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twenty-seven verses are taken up with the description of the inheritance of the overcomer.
Let us consider these separate groups.
"All things new" (21: 1-5).
A | a | 1. New heaven. New earth.
b | 1. Former heaven and earth pass away.
c | 1. No more sea.
B | 2. The Holy City.
B | 2. The Tabernacle.
A |
c | 4. No more death.
b | 4. Former things pass away.
a | 5. All things new.
So complete is the change that takes place that the Scripture repeats, in order to
emphasize, that "the former heaven and earth" and "the former things" pass away. In
Isa. 65: 17 we read:--
"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be
remembered, nor come upon the heart."
Just as the passing of the old heavens and earth is vitally connected with the "former
things" in Rev. 21:, so in Isa. 65: 16, for we read:--
"The former troubles are forgotten . . . . . they are hid from mine eyes."
Further, there is no more sea in that new earth, which is balanced by the statement that
there shall be no more death, sorrow, crying or pain. Now why should the sea be
associated with death? In exactly the same way that the "former heaven and earth" are
associated with the former "troubles".
Sin and its cosmic relations.
Seeing that we have reached in this chapter the great cosmic change, the goal towards
which creation and redemption have pressed, it is not to be wondered at if sin is viewed,
not from an individual point of view, nor even from a racial and federal point of view;
it is seen rather as the primal sin that caused the overthrow of the world, made the present
creation necessary, and which is behind all sin in general and "Mystery Babylon" in
particular.
With the repeated emphasis upon the passing away of former things, and the complete
cessation of death, it is simple to believe that all who were cast into the lake of fire suffer
destruction, that they become "no more" even as the sea, death and sorrow, that they have
passed away as completely as the former heaven and earth. To believe that a countless
mass of unsaved humanity are still suffering torment contradicts these plain words, as
does also the other teaching that the second death is in some measure a purgatory or place
of temporary detention.