John's descriptions of his visions are powerful reminders of the world's hatred of Jesus Christ, inspired by Satan. We have also seen how God will provide potent reminders of His sovereignty, as He did to Pharaoh in Egypt, even though people ignore His message and refuse to repent (Revelation 9:20; 16:9).
These verses correct many myths and illusions about what happens after death. They also encourage the church that has suffered much to know that God will pursue justice for His people as well as honour for His own Name. As we have found previously in Revelation, the souls of God's people are safe with Him after their death (Revelation 7:9-17).
John's style of writing noticeably relaxes as he moves from the plagues and battles and judgements, to the Lord's unopposed sovereign reign. These last two chapters of Revelation are full of joy as he sees God's people enraptured by the glory of God. After the previous prediction of so much suffering for the world and the church in earlier chapters, everything John sees and hears about believers living with their Lord excites and encourages him. Hebrew 12:22-24 is a prelude to this vision: "But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
The loud voice from the throne-room of God declares the 'new order of things'. The tragic consequences of sin have left many stains on the world and all people, but the ultimate sequel to sin is death, which is our last enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26). It is, humanly speaking, irreversible and painfully separating. It destroys what God has made and leaves everybody feeling impoverished and guilty.
In this passage, the Lord Jesus Himself is speaking. Most of the announcements in Revelation are from divinely authorised angels or an unnamed voice from God's throne, but here Jesus speaks directly to John, as He did at the beginning of the book (Revelation 1:17-18).
Judgement and salvation are like the two sides of a coin. The same God who gives salvation to those who trust in Jesus, is also the God who judges the wicked. The angel in these verses had previously poured out plagues onto a rebellious and unrepentant world (Revelation 16:1-21) and announced the punishment of the blasphemous world super-power (Revelation 17:1-5).
The vision which John experienced took him, and generations of believers including ourselves, on a tour of the future. Revelation is a pictorial description of what will happen. The reality will be far more intense and rich, but we can only appreciate something new by reference to what we already know. Thus, the imagery projects what has already been experienced, either through previous Bible accounts of the Exodus, the prophecies in Daniel and from the Lord Jesus; or from observed life events.
Measuring, in the Bible, is an activity which declared ownership. When the Lord commanded a census to be taken, it was done on behalf of the Lord who was Sovereign over Israel. But when David counted the number of his fighting men for the sake of his own pride, the Lord was angry and David's conscience was stricken (2 Samuel 24:1, 10). The people did not belong to David but to the Lord.
We are used to thinking that light only comes from the sun or moon, fire or a light bulb, LEDs, phosphorescent sea creatures, glow worms or a lightning bolt. But where did all that energy come from? Genesis 1:3-4 says that God is the source of light. That was before He created the sun and moon (Genesis 1:14-19).
In Old Testament times, the gates of Jerusalem were closed at night to prevent a surprise night-time attack (Nehemiah 7:3), and at any time during the day when the city was threatened. The gates were also locked and barred on the Sabbath, preventing trading on God's holy day (Nehemiah 13:19). But the New Jerusalem will be different.
