Revelation 18:1-24 need not delay us long. It is a description, not of Babylon's relation to the beast, but of the city's fall, with certain dirges put into the mouth of the different classes that groan because of her extinction here below. It is partly because of this that many excellent men have endeavoured to apply the vision to Romanism; and I admit that there is found a measure of analogy. It gives a retrogressive account of Babylon's character, and shows how it morally compelled the divine judgment. These gates could stand for the way into the holy city of those who come to Christ in the evening of their days. It is Israel's task to declare God's glory among the Gentiles ( Isaiah 66:19). And the city lieth foursquare, and its length is as much as the breadth." This disposes of many a web of comments; for we find at once what is perfectly simple, what any child of God who believes this to be the word of God must own. Holman Christian "O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, behold, I will, set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with, sapphires. "And when the thousand years are completed, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to war." It could be a yellow beryl or a gold-coloured jasper. Revelation 21 We shall set down some of these dreams and it will be clear at once how the Old Testament again and again finds its echo in the Revelation. But in this is shown what it is of importance to see the true nature of the kingdom or millennial reign. The elements will be dissolved and melted with a fervent heat. We must perforce therefore look for a still more complete development before the Lamb judges the beast after the ten horns along with it shall have destroyed Babylon. Afterwards we come to the description of itself, of its wall, its building, its foundations, and its gates. "He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces" ( Isaiah 25:8). In short, one may be described as corruption, and the other as violence. There are two main ideas here. Here is symbolism which is plain for all to see. A mysterious lawlessness inherits the well-known name of Babylon when Rome is brought forward; and it does not merely embrace Christian times, but the end of the age after the church has gone, when the course of divine judgment comes. There is nothing more to hear of nations; nothing more to do with separate countries, kindreds, or tongues. The chief difference is that in man's case it is God who raises him, whereas in the empire's not God but the devil will raise it again. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. It was the destruction of the imperial unity of Rome that gave occasion for the well-known ten kingdoms which the barbarians set up afterwards. Greek On this evidence Griesbach has admitted it into the text. Their doom was awful, but by no means after the same sort as their two leaders. sorcerers . Verse Only. the vision of delight (The Sibylline Oracles 5: 420427). Separate Line. In short, it is as we saw in Revelation 17:1-18, after Babylon had been brought before us in the course of the prophecy. There are probably but few, if any, here who do not understand it as the fore-shadow of a real resurrection. Verse Revelation 21:8. All Things Made New 3. I do not, of course, complain of particular persons, but of the general vagueness in which the passage has been taken unless, indeed, the more common course be not to ignore it. This, was no lack. Patience or endurance of hope is what becomes us. But this is not to emerge from the bottomless pit. "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them (for he is Lord of lords and King of kings), and they that are with him, called, and chosen, and faithful.". In his synagogue form of prayer the Jew still prays: And to Jerusalem thy city return with compassion, and dwell, therein as thou hast promised; and rebuild her speedily in our, days, a structure everlasting; and the throne of David speedily, establish there. There are three gates on the west. It is all ours to enjoy to the fullest with Him. The race was now in the resurrection state either for good or for evil; and thus it must be for ever. Thus the divine testimony is not confined to the gospel or the church, but the prophetic Spirit which characterizes the Revelation as a whole, after the church is translated, is equally a testimony of Jesus. And I heard the great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, [God is now going to dwell in the midst among His people.] And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations unto it. What is there to hinder it? Revelation 21:8 - Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary A third of the waters became wormwood, and many died from the water, because it was made bitter. is a word to him that hears. The first heaven is passed away. Such lists are probably given so that believers can identify such people and that such people should take warning and repent. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. H. B. Swete points out that it is wrong to take this literally; the lifting up stands for the elevation of spirit in which a man sees the visions and hears the words which are sent to him by God. "I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled; and place was not found for them." Champion of humanity, Most High liberate to set free, vindicating to reconcile the inhabitants without delay, to answer, return and revive. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. "In thy light," said the Psalmist, "do we see light" ( Psalms 36:9). Thus the second beast is no longer seen as an earthly power, but as a prophet-of course a false prophet. A mighty angel takes a stone and says, when he cast it into the sea, "Thus with violence shall be thrown down Babylon the great city, and shall be found no more at all." But this temple appeared to strangers, when they were at a distance, like a mountain covered with snow, for as to those parts that were not golden, they were exceeding white" (Josephus: Wars of the Jews 5.5.6). It is no longer a question either of celebrating the ways and counsels of God, or of the war with the beast and king. But it was no such evil which astounded the prophet. But the prophecy shows us the beast revived and the separate kings reigning for the same time, before divine judgment destroys them at the coming of Christ and His saints. What the symbolism of that would be it is impossible to tell, unless it is John's way of saying that the city of the gods is made new in the city of God. This would not be fitting for the church nor the Christian. It is very possible. For there follows another company of martyrs who suffered when the beast set up his worst and final pretensions. By the vastly different state of the wicked. As for the earthly land and city, the moon will have her light increased to that of the sun, and the sun shall be sevenfold. (i) There are twelve gates. It is not therefore a question of virtual idols suitable to ensnare the children of God, but of that which is adapted to the earth itself, thorough-going palpable idolatry. "He brought me in the visions of God into the land of Israel, and set me down upon a very high mountain" ( Ezekiel 40:2). The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. I admit that afterwards no doubt the new heaven and the new earth are seen; but who contends that this is the sphere to which the Lord comes? I do not doubt that there was a corrupt form in connection with Israel in times past. Pliny describes it as sky-blue, flecked with gold. I am not aware of any MS. in its favour, though some versions represent it. In other words, here is a picture of universal salvation. I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of. John 8:31) (MSB), abominable . The decem-regal division of the broken empire in the West, as all know, was long after Rome had ceased to be heathen. WebFor the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. It refers to times in history when a "Christian" tries to save his/her life by giving another Christian up to the persecuting totalitarian regime. First, it was made to Abraham. All the dispensational names of God disappear. , , , 21:8 Greek NT: Nestle 1904, 21:8 Greek NT: Westcott and Hort 1881, 21:8 Greek NT: Westcott and Hort / [NA27 and UBS4 variants], 21:8 Greek NT: RP Byzantine Majority Text 2005, 21:8 Greek NT: Greek Orthodox Church, 21:8 Greek NT: Tischendorf 8th Edition, 21:8 Greek NT: Scrivener's Textus Receptus 1894, 21:8 Greek NT: Stephanus Textus Receptus 1550. He is dwelling with His people. Here it is the positive worship of the creature besides the Creator, yea, and notoriously more than He. . The west is the land of the dying day and the setting sun. Bringing in history here embroiled the subject; and those who appeal most to its evidence are the very men who seem in this to ignore its facts. [2.] (i) More than once John insists that there will be no night in the city of God. It is very evident, therefore, that the saints in a glorified state are here represented as following the Lord out of heaven. Needless to say, you could all have a square mile and if we need more space what you do is just move your ceiling down to a half-mile and you double again the capacity. Dr. Johnson once remarked bitterly that no man who had the wit to get himself into gaol would ever choose to go to sea. Men are so apt to limit their Churches, to shut out those who do not believe as they do or who do not administer as they do. This continuing belief is a witness to three things--to the unquenchable immortal longings in man's soul, to man's inherent sense of sin and to man's faith in God. At first sight it might seem to remove God to such a distance that we are no more to him than the flies on the windowpane. Connected with the city of the gods there are the signs of the Zodiac, the signs of the parts of the heavens through which the sun passes. The word used for dwelling-place is skene ( G4633) , literally a tent; but in religious use it had long since lost any idea of an impermanent residence. Idolaters and liars Idolatry, whether the worship of pagan gods, as in the days of John, or the worship and adoration of self above the God of heaven, can never be pleasing to God. From deos (dread); timid, i.e. God has not told us how, nor is it our business. Without that there can be no such thing as a Church; with that any gathering of people is a real Church. All is opened, and this because we have the Holy Ghost dwelling in us; "for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." These gates could stand for the way into the holy city of those who come to Christianity by the intellectual exercise of thought, and have found the faith through their minds rather than through their hearts. The Jews a speak of several distinct places in hell, for several sorts of sinners, as particularly for sabbath breakers, adulterers, and liars; and say of the wicked, that when he is condemned he shall take , "his part" in hell b; Revelation 9:20- : which is the second death; Revelation 9:20- :. 1 Timothy 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? Revelation 21:19 f. That, too, had been the dream of the prophets of the ancient days. Thus there is no question that some of the actors in the final scenes of the great drama were already there, as the reigning city, and the Roman empire. Those condemned are those who are afraid to do their duty, not those who do it, though timidly and in spite of the fears of nature: still less those who do it with fear and trembling in St Pauls sense. He was a divine person, whatever new position He assumes for the world. ", He that overcometh shall inherit all things ( Revelation 21:7 ). "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have not yet received a kingdom; but they receive authority as kings (not at but for) one hour with the beast." It is the eternal state; and also, in fact, the fullest description of that state which is furnished in the Bible. This is not unrighteous, but, on the contrary, the highest justice from a divine point of view. It is altogether foreign to history. It is matter of wonder that a holy God should ever dwell with any of the children of men. This is clearly of moral importance. Hence we have to own the divine source of government even when its holders abandon all such thoughts themselves, and maintain their rule in the world as a thing flowing from the people irrespective of God. But still it is a very solemn fact to read, and that which we are bound to preach that even in the perfect state of eternity, while there is the brightness of the heaven and of the earth into which no evil can enter, you have all the evil that ever has been all the wicked of every clime and of every age cast into the fixed condition of eternal judgment in the lake of fire. But "out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron." Do you stillKJV: so fearful? The sins of those who perish, among which are first mentioned their cowardliness and unbelief. And now the eternal state comes into view. These would appear to be (save Judas Iscariot, of course) the twelve apostles that were peculiarly associated with Christ in His suffering path on the earth. Separate Line. How this precisely fits in, let me say, with the state of feeling in these modern times; for "constitutionalism," as men call it, is the fruit of the Teutonic system supervening on that of the broken up Roman empire. The woman was allowed to ride the beast to influence and govern the empire first, but at last to be the object of hatred to the ten horns and the beast, who expose, rob, and destroy her. "The nations shall walk in the light of it," Any one of spiritual judgment can see that it should not be "nations of them which are saved." By the tenure and title by which they enjoy this blessedness--by right of inheritance, as the sons of God, a title of all others the most honourable, as resulting from so near and endeared a relation to God himself, and the most sure and indefeasible, that can no more cease than the relation from which it results. 21:8 Greek NT: RP Byzantine Majority Text 2005T , , , . It is all plain and simple "the beast that was, and is not, and shall be present.". "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away." It is necessary that we should all bear in mind, if we have not observed it before, thatRevelation 17:1-18; Revelation 17:1-18 does not pursue the chronological course of the prophecy. . Those who deny Christ through fear of persecution prove that their faith is false, and will join their tempter in the lake of fire (7-8). This city is seen now as the holy vessel of divine power for governing the earth during the millennium, "having the glory of God: and her brightness was like a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.". They shall be his people; their souls shall be assimilated to him, filled with all the love, honour, and delight in God which their relation to him requires, and this will constitute their perfect holiness; and he will be their God: God himself will be their God; his immediate presence with them, his love fully manifested to them, and his glory put upon them, will be their perfect happiness; then he will fully answer the character of the relation on his part, as they shall do on their part. He has reserved the matter, though not without enough to guide our thoughts, as we have seen. Again John is hearing the voice that the great prophets had heard, "I am the first, and I am the last; besides me there is no God" ( Isaiah 44:6). Had those who preached said nothing about heathen vanities, had they merely presented the gospel as a better thing than anything the pagans could boast, I do not doubt that the pagans themselves would have acknowledged thus much. 22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, is its temple, and the Lamb. The "saved" is a term which, so far from belonging to the nations, is expressly applied to the Jewish remnant when it is a technical term. Thus there is a completeness and perfection about it suited to its present character. This is never the case with an angel. We must face difficulties; we must bow to the word; we must seek to learn through all. Not the same word as that applied to Simon and Bar-jesus in the Acts, but cognate with that used above, Revelation 9:21, and rendered witchcrafts in Galatians 5:20. All this gives us a true and just view of the various parties that have a share in the resurrection. Revelation The promise of God to those who overcome is the same that was made to Abraham the founder of the nation, to David on behalf of Solomon his son, and to the Messiah himself. H. B. Swete sees further symbolism here. "And he that spoke with me had a golden reed as a measure, that he might measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had gone; and the sea was no more. Revelation 21:8 (KJV): But the fearful ,and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have The city itself was of pure gold, so pure that it seemed like transparent glass. Why then is the book of life mentioned? We have here a more general account of the happiness of the church of God in the future state, by which it seems most safe to understand the heavenly state. We know that the change of all those caught up takes place in the twinkling of an eye. Here, again, is a dream of the Jews which never died--the dream of the restoration of Jerusalem, the holy city. It is true, the beast's judgment is only referred to as a defeat under the hand of the Lamb. WebThe book ends with a vision of faithful souls in the next life rejoicing around the throne of God. "And the nations shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour unto it. There will be a new heaven and a new earth and the former will not be remembered or brought into mind. WebGreek Reverse Interlinear Layout for Revelation 8:13. God is sovereign. Reference-Verse. Revelation 21 The abominable are those who practice abominationsthat is, the blasphemous and licentious practices associated with idolatry. As far as the display of government goes, it is according to God morally, and for His glory, though I deny not for a moment that there are elements of evil which are never allowed, but kept under if not expelled. "And let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.". There is no scriptural reason to infer that any saint dies during the thousand years, but rather the contrary. When Christ at God's right hand was announced, even from the very beginning, He was ready to judge the quick and the dead. I will tell thee the mystery of the woman." It should not be "and which had not," but rather, "and those who had not worshipped the beast, nor his image, neither had received his mark upon their forehead, and on their hand; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." It sounds like a dream, doesn't it? Scripture is positive in Isaiah 65:1-25 that death during the millennium only comes as a specific judgment because of open rebellion. WebRevelation 21:8 New King James Version 8 But the cowardly, [ a]unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the 8 The temple would suppose a medium. He gets his power and they get theirs for one and the same time. Of course there must needs be a consultation with the kings, when the kings exist and become an accredited part of that empire, as rulers subordinate to the beast. It is God's word of privilege to Israel: "I will give you for a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth" ( Isaiah 49:6). carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones" ( Isaiah 54:11-12). Day 223 of the year = 8/11 symbolizes Revelation 8:11 WORMWOOD = Greek number 894 894 days - 365 - 365 = 164 George h w bush born in a leap year 6/12/1924 was day 164 of the year. The highest courage is to be desperately afraid and in spite of that to do the right thing and to hold fast to loyalty. The horns have constantly opposed each other, and even sometimes the pope. A sweet strain shall they utter from their mouths in hymns. Usually God is pictured as dwelling in heaven and people as dwelling on earth. In the ancient world pearls were of all stones most valued. "And the angel said unto him, Wherefore didst thou wonder? At the same time we are not at liberty to eliminate such a feature out of the description. We know that sometimes there were nine, sometimes eleven or more; but supposing this all perfectly certain, I affirm that, according to history, they did not receive their power as kings for one and the same time with the beast. The heavens will be on fire. If there was any Gentile power since John's day, which did not sustain but persecute and suppress Jerusalem, it was Rome, instead of being a gaudy harlot mounted on that vast empire. Since then the world has not seen the imperial power to which all bow. When its own season arrives, as it surely will, the divine hindrance is to be removed, and the devil then is allowed to do his worst. Strong's Greek: 2303. (theion) -- brimstone - Bible (ii) It has a much more human background. Isaiah heard God say: "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Line-By-Line Order: Verse-Reference. It will be observed that in this case it is one of the angels that had the seven bowls who comes forward and says to John, "Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore (or harlot) that sitteth upon [the] many waters." The towers of Jerusalem shall be builded with gold. The picture is always there and its elements are always the same. He measured the city with his measuring rod, and the measurement was twelve thousand stades. It was the same with the Jews. It is Christ Himself about to be displayed in His rights as King of kings, and Lord of lords; and this in the face of the world. But is there any reason why we should content ourselves with the measure enjoyed of old? It is not fear that is condemned. They thirst after a state of sinless perfection and the uninterrupted enjoyment of God, and God has wrought in them these longing desires, which cannot be satisfied with any thing else, and therefore would be the torment of the soul if they were disappointed but it would be inconsistent with the goodness of God, and his love to his people, to create in them holy and heavenly desires, and then deny them their proper satisfaction; and therefore they may be assured that, when they have overcome their present difficulties, he will give them of the fountain of the water of life freely. It is not the gospel, nor the Holy Spirit, but the lawless revived Latin empire with its vassal kingdoms of the west, that combine and destroy Babylon. To them, as Plato said, "the unexamined life was the life not worth living," and so the unexamined faith was the faith not worth having. Tuesday, October 7, 2014 Revelation 21 1 Knit together with Heaven, nurtured and renewed, humanity and earth refreshed, connected, established in Way Foremost. It is possible that John is here accentuating a feature of the earthly Jerusalem. Gates of pearl are a symbol of unimaginable beauty and unassessable riches. The sons of the stranger will learn to love God and to serve him. They had cried to the Sovereign ruler to avenge their blood on their foes, but they were told they must wait a little for some others, their fellow-servants and their brethren, to die as they had. His grace be with all! And what shall we say of the wonderful wisdom of the Lord? Their eternal existence will be a life dominated by the sins mentioned in Revelation 21:8. Take notice of this (which confirms the application just now contended for), that when John saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, he wondered with great wonder. But it is what each saint has, though the blessed thought here is that the church has it not merely in the way of each person possessing his own; the bride has the whole of it (that is, the church in glory). Little do they know, because they believe not what is here written, that it is about to come out of the abyss or bottomless pit. The holy city is inhabited by thousands and thousands of the saints of God, and it may well be that it is the light of these saintly lives which gives it this glittering glow. Thus the only use that seems made of the book is negative and exclusive. It is likely that it was the equivalent of the modern sapphire. But for the eternal judgment heaven and earth are fled away; and then we see the new and eternal universe. Verse Only. 23 The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine for it, for the glory of God illumines it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The ideal is a challenge, which, even if it is not worked out in this world, can still be worked out in the world to come. (ii) It may well be that the only intention of John is to stress the splendour of the city of God in which even the foundations were stones beyond price. This refers to the place of consignment for all those things for which God cannot allow any place in heaven. Instead of. The simplest interpretation of the wall is that it is "the insurmountable bulwark of faith." [We've already looked at that] And there came unto me one of the seven angels ( Revelation 21:8-9 ). It is not what Christ puts on them, but a recognition even at this time of whatever has been of God the working I do not deny of the Spirit of Christ. But it really is. The Precious Stones Of The City ( Revelation 21:18-21). Now we find the symbol of the bride brought before us, and the elders and the living creatures disappear. Revelation 21 Alpha ( G1) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and omega ( G5598) the last. It is not till modern times that we come on people who rejoice in being sea-faring. greek - In Revelation 21:8, is "Fear" or even "Cowardice" a The wall of Babylon was 300 feet high, and the walls of the porch of Solomon's temple were 180 feet high. WebRevelation 21:8 Interlinear: and to fearful, and unstedfast, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all the liars, their part is in the lake God in His providence did sanction the great empires of old; and the principle continues as long as the church is here below. The emerald was the modern emerald, which Pliny describes as the greenest of all green stones. This idea is equally strong between the Testaments. It will exist separate from the new heaven and earth and the New Jerusalem. Men have been beguiled here and there, and from an early date, to set aside the true bearing of this chapter. And in speaking it into existence, He spoke into existence a scientific puzzle. It would have been incongruous to bring in that long description before, because this must have interrupted the flow of the prophetic stream. The altar of the burnt offering, the altar of the incense, and the High Priest's breast-plate were all in the form of a cube ( Exodus 27:1; Exodus 30:2; Exodus 28:16). Greek Even so, Amen. They stand in contrast with those who overcome, Revelation 21:7. But even in this present world those who mourn are blessed, for they will be comforted, and death is swallowed up in victory for those who know Christ and the fellowship of his sufferings and the power of his Resurrection ( Matthew 5:4; Php_3:10 ).
revelation 21:8 greek