Category: New Creation

Babylon, New Jerusalem

TALE OF TWO CITIES

David R Maas

An underlying theme in Revelation is the contrast and conflict between two “cities,” New Jerusalem and Babylon.

The Book of Revelation often uses several terms and images to portray the same reality. For example, the people of God are called the “servants of God,” the “saints,” and the “brethren.” Churches are pictured as “lampstands,” priests, and the “two witnesses.” And the overarching cosmic conflict is presented by contrasting two very different “cities.”

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144,000, New Jerusalem, Sealed Servants

STANDING BEFORE THE THRONE

David R Maas

One of the twenty-four “elders” interpreted the vision of the innumerable saints standing before the Lamb and the throne – Revelation 7:13-17.

We have reached the point where the two questions have been answered – How long must the martyrs wait for vindication, and “who is able to stand” before the “wrath of the Lamb” and he “who sits on the throne.” Having been sealed, numbered, and assembled, John has witnessed all the saints “standing” before Jesus and his Father in victorious worship.

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Nations, New Jerusalem

REDEMPTION OF THE NATIONS

David R Maas

The “nations” and the “kings of the earth” are found in “New Jerusalem” because of the work of the sacrificial Lamb and his saints.

The Book of Revelation presents images that are jarring and paradoxical, visions that do not conform to our expectations about how God works. His plans to subjugate His enemies and “judge” the nations differ radically from popular ideas. Just as his contemporaries did not understand him, so, too often, we fail to comprehend the “slain Lamb” who reigns from God’s throne.

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New Jerusalem, True Temple

EZEKIEL’S TEMPLE

David R Maas

The book of Revelation places Ezekiel’s vision of the ideal Temple in the middle of the city of New Jerusalem, the prophet’s comprehensive vision of the ideal Temple centered in a perfectly squared city of Jerusalem. Language from this prophecy is applied by the New Testament in Revelation to paint a portrait of the glorious city of “New Jerusalem,” which will encompass the entire New Creation.

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