REVELATION 21
The Lamb’s Wife, A Home for God

The great White Throne Judgment has now been completed. While the White Throne Judgment was in progress, the old heavens and old earth were being dissolved by fire, along with all of the unrighteous works of the saints, just as Peter said they would be in 2 Peter 10-13.

2 Peter 3:10-13

10 But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

When Peter speaks of the Day of the Lord, he is speaking of the entire time from the Rapture of the Church and the wrath that follows, all the way to the end of the Millennial Reign, including the White Throne Judgment. That is over a thousand years of time as opposed to about a seven-year period that most Scripture is referring to when it mentions the Day of the Lord. The explanation for that is contained in the verses that precede that statement. This is where Peter makes his famous statement about a thousand years being like a single day to the Lord.

2 Peter 3:7-9

7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Notice that there is no more sea after the earth has been renewed. God used the seas to divide the nations at the time that he confused their language at Babel as stated in Genesis 10:25, “And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided.” After the earth is renewed, the bride, which is the holy city of New Jerusalem, is going to come down from heaven to the new earth.

Revelation 21:1-8

1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

2 And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6 And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

The following is a description of the bride of the Lamb. Notice that a real literal heavenly city is being described and not the Church or body of Christ. The most amazing things about this city are that it is the dwelling place of God and the fact that He is now bringing it down to the earth so that He may dwell in the city with the Lamb and the redeemed of the Lord on the earth as they all live and reign happily ever after. Also, despite the overwhelming beauty and comeliness of the city, Revelation 19:8 pointed out that it is “clothed with a white garment which is the righteousness of the saints.” Once again. that shows how important God’s redeemed children are to Him and how highly He esteems them. It is also interesting to note that the city is lighted entirely by the glory of God. If you contrast this to Babylon, which God calls a whore and the mother of other harlot cities, it should be clear that He is definitely speaking of real cities.

Revelation 21:9-15

9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

12 And had a wall great and high, and had 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:

13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

There are a few things about the New Jerusalem that deserve mentioning. First is the sheer size of it. A furlong is one-eighth of a mile so the measurement of 12,000 furlongs would equal 1500 miles square and 1500 miles high. The outer wall that surrounds the city is measured in cubits, which are about 18 inches long. That would make the wall about 216 feet high. The city of God could be a perfect cube shape, but it has been suggested that it may be a pyramid. The measurements would accommodate either shape. If it is a pyramid, that would explain why so many ancient structures that dealt with worship and the afterlife were pyramid shaped. The blueprints were simply downloaded from heaven. We’ll have to wait and see, but it seems logical to build such a huge structure as a pyramid; otherwise, we’ll be looking at walls that go straight up for 1500 miles. If the city of God is a pyramid, He will no doubt be seated at the very pinnacle with Jesus, the chief cornerstone, seated at His side, with the light of their glory flowing down and bathing the city and the world around it. With transparent streets of gold, the light of their glory will be able to filter down to every level of the city.

Secondly, and more importantly, we want to notice that everything is done in twelves. Twelve gates, twelve foundations, twelve thousand furlongs and even the walls are twelve times twelve cubits. It seems that even though the city is lit by the glory of God, He wants to share His glory with His redeemed, which is what all these twelves represent as witnessed by the names of the twelve apostles written in the twelve foundations in Verse 14. The number twelve is repeatedly used in regards to the redeemed—12 tribes, 12 apostles, 12x12,000=144,000 sealed Israelites, etc. What a God! He does it all for us, and then He shares the glory. Incidentally, this may provide a clue to the number of the beast, which is made up of three sixes, which are half of twelve and the number of an unredeemed man.

Revelation 21:16-27

16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it.

25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

26 And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

We looked at Isaiah 13 and 14 earlier without mentioning the first couple of verses from Isaiah 14. At first glance, it may appear that they are speaking only of the time after the rebirth of Israel and before the end times begin, but from the rest of Scripture, we know that only part of the following verses are related to this present time. In Verses 1 and 2, we are told that strangers will bring the Jews back to their place. God has already begun bringing the Israelites back into their land, and He is using everybody and every means at His disposal to accomplish that task. In Verse 3, God declares that He will give them rest from their sorrows and fears. That will be partially fulfilled as many of the Jews take a second look at Jesus and discover that He is indeed their Messiah. However, Verse 3 is also speaking of the Millennium and perhaps beyond when Israel becomes the capitol of the world and the 24 elders and 144,000 chosen saints of Israel serve as governing ministers of Jesus Christ. Israel will at least begin to see the fulfillment of these prophecies as the Millennium begins with Satan being cast into the bottomless pit. But the complete fulfillment will not come until after the Millennium when he is discarded in the Lake of Fire. That brings us to Verse 4 where the downfall of Satan begins with the fall of His golden city—Mystery Babylon.

Isaiah 14:1-4

1 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

2 And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,

4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

In previous chapters of Revelation, we saw Satan’s place in heaven eliminated as he, himself, was being cast out. Then we saw the City of Babylon on earth fall. After that, Jesus descended from heaven with His elect to take over the earth to reign from the land of Israel. In this chapter, we see New Jerusalem descend to the land of Israel to be the everlasting home of God and His elect. All of these things must take place before the remainder of Isaiah 14 can be completely fulfilled.

Isaiah 60 has been thought by many to be a pre-millennial prophecy from God promising a golden age to Israel during this age of grace. In other words, if we all pray real hard for the peace of Jerusalem then all the heathen nations are going to favor Israel and bless her with all of their abundance, and Israel will be the pearl of everyone’s eye. There may be a little bit of truth to that concerning some of the peoples and nations of the earth, but Israel is never going to experience the fullness of what God is promising here until after Jesus returns at Armageddon to take the kingdom. Isaiah 60 is simply stating the same thing that Isaiah 14 was saying but in a greatly expanded manner. Revelation 21:23-27, which we just read, actually draws from and paraphrases the earlier prophecy of Isaiah 60. After reading Isaiah 60, reread those five verses from Revelation to see just how strikingly similar they are.

Isaiah 60:1-22

1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.

3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.

7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on Mine altar, and I will glorify the house of My glory.

8 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?

9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because He hath glorified thee.

10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in My wrath I smote thee, but in My favor have I had mercy on thee.

11 Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought.

12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

13 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious.

14 The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

15 Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.

16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

17 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.

18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.

19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.

20 Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

21 Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified.

22 A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in His time.

Think about it!

­Who is the Lamb’s wife?

­Describe her features.

­Do the saints descend to earth at this time, or did they return on white horses a thousand years earlier?

­Will there still be unsaved people or nations outside of New Jerusalem?

­Is the city of God the same as the temple of God?

~Selah~Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. Revelation 3:12

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