A new home

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

A NEW HOME

Rev 21:9-14

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.

NIV

We are now at the beginning of the description of the new city of Jerusalem. What we are seeing here is that this angel, and we have no idea why God chose to use this angel who was one of the last seven angels with the bowls full of the last plagues. We do not know which of the plagues this angel carried out so there is nothing which we can determine of the significance of this angel being the one to show John the new city. He takes him, in the spirit, which again means not in the physical, as this is a revelation, a vision, not an actual physical experience. Perhaps in the physical John is laying somewhere in his place of worship on the Lords day, being in the spirit. Nevertheless, this angel takes him to a high mountain so as to get a better unobstructed view of this city as it came down from heaven, or the sky. Knowing this city is the dwelling place of God as we already have been told, that he will dwell with his people, this city can only be the most majestic, magnificent place we will ever see. Surely, although God has dwelt with man before, in a tent with Moses, and in the Holy of Holies within the temple, both those places were, although under the direction of God, built by human hands. This city is not built by man, but by God and therefore it is going to reflect all his glory and majesty. John tells us it shone with the glory of God. He does not tell us that it is a jasper clear as crystal, but its brilliance was like a jasper. This is important, as some have been of the opinion this city is a clear cube. The dimensions we will be given will show us it is as long as it is wide and just as high. Combine with this clear as crystal image, is what drives their opinion. But, when we get to these other descriptions we will see another view of what it actually is. Another reason for it not being a cube, is this great, high wall with twelve gates. A cube would have no need of a wall. In the times of John, and in years preceding him, many cities were built with a great wall to protect them from any attacks of their enemies. We are familiar with the old city of Jerusalem as well as of those great castles in the years when kings and knights reigned over the lands. Today we have different type of defenses, except now we are seeing a great wall debate regarding our southern border. But let us focus on this great, high wall of the new city of Jerusalem that is shining with all the glory of God. This leads us to another truth, which we will also see a little later. This new earth and new universe is a completely new order. We will be told there is no night and day. There is no need of a sun or moon as God will be its light and the lamb will be its lamp. That is why this place is so full of splendor, so brilliant, so bright, because it is the dwelling place of God, built by him. We may never know exactly just how brilliant this city is until we get there, but we know it is going to be like nothing we have ever seen before. This great, high wall is so great and so high that is has twelve foundations. Just imagine how large this wall is. We build huge buildings with only one foundation, but this wall has twelve. John tells us each of them has the twelve names of the Apostles on them, which would include his. That must have been a real mind blower for him to see his name on one of the foundations of this wall that surrounds the city. This wall also has twelve gates, three on the north, three on the East, three on the South and three on the West. Each gate was named after one of the tribes of Israel.  Although the size of this city, as we will soon see, is much larger than the one Ezekiel described it still has the same twelve gates named after the twelve tribes of Israel. This has a meaning which is clear enough to us. This city is the completeness of God, all those who had faith in him in the Old Testament and all who have faith in him in the New Testament. This includes those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This city is going to be absolutely beyond our wildest dreams. Man has built some really far out structures, very imaginative in design. Some buildings are so tall, we wonder how these stand. But this city, this dwelling place of God among his people will outshine anything man could ever design and build. This is our destiny, this is our new home for all eternity. Sometimes we talk about buying a new home, about moving someplace different. This city is going to be our new home, and we cannot buy it as it is free to all those who put their faith in Jesus Christ. This our ultimate new home.