SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
11/2/2015 10:01 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 The Exterior Design
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Revelation 21:12-21a
Message of the
verses: “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. 19 The foundation stones of the
city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation
stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth,
emerald; 20 the fifth, sardonyx; the
sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz;
the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. 21 And the
twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl.”
The First thing I want to say is that these are the most
verses we have looked at, at one time in our study of Revelation as far as I
can remember. Next I want to quote from
my Spiritual Diary of 11-29-05 which covers verses 15-21 “I must say that I
needed some help with these verses today so I went to one of my study Bibles to
get it. I choose the “Life Application
Study Bible” and there were a couple of good notes that I found. The first one was on verses 15-17 and I will
use part of it to help explain these verses.
“The city’s measurements are symbolic of a place that will hold all
God’s people. These measurements are all
multiples of 12, the number for God’s people:
There were 12 tribes in Israel, and 12 apostles who started the
church. The walls are 144 (12x12) cubits
(200 feet) thick; There are 12 layers in the walls, and 12 gates in the city;
and the height, length, and breadth are all the same, 12,00 stadia (1400 miles). The New Jerusalem is a perfect cube, the same
shape as the Most Holy Place in the Temple (1 Kings 6:20). These measurements illustrate that this new
home will be perfect for us.”
“Note on verses 21:18-21:
“The picture of walls made of jewels reveals that the new Jerusalem will
be a place of purity and durability—it will last forever.”
Now we will try and pick up where we left of yesterday as
we were about to look at the one who had a measuring rod. Remember when we were looking at chapter
eleven and verse one we saw the temple area was measured at that time too. Ezekiel 40:3 and following also shows the
Millennial Temple being measured. John
MacArthur writes “The significance of all three measurements is that they mark
out what belongs to God.”
As we look at the measurements of the angel we see that
the New Jerusalem is not only a square, but a cube, a cube of some 1500
miles. Some translations say 1400
miles. John MacArthur again quotes Dr.
Henry Morris who points out: “Such an
interpretation is quite forced, however, the language of the passage begin much
more naturally understood to mean a cube, with the length and breadth and
height all the same…
“The pyramidal shape…(whether as in Egypt, Mexico, or the
stepped-towers of practically all ancient nations), seems always to have been
associated with paganism, with the pyramid’s apex being dedicated t the worship
of the sun, or of the host of heaven.
The first such structure was the Tower of Babel, and the Bible always
later condemns worship carried in high places (Leviticus 26:30) whether these
were simply natural high hills or artificially constructed hills in the form of
a pyramid or ziggurat.
“The cube…was the shape specified by God for the holy
place…in Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 6:20), where God was to ‘dwell’ between the
cherubim. Both the language and the
symbology thus favor the cubical, rather than the pyramidal, shape.”
Dr. Morris also points out that a cube-shaped city is
well suited for the existence of glorified beings.
“It should also be remembered that the new bodies of the
resurrected saints will be like those of angels, no longer limited by
gravitational or electromagnetic forces as at present. Thus it will be as easy for the inhabitants
to travel vertically as horizontally, in the new Jerusalem. Consequently, the ‘streets’ of the city
(verse 21) may well include vertical passageways as well as horizontal avenues,
and the ‘blocks’ could be real cubical blocks, instead of square areas between
streets as in a present-day earthly city.”
MacArthur adds “Based on certain assumptions about the
design of the city and the number of the redeemed who will live in it, Morris
calculates that each person’s ‘cube’ would be approximately seventy-five- acres
on each side (The Revelation Record,
451). Where that city to be superimposed
on the present-day Untied States, it would extend from Canada to the Gulf of
Mexico, and from Colorado to the Atlantic Ocean (The Revelation Record, 450).
Obviously, God will design the new Jerusalem with plenty of room for all
the redeemed (cf. John 14:2-3).”
It looks like we will have to finish up this section in
our next Spiritual Diary.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I suppose that we
do not get all the information on the details of the New Jerusalem and if we
did perhaps people would want to get there so fast that they would not
accomplish what it is that the Lord has for them to do. From what I have been learning about where I
will spend eternity I am excited, but also am trying to patiently wait and
complete the task that God has for me to complete.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to guide me into doing the
things that He has had planned for me to do since before the foundations of the
earth were laid.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Nebuchadnezzar” (Dan. 3:25).
Today’s Bible
question: “After speaking to the
Ethiopian eunuch where was Philip Found?”
Answer in our next SD.
11/2/2015 10:42 AM
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