The next scenes in John's visions proved to be of conditions that will exist after the Millennium. He recorded this insight to reveal the final home of believers. There are many allusions to Isaiah 60 and 65 and Ezekiel 40-48 in this pericope. The final two chapters also tie up strands of revelation from every major previous section of the book.716This pericope is a picture of new beginnings, a sharp contrast with the lake of fire, another final end, in the previous one.
Note some contrasts between the former creation and the future creation.717
John now saw a new scene that elaborated on the passing away of the present earth and heaven to which he had just referred briefly (20:11). The new earth and heaven will come into existence after the Millennium and the great white throne judgment. Many interpreters take the new earth and heaven as a picture of the present age of the church, but this is unwarranted.
The reason God will destroy the present heaven and earth is that He originally made them as the habitat for humanity. However sin so thoroughly corrupted not only the human race but the race's environment that He will destroy it and create a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. This is the final stage in His plan to deliver humanity into the blessing He originally intended people to enjoy.
"Throughout the entire Bible, the ultimate destiny of God's people is an earthly destiny. In typical dualistic Greek thought, the universe was divided into two realms: the earthly or transitory, and the eternal spiritual world. Salvation consisted of the flight of the soul from the sphere of the transitory and ephemeral to the realm of eternal reality. However, biblical thought always places man on a redeemed earth, not in a heavenly realm removed from earthly existence."718
Is this a creation out of nothing (ex nihilo) like the creation of the first heaven and earth (Gen. 1) or a thorough renovation of the present heaven and earth? I favor an entirely new creation in view of 2 Peter 3:10-12.719
Is the new heaven and earth that John saw the same new heaven and earth that Isaiah predicted (Isa. 65:17; 66:22; cf. Ps. 102:25-26; Isa. 51:6)? We would normally assume that the entities are the same since the terms that describe them are almost identical. However the descriptions of these places vary. Isaiah wrote that people will die in the new earth (Isa. 65:17-20), but John said there will be no more death there (Rev. 21:4). Isaiah predicted that the moon will shine in the new heavens (Isa. 66:22-23), but John implied that there will be no moon there (Rev. 21:23). Apparently Isaiah spoke of both the Millennium and the eternal state generally as new heavens and a new earth (Isa. 65:17-66:24), which is accurate since even in the Millennium the world will experience renovation. John, in the progress of revelation, distinguished these two aspects of the eschaton and applied the name "new heaven and earth"only to the eternal state, which is appropriate since God will eventually destroy the present world and create a new world (cf. 2 Pet. 3:10). Isaiah's view of the future was more general while John's was more specific.720
By the first heaven and earth John quite obviously meant this planet and the heavens above it. He did not mean the abode of God that Scripture also calls heaven elsewhere (i.e., the third heaven of 2 Cor. 12:2; cf. Eph. 4:10; Heb. 4:14).
The new earth will have no seas, but oceans will exist in the Millennium (Ps. 72:8; Jer. 11:9, 11; Ezek. 47:8-20; 48:28; Zech. 9:10; 14:8). This is another indication that what John saw in chapter 21 was not the Millennium but the eternal state that will follow it. The sea is the first of seven evils that John said would not exist in the new creation, the others being death, mourning, weeping, pain, night, and the curse (vv. 4, 25; 22:3, 5). Since these other evils are literal entities, we should probably understand the sea as literal too. The sea is an evil in the sense that it opposes humankind. For example, it was the sea that kept John on the Island of Patmos separate from the churches of Asia.721Presently the seas cover over three-quarters of the earth's surface. Therefore an earth without seas will be a radically different planet. The seas affect the atmosphere, the climate, and other living conditions as well as human transportation. The absence of any sea is the chief characteristic of the new earth, as John described it.
21:2 In the same vision, John next saw a city descending out of heaven from God (cf. v. 10; 3:12; Heb. 11:13-16). It was holy in contrast to the former Jerusalem (cf. 11:8; Isa. 52:1; Matt. 4:5; 27:53). As the old Jerusalem was Jesus Christ's capital during the Millennium, so the New Jerusalem will be His capital from then on. In the bride-husband simile, the city is the bride, and Christ is the husband (vv. 9-10; cf. 3:12). Obviously some symbolism is present in the descriptions of the New Jerusalem.
"Just as the four actual kingdoms of Daniel 2, 7 do not literally correspond to the imagery that portrays them, so the New Jerusalem does not literally correspond to the imagery of Revelation 21-22. Though it is an actual literal city, its glory will far surpass the language that John uses to portray it. John's language is an attempt to describe what is in one sense indescribable."722
The use of the bride figure to describe the New Jerusalem should not lead us to conclude that the New Jerusalem is identical with the church.723The bride figure elsewhere describes the church (e.g., 19:7; 2 Cor. 11:2), but here the city is the bride. The bride figure describes different entities in intimate relationship to Christ. The Old Testament also used the bride as a figure to describe Israel's relationship to God (Isa. 62:5; Jer. 2:2; 3:20; Ezek. 16:8; Hos. 2:19-20). This does not mean that Israel, the church, and the New Jerusalem are three names of the same entity. However, this bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem, now evidently encompasses two previous brides of Christ, Israel and the church. The city is the corporate identity of those who reside in it. Like Babylon, it is a real city, but it also represents the people who live there, which in this case include old covenant and new covenant believers. It is the place that Jesus Christ went to the Cross to prepare for His disciples (John 14:2). Like the name "Babylon,""New Jerusalem"probably represents both a real city and what Jerusalem has represented thoughout history.
"Revelation as a whole may be characterized as A Tale of Two Cities, with the sub-title, The Harlot and the Bride."724
There have been several explanations of the relationship of the New Jerusalem to the new earth. It may be that John saw as a city what he had formerly seen as a new heaven and earth. In other words, the New Jerusalem and the new heaven and earth may be two different figures for the eternal state. I favor this view. Thus the eternal dwelling place of believers will be a completely new creation by God that John saw in his visions first as a new world and then as a new city.
Alternatively the New Jerusalem could be a satellite rotating around the new earth. Some hold that the New Jerusalem will be a satellite of the present earth during the Millennium, and when God creates the new earth it will descend out of heaven and be on the surface of the new earth.725Some believe that the New Jerusalem will be within the new earth.726The text does not say the New Jerusalem will come down to the new earth, only that John saw it coming down out of heaven from God (cf. v. 10).
21:3 For the last of 20 times in his vision John heard a loud voice signifying the importance of the proclamation that followed. "Behold"further stressed its importance. This probably angelic voice (cf. 19:5) announced that God's tabernacle, evidently the entire New Jerusalem, was now among men. Finally the relationship between God and humankind that God has always desired people to enjoy will be a reality (cf. 7:15; Gen. 3:8; 17:7; Exod. 6:7; 29:45; Lev. 26:11-12; Num. 15:41; Deut. 29:13; 2 Sam. 7:24; Jer. 7:23; 11:4; 24:7; 30:22; 31:1, 33; 32:38; Ezek. 11:20; 34:24; 36:28; 37:23, 27; Zech. 2:10; 8:8; 2 Cor. 6:16). God will dwell among his cleansed people, and they will experience intimate fellowship with Him. This is the supreme blessing of the New Jerusalem (cf. Ezek. 37:27; 48:35). This fellowship existed to some extent when God walked with Adam in the Garden of Eden and when He dwelt among the Israelites in the tabernacle and then in the temple, hence the reference to the tabernacle (cf. 13:6; 15:5). It also existed partially when Jesus Christ "tabernacled"among people (John 1:14). It exists today in a spiritual sense as God inhabits the bodies of Christians individually (1 Cor. 6:19-20) and the church corporately (Eph. 2:21-22).
"The essence of v. 3 is the focal point of John's whole description of the new Jerusalem: God's immediate presence with men. The prominence of the theme is evident in v. 3 itself by virtue of a fivefold727repetition of the same essential truth in that one verse. It is the principal focus again in 21:7 where the promise to the overcomer is that God would be his God and He would be God's son. The glory of God in the city in 21:11 is another indication of God's immediate presence, a presence that is also the direct emphasis of 22:3-4 which speaks of the presence of the throne of God and the Lamb in the city and immediate access to Him for His slaves, enabling them to see His face."728
The plural "peoples"hints at other groups beside Israel in the New Jerusalem. A usual designation for Israel is the "people"(singular, Gr. laos) of God. God promised Abraham that He would bless many peoples through the patriarch (Gen. 12:3; cf. Gal. 3:8, 16, 26-29). This is the ultimate fulfillment of that promise.
21:4 Verse 3 describes the benefits of the New Jerusalem positively, and verse 4 does so negatively. Probably God will wipe away all tears at the inception of the eternal state rather than at some time after that. These are tears caused by life in the old creation, not tears of repentance. This reference to wiping away tears highlights God's compassion for His people. Sorrow, death, and pain will all end along with the tears, mourning, and crying that result from them. This is a final reversal of the curse (Gen. 3). All these former experiences will be gone forever then. However note that the removal of tears will take place after the judgments, including the judgment seat of Christ when some Christians will suffer the loss of reward (1 Cor. 3:15; cf. 1 John 2:28). The "first"things are the former things, the things associated with the old creation.
"How different is this concept of heaven from that of Hinduism, for example? Here heaven is depicted as a city, with life, activity, interest, and people, as opposed to the Hindu ideal of heaven as a sea into which human life returns like a raindrop to the ocean."729
21:5 John turned from describing the New Jerusalem briefly to describe some of God's utterances (cf. 1:8; 20:11). "Behold"introduces a special pronouncement, namely, that God will bring a new creation into existence. The description of the new creation in the preceding verses was proleptic. Evidently an angel then instructed John to write down what God had said because His words were faithful and true, not incredible (cf. 22:6).730Less likely it was God who uttered this second statement. Perhaps the vision so enthralled John that he stopped recording it.
21:6 The one sitting on the throne resumed speaking. The judgments of the Tribulation (cf. 16:17) and of the whole old creation stood accomplished (cf. v. 5). He again referred to Himself as the eternal, sovereign God (1:8; cf. 22:13), the originator and terminator of all things (cf. Isa. 44:6). His promise of abundant satisfaction for the thirsty is metaphorical symbolizing His ability to meet the deepest needs of His people (7:17; cf. Isa. 55:1; John 4:13-14; 7:37-39).731This is an invitation to anyone, including believers, to come to God to receive what is truly satisfying from Him freely. It is a beautiful gospel invitation (cf. 3:20; 22:17).
21:7 The overcomer (i.e., every believer) will inherit these things (i.e., the blessings of the new creation). This promise completes and summarizes the other seven promises to overcomers in chapters 2 and 3. Inheriting emphasizes the privilege of obtaining something because of the work of another in contrast to one's own work.
"The phrase I will be his God and he will be My son' is defined elsewhere as a statement of special honor, not of regeneration. The Davidic Covenant promised to David's son, Solomon, I will be a Father to him and he will be a son to Me' (2 Sam. 7:14). The intent of the phrase was to signify a special, intimate relationship.732
21:8 The sins mentioned here are some that typically characterize unbelievers, the other group in contrast to overcomers. While these sins do mark some believers who follow the dictates of their flesh (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21), they more generally identify the lost. That the unsaved are in view seems clear since their part (i.e., their destiny) will be in the lake of fire.
Since the lake of fire still exists after the passing of the present heaven and earth, hell is probably not in the center of the present earth nor is it connected to this earth. It will exist separate from the new heaven and earth and the new Jerusalem.733Even though this passage does not say there will be no more sin in the eternal state, is seems quite clear that there will be none since the consequences of sin will be absent.
God now provided John with more information about the New Jerusalem (v. 2).734The chronological progression of the revelation in 19:11-22:5 locates the New Jerusalem in the new creation, not in the Millennium.
