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Discussion Notes
The New Jerusalem
(Read chapter 21)
1 – A Tale of Two Cities
2 – Fall of Babylon
3 – New Jerusalem:
a place, a people, a presence
1 – A Tale of Two Cities
Early in the 6th Century BC, the Babylonian
empire had sacked the holy city of Jerusalem, and led its
people away into captivity for 70 years – the Exile.
Babylon was the name for a despised city that trampled upon
the people of God. In the first century, that role was fulfilled
by Rome. In AD 70, the Roman empire had sacked Jerusalem,
and destroyed its temple. For a late first century Jew, Rome
was the new Babylon.
This is a long way from the Roman conception
of the beautiful goddess, Roma – the envy of the world.
Now, she is the great whore (17:1) When the new Babylon fell,
those cities that had been captivated by all that she embodied
would fall with her (16:19). But if Babylon was personified
by a whore, the new Jerusalem is personified by a bride, the
wife of the Lamb (19:7, 21:2,9).
The cities of Asia Minor would model themselves
on the greatness of Rome – and so it was inconceivable
for the earliest Christians to dissociate themselves from
the city – that is, to resist the religious requirements
of trade guilds, the quest for economic success at the expense
of justice for the poor. But if the command is to ‘come
out of Babylon’ (18:4) then an alternative is required
– a new embodiment of the very city that was destroyed
by Babylon! The two cities are set in deliberate contrast
by John: the chaste bride and the harlot; the water of life
and the wine that gets the nations drunk; blood and slaughter;
life and healing. The people of God are to leave one city
and enter another.
2 – The Fall
of Babylon
The fall of Babylon recounted in chapter
18 is not a direct prediction of the fall of Rome several
centuries later. (Nor is it in the first instance, a prophecy
about the fall of New York’s Trade Towers, even if many
of the parallels are striking!) It is rather a reminder that
this city does not wield ultimate power, nor does its empire
last forever.
So be it Lord; your throne shall never
Like earth’s proud empires pass away;
But stand and rule and grow forever
Till all thy creatures own thy sway.
(John Ellerton, 1826-93)
God’s will can be done on earth as
it is in heaven, because when the New Jerusalem comes to earth,
it displaces the presence of Babylon, its corruption, its
power and its glory.
3 – New Jerusalem:
a place, a people, a presence
a. Place
In the first instance, the New Jerusalem
is not the old Jerusalem revived – but it is the Holy
City that the old Jerusalem was intended to be. By the time
of John’s writing, the old Jerusalem lay in ruins –
and there is not a hint of it being rebuilt anywhere in the
New Testament.
Babylon and Babel are the same place. In
Babel, humanity clubs together to build a tower that reaches
into heaven, resulting in divine intervention, the scattering
of peoples and the division of languages. (Pentecost, the
coming of the Spirit and the gift of tongues are often regarded
as the reversal of this curse in Christ). But Babylon represents
humanity’s attempt to reach heaven, whereas the New
Jerusalem is God’s move to earth. The New Jerusalem
comes down from heaven.
The precious stones of which it is comprised
equate with list in Exodus 28, which describes the stones
in the High Priest’s breastplate. (Interestingly, all
of the stones listed in Revelation 21 are stones that in the
20th century were discovered to have a particular property.
Exposed to pure light, some precious stones simply turn dull,
whilst others reveal a whole spectrum of colour. Every stone
listed here falls into the latter category!)
b. People
Whereas Babylon was a city that suppressed
the people of its empire, the New Jerusalem is a place that
attracts peoples from across the whole world. This links with
the basic question of the whole of the New Testament: How
can God keep his promise to Abraham – that is, the promise
of Genesis 15, that the descendants of Abraham will outnumber
the grains of sand and the stars in the sky? It is not only
faithful Christians who enter the new city, but all the nations
of the earth are invited – the nations and kings (21:24-6)
as well as the Christian martyrs (22:14). The universal attraction
of Abraham’s offspring is thus fulfilled – although
repentance remains a necessary response to the glory of God.
c. Presence
In the New Jerusalem there is no temple.
There is no need for a meeting place of heaven and earth,
because the new Jerusalem as a whole fulfils that purpose.
No more symbolic presence of God, when all can see God face
to face (22:4). To see God’s face is the greatest human
longing, but the biblical tradition is that it is impossible
to see God’s face and survive! (See Exodus 33:20-3;
Judges 6:22-23). As Richard Bauckham wrote, “The face
expresses who a person is. To see God’s face will be
to know who God is in his personal being. This will be the
heart of humanity’s eternal joy in their eternal worship
of God.” (The Theology of the Book of Revelation, p142)
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