Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Revelation 21:2

Copyright Ó 2011 J. Neely
Revelation 21:2

2 And [kai] I [ego] John [Ioannes] saw [eido] the holy [hagios] city, [polis] new [kainos] Jerusalem, [Hierousalem] coming down [katabaino] from [apo] God [theos] out of [ek] heaven, [ouranos] prepared [hetoimazo] as [hos] a bride [numphe] adorned [kosmeo] for her [autos] husband. [aner] KJV-Interlinear

2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. NASB




In the gospels, John refers to Jerusalem with the word, ‘Hierosoluma.’  Here he uses the word, ‘Hierousalem.’


The first refers to the political city, the corrupt city under the influence of Judaism, and all of humanities distortions of reality and life.  The latter refers to the original ‘City of David,’ or the spiritual city.  Gods original promise of spiritual peace and prosperity for all who pursue their spiritual lives.


In the new universe, none of man’s distortions of truth will exist.  Not even the many theories of evolution, from which we have all of those defined eons of prehistoric timelines.  The one thing that evolution needs is time.  Lots of it.  Without time, its theories fail.


In history, Jerusalem began way back in Abraham’s day.  It was known as Salem.  Later, it became known as the City of David, and is called the holy city, Rev. 11:2; Neh 11:1; Isa 52:1; Dan 9:24; Matt 4:5; 27:53

Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D., and will again be destroyed at the Second Advent of Christ.


When the Millennium begins, the next reference to the city will be the new city of Jerusalem wherein many residents of the Millennium will live and the seat of Christ’s government will reside.  That Jerusalem will be destroyed along with the rest of the universe.


The final city of Jerusalem will be created by God, not man, and it will come down out of heaven when the new universe is created.
  It is not from the original creation, but is now called the eternal city, Rev. 10; 3:12; Heb 11:10; 12:22-24; 13:14.

So, John sees the old universe destroyed into non-existence, then he sees the new universe created out of nothing.  But it is not created out of a huge dust cloud such that evolution requires to rebuild the universe during the course of billions of years. 


This new universe will be created instantly, just as the first universe was, and it will be immediately ready for occupancy, also as the first universe was for the angels who witnessed its original creation.


The new Jerusalem will descend down to the new earth, from out of heaven, and the new Jerusalem will also be ready for occupancy.


It will be adorned as a bride is for her husband.  It is often said that a woman is in her most beautiful state, on her wedding day.  On that day, the bride is pampered and prepared with the greatest of care.  She prepares herself for her husband to be, and for no one else.  She, who is going to give herself to belong to her one and only husband, prepares herself into a jewel, a one of a kind jewel whose sparkle and beauty is created and prepared for one man. That man, who when he sees her for the first time, will be awe struck and speechless with her beauty.


So it will be with the new Jerusalem.  When we see in real time, in the future, as John saw in his vision, we will be struck speechless with the vast magnitude of the beauty of the new city of Jerusalem.  And that will be our possession forever and ever.


In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ assumes the role of the husband.  We, believers in Him, assume the role of the bride.  In our spiritual life, we give ourselves over to Him totally and unconditionally. 


In the typical Jewish wedding ceremony, there is first the betrothal, wherein the two to be married are promised to each other.  Our betrothal took place in eternity past where God the Father promised the Son, a redeemed people.


The next stage of the wedding is the presentation, which is a time of feasting and celebration.  Our presentation will occur at the Rapture.  The rest of the believers in history will be presented at their respective resurrections.


The third stage of the wedding ceremony is the wedding supper, which will be the entire period of the Millennium. 


And the final stage of the wedding, is the consummation of the marriage, which will occur in the eternal state.  That will be the completion of our relationship with God, and the marriage will last forever.


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