Sunday School Notes: Revelation 21:1-4
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth went away and the sea is no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending from heaven from God having been prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with man, and He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His people, and He will be with them. 4 And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, [for] the first [things] went away.”
In chapter 20 we saw the last judgment which included Satan’s demise and the final outcome of all who stand before God’s judgment seat. We now turn to the redeemed, those whose names are in the Book of Life. Remember, Revelation is a letter of hope to the church in John’s time and ours. God’s intention is to give us a glimpse of the reason why we should stand firm in the face of hostility and persecution. Why God’s people should not fear opposition or even death. What we see here is our eternal reward, albeit in figurative or symbolic language.
But is the imagery in chapter 21 only symbolic? Might it be literal? Is it possible this is what the new heavens and new earth actually look like? Since this chapter deals with things that are certainly in the future, and things of a supernatural nature, there is no way we can know with any certainty what it will be like. We are totally dependent on divine revelation for our knowledge of these things. Is it possible the “new Jerusalem” will literally descend from the heavens? Perhaps, perhaps not. Two things cause me to lean toward the “perhaps not” side. First, the meaning of “new Jerusalem” (which we will get to), but also the fact that so much of the rest of Revelation is clearly symbolic, it would be strange to suddenly switch to literal language for no apparent reason. But I leave open the possibility that I’m wrong simply because I have no way to verify one way or the other this side of the Lord’s return. In light of this, I think it’s more beneficial to focus on what these images mean, treating them as symbolic for now rather than get hung up over what glory will look like. Whether the new Jerusalem will literally float down from heaven is, I suggest, less important than what that image is saying to John, John’s audience, and us.
A New Heaven and a New Earth
Chapter 21 opens with a new vision. John sees “a new heaven and a new earth.” I’ve said before that it’s a mistake to think of John’s visions as representing a chronological sequence in real-time (e.g., the “two witnesses” vision in chapter 11 happens historically (either past or future) before the coming of the Beasts in chapter 13). There is enough overlap with the various visions that we can view many of them as different perspectives on the same thing, or a more detailed examination of prior visions (see previous notes for why I believe this to be so). John may have seen the visions in a particular sequence, but I don’t believe he saw them as a continuous historical narrative. I think of John’s visions more like snapshots of various points in history, with some shots depicting the same thing but not in any particular order of events.
With Chapter 21, however, I feel confident in saying that this vision is chronologically after Jesus has returned. This most certainly has yet to happen. The first clue to this is in the way John begins the vision: he sees a new heaven and a new earth because the first ones have gone away and the sea is no more. This is a time when the current “heaven and earth” has been replaced or superseded by a new “heaven and earth.”
I should point out here that when John speaks of “heaven and earth” here, he does not mean “heaven” as in where God dwells and we will spend eternity. The eternal state is not in need of renewal, and there is no sense in which God’s dwelling place is passing away. Rather, he’s using “heaven and earth” to refer to the totality of creation: everything that’s above us, everything that’s below us, and everything in between. When he uses “heaven” on its own, as we’ll see in verse 2, John does mean that eternal state where God is uniquely and ultimately present.
Notice that John doesn’t speak of the “old” heaven and earth, or the “former” heaven and earth, but rather the first heaven and earth. This is similar to his use of “first” and “second” to describe death and resurrection (e.g., see 20:6 and 14). As we discussed earlier, in that context “first” and “second” are not emphasizing a sequence as much as a qualitative difference. The “first resurrection” (20:5) is what believers experience at death. They are absent from the body but present with the Lord. The “second resurrection” (which isn’t mentioned by John, but is implied) is the final state when on the last day all the dead in Christ experience physical resurrection. The “first death” (again, not mentioned by John by implied) is what happens to the unbeliever at death, where they are immediately consigned to the abode of the dead (“Hades”). The “second death” is when Death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire, i.e., final, eternal punishment (20:14). If you are a part of the first resurrection, you will not be part of the second death (20:6). This should give relief and encouragement to those undergoing persecution for Christ’s sake in this age.
From this, we understand that the first heaven and earth, that is, the current heaven and earth, are temporary. They serve a purpose for a limited time and are then done; they “go away” or “pass away.” The verb John uses here, aperchomai, means “to go away” or “to leave.” Jesus uses a similar verb, parerchomai, “to pass by” or “pass away” with reference to heaven and earth in Matthew 5:18. While John has seen a lot of destruction in his visions, whether of Babylon or of mountains and stars, there is nothing here to suggest that the whole of creation will be destroyed to make way for a new one. The present heaven and earth will simply pass away having fulfilled its function as a temporary dwelling for creation. It will be replaced or reborn–perhaps, even, regenerated–into a new heaven and earth which is permanent and eternal, fit for God’s regenerated and fully sanctified people.
It’s possible this “passing away” isn’t referring to a complete physical makeover (though undoubtedly there will be physical changes) but to a fundamental change in the nature of the created order. It could be analogous to regeneration. Just as in Christ we become new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17), radically changed from the inside out, so the whole of creation will be similarly reborn. As our regeneration can have outward manifestations, so there will be physical manifestations of the essential change in the created order. While the things John sees in chapters 21 and 22 may be symbolic, they do point to a radical change in the created order out of which we would expect to see external changes. But the most important thing, as we’ll see, is the nature of that radical change.
The things John sees in this vision are a fulfillment of Isaiah 65:17-25. As with John’s vision, the physical things Isaiah describes may well be symbolic, but they point to this same radical change in the fundamental nature of the world.
John says that in his vision, “the sea is no longer,” or as the ESV renders it, “the sea is no more.” Does this mean there are no more fish or aquatic mammals in the new heaven and earth? Remember that “the sea” in Scripture can represent a place where evil resides. It’s a source of wickedness, danger, threats, and turmoil. The first Beast rises up from “the sea” in 13:1. It’s also the place where creatures like Leviathan dwell, and where violent storms wreck ships and take lives. In Revelation 4:6, John tells us that before the Lord the sea is as glass–it is tamed. So the absence of the sea in Revelation 21 signifies the fact that sin, evil, death, and calamity are no longer a part of the created order. This is the most basic change in the nature of creation, and it lays the foundation for all other changes.
The New Jerusalem
Next, John sees “the holy city, the new Jerusalem descending from heaven, from God.” In Revelation 3:12, Jesus told the church in Philadelphia that those who overcome will have the name of God and the name of God’s city, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from heaven, written on him. In other words, the overcomer will be part of that city. This “new Jerusalem” is the redeemed people of God. Isaiah 52 and 62 speak of God’s redemption of His people. John’s description of the holy city as being “prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband” echoes Isaiah 62:5. We already saw in Revelation 19:6-8 that God’s people are the bride of Christ, so this further confirms that what John sees is the church in all her sanctified glory.
The image of the holy city “descending from heaven, from God” serves to emphasize the fact that this is God’s people, transformed by God, made new by Him. This is the consummation of the church, the final fulfillment of the promises of God to His people going all the way back to Abraham, that they will be a multinational people who are eternally His (Hebrews 11:13-15). Now the church is complete in all her glory, ready to be received by Christ, her husband.
Don’t forget also that the bride-bridegroom imagery is a powerful picture of the love and intimacy that exists between God and His people. As we’ve noted before, unlike the Beast who used the Great Prostitute for its own purposes and then discarded her when she was of no further use, Christ the bridegroom loves his bride, the church, so deeply that he sacrifices his own life for her salvation.
The Tabernacle of God
John hears a voice from the throne declaring that the tabernacle of God is with man. The “throne” John refers to here is probably the same throne around which are the 24 thrones of the elders and before which is that glassy sea (4:2-6). In other words, it is the throne–the throne of God. This is not merely another angelic proclamation (as important as those angelic proclamations are), but it’s God Himself announcing that He is now tabernacling with His people.
The Greek word translated “tabernacle” is skēnē, which can also refer to a tent of some kind. This is the same word that was used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (LXX) to refer to the wilderness tabernacle that represented God’s presence with His people as they wandered the desert after the exodus. It’s also the same word Peter uses when Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus in Matthew 17 and he wants to make “tents” for them so they could all stay.
God is telling John that now God is permanently present with His people. When he says that the tabernacle of God is “with man,” he clearly doesn’t mean all men since He’s just consigned a multitude of people to the lake of fire at the end of the last chapter. The “men” or “people” with whom God has made His permanent dwelling are His people, the heaven-dwellers.
This vision could be a fulfillment of Ezekiel 37:24-28 and 43:7, understanding Jesus to be the son of David who comes as the messianic king for both Jew and Gentile. Ezekiel and his readers would have understood these passages in a messianic sense since David was long dead by the time they were written. Hebrews 11:8-10 notes that Abraham went to what would become the promised land and lived in tents, looking forward to the city built by God. Don’t forget God’s promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations (Genesis 12:2-3; 17:4-5) which demonstrates that the inclusion of the Gentiles into God’s people was not a New Testament innovation.
No More Death
The voice from the throne then declares the end of death and all the evil in the world that causes pain and suffering with the tender image of God wiping the tears from His people’s eyes. It’s difficult for us to imagine a world where there is no sin, no Satan, no misery, and no evil. We are so used to being surrounded by the effects of the Fall, as well as experiencing the Fall within our own hearts, that we can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to live in a sinless world. And yet that’s exactly what God promises us here.
Again, this proclamation is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, this time from Isaiah (25:8 and 51:10-11). In these passages, the prophet speaks of death being swallowed up forever, God wiping away tears, reproach being removed, and even the sea being dried up for the redeemed.
As I said, the image of God wiping away the tears from His people’s eyes is a tender, intimate image, like a father wiping the tears from the cheeks of his heartbroken child. In this picture, we see God’s love and care for His own in a way that’s direct. Yes, God shows His love for us through the care and compassion of other believers within the church. But here God is not using other people to comfort and bring joy, but He is acting in a way that is direct and personal. This is an image, so this is not necessarily to be taken literally, however it is a powerful image of the love God has for His people.
It’s true that not all tears are tears of pain or sorrow. Indeed, laughter, joy, celebration, excitement, and gratitude can also produce tears. I believe from the context we’re being told that those are the only tears we will experience in this fully redeemed state.
“For the first (or “former”) things have passed away”: This is the same phrase used in verse 1 with reference to the first heaven and earth. There has been a dramatic change. The first things have gone and there is now a new age, a new order, a new permanent state of affairs. The first age, order, or state of affairs is no longer relevant. It has passed out of existence.
