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Chapter 59 of 68
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Life-study of Revelation

II. IN THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH

In verse 2 John says, “And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a [685] bride adorned for her husband.” The New Jerusalem is a living
composition of all the saints redeemed by God throughout all generations. It is the Bride of
Christ as His counterpart (John 3:29) and the holy city of God as His habitation. This is the city,
the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22), which God has prepared for us and which Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob longed after (Heb. 11:10, 16). It is also the Jerusalem which is above and which is the
mother of us all (Gal. 4:26).

This New Jerusalem will come down out of heaven to earth. Verses 2 and 10 both say that
New Jerusalem comes “down out of heaven from God.” God’s intention is not to have an eternal
habitation in heaven; He desires to dwell on earth. Although religion dreams of going to
heaven, God desires to come down to earth. Even today, God’s best habitation is not heaven; it is
the church on earth. Today God has two dwelling places—the heavens and the church. God
dwells in heaven with His angels, and He also dwells on earth with His children. If you were the
Father, would you prefer to stay with the angels, the servants, or with your children? If the
servants lived in a mansion and the children lived in a poor cottage, would you prefer to live in
the mansion or in the cottage? Certainly you would prefer to be with your children in the
cottage. It is the same with God. How He desires to dwell in the church! Although the
appearance of the church is not marvelous or splendid, the children of God are there, and God
enjoys being with them. Eventually, the poor “cottage” of the church will be transformed into
the New Jerusalem, which will be far more splendid than any mansion.

New Jerusalem will be an immense city, twelve thousand stadia in length, breadth, and
height (v. 16). Twelve thousand stadia is approximately one thousand three hundred and sixty
miles, the distance from San Diego to Seattle. The distance from the east coast of the United
States to the west coast is about three thousand miles. Thus, the length of the New Jerusalem
will be almost half that of the United States. What a tremendous city this will be! It will be about
seven [686] million feet high. This city, which is far more wonderful than we could ever imagine,
will actually come down from heaven to earth. Of course, the earth at that time will be the new
earth (vv. 1, 24, 26).

III. THE HOLY CITY

The New Jerusalem is the holy city (vv. 2, 10). As the holy city of God, the New Jerusalem is
holy, sanctified, fully separated unto God, and thoroughly saturated with God’s holy nature to
be His habitation. This holy city is thoroughly permeated and mingled with God. This great city,
more than thirteen hundred and sixty miles in length, width, and height, will be utterly
separated unto God and saturated with Him. One day, we shall actually be there. Today we see
New Jerusalem in a vision, but the time is coming when we shall be in it. How excited we shall
be! No doubt we shall recall the vision we saw of it when we were still on earth.

IV. THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

Verse 2 says that the New Jerusalem is “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband,” and
in verse 9 one of the angels says, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
In both the Old and New Testaments, God likens His chosen people to a spouse (Isa. 54:6; Jer.
3:1; Ezek. 16:8; Hosea 2:19; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:31-32). The spouse is for God’s satisfaction in
  love. As the Bride of Christ, New Jerusalem comes
 out of Christ, her husband, and becomes His 
counterpart, just as Eve came out of Adam, her husband, and became his counterpart (Gen.
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2:21-24). She is prepared by participating in the riches of the life and nature of Christ.
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Verse 9 speaks of the Bride and the wife. The Bride is mainly for the wedding day, whereas
the wife is for the entire life. The New Jerusalem will be the Bridein the millennium for one  
thousand years as one day (2 Pet. 3:8) and the wife in the(https://www.ministrybooks.org/books/reader.php?
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eternity. The Bride in the kingdom age will include the overcomers (3:12; 19:7-9), but the wife in 82Y7r7B3fxldlPeMYfm6TS
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eternity will include all God’s redeemed ones (21:9). kXQ71Mbgd4yg0IPlrbkl8)

[687] Since the New Jerusalem is the Bride, 

we should not consider her a material city. It is
impossible for a material entity to be the Bride. God would never marry such a thing. He will
only marry something living. The Bride will be composed of all the redeemed, regenerated, and
transformed saints of God. In the New Jerusalem there will be no wood, bricks, or dust. Instead,
there will be gold, pearl, and transformed precious stones.

V. THE TABERNACLE OF GOD

Verse 3 says, “And I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of
God is with men, and He shall tabernacle with them, and they shall be His peoples, and God
Himself shall be with them.” In both the Old and the New Testaments, God also likens His
chosen people to a dwelling place for Himself (Exo. 29:45-46; Num. 5:3; Ezek. 43:7, 9; Psa.
68:18; 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; 1 Tim. 3:15). As the spouse is for God’s satisfaction in
love, so the dwelling place is for His rest in expression. Both aspects will be ultimately
consummated in the New Jerusalem. In her, God will have the fullest satisfaction in love and
the utmost rest in expression for eternity. As God’s habitation, New Jerusalem will be the
tabernacle of God with men for eternity. It will be God’s dwelling place among men—the
nations—to express Him. The tabernacle made by Moses was a type of this tabernacle (Exo.
25:8-9; Lev. 26:11). That type was firstly fulfilled in Christ as God’s tabernacle among men (John
1:14), and eventually it will be fulfilled in the fullest way in the New Jerusalem, which will be
the enlargement of Christ as God’s dwelling place. This tabernacle will also be the eternal
dwelling place of God’s redeemed people. God will overshadow us with Christ. Hence, New
Jerusalem will be a mutual habitation for both God and us.

A person’s dwelling place expresses the person himself. In no other place are we as fully
expressed as we are in our dwelling place. If you want to know a person, visit his apartment or
house. If his home is not neat, then you know that the person himself is not a neat person. But if
his home is [688] very neat, clean, and orderly, then you know that the person who dwells there
is that kind of person. Suppose I visit your apartment one morning and find that your bed is not
made. No matter how many lectures you may give me on diligence and neatness, I shall know
by your unmade bed that you are a sloppy person. Just as our home expresses us, so the New
Jerusalem, God’s tabernacle, will express Him. Every part of this city will be neat, clean, and
properly built. Every aspect of it will express God. The church today as God’s habitation is also
His expression. The church is both for Christ’s satisfaction and for God’s habitation. In the
church, a miniature of the coming New Jerusalem, Christ is satisfied and God is expressed.

Restored mankind, the nations, will live around the New Jerusalem as the tabernacle of God,
and they will enjoy God there.

VI. THE PARADISE OF GOD

The New Jerusalem will also be the paradise of God. According to the Bible there is more
than one kind of paradise. Many Christians consider the garden of Eden as a paradise (Gen.
2:8). However, the Bible does not call the garden of Eden a paradise. Thus, in the Bible, there are
just two paradises, the paradise mentioned by the Lord Jesus in Luke 23:43 and the New
Jerusalem.

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