Study
25 From the Book of Revelation is: Revelation 21:9-21
This
vision of the city of God is no more to be taken literally than was the vision
of Christ in 1:12-20. It is a symbolic picture, and we have to see in an
through the symbols the spiritual realities which they represent.
1-
For example, the size of the city (verse 16; see Note 2 below)
expresses the same thought as the phrase ‘which no man could number’ in 7:9;
the shape of the city as a cube (21:16) suggests its perfection of design and
its permanence; the gold and precious stones its brilliance and perfection of
quality, and so forth. What other spiritual realities does this passage suggest
to you?
2-
How is the contrast between this city and the harlot city
Babylon brought to the mind of the reader? Cf. Verse 9 with 17:1. Work out this
contrast in some of its features. What are the outstanding differences between
Babylon and the New Jerusalem? Cf. Zc. 14:20, 21; Lk. 16:15; 1 Jn. 2:16, 17.
Notes
1-
Verses 12-14. The city, while offering entrance from all
directions, is determined in character by the revelation given to Israel and
through the apostles.
2-
Verse 16. ‘Twelve thousand stadia’: about 1, 500 miles.
3-
Verse 18. ‘Pure gold, clear as glass’: see also verse 21. There is nothing not genuine, nothing not
transparent.
