Chapter 21:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Johnson
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| McGee
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Jude Genesis
Revelation 21
Verse 1. And I saw - So it runs, chap. xix, 11, xx, 1, 4, 11, in a
succession. All these several representations follow one another in
order: so the vision reaches into eternity. A new heaven and a new
earth - After the resurrection and general judgment. St. John is not
now describing a flourishing state of the church, but a new and
eternal state of all things. For the first heaven and the first earth -
Not only the lowest part of heaven, not only the solar system, but
the whole ethereal heaven, with all its host, whether of planets or
fixed stars, Isai xxxiv, 4 Matt. xxiv, 29. All the former things will
be done away, that all may become new, verses 4, 5, 2 Pet. iii, 10, 12. Are passed away - But in the fourth verse it is said, "are gone away." There the stronger word is used; for death,
mourning, and sorrow go away all together: the former heaven
and earth only pass away, giving place to the new heaven and the
new earth.
Verse
2. And I saw the holy city - The new heaven, the new earth, and
the new Jerusalem, are closely connected. This city is wholly new,
belonging not to this world, not to the millennium, but to eternity.
This appears from the series of the vision, the magnificence of the
description, and the opposition of this city to the second death,
chap. xx, 11, 12; xxi, 1, 2, 5, 8, 9; xxii, 5. Coming down - In the very act of descending.
Verse
3. They shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them,
and be their God - So shall the covenant between God and his
people be executed in the most glorious manner.
Verse
4. And death shall be no more - This is a full proof that this whole
description belongs not to time, but eternity. Neither shall sorrow,
or crying, or pain, be any more: for the former things are gone
away - Under the former heaven, and upon the former earth, there
was death and sorrow, crying and pain; all which occasioned
many tears: but now pain and sorrow are fled away, and the saints
have everlasting life and joy.
Verse
5. And he that sat upon the throne said - Not to St. John only.
From the first mention of "him that sat upon the throne," chap. iv,
2, this is the first speech which is expressly ascribed to him. And
he - The angel. Saith to me Write - As follows. These sayings are
faithful and true - This includes all that went before. The apostle
seems again to have ceased writing, being overcome with ecstasy
at the voice of him that spake.
Verse
6. And he - That sat upon the throne. Said to me, It is done - All
that the prophets had spoken; all that was spoken, chap. iv, 1. We
read this expression twice in this prophecy: first, chap. xvi, 17, at
the fulfilling of the wrath of God; and here, at the making all
things new. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the
end - The latter explains the former: the Everlasting. I will give to
him that thirsteth - The Lamb saith the same, chap. xxii, 17.
Verse
7. He that overcometh - Which is more than, "he that thirsteth."
Shall inherit these things - Which I have made new. I will be his
God, and he shall be my son - Both in the Hebrew and Greek
language, in which the scriptures were written, what we translate
shall and will are one and the same word. The only difference
consists in an English translation, or in the want of knowledge in
him that interprets what he does not understand.
Verse
8. But the fearful and unbelieving - Who, through want of courage
and faith, do not overcome. And abominable - That is, sodomites.
And whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters - These three sins
generally went together; their part is in the lake.
Verse
9. And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven
phials - Whereby room had been made for the kingdom of God.
Saying, Come, I will show thee the bride - The same angel had
before showed him Babylon, chap. xvii, 1, which is directly
opposed to the new Jerusalem.
Verse
10. And he carried me away in the spirit - The same expression as
before, chap. xvii, 3. And showed me the holy city Jerusalem -
The old city is now forgotten, so that this is no longer termed the
new, but absolutely Jerusalem. O how did St. John long to enter
in! but the time was not yet come. Ezekiel also describes "the holy
city," and what pertains thereto, xl.-xlviii. Ezek. xl, 1-Ezek. xlviii,
35 but a city quite different from the old Jerusalem, as it was
either before or after the Babylonish captivity. The descriptions of
the prophet and of the apostle agree in many particulars; but in
many more they differ. Ezekiel expressly describes the temple,
and the worship of God therein, closely alluding to the Levitical
service. But St. John saw no temple, and describes the city far
more large, glorious, and heavenly than the prophet. Yet that
which he describes is the same city; but as it subsisted soon after
the destruction of the beast. This being observed, both the
prophecies agree together and one may explain the other.
Verse
11. Having the glory of God - For her light, verse 23, ver. 23,
Isaiah xl, 1, 2, Zech. ii, 5. Her window - There was only one,
which ran all round the city. The light did not come in from
without through this for the glory of God is within the city. But it
shines out from within to a great distance, verses 23, 24. chap.
xxi, 23, 24
Verse
12. Twelve angels - Still waiting upon the heirs of salvation.
Verse
14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them
the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb - Figuratively
showing that the inhabitants of the city had built only on that faith
which the apostles once delivered to the saints.
Verse
15. And he measured the city, twelve thousand furlongs - Not in
circumference, but on each of the four sides. Jerusalem was
thirtythree furlongs in circumference; Alexandria thirty in length,
ten in breadth. Nineveh is reported to have been four hundred
furlongs round; Babylon four hundred and eighty. But what
inconsiderable villages were all these compared to the new
Jerusalem! By this measure is understood the greatness of the city,
with the exact order and just proportion of every part of it; to
show, figuratively, that this city was prepared for a great number
of inhabitants, how small soever the number of real Christians
may sometimes appear to be; and that everything relating to the
happiness of that state was prepared with the greatest order and
exactness. The city is twelve thousand furlongs high; the wall, an
hundred and forty-four reeds. This is exactly the same height,
only expressed in a different manner. The twelve thousand
furlongs, being spoken absolutely, without any explanation, are
common, human furlongs: the hundred forty-four reeds are not of
common human length, but of angelic, abundantly larger than
human. It is said, the measure of a man that is, of an angel
because St. John saw the measuring angel in an human shape. The
reed therefore was as great as was the stature of that human form
in which the angel appeared. In treating of all these things a deep
reverence is necessary; and so is a measure of spiritual wisdom;
that we may neither understand them too literally and grossly, nor
go too far from the natural force of the words. The gold, the
pearls, the precious stones, the walls, foundations, gates, are
undoubtedly figurative expressions; seeing the city itself is in
glory, and the inhabitants of it have spiritual bodies: yet these
spiritual bodies are also real bodies, and the city is an abode
distinct from its inhabitants, and proportioned to them who take
up a finite and a determinate space. The measures, therefore,
above mentioned are real and determinate.
Verse
18. And the building of the wall was jasper - That is, the wall was
built of jasper. And the city - The houses, was of pure gold.
Verse
19. And the foundations were adorned with precious stones - That
is, beautifully made of them. The precious stones on the high
priest's breastplate of judgment were a proper emblem to express
the happiness of God's church in his presence with them, and in
the blessing of his protection. The like ornaments on the
foundations of the walls of this city may express the perfect glory
and happiness of all the inhabitants of it from the most glorious
presence and protection of God. Each precious stone was not the
ornament of the foundation, but the foundation itself. The colours
of these are remarkably mixed. A jasper is of the colour of white
marble, with a light shade of green and of red; a sapphire is of a
sky-blue, speckled with gold; a chalcedony, or carbuncle, of the
colour of red-hot iron; an emerald, of a grass green.
Verse
20. A sardonyx is red streaked with white; a sardius, of a deep
red; a chrysolite, of a deep yellow; a beryl, sea-green; a topaz,
pale yellow; a chrysoprase is greenish and transparent, with gold
specks; a jacinth, of a red purple; an amethyst, violet purple.
Verse
22. The Lord God and the Lamb are the temple of it - He fills the
new heaven and the new earth. He surrounds the city and
sanctifies it, and all that are therein. He is "all in all."
Verse
23. The glory of God - Infinitely brighter than the shining of the
sun.
Verse
24. And the nations - The whole verse is taken from Isaiah lx, 3.
Shall walk by the light thereof - Which throws itself outward from
the city far and near. And the kings of the earth - Those of them
who have a part there. Bring their glory into it - Not their old
glory, which is now abolished; but such as becomes the new earth,
and receives an immense addition by their entrance into the city.
Verse
26. And they shall bring the glory of the nations into it - It seems,
a select part of each nation; that is, all which can contribute to
make this city honourable and glorious shall be found in it; as if
all that was rich and precious throughout the world was brought
into one city.
Verse
27. Common - That is. unholy. But those who are written in the
Lamb's book of life - True, holy, persevering believers. This
blessedness is enjoyed by those only; and, as such, they are
registered among them who are to inherit eternal life.
Chapter 21:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Johnson
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| McGee
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Jude Genesis
This version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible is a derivative of an electronic version, Copyright 1997, by Sulu D. Kelley. All rights reserved. Used by permission. It may not be modified or used commercially without permission of Wesleyan Heritage Publishing and Sulu Kelley. A special thanks to Mr. Kelley and Wesleyan Heritage Publishing for permission to create and post this version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible.
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalm
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation
