Revelation Chapter Twenty-One Breakdown

1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

John now sees the new heaven and the new earth. This is where the first heaven and earth passes away. In the new heaven and earth, there is no more sea (quite interesting, I have never heard anyone make mention of the idea there will be no oceans in the kingdom of God).

Matthew 5:18

For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

This is very interesting. The Law of God does not pass away until after the millennial reign of Christ comes to an end. This is in direct contradiction to what is taught in most churches.

Isaiah 65:17-25

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying.

“No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; They shall not plant and another eat; For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, Nor bring forth children for trouble; For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, And their offspring with them.

“It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,” Says the Lord.

2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

It wasn’t until the new heaven and earth was established that we see the New Jerusalem coming down to earth from heaven. This New Jerusalem is described as being like the bride of Christ.

3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

The tabernacle of God and is said to dwell on the new earth with men. YHWH will live on earth with His people.  

4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

YHWH end suffering and pain. At this point, no death will ever occur again, meaning during the millennial reign, men will die. At this point, everything we know now, will be gone, life will be completely new.

5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

YHWH declares He will make everything new. John is commanded to write His words down because it will happen.

6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.

Now we see YHWH is directly linked to Yeshua, showing they are one and the same.  They both claim to be the Alpha and the Omega. YHWH gives the water of life to all who thirst.

Revelation 1:7-8

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

Believers will need to overcome persecution for our beliefs in order to inherit all things. This is for us now.

8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Those who allow themselves to be deceived by the ways of the world will be thrown into the lake of fire, and go through the second death.

9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”

An angel plans to show John the Bride of Christ. This is New Jerusalem.

10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

John is taken to a high mountain and he sees New Jerusalem coming down from heaven. The city was bright.

12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

The city has a high wall with twelve gates. Each gate guarded by an angel. Each gate has a different name inscribed on it. These names were the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. This is extremely interesting considering there is no thirteenth gate with the name gentiles or church. It seems one must be part of one of these tribes simply to enter the city through one of these gates.  

14 Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

There were twelve foundations on this great wall. These foundations had the names of the apostles of Yeshua written on them.

15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.

The angel had a golden reed to measure the city.

16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.

This city is squared. It has a length, width, and height that are all equal.

17 Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.

Each measurement was 144 cubits.

18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

The city was made from pure gold and transparent similar to glass. Consider what this means. Those standing outside the walls can see in, but cannot enter.

19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.

The wall has twelve beautiful stones aligned along the foundation.

21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

The twelve gates are made of pure pearl.

22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

There is no temple inside this kingdom. YHWH and Yeshua are the temple.

23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

There is no more sun or moon, Yeshua is the light.

24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.

All the nations which were saved can walk in the light of the lamb. The kings of the earth come into the kingdom to honor Him.

25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).

The gates of the kingdom are always open and there is no longer any night.

26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.

These kings bring the glory and honor of their nations into His Kingdom.

27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

During this time, there are still abominations on the earth considering none of such things can enter into the gates. The only men who can come and go are those who have names written in the Book of Life.

This is very interesting. This means a few things. The bride of Christ are the high priests who live inside the kingdom. There are those who live outside the kingdom but are still believers. There are also those who live outside the kingdom who are not believers. Taking the time to break this down, changes a lot of what I thought I knew about the Kingdom of God.