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"No more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:
FOR THE FORMER THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY" (Rev. 21: 4).
"He that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make ALL THINGS NEW" (Rev. 21: 5).
The arrangement of the material of Rev. 21: 1-5 is as follows:
A | a | 1. NEW. Heaven and Earth.
b | 1. FORMER. He prote. Pass away.
c | 1. NO MORE. Sea (ref. to Gen. 1: 2).
B | 2. I SAW. New Jerusalem.
B | 3. I HEARD. Tabernacle.
A |
c | 4. NO MORE. Death, sorrow, pain (ref. to Gen. 3:).
b | 4. FORMER ta prota. Pass away.
a | 5. NEW. All things.
This Tabernacle is the New Jerusalem, and unlike the tabernacle in the wilderness
which was limited to "Israel", this is now "with MEN", anthropos. The resplendent tent,
made after the pattern shown to Moses in the mount, foreshadowed this bejeweled city
not in a wilderness, nor limited to Israel, nor temporary as a tent, but when all families of
the new earth shall ultimately be brought into blessing. The New Jerusalem evidently
descends from heaven to rest upon the New Earth. During the Millennium therefore it
must have been in the heavens. This raises another question. Do those who are destined
to walk its golden streets enter into their inheritance:
(1)
At the commencement of the Millennial reign, or
(2)
Do they have to wait until the 1000 years are finished, if so
(3)
Are they not raised from the dead until the 1000 years are finished, or
(4)
Where are they during that time?
The overcomer, among other things, is to be made:
(1)
A pillar in the temple of God.
(2)
He is to have written upon him, the name of God, and the name of the city of God,
New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from God.
(3)
The overcomer begins his reign with Christ at the commencement of the 1000 years
(Rev. 20: 4, 5).
From other Scriptures we gather that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will sit down in the
kingdom of heaven, and the reference to the "east and west" shows that this refers to the
earth (Matt. 8: 11), yet Abraham looked for a heavenly, not an earthly country or city,
and God has prepared for him "a city" (Heb. 11: 16). We also learn that "in the
regeneration" the apostles shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,
presumably on the earth, while all the time we read that the foundations of the heavenly
city were made up of twelve precious stones, bearing the names of the twelve apostles of
the Lamb (Rev. 21: 14, 19-20). Moreover, the gates are twelve and bear the names of the
twelve tribes of Israel, yet the twelve tribes as such will inherit the land as Ezek. 48:
reveals, and not the heavenly city, for that is reserved for the overcomer.