Revelation 22:1-6 - Peace LIke a River

John’s vision of the heavenly city of Jerusalem, which began in the last chapter, continues now as he travels into the city and arrives at its very heart. There should be no surprise for us to discover what’s at the center of heaven: the throne of God. After all, ever since Chapter 4 we have seen visions of heaven with the throne as the focal point, surrounded by the living creatures, 24 elders, and so on. Until now, the throne was sorting floating out there by itself. I have to admit that in my mind’s eye the throne of God was this location that was surrounded by some gray, dark, neutral space all around its immediate vicinity. Now we find out that the throne is in the middle of a city! Was the city always there, but just wasn’t revealed to John for him to describe for us? Or is this something new, now that God has made his dwelling with men (21:3). I’d like to think that it’s a combination of the two. Yes, we are certainly looking for that time when we are directly in the presence of God. And we know that the heavenly city, where we will live, will at some point in the future make its appearance (21:10). But ever since the Lord became Emmanuel, we know that God is with us. He has already made his dwelling with us.

Sometimes we’re like John: we aren’t able to see God’s presence in the heart of our experiences. Or if we do, we don’t realize what it’s really all about. Far too many people worry about how God’s direct involvement in their lives would lead to condemnation or rejection. I suppose it’s natural and expected. When we have a healthy sense of our sinful condition, we know that we don’t deserve to be there. (An unhealthy attitude is one that makes us think that we can never be with God.) And with all the rather frightening descriptions of God’s wrath and discipline that we’ve encountered in Revelation, who could blame us for cowering in fear at the thought? This is one of our great challenges, and great opportunities. First, to see beyond the gray fog of our lives and realize that God is with us in all his glory. Not at the periphery, but at the very center of the “city” of our lives. Second, to know that it is a presence that brings blessing, healing, and peace. As John 3:17 (the verse right after the really famous one) puts it, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Sure: we’ll experience challenges, struggles, and even difficult discipline. But the presence of God in our lives, as we are reconciled with Him through Christ’s saving work, is peace, healing, and joy.

John’s description of how God’s presence in the city blesses its people evokes images of the Garden of Eden, where God walked and interacted with Adam and Eve naturally and comfortably. First, of course, is the river of life that springs from the throne and runs down the main thoroughfare of New Jerusalem. Four rivers flowed from the center of Eden: rivers that were major waterways in the ancient Near East. The image that comes to my mind here is of Dutch towns with canals in the middle of the street. Jesus described himself as the one who supplies living water, water of life (John 4:13-14, 7:37-38). And water is a common image of life-giving in the Old Testament. It’s only natural, of course. In an arid place like the Holy Land, water is a source of life. The river from the throne symbolizes our need for God’s life-giving presence in our lives in order for us to live, to thrive, to be what God wants for us.

We also hear about the tree of life. This was one of the two trees that was in the middle of the Garden of Eden. It was the source through which God’s life-giving presence made Eden the paradise that it was. (I can’t help but to think of the movie “Avatar,” and the way that the Tree of Souls united all of the life on Pandora. The tree of life isn’t quite like that, but if you’ve seen the movie you might have an idea about what it’s like.) The other tree was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and it was the one that Adam and Eve weren’t supposed to eat from. Because they did, they got kicked out of Eden, which meant that they lost their connection with the Tree of Life. Now that Adam and Eve’s sin, which had been passed down to all of us their children, has been removed, we’re able to gather around the Tree of Life once more. It’s a tree that’s always in season. Have you ever tried to get watermelon in May, or corn on the cob in March? If you can find it, it’s probably so overly-preserved or frozen that it tastes like cardboard. But what about a tree that provides a different nourishing crop every month of the year? That sounds like something we could all enjoy. It’s a reminder also of our constant need for God’s grace to allow us to live and grown.

As the TV sales pitches go, Wait! There’s more! Not only does the Tree of Life provide year-round food, but even its leaves are valuable. The leaves are leaves of healing. Thing perhaps of teas or poultices that can be made from the leaves of certain shrubs or trees. This tree can heal us. The healing we’re talking about isn’t (or isn’t only) about physical ailments from cancer to the common cold. It heals our spirits. Far too many of us are far too wounded psychically from what we’ve experienced in this broken world of ours. Once we’re in the glorious presence of God, not only are we rescued from the things that damage us, but we find healing for our souls. There truly is a balm in Gilead. But as any good TV sales pitch would say, Don’t Stop There! You’ll get something even better! The leaves aren’t just for the healing of God’s people. They are for the healing of the nations. We cause so much damage by our divisions, and nations are the prime example. What “nations” are you part of, which define themselves by what they do, who they are, or what they value? Every time you’re part of a “nation,” you’re excluding those who aren’t part of it. And frequently opposing nations develop which compete and contend against each other. The tree of life heals us of all the damage and pain that our nations cause upon each other. Remember that the true Tree of Life is the cross of Calvary, upon which Jesus went to provide life for us all. And as Ephesians 2:11-18 explains, his work on the tree has removed all the barriers between the nations so that we can be united as we serve and celebrate in God’s presence.

Further, we hear that there is no need for any other light in the city, because God himself illuminates the town. Remember Psalm 119:105: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” We count on God now to light up the paths that we should take. But at times that illumination seems pretty dim, and we lose our way. Physical light is good; we need it to see and to get around. But the light that God supplies is also light for our souls: to illuminate the dark corners where we’re afraid that monsters lurk. To allow us to bask like sun worshipers with no fear of skin cancer. To see fully all that’s going on inside of us and around us.

We get to see God face to face. In the Old Testament we know that no one can see God and live. In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul predicts the time when we will see—and be seen—face to face. We will finally be able to understand the fullness of God. And when God looks directly upon use, we’ll be able to know ourselves as well.

Revelation 21:9-27 – Urban Planning

John now describes the new Jerusalem that he sees from the vantage point of a high mountain. The mountain isn’t named, but the best place to see today’s Jerusalem is the Mount of Olives. It’s odd that the arrival of the city is announced by one of the angels who poured out a bowl of God’s wrath in Chapter 16. There’s some sort of relationship between tremendous destruction and punishment on the one hand, and unbelievable blessing and joy on the other.

This is the third time that the people of God (or, the city of God) is described as a bride; we’ve seen it already in 19:7 and 21:2. Marriage is the fullest and most complete relationship that two people can have, and so it’s fitting for John to compare God’s relationship with us to that of a husband with his bride. In fact, many commentators on the Song of Songs (aka Song of Solomon) believe that this romantic expression of the love for a man and woman is a metaphor for the love between God and humanity. And this is the true and greatest of all the splendors of heaven: that God is fully united with his people. The entire arc of creation’s history seems to bend toward a reconciled love between God and us. I have to admit that it baffles me. Sure, we’re made in God’s image (Genesis 1), and we’re made a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8). But quite frankly, it’s hard for me to believe that God takes such great delight in me—or in anyone else for that matter. Maybe I’m just too much of a Calvinist: aware of how deep the stain of sin colors the human condition. I take to heart messages like the line in Amy Grant’s song “I Have Decided:” “The only good inside your heart is the good that Jesus brings.” Apparently there’s much more to the story. Yes, we are full of sin. But there is something about each of us that has led God to claim us as his children from before creation (Ephesians 1:4), and to go to such great lengths to reclaim us. There is an essence to us, to the way that God has made us, that fills him with delight and leads him to view us as precious. While humility and a healthy awareness of our sinfulness is appropriate, we need to be sure we don’t go too far in the other direction either. God delights in us the way that newlyweds do. And we do a disservice to Christ’s saving work if we think that we’re so undeserving that he shouldn’t have done it.

John describes the eternal paradise that awaits us as a city. Granted, it’s a precious city that’s encrusted with every conceivable gem. (We shouldn’t stop at the simple literal understanding of this, by the way. There are no earthly treasures that compare to the value that God places upon us. These descriptions are the best that John can do to express it.) But a city? There’s not many people who think of cities as paradise. We’d much rather dream about paradise being like the Garden of Eden, the original paradise. Most inspirational artwork has beautiful nature scenes: mountains and rivers and flowers and trees and birds and beaches. Not sidewalks and traffic lights and skyscrapers and buses! I’ll admit that I’m the first to imagine paradise as a beautiful wilderness, not an urban center. I feel so much closer to God in the beauty of nature and the grandeur of creation. But maybe that’s the point. As we live in this world of ours, filled as it is with corrupted and problematic relationships, heaven means getting away from them all and being alone with God. However, this is completely different from the fate for which we have been saved. Relationships are restored in heaven: not just between God and humanity, between each person. The Presbyterian Confession of 1967 develops this theme of reconciliation (see 2 Corinthians 5:18-19). The city of the New Jerusalem is more like a family reunion than a dangerous urban center. In fact, it’s even better than a family reunion: no creepy uncles or embarrassing cousins to deal with! Because we will have all been transformed by the work of Christ, we will be nothing but the wonderful treasures that God had in mind for us when he created us, and that fills him with such delight. No one will want to be alone, because of how delighted we’ll be to be together. When perfect relationships have been restored, nothing will be better than being together.

It also helps for us to bear in mind that the way we modern westerners think about cities and the countryside is very different how the ancients did, and how some people do today. A couple of years ago we had guests from Ghana visiting, and they were worried and amazed about an older woman who lived by herself in a relatively isolated house. For them, this was a perfect situation for bandits to take advantage of. They could attack her, and probably overcome her easily, and then rob her. For her, and for the rest of us, this was a strange concern, because we all think that her home is beautiful and that she is blessed to be surrounded by such beauty. Ancient people lived in towns for protection. Cities meant safety, and the wilderness meant danger. If we grasp this understanding, even if we don’t share it, we can understand that the people of God will be eager to enjoy the safety of the new Jerusalem, where there be room for everyone.

John watched as the angel measured the city. It’s a scene similar to John’s measuring of the temple in Revelation 11:1-2, but with a couple of important distinctions. First, the angel uses a golden rod instead of a reed to do the measuring. This is a more precious object being measured. And second, it’s the city and not the temple being measured. That raises to points. First, the temple has always been understood as the dwelling place of God. Now, however, we learn that the God lives in the entire city, with all of his people. He’s not cooped up in the Holy of Holies of the sanctuary. Everyone has access to him, directly, and is able to bask in the light of his love. The second point is closely related to the first. The angel needs to measure off an entire city, because that’s what it takes to fit in the family of God. You may recall that John measured the temple in Chapter 11 as a sanctuary for the people of God to escape from the forces of evil. Now, the sanctuary is simply massive!

There are several things to notice about this city of God, where the Lord and his people live together in perfect relationship with each other. First, it’s a massive cube, 12,000 stadia on each side. Twelve is the number of the people of God, and it’s multiplied by 1,000, which Revelation uses to express a massive number. The city measures about 1400 miles on each side. That’s roughly the distance from Pittsburgh to Denver: long, wide, and high! (For John’s audience, which never heard of Pittsburgh or Denver, it’s the distance from Jerusalem to Rome.) A city so massive hardly qualifies as a city at all. The proportions of God’s city are of the same unimaginable scale as his grace.

The city is incredibly precious, and a description of its building materials is like going through the precious gems exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. Some features, like gold, pearl, sapphires, and emeralds, are pretty well-known. But others, like chrysoprase and jacinth, seem pretty obscure. Why does John see these particular gems in his vision, and why is he so precise in describing the order in which they serve as foundations for the city? There are theories. First, the twelve stones may be a reminder of the high priest’s breastplate, which is described in Exodus 28:15-30. This important part of the priest’s attire was decorated with twelve precious stones, each of which represented one of the twelve tribes of Israel. It’s pretty much the same list of gems, if we take into account some confusion from translation between various languages. We already heard in verse 14 that the foundations of the city have the names of the twelve apostles on them, so it would be fitting if the materials of each foundation represent the twelve patriarchs. Remember the twenty-four elders that surround the throne of heaven; they are the patriarchs and apostles: the leaders of the united people of God. Our relationship with God is made possible because of Jesus’ atoning work, but it is built upon the work of saints and heroes of the faith who have come before us. There’s just one problem: John’s precisely detailed description of the order of the foundation-gems doesn’t quite march the order of the stones of the high priest’s breastplate. That may be significant, but perhaps we shouldn’t allow it to discredit the identification of the foundations with the patriarchs of Israel.

There’s a second meaning for the stones: twelve is not only the number of patriarchs, but it is also the number of signs in the zodiac. While first-century Christians looked to the heavens as the bottom view of God’s heaven, their pagan neighbors looked to the skies for astrological guidance. Just as each tribe of Israel was associated with a gem, so also were the signs of the zodiac (a little bit like the birthstones we have today). And guess what? The order of gems that make up the foundation of the new city are precisely the opposite of the order of gems for the zodiac-signs. As a symbol, the foundation of the city not only evokes recognition of the patriarchs, but it also demonstrates the undoing of pagan beliefs and practices

Amid all the other descriptive of the city, I’d like to focus on the fact that the city is built upon the foundations of the patriarchs and the apostles. While it is emphatically God’s doing, it comes through the work of people. God has made the patriarchs and apostles his partners in the work of salvation. But he doesn’t stop there. We are all part of his plan to build up a glorious city, and to populate it with the redeemed. It would be good for us first to recognize and to appreciate how others have been part of our faith experience that has brought us into the relationship with God that we have. And it would be good for us second to realize that we are the path that God uses to encounter others. Let’s make sure that we’re a clear path!

That is possible only because of God at work in us. On their own, the patriarchs were faulty and sometimes obscure,. By their own merits, they couldn’t lay the foundation for anything more impressive than an outhouse. Think of the character of these men. Ten of the patriarchs schemed together to get rid of the one that they were jealous of, even though it broke their father’s heard. One of them, Judah, slept with his daughter-in-law: but only because he thought she was a prostitute! (It’s hard to figure out if that makes things better or worse). And the apostles weren’t much better. As Mark describes them, they were a group of idiots who could never understand what Jesus was trying to tell them, no matter how plainly he explained it. John and James were so power-hungry that they fought over who would get the most honor in Jesus’ kingdom. Peter, their leader, proved to be nothing but bluff and false bravado at the moment of crisis. And the rest of them scurried into the woodwork like cockroaches under a searchlight. The lesson for us? We can mess up royally, but God will still use us for his work. Even a chipped and broken stone can be a good foundation, when God is the mason.

And some of these men were obscure. We hear about some of them relatively frequently, such as Judah, Reuben, and Benjamin among the patriarchs, and Peter, James and John among the apostles. But how about some of the others? Except for the times when their names show up on the group list, we hear practically nothing about them. Search your Bible, and you won’t learn about any of the deeds of Zebulun, or Issachar, or Naphtali. The names of apostles like James the son of Alpheus and Simon the Zealot only grace the pages of Scripture as part of lists of the Twelve. By our accounts, these men were obscure and insignificant. But not by God’s! They are each part of the foundation, the very core, of his work of salvation. Their significance may not be discernible to us, but God recognizes and honors their value.

This brings us back to the point I raised earlier. God cherishes and honors us, even when we fail to see anything worthwhile in ourselves. There is no insignificant deed that is done in God’s name (Matthew 10:42: not even giving someone a cup of water), and there is no one obscure in God’s eyes (Matthew 10:29-30: God keeps track of the sparrows, and we are worth so much more to him).

Revelation 21:1-8 – New and Improved

Finally, after a long description of God’s destruction of the forces of evil, we hear about what is in store for the people of God. The first word to latch onto in this description is “new.” The old heaven and earth are gone, and a new one comes. God makes everything new. So often, we think about Revelation as a description of the “end times.” The fancy term for this part of our theology is “eschatology,” which means literally the study of, well, the end. But the point to all of this isn’t how things will come to an end. We are looking forward to something new that is coming. Granted, the old stuff has to come to an end for the new to come. But our focus is on what is coming. C.S. Lewis did a nice job of capturing this in his novel “The Last Battle” at the end of his Chronicles of Narnia series. When the old Narnia is gone, Aslan’s followers enter into a new world are overwhelmed with delight of the wonders to explore in it.

When we hear about new that is coming, it’s great news. But so often, the old life weighs us down. We have obligations, duties, routines, expectations, things to worry about, matters to take care of, plans to follow through on. We have relationships that aren’t what we wish they could be. It all drags us down like weights on a runner. We can’t make progress because of all that entangles us and hinders us. Hebrews 12:1 urges us to throw it all off so that we can run the race with Jesus, but let’s face it. We can’t do it on our own. A fresh start sounds wonderful, but we don’t know how to make it happen, and we don’t have the ability to do it even if we did.

Yes, our passage speaks of a new heaven and a new earth. But it’s us that needs to be made new. Granted, there are a lot of problems in the world we have now, and the brokenness that we encounter in it prevents us from living fully in the new life. Romans 8:19-20 tells us that creation itself longs to be made new. But if God would plop us, as we are now, into a new and wonderful world, it wouldn’t take long for us to mess it up all over again. If we put ourselves into a new setting, the same old problems will be there because we bring them with us. Think of two examples. First, think about what happens when you go on vacation. It’s wonderful to get away from all the problems and hassles at home and enjoy new surroundings and relaxing or invigorating activities. But there’s a reason why most vacations are only a week or two long. After a while the newness and excitement wears off and the things from back home start to catch up with you. Family squabbles resurface. You find yourself doing some of the same things on vacation that you wanted to get away from: feeling obligations to do certain things, or fretting about situations back home that you wanted to escape. Vacation is great, but it’s only a short break. Second, consider someone in a troubled and broken marriage. She realizes that the problems she has with her husband are intractable, so she divorces him. After all, wasn’t he and the baggage of their marriage the source of her troubles? She develops a new relationship with someone else, only to find herself facing the same problems that she had in her first marriage. Why? Because she still has her own problems that she didn’t address, which infect the new relationship. It happens far more often than you may think! In fact, people who leave a failed relationship often seek a new partner who shares many of the same traits that the old partner had. The patterns of brokenness run that deep. The person herself must change in order to experience a healthy relationship.

The key for us, therefore, is for God to make us new. We need him to change us and transform us. And that’s the good news that we find in verse 5. God says (and by the way, this is the only thing in the entire book that God himself says) “I am making all things new.” He is not sitting around, waiting for the “end” to happen. He is at work, even now, to change us and re-create us. The good news is that we are not frozen in our old categories and situations. People truly can change! And as Ephesians 2:8 reminds us, this is not from ourselves, but is the gracious gift of God. This means several things for us. First, don’t lose hope and think that you or someone around you is doomed to deal with the situation you’re in now. There is always hope, as long as God is on his throne. We have an optimistic faith. Second, never give up on other people. There may be a curmudgeon in your life that makes you miserable, or a pain in the neck (or other parts of your body) that causes you endless aggravation or misery. It’s so easy for us to write off such people as hopeless. They’ll never change, we think. But that is never true! In the first few months of my pastoral ministry, God granted me the privilege of working with an old man who had spent his entire life being an intolerable neighbor and family member. But in the last three weeks of his life, he experienced a complete transformation and reconciled broken relationships. God can always make someone new. One of the most disturbing things that I heard about after the Columbine school shootings was an interview with a youth pastor from the town. He was talking about his interactions with Cassie Bernall, the young woman who said “yes” when the shooters asked her if she was a Christian. She had not always been a Christian. In fact, the youth pastor recalled how she attended some of his church’s events with friends. She was resistant to the gospel, and he considered her a “lost cause” and pretty much gave up on her. Fortunately, God didn’t, and she became involved in a different church where the gospel took root in her life. May the Lord spare us from the attitude of that youth pastor, that we would ever think that someone is a “lost cause.” There may be times that, for our own welfare, we must limit our interactions with some people. But God is always able to make someone new.

It happens because, in a word, “Immanuel.” God is with us. His presence is here with us people, and not simply up in some spiritual heavenly realm. Verse 3 proclaims the wonderful message: “The dwelling of God is with people, and he will live with them.” All the benefits of the new life come from this. Death, mourning, crying, and pain will all disappear as part of the old world, and God With Us wipes away our tears and embraces us as a husband tenderly and lovingly embraces his bride. At times, as we continue to live in the old broken world, God seems so distant from us. It’s hard to be devoted to him and to trust in his power to make things new when it’s so hard to be in touch with him. It’s a constant effort that we know as discipleship.

Jesus speaks to John in verse 6 and claims the same identity that we heard in Revelation 1:8. He is the Alpha and Omega (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet): the beginning and the end. But to say that he is the beginning and the end is to say that he is everything in between. When he calls himself the Alpha and Omega, it’s exactly the same thing as someone saying that they know everything from A to Z. The vitamin pill that contains everything A to Zinc. The car company that has everything from the Altima to Z (the 370Z). And we’ll discuss further in Chapter 22 how he brings life-giving water (for now, refer to Isaiah 551 and John 4:10-14, 7:37-38).

He provides a promise for everyone who “overcomes.” It’s a reminder of the promises that ended each of the seven letters to the churches in Chapters 2 and 3. The Greek word used here is nike: the word for victory. In fact, the Greeks even had a god of victory, named Nike. And yes, in case you’re wondering, that’s where the shoe company gets its name. Wear our sneakers, and you’ll win. “Overcome” seems not to capture the active nature of being victorious or winning. When we become new, we conquer and vanquish the old ways of the world. And even more importantly, we prevail over the old and sinful parts of ourselves. Through the power of God that is present among us, we don’t need to sit in a corner and ache, waiting wistfully for things to change. We can rise up, be strong, and take courage.

Speaking of courage, notice the list of people who will not be included in glories of God’s new creation. This is one of several “vice lists” that we find in the New Testament, and for the most part it’s exactly what you’d expect. The sexually immoral, the murderers, the magicians, and so on. And yes, the liars, which should make us realize that dishonesty puts us in the same camp as adulterers and others who misuse the gift of sexuality. The real surprise, however, is the vice that tops the list: cowardice. Because it’s at the head of the list, we may assume that it is at least equal to the others, if not the worst of all. To be a coward is to fail to recognize and accept God’s presence and power. It is to give too much credit to the opposition: even after it has been totally annihilated! We overcome, or are victorious, when we watch for how God is making things new, and recognize how he is working through us. We win when we know that he is living with us and that he encompasses everything from A to Z.