THE NEW JERUSALEM
Revelation 21:9-27
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. (22)
chapter 21
9. One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."
10. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
11. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
12. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
13. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west.
14. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15. The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls.
16. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long.
17. The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick.
18. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.
19. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,
20. the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.
21. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
22. I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
24. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.
25. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.
26. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.
27. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
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1. One of the angels carried John away and showed him a vision of the bride of the Lamb, which is the New Jerusalem. The majesty and beauty of the New Jerusalem will dwarf the dazzling beauty of the old temple. That’s because the glory of God will shine in and through this temple. John tries to describe it but can only do it in human terms. There were twelve gates with twelve angels at them. The gates were inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes. The city was filled with many precious gems of all kinds, and the streets were paved with gold, so pure it was as transparent as glass.
2. In the New Jerusalem there will be no physical temple building. This is because the Lord God Almighty and Christ Jesus will be the temple. There will also be no sun or moon, for the glory of God will be the light for the New Jerusalem, and Christ Jesus will be its lamp. There will be no darkness. There will be no danger, so the gates of the city will always remain open. All who enter into the city will be those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Prayer: Father, thank you for the salvation that comes through Jesus, the Lamb of God. Thank you for his blood shed on the cross for us. Make us clean and pure that we may enter the New Jerusalem.
One Word: The Lord and the Lamb are the temple in the New Jerusalem