REVELATION LESSON 52

REVELATION

LESSON 52

ARE WE LIVING IN THE END TIMES?

Revelation 21:4   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.

Wiping all tears from their eyes means that the normal reaction of the present life of sorrows will be eliminated. For the former things shall pass away. The new creation will be much different in every way.

Revelation 21:5   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.

Following the millennium Jesus will not fix or repair this old creation. He will recreate everything. This is more than a verbal promise because he says, write, these words are true and faithful.

Revelation 21:6   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.

The new creation is inevitable because it is the spoken word of Jesus. He proved His power to create when he fashioned all things at the beginning of creation. As the alpha and Omega, he is the first and the last word in all things, all authority is his and what he declares will be done.

Revelation 21:7   ⁷ He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

In the original creation Adam was told to till the ground. He was a steward over the creation, but the overcomers will inherit the new creation. All true Christians are overcomers God is their God, they are his children and joint heirs with Jesus.

Revelation 21:8   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.

All unbelievers will be cast into the fiery lake of burning brimstone, which is the second death. The original creation was over come with sin. The earth was filled with violence and corruption. This will not happen in the new creation because the ungodly will find their place of death in the lake of fire the cowardly unbelievers, abominable murderers, sexually immoral. Those who practice sorcery, idolaters and liars.

Revelation 21:9   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.

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me saying to me come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters. The same angel came to John saying, come I will show you the bride, the Lambs wife. Both of these women represent a great city.

One of the same angels who poured out a bowl of Gods wrath is now inviting John to see Gods love for his church. A special union will exist between a bridegroom ad bride upon their marriage.

Revelation 21:10   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,

On both occasions the angel carried John away in the spirit. But there is a difference, the first time the angel took John into the wilderness, and this time the angel took John to a great high mountain. The first time John saw Babylon hurled down with violence. This time John saw the new Jerusalem descending out of heaven. How it will descend is a matter of debate, nothing is said about it coming to rest on the earth.

It may do that bit it also may remain suspended above. One thing is for sure, what goes on in the holy city will be more important than what takes place on the new earth. The holy city will be the headquarters of the new creation. John was in the spirit. It was an ecstatic spiritual state that put him close to God and made it possible for him to see visions.

Revelation 21:11   ¹¹ Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

The holy city will descend out of heaven lit with the shekinah glory of God. His light will burst forth in brilliance like the sparkle of a large jasper stone clear as crystal. Jasper is the first stone in the breast plate of the high priest. It is a symbol of purity and holiness.

Revelation 21:12   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:

The holy city will be surrounded by a thick high wall with twelve gates. Peter won’t be standing at these gates, angels will. The name of each of one of the twelve tribes of Israel will be written on the gates.

The names of the twelve tribes of Israel will be a reminder that the messiah, the scriptures and salvation came through the Jews. Without them the holy city would not be needed and the gentiles would be without hope.

The walls of the new Jerusalem reveal that Israel and the church share equally in the inheritance of the city. The names of the twelve tribes of Israel are inscribed on it’s twelve gates. The names of the twelve apostles are on the twelve foundation stones.

Until our next lesson,

Stay in the word.

Brother Andy.