REVELATION 21:
NOT CONCERNING THE CHURCH!
PART II
REVELATION 21:
NOT CONCERNING THE CHURCH!
PART II
JAN LILLEBY
In my first article on this topic, I pointed among other things, to the fact that Rev. 21:14 say that the twelve foundation stones of the New Jerusalem had inscribed the names of the twelve apostles of Christ. Thus proving that the New Jerusalem indeed will be a Jewish place, a glorious future for the nation of Israel, post-Millennia.
I left out Rev. 21:9-12, NASB, proving without a doubt that we are talking of Israel,
“9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. “
Can you see that something is off about this declaration given to John in a vision on Patmos?
A good detective will not only go after what can be found as hard evidence (at an imagined crime scene) – he will also notice to himself WHAT IS NOT THERE.
We read of the foundation stones inscribed with the names of the twelve apostles: So, what of the thirteenth apostle, Paul? He is not inscribed on the foundations of the New Jerusalem. Paul is missing!
Why?
Answer: He was NOT the apostle sent out in Israel to preach the Kingdom Gospel. Peter and the twelve were! Paul dealt with us Gentiles, and his latest days of ministry he addressed his two Church epistles to Gentiles in particular, Eph. 3:1-3, NASB,
“1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles -
2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you;
3 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.”
When we also notice in the quoted passages above, that the TRIBES OF ISRAEL are listed, this makes it abundantly clear to us that the New Jerusalem is NOT a place for any other people but Israel.
And what is that new glorious city of God called?
“The Bride of the Lamb”, verse 9.
No doubt that the Bride of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, IS NOT THE CHURCH, by Paul called ‘One new Man’ Eph. 2:14, 15. For that Church is made up of TWO groups mentioned, which are Jews and Gentiles together, made into one body – the Church for which Christ is the Head. The Church dispensation is entirely INTERNATIONAL.
But here we find in Rev. 21 that the future glorious golden shining city New Jerusalem is the same as THE BRIDE OF CHRIST. The names of the twelve apostles inscribed, and twelve gates in the wall which have the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
In Rev. 7:4-8, NASB, we find those names listed, and these are,
“4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four * thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of
Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,
6 the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,
7 the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,
8 the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.”
We cannot find any gate which has a particular title saying ‘Gentiles’ – can we?
But it says in Rev. 21:24-27, NASB, that THE NATIONS will walk by its lights; and the kings will carry their costly things into the city, and there are restrictions on whom can be allowed entering into this city:
“24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there ) its gates will never be closed;
26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;
27 and nothing unclean, and no * one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever * come into it, but only * those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.”
ONLY THOSE WHOSE NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE.
This ‘Book of Life’ has nothing to do with us, the Body of Christ, the ‘One new Man’. We will enter heaven right before the Great Tribulation starts. Col. 3, 1-4 tells of this. So when reading Revelation, one cannot find the Church, the ‘One new Man’ at all. We are up in the heavens! Above the earth’s sphere as well as above the New Earth and the new heaven told in Rev. 21. The Church is never going to enter that New Jerusalem which is placed at the renovated/re-arranged ‘New’ earth. Upon which there is no longer any ocean, and no Sun or Moon. The light will be the Lamb, Jesus Christ, it says.
Remember – in Greek for ‘New’ there is used the word Kainos, which means new in quality, and not in time! Same Greek word is used of New Jerusalem, but this is because that old name ‘Jerusalem’ is there…it still will be entirely new in time. Greek for new in time, is neos. We see that this Super-City comes down from heaven, and are not being constructed and built by human hands on earth. It is brand new (even if it may have been built up in the heavens long, long time ago). It is all new what the earth is concerned.
Paul did not tell the Church of anything found in Revelation. We find nothing of the Apocalypse with Paul’s Grace Gospel in Ephesians and Colossians. Not a single word on the Second Advent, - or of the Great Tribulation, as well as nothing mentioned of anti-Christ, etcetera. Revelation is totally unbecoming to us and the cause we are into, the Church dispensation.
Very soon Christ is going to transfer the Church super-naturally into His high heaven, and we shall be revealed with Christ in heaven, Col. 3:1-4.
End-notes with Strong’s Greek Rev. 21:1 - suggesting that it might be meaning a PARTICULAR SEA (singular tense) – and not all the seas or oceans on earth. This particular sea might be the one which the Roman Empire called “Mare Nostrum” – meaning “Our Ocean”, which was the Mediterranean Ocean.
NASB © | Greek | Strong's | Origin |
Then | Καὶ | 2532: and, even, also | a prim. conjunction |
I saw | | 3708: to see, perceive, attend to | a prim. verb |
a new | καινὸν | 2537: new, fresh | a prim. word |
heaven | οὐρανὸν | 3772: heaven | a prim. word |
and a new | καινήν | 2537: new, fresh | a prim. word |
earth; | γῆν | 1093: the earth, land | a prim. word |
for the first | πρῶτος | 4413: first, chief | contr. superl. of pro |
heaven | οὐρανὸς | 3772: heaven | a prim. word |
and the first | πρώτη | 4413: first, chief | contr. superl. of pro |
earth | γῆ | 1093: the earth, land | a prim. word |
passed away, | ἀπῆλθαν | 565: to go away, go after | |
and there is no | οὐκ | 3756: not, no | a prim. word |
longer | ἔτι | 2089: still, yet | a prim. adverb |
[any] sea. | θάλασσα | 2281: the sea | of uncertain origin |
New American Standard Bible
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
King James Bible
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed.
International Standard Version
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and the sea was gone.
Gracepano.com
