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In government, particularly in defense areas, or in the clandestine operations of intelligence services, one of the key principles they operate within is referred to as … “need to know”. Even terrorist groups have discovered the value of compartmentalizing into various cells, so that no single group has all the plans and information of every other group. When information is made public, plans and operations that might have been carried forward in secret become of little use. But when information is presented to those who have need of it, better decisions can be made. When information is made public, the public is then allowed to form their own opinions regarding the data. Often a decision that would have been made while information was kept secret; is not supported or permitted once information becomes public. Secrecy is often required to foster and make decisions of “questionable” moral character. The public light of day makes those same decisions much harder to make.
But what if there were information that literally everyone needed to know. In the war between good and evil, between God and Satan who has become His enemy, there is such information. Satan would keep it secret, keep it hidden from view, and tell you that you have no need to know. This is how information is handled in times of war and for good logical reasons. God’s methods however, seem to defy that notion. He offers to us scriptures, with detailed intelligence about His battle plans, locations, and outcomes of future events. He reveals His best options right out in the open. He details outcomes in truth that often show His enemy gaining ground in one of His most loved servants. He seems to reveal plainly intelligence and reconnaissance information any enemy would take high advantage of. For instance, in the previous chapter of Revelations, the battle that is to take place where all evil is finally put to an end, is staged as the entire evil host led by Satan surrounds the Holy City of New Jerusalem. Since none of us here, up to this point, have any idea about the modifications God has made to this city in order to accommodate us living in it, this would have been considered in time of war … classified intelligence. Scouting an enemy’s position, knowing the size of the object intended for conquest, knowing its entry and exit points, etc.. – is considered critical intel for a coming battle.
Yet here in the 21st chapter of Revelations, God shows it to John, and asks him to record it in explicit detail for us to read, ponder, study, and know with a certainty. So given our war is not over, and given this battle has yet to be waged, why did God think it important for us to know the size, composition, and these specific details about the New Jerusalem in the here and now. Why is this intel something we need to know now? How does it better reveal to us Jesus Christ, as with all of these Revelations, they are to accomplish within us a better understanding the Lord we serve, and of His great love for us? Given that this intel is normally kept secret in a war, there must be some reason why God thinks we should know it. Perhaps that warrants a second look at the data provided.
John begins to reveal this intel to us beginning in chapter 21 and verse 9 … “ And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.” John begins by revealing his source. The identity of the expositor of this information will be one of the seven angels who carried one of the seven last plagues upon our earth. From a timing perspective, those plagues were carried out more than a thousand years before New Jerusalem would descend to our world. For John, perhaps that vision was still very clear in his mind, and recognizes this angel as having participated in those events. The topic of this intelligence however, is to be details about “the bride”, or “the Lamb’s wife”. Why use this language to describe the city of heaven? Why not simply call it out as the “Capital city”, or as the city which will be the center of the universe. For those are surely both true statements and reflect the reality of war and peace.
Instead, the plainly capital city, is referred to as a bride or wife. The institution of marriage created before the introduction of sin and evil into our world was one of singular intimacy. Adam and Eve became one, through the ordinance and commitment of marriage. They were united in a way that was special and singular. They were bonded with each other on a deeply loving manner and maintained this relationship even after sin entered our world. Now, here past the end of all things we know to be true, the same language, the same institution is alluded to in how Jesus Christ refers to the new City of Heaven. For He sees each of us now, in a level of intimacy as close to Him, as marriage is to us. The original marriage in Eden was composed of only 2 humans, but the third person in the triangle was to be Christ. Every marriage relationship here on earth was to also include Christ, in that level of intimacy with each of us, and with both of us. Marriages were to be founded upon Christ, the ones that are, seem to be able to endure all things. Here past the end of time, marriage is not a forgotten concept. Instead Christ refers to the place He has built to live with ALL of each, with EACH of us, as His bride. For He intends a level of intimacy in His relationship with us, that is to be closer than anything we know, as close as a Husband should love His wife.
John continues in verse 10 … “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,” It is unclear in what time John witnesses this event. Most likely, it would have been prior to the final battle of mankind, as the city makes its first descent to our world. In that sense, evil being outside the city is still viable as the ending cleansing fires have not yet begun. But perhaps the city was elevated from our world during the cleansing fires that consume all evil, and this is it re-descending to our world made new. In either case, John is exposed to information about the city that he would not have otherwise perhaps seen, had the city been settled into the ground where it was descending to.
John continues in verse 11 … “Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;” John now begins to describe characteristics about the city, about the bride of Christ, that catch his attention. First, the city is lit up with a light that originates in the glory of God Himself. The light reminds John in nature of a Jasper stone that is as clear as crystal. Whether he is aware of it or not, the light John sees is of the same nature he describes earlier in chapter 4 and verse 3 where he describes God the Father sitting on the throne as having the appearance of a Jasper stone. It is the light emanating from God the Father that penetrates and illuminates this entire heavenly city. Whether as beams, or particles, or waves, or simply presence, it is God alone who illuminates this city. No electricity or power plants are required. Neither is the light of a planetary sun and moon needed to illuminate the city of heaven. The worship of nature, or of these solar system objects as having divine characteristics has ALWAYS been misguided. It was our God who created nature, and the sun, moon, and stars – they are the creations, nothing divine within them. And what is more, the light within this city dwarfs their collective brilliance. The light from heaven originates there, with the presence of God the Father and then emanates outward. The sun and moon, will be lit up by what they see in this our new world, not the other way around.
But more than just the brilliant green toned colors of a clear Jasper stone, what is revealed to us in this passage is that our family is not only to include Christ, but His Father God as well. Christ and His Father intend and desire no separation from each other. They love each other, and desire to be with each other. They are family as well. The beauty is that “we”, the humanity they have created, each of us, and all of us, are to be adopted into this family and dwell as close with BOTH of them as is possible. We will be walking in the light of God the Father Himself. He will not be on some distant plain of existence in a remote universe we can hardly fathom. He will be quite literally … down the street. You will “know” He is nearby, because His very light enables you to see. How alike that is for us today. It is ONLY through the light of God that we can find truth, see scripture as it was intended, and shed our spiritual blindness. It is God’s light alone that can accomplish this for us today, even though it is not as visually apparent as it will be on that great day.
John continues in verse 12 … “And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: [verse 13] On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.” Here John begins to reveal intelligence and reconnaissance information well ahead of the final battle with evil to us in the here and now. Why tell the enemy ahead of time what to expect, and how to position his troops if this information is not critical to us? What is so important about this structure of the city that we need to know now? For in this Revelation, John is publicly exposing some fairly substantial details about the bride of Christ. First, the city of New Jerusalem like its ancient predecessor, has a wall around it. But unlike its ancient predecessor, the city is so large it requires more than a single gate in each direction in order to facilitate access in and out of the city. So there are three gates facing each direction on the square. There is an angel at each gate. Presumably this angel guards access to the use of the gate, and supervises the comings and goings through these critical portals into the city.
But perhaps most importantly, God does not forget His promises. The nation of Israel rejected Christ, the religious leaders in the days of the Messiah, rejected the cornerstone of their faith. They threw away the hope of their redemption, choosing rather to maintain power over the people, and keep their own interpretations of scripture, rather than to see scripture through the eyes of its Author. While this event scarred Israel, and forced the church of God to move away from its traditional bloodline into the gentile world and peoples, it did not undo the hope of the Messiah in the many generations of Israel that had gone on before that day. The many members of the nations and tribes of Israel who died before the Messiah appeared were not forgotten by God, because their descendants rejected the truth of Christ. Here past the end of all things, God renews His people and the nation called by His name, and He prints the names of the 12 tribes of Israel across the gates to the city. For it is out of Israel that the Messiah came to this world. It is by Christ we are able to enter this Kingdom. And for nearly 16 hundred years, the tribes of Israel lived in the hope of that saving event. From Abraham to Joseph and Mary, the people who had chosen to follow God, are remembered here past the end of all things. Think of it, God intends to honor those predecessors so highly, He will be inscribing their names across the very gates of His perfect city, of His bride. And He does not just inscribe the names of Judah, or Benjamin, or Levy, but of all twelve tribes.
It is no accident that the empires and focus of the world in scripture centers around Jerusalem and the people of God. The story might have been a different one, if instead of Abraham a Chaldean by descent, another patriarch of a different group of people had chosen to seek to find God with all of his heart. After the tower of Babel, there was no Mayan traversing the continents who wanted to seek God. Nor was there a Viking, or Chinese, or Indian, or Zulu who wholeheartedly sought to find our God. For if they had, the center of focus would have rested in another region of the world. The story of scriptures were never constricted to Abraham by the limitations of our God, but instead by the hard-hearts of his creations. The Vikings and Zulu worshipped strength, not humble submission. The Chinese worshipped tranquility. The Indians worshipped nearly everything. Every culture that descended from the Tower of Babel made a choice to worship anything other than the true and only God. Even Abram’s own family were active idol worshippers. He had to leave his family home, in order to leave the influence of this corruption of faith. But what distinguished the nation Abram would give birth to, was an inheritance that began from a DECISION to follow God.
Abram became Abraham because he spent his life dedicated to following God. Isaac made his own decision to uphold this tradition of faith. Jacob, though highly flawed, made the same decision. And so generations of descendants while far from perfect, made a similar decision to follow God. When after Christ had come, a new decision was to be made, not one based on bloodline, but one based on whether to continue to follow the true Messiah or not. The generations of Israelites who had lived before were located in the cross roads of early civilizations in order to bring the gospel of God to the people who lived around them. They were intended to be a light so that God could reach all peoples. While it did not work out well, it did not fail entirely as many seeds were sown around the world through what the people called by the name of God did. Now, past the end of all things, God AGAIN remains true to His promises and publishes the names of the tribes of Israel across the gates that offer access into the city of New Jerusalem. He ties the history of His people together, from the grandchildren of Abraham, to a city taken by King David many years later, to the Messiah.
This revelation offers to us the permanence of God’s promises. History and subsequent failures of mankind do not undo the fulfillment of God to those who were faithful to him in the generations that went on before. The intelligence regarding our future heavenly home offers great detail and insight into the permanent nature of what God creates. This will be our home forever. And the changes wrought within us will be everlasting as well. We should take hope in this message, realizing that what is promised to us, will be fulfilled in us. Here past the end of all things are seen the fulfillment of His promises to those who were our spiritual forefathers.
And the intel, had only just begun …
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