Revelation and Human Reality

1. Revelation and Human Reality sktonstad@llu.edu Session 60 A-level Amphitheater LLUMC March 26, 2011, 10:30-11:30 AM

2. The Ending of Revelation(Chapters 21-22) More than Paradise Regained Paradise Regained The ending (sing.) and the endings (pl.) of Revelation

3. The City as Bride NRS Revelation 21:9-10Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

4. OT Antecedent Ezek 40:1-3 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me there. He brought me, in visions of God, to the land of Israel, and set me down upon a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south. When he brought me there, a man was there, whose appearance shone like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.

5. ‘The Glory of God’ NRS Revelation 21:11 It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal.

6. Patriarchal Gates Rev 21:12-13 It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.

7. Apostolic Foundation Revelation 21:14 And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

8. Cubic Shape Rev 21:15-16 The angel who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.

9. Like the Most Holy “Most scholars, therefore, have appropriately concluded that John is following the similar description of the holy of holies found in 1 Kings 6:20 for this geometrical feature.” - Mathewson, A New Heaven and a New Earth, 106. See also Ezek 41:4.

10. Immeasurable Measure Zechariah 2:1-5 I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then I asked, "Where are you going?" He answered me, "To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.“ Then the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him, and said to him, "Run, say to that young man: Jerusalem shall be inhabited like villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and animals in it. For I will be a wall of fire all around it, says the LORD, and I will be the glory within it.”

11. Center as Wall “Vv 4 and 5 present one of the most amazing texts in the OT. …Zechariah sees a vision of the future Jerusalem as a broad, spreading metropolis with the wall of God’s presence around her and the glory of his presence within her. The church’s greatest defense is still God’s presence around her and his glory within her.” Ralph L. Smith, Micah-Malachi (Dallas : Word, 2002),197.

12. Comparison and Perspective Rev 21:16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod, fifteen hundred miles [ἐπὶ σταδίων δώδεκα χιλιάδων]…. Rev 14:20 And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse's bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles [ἀπὸ σταδίων χιλίων ἑξακοσίων].

13. Cosmic Conflict in View “Given the antithesis that the author of Revelation posits between the New Jerusalem and Babylon-Rome, it is possible that he has been influenced by this tradition in his depiction of the enormous size of the holy city.” Aune, Revelation 17-22, 1162.

14. Pure and Precious NRS Revelation 21:17-18 He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits by human measurement, which the angel was using. The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass.

15. Place and Priesthood NRS Revelation 21:19-20 The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. Background: Ezek 28:13; Ex 28:17-21.

16. Wholeness and Transparency NRS Revelation 21:21 And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass.

17. Unmediated Presence NRS Revelation 21:22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

18. God as Sun Rev 21:23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. Isaiah 60:19 The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by night; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.

19. Vision of Inclusion NRS Revelation 21:24-26 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day-- and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.

20. Criteria for Inclusion NRS Revelation 21:27 But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

21. More Than Paradise Regained – 1 The end of the journey is the earth – this earth. The end will even better than the beginning. The chief attraction is the presence of God. God’s presence is unmediated – there is nothing and no one between. In the life to come, the redeemed live in the Most Holy 24/7 and 365 days of the year.

22. More Than Paradise Regained – 2 The New Jerusalem - its gates and foundations - is proof of the continuity of the story of the people of God. The size of the New Jerusalem is proof of the triumph of the story of redemption. The New Jerusalem is fraught with the memory of the cosmic conflict. Light, transparency, and trust will prevail – no night, no keys, and no locked doors. We enter the city by choice and selection.

23. More Than Paradise Regained – 3 “The work of redemption will be complete. In the place where sin abounded, God’s grace much more abounds. The earth itself, the very field that Satan claimed as his, is to be not only ransomed but exalted. Our little world, under the curse of sin the one dark blot in His glorious creation, will be honored above all other worlds in the universe of God. Here, where the Son of God tabernacled in humanity; where the King of glory lived and suffered and died –

24. More Than Paradise Regained – 4 – here , when He shall make all things new, the tabernacle of God shall be 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 throughout ceaseless ages as the redeemed walk in the light of the Lord, they shall praise Him for His unspeakable gift, – Immanuel, “God with us.” -- Ellen G, White, The Desire of Ages, 26.