Глава XXI

The vision of the new heaven and new earth as the blessed communion of God with people (1-4) righteous, not sinners (5-8); John's contemplation of the new holy city of Jerusalem (9–10), description of its gates, walls and streets (11–21); the living conditions of the saved peoples in it (22–27). Rev.21:1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. Rev.21:2. And I, John, saw the holy city Jerusalem, new, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. John does not describe from the positive side either the new heaven or the new earth: all this description is replaced by only one word “new”. The future heaven and earth must be the opposite of the former, lost ones. “How the very change of the universe will take place, this must be removed from the objects of our curiosity,” says St. Gregory of Nyssa. “In a world fire,” writes the blessed one. Augustine, those properties of the corruptible elements that corresponded to our corruptible bodies will be completely destroyed by fire, and the world, having been renewed for the better, will receive complete adaptation to people who have been renewed for the better in the flesh” 95. Strengthening the expression about the change in the old world, John adds that the sea no longer exists. The old sea will not exist, for there will be no need for it, but whether there will be a new sea and what kind, the Apocalypse is completely silent about this. John contemplates the new city, holy Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from God, as a special deliberate creation of Divine grace for renewed humanity, as a place of communication with God. Rev.21:3. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them; they will be His people, and God Himself with them will be their God. A voice emanating from the Divine throne, from one of the creatures surrounding the throne, calls the city the tabernacle of God, which is an indication of the closest communication between God and people, in which both God and people live, as it were, in the same place with an inseparable unity of interests. Then complete bliss will come, when there will be no reason for tears and grief, for in the new life there will be no sin at all. Rev.21:4. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death; There will be no more crying, no crying, no pain, for the former things have passed away. Rev.21:5. And He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. And he says to me: write; for these words are true and true. The truth about the creation of everything new is so important that John is commanded to write it down for the comfort of all suffering humanity on earth. Rev.21:6. And he said to me: it is done! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; To the thirsty I will give freely from the fountain of living water. The word accomplished means that everything happened as it pleased the Lord God, Who is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (Rev. 1:8), the source and goal of all life. At the same time, the new humanity is promised the full opportunity to satisfy spiritual thirst, the desire for the fullness of being in unity with God (“the source of living water”). And this will be the grace of God (“gift”), the gift of His Divine love. Rev.21:7. He who overcomes will inherit everything, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. Rev.21:8. But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and fornicators and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars will have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death. Having spoken as a consolation to the righteous, the Lord threatens sinners with the terrible torment of fiery Gehenna, and the enumeration of sins for which the wicked are deprived of bliss goes from the more general to the specific. The fate of all sinners is the second death, that is, final condemnation after the final judgment to eternal torment. John is completely silent about the place of torment of sinners and the nature of the fire of their eternal torment: one must be content with what is revealed. Rev.21:9. And one of the seven angels came to me, who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, and said to me: Go, I will show you a wife, the bride of the Lamb. Rev.21:10. And he carried me away in spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, which came down from heaven from God. Rev.21:11. He has the glory of God. It shone like a most precious stone, like a crystalline jasper stone. Rev.21:12. It has a large and high wall, has twelve gates and twelve Angels on them; On the gate are written the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: Rev.21:13. from the east there are three gates, from the north there are three gates, from the south there are three gates, and from the west there are three gates. Rev.21:14. The wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. Rev.21:15. He who spoke to me had a golden reed to measure the city and its gates and its walls. Rev.21:16. The city is located in a quadrangle, and its length is the same as its latitude. And he measured the city with a reed for twelve thousand furlongs; its length and breadth and height are equal. Rev.21:17. And he measured the wall thereof to be one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, which is the measure of an angel. Rev.21:18. Its wall was built of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like pure glass. Rev.21:19. The foundations of the city wall are decorated with all kinds of precious stones; the first base is jasper, the second is sapphire, the third is chalcedon, the fourth is emerald, Rev.21:20. fifth sardonyx, sixth carnelian, seventh chrysolite, eighth virill, ninth topaz, tenth chrysoprase, eleventh hyacinth, twelfth amethyst. Rev.21:21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: each gate was made of one pearl. The city street is pure gold, like transparent glass. Rev.21:22. But I did not see a church in it, for the Lord God Almighty is its church, and the Lamb. Rev.21:23. And the city has no need of either the sun or the moon to illuminate it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The use of the double names “wives” and “bride”, apparently incompatible, indicates the nature of the highest spirituality of the union that will unite the Lord God and the glorified blessed society of saints. - The remark of v. 10 that the ascension took place in the spirit makes it clear that no change has taken place in the external position of the seer. Although he was promised to show the bride, Jerusalem is shown for no reason to another, namely because he lives in this city bride: one can and should judge its inhabitants by the city. The very first feature of the city is the glory of God, a special, self-luminous light for it. This is the Lord God Himself. The city is depicted as completely well-appointed: with high walls and numerous gates, instead of ordinary defenders, the names of the 12 tribes are the names of the tribes of the spiritual Israel, formed from all nations; apostles of Jesus Christ, if their preaching served as the basis for the perfection of spiritual Israel. For greater clarity and evidence of the vastness of the new Jerusalem, the viewer reports the space it occupies in thousands of stages. The measuring instrument is the cane that the Angel who spoke to John had in his hand. The shape of the city - a quadrangular square - is an indication of perfection, stability and constancy. By the vastness of the city we must judge the number of its inhabitants, and by the proportionality of its structure - the correctness, tranquility and orderliness of their life. From the measurement of the city from the 18th century. John moves on to the material from which the city was built and to a depiction of its extraordinary splendor. Since the new Jerusalem will truly be a new place of the real presence of God, there will be no need for a special church for it. The glorified righteous will be in such close communion and unity with God that they can be said to always abide in God and the Lamb, Jesus Christ. It will not be the created light that will shine for Jerusalem, but the light of Divine glory - God Himself, Who is the Light and the Giver of light. Rev.21:24. The saved nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honor into it. Rev.21:25. Its gates will not be locked during the day; and there will be no night there. Rev.21:26. And they will bring into it the glory and honor of the nations. After a detailed description of the city, Apocalypse glances at its inhabitants, who will be the saved nations. These are all the glorified ones of the future blessed kingdom, made up of believers from the entire universe, but without losing their distinctive national characteristics. Each person, entering the city, entering into communication with the Lord and the famous righteous, will at the same time renounce everything that previously constituted the subject of his glory and pride. Rev.21:27. And nothing unclean will enter into it, and no one devoted to abomination and lies, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. All those devoted to lies and abomination will not enter the city, although its gates are constantly open, for they cannot enter, for they are not on the new earth, they are in their place, where their stay is eternal and permanent. You might be interested in: