Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, March 28th, 2024
Maundy Thursday
There are 3 days til Easter!
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Bible Commentaries
Revelation 21

Newell's Commentary on Romans, Hebrews and RevelationNewell's Commentary

Search for…
Enter query below:
Additional Authors

Verses 1-6

The New Creation

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God; and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away. And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true. And he said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

Three great passages, Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:10-13 and the present Revelation passage, deal with this stupendous subject, the new creation. The definite and repeated statements that the old earth and heaven "flee away," "pass away with a great noise," and are "burned up"; together with the statement that "there was found no place for them," compel the conclusion that those who argue that these words indicate only a "cleansing by fire" and not actual eternal dissolution and disappearance, shrink from the searching realities of this subject. The word "create" is a solemn word to modify or trifle with! We know that create in Genesis 1:1 cannot mean anything but the calling into existence of that which did not before have being (Hebrews 11:3). And certainly Revelation 21:1 is just as new a beginning! [The searching words of Govett need to be weighed here: "Many will not accept the Scripture doctrine of utter destruction of the old globe. What the reason is, is perhaps hard to say, but most will with earnestness contend that the fire will only purge the world, not destroy it. Perhaps this is owing to the felt connection between the entire destruction of man’s abode and the eternal suffering of the wicked. With some it arises from fancied scientific reasons: ‘matter cannot be annihilated.’ True, man cannot annihilate it, but cannot God? Did He not bring it into existence out of nothing? Can He not hurl it again into nothingness? This answer often brings out into view the fact that many do not believe in creation; they believe that God did not make all things out of nought. He only ‘framed them out of pre-existent matter.’ Such are indeed consistent: but they are opposed to the glory of God and to the testimony of His Word. Moreover, the apostle argues that the prophecy in Haggai foretells the final shaking of heaven and earth preparatory to their entire removal; in order that the new creation may supersede them (Hebrews 12:26-28).

"If any further proof were needed, the words of the passage in Revelation 20:11 are evidently designed to furnish it. The result of the passing away of the heaven and earth is that, ‘there was found no place for them.’ How this can consist with their atoms being remolded and constituting the place in which the redeemer shall live, would puzzle the acutest to discover."]

The words, "Behold, I make all things new" must be taken literally. It is not that things are "changed" or "purified." The very laws of material being must be included in the new creation. Our Lord entered and stood in the midst, "the doors being shut," and said, "Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having." And our bodies are to be like unto His. In Isaiah 65:17 God says, "I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." In the more than one hundred and twenty Bible occurrences of the word "create" or its cognates, I can find no hint of any meaning except origination of things. There is no thought of a former creation, changed or cleansed.

Furthermore, this Revelation 21:1 plainly discriminates the two creations, in that one must pass away before the other appears.

The matter thus lay also in the mind of our blessed Lord who said: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away." To one of the simplicity of a child, all these Scriptures convey nothing else than the complete disappearance of a former creation and the appearing by the Word of God of a material creation absolutely new. Even the resurrection of the body does not prove the eternal existence of matter already created. We read, "That which thou thyself sowest is not quickened except it die: and — thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain — but God giveth it a body even as it pleased him." The former grain was gone and dead. The germ of life (a profound and undying mystery!) sprang up.

It is certain that the redeemed will retain and possess forever the memory of that former sinful state in the first Adam out of which God in grace redeemed them; but that is no argument for the perpetuation of the old Adam-rather the opposite!

For this is the great mystery of the cross: that there God secured the transference righteously of His saints from that Adam in which they were born into the Last Adam and the new creation. Their guilt was put away, and they being identified with Christ, died with Him and thus were brought to an end as to their history in Adam the first.

Then God, having raised up Christ as the "first born from the dead," "made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with him."

Now before this history, we are called "separate from Christ, having no hope," etc. But God now says concerning us we are "God’s workmanship, CREATED in Christ Jesus"!

That which is now true of us as spirits (for that which is born of the Spirit is spirit) will, when Christ comes, become true of us as to our bodies.

The fact that our Lord passed through doors, though in a body of "flesh and bones," reveals that He was in that realm where all things are new, even the laws of existence and substance, as well as of action.

We dwell on these things because this hanging on to the old creation, admitting only that it is to be "cleansed by fire"; this claiming that "pass away" does not mean disappear, but merely be "changed," and that God’s statement that the "earth and the works that are therein" will be burned up does not carry its simple and full meaning, but means only the clearing off the earth of its present order, the marks of sin, etc.,-all this we cannot but associate with the desperate effort of the legalists to hold on to Moses. They will, for instance, acknowledge justification by faith; but they must have the law as the "rule of life." In other words, they will not consent to Calvary’s being the end of their history; with only Christ to stand in and to glory in forever. Like Agag, they come whining, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."

But we cannot but feel the power of the words, "I create new heavens and a new earth"!

Creation unto new creation becomes thus the phrase that spans the Bible.

The first creation was the sphere and scene of what God calls "the first things." Sin, beginning in heaven and with the highest of the creatures, challenging the will of the Creator as the creature’s highest good, came in to mar, ruin, and wreck the first creation. Now comes at last, based upon Christ and His work, a wholly new creation which will never pass away, and in which the apostle Peter announces that "righteousness will be at home" (2 Peter 3:13, Greek). Even the temptation to evil will be eternally absent, for every opportunity of rebellion against the rule of the Most High will have been thwarted, every such rebellion having been proved by experiment disastrous to the creature, as well as dishonoring to the Creator.

Verses 7-8

The Two Final Classes

He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.

While those who chose darkness and evil deeds are indeed seen in this final state, it is as eternally separated from holy beings, and under divine indignation (Revelation 21:8). There is no longer any danger of invasion, either from former evil, or from temptation or trial in any sense whatever to God’s holy ones. Not only is evil no longer triumphant, as at present, and in the days of Antichrist, and even, though checked, during the thousand years’ reign; but there is complete, deep, final rest from it! And will not that be a glad day!

And, be it noted, the only two classes seen in this final eternal order are those who overcome, and those cast into the lake of fire. The "overcomers," thus, are shown to be all God’s true children. For all had the divine gift of faith, all were begotten of God. So we read in 1 John 5:4: "Whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith."

Verses 9-16

The New Jerusalem

And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were laden with the seven last plagues; and he spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. 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, having the glory of God: her light was like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal: having a wall great and high; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: on the east were three gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he that spake with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs: the length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal.

1. It is a literal city, the materials, dimensions, appearance, appointments, inhabitants, divine glory and indwelling, and eternity of which are all distinctly declared.

2. It descends from God out of heaven. It is that better country and heavenly for which Abraham and the patriarchs looked. It is that place prepared for God’s saints. "He hath prepared for them a city" (Hebrews 11:16).

3. It will be peculiarly the home of the Church, the Lamb’s wife (Ephesians 5:27-32); others will be there, and many will have access (Revelation 21:24-26); but the Church will be as the wife in the home.

4. It will be vast indeed: a cube of at least fifteen hundred miles each way (Revelation 21:16). Much, indeed all, of our conception of that city must be in the realm of faith-along with that of our father Abraham, who "looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose architect and maker is God."

5. It will be lighted directly by the presence and effulgence of God. This is thrice stated:

a. In Revelation 21:11, the city has "the glory of God" with a light (or luminary) in consequence "like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone clear as crystal";-this is its effulgence-its appearance from without.

b. Revelation 21:23 -"no need of sun, neither of the moon — for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb." We are here within the city, walking "in the light of God," constantly conscious that Christ is the channel of all blessing to us. That the Lamb is the lamp is the secret and the source of the unspeakable blessedness of those who walk there! What a sense of redeemed ness; of being beloved even as Christ, and of fathomless depths of eternal security!

c. Revelation 22:5 -"night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign unto the ages of the ages." Note three elements here:

1. No more dependence on creature or mediate light.

2. The immediate light constantly from God, Himself.

3. Their "reigning" thus forever! That "reigning in life," which began when they first believed (Romans 5:17) is now at last consummated; and is eternally perpetuated.

Verses 17-27

And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. And the building of the wall thereof was jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto pure glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the several gates was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof. And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb. And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there shall be no night there): and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it: and there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie: but only they that are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

1. It will be a new city-corresponding with a new heaven and a new earth. Many have taught that during the thousand years it will be suspended over the earth. Many hold also that Revelation 21:8 is the end of the progress of the Book; while 21:9 on through Revelation 22:5 turns us back to millennial times. They compare this passage with Revelation 17:18, which describes in greater detail the character and overthrow of Babylon the great, although that overthrow really occurred in the preceding Revelation 16:19.

Those who hold that Revelation 21:1-8 describes the eternal state while Revelation 21:9-27; Revelation 22:1-5 reverts to millennial times, because we read in Revelation 21:24-26 that "the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof" the kings of the earth bringing "the honor of the nations into it"-seem to overlook several important points:

a. In Revelation 21:3, where we read that the tabernacle of God is at last "with men," we also read that "they shall be his peoples" (Greek laoi). It is amazing to find discerning men apparently almost willfully translating the plural laoi, as if it were loos. Alford reads, "‘they shall be his people’: plural, because as in Revelation 21:24, many nations shall now partake in the blessed fulfillment of the promise." But for this very reason he should have translated laoi, "peoples," faithfully, that is, literally: "peoples," not "people" Seiss, even in his "revised text," reads, "God shall tabernacle with the men, or mankind (?) and they shall be his people" etc. The Revised Version, which so many affect to despise, translates truly and plainly, "They shall be his peoples," and thus prepares us to avoid the impossible assumption that Revelation 21:9 to Revelation 22:5 is a passage that reverts to millennial scenes.

b. We know positively that at least one nation and one seed, ISRAEL, will belong upon the new earth. In Isaiah 66:22 we read, "As the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain." This is eternity for national Israel, and no escaping it! Because Isaiah 65:17-18, which belongs to the new creation, has been confused with the millennial Revelation 21:20-25 men have rushed to the conclusion that all that Isaiah says concerning the new creation is millennial. But God says Israel’s "seed and name" shall remain, in the new heavens and earth, that is, in that new order beginning in Revelation 21:1. But in this new order, we are distinctly told "death shall be no more," whereas, in Isaiah 65:20, "the child shall die a hundred years old."

Now, Israel is God’s elect nation-elect not for the past, or even through the millennial age, but forever. Yet, if Israel be the elect nation, the existence of other nations is presupposed! You reply, "Were not nations the result of God’s judgment at Babel?" They were, doubtless. But God, when He acts in grace, is evermore bringing good out of man’s evil! When Adam sinned, Christ, as the Seed of the woman, was first announced. When Israel asked for a king, God, after Saul’s rejection, brought in David, in whom He lodged the royal Messianic counsels for all time to come. When Israel crucified their Messiah-the highest act of sin-God brought forth "abundance of grace" through Him who "tasted death for every man."

At Pentecost, salvation was announced to every nation in its own tongue. Grace came to the nations without destroying or changing national existence, or even national individuality.

The prophet Zephaniah (Zephaniah 3:9) indeed tells us of a coming day, when, saith Jehovah, "I will turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one consent." The word "language" here is in Hebrew lip, as it is in Genesis 11:1. But that national existence will not cease, is shown clearly by Zephaniah 3:20 of the same chapter: "At that time will I bring you (Israel) in, and at that time will I gather you; for I will make you a name and a praise among all the peoples (plural!) of the earth."

Bibliographical Information
Newell, William. "Commentary on Revelation 21". Newell's Commentary on Romans, Hebrews and Revelation. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/wnc/revelation-21.html. 1938.
adsFree icon
Ads FreeProfile