seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 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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Here's a link to the commentary I read. I left a lot of commentary out. Please follow the link and read the rest of the commentary.
I will show you the bride… showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem: Passages like this make some wonder if the New Jerusalem is a literal place at all. Some suggest that it is really just an exotic symbol of the Church, the Bride of Christ.
I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife: This heavenly city is literal, but it is called the bride, the Lamb’s wife because it is the place where all God’s people are gathered. In this sense the New Jerusalem is certainly like the bride; but this association doesn’t diminish the reality behind the image. The city is associated with the bride to awe us with a sense of its beauty.
Her light was like a most precious stone: John was first impressed by the glory of this city. She shared in the glory of God, and it was expressed in the radiant light shining from her.
She had a great and high wall: The wall was not needed for defense, because there were no more enemies. But the great and high wall gave the city definition (this is no cosmic nirvana) and shows that some will be excluded from the city (only the righteous can enter).
Twelve gates… and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: The names of the tribes on the gates communicate the unity and heritage that the people of God have with Israel. God will never forget the tribes of Israel, even unto eternity.
The city is laid out as a square: The New Jerusalem’s length, height and width are equal. This means that it is either a cube or a pyramid. A cube is reminiscent of the Holy Place of the tabernacle, suggesting that the entire city is the Holy Place.
He measured the city with the reed: The size of the New Jerusalem is enormous; twelve thousand furlongs equals 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers). This is the same distance from Maine to Florida; the square footage would approximate the size of the moon.
According to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel: In this case, the cubit measure of a man is the same as an angel’s measure of a cubit.
Like clear glass… like transparent glass: “The constant mention of transparency indicates that the city is designed to transmit the glory of God in the form of light without hindrance.” (Walvoord)
The kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it: What about these kings of the earth? Who are they? This is difficult to understand, and different commentators have different suggestions.
There shall by no means enter it anything that defiles: Does this mean that such people will threaten the city? It isn’t necessary to say that this is the idea, because all sinners and death have been cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:11-15). Instead, “The exhortation warns present readers that the only way to participate in the future city is to turn one’s loyalties to the Lamb now.” (Johnson)
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Have you ever heard the verse "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"?
Jasper is an opaque stone.... the humans, left alive on earth... will live in an opaque stone house.
Jasper is composed of silica, a byproduct of volcanic ash or sediment.
It seems to me, the humans who didn't take the mark of the beast, but didn't decide to follow Jesus in time, will live in a big cube of solid, opaque, rock!!!!
Did you see the pearly gates????
It's in verse 21.... When Jesus takes over, there won't be "one" pearly gate... there will be twelve!!!
When Jesus has finished His conquest, all the good humans will be safe on earth in a big rock cube.
Wait, is this all metaphorical for a beautiful rock tomb?
I don't see where it says those humans get to be with the rest of the humans who chose Salvation before the earth started to shift.
I don't see people like me... who have been a Child of God since 1962. This cube seems to be for the earthbound survivors of the slaughter.
Check out verse 27. No one shameful or deceitful will enter. At first, I thought this meant there would still be humans roaming the earth looking for shameful and deceitful things to do. But it's dark out there. There's no light outside of the city.
I think the meaning is... All the shameful or deceitful humans are gone.
There's no need for Peter to stand at a pearly gate.
There are no more moronic apostate humans left to try to gain entry!
By the time the cube shows up, the humans on earth will have been sorted out.
The Jasper cube will be like a biosphere where Jesus and the humans can life safely. No more tears, no more sorrow, no more politicians, no more fakes!
So... These verses are about a city in a cube and pearly gates!
So... For those of you who didn't know for sure.... yes, there are pearly gates in the Bible.
If you're going to reside in heaven... you best get your poop straight before the earth starts shape-shifting... or you'll be stuck in a cube for eternity!
Here's your pearly gates!
