Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: Who doesn't like new stuff? Maybe it's a new car or trying new places to eat, and of course, meeting new people. God loves newness as well. He's made us new creatures in Christ Jesus, and someday he'll create a new heaven and a new earth. One day, the children of God will walk in the new city of Jerusalem filled with new experiences. Welcome to Thru the Bible. In this study, our teacher Dr. J. Vernon McGee focuses on that new city where there's no sun or moon, so we'll have a new source of light.

There's no sin, so we'll enjoy a new way of life. Jesus will be on the throne, and so we'll enjoy a new kind of government. It's not a reach to say that we're going to experience a new kind of joy that we can't even describe right now, so we'll need new words to say how wonderful it is. Notice a new theme here? Well, we begin Revelation 21, verse 22, here at the very tail end of our five-year study through the whole Word of God, and soon we're going to start all over again.

Let's pray for one another and then get to our study. Heavenly Father, bless your Word and make it fruitful in our lives as we obey it, as we love it, and as we trust it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: As we come back to this 21st chapter of Revelation, we've been looking here at everything that's new. Have you noticed that this is a chapter where everything was new? We have here a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem. We saw that in the first two verses. Then a new era was coming; the spiritual and psychological factors would be altogether different, verses three through eight. Then we saw the New Jerusalem, a description of the eternal abode of the bride, that is verses 9 through 21.

We're going to look at new relationships: God dwelling with man, and then the new center of the new creation, verses 24 through 27. Now the new relationship, God dwelling with man. I'm going to read here in verses 22 and 23 my own translation as I have followed that practice through this entire book. I'm reading: "And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb are the temple thereof. And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb."

Now, God lights the new creation directly by his presence. We called attention to that before without giving you the scripture, but here it is. Not only that, but we should have called attention to the fact that there was in the New Jerusalem the street of the city was pure gold, as it were, transparent glass. That's verse 21. And we were told at the beginning of that description that this city was transparent. That is the thing that gave me the lead and the key to believe that we live on the inside and everything is transparent.

It would mean that the light would shine from the inside out and going through these different colored stones. Every color known to man today, but many colors that our natural eyes can't see today, we'll be able to see them then with the new body that we shall have at that time. Now, we're told here that the street was a pure gold. Personally, I don't care about the asphalt of the place. I'm not really interested in that, but it's transparent glass.

There are two things there that impress me. It's not streets; this is not a city with many streets. And it is transparent; even the street is, the asphalt. It is gold, but transparent gold. Now, that leads me again to insist that what we're looking at is the inside of a globe. You couldn't have a city like we have today without having streets. You'd sure have a traffic jam with just one street. But this is just one street.

This street, I would say, would begin at the four gates and then it would start around in the circle, the globe, and then it would go all the way to the top and then it would circle and just go back down. One would be an entrance, the other would be the exit. So you have here one street, and our viewpoint, I think, lends itself to the idea that it is one street. And the fact it's transparent gold means that the light now can shine out. There'll be nothing that would hinder it, not even the street.

The golden street is not what interests me about it at all, as we said before. But here that he said that he saw no temple in it because the Lord God is the light of it. God lights the new creation directly by his presence. After the entrance of sin into the old creation, you remember God withdrew his presence and we're told and darkness covered the face of the deep. Then God made use of the physical lights in his universe. He put them up like you put up streetlights today or lights in your home.

However, in the new creation, sin is removed and he becomes again the source of light. And today the Lord Jesus Christ is the light of the world in a spiritual sense. He said in John 8:12, "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." In the new creation, he is the direct physical as well as spiritual light. In the tabernacle, there was the golden lampstand which is one of the finest pictures of Christ.

In the New Jerusalem, he is the golden lampstand. The nations of the world will enter the holy city as the priests entered the holy place in the tabernacle for the purpose of worship. The nations of the earth as well as Israel will come to the New Jerusalem as the high priest of old entered the Holy of Holies. Instead of the blood being brought, the Lamb is there in person. What a picture that we have there. Now that leads me to move over here to say something more concerning the city and about the fact there's no temple there.

The temple, which supplanted the tabernacle back in the nation Israel, was an earthly enclosure for the Shekinah glory. It was a testimony to the presence of God and the presence also of sin. Where sin existed, God could only be approached by the ritual of the temple. However, in the New Jerusalem, sin is no longer a reality. It's like a hideous nightmare even locked out of the closet of memory. The actual presence of God with the redeemed eliminates the necessity for a temple.

Although the whole city may be thought of as a temple, some have called attention to the fact that the New Jerusalem is the same shape as the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and temple where God dwelt, a perfect cube. And that's no accident, by the way. In the city of light, God is present, sin is absent. Therefore, an edifice of a material substance is no longer necessary. The physical temple was a poor substitute for the person of God. The New Jerusalem possesses the genuine article: God in person.

It is probably the first place where God will make a personal appearance before man, and what a glorious prospect this is. Now the New Jerusalem is independent of the sun and moon for light and life. What a contrast to the earth today, which is utterly dependent upon the sun. The sun and moon may even be dependent upon the celestial city for power to transmit light, since the one who is the source of light and life dwells within the city.

Neither will light be furnished by the New Jerusalem Power and Light Company. The one who is light will be there, and the effulgence of his glory will be manifested in the New Jerusalem unhindered. What a picture we have. Now we have a new center of the new creation, verses 24 through 27, and that will bring us through this chapter here. Now I'll read again my own translation, and will you listen very carefully: "And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof."

It doesn't say they'll live there; they walk in the light of it. In other words, it'll give light to the earth instead of the sun and the moon. "And the kings of the earth bring their glory into it." Now that's my reason for saying that there will be a great deal of traffic commuting back and forth between the New Jerusalem and this earth down here. And not only will Israel come up there to worship, but the nations of the world that have entered eternity, they will also come up.

That'll not be their permanent abode, but they come up there to worship. And I believe that the church will be the priests at that time. We're told today that we are a priesthood of believers. Now we're told something else: "And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day, for there shall be no night there." It's nonsense to say that the gates will not be shut at night because there's no night, so he says they'll not be shut by day.

In other words, they're going to throw the key away and there'll be no danger. Gates were put there for a purpose, for protection. When a gate of a city was closed, it meant an enemy was on the outside and they were trying to keep him in that same position. But here we find, "And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it, and there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie, but only they that are written in the Lamb's Book of Life."

Now, God has apparently accomplished his original purpose with man, and that is fellowship. He now has a creature who is a free moral agent and who chooses to worship and serve him eternally. There can be no night since the Lamb is the light, and he is eternally present. The gates are not for protection, as they were never closed; rather, they're the badge or coat of arms of the church. If you notice that these gates are a pearl, and the Pearl of Great Price has been purchased at a great price.

The Pearl of Great Price in that parable that the Lord Jesus gave, that pearl is not Christ that the sinner buys, and of course, what does a sinner have to pay for Christ? He hasn't anything he can pay. It's the other way around. The fact of the matter is, the merchant man that bought that was the Lord Jesus Christ, and the pearl is the church. It's interesting that a pearl is formed by a grain of sand or something that gets into the life of a little mollusk, an oyster, something like that, and begins to put around it its secretion that before long makes a pearl.

The church has the name there; the Pearl of Great Price is Margarites. The church has a name there; that's her name, it's Margaret. And the Lord Jesus Christ paid a great price to buy this pearl, and this pearl was formed from his side. Someone said, I got into the heart of Christ through a spear wound. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. And the church will be for display of his grace throughout eternity to his absolutely myriads of created intelligences.

That's what we'll be. Paul says in Ephesians 2:7: "That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." The ages to come, that is in eternity. You and I will be there on display, and they'll look at Vernon McGee and they said, "You see that fellow? He deserved hell, and the Lord Jesus Christ died for him and paid a tremendous price, and he trusted Christ. That's all he had to offer. And now look what the Lord Jesus has done for him."

He's made him fit for heaven, made him acceptable in the beloved. And the church will be the fairest jewel of all when he makes up his jewels. You remember we saw back in Malachi the third chapter, the day would come when he would make up his jewels, and when he does, why, the church is going to be on display. And that's the reason this will be the center of the new heavens and the new earth. And the Lamb's Book of Life contains the names of the redeemed of all ages.

No one who is not redeemed by the blood of Christ will be permitted ever to enter the portals of the New Jerusalem. There's a great gulf fixed between the saved and the lost. And the greatest joy that will capture the heart of the redeemed will be that of abiding in the presence of Christ for eternity, "for where I am, there ye may be also." That's what he said, and this is heaven, friend, to be with him. I said at the beginning of Revelation that it's all about Jesus Christ, and it's about him.

He's the centerpiece in God's universe. What a picture that we have here. Now this city, let me say a word about it in closing because it's his city and it's the place he made. And our attention already has been directed to the fact that a redeemed remnant of Israel makes regular visits to this city of God. And in verse 24 another group is identified, as we saw, that 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 honor into it.

These are the redeemed Gentile nations who will occupy the earth together with Israel for eternity. These nations, like Israel, do not belong to the church, for they are redeemed after the church is removed from the earth. Before the church came into existence, they come as visitors to the city. They come as worshippers. And in Hebrews 12:22, we're told that there's also present an innumerable company of angels who evidently constitute the servant class.

The city is cosmopolitan in character. All nationalities meet there, and the created intelligences of God walk the streets of the New Jerusalem. Among the multitudes, there is not one who will bring defilement or sin. How superior is this city to even the Garden of Eden where the lie of Satan made an entrance for sin. No liar will ever enter the portals of the heavenly Jerusalem. All dwellers and all tourists are not only redeemed from sin but have lost their taste for sin.

They come through the gates which are never closed, and the enjoyment of this glorious city is not restricted to the church, although they are the only ones who dwell there. And I'd like to close chapter 21 with the words of Bernard of Cluny when he wrote these lovely lines: "Jerusalem the golden, with milk and honey blest, beneath thy contemplation sink heart and voice oppressed. I know not, oh, I know not what joys await me there, what radiancy of glory, what bliss beyond compare."

What a picture, and how inadequately I have dealt with it, friends. I even apologize for that. Oh, if I could only somehow or another lift you and myself up that we might get a glimpse of the glory of that city and the glory of the one who is its chief adornment, even the Lord Jesus Christ, and the glorious prospect and privilege of being with him throughout eternity. There's nothing to compare to it. Now, in chapter 22, we see the river of the water of life and the tree of life and the promise of Christ's return repeated and the final invitation of the Bible.

First of all, we have the river of the water of life and the tree of life, verses 1 through 5. Then the promise of the return of Christ, verses 6 through 16. And then the final invitation and warning, verses 17 and 19. And the final promise and prayer, verses 20 and 21. Now let's just get into this chapter a little ways. We'll close it all out next time. Now this chapter brings us to the final scenes of this great book of scenic wonders. It likewise brings us to the end of the Word of God.

God gives us his final words here, and because they are last words, they have a greater significance. We are brought to the end of man's journey. The path has been rugged and many questions remain unanswered and many problems remain unsolved, but man enters eternity in fellowship again with God, and there all will be answered. The Bible opens with God on the scene. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." And it concludes with him on the scene and in full control of his own.

He suffered, he paid a price, and he died, but the victory and the glory are his, and he is satisfied. Isaiah 53:11 puts it like this: "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities." And then we have first here in the first five verses the river of the water of life and the tree of life. I'm reading my translation of the two first verses: "And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, and in the midst of the street thereof and on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."

Now, up to this chapter, the New Jerusalem seems to be all mineral and no vegetable. Its appearance is as the dazzling display of a fabulous jewelry store. But there is no soft grass to sit upon, no green trees to enjoy, and no water to drink or food to eat. However, here is introduced the elements which add a rich softness to this city of elaborate beauty. There was a river in the first Eden which branched into four rivers.

Although there was abundance of water, it is not called the water of life. Eden was a garden of trees among which was the tree of life. God kept the way open for man by the shedding of blood. Now, in the New Jerusalem, there is a river of the water of life and the throne of God is the living fountain supplying an abundance of water. What a picture. The tree of life is a fruit tree bearing 12 kinds of fruit each month. There's a continuous supply in abundance and variety.

You see, in eternity, man will eat and drink. And that's a great relief to many of us, I'm sure. The menu is varied but is restricted to fruits as it was in the Garden of Eden. And we are going to have to leave off there today, but we're going to pick right up there next time and conclude this as we look at these last scenes in the book of Revelation. And then we'll close next time the five-year program. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: What an incredible place the Lord is preparing for us, and what a joy it'll be to simply be with him. Life can overwhelm us with its worries and challenges, but remember, the best is yet to come. And while our study of Revelation is coming to a close, your personal study of this magnificent book doesn't have to. If you haven't already, why don't you download our app or visit ttb.org to access our Bible Companion for Revelation?

Each section includes a clear summary of Dr. McGee's teaching, as well as links to the audio and scripture passages and then thoughtful reflection questions. Perfect for going deeper on your own or with a group. Again, download your free copy in our app or at ttb.org, or to purchase a paperback version, call 1-800-65-BIBLE. Now, as we prepare for a brand new journey through God's Word, we'd also love to hear from you.

Why don't you tell us how long you've been riding the Bible Bus? What's stood out to you as we've traveled the highways and byways of scripture? Or what are you most looking forward to as we begin again? Well, letters like this one from Sarah remind us why we do what we do: "I was on the Bible Bus for about 15 years until I had a deep emotional crash because of events that kept happening to my son. It came out of nowhere. I could hardly function and began meeting with my pastor.

When I crashed, such anger rose up in me against God. I didn't understand him or want to draw near. For years, I pulled away. My pastor encouraged me to get close to God in any way that I could. For me, that started with long walks in nature. Well, this summer I realized that even though I knew I belonged to Christ, there was still such emotional distance between me and God. I chose to act on what I believed: to read my Bible, to pray again, and the thought that came to my mind was to get back on the Bible Bus.

I'm listening again, not every day, but often enough that it's become a lifeline. It's a joy to listen to Greg and Steve, and I'm grateful for everyone behind the scenes. Thank you. Someone out here is counting on you." Well, Sarah, thank you so much for your honesty, and I'm so glad that you've climbed back aboard with a willing heart. And you know, God honors even the smallest steps toward him, and I know that he's going to continue to meet you on this journey.

Now, here's one last note from a listener named Ruth in Kenya: "As I study with you, God continues to open my eyes to greater biblical truths. I now see how dangerous it is to follow darkness, which only leads to destruction. God has given us the Holy Spirit to guide, correct, and heal us. I've come to see the importance of living a holy life. Holiness isn't just for others; it's for me. I now understand that when I choose to live purely, I open myself up to God's mercy and forgiveness.

This message has reminded me to walk more closely with him." Isn't that great? And what about you? What's your story? Why don't you send us a note in the feedback section of our app? You can email us at biblebus@ttb.org or send your letter to Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. You can even leave a voicemail at 1-800-65-BIBLE. I'm Steve Schwetz, inviting you to meet me next time for our final study in this five-year journey through the Bible.

Today's study with Dr. J. Vernon McGee is brought to you by Thru the Bible, and it's made possible by the generous prayer and financial investments from listeners like you on the Bible Bus all around the world.