A Bond-Servant's Revelation

Rev 21:9-11 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. Notice how the angel says that he will show John the bride, but then goes to show John the holy city in all its grandeur. Was his point that God sees the bride of Christ as His precious jewels? Yes! The New Jerusalem will be wonderful because God’s precious jewels – the bride of Christ – will be there, displaying and reflecting the glory of God, and helping to govern it. To see the greatness of the bride, you have to be carried away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain. That is, you have to have a very heavenly perspective of things. The new Jerusalem is the bride of the Lamb. It is not a description of a physical location, but of a group of people – the 144,000 who were selected to be the bride of the Lamb. They reflect the glory of (i.e., the best thing about) God, which is His nature (i.e., His goodness). The new Jerusalem was made of pure gold, like crystal-clear glass or jasper. It shone brilliantly as a very costly stone would shine. This is God’s way of pointing out how valuable the bride is to Him. Precious stones have brilliance because the light that goes through them scatters, reflects and refracts internally multiple times to come out as brilliance. Gold has brilliance because more of its electrons reflect the light incident on it. When Jesus was on the earth, He shone like a light, reflecting the glory of God. Jn 12:46 “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.” Jn 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” Jn 9:5 “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” He then told us that we should do the same. Mt 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;” When we let our light shine correctly through our good works, it brings glory to God. Mt 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Then we too can begin to acquire the brilliance of the bride. Rev 21:12-18 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. 13 There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. 17 And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. 18 The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The bride has walls and gates with angels, and is a cube. Huh? Whatever does that mean? What do the walls and gates symbolize? Every person who was a part of the bride learnt to have walls and gates. Walls stop things from going in, and gates allow things to go in. Together, they serve as a filter. The gates had the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel, and therefore they represent the Jews. What message did the Jews leave us? They left us the Old Testament. The foundation stones of the walls were the names of the twelve apostles. What did the apostles leave us? They left us the New Testament. Together, the gates and the walls represent the word of God to us – the Bible! The angels, or messengers, at the gates communicate to us the word of God. The bride used the Bible to filter everything, and they let the Bible decide what stays out of their lives, and what goes into their lives. In other words, the bride practiced and taught every commandment of God – the big ones and the small ones, and that’s how they became great in the eyes of God (Mt 5:19). Mt 5:19 “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Satan’s strategy is to get us to put walls where we should have gates, and gates where we should have walls. However, the bride was not fooled, and they had the walls and the gates at the proper places.