The
City Limits
of
New Jerusalem
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:8-11)
Was Abraham looking only for an earthly city of God or did he envision a City of God in the heavens? Perhaps he was able to foresee both! Very often Biblical truth is not "either/or" but "both/and."
The true church of Jesus Christ is ultimately described figuratively as both a woman and a city in the Bible. A city is not only buildings and streets and parks and homes it is also a community of people living together. This heavenly city is the new family home for the children of Abraham. A great vision of the New Jerusalem was given to the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos near the end of the First Century. In redeeming the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve God has not merely restored them to Eden, the original Paradise. The New Jerusalem is a more glorious home than Eden. Born again as sons and daughters of Jesus, the Last Adam we have been granted higher privileges, position and opportunity than was granted to Adam and Eve:
...And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away." And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment. He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb." And in the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its breadth; and he measured the city with his rod, twelve thousand stadia; its length and breadth and height are equal. He also measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits by a man's measure, that is, an angel's.
The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light shall the nations walk; and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it, and its gates shall never be shut by day---and there shall be no night there; they shall bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever...
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and every one who loves and practices falsehood. "I Jesus have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star." The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let him who hears say, "Come." And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price. (Revelation 21:1-22:17)
But there is also a great space city, a magnificent gateway city to the rest of the universe, Jerusalem Above, the mother of us all.
Are the two Jerusalems connected? Probably yes. The Temple in Jerusalem on earth may well prove to be the "gateway" for "travel" to and from the orbiting space city New Jerusalem.
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My delight is in her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
The prophet Isaiah continues to speak of that day,
Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: "I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you have labored; but those who garner it shall eat it and praise the LORD, and those who gather it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary." Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway, clear it of stones, lift up an ensign over the peoples. Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him." And they shall be called The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD; and you shall be called Sought out, a city not forsaken. (Isaiah 62:1-12)
“Sanctified imagination” is required here and all comments are welcome. Is New Jerusalem as described in the Book of the Revelation the place we think of as "heaven"--the place good people go when they die (if they know Jesus)? We usually think of heaven as "up" but more likely our tiny planet and its inhabitants are embedded in a vast unseen realm of 10 or more dimensions. This article assumes New Jerusalem is a huge orbiting satellite measuring 1500 miles on a side. This place is not the "heaven of heavens" nor the throne room of God. But for the sake of discussion, I have assumed NJ is a geostationary satellite parked on the equator or hovering somehow over the earthly city of Jerusalem. It already exists, apparently, since Jesus went there after His Ascension to prepare a place for His Bride, the true Church. This substantial object is currently "cloaked" and can't be seen or detected at this time.
The sun and the moon both subtend an angle of about 0.5 degrees in the sky. This is not a coincidence. They are nearly the same size in the sky so that eclipses can happen. This seems to be by design rather than coincidence.
The sun is an ancient symbol of Jesus the Light of the world. Malachi 4:2 for example says, “But to you who fear My name, The Sun of Righteousness shall arise, With healing in His wings...”
The true church, which has no light of its own, shines feebly by reflecting the light of the sun. (Eclipses were of course of special interest to the ancients).
A beautiful symbolic picture of Christ’s church militant and triumphant is foreshadowed in Song of Solomon 6:10, “Who is she who looks forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army with banners?”
The church as the “lesser light” rules the night and the greater light rules the day. (Genesis 1:16-18)
Suppose the city of New Jerusalem—(1500 miles on a side and cubical—if one takes the dimensions given in the Book of the Revelation at face value—were arbitrarily parked in a geostationary orbit 22,200 miles above the Equator. The great orbiting city, (home for followers of Jesus after the Rapture of the church), would occupy 1500/22200 radians of subtended angle in the sky—or about 7 degrees. (A radian is 57 degrees). This artificial moon, NJ, —would appear to be about 14 times bigger than the earth’s present full moon. The orbiting city would probably appear to travel North and South of the Equator—as the sun and moon appear to do with the changing seasons of the year.
New Jerusalem was seen in a great vision by the Apostle John in 95 AD which has led to speculation about certain mysterious objects in the sky which might be traveling in very elongated orbits so that they show up locally only in several thousand years.
The plane of the Ecliptic is tilted 22.5 degrees from the earth’s rotational axis. Arbitrarily let’s assume NJ is in a synchronous orbit. This artificial moon, New Jerusalem, will evidently descend to earth over the present Jerusalem at the close of the Tribulation. Or at the close of the Millennium?
For a man standing anywhere on the earth, all directions are up or down. This means "heaven" would seem to be spherical and surrounding the earth. That is, earth appears to be embedded in heaven. This is actually what the Bible implies. See Absolute Geocentricity for a discussion on an absolute center for the universe. There appears to be no preferred direction out into space from earth. actually our observer standing on the earth, unless he is at the North of South poles, can walk East or West. East is the direction of the rising sun. The Tabernacle of Moses and the two Temples in Jerusalem that followed, were aligned East and West. Likewise the tribes of Israel camped in an East-West orientation as shown in the accompanying figure.
No one will confuse the Lord Jesus (likened to the sun) with the moon, (likened to the church) during this seven year transition at the close of the present age.
“Behold, He is coming with the cloud, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:7-8)
Jumping ahead to the final chapters of the Book of the Revelation,
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” (Revelation 21:1-5)
“...Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.
Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the 144k (The one hundred forty four thousand)he glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Revelation 21:9-27)
The seven year Tribulation period following the Rapture, will involve the conversion of many millions of people living on earth who are reached primarily by the evangelistic work of 144,000 of Christ’s Commandos The 144k (The one hundred forty four thousand. These converts will be martyred and represent a separate class of believers from the church or from Israel.
Most Christians today apparently look forward to escaping from this planet (they assume) and going to some idyllic paradise where they no longer need to be involved with lost sinners, or anyone else “left behind” on the planet. Such a fanciful scenario can’t be found anywhere in the Bible! The return of Jesus will not focus on our deeds and accomplishments but on His worthiness as the heir of all things. One can't expect to be able to enter heaven with one's excess baggage from earth. See Pilgrims for passport regulations and entry permits. Be prepared for a thorough evalutation by Jesus on the way there. Yes, your new body is waiting for you now.
Jesus Himself will evidently come and go during the Tribulation period while sojourning in New Jerusalem with us, His Bride. Are we not privileged to walk in step with Jesus in those days since we are destined to rule and reign with Him? See Psalm 45.
I see the seven-year Tribulation period as a time of transition from the present grim state of affairs to the open Second Advent of Jesus with His church and the coming of the Kingdom of God right here on earth. These ideas did not originate with me: they were brought forth decades ago by Ray Stedman.
Portals and Gates are often important in the Bible. Some portals we would except to find in the universe might be connecting places where one stepped from the usual mundane, familiar world of four dimensions into multi-dimensional space time. The Wardrobe cabinet in the Narnia tales of C.S. Lewis is one well-known fictional example. Another is found in the Harry Potter stories of J.K. Rowling. Yet a third example is the famous Tardis of Dr. Who. Children’s stories have long taken liberties of imagination with what is real and what is fantasy. "Real Life" is way stranger than fiction nonetheless. Time Warps are surely to be expected in heaven.
For example, Jesus appeared and disappeared regularly during the forty days between His resurrection and ascension. There are sound reasons to believe He will exhibit the same behavior at the close of the age we live in now. Similarly all of the loyal followers of Jesus will enjoy superlative new abilities which are featured in resurrection bodies:
New Jerusalem is probably multi-dimensional inside even though outwardly appearing to be three dimensional (four walls, twelve gates, foundations). It's been suggested the interior is "Narnia Like." The stone called “jasper” in Revelation is probably the diamond. The stone we call jasper today is not transparent. “Jasper” Is seen in Revelation 4 and again in 21:
and,“Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heave n, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone (blood red) in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald...” (Revelation 4:2-3)
“...one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.
Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, (thick?) according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” (Revelation 21:9-21)
One of the forms of pure gold is transparent, by the way.
From the outside looking in, New Jerusalem will reflect sunlight better than the earth’s moon which has an average albedo of only 0.12. If NJ is four-side and not gyroscopically locked in a fixed orientation, we might expect great dazzling beams of sunlight to be shining on the earth by night. It is possible that light from inside NJ might shine out through the 216 foot high outer wall. (The walls may be 216 feet thick, not high? In that case, the walls could be 1500 miles high.) We are not given many details about the interior of NJ, which we have suggested is multidimensional. There is an “exclusion zone” outside the city. See The Excluded Ones. Twelve gates suggests lots of traffic in and out. Presumably there will be controlled down to earth ventures in the service of the Commander-in-Chief.
The city has twelve gates each made from a single gigantic pearl. A “foundation” under girds the city walls. A few additional details on City Center are given in Revelation 22:
“But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 21:22 - 22:5)
The time frame for the sequence of events in the Book of Revelation after 4:1 is not totally linear and sequential--since John, the observer, was still in his old mortal body when he was given his tour of “heaven.” The reader of Revelation is presently trapped in linear, historical time. Indeed, he or she is constrained to live life one day at a time "down here" from birth to death. The record books of history list our DOB and our DOD. Not so the vantage point of heaven runs on very different clocks. God Himself is the “high and lofty one who inhabits eternity.” (Isaiah 57:15) Past, present and future are eternally “now” to our Lord. God does act within time and outside of time—both. He reveals Himself progressively in history from creation to the Second Advent. It is our present body with several internal clicks, rhythms and cycles that lock us into linear, historical calendars. Our new bodies, already built for us to occupy when we die, run according to very different clocks. The Resurrection Body is explained in 2 Corinthians 5.
There is no need for a follower of Jesus to view eternal realities in the heavenly places strictly through the lens of earth-bound lenses. Pay attention to verb tenses in the New Testament! For example, those who know Jesus have already come to New Jerusalem. Looking out through my present old eyes I can not see the splendor just behind the temporal, visible realm.
“For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:18-29)
An enigmatic passage mentioning two Jerusalems is found in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. The Old and New Covenants are contrasted in this passage, but the two Jerusalems are probably literal as well.
“Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written:
“Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband.”Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.” (Galatians 4:21-31)
Comment for a Friend:
Planet X is probably the cloaked city of New Jerusalem now orbiting the earth.
I don't think NASA's version of Planet X is referring to New Jerusalem. Jesus has prepared the city for us, His bride. Sibrel is speculative.
Everyone has heard of cloaking devices from Harry Potter and from Star-trek. The military is serious about wanting some. Many enigmatic stories have been reported back when UFO sightings were common.
A related topic is FTL (Faster than Light) travel apparently often used by UFOs.
Time Travel will probably be possible for citizens of New Jerusalem. See "The Limits of Science." The speed of light, currently 186,000 miles per hour appears to be the top limiting speed in the universe. But see "Faster than the Speed of Light?" and The Speed of Light Exceeded by Chuck Missler. Also recommended from Chuck: Warp Speed Travel – Theoretically Possible?
Now the main point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They offer worship in a sanctuary that is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one; for Moses, when he was about to erect the tent, was warned, ‘See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.’ 6 But Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted through better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one.' (Hebrews 8:1-7)
The Lamb and the 144,000
The Messages of the Three Angels
8 Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ 9 Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, ‘Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands, 10they will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the mark of its name.’ 12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus. 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.’ Reaping the Earth’s Harvest
17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, ‘Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.’ 19 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse’s bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles. The Angels with the Seven Last Plagues
2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: ‘Great and amazing are your deeds,
The Bowls of God’s Wrath
2 So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and a foul and painful sore came on those who had the mark of the beast and who worshipped its image. 3 The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing in the sea died. 4 The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, for you have judged these things; 6 because they shed the blood of saints and prophets, you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!’ 7 And I heard the altar respond, ‘Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, your judgments are true and just!’ 10 The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness; people gnawed their tongues in agony, 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds. 12 The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up in order to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 And I saw three foul spirits like frogs coming from the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet. 14 These are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15 (‘See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and is clothed, not going about naked and exposed to shame.’) 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Harmagedon. 17 The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’ 18 And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a violent earthquake, such as had not occurred since people were upon the earth, so violent was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. God remembered great Babylon and gave her the wine-cup of the fury of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found; 21 and huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, dropped from heaven on people, until they cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague. 
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Pilgrims
Jerusalem Above, Jerusalem Below
The Seven Churches in New Jerusalem
The 144k (The one hundred forty four thousand)
The Management of the Universe
Notes by Lambert Dolphin
