Heaven (Part 32) – New Jerusalem (Part B)

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What will the New Jerusalem be like (Part B)?

1. The new Jerusalem is the tabernacle of God (Rev 21:3).
   1. Tabernacle n. – 1. A temporary dwelling; generally movable, constructed of branches, boards, or canvas; a hut, tent, booth. fig. In phraseology chiefly of biblical origin: A dwelling-place.  a. spec. The dwelling-place of Jehovah, or of God.  b. gen. A dwelling-place, a dwelling, a place of abode.
   2. God will dwell with men and be with them in the new Jerusalem.
   3. It will be a place of complete happiness with no tears, crying, sorrow, pain, or death (Rev 21:4; Isa 25:8; Isa 65:19).

1. New Jerusalem is filled with the glory of God (Rev 21:10-11).
   1. Glory n. – 1. subjectively. The disposition to claim honour for oneself; boastful spirit. Obs. exc. in the combination vainglory. 2. objectively.  a. Exalted (and, in mod. use, merited) praise, honour, or admiration accorded by common consent to a person or thing; honourable fame, renown.  b. the glory of God: the honour of God, considered as the final cause of creation, and as the highest moral aim of intelligent creatures.  5. In Biblical phraseology: the glory of God: the majesty and splendour attendant upon a manifestation of God.  6. Resplendent beauty or magnificence. Now often with suggestion of sense 5 or 7: An effulgence of light such as is associated with our conceptions of heaven; fig. an unearthly beauty attributed by imagination. Also pl., features of resplendent beauty or magnificence, splendours.  7. a. The splendour and bliss of heaven.
      1. Resplendent adj. – Shining, brilliant, splendid.
      2. Magnificence – 1. As the name of one of the ‘moral virtues’ recognized in Aristotelian and scholastic ethics; rendering Gr. lecakopqŒpeia, explained by Aristotle to mean liberality of expenditure combined with good taste. 2. Sovereign bounty or munificence.  3. Glory; greatness of nature or reputation.  5. Grandeur or imposing beauty of appearance.
      3. Effulgence – The quality of being effulgent, splendid radiance. lit. and fig.
      4. Effulgent adj. – Shining forth brilliantly; sending forth intense light; resplendent, radiant.
   2. New Jerusalem will be shining, brilliant, and full of splendid radiance.
   3. The city is so bright because of the glory of God within it that it has no need of the sun (Rev 21:23).
   4. Being illuminated by God’s glory, there is no need of artificial light, nor is there any night in the city (Rev 22:5).

1. The light of the city is like unto a most precious jasper stone which is clear as crystal (Rev 21:11).
   1. Jasper – 1. A kind of precious stone. a. As rendering of Gr. °arpi| or L. iaspis, name among the ancients for any bright-coloured chalcedony except carnelian, the most esteemed being of a green colour.  b. In modern use, an opaque cryptocrystalline variety of quartz, of various colours, usually red, yellow, or brown, due mostly to the admixture of iron oxide.
   2. Chalcedony n. – A precious (or semi-precious) stone, which in its various tints is largely used in lapidary work: a cryptocrystalline sub-species of quartz (a true quartz, with some disseminated opal-quartz), having the lustre nearly of wax, and being either transparent or translucent.
   3. New Jerusalem will be filled with brilliantly colorful light.
   4. It will be as clear as crystal with no imperfections in it (Rev 21:11b).

1. New Jerusalem has a great, high wall surrounding it with twelve gates for entry (Rev 21:12).
   1. The wall measures 144 cubits (Rev 21:17).
      1. I assume this is a measurement of the height of the wall, though it is not stated.
      2. Cubit n. – 1. The part of the arm from the elbow downward; the forearm. 2. An ancient measure of length derived from the forearm; varying at different times and places, but usually about 18–22 inches.
      3. Using an 18 inch cubit, the wall would be 216 ft.
      4. Using a 22 inch cubit, the wall would be 264 ft.
      5. That’s a lofty wall.
   2. The wall is built of jasper (Rev 21:18).
      1. See the definition of jasper
      2. Jasper is a most precious stone (Rev 21:11).
   3. There is an angel guarding each gate (Rev 21:12b).

1. The names of the twelve tribes of Israel are written on the gates (Rev 21:12c).
   1. The gates are made for the Israel of God (Gal 6:16), who are His elect (Isa 45:4; Isa 65:9), to enter the city.
   2. It was also prophesied by Ezekiel that the city would have twelve gates named after the twelve tribes of Israel (Eze 48:30-35).
2. The walls of Jerusalem represent salvation and her gates praise (Isa 60:18).
3. There are three gates on each of the four sides of the city (Rev 21:13).
   1. The gates on each side allow for God’s elect out of every nation (Rev 5:9) from the four winds of the earth (Mat 24:31) to enter the city.
   2. The nations from all over the new earth will bring their glory into the city (Rev 21:24).
   3. The 12 gates are each made of a pearl (Rev 21:21a).
      • Pearl n. – 1. a. A nacreous concretion formed within the shell of various bivalve molluscs around some foreign body (e.g. a grain of sand), composed of filmy layers of carbonate of lime interstratified with animal membrane; it is of hard smooth texture, of globular, pear-shaped, oval, or irregular form, and of various colours, usually white or bluish-grey; often having a beautiful lustre, and hence highly prized as a gem; formerly also used in medicine.
      • This is why people commonly refer to the “pearly gates” of heaven.
        1. Pearls are very precious, and a pearl of great price is worth selling all one has to obtain it (Mat 13:45-46).
        2. The pearly gates signify that heaven is a place of unmatched beauty and value.
      • Satan has tried to mimic heaven with his church buildings which are adorned with pearls and precious stones (Rev 17:4; Rev 18:16).

• The wall of new Jerusalem has twelve foundations (Rev 21:14).
  1. The names of the twelve apostles are written on the foundations (Rev 21:14b).
  2. The city, which houses the church of Christ, is built on the foundation of the apostles, just as the church is (Eph 2:20).
  3. The foundations of the wall are garnished with all manner of precious stones (Rev 21:19).
  4. The 12 foundations are made of the following precious stones (Rev 21:19-20):
     • The first is jasper (v. 19).
       1. See the definition of jasper
       2. Jasper is a most precious stone and represents the glory of God (Rev 21:11).
       3. Jesus Christ on His throne in heaven looks like jasper (Rev 4:3).
     • The second is sapphire (v. 19).
       1. Sapphire n. – 1. a. A precious stone of a beautiful transparent blue. It is a variety of native alumina akin to the ruby.
       2. Moses, Aaron, his sons, and 70 of the elders of Israel saw a vision of God standing on a paved work of sapphire stone (Exo 24:9-10).
     • The third is chalcedony (v. 19).
       1. See the definition of chalcedony
     • The fourth is emerald (v. 19).
       1. Emerald n. – 1. A precious stone of bright green colour; in mod. use exclusively applied to a variety of the Beryl species (see beryl n. 2), found chiefly in S. America, Siberia, and India.
       2. There is a rainbow round about Jesus Christ’s throne in heaven which looks like an emerald (Rev 4:3).
     • The fifth is sardonyx (v. 20).
       1. Sardonyx n. – A variety of onyx or stratified chalcedony having white layers alternating with one or more strata of sard.
       2. Onyx n. – 1. A variety of quartz allied to agate, consisting of plane layers of different colours: much used for cameos.
       3. Sard n. – A variety of cornelian, varying in colour from pale golden yellow to reddish orange.
     • The sixth is sardius (v. 20).
       1. Sardius n. – A precious stone mentioned by ancient writers; see sard1 (Chiefly in translations of or allusions to the Bible or classical writers.)
     • The seventh is chrysolite (v. 20).
       1. Chrysolite n. – A name formerly given to several different gems of a green colour, such as zircon, tourmaline, topaz, and apatite. Since about 1790 restricted to the precious olivine, a silicate of magnesia and iron found in lava. Its colour varies from pale yellowish-green (the precious stone) to dark bottle-green.
     • The eighth is beryl (v. 20).
       1. Beryl n. – 1. a. A transparent precious stone of a pale-green colour passing into light-blue, yellow, and white; distinguished only by colour from the more precious emerald. When of pale bluish green it is called an aquamarine; its yellow or yellowish varieties are the chrysoberyl, and, perhaps, the chrysoprase, and chrysolite of the ancients.
       2. Daniel saw a vision of God whose body had the appearance of beryl (Dan 10:6).
     • The ninth is topaz (v. 20).
       1. Topaz n. – 1. The name given (with or without distinguishing adjunct) to several highly valued precious stones. According to King, Antique Gems 26, given by the Greeks and Romans to the yellow or oriental topaz, a yellow sapphire or corundum; by Pliny, also to the modern chrysolite.  b. In modern use (true or occidental topaz), a fluo-silicate of aluminium, usually in prismatic crystals, transparent and lustrous, yellow, white, pale blue, or pale green, found in Brazil, Mexico, Saxony, Scotland, the Ural Mountains, etc.
       2. Topaz is a very valuable stone (Job 28:19).
     • The tenth is chrysoprasus (v. 20).
       1. Chrysoprase n. – a. The ancient name of a golden-green precious stone, now generally believed to have been a variety of the beryl, or to have included that among other stones of similar appearance. It was one of the stones to which in the Middle Ages was attributed the faculty of shining in the dark.
     • The eleventh is jacinth (v. 20).
       1. Jacinth n. – 1. a. Among the ancients, a gem of a blue colour, prob. sapphire. In mod. use, a reddish-orange gem, a variety of zircon; also applied to varieties of topaz and garnet.
     • The twelfth is amethyst (v. 20).
       1. Amethyst n. – 1. A precious stone of a clear purple or bluish violet colour, of different degrees of intensity, consisting of quartz or rock-crystal coloured by manganese, or, according to Heintz, by a compound of iron and soda.

1. It is apparent from the descriptions of these precious stones that the wall of new Jerusalem is magnificent and beautiful, glowing with vibrant colors.