Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: What's more beautiful than a rainbow arching across the sky after a summer shower? In this study on Thru the Bible, our teacher Dr. J. Vernon McGee tells us that a rainbow gives only a faint impression of the beauty of the New Jerusalem, the city of light and color. I'm Steve Schwetz, welcoming you aboard the Bible Bus as you find your seat and settle in for another great time of Bible study.

If you brought your copy of God's Word along, well, then turn it to Revelation 21. If you've missed any of these lessons or you want to share them with a friend, download our app or visit ttb.org, where you can listen for free to all of our studies. Now, another great way to study with us is to download our free Bible Companion for Revelation. It's got an excellent synopsis of Dr. McGee's teaching, as well as prompts to both listen to Dr. McGee's message and read the scripture for yourself, as well as some pretty great questions for reflection. Or better yet, form a group and go through them together. Again, it's available for free download in our app or at ttb.org or call 1-800-65-BIBLE to purchase a print edition for yourself or your entire small group.

Now's the time. If you know someone that you'd like to introduce to God's Word, visit ttb.org today and check out the many ways that you can share our journey through the Bible. To encourage you, let me share a few recent letters from listeners whose lives have been changed by joining us on the Bible Bus. First, we got a letter from a listener in Iraq. "I've been listening and studying the book of Zechariah, and I can truly say it has transformed my understanding. For the first time in my life, I'm learning the Bible in such depth and clarity. Each episode opens my eyes to new spiritual truths and touches my heart with practical lessons for daily life.

I've started sharing many of the episodes with my friends and fellow believers, and together we are growing in our faith. The richness of the teaching, the spiritual insight, the way God speaks through every message has truly blessed us. I can't express enough how deeply grateful I am. This journey through the Bible has drawn me closer to the Lord and strengthened my walk with Him." Well, isn't that an encouraging letter? Remember, Iraq is a Muslim-dominated country where most Christians have fled, and those that remain still fear attacks and oppression because of their faith in Christ.

Next is a note from Andre in Romania, who says this: "I found your program because I was curious—not about the Bible, but about why so many young people were following you and talking about the Bible. What was so special about it? So I watched some of your short videos. I wasn't religious, but I really liked how direct and sincere they were. Soon I started watching your full-length videos, too. I was writing down my thoughts and questions; I was actually spending time thinking about the Bible. When I wrote asking for recommendations about where to start reading the Bible for myself, I didn't expect a friendship to develop.

We started talking, and I shared things with you that I never thought I would share with anyone—things about my life, how I've suffered, my fears. These conversations brought me peace I hadn't felt in a long time. I still don't really consider myself a religious person, but something inside me has changed. Now I listen to Thru the Bible on my way to work and sometimes again before bed. Since I've been studying the Bible with you, I feel like life has meaning. I've even started going to an in-person Bible study to learn more."

Wow, you know, that's what this ministry is all about, isn't it? God's Word is so beautiful and it really does change lives, and we get to participate together. Here's another one. This one's from Robert in Virginia. "I've been on the Bible Bus since 1997 and at 73 years old, am still learning lots. I pray throughout the day, mainly for: one, the many, many workers the Lord has called making this ministry possible; two, the interpreters of the foreign broadcast and the follow-up behind the scenes; three, the salvation of many who are in darkness, especially on foreign soil; four, the many home Bible study groups. Thru the Bible is the complete package. We can learn God's Word, know His will, and be blessed as we fling the seed, watching God work wonders."

Well, thanks for writing, Robert. What's written in Isaiah 55:11 about God's Word not returning void really is true, isn't it? So let's take Robert's lead and boldly together proclaim and share God's Word today. And if you'd like to be on the team that prays for Dr. McGee's vision of taking God's whole Word to the whole world, then join our world prayer team at ttb.org. Let's pray together now. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we come to You with willing hearts. Help us to hear Your voice as we study and then stir the hearts of those who don't yet know You. In the precious name of Jesus we ask, amen.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now we are still talking about the New Jerusalem, and I don't think it's wasted time although we're right at the end of the five-year program. We certainly ought to conclude it by looking at this home that we're all going to. People sing a great deal about heaven, they talk a great deal about heaven, but actually very few seem to know much about heaven. Well, let's face it, very little said about it in scripture. But what is said, we ought to pay attention to. It does make sense.

Now, I'm going to begin reading at verse 12 of chapter 21 of the book of Revelation, and I'm going to read my translation. I'm still sticking with it. I don't recommend it, not to anybody. Well, you'll notice it's speaking now of the New Jerusalem. "It's having a great wall and high, having 12 large gates, and at the gates 12 angels, and names are written thereon, which are names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. On the east, the day spring, were three gates, and on the north three gates, and on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and on them 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.

And he that spoke with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth four square, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth, and he measured the city with the reed 12,000 furlongs; the length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal." In other words, it's a cube. That is, these dimensions that are given are a cube. The shape of this city is really difficult to describe, I think due largely to our inability to translate our concepts from a universe of time to the new creation of eternity.

And in the message that I have at the end of the book of Revelation, this second volume on the subject, *The Shape of Things to Come*, I have something to say about this. And I'm going to turn now to that and pass on to you this information relative to the size and shape of the city. The foundations, you notice, and we'll come back to that if you'll just hold that for a minute. I want to notice the measurements and try, if I possibly can by radio—this is the only place in this entire five-year program that I wish that I could do it on TV because then I could illustrate it as I'd like to illustrate.

Will you notice, the measurements of the city have given rise to all sorts of conceptions as to the size and shape of the city. I think first of all, we ought to examine the size of the city. 12,000 furlongs are given as the measure of each side and the height of it, and that's 12,000 stadia in the text, which means about 1,500 miles. That's a big city. That city is bigger than Los Angeles. Remember that during the war, one of the jokes going around out here was that one of the pilots stationed in Alaska, his plane went down.

He didn't know where he was, and way up in Alaska and he started finding his way out, and he came to a sign. It said "Los Angeles City Limits." He said he knew that he'd made it, but it'd be a long ways to get into the city. Well, that's true. Los Angeles covers a whole lot of territory, but this is a city that's 1,500 miles on each side and going up. How can you fit this into our concept today? Now, this figure is corroborated by Dr. Seiss, Walter Scott, and others. The amplitude of the city is astonished when first considered, but is commensurate with the importance of the city.

Certainly, God as creator can never be accused of stinting, economizing, or doing things that reveal littleness. If you've noticed that you go down to the beach, He put plenty of sand down there, plenty of water in the ocean, made the mountains just about right, and rocks, He's just put them everywhere. Anything God does, He sure does it in abundance. Now, with a lavish hand, He garnished the heavens with stellar bodies. Now, this city bears the trademark of its maker. The Lord Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth, is the one who built this city.

Now, consider with me the shape of the city. "The city lieth four square." That's the simple declaration of scripture. Now, that would seem to indicate that the city is a cube with 1,500 miles on the side. And Dr. Seiss sees it as a cube. Dr. Harry Ironside saw it as a pyramid, and still others interpret these measurements in as many geometric figures that you can conceive. Now, it's difficult for us to conceive of either a cube or pyramid projected out in space. We're accustomed to think of a sphere, that is, a ball-shaped object hanging in space, because that's the general shape of the heavenly bodies.

And as far as we know, there're none out there in space that are square like a cube or like a pyramid. And cubes and pyramids are appropriate for earth's buildings, but they're impractical for space, as spheres are impractical for earthly buildings. Yet it is definitely stated that the city is four square. Now, I think the difficulty resolves when we think of the city as a cube within a crystal-clear sphere. And what you have are the inside measurements because I think of it as a big plastic ball.

And when I used to illustrate, I had a big plastic ball and I had put in it a cube that touched all four corners. Well, more than that, the eight corners of a cube touching all of the sphere. And I think these are the measurements. In other words, it would give you a sphere in space. And this is not plain geometry, by the way. This is mathematics that I couldn't figure out. And so I went to my brother-in-law who was a head of math department in Cleburne, Texas when I lived there and he figured it for me. And then I asked a man out here, an engineer who worked on these modules that went out in space, and he came up with the same answer.

And that would mean that with 1,500 miles on the cube inside of the sphere, why, it would mean that the circumference would be about 8,164 miles. Now, the diameter of the moon is about 2,160 miles, and that of the New Jerusalem sphere is about 2,600 miles. Thus, the New Jerusalem will be about the size of the moon. In fact, it'll be larger, but it'll be a sphere as are the other heavenly bodies. And I personally believe that that is the picture that is given to us here and one that I think we should pay attention to.

My thinking is that we live inside of this sphere, not on the outside. Now, here on the earth, we live on the outside and that presents a few difficulties. The Lord had to make the law of gravitation to hold us on the earth or we'd be flying out in space. Now, this one will be a city in which you walk just the opposite of the way you walk here. You walk on the outside; there you'll walk on the inside. Now, it is said that it's crystal clear. That is emphasized again and again.

And the foundations are given to us of this city. And I think that probably I ought to pass on those to you. And I'm going to ask that you follow your text now, beginning with verse 17. "He measured the wall thereof 144 cubits according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper, and the city was pure gold like unto clear glass." Now, in other words, like clear plastic. And that means something. It means that from the inside, the light will be shining outside.

But this city has 12 foundations and the name of the 12 apostles on them. And that's important for us to see. And I want to note that. The city had 12 foundations and the names of the 12 apostles were upon them. Now, the church today is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. Now, that's what Paul said in Ephesians 2:20. Now, Christ committed the keys into the keeping of the apostles. On the human level, the church was in the hands of these 12 men.

The book of Acts gives the order. You remember that Dr. Luke said "the former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Spirit had given commandment unto the apostles whom he had chosen." Now, I do not take Matthias as the one who succeeded Judas, as many of you already know. I personally believe that it was Paul. Matthias is never mentioned. And remember, Simon Peter had that election to elect Matthias before the Holy Spirit came.

I don't think he was in the will of God at all when he had that election. And you never hear of anything Matthias did, but you surely hear of Paul the apostle. And I think he's the one. Now, I think he's the one that succeeded. Now, to these 12 apostles were committed all the writings of the church. These men preached the first sermons, they organized the first churches, and they became the first martyrs. And it's not honoring to scripture to attempt to minimize the importance of the 12 apostles. In a real sense, they were the foundation of the church.

To them, the church shall be eternally grateful, and this is not to rob Christ of His place, for He is the chief cornerstone. But the church is built upon the foundation that the apostles laid. That's the important thing for us to do. Now, these 12 foundations not only have the names of the 12 apostles, but they're 12 different precious stones. The most beautiful and costly articles known to man are precious stones. These stones express the human terms the magnificence of the city.

The superlative degree of gems is used to convey something of the glory of the city to those who now see through a glass darkly. We're going to see through it clearly someday. A close examination of these 12 stones in the foundation reveal a polychrome paragon of beauty, varied hues and tints form a galaxy of rainbow colors. The stones are enumerated as follows. Now, I'm going to run through this list. I do not want to be wearisome, but this is important for us to see. Number one is the Jasper. *Iaspis* is the Greek word.

The color is clear and as mentioned before, this is the diamond. It's crystal clear, a reflector of light and color. Dr. Seiss, in speaking of the New Jerusalem, describes it as clean and pure and bright as a transparent icicle in the sunshine. And then the second foundation is a sapphire. That color is blue. The stone occurs in Exodus 24:10 as the foundation of God and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone and as it were the body of heaven in its clearness. Now, Moffatt describes it as a blue stone. Pliny describes it as opaque with gold specks, to which Petri agrees.

And then the third is chalcedony. The color's greenish. It's an agate. Pliny again describes it as a variety of emerald gathered on a mountain in Chalcedon. And Robertson says "possibly a green silicate of copper." Then the fourth stone is emerald, color's green. Robertson describes it as a green stone. And the fifth foundation is sardonyx, and the color's red. And Robertson describes it as white with layers of red. The sixth foundation is sardius, color's fiery red. And Pliny says that it is a red stone from Sardis and Sweet says that it's fiery red.

The seventh foundation is chrysolite, the color is golden yellow. Moffatt assigns it a golden hue. Robertson says "it is a golden color like our topaz." And then the eighth foundation is beryl, and the color's sea green. Pliny says "sea green." And it's like the emerald, says Robertson. And then the ninth foundation is topaz, the color is greenish yellow. Robertson calls it a golden greenish stone. And the 10th stone is chrysoprasus and the color's gold-green. A golden leek, a leek-colored gem, is the way Robertson describes it in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.

Listen, sea green. And then the 11th foundation is the jacinth, and the color is violet. It's the color of the hyacinth, and Pliny gives the color as a violet. And the amethyst is the 12th foundation and the color's purple. Although the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia lists it as a ruby, Robertson gives the color's purple. Now, the foundations here of the New Jerusalem are constructed of the flashing brilliance of rich and costly gems. Now, remember on the inside is Jesus, who when He was here was the light of the world; there He'll be the light of the universe.

God the Father is there and the light shining through that will light God's universe. And it just won't be, as they say out in space, it's dark black, and that the only colors are on this little earth today. But wait until you see the New Jerusalem, and it's going to light up God's new heavens and new earth as they've never been lighted before. I think it's going to be the most breathtaking scene that you've ever seen. And this New Jerusalem is a planet, you see, that comes down from God out of heaven, and everything is going to revolve around it.

And the light will come from the inside. It will be Jesus Christ, the light and power company then, and the light will shine out and in all these brilliant and beautiful colors. I can't think of anything like this. And colors described to us today as dissected light—pass a ray of light through a prism and it's broken up into three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. And from these three primary colors come all colors and shades of colors. Light is a requirement for color. Where there's no light, there's no color.

Objects of color reveal color to the eye because of their ability to absorb or reject light rays. A red stone absorbs all the color rays except red. It rejects or throws back to the eye the red ray which gives the color of red. Now, the New Jerusalem is a city of light and a city of color. God is light and He's there. The city's described as a jasper stone as clear as crystal. And all of this color will be coming out and flooding God's universe.

The New Jerusalem is there, the light shining from within through the jasper stone acting as a prism would give every color and shade of color in a rainbow acting as a prism, but it would give every color and colors that you and I haven't even thought of yet or couldn't even dream of. The New Jerusalem is a new planet, and it's inside a crystal ball. And that's where we're going to live. And the presence of the primary colors suggests that every shade and tint is reflected from this city. A rainbow that appears after a summer shower gives only a faint impression of the beauty in the coloring of the city of light.

Oh, what a glorious place this is. Now, I've probably upset you a great deal in giving this type of interpretation, because as far as I know, I'm the only one that follows this. Now, of course, if you want to follow all these other commentators and expositors, you'd sure be in good company. But if you want a new look at the New Jerusalem, I think you'd like to go along with me, at least I hope so. All right, until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: We'll share more of this awe-inspiring view of the great City of Light in our next study, and we'll hear about a new relationship between God and man in the new creation. Be sure to hop aboard the Bible Bus as it rolls along through all the pages of scripture. Now, we have only two more studies in Revelation, and then we begin our five-year journey all over again with guidelines for understanding scripture before jumping right back into Genesis. So, if you haven't yet downloaded your free digital copy of Dr. McGee's *Guidelines*, get our app or make your way to ttb.org and look for "How to Understand the Bible."

Ttb.org is also the place to download Dr. McGee's notes and outlines for our study in Genesis coming up. Look for "Briefing the Bible." It's free. Get your download now in our app or at ttb.org or call 1-800-65-BIBLE, and we'll send an abridged paperback copy by mail. And when you're in touch, be sure to tell us how you hear Thru the Bible—whether you listen by app, online, on your favorite radio station, or any of the other great ways Thru the Bible's available. This little bit of information really helps us to know. So, thanks for your help. I'm Steve Schwetz, thanking God for the privilege of traveling through His Word with you.

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow.

Our story on the Bible Bus today is just one step in a five-year journey through the entire Word of God. Come along for the ride, and you'll study both the Old Testament and New Testament, discovering God's great redemption story. Is this your story too?