Rev 21:1-8
we're starting to examine a new section today - the FINAL section of revelation! ch 21-22 where the new heaven and new earth get established forever. the end game happens.
These two chapters can be chopped into two main sections: the new heaven / new earth promises (21:1-22:5) and the epilogue (22:6 - 22:21). and that first section, new heaven / new earth can be divided further into 3 sections, which i'd like to call 1) the isaiah shoutout (21:1-8 which is todays podcast), 2) God's bride (21:9-27) and 3) Eden restored (22:1-5).
So today let's zoom in on Revelation 21:1-8 the isaiah shoutout (i call it that bc the entire chunk is filled with quotes from and allusions to the ot bk of Isaiah and its descriptions of a final heaven and earth).
A New Heaven and a New Earth
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
1: Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
When John says the phrase new heaven and new earth, those listeners who happened to be familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures (aka our older testament) would be harkened to Isaiah 65 - this is the rich prophetic history that John's pulling from as he crafts revelation. So let's read this part of Isaiah 65:
17 See, I am creating new heavens
and a new earth;
The former things shall not be remembered
nor come to mind.
18 Instead, shout for joy and be glad forever
in what I am creating.
Indeed, I am creating Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight;
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and exult in my people.
No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there,
or the sound of crying;
20 No longer shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
nor anyone who does not live a full lifetime;
One who dies at a hundred years shall be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred shall be thought accursed.
21 They shall build houses and live in them,
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit;
22 They shall not build and others live there;
they shall not plant and others eat.
As the years of a tree, so the years of my people;
and my chosen ones shall long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They shall not toil in vain,
nor beget children for sudden destruction;
For they shall be a people blessed by the Lord
and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call, I will answer;
while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall pasture together,
and the lion shall eat hay like the ox—
but the serpent’s food shall be dust.
None shall harm or destroy
on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
we're seeing a description of an ideal era - prosperity, long life, no conflict. and the old is wiped away. when jewish people got to return to their homeland Jerusalem after Babylonian captivity around 539 bc, the prophesies of isaiah were fulfilled then in a sense, but in the eschaton the prophesy of isaiah will be fulfilled in a deeper and more ultimate sense. the new jerusalem in rev is the permanent one.
the previous heaven and earth are gone and it says the memory of it is gone to. in the previous ch, 20, earth and heaven have just fled away from God and no place was found for them. now the new heaven and earth are installed and set into motion, and it's glorious.
this new cosmos is new in the sense of the greek word for new "kainos" meaning newness in quality or essence - not necessarily new in the sense of time cause that would usually be the greek word "neos." Beale says "... the new cosmos will be an identifiable counterpart to the old cosmos and a renewal of it, just as the body will be raised without losing its former identity... That [the] new creation follows the pattern of Christ's resurrection is demonstrated by the exegetical link between new creation and resurrection .. in Paul [and he lists a handful of verses], and in Rev itself ... Paul... sees in Rom 8 the renovation of the corruption of creation inextricably linked to the resurrection of the Children of God ." - he's referring to in Rom 8 Paul talks about creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay, and we will experience the redemption of our bodies. There's a tie between new cosmos and human resurrection. which makes sense bc what set this final phase into motion? the death and resurrection of Jesus, the King OF said cosmos. and here's where the amillennialist type thinkers will also say, the new heaven and new earth were already inaugurated and that's in progress and being established now.
verse 1 ends with the phrase "there's no longer any sea" - why? bc the sea is associated with chaos and evil and the beast. and unbelieving rebellious groups that make war with the people of God. and the place of the dead. and, idolatrous, greedy trade as well. there's no longer any of that.
and, certain deliverancey spiritual warfare pastors and teachers will also point out that there is a rebellious water kingdom of beasts and demons and creatures that hate people so they would say thats whats getting permanently defeated here - they would mention the monster leviathan, and also psalm 89 and isaiah 51 mention rahab which we've talked about these two beasts in previous episodes, but point being the destruction of the evil water kingdom. so the sea is out.
2: I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
the new cosmos has a name: the Holy City - the new Jerusalem. the theme of the city is well established in scripture and it ties in with the theme of the garden, maybe we can hash out those cool themes more thoroughly in a future episode some time, but in the mean time you can watch Bible Project's amazing videos on it. in short, this is the new meeting place. gathering place. dwelling place. God's heart has been closeness with us all along, and now in John's vision the new eden, the new Jerusalem has arrived! "the new Jerusalem the holy city" is a phrase from Isaiah 52:1: "awake awake zion, clothe yourself with strength! put on your garments of splendor (see that bridal language?), Jerusalem the holy city. the defiled will not enter you again"
John is expounding on earlier prophesy and making it evident it all points to messiah Jesus and His eternal reign and His army of diverse faithful believers.
the place made for believers is adorned like a bride made ready for the bridegroom - we're going to dive more into this metaphor next podcast but long story short we are God's bride He is our groom we are longing to be together, married already, doing life with no more separation or waiting.
3-4: And I heard a loud voice from the throne (we've read about this elsewhere in the bk - could possibly be the cheribum) saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
So what does the faithful and true church get? closeness with our faithful and true savior. and also relief from all mourning and all trauma as that was the old system.
the tabernacle (dwelling place) of God is now on the renewed earth! heaven literally comes to earth yall. and we are designed for this daily fellowship with God; we dont truly thrive without it.
Do you long for this day, do you practice for this day by staying aware of, and in communication with, God's Spirit? who He calls a deposit on things to come? this verse is whats to come. the fullness of God's presence, when He makes the new version of this HIS PRIMARY RESIDENCE. and currently we are the tabernacle/temple - and in that very real way God already dwells among us, but in the end here it's happening even more completely/fully.
Note that in exodus when God would tabernacle with His people there was already an understanding of this groom and bride metaphor. God's covenant with His people is a marriage covenent. when they chose to be loyal to Him and do things the way He instructed, His glory dwelled among them uniquely. the dwelling place (once a moving tent, now a city) and the "marriage" of God and His people are two topics that have always run together. and also you see Jesus saying during His earthy ministry: Im gonna go prepare a place for you and come back and get you and basically do the traditional groom thing that they did in jewish culture bc we're engaged and we're getting married. Jesus is making it clear that He's YHWH which He consistently does in His teachings, and that at the end the marriage of Him and His people will be the eternal last chapter of the story.
and there's no more death (cause death is dead- it was thrown into the lake of fire along w hades in the last chapter). this sentence "there will be no more death" is indeed related to v2 "there will be no more sea" the previous place OF death.
When we see this part about death being done and tears being gone from our eyes we're to be reminded of Isaiah 25:7-8 - it says "on this mt He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; He will swallow up death forever. The sovereign Lord will WIPE AWAY THE TEARS FROM ALL FACES; He will remove His people's disgrace from all the earth."
So throughout the poetic prophesies of Isaiah we're looking back at the deliverance of Gods ppl from egypt, which notably involved the drying up of the sea! and we also look forward to God drying up the sea completely, and also very poetically drying the salty water from our sweet little eyes and faces bc the source of grief and mourning has been eradicated forever.
and all over rev 21 and also 22 as we'll soon see are more phrases like this! no more tears, no more death, no more curse, no more night. What entered the earth through the sin at eden is removed with the establishment of the new earth - the new city - the new eden.
5: He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Now God is for sure speaking. That's who sits on the throne. and what does He do? continues to run it back to Isaiah's prophecies. "i'll do something new" is from Is 43 and Is 66.
notice the exact phrasing here: I Am.. Making. You've got the great I Am - Creating. The whole Bible begins like this, and now the whole Bible ends like this. God... creating. And guess what, not only are heaven and earth perfected - YOU! His prize creation will be perfected as well. Made like Christ! ... Christ was raised - so we are raised. Without flaw or sin bc of His love and sacrifice for you. There will be a new glorified heaven and earth, and a glorified completed YOU as well.
and He says "write, for these words are FAITHFUL AND TRUE" (oh so God's words are faithful and true, and also scripture is faithful and true, and also Jesus was just recently called the faithful and true? yeah bc Jesus is the word of God, and the faithful witness which i love so much). We're going to see this same phrase in ch 22 the final ch as well, which will serve to wrap up the section on the new creation promises.
6a He said to me: “It is done...
the greek here is "gegonan" literally "they are done." the prophesies are now fulfilled. the new things are created. a very similar greek word "gegonen" was used in chapter 16 when the seventh bowl angel poured out judgement, indicating final judgement from God. here it indicates final renewal from God. and of course on the cross Jesus purposefully declared "it is finished" as He paid the price for our sins in our place and also conquered death, taking away its sting, providing us with life forever. which will be right here on the new earth, with God dwelling among us.
6b (still God talking) I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
we saw this phrase in chapter 1, and we're seeing it again in chapters 21 and 22. At the beginning and end of the book, John points out God is the beginning and the end.
this phrase is a way of saying God has total control over all history. and what does He desire do with that total sovereignty? He wants to bless us :) cause He's a good and loving Father. let's look at the next sentence:
6c (still God talking) To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
He's going to bless His loyal followers, His family, without measure. The sovereign God of all history rewards those who participate in creation the way he designed - love, justice, goodness, fellowship, serving God...
The water of Life is present and the sea is absent.
the water of life is explained in Isaiah 49:10 "they will not hunger or thirst... He will guide them to springs of living water" and Isaiah 55 "everyone who thirsts come to the waters..."
some ppl say this water of life literally is the Holy Spirit - it flows from the throne, it heals, it spiritually nourishes. other people say it's a picture of eternal life in His presence. God supplies it, but we gotta choose to accept - He can lead us to His living water, but He cant make us drink. but its our source of life forever if we do. talk about better than the fountain of youth!
in the gospel written by John, chap 4, a woman at a well gets into a conv w Jesus and He tells her "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I (there He goes claiming to be God again) give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life”
Jesus offers the woman eternal life. Showing that Jesus is clearly God in a bod or else He wouldnt presume to do that.
7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
Remember that one of the main purposes of Revelation is to encourage persecuted Christians to stay faithful to Jesus. overcomers - those who are victorious - are those who refuse to compromise their faith. even if that gets them killed. all the promises made in the letters of chapters 2 and 3 are now fulfilled in the new Jerusalem: the tree of life, participation in the renewed city, Gods is name written on us, our name is written in the life book, a white stone, bright white garments, life forever, reigning with Christ.
the phrase "I will be their God and they will be my children" is also a hyperlink back to the OT; its originally a messianic promise for the line if David (2 sam 7, psalm 89), but now God's offering it to His children - we inherit what Christ inherits. that is wild.
8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
The sovereign God of all history punishes those who dont participate in creation the way he designed.
this list starts off with cowards - who are the cowards? some say its fake Christians - or some say its specifically ppl who say they follow Jesus but dont withstand the persecution. lthose who started following Jesus and then let the empire persecute and scare it out of them. others say it's those who fear the beast and dont follow Jesus at all. those who see injustice and evil happening to the innocent and dont attempt to do anything. we know some of the audience listening to the letters to the churches as the pressure was being applied in their life and community. John is saying, what you really dont want is to be excluded from Gods presence in the end. like the sorcerers and idolators. the thing you learn about God's character and heart throughout scripture is - God wants everyone to come towards Him and accept the gift and be in His presence and blessing forever ... but some people dont choose that way. if you're not buried with Christ in baptism into faith in Him, then you're not raised to newness of life to exist within this coming new heaven and earth.
(then on the next one or two episodes we'll examine 21:9 - 22:5 which are verses that primarily recapitulate this chunk we just studied, and it'll explain how the church is going to be perfected. the beginning chapters of rev pointed out weaknesses and imperfections in the early church, and the last couple chapters are showing the church in its completed, perfected state)