The Best Is Yet To Come 6
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And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Tabernacle is skene.
Dwell is skenosei—lit., “will tabernacle.”
In the wilderness the Tabernacle was always to be pitched in the center of the camp of Israel.
The Shekinah in the holy of holies of the Tabernacle was the symbol of God's presence in the midst of His people.
Now Christ is “the true tabernacle” (Heb. 8:2), or the “greater and more perfect tabernacle” (Heb. 9:11).
A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
He is Emmanuel, “God with us” (Matt. 1:23).
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
The picture that John sees here is the final completion of that redemption purchased by Christ at such awful cost.
The ultimate purpose of it all was that redeemed men might live forever in the presence of their Creator.
He is “the God of all comfort” (II Cor. 1:3).
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
So here it is said:
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Every tear, for there are many tears, and many causes for them. Death no longer, no more dying beds, funerals, or graves. Sorrow ceases. Mourning is at an end: and crying shall be hushed and pain unfelt (Isa 25:7-8;
And he will destroy in this mountain
The face of the covering cast over all people,
And the vail that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death in victory;
And the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces;
And the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth:
For the Lord hath spoken it.
It has often been pointed out that many things which have their beginning in the first three chapters of Genesis have their ending in the last two chapters of Revelation.
A very profitable exercise is to make a list of all things which are to be no more, and then see how many of these are found in Genesis 1—3.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
The declaration came from the One who sat upon the throne: Behold, I make all things new (5).
“The Speaker is now, probably for the first time in the Book, God Himself.”
He had already said through Isaiah: “Behold, I will do a new thing” (Isa. 43:19).
Behold, I will do a new thing;
Now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?
I will even make a way in the wilderness,
And rivers in the desert.
But that applied only to the nation, this to the whole universe.
John is commanded to write: for these words are true and faithful.
And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
This is repeated in 22:6. It is almost like the “Verily, verily” of John's Gospel.
(1). All is to be made new;
(2). All is faithful and true; and
(3). All is accomplished which had been foretold and decreed. John sees first the New Earth, then the Holy City; then he hears of the blessings for the inhabitants of the city; and finally, the causes which shall have contributed to the exclusion of those who have no part in it.
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
It is done (6) is literally, “They have come to pass.”
The same expression occurs in 16:17, but there the verb is singular, “It has come to pass.” Apparently here the subject is the “all things” made new. In both cases the emphasis is on fulfilled prophecy.
The Alpha and Omega is repeated from 1:8 (see comments there).
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
The meaning of this is spelled out as: the beginning and the end (telos, goal).
God is the Originator and Goal of all life.
Paul expressed the same idea in Rom. 11:36—“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things.”
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
The "fearful" are those who
Through fear, renounce a religious or political belief or principle.: (the law provides for the cowardly, such as those in Gideon's army, Judges 7:3).
Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
The "unbelieving" are like those:
Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
The "abominable" are like those in:
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:
(For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
And "murderers" and "
Whoremongers those:
Whoremongers. Greek: pornois fornicators
sorcerers those:
Persons who by use of drugs, enchanted potions, charms, and enchantments seek to produce supernatural effects in the lives of others.
New Jerusalem
And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 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 in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.