Revelation 21:1-27 Part 2
Revelation 21:1-27 Part 2
1) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, (the first heaven and the first earth went away, and the sea is no more),
2) and the new holy city Jerusalem coming out of the heaven from God having been made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
3) Then I heard a great sound from the seat saying “Lo, The tabernacle of God with man.” He will tabernacle with them, they will be His people, God Himself will be with them;
4) and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, the death will be no more, neither sorrow nor crying nor pain will be any more, for the firsts passed away.
5) Then the One sitting upon the seat said: “Lo, I make everything new!” And He says, “write; for these words are sure and true”;
6) He said to me, “they are come to pass. I, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, will freely give from the source of the water of life to him who thirsts;
7) and the one overcoming will inherit these things, and I will be God to him and he will be My son.
8) But burning in the lake of fire and brimstone is the allotment of all the fearful and unfaithful and the corrupted and murderers and fornicators and sorcerers and idolaters and all the liars.”
9) Then one of the seven messengers that had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came and spoke with me saying, “here, I will show you the bride – the wife of The Lamb”.
10) And it did bear me in spirit upon a great and high mountain and showed me the city – the holy Jerusalem coming down from the God of the heaven
11) having her God’s glory, her radiance like a precious stone, crystal clear as a jasper stone,
12) having a great and high wall having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve messengers and names written which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel,
13) three gates to the east, three gates to the north, three gates to the south, and three gates to the west;
14) the wall of the city having twelve foundation stones, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15) The one speaking with me had a golden measuring reed to measure the city and her gates and her wall,
16) (the city is shaped square – her length the same as the breadth); and he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand stadia, her length and breadth and height being equal;
17) and he measured her wall: a hundred and forty four cubits (man’s measurement as is that of a messenger),
18) the structure of her walls jasper, and the city as pure gold, crystal clear,
19) the foundations of the wall of the city adorned with every precious stone; the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,
20) the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst,
21) the twelve gates twelve pearls (each of the gates were of one pearl), and the city’s street pure gold as transparent crystal.
22) I saw no temple in her, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb is her temple.
23) The city has no need for the sun or the moon that they should appear in her, for the glory of God was manifest in her and her light - the Lamb;
24) the nations will walk by her light, and kings of the earth bear their glory into her
25) by day (none of her gates will in any way be closed, and there will be no night there),
26) and they will bear the glory and honor of the nations into her.
27) By no means would anyone unclean ever enter into her doing abomination or falsehood, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Our Lord had shown the apostle John many things throughout the Revelation… all written to the Churches just a few years before the Parousia of the Christ in 70AD.
The final seven shown to him are recorded here in the concluding chapters; and they are regarding all of the work of the risen and ascended Christ, beginning at His Parousia.
The authority of this letter to the Churches, when read properly from beginning to end, is unquestionable. And when we say “read properly”, we mean read from God’s perspective. After all, it isn’t the revelation of the apostle! It’s the Revelation of Jesus Christ!
Its perfections rest in its continuity with the entirety of the prophesied Word of God; and it is just as important to the confidence and comfort and assurance of present-day Churches as it was to those original Churches of the first century.
We’re just nineteen hundred and forty-four years into the salvation of the world by God’s Strong Right Arm – the Warrior/King shown to John at His Parousia… the double edged Sword proceeding from His mouth. And John is shown these last seven things, all shortly to come, but beginning at that point.
During the last seven months we’ve gone “in-depth” into six of the final seven visions shown to the apostle. And we’ve now entered chapter twenty-one, which is a view of the “whole” of the work of The Christ. And it needs to be said over and over again that it is all prophesied throughout the Scripture. And it’s all to be viewed from the perspective of the ONE Who purposed it from the beginning.
Let’s see first this morning that the work of the risen and ascended Jesus Christ the Savior of the World is complete at the sixth “then I saw”… (end of chapter twenty). These last seven visions shown to John began at the eleventh verse of chapter nineteen.
And in the last verses of chapter twenty, John is shown that the satan, death and hades, along with all who are not written in the book of life, will be cast into the lake of fire, leaving paradise on earth created in Christ Jesus the Lord.
The “Originator” of this creation (the Alpha and the Omega) will have completed His work of re-creation. He will have cleansed it of sin and death in order that it all glorifies The Father.
As in the heaven, so also on the earth (the Lord’s prayer). It will be done. By the work of the Savior of the world, the cosmos will again image God’s tabernacle in the heaven and reflect the glory of Almighty God.
Just as the satan was cast down from the glory cloud/tabernacle, so the creature and all its “seed” would be cast from the earth into the lake of fire; and they will be no more. And there will be “paradise” on earth – which is the very “center” of God’s created cosmos. And He will dwell among us – with us.
That’s the sixth vision shown to John just a few years prior to our Lord’s Parousia. So he is shown the “end” from the “beginning”, the Alpha and the Omega, the “completion” from the “origin”.
And now John is shown another vision… the seventh of seven. And it is God’s perception of the whole. He purposed it and willed it to be. And it is all in His language as previously prophesied. It is the language that He put into the mouths of the prophets of old; and it was shown to John in that same language.
It is the whole of the work of the Christ, the Son of God/Son of Man, the Word of God made flesh. He is the great Warrior/King Who was promised by God as recorded by the Psalmist: “I have set My King upon My holy mountain”.
It is the work of the eternally begotten One – the One Anointed – the Strong Right Arm of God Who would, from the beginning, re-create heaven and earth for the Father’s glory. He is Alpha and Omega – the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. He is the Origin; and He is the Consummation.
John has been shown all of the work of Jesus the Christ. It is the view from the heaven of complete cosmic reconciliation, regeneration and resurrection. He is the Originator – from the beginning – of all that John is shown here.
The seventh “then I saw…” therefore, is not to be understood sequentially … as the next thing to be anticipated. It is not to be perceived to come “after” judgment day and the completion of the Christ’s work. It is not wholly future!
All of that which is revealed here in the seventh, regarding the eternality of paradise on earth, is definitively and progressively true right now; and it has been since the advent of the Christ and His 70AD Parousia! God has always perceived the “origin” and the “consummation” as one. He sees the end from the beginning, for He has purposed it! The Word of God made flesh IS the beginning and the end – the Alpha and the Omega. That’s God’s purpose; and the Word of God brings His purpose to pass! It’s God’s perspective here in chapter twenty one.
John is shown all of these things as a complete “seven”. It is the whole (as the apostle John is told to prophesy one last time).
The enjoyment of our eternal inheritance in Christ will be a “perfection” – a completion – of all that’s true right now concerning our Lord’s Kingdom and His work. The tabernacle of God IS with man, you see! He has already occupied His new tabernacle – His “holy” tabernacle. At Pentecost… with incredible sound, and with fire, He occupied His perfect tabernacle; and He is “with” us!
So, we aren’t simply to look forward to the blessings revealed here to John. They aren’t just for an eternity to come, but they are all to be enjoyed now; we are to rejoice in it all now. And we are to extend them to others now (as messengers). The Warrior/King is at work!
John was shown present realities (not just realities to be gained far in the future)! The original Churches of the first century were to see these present realities and be comforted and assured. And all the Churches since are to have that confidence!
Our Lord ascended into the glory cloud to be crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords and receive His inheritance. And we IN HIM. It is a present reality, you see.
Just as God views the seventy years between the advent of The Christ and His Parousia as the one great event of the salvation of the world in the fullness of the time, so He sees and reveals the completion of Jesus’ work in the same way! For He is the Origin and the Completion.
And that’s God’s perception as revealed to John here in our chapter twenty one. It has to be our perception! What John sees was present then; and it is present now. And it will continue to its perfection and completion at the end of all the years.
We already live in eternity (those of us who are In Him). We have been resurrected from death unto life! There is already a new heaven and a new earth; there is already a new Jerusalem; there is already a tabernacle made without hands; and He is with us (God with us). And it will all be completed and perfected through all the years.
It’s how God sees it; it’s how He purposed it, and it’s how He revealed it to John. And it’s how we must see it.
God’s King and Savior of the world was prophesied in various ways – innumerable ways and occasions - all through the Scripture. There is undeniable continuity and integrity in God’s will and purpose… and in His language. It’s God’s Word, you see. And it’s all in His language.
And this morning, as we once again see the continuity and integrity of God’s Word, I’m going to give you several examples… examples of historical occasions from the older Scripture in which the coming Christ of God was prophesied… occasions in which “God with us” is prophesied.
First, He was prophesied in the exodus of the tribes of Jacob from Egypt.
Moses, in chapter fourteen of the book of the Exodus, said to the people: “don’t fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians who you have seen today, you will never see again. YAHVEH will fight for you while you keep silent.”
Then, after the baptismal resurrection of Israel and the baptismal inundation of Egypt at the Red Sea, Moses shouted: “Yahveh is a Warrior”!
Egypt and all its wealth and glory were destroyed. All that was left was what the descendants of Jacob had plundered… apparently many, many gemstones, and silver and gold and linens - much of which was used for the construction of the tabernacle, which God inhabited with great sound and flaming glory.
Not only was that an event of great significance in Israel’s history, but, as we’ll see, it was prophetic of the coming of the Christ and Savior of the world, for the new – and “holy” – tabernacle would be inhabited, in the same way, at Pentecost 30AD. It was the tabernacle of God – God with us. And all In Him would reap the spoils; for all else would be inundated in the lake of fire.
And the same is true of the entire history of King David and his son Solomon. David was God’s warrior king who fought all His battles and destroyed His enemies. David’s life was prophetic of the Christ; for he put all his enemies to the sword! Then, his son - Solomon - builds YAHVEH’s temple on the mountain. And, once again, God inhabits the temple with incredible sound and glorious flaming descent. God had tabernacled with them.
Again, this was a most significant event in the history of Israel. But, you see, God’s purpose was that it be prophetic of His Anointed One – The Christ – the Savior of the world Whose body is the new, and holy, tabernacle – God with us!
Among all of the examples that we could cite, none would be more striking than that which occurs in the prophecy of Ezekiel. As God showed things to the prophet, and speaks to him, and causes him to speak and to write His word, there emerges the prophecy of such clarity of the coming Warrior/Savior of the world… prophecy to which John is referred time and again in the Revelation – especially so here in chapters twenty and twenty-one.
Especially the last twelve chapters of Ezekiel prophesy much of what John is shown here.
In chapter thirty-seven, the prophet is shown a vision of Israel in exile, dead, powerless… as in a valley of dry bones. There is no life in her. There is no hope in her.
But God tells Ezekiel to preach to her. He intercedes for her. And, in the vision, Holy Spirit raises her up from death unto life, re-creating her, and forming an exceedingly great army. And a united Israel is restored to the Kingdom – and with the promised King David ruling. (And please note that Ezekiel’s prophecy came six hundred years after David’s reign. So the “David” which is prophesied is David’s Son and David’s Lord – Jesus the Christ. )
Then, after the resurrection of Israel and the restoration of the kingdom, Ezekiel is shown the Persian beast (Gog and Magog), with all the nations of the earth surrounding her with the purpose of cutting off the covenant seed. But God, in flaming descent destroys them all in fire and brimstone. And all the “spoils” are taken by the resurrected Israel.
The armies of Gog and Magog are then left unburied to be eaten by vultures. And please note that all of that is seen right here in the last seven things that John is shown. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Warrior/King, resurrects His people who sit with Him in His new holy tabernacle; and all the rest are inundated in fire. And His people receive all the spoils as they inherit the earth.
Then, in chapters forty through forty-eight, Ezekiel is instructed by God to write to the nation in exile. And what he was told to write is an elaborately detailed description of the new HOLY tabernacle of God and a new and perfect Jerusalem in which God Himself would dwell with His people. We’ll read some of it in a later sermon; but it’s all exactly what John is shown here in the concluding chapters of The Revelation.
It’s all prophesied, you see.
God’s commandment to Adam was to take dominion of the earth (which he didn’t do). But in Christ Jesus (the Second Adam) that task will be accomplished. And its cultural implications are realized as the nations willingly bring their treasures into God’s New Jerusalem, and the River of Life flows out from there to all the world, resurrecting the multitude (as promised to Abraham) and renewing the earth itself.
These, and many more throughout Scripture, are prophetic of the Christ of God – His Strong Right Arm and Warrior King. The fullness of those prophecies are shown to John here in The Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Our Lord had promised His disciples that when He went away He would send Holy Spirit. Forty days after His crucifixion our risen Lord ascended into the glory cloud/tabernacle of God to receive His inheritance. And ten days later, at Pentecost (the fiftieth day) God the Spirit inhabited His new (and holy) tabernacle with great sound and flaming descent (as in the former tabernacles).
Pentecost was the inauguration of a “new heaven and a new earth”, the beginning of the “new Jerusalem”. At Pentecost there was a “resurrection” of the dead in Adam – into the body of The Christ; and that resurrection was the inception and inhabitation of a new and holy tabernacle – God with us!
Forty years later, after Israel (the harlot of the world) suffers all of the plagues prophesied by Jesus and by Moses and by all of the prophets, our Lord appears in the cloud of glory, with the Sword of His mouth; and all remaining in the land are destroyed by the sword and eaten by vultures.
Our Lord would then proceed to bind the satan from deceiving the nations. And by the Word of His mouth He would proceed to establish His Kingdom – described in the prophetic Word as a great mountain over all the mountains of the earth.
For all the years decreed from the beginning, all the nations and peoples and tribes and tongues of the earth would increasingly come under His dominion until the whole earth would be filled with the knowledge of God as the water covers the sea.
For all the years decreed the Light of Jesus Christ would increasingly destroy the gross darkness that covers all the nations of the earth. There would be no location in all the earth at which darkness would be allowed to exist.
For all the years decreed for the completion of His work, the River of Life would flow into the sea of depraved humanity, and the sea would be healed – even into the remotest parts of the earth. And the earth itself would flourish in its redemption.
At the end of all the years decreed, there would be the day of judgment at which time all not written in the Lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world would be cast into the lake of fire, along with the dragon of old and death and hades itself.
And all that were resurrected in the body of the Christ during all the years of His work (having been written in the book of life from the beginning), would rejoice in eternal paradise; for God will tabernacle with us.
And during all the years decreed, not one abominable thing would be allowed into the new holy tabernacle; for it is the very body of Jesus Christ the Savior of the world.
You see, down through all the years decreed, all those written, by name, in the Lamb’s Book of Life are rebirthed by the Spirit of Christ into His body, forming the great multitude from the nations, promised subsequently, to Abraham.
Through the blood of Jesus poured out at the cross, and by the spoken Gospel of Jesus Christ, men and women and children who are written in the Book of Life from the beginning are resurrected from death unto life, and provided with faith to believe Him. And by their faithing – which is given to them as a gift – they are justified in the perfections and holiness of the Christ. His perfections are put to their account!
They are all raised out of death in Adam to life in Christ the Second Adam. They become members of His body – the new holy tabernacle of God with man.
Washed in the blood of the Christ, and members of His resurrected body, they form a new humanity in Him… the great multitude from all the nations and peoples and tribes and tongues – as promised to Abraham.
One by one, through all the years decreed, this great multitude is comprised of the ones written in the Lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world. And He will freely give them of the water of life which flows from His new tabernacle to heal the sea of dead humanity.
As you can now see, there is already a new, and holy, tabernacle (not like the ones made with hands); and there is a new, and holy, Jerusalem – the city of God. And it was all a present reality for the first Churches in the nations. And they were to rest assured and confident – even in the worst of circumstances.
And it is a present reality for us. With great sound and flaming descent, our Lord has inhabited His new tabernacle. And all who are IN HIM will reap the spoils when all His enemies are baptized by inundation in fire and brimstone.
What John is shown in verse one of our text was a present reality for the Churches in the nations. At the Parousia of Jesus Christ, which was shortly to come, all things would be made new. At the Presence of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the old heaven and earth would pass from existence, and all would be made new!
We have to remember God’s language and how He perceives what He has made. We can’t just call it what we want to call it! And we can’t interpret it the way we want it to be. It’s already interpreted… by God.
We know that God called His covenant nation “heaven and earth”. We’ve heard it all through the Revelation. And it was the same in the older Scripture. The nation was a covenantal “cosmos” in and of itself that was to shine the light of the glory to God before all the nations. Those peoples and tribes and tongues of the world were called the “sea”. The sea was the dark, raging, foaming, troubled waters of Gentile humanity surrounding Israel – God’s heaven and earth. And she was to obey and be a glorious light before those nations; and she was to faithfully anticipate her coming Messiah.
However, Israel was worse than all the surrounding, idolatrous nations, to the point of the filling up of her sin. She actually caused all the nations to drink of the wine of her fornications! She was a harlot adulteress. And the prophetic Scripture, by the Word of three witnesses, announced her execution for adultery.
At the same time it was announced that God would create a new heavens and a new earth in which His people would faithfully worship Him. Listen to it in Isaiah chapter sixty-six:
22) “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith YAHVEH, so shall your seed and your name remain.
23) And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me,” saith YAHVEH.
Both Jewish and Gentile flesh will worship God in His new heaven and earth (In Christ there would be no difference); and He would tabernacle with them in His new temple, in His new Jerusalem, in His new Israel. And that would be the case upon God’s execution of the adulterous edenic paradise which He called “heaven and earth” – Israel.
Now. As our Lord’s perception of His creation includes this use of the term “heaven and earth”, so is His Own definition and interpretation of the word “sea”. So… it is for us, His people, to read, and to understand, His perception of that which He has made. Remember… this is His creation; and He defines it. And He perceives it as He will. And if we are to fear Him, and if we are to glorify Him, and if we are to obey Him, then we must see these things as He has revealed them.
And the way that He views His created “sea” is so different from any human understanding of it. So please listen carefully as we look at just a very few of those passages having to do with how God views and describes His Own creation.
First, from the prophecy of Isaiah, here are the first few verses of chapter twenty-seven:
“In that day YAHVEH will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent with His fierce and great and mighty Sword, even Leviathan the twisted serpent; and He will kill that dragon that lives in the sea.”
Now, there are stories and paintings and epic mythological tales of great sea monsters and serpents roaming the oceans and inland seas due to the gross re-interpretation of passages such as this one. But that’s not what Isaiah says. He’s not prophesying sea monsters that Yahveh pursues with His mighty Sword!
What that prophet received is inspired Revelation from God about how God views that which occurs in His creation! The “serpent” is the devil, which has been cast out of the heaven. And its domain is the turbulent and raging “sea” of pagan humanity.
And here is Isaiah chapter sixty having to do with the new heavens and the new earth at the appearance of the coming Savior of the world:
1) "Arise, shine; for your light will come, And the glory of YAHVEH will rise upon you.
2) "Lo, darkness covers the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but YAHVEH will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you.
3) "Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
4) "Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in arms.
5) "Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.
At the rising of the Light (the Dayspring, the Morning Star), the abundance of the “sea” will be turned unto Him. Isaiah receives the inspired Word concerning the rising of the Light – the Dayspring - upon the nations and peoples of the world. They are seen by God as the great sea of humanity; and many – an abundance - will be “turned” unto Him.
Then Daniel receives this prophecy from God:
1) In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel saw a dream and visions in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he wrote the dream down and related the following summary of it.
2) Daniel said, "I was looking in my vision by night, and lo, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.
3) "And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another.
As we’ve witnessed previously, the four great beasts of Daniel’s vision were the mighty tyrant nations of history: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. And the four winds from the four cherubim at the four corners of the throne of God raised them up out of the “sea” of humanity. It is the very “breath” of God as He rules the course and events of all of history… HIS history. And it is how God perceives, and reveals, His creation and its history. It is all ruled by that “secret inspiration” (as John Calvin put it) from the will and purpose of God; and it is all in the “likeness” of the tabernacle in the heaven.
The last example that I would like for you to hear again is that exalted event, in Matthew chapter eight, in which our Lord Jesus turns His back on the covenant nation, the harlot of the world, and proceeds to rid a Gentile, pagan city of the ravages of satanic infestation. That city, of course, was Gadara, across the sea of Galilee from Israel.
Here it is from the text of Matthew eight:
23) Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.
24) And suddenly a great shaking arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered over with the waves. But He was asleep.
25) Then His disciples came to Him and awakened Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
26) But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
27) So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
Now, please appreciate the fact that these are terms – the wind, and the sea – that God defines – that God fully comprehends. But when we read them and define them for ourselves as just “incidents of nature” that Jesus can control, then we forfeit God’s perspective and we don’t get the fullness of the Revelation!
Messiah the Prince of Daniel’s people has arrived, you see! It’s the last days. The fourth “beast” (Rome) has been called forth from the sea of humanity by the four winds from the four corners of the mercy seat. And soon that frothing sea of pagan humanity will be crashing in at the instigation of the four winds at the four corners of the earth, and inundating God’s covenant nation in a flood of wrath.
But it is the Son of God/Son of Man Who rebukes them and quiets them until it’s time. It’s not time yet for the sea! Jesus said that He came to find the lost sheep of the house of Jacob! And until all of His sheep are found and sealed and rescued, it’s not yet time. When they’re all found, then the surrounding sea of humanity will rage against the covenant nation and destroy her.
Then Jesus proceeds to exorcise demons from a pagan city – a Gentile city. And He excoriates His disciples for not “faithing” in what God has revealed, in His Own language, in the older prophetic Scriptures! This is what the prophets foretold, He says; and you aren’t faithing! You don’t know!
The Son of God/Son of Man is risen, ascended and enthroned; and He has been given all authority in the heavens and on the earth; and He rules the four winds and the sea of humanity.
And there would soon be coming a time in which Israel would be flooded in the wrath of God; and satan and its demons would be bound and cast under… locked and sealed in the abyss.
Now. What John is shown, and what he writes here in verse one of our text, is that which is shortly to come (as John writes to the Churches). And it is the same that was shown to the prophets; it is that which Jesus Himself prophesied in His words and deeds; and it is shown to John all through the Revelation.
And it is the same language all through the Scripture. It is God’s revealed will and purpose prophesied from the beginning.
John is told that the time is near. At the Parousia/appearance of The Christ, when every last one of the elect from the tribes of Jacob had been found and marked and sealed and rescued from the wrath to come, the harlot of the nations would be executed.
That nation that God had set apart for Himself; that great city whose tabernacle God had occupied, would cease to exist. That separate cosmic paradise that He had called “heaven and earth” would be decreated. It would disappear, and just… no longer be.
And since it would no longer exist, neither would there be a foaming, turbulent sea surrounding it (verse one). And John saw a new heaven and a new earth descending from the heaven. (There will be more to say about that next time.)
But that’s what John sees here in verse one of our text, isn’t it? And the Churches received this letter just before it was to occur. It was a present realty to them… all to happen “shortly”. They were to anticipate it!
And it is a present reality for us! We live in Him. He tabernacles with us. It is now a new heaven and a new earth. And He will have dominion. The River of Life will flow unto the farthest reaches; and all the earth will blossom with justice and peace and prosperity!
This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It’s the reality in which you live. And that’s what must motivate your life! Those Who oppose Him have no hope; and they must not cause you anxiety and gloom. Their resistance is futile; and they have their reward. And you have yours.
Next time – the new heaven and earth, and the new Jerusalem made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.