Bible Study Revelation 21
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Revelation 21 · WEB

A New Heaven and a New Earth

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.
2I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
3I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, "Behold, God's dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away."
5He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." He said, "Write, for these words of God are faithful and true."
6He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.
7He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.
8But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
9One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were loaded with the seven last plagues came, and he spoke with me, saying, "Come here. I will show you the wife, the Lamb's bride."
10He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
11having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
12having a great and high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.
13On the east were three gates, and on the north three gates, and on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.
14The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
15He who spoke with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, its gates, and its walls.
16The city is square. Its length is as great as its width. He measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand and twelve stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal.
17Its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
18The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass.
19The foundations of the city's wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
20the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; and the twelfth, amethyst.
21The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple.
23The city has no need for the sun or moon to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
24The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
25Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for there will be no night there),
26and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it so that they may enter.
27There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
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Summary

John sees a new heaven and a new earth, with the holy city, New Jerusalem, descending from God as a bride prepared for her husband. God himself dwells with humanity — wiping away every tear, ending death, mourning, crying, and pain — declaring "Behold, I am making all things new." The city is described in stunning detail: twelve gates of pearl with the names of the tribes of Israel, twelve foundations bearing the names of the apostles, walls of jasper, streets of gold. There is no temple because God and the Lamb are its temple, and no sun because his glory is its light.

Themes

  • New heaven and new earth
  • God dwelling with his people
  • The end of death, sorrow, and pain
  • The New Jerusalem — the Lamb's bride
  • God and the Lamb as temple and light

Key verses

  • Rev 21:23 — “The city has no need for the sun or moon to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.”
  • Rev 21:3 — “Behold, God's dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”
  • Rev 21:4 — “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more.”
  • Rev 21:5 — “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Context & background

John wrote Revelation c. AD 95 from exile on Patmos — a small Aegean island off the western coast of modern Turkey. The New Jerusalem is not the earthly Jerusalem in modern Israel but a heavenly city descending from God — the fulfillment of all biblical hope. Its dimensions (12,000 stadia cubed — about 1,400 miles each way) and twelve-fold symbolism point to the perfect union of Israel (twelve tribes) and the church (twelve apostles). The absence of "sea" recalls the ancient near-eastern symbol of chaos being eliminated. This chapter reverses Genesis 3: paradise is restored, with God dwelling immediately among his people.

Cross-references

  • 2 Peter 3:13 — "We look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells"
  • Ezekiel 48:30-35 — The twelve gates of the restored city named for the tribes
  • Hebrews 11:10 — Abraham looked "for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God"
  • Isaiah 25:8 — "He has swallowed up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces"
  • Isaiah 65:17 — "I create new heavens and a new earth"

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What does God declare in verse 5 while seated on the throne?

  2. Observe

    According to verse 22, why is there no temple in the New Jerusalem?

  3. Interpret

    Why does John emphasize that God himself will dwell with his people in the new creation — how does this fulfill the whole biblical story?

  4. Interpret

    What does the absence of a temple in the city reveal about the nature of worship in the new creation?

  5. Apply

    Which promise in verses 3-4 do you most need to hear today, and why?

  6. Apply

    How does the hope of "all things new" shape how you respond to suffering, loss, and brokenness in this life?

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