Revelation #69

Revelation 21:9-14



The New Jerusalem

9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 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 on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.



In verse 9 we are told by John that one of the angels who carried one of the seven bowls of plagues spoke to him saying that he was going to show John "the Bride, the wife of the Lamb". This so so awesome for us believers. The Bride and wife is us! The church. The Lamb is Jesus. The angel we are told in verse 10 then carries John away in the spirit to a high mountain and shows John the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven! What an awesome sight this must have been and will be! In verse 11 we are told what this city which is representative of the church looks like...has the glory of God as we are his sons and daughters. We are told the city has radiance like a rare jewel..as nothing compares to God's radiance. Verse 12 tells us this city has a high wall with twelve gates and twelve angels. The angels are the guards. The gates have the twelve tribes of Israel names inscribed on them. This shows us the unity of the old testament and the new testament. Verse 13 tells us the gates locations. Verse 14 tells us the walls of this city has twelve foundations and on them are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb! Again another sign of unity of the old and new testaments.



What a beautiful picture so far of the church...the bride of Christ. Tomorrow we will continue to look at this picture of the church being represented by the new city Jerusalem!



Tom