Description of the heavenly Jerusalem In this chapter the Apostle talks about the “heavenly home,” or as St. Augustine1 calls it “the heavenly Church.” 1 - One Church ( 1 - 8 ). 2 - Holy Church ( 9 - 11). 3 - Universal Apostolic Church (12 - 14). 4 - Its measurements (15 - 17). 5 - Its structure (18 - 27). 1 - ONE CHURCH Many of the philosophers, writers and poets like Plato kept drawings for us ideal cities according to what their minds could imagine. They introduced laws, regulations and principles for these cities according to what their philosophy and thought implied on them. Yet in the middle of all that, certain wrong and fanciful principles immediately pollute their imagination, and the result is a deficient city full of weaknesses. The apostle John did not imitate them, but ascended in Spirit and saw a true, perfect, and eternal Church. In its truth it is: “an encounter of God with the believers,” or let us say it is a “heavenly unity.” As it was hard for him to draw or express this matter, he recorded what he actually saw in simple symbols; leaving us to get deeper into it, that we may understand and taste this heavenly city as much as our spiritual stature can, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle says: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” Our Lord Jesus explained to us that the new wine cannot be put in an old waterskin but in a new one. In the same manner, we, the wine of His kingdom shall take off this corrupt body to be clothed with an uncorrupted, this perishable body becomes imperishable. We are raised in glory and power with spiritual bodies (1Cor. 15:42-44). Thus the Lord puts us in a new heaven. As children of the new kingdom, we are worth not to come back to this earth, because our Lord Jesus has assured us that “the heavens will be destroyed... and the elements will melt.” The apostle Peter reassured us that by the coming of our Lord, “The heavens will be dissolved being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat! Nevertheless, we, according to His promise look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells (2Pet. 3:12,13). We dwell in the “earth of the living,” with all the saints living in spirit. By saying “new heaven and new earth,” may bear another meaning, that is all that exist now will disappear, and we will return to a new heaven where we meet with “The Lord, God of heavens.” We become in a new wonderful fellowship with the heavenly, perfect and complete. We also meet with our brethren who were with us on earth in a “new earth.” It will be an encounter of love of a new kind, in a total perfect unity in the Person of our Lord Jesus. 1 City of God, 22:27. 6 It is a meeting of one Church that tastes eternal unity in a unique way, thus he says; “Also there was no more sea” [1]. There is no room for the sea there, as the sea indicates division and separation. It separates the cities, the countries and the continents. But in heaven nothing will separate the members of the Church from each other. The sea also refers to confusion and worry, as the Bible says: “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest. Whose water cast up mire and dirt” (Isa. 57:20). Not one single wicked can hide in the heavenly Church, and in its perfect unity, inner and outer peace will prevail. THE NAME OF THE CHURCH “Then I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” [2]. The Apostle John saw what God had prepared for us. With the prophetic spirit he could see us in glory, and when he came back to tell us of what he had seen, he could not express himself in human language. He knows how much we wish to know; meanwhile the Holy Spirit wants us to know, thus he recorded what he saw in simple symbols saying that he saw “the city.” I think that he was like a child who does not know the language well, and has never seen airplanes. One day he entered a big airport where he saw hundreds of planes, and he came back to say, “I saw large pigeons on the ground.” In a simpler way the Apostle says, “the city,” about eternity. In reality it is the house of God with His people, therefore, he called it “the city.” And as he realized the bosom of the Holy One opened to receive His saints, he called that encounter, “The holy city.” It is an extension of the holy Church, as the Holy One is dwelling in it. And when he wanted to give her a name, he called it, “The new Jerusalem” i.e. the new city of God. It stays new, because all that is eternal1 is new, will stay new and will never get old. It will never be affected by age or perishing factors, or lose its beauty and shine that is lightened with the Light of God. The secret of its holiness and newness is that it is “coming down out of heaven from God.” Although it is heaven itself, still it is “coming down from heaven.” As the compassionate mother who opens her arms, and runs to hug her child she yearns for, so does eternity yearn for us, because we are not strangers to her, but members in her. By her coming down out of heaven from God, she offers us hope that we are her children, and living members in her. For this will keep us away from despair, that we are so weak to be fit for her. In her coming down from God she proclaims God’s love to humanity, and His longing to meet them. For He loved us first, always begins with love, and cares for His people, “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” (Heb. 11:16). Abraham, the Patriarch realized what God had prepared for him in eternity, thus it was said about him, “for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God” (Heb.11:10). At last when the Apostle saw that all which is in the city glitters with beauty, he could not know how to describe her, therefore he said, “prepared as a bride adorned for 1 Pertains to the future life. 7 her husband.” She is one bride adorned by the ornaments that her Bridegroom gave her as a gift. That is how the Apostle had expressed his view of the heavenly encounter when he saw it. Now how did the heavenly voice express it? The Apostle says, “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, and God Himself will be with them and be their God” [3]. Heaven did not find a name to this new city, the new earth and the new heaven more appropriate than, “The house of God with His people.” He did not say, “The house of the people with God,” but he said, “The house of God with the people,” because the longing of the people to dwell with God cannot be measured or compared to God's longing to dwell with His people. How great is God's love! God has been waiting for eternity that He might find rest in dwelling with us, though we know that He does not need our slavery, as much as we need His Lordship.1 He begins by saying “they become his people” i.e. they need Him and He pours His love upon them, “for God Himself will be among them, their God.” He is the God of all humanity, and the God of the believers. Yet in eternity the children of the kingdom shall rejoice over deeper understanding, and sweeter taste of God's Lordship to them. At last, by reading chapters 21 and 22 we can understand what the one heavenly Church means: 1) She is the eternal dwelling place about which our Lord says, “I go to prepare a place for you.” And the Apostle describes to us its measurements, and the material of its structure in a simple symbolic way. 2) She represents being in the presence of the heavenly Bridegroom, and the permanent dwelling with Him. She is the “dwelling of God among His people.” Thus he talks to us about the person of the Bridegroom and His works with His people. 3) She represents the group of the victorious believers, “who are called heavens itself,” not only in the life to come, but even when they are still on earth. St. Augustine2 describes this saying, “The spiritual person in the Church, is heaven, the Church, is heaven, and heaven is the Church.” THE STATE OF THE ONE CHURCH 1- “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” As Tertullian3 says, that God shall wipe away every tear the eyes had shed before. These tears would not have dried out unless they were wiped away by God’s mercies. Blessed are those whose eyes are tearful, because God shall wipe them away and perfume them! 2- “There shall be no more death.” And as prophet Isaiah says, “He will swallow up death forever. And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces” (Isa.25:8). 3- “Nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” [4]. The imperfect, perishable, old world had passed away! While all things in eternity became new, cheerful and joyful to all. 4- “Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” 1 St. Gregory’s liturgy. 2 Contemp. on the lord’s prayer p. 17, to St. Augustine. 3 Ter: On the resurrection of the flesh. 58. 8 In the world to come the soul will never be bored or tired. Nothing there will become old or aging, but every moment - if it is appropriate to say that - we find all things new. For then we are present before God, whom the soul will never feel sufficiency full of, and will always be the more eager for, Him. St. Gregory of Nyssa says, [The vision of God in the present life will not precisely fulfill us, but it grows continually day after day, from beginning to beginning, in endless beginnings, until it reaches its fullness in eternity.] The more man meditates on the vision of God, the more he sees Him as if for the first time. All new in his sight, so he feels more longing to kneel before Him, and gaze at Him. And thus he continues to no end. Because this matter is so glorious that many find it hard to get, the Lord wanted to revive hope in them. Therefore the Apostle says, “And He said to me, ‘write, for these words are true and faithful.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done!’” [5]. These are all true and actual matters, that God had prepared for humans. The only thing left, is for us to enter and inherit. As if He says to His bride, “God in truth has prepared the matrimonial house; what remains is for the bride to come.” He who sends out the invitations says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.” And as we have explained before, He means to say, I am the language of heaven, I teach you the new song of praise, and I am the head of all, I came at last to take all in my arms, and unite them with Me. I do not give scantily to anybody, but I give Myself a free source of living water, to whoever asks, “I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts” [6]. He gives Himself to every thirsty who feels in need of Him, who says with the psalmist: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all day long, where is your God?” (Ps. 42:1-3). That is why God calls out saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). Then the Apostle emphasizes that though the living water is free, yet the eternal heritage is only given to the persevering militants. Therefore He says, “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son” [7]. He gives to those who overcome, so what are they going to receive? “Inherit all things.” As a father who sees that his son became mature, and no more a minor, he offers to him all his fortunes and properties, and hands over to him all his affairs and secrets. And if he can offer his father all his heart, he will give everything as inheritance to his son, while he is still alive. This is what he means by “inherit all things.” And continues saying, “and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.” Truly, through baptism we became sons, but we shall only perceive the perfection of our sonship when we receive the eternal heritage! Yet those who are not fighters, or the unbelievers, have no share with Him. As the Apostle says, “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” [8]. He started the black list with the fearful, i.e. the cowards who deny faith for fear of their earthly life. Those are the most wicked. Next to them “the unbelievers,” because 9 without faith He cannot be pleased. And next are the wrong doers: the “abominable and murderers,” or those who are nominally believers, but their deeds do not relate to faith. We notice that He focuses on lying, “and all liars,” mostly those who use cheating and deceit in their dealings and talking. 2 - THE HOLY CHURCH “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the last seven plagues, came to me and talked with me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife’” [9]. God chose to send one of the seven angels who have the seven bowls to show the Apostle, “the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” This to show us the love and compassion of those angels towards mankind. Although they pour wrath from there seven bowls, they yearn to see people in a state of full holiness. Besides, they desire to announce that to everyone. The Church in her holiness will be the subject of the angel’s admiration, and they will sing with the psalmist saying, “At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir” (Ps. 45:9). The Bridegroom Himself communes with her, when He sees her beauty, saying, “Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair!” (Song 1:15). That heavenly beauty which is the holiness radiating from God towards His children. The secret of her holiness is: 1- Her superiority and sublimity: “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem” [10]. She is so high and heavenly; Satan and his soldiers cannot come close to her, because they are thrown into the lake burning with fire. 2- “Descending out of heaven from God” [10]. The secret of her holiness is her sublimity as we have seen, and that she is “descending out of heaven from God.” She is so high, that no one can reach her, but by her descent out of heaven, the Apostle proclaims that then God will raise us up to Him. St. Augustine says, that no one can ascend to the fellowship of the heavenly Jerusalem, unless he believes that his ascent cannot happen with his own power, but by the work of God. And by her descent, he also declares that we have to experience heavenly life, while we are still on earth, before the coming of the day of the Lord to ascend with Him and through Him. St. Clement of Alexandria says, that we substitute the earth for heaven, for by good deeds we become gods1. Besides, by our heavenly behavior we become as if we abide at heaven. 3- “Having the glory of God. And her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystad” [11]. Her glory is not out of her, but it is God's glory shining over her. Like crystal, she receives the heavenly glories. “He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance” (Rev. 4:3), simultaneously, by unity with Him and acceptance of the brilliance of His glory, we become like a jasper stone clear as crystal. 1 Meaning, we will be after His image, not that we become subjects of worship, but God reflects His light on us, so we become illuminated. 10 He is the Sun of Righteousness who sparkles with beauty, and we are like the stone of crystal surrounding Him from all sides. The features of the stone of crystal will disappear, and only the strong light of the Sun of Righteousness falling upon us, that will appear. Everyone of us as a stone of crystal shall see the glory of God in his brother, and his brother shall see the glory of God in him, thus the glory of God shall be all in all. 3 - UNIVERSAL APOSTOLIC CHURCH “Also she had a great and high wall.” Who is that wall? The psalmist says, “For You are the God of my strength” (Ps. 43:2). God is the castle and the refuge of the heavenly Church. In His shelter we dwell, and in His shadow will abide (Ps. 91). This wall shall gather the universal Church in complete unity. No enemy, which is Satan or his works, can enter to divide her, or separate her members. As St. Augustine says; [Blessed is he who dwells in that city from which no friend will leave, and no enemy can break into.] This Church or this city is universal, the wall of which shall gather the whole Church in union, the Church of the Old Testament and the Church of the New Testament. She is apostolic and on the foundation of its wall is written the names of the apostles. As he says, “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. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” [12-14]. She brought together the names of the twelve tribes, or men of the Old Testament, and the names of the apostles of Christ, who are the men of the New Testament, as it is one Church. But the Jews who are separated from her, by rejecting faith, have no place. As their spiritual kinship with the tribes was taken away from them, and they are considered unbelievers. The twelve gates refer to the opening of the gates from all sides to the sons and daughters of the kingdom1. The gates are distributed in all directions, so that no one of those who desire the eternal inheritance would lose the way towards reaching there. 4 - HER MEASUREMENTS “And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall” [15]. The sons and daughters of the kingdom are known and measured by God and are kept in His possession. As for the unit of measurement, it is a gold reed or a heavenly one, because spiritual and heavenly matters are only measured by what is spiritual and heavenly. “And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth and 1 We notice in more than one occasion that number ‘12’ refers to the kingdom of God. 11 height are equal” [16]. It is a square and has four equal corners, a sign that it is carried by the four gospels which lift the believers up to heaven, and prepares them to be a heavenly bride, by the power of the word. It measures 12000 furlongs, because number 12 indicates the children of God. 1000 indicates heaven, that is to say it embraces all the children of God. “Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty- four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel” [17]. Number 144 refers to the universal Church (the Church of the Old Testament 12 × the Church of the New Testament 12), which is fenced by one wall to enjoy One God. He who makes the measuring is an angel not an earthly human, that we might not imagine in heaven, earthly material things. 5 - ITS BUILDING 1- The fence: “And the construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass” [18]. It is fenced by God Himself, who guards her; it is made of pure gold like clear glass, that is heavenly and pure. “And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second, sapphire, the third chalcedony, the forth, emerald, the fifth sardony, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst” [19-20]. First: These precious stones are indicative of the apostles of Christ, as it is an apostolic Church. As the Bible says, “having been built on the foundations of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20). Second: The precious stones indicate the divine virtues that God bestows on us to adorn us. For the foundation on which we are built in eternity is the divine virtues we are granted in this life during our struggle, and there they glitter within us in heavenly glory. That is why the Lord comforts the struggling Church saying, “O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted. Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies. Your gates of crystal, and your walls of precious stones ... ‘This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,’ says the Lord” (Isa. 54:11-17). Third: Number ‘12’ symbolizes the sons (and daughters) of the kingdom. As if each son of the kingdom is adorned by divine decoration, different from his brother, yet likewise precious and beautiful. In this way the Church is complete in a perfect union. 2- The gates “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl.” Lord Jesus is the “pearl” of great value, for which man sells all that he has to acquire! (Matt. 13:46). Thus, the sons of the kingdom entering from the gates have all sold the world and bought the pearl. We also find that on each side there are three gates, that is the Holy Trinity. Being on each side, the Holy Trinity will make the people rejoice, and thus sell all they own to buy eternity, and enter to the inheritance prepared for them. 12 Some scholars suggest that the twelve gates are an indication of the twelve disciples, those who are assigned by “the One and only Gate,” our Lord Jesus Christ to be gates, through whose preaching, nations enter to faith. 3- The street (the courtyard) “And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass” [21]. The street (market) of the city refers to a certain kind of the righteous. In any case the whole city is of pure gold or heavenly, nothing earthly. And of transparent glass, with no defilement or complication, but simplicity and purity of heart. 4- The temple “But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” [22]. a) God had called His old people to set up a meeting tent, where God meets with the people through symbols and shadows. Then He called to build a temple that bears the meaning of God dwelling among the people. b) When the Jews deviated and refused the Lord, the temple was destroyed, then the Lord offered to us His body as a new temple (John 2:19). And when we became members of His body (Eph. 5:30), we are called the temple of God (1Cor 3:16,17), and God's building (1Cor. 3:9). c) Simultaneously, He handed to us the non-bloody sacrifice on Holy Thursday, and called on us to offer that sacrifice in the temple of the New Testament, as a pledge of the eternal Temple. d) Yet, in eternity the Apostle did not see a temple, not because it did not exist, but “For the Lord Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” He is a temple that wide and that powerful, an endless and eternal Temple. 5- The lighting “And the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and the Lamb is its ligh” [23]. The material means of lighting have disappeared, for the Lord became the Sun and the Lamp for us. 6- Its Glory “And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. 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” [24-27]. In its illumination and light, many shall walk towards it, as the Lord says, “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven! (Matt. 8:11). They come with their glory and dignity, removing every earthly glory and temporal dignity for the sake of the city, to find that its gates are never closed. It receives all, without partiality for the rich or the poor, slave or free. They come with their free will, without coercion or enforcement. The gates are opened to everybody and the invitation is addressed to all, for God desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 13 They come in daytime, for no man shall enter disguised in the darkness, and those who commit uncleanness, filth or deceit shall not sneak into it.
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