Reading through the Bible in one Year: Lamentations 1-5

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

I read through the chapter this morning and could not see how to split the chapter in three pieces.  I chose to cover the whole chapter today so that we could see what God has in store for the believers.  When you read through the verses in this chapter, try to picture in your mind the magnificent glory that God has prepared for His children. 

Revelation 21:1-9 (NASB95)
¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, ⁴ and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” ⁵ And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” ⁶ Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. ⁷ “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. ⁸ “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” ⁹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”^[1]

This marks the beginning of the new Heaven and new earth.  Notice that this is not going to take place on the earth as we know it, because the earth will pass away.  This is after the thousand year reign of Christ.  God will literally re-create the earth, and will change it drastically.  According to this passage, the new earth will be the dwelling place of all the believers that have been saved through Christ.  Notice the contrast in verse 8 where the ones who were judged will not be allowed to participate in the new heaven, they will be burning in the lake of fire as we found out at the end of the last chapter.

Isaiah 65:16-19 (NASB95)
¹⁶ “Because he who is blessed in the earth Will be blessed by the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Will swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My sight! ¹⁷ “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. ¹⁸ “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness. ¹⁹ “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.

Isaiah 66:22 (NASB95)
²² “For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “So your offspring and your name will endure. ^[2]

The discussion of the New heaven and new earth is not exclusive to Revelation, it is a part of the Jewish theology from the Old Testament.  The tabernacle of god dwelling among the people was what was intended from the beginning.  Consider that God had traveled among the garden with Adam and Eve, He wanted to dwell with man and to have fellowship with him.  It is interesting that the New heaven and New earth includes the fellowship of God and man. 

Revelation 21:9-21 (NASB95)
⁹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹ having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. ¹² It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. ¹³ There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. ¹⁴ And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. ¹⁵ The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. ¹⁶ The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. ¹⁷ And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. ¹⁸ The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. ¹⁹ The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; ²⁰ the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. ²¹ And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

John 14:1-3 (NASB95)
¹ “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. ² “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. ³ “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

^[3]

The description of the New Jerusalem is beyond our wildest dreams.  One other thing that I would like to point out on this is that the New Jerusalem is a real place, it isn't hovering over the earth during the Millennium, it has been created in Heaven and delivered to the earth.  Remember Jesus promised that He was going to heaven to prepare a place for us.  This may be the place.   This city is the only thing that bears resemblance with the old earth because it symbolizes the salvation story.  The symbols in it honor the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. 

Revelation 21:22-27 (NASB95)
²² I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵ In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; ²⁶ and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; ²⁷ and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.^[4]

Notice also that this city is totally illuminated by God.  Everyone who dwells there will be clean, the focus on this chapter is that everyone who dwells here has their names written in the book of life.  If you want a picture of what heaven is like, God has given us one.  He has already constructed the dwelling places for His people in heaven and when the new earth is created, He will lower that city to the ground to be inhabited by His sons.

Consider also that there will not be a need for a temple in the city because Jesus has completed the sacrifice for man once for all.  When this city comes into being, the salvation story will have ended, all believers who have their names written in the book of Life will dwell there.  There will no longer be a need for a temple where intercession will be made for man. 

Father, as we look at the tremendous prophecy concerning the New heaven and new earth, give each of us hope as we look forward to it.  Place with us a burning desire to lead others to the cross so that they can also be a part of your magnificent kingdom.

In Him,

Joe Turner.