THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH
By Gilbert Beebe
From Signs of the Times - Dec. 1, 1855.
"And I saw a new
heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride for her husband." Revelation 21: 1- 2
We are aware that there
is a difference of opinion among even our most enlightened brethren in regard
to the application of this, as well as many other portions of the book of
Revelation, particularly in regard to the period to which these portions refer.
Some have understood this passage to refer to the gospel state of the church in
the primitive age; others have thought it applicable to a state of primitive
purity to which the church shall be restored before the dissolution of the
world, while others again have regarded the language as descriptive of the
final triumphant state of the church, after the resurrection of the dead. But
while these differences have been held and expressed without giving the least
offense, or disturbing the fellowship of brethren, all experimental christians
have agreed in applying this Scripture to the church of the living God; and in
understanding the striking and beautiful imagery as expressive and illustrative
of the distinguishing doctrine of the gospel.
Without any design to
controvert the view of any brother, we will simply present such views,
imperfect though they may be, as the subject suggests to our mind, and leave
our readers to examine and receive or reject them, as their judgment may
dictate. To us, the new heaven and the new earth which John saw,
is the same which he also calls the holy city, the New Jerusalem, and both
figures mean the church of Christ under the gospel dispensation. This church
has existed in such form and manner as to answer the description in the text
and its connection, from the time of her organization on the day of Pentecost,
to the present time, and will so continue until the end of time; but her
peculiar beauty is not always apparent. Since her gospel organization, she has,
to all human appearance, seemed to wax and wane like the moon. Sometimes she
has been involved in clouds and thick darkness, and sometimes she has looked
forth as the morning-shining in the heavenly radiance of the Son of
righteousness. Sometimes driven into the wilderness, and anon, she is seen
standing on a sea of glass, or appearing before the throne of God and the Lamb,
and sounding her loud Alleluiahs to the Lord. John seems to have had a view of
her, in his visions, in every variety of attitude and circumstance which she
had then, or ever should present. As the new heaven and the new earth, and as
the holy city, the New Jerusalem, her gospel comeliness, as the perfection of
beauty, in distinction from the old receding heaven and earth and sea, of the
legal dispensation, appears. The same figurative idea is also presented by the
old and new Jerusalems. As the old Jerusalem, according to Paul's allegory, was
in connection of Hagar, or Mount Sinai in Arabia, signifying her identity with
the old covenant, and her bondage with her children. (Gal. iv. 25.) The new
Jerusalem is free, and the mother of us all, who, as Isaac was, are the
children of promise; so the old heavens and earth which had passed away, must,
if we are correct in understanding their figurative import as being the same,
refer to the abolition of the ceremonial covenant, and the new heaven and earth,
must refer to the new covenant and its dispensation.
Israel, under the legal
covenant, embraced or embodied those elements which were destined to melt with
fervent heat, when the old heavens should be rolled together as a scroll, and
as a vesture be laid aside. As an old heaven, that order of things had its
elements, as the sun, or inspired revelation; its moon, or the embodied types,
which borrowed light from the sun, and reflected it upon the people of God
under that dispensation, and its stars, the prophets of the Lord; but all these
were shadows of good things to come, the substance or body of which is Christ.
The glory of the new
heaven is beautifully set forth in the sublime language of the inspired
psalmist, Psalm xix. 1-6, "The heavens declare the glory of God: and the
firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto
night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is
not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the
end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the Son; which is as a
bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a
race. His going forth is from the ends of the heaven, and his circuit unto the
end of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof." Philosophers,
astronomers and wise men of the earth, have ever found much to admire in the
contemplation of the natural heavens, where worlds of living light and beauty
proclaim to all the families of the earth, the surpassing workmanship of God.
But how much more sublime and elevated must be the contemplation of the new
heaven and new earth, when the mind, illuminated by divine revelation, is
permitted to "mount up and view the glories of the eternal skies."
The church of God, under this figure, presents her sun, her moon, her stars,
and all in perfect harmony pour forth their floods of living light in honor of
him who has garnished the heavens, and marshaled all the heavenly hosts. In the
new heaven which John saw, and which all enlightened christians may see, our
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Sun of righteousness with healing in his wings,
comes out of his chamber, as a bridegroom. Riding upon the heavens in the help
of his people, and in his excellency on the sky. Like a strong man, and as the
man whom God has made strong for himself, the man Christ Jesus, rejoiceth to
run his race. One and identical with the Father in absolute Deity and eternal
Godhead, yet filling, as Mediator, the place of Days-man, "who can lay his
hand on both," he is worshiped and adored by all the angels and spirits of
the just, before the throne of heaven. He bows his heavens and comes down to
find and fill that tabernacle which he has set in the new heaven for the Sun.
His brightness, says the prophet Habakkuk, was like the light, he had horns
coming out of his hand, and there was the hiding of his power. He is the
brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person. As the
natural sun rises in the east, and pours his radiance unto the extreme west, so
the Sun of righteousness is from everlasting to everlasting. His going forth is
from the end of heaven, even from everlasting, and his circuit is unto the ends
of it. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, the
Almighty. How gloomy would be the natural heavens without the natural sun; but
how much more gloomy would be the spiritual heaven without Christ. He is the
fountain and source of all spiritual light. He is the light of the world; for
there is no spiritual light in the world but what is in him. He shines in our
hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. He has
bespangled the new heavens with stars, which he holds in his right hand; but
all their brilliancy is by the light reflected from him through them. He has
given gifts for the edification of the body, the church, and these he has
marshalled in their appropriate orbits, and they cannot, nor do they desire to
turn either to the right hand or to the left. The apostles had their spheres
appointed, and so with all the gifts of prophets, evangelists, pastors and
teachers, for he holds them in his right hand; nor will he allow the voluntary
associations of men, or mission boards, or ecclesiastical dignitaries to pluck
them from his hand. His clouds of witnesses are in the new heavens, charged
with the thunder of his word, and the lightning of his truth. "Ask ye of
the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright
clouds."-Zech. x. 1. Through his bright clouds his doctrine shall drop as
the rain, and his speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the
tender herb, and as showers upon the grass. (Deut. xxxii. 2.) In the clouds of
this new heaven he makes the rainbow of the covenant appear. John saw a rainbow
encircling the throne on which the Prince of glory presides. (Rev. iv. 3; x.
1.)
Time and space and
ability fail in our attempt to describe the superior glory of the new heaven
and the new earth. All the elements of the holy Jerusalem are new; nothing of
the old remains, they are like a vesture laid aside, and their elements are
melted with fervent heat. Behold, says Christ, I make all things new. Paul was
caught up to the third heaven, and saw what he was unable to describe of the
new heaven, and it is not surprising that our limited powers should utterly
fail to express things which are so indescribably glorious.
John says, "And I
John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of
heaven." It is impossible for the wisdom of this world to comprehend the
origin of the church of God. Many imagine that it is composed of flesh and
blood; that it comes by observation; that men are employed, and money invested,
for the purpose of procuring from the earth a kingdom for our Lord; that men are
to win a bride for the lamb. But they do not know that his bride is already
betrothed, and already prepared as a bride for her husband. They do not know
that this kingdom was with God, as a prepared kingdom from the foundation of
the world. (Matt. xxv. 34.) The holy city was not seen coming up, but coming
down from God; her origin is above, her life is hid with Christ in God. Nor
does she descend to earth to procure a bridal dress, or to make preparation for
the consummation of the marriage; for, like everything that comes from God, she
comes already prepared. A boundless theme for contemplation is presented in the
ancient preparation of the bride for her husband. As set forth in the figure of
the first Adam, whose bride was provided in his original creation and
formation, so as far back into the ancients of eternity as we can trace the
goings forth of Christ in his Mediatorial capacity, we may contemplate the
church of God set up in him who was set up from everlasting, chosen in him,
blessed with all spiritual blessings in him, by which she is not only prepared,
but also adorned as a bride
for her husband. She is and was clothed with salvation before the world began;
for Paul says, "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling; not
according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." Clothed in his
salvation, and covered with his righteousness, and adorned with all the rich
gifts of the Spirit, shod with the preparation of the gospel, wearing the
helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, she is well described as the
perfection of beauty. Psalm 1.2.) And her language is, "I will greatly
rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath clothed me
with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of
righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride
adorneth herself with jewels. "-Isaiah lxi. 10. He whose works were all
finished from the foundation of the world, (Heb. iv. 3), hath thus clothed,
beautified and adorned her; and, thus prepared, she is made manifest by
revelation. So we see that this holy city, this New Jerusalem, is not only
adorned for her Husband; but she is adorned by her Husband. She has not clothed
herself with salvation, nor covered herself with righteousness. He hath done it
all, and in thus clothing and adorning her, he hath done it all in a manner
calculated to express the union and relationship of the Bridegroom and the
bride. He has clothed and covered her with salvation and righteousness, as a
bridegroom decketh himself, not as he decketh another; for she is recognized by
him as the bone of his bones, and the flesh of his flesh; and in adorning her
with ornaments, and decking her with jewels, it is all done by him as unto
himself, and not as for another. Thus the church, though viewed in any other
light than that of her relationship to Christ, is black as the tents of Kedar,
yet in the comeliness which Christ has put upon her, she is as white and spotless
as the curtains of Solomon. (Cant. i. 5.)
"And I heard a
great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with
men," &c. The great voice which John heard, is the voice of the
Bridegroom, and the voice of the bride; or in other words, the voice of Christ,
by his Spirit through the gifts which he has bestowed upon his members; and
this is truly a great voice in many respects. It is great, as being his voice
by which the worlds were made, by which dead sinners are made alive in a spiritual
sense, and by which all that are in their graves shall be raised at the last
day. Great, as emanating from him who has all power in heaven and in earth.
Great, because of the importance of the proclamation uttered, and great as
being proclaimed in every nation, language and tongue, throughout the world,
through the gifts bestowed upon his church. The heaven from which John heard
this voice, is the new heaven of which he had a revelation as declared in this
text, and evidently means the church of the living God, which is the ground and
pillar of the truth. The gospel of the Son of God proclaims what John heard,
namely, "Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with
them," &c. The tabernacle which Moses made in the wilderness, according
to the pattern which the God of Israel showed him in the holy mount, was a type
or figure of the tabernacle intended in our text, and was to be set up in
manner and form precisely as it stood in the mount of God when Moses first saw
it, and to be made of the materials which God had before designated, and it was
to be consecrated to the purpose by him ordained, and to contain the ark of the
covenant, the mercy-seat, the cherubims of glory, and to be the place where the
God of heaven would meet his chosen tribes, in the person of their High Priest,
and commune with them from between the cherubims, and from over the mercy-seat.
The body in which Christ
appeared in his incarnation, may be viewed as a tabernacle of God, for God was
manifest in the flesh, and in that body all the church of the first-born was
represented. The fullness of the Godhead bodily and the church was and is
complete in him. But in the immediate sense of the text under consideration,
the mystical body, the church, is in our view, intended as the antitypical
tabernacle of God. The psalmist says of the church, "God is in the midst
of her."-Psalm xlvi. 5. And again, "For the Lord hath chosen Zion: he
hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever: here will I dwell;
for I have desired it. I Will abundantly
bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread."-Psalm cxxxii. 13-15. The application of
the figure of the tabernacle in the wilderness, as designed to prefigure the true
tabernacle into which Christ has, by his own blood, and through the eternal
Spirit, entered, is very clearly stated in Heb. viii. 2-5; ix 2-14. It is a
tabernacle made without hands. For God dwelleth in the church, as we have
proven, but we are told that God dwelleth not in tabernacles made with hands,
therefore the church is a building of God, a house or tabernacle not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Cor. v. 1.) A kingdom prepared for the saints
from the foundation of the world. (Matt. xxv. 34.) A stone cut out of the
mountain without hands. (Dan. ii. 45.) But in the revelation made to John,
Behold it is with men. This holy city, New Jerusalem comes down from God, out
of heaven, and is set up in gospel order, according to the pattern in the mount
of God, and God, in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, comes down to dwell in
it, because he has desired it, and he will dwell in this tabernacle forever.
The church is frequently spoken of as the temple as well as the tabernacle of
the Lord, which signifies his special dwelling-place. In the mystical body of
Christ what wonders are revealed. The eternal God and redeemed sinners meet
together there. The saints are redeemed unto God, and God is in Christ. Here
the fullness of eternal Godhead is embodied, and here the church is
complete; the fullness of him that filleth all in all. And he, the
eternal God, will dwell with them, (Eph. i. 23; Col. ii. 9, 10) with men
redeemed from the earth. What a wonderful household is this! God dwells with
his people: "And they shall be his people." "They shall be mine,
saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels."-Mal. iii.
17. And this is the special provision of the new covenant, I will be their God,
and they shall be my people. (Heb. viii. 10; Jer. xxxi. 33.) And God himself
shall be with them, and be their God. He will never leave nor forsake them; and
he will put his fear in their heart, that they shall not depart from him, and
he will not turn away from them to do them good. He will be their God, to
protect and defend them, to feed and comfort them, to wipe away all their
tears. He will be their God, as the object of their worship, their adoration
and praise; they shall trust alone
in him, and have no other God before him. They are safe while he condescends to
be with them as their God. The eternal God is their refuge, and underneath them
are his everlasting arms; their place of defense is the munition of rocks; God
is a wall of fire around about, and a glory in their midst. He is their Shepherd,
they shall not want. He leads them in green pastures by the living waters. And
"The Lamb, that is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall
lead them unto living fountains of water: and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes."Rev. vii. 17.
Please direct your comments to Mike Krall.