intended - so the Garden and the City come together as well and being populated by the third. Families, in community with one another and with Yahweh-Elohim, are to exercise their delighted and wise stewardship over the earth and its fruits, in the glorious Light that comes from the Throne. And like other aspects of this vision of the Ultimate Future, this too is to be anticipated in the Present and most especially in the preparations being made by the Remnant which will gather quite soon and live the Way of Yahweh in its fullness.

Next Sabbath will be the final lesson in this Book of Revelation study and then the following Day will be Rosh Chodesh or Aviv 1, the only Hebrew month with a name meaning the 'Month of Blossoms', the first day of the Biblical New Year and the first day of spring, the time when Yah'shua (Jesus) was born and Pesach or Passover 14 days later, the first of the annual festivals, begins. So next Sabbath will be the last day of the current year and my final message . Until then, Yahweh bless you richly! Amen.

Endnotes

[1] A similarity or process of reason from parallel cases

[2] See the Zion and Zionism website

[3] 'and honour' mostly appears in the Textus Receptus (and therefore in the KJV & NKJV that use it, but also the RSV) but is absent from the vast majority of MSS

[4] The best translation of this enigmatic passage that defies description in the natural is probably "in the middle of the street of the city, and on either side of the river" (NRSV fn, ISRV)

[5] The Aramaic Marya YHWH - the Peshitta Tanakh used this phrase as an equivalent of two phrases; in Genesis 2:4 is is used of 'Yahweh-Elohim' whereas in Genesis 15:2 & Jeremiah 16 it is used for 'Adonai YHWH'. Elsewhere the Peshitta Tanakh renders 'Adonai YHWH' with Marya YHWH (Ezek.2:4; Amos 1:8).

[6] This phraseology ('spirits of the prophets') is utterly unique to Revelation 22:6; compare 'spirit of Elijah'

[7] Tom Wright, Revelation for Everyone - The New Testament for Everyone Commentary Series, Vol.19 (SPCK, London: 2011), p.197

[8] "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but Yahweh rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of Yahweh. All Kedar's flocks will be gathered to you,the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on My altar, and I will adorn My glorious temple. Who are these that fly along like clouds,like doves to their nests? Surely the islands look to Me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honour of Yahweh your Elohim (God) ,the Qadosh (Holy, Set-Apart) One of Israel, for hHe has endowed you with splendour. Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favour I will show you compassion. Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations -- their kings led in triumphal procession. For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined. The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the pine, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn the place of My sanctuary; and I will glorify the place of My feet. The sons of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of Yahweh, Zion of the Qadosh (Holy, Set-Apart) One of Israel. Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations. You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, am your Saviour,your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones. I will make peace your governor and righteousness your ruler. No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and your Elohim (God) will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendour. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am Yahweh; in its time I will do this swiftly" (Is.60:1-22, NIV)

[9] "The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side. As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in-a river that no one could cross. He asked me, 'Son of man, do you see this?' Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, 'This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds - like the fish of the Great Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.' This is what Yahweh-Elohim says: 'These are the boundaries by which you are to divide the land for an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel, with two portions for Joseph. You are to divide it equally among them. Because I swore with uplifted hand to give it to your forefathers, this land will become your inheritance. This is to be the boundary of the land: On the north side it will run from the Great Sea by the Hethlon road past Lebo Hamath to Zedad, Berothah and Sibraim (which lies on the border between Damascus and Hamath), as far as Hazer Hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. The boundary will extend from the sea to Hazar Enan, along the northern border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the north. This will be the north boundary. On the east side the boundary will run between Hauran and Damascus, along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel, to the eastern sea and as far as Tamar. This will be the east boundary. On the south side it will run from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribah Kadesh, then along the Wadi [of Egypt] to the Great Sea. This will be the south boundary. On the west side, the Great Sea will be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo Hamath. This will be the west boundary. You are to distribute this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who have settled among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the alien settles, there you are to give him his inheritance,' declares Yahweh-Elohim" (Ezek 47:1-23, NIV).

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)