The Gems of the City (Part 1)

Revelation 21:18-21

Recap:

· Angel that accompanies John was tasked to measure the city. The size of the city is 1500 miles, we are unsure if this refers to a side or the total measurement.

· Regardless of the viewpoint, the city is massive, reaching higher than any structure we have built, wider than any city in existence, and more elegant than the premier destinations of today.

· The city has a unique design that some theorize as the shape of a cube, and others suggest that it takes on a more mountain-like shape as referenced in scripture.

· We also learned that the wall is quite small compare to the vast size of the city.

· Now John gives us some perspective of what the city looks like in the next few verses.

Verse 18

· As John begins to look at the city, he is struck by the beauty of it. For it is built with an untypical building material.

· First, John’s attention is focused on the wall, as if he is walking into the city, he sees the wall that we were first made aware of in the city’s descent.

· John going to it, sees that this wall is not made of common rocks, bricks, and mortar, instead he sees that this wall is made of jasper.

· As we noted earlier regarding the jasper stone. This is a stone that has a varied color. In fact we have seen in earlier examples that the jasper stone can range in color from red which is the common color, all the way to blues, green, yellow, and purple.

· The stone is noted for having swirl and spotted patterns.

· So, this is the stone that is used for the wall. Why does God choose this particular stone?

· Well, remember what we suggested that the wall represents? First, it represents God protecting his people. Secondly, we suggested that the wall could also be an illustration of the work of the church.

· I say that because, as we see in latter verses, the wall sits on 12 foundations, and those foundations are representative of the apostles.

· The apostles responsibility was laying the foundation for the church. Today, we build the church on what those original 12 apostles did.

· Now God chose to use a jasper stone for the wall, and if I am correct in my theory, I believe that he used this stone to reflect the varied people that helped in the building of the church.

· God uses white people, but he also uses black people, God uses those of Asian ethnicity and he also used those of Hispanic ethnicity. Just like the children’s hymn that we learned Red, Yellow, Black and White, we are precious in his sight.

· God then may use the jasper stone, to reflect you and I, and so many others that helped build the church.

· Friend, don’t ever think that you are not precious to God, he values you more than he does anything else. And you are as a precious jewel to him. One of a kind.

· Now John moves closer to the city, he begins to look at the inner structure.

· Remember, the wall is its own structure, and then there is a inner structure. And so when John begins to see this part of the city, he gives us another detail about this marvelous place.

· He states that the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

· When it comes to gold, we grade it by karats. For example, here are some different karats and how much gold makes up that karat:

o 8k (the lowest karat) is 33.3% gold

o 10k (common in jewelry) is 41.7% gold

o 14k (also used in jewelry) is 58.3% gold

o 18k is 75% gold

o 24k is 99.9% gold

· Now what we see with the gold we have here now, none of it is 100% gold. All of it is mixed with some other kind of metal.

· In addition to this, there are varied colors of gold. The most common colors we find today is yellow gold and white gold. These colors are made up of the other metals that are mixed with the gold to give it that particular color.

· This gold that we find here is 100% pure gold. It has no other metal mixed with it. And because it has no metal mixed with it, there is no color to it. In fact, John states that the gold is clear unto glass.

· Now a clear metal seems impossible, but what does the scripture teach us about the impossible?

· Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing shall be impossible”

· Just because we cannot achieve a pure gold, doesn’t mean that God can’t.

· So, this gold that John sees here, is clear, light is able to radiate through it. It has the texture of gold as we know it, it has the strength and value of gold as we know it, but it will be clear, and that is something we have never seen.

Verse 19

· Now John is drawing near to the city, he sees some wonderful things about this place, but as he comes closer he is able to take note of the foundations of this city.

· He states that foundation of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.

· Now we must remember, that the 12 foundations are representative of the apostles. And with these foundations, God has decorated them with precious stones. Each foundation represented by a different stone.

o The names of the Apostles

§ Peter originally called Simon

§ Andrew

§ James

§ John

§ Phillip

§ Bartholomew

§ Thomas

§ Matthew

§ James the son of Alpheus

§ Thaddeus, also known as Labaeus

§ Simon the Canaanite also known as Zelotes

§ The Traitor, Judas Iscariot replaced by the 11 with Mattias, or possibly Paul???

· Now the foundation pertains to these 12 men, but we do not know which stone represents who.

· The scripture gives the names of the 12 in 3 different passages and they are all in different orders. So, we cannot assume the order of the stones either.

· Now there are some sources (though how reliable they are is unsure) that give their take on which stone is attributed to a disciple.

· The first foundation stone was jasper. Now, I will say, this stone is likely to be the stone associated with Peter.

· Remember the jasper stone is earthen color stone. It has a lot of variety about it. It being the first, makes me think of Peter.

· Now we must say, we do not know if these stones are layered or pillar style foundation.

· Many examples can be found that the foundation is layered.

· With that being said, this stone could be the bottom stone. And the words of Christ would become even more real.

· Matthew 16:18 “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

· The next stone in the foundation is the sapphire.

· Now before we go into great detail in each stone, lets understand that we cannot be sure that these stones are exactly like we understand them in our modern society.

· Listen to this given by the Temple Institute of Jerusalem.

o The Temple Institute, located in Jerusalem, states that the 12 stones are not necessarily the 12 stones we know today by those same names. “This is because the original Hebrew names of these stones as they appear here in the Bible are extremely obscure,” the institute notes. “They are not commonly used, and no description of the stones appears anywhere in the scripture (Old Testament) themselves.” They added that there are as many as 30 opinions about the final identifications of the specific gemstones and their colors on this ancient vestment.

· So, again we cannot be dogmatic on the stones themselves here. As the stone may reference something else.

· For the sake of the study though, we will look at these stones in the way that we understand them today.

· So, the second stone is a sapphire. Now this is generally a blue gemstone, but like so many others, it can come in a variety of colors as well, except red.

· An interesting fact that they are second only to diamonds in durability and there is also a variety of sapphires that will appear to be different colors depending on the light.

· Stone that some associate with Andrew.

· The next stone we find is the chalcedony. Like others, it can come in an array of colors. However it most commonly associated with an opaque blue.

· This stone is associated with nurturing and promoting goodwill between people,

· This stone is associated with James the son of Zebedee

· The fourth stone is an emerald.

· This stone is one that is green in appearance. The value of the emerald is judged in the shade of the stone. Dark greens are considered to be lower quality.

· Esmeralda is a name that we give girls, and it is the Latin word for green gem. It is a stone that is associated with knowing the future.

· This stone has been associated with John. Hence the book of Revelation.

And that is where we are going to stop our study for tonight. We will continue to look at the stones as we return next week.