In the last few days, we have been reflecting on God's plan for the ages: to call a group of people from all nations to enter a marriage covenant with Jesus, the Son of God. Our Bridegroom will come for His bride and dwell with those who willingly respond to His love. In Middle Eastern weddings, the Bridegroom is responsible for preparing or building the home where they will live after marriage.
Now, let's look at the place God has prepared for those who love Him:
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 5He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son (Revelation 21:1-7. emphasis added).
The holy city descends from above. It's not something we create on Earth but rather something that Christ has prepared and will bring down to Earth for His people (v. 2). It is not New Washington or New London, but the New Jerusalem, the place where God has promised to reside forever. The Lord told Solomon that He had placed His Name there eternally: "My eyes and my heart will always be there" (1 Kings 9:3). Could that be why there is so much conflict over Jerusalem? I believe God's enemies seek to trample and eradicate the name of the God of Israel from Jerusalem entirely, and they desire for the embodiment of Satan, the Antichrist, to be enthroned on the sacred mount at the center of Jerusalem: “He will oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
Verse 2 tells us that the New Jerusalem descends, prepared as a bride. Some interpret this sentence to mean that the city itself is the bride. Those who hold this view remind us that we are being built into a temple as living stones: "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5 emphasis added). To provide a different perspective, however, Revelation 21:27 states that those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will dwell there, but it doesn’t imply that they are the city itself! Regardless of your interpretation of the passage above, the key point is that the Lord will dwell with us, and this city will be our home. Yes, waiting is difficult, but it will be worth it when the time comes. Keith Thomas
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Taken from the series Insights into Eternity, found in the All Studies box. Click on the study The Wedding of the Lamb.
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