Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Revelation 21



"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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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,

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

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:

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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;

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

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.

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

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.

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 honour into it.

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

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

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."

5 comments:

Dr. Russell Norman Murray said...

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth...

Things will be much better.

Thanks for the Satanism information.

Dr. Russell Norman Murray said...

Ronald McJoker returns.:)

But what will Robert think?

Jeff said...

I found this, which is interesting:

"Different views in the Church on the interpretation of the book of Revelation:

1. Preterist The judgments in the book already happen at or before 70 AD. The book was written prior to 70 AD to comfort Christians persecuted by Jews and by others. This view claims the Church has been reigning on earth in the kingdom since Pentecost. The world according to the preterist will become progressively more and more Christian and will get better and better. The Church is true Israel.

2. Idealist - The book contains mostly figurative symbolism and metaphors about the spiritual battle between good and evil. There is no future physical fulfillment of the judgments in Revelation on earth. The Church is true Israel or replaces Israel and inherits all promises to divorced natural Israel.

3. Historical - The events in Revelation unfold through history - the papal system fulfills the role of the Antichrist. The Church fulfills all promises given to Israel.

4. Futurist - Most of the prophecies in Revelation have a future fulfillment. Christ will come again and set up His kingdom on earth from Jerusalem for a thousand years and the establishment of this kingdom will fulfill all promises given to natural Israel.

Within the Futurist camp, there are two main sub-divisions:

A. Post-tribulation removal of the Church - The Judgments in Revelation are literal events on earth but the Church will go through most or all of this time of trouble.

B. Pre-tribulation removal of the Church - The true Church will be removed at the rapture prior to the judgments described in Revelation but many will find salvation afterward during the time known as the tribulation on the earth.

Within the pre-tribulation view, there are two schools of thought:

a. Classical Dispensationalism - There will be a literal normal fulfillment of the things written in the book. The Church does not replace Israel and is distinct from Israel. Most see prophetic fulfillment in the return of Jews to the land of Israel.

b. Progressive Dispensationalism - There is a past and future literal fulfillment of prophetic scripture to the natural descendants of Israel. Most also claim spiritual fulfillment of some prophetic scripture to the Church "the Israel of God". Some claim the seal judgments had partial fulfillment in 70 A.D. However, many that do, claim there will be a more complete or progressive fulfillment of these prophecies in the future. Most progressive dispensationalists see no prophetic significance to the new nation of Israel and the return of the Jews to the land. Most believe God is not fulfilling and will not fulfill any unfulfilled prophecy to the descendants of Israel until they repent in the tribulation and accept their Messiah. The progressive dispensationalist viewpoint varies quite a bit. It attempts to bridge theologies on eschatology and is becoming the prevalent view taught in most evangelical seminaries."

from:
http://www.thepropheticyears.com/The%20book%20of%20Revelation/Introduction.HTM

Dr. Russell Norman Murray said...

When I taught this topic at seminary my advisor pointed out that there are very few scholars in regard to eschatology. Sadly a lot of the writers on the subject are not scholars.

Jeff said...

You taught that at seminary? Cool!

I can believe that there are very few scholars. One of the reasons I never studied Revelation as deeply as other books is because so many false interpretations have already been made, that I think few, if any, really know what they're talking about.