Shabbat Shalom. Let's us please turn to Revelation. We are in the twenty-first chapter, Revelation chapter twenty-one. I'm going to read Revelation twenty-one verse nine into Revelation twenty-two and verse five. And the theme of these verses is the eternal holy city, the New Jerusalem. Verse nine, 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 show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed 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 the 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.

And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the walls thereof. And the city lieth four square, and the length is as large as the breadth. And he measured the city with the reed twelve thousand furlongs. The length of the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, and hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man that is of an angel. And the building of the wall of it was as jasper, and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundation of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third calcedony, and the fourth emerald, and the fifth was sardonyx, the sixth savius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysophoros, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth an amethyst, and the twelve gates were twelve pearls, every several gate was one pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it, and the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it, and there shall in no wise enter it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Chapter 22 and verse 1, And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads, and there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light.

And they shall reign forever and ever. I'm going to stop right here. I can almost feel like I can continue to read the verses that I found here in the Revelation chapter 22 without to stop so we can conclude, if you will, the lessons that we learn here from Revelation chapter 21 and 22. Brothers and sisters, we are leading now towards the end of the book of the Revelation with the climax that we have in chapter 21 and 22, where we have the new truth, if you will, or new information that Old Testament Hebrew prophets did not have concerning the eternal order and the eternal city, the Holy Yerushalayim. And so in chapter 21 and 22, we have entered now into the eternal state, into the eternal order. Which we have looked at in the previous ministry meeting, the first eight verses of chapter 21, which dealt with the eternal state.

Things are completely new. The old things are passed away. God has created in Revelation 21 a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth was passed away, and there was no sea. In other words, everything that we have now in Revelation chapter 21 and 22 has to do with the eternal order. I want to emphasize one thing here before we're going to move on. There is a different, I believe, between the new heaven and the new earth found here in Revelation chapter 21 and verse 1, and the new heaven and new earth, which are found in Isaiah 65 and verse 17, where there the new heaven and the new earth has to do with the millennial age, the kingdom age, and here this new heaven and new earth has to do with totally the eternal order.

We know that in the Kingdom Age, sin will still occur, but in the eternal order, there will be no more sin at all. And therefore, there is a difference between the thousand years reign of the Messiah and the eternal order. There is a complete difference. In the Messianic Age, sin will still rise, and the Messiah will judge sin. In the eternal order, there will be no more sin, no more death. And that's the distinctiveness that we have to emphasize when we read Revelation 21 verse 1 and Isaiah 65 and verse 17. The Millennial Age and the eternal order. The Millennial Age will experience sin that the Messiah will have to judge, and the eternal order, there will be, as we read here, no more sin. No more death. It will be totally an eternal state. Nothing of the past will remain, that which have caused men to be separated from God. So now we are here in chapter 21, and after we talked about in our previous meeting together about the eternal state in verses 1 to 8, we are here from verse 9 of Revelation 21, all the way to Revelation chapter 22 and verse 5, we have a description of the New Yerushalayim, the new city of Yerushalayim, and we have details that are given to us that really touch our hearts.

You see, we look back at the old city of Yerushalayim, and we see what kind of a city is this. It was the city of God. It was the city where the Messiah had been there, he came to this world, he was rejected by the city of Yerushalayim, God set his name in this city, and he desired to have that city of Yerushalayim established one day, that which we call Zion in Hebrew, Zion, but now he gives us in Revelation chapter 21 and 22 a descriptiveness of the heavenly, holy city of Jerusalem. This city never needed to be created, it was the immediate presence of God, and in this city, the people of God are going to be there throughout eternity. And so we read, if you remember, that this holy city of Yerushalayim was descending out from God. Let me read with you for a moment verse 2 again of Revelation 21, And I, John, saw the holy city, New Yerushalayim, coming down from God, out of heaven, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband.

Now that heavenly Yerushalayim, heavenly Jerusalem, notice it doesn't say that it came down on this earth, but it came up from God, and in a sense, it's like that city hovered over the earth. Not necessarily on or upon the earth, but hovering over this earth in the eternal order. And that city came down from God, and it came out of heaven.

So what we learn from this in the eternal order, that there will be that intercommunication, if you will, between heaven and earth, between those that will live in that city of Yerushalayim and those that will dwell upon this new earth. There will be, if you will, intercommunication. There will be no limitation any longer. And the people of God will communicate with each other as the Lord Yeshua the Messiah going to be the central person of this eternal order. So look what we find out now in our chapter 21, verses 9, 10, and 11. We find out that this city is now being presented before John and presented before you and I, as John put it down with ink. You remember that city of Jerusalem is the city that the Bible call this city the free, the city of the free. In Galatians chapter 4.

This is the city that Abraham was looking forward for that city. It's called the city that he sought. He looked for a city that the maker of it is God and not man. This is in Hebrews chapter 11. And also it is called the heavenly Jerusalem in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 22 to verse 23. And now we have the presentation of this city. Look what John received from that angel. It says in verse 9, First of all, there came unto me one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials full of seven last plagues, and he talked with me, and he said to me, John, we don't read the name John here, but John, come hither, and I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

Now this angel that we read of him earlier in chapter seventeen, he was the one that earlier had the seven vials of the seven bowls of God's judgment upon this world. Now that one of those angels now come to John and he say, John come, I want to show you something. And what he was going to show him is very interesting, is the bride, the Lamb's wife. Now I like these expressions here because what we read here in this chapter, that the bride of the Messiah, this is the church, the heavenly company, is also called here the wife.

And it is interesting because we read of the bride, of the wife that made herself ready for the marriage, when she became that one time, like one day the bride at the ceremony itself. But she was the wife already because the Messiah purchased us with his own blood. When we accepted him as believers in the church age, we became the bride, the wife of the Lamb.

But the thought here is that, you know, afternoon, when the marriage ceremony is happening, the bride is being seen with all of her beauty and attractiveness. She made herself ready to get married with the bridegroom. And she looks so beautiful and attractive, and I've officiated enough marriages to look at the brides that are coming to meet the bridegroom, and how attractive they look. They dress so beautiful. They look this white dress, and they are walking down the aisle until they are approaching the time where they can see their future husband.

And here what this angel is really saying, John, I want you to come to see this bride who is also the Lamb's wife. In other words, there is a certain beauty in that bride, in the Lamb's wife. John, come and see. I want to show this to you, this wonderful, attractive bride who is also the Lamb's wife. Now the Lamb, as we know, is none else but Yeshua, our blessed Messiah, who became the Lamb of God, who took away the sin of this world. And so we see here that His work has never been set aside. They think that the Bible calls him again and again the Lamb, because it reminds us of the price that he paid when he died for us on the tree. Come, John, and I want to show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.

And so in verse 10, the bride is really none else but the one that is really interwoven with the city itself. It's not only a city by itself, but the city and the bride, the Lamb's wife, God's people, are really interwoven with the city itself, because when he carried me away in the spirit, verse 10, to a great and high mountain, And he showed me, notice, we don't read that the angel showed John the people of God in a sense of the bride and the land's wife, what does he see? He says, he took me away in the spirit into a great high mountain, and he showed me that great city, the Holy Yerushalayim, descending out of heaven from God. In other words, when John was going to come to see the bride, the land's wife, what does he see? He see the city of Yerushalayim.

What it tells us, that the city is the wife. And the wife is the city. There is an interwovenness between the people of God, the redeemed company, and the city that God have been dwelling, the city of Jerusalem. Now here it is done, brothers and sisters, in a very similar way of what we read in Revelation chapter 17. Here we see the true church, the true assembly, the true ekklesia, while in Revelation chapter 17 we saw the false church, the false assembly, the one that were really not called by God. You remember in Revelation chapter 17 when we look at Babylon, and that Babylon, when if you just go back for a moment to Revelation 17, you can see in verse 3.

Where it says, he carried me away, you notice that, in the spirit into the wilderness. Just the same like he carried John away here in chapter 21 and verse 9 and 10. Here in chapter 17, he also carried him away, but at this time it says here, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns, and the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of the abomination and filthiness of her fornication, and upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of Harlot, and abomination of the earth. You see the false Church was associated with a city that is called Babylon. But the true church, beloved brothers and sisters, is affiliated with the true heavenly city of Jerusalem. So John was taken and carried by this angel into a high mountain, and what does he see?

This attractive bride, the Lamb's wife, who is that great city, the Holy Jerusalem, interwoven, while that is a real place, it is a real city, but the people of God, the redeemed company, are affiliated and connected and interwoven with the city of God, the Holy Heavenly New City of Jerusalem. Notice it said that it had been descending out of heaven from God. In other words, now that city come down from heaven, like we have it already in verse 2 of chapter 21, descending, coming down from heaven, coming down from God, and in a sense you can see that there will be a relationship between heaven and earth in that eternal order, in the eternal age. And so we find out what this city Is enjoying them in verse eleven, it says the dead city, that bride, that lamb's wife, that holy city of Yerushalayim, have the glory of God, that word for glory is the kavod, the honor, the glory, the shekina, the shekina, the shekina glory of God, and her light.

Was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. That city is in the presence of God, is in this city, He will dwell in that city. It says that her light was like unto a stone most precious, and that stone is called jasper stone. And the jaspir in Hebrew, it is really that diamond, that clear, pure stone, glittering and shining, that is really representing the presence of God, who is going to be there in that city. Clear as crystal. Speaks of the purity of that city.

You know, all what is going on in this world that defile and hurts and sin and that which cause sadness and sorrow will not be at all in that city, and totally that which is pure and clear, that which is represent the presence of God, the light will be like unto a stone most precious. That's what John received now here from that angel who took him to see that wonderful city of Jerusalem.

Now, look at the next verses, verses 12, 13, and 14. We see that that new city of Yerushalayim will have an eternal protection, not only temporary. You know, everything here, when you build a city here today, and you put a wall around it, it's very temporary. Something happened and that the walls are falling down, the city are being taken over by its enemies, but here in the heavenly Jerusalem, the wall represent security and eternal security and safety and separation from everything that would ever have evil. Notice it says in those next verses, first of all we find out in verse twelve, and it had a wall great and high.

and twelve gates, and at the gates there will be twelve angels, and the names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, on the east side will be three gates, and on the north there will be 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. Now there are three things that we find out in these three verses. The first thing that we find out, there was a wall. Very interesting here, it mentioned twice in verse twelve, it had a wall great and high.

In verse 14, the wall of the city. So there was a wall. Now you might ask yourself, why does this heavenly New Jerusalem need a wall? Well, as I mentioned before, a wall in Scripture throughout the history of biblical history, it speaks of separation, a wall separate, and also a wall protect. It keeps the people of God in, it keep the enemies out. Now it is in the eternal order. Yes, there will be no more sin, and therefore, in a sense, you might say we don't need wall at all, but it represents, it's only representation of safety and protection and eternal security for the people of God. This is in the thought that we have here about that wall, but not only a wall. You might have a wall, but that wall had gates all around, and I think it's good for us to make a note of that, because in these verses also, verse 12, we see that that one big wall had twelve gates.

And it says here in verse 12, And at the gates were twelve angels. So one angel was at every gate, and then it says there are names written, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. This is also, brothers and sisters, an important point. You see, what we learn, that in all the history of our nation, Israel, God had a purpose in that, what He allow Israel to experience. But ultimately, God has a plan and a purpose for the people of Israel. We find out in Scripture about the people of Israel. Remember, at the end of Romans chapter 11, verse 26, it says, And all Israel shall be saved. This is Romans 11, verse 26.

We read in Scripture, in John 4, salvation is of the Jews. When we read about the Messiah who enter into this world, He took not upon Himself the nature of angels. This is Hebrews 2. But He took upon Himself Of the seed of Abraham. In other words, God is intending to inscribe the names of the twelve tribes of Israel throughout eternity. And their names are going to be there at every gate, as it's mentioned here in verse twelve. It says here again, and I'm going to mention it, and the names written there on upon each gate are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. If you read Ezekiel chapter forty eight, in the Millennium Kingdom, in the Millennium Temple, also the names of the twelve tribes of the people of Israel will also be mentioned there in Ezekiel chapter forty eight. But here it is the eternal order.

And even in the eternal order, Israel will have a distinctiveness in the eternal order. Now, some don't believe it, some believe that only the church will have a distinctiveness, but personally, I understand from the scripture that the church will have an eternal distinctiveness, but also Israel will have an eternal distinctiveness. We're going to see that as we move on. So we have the wall, we have the gates, but now notice the third point that he mentioned here in verse 13 and 14. He's mentioning now in verse 14 about the foundations of the wall.

And here now, we see the church. Look at this, in verse 14, the wall of the city had twelve foundations. And those first foundation, in them we have the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. But you remember in Ephesians, we read in Ephesians chapter two and verse twenty, that the church was built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Yeshua the Messiah being the chief cornerstone. And you can see that the heavenly company and the earthly company, we would call them Israel, earthly company, the church, a heavenly company, are associated with each other when we are being represented here by the wall and the gates and the foundation. The church and Israel have a link.

An eternal link, and the link is the person and the work of our blessed Lord Yeshua the Messiah. He have chosen the nation of Israel. He said, I have loved you with an everlasting love, Jeremiah 31 and verse 3. When he's come to the church, Ephesians chapter 5, for the Messiah loved the church and gave himself for it.

So God's love towards these two groups, if you will, is eternal. And therefore we find out here that also the twelve names of the twelve tribes of Israel are mentioned, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles. Those Hebrew apostles, that upon them the church was built, the apostles and the prophet Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, being the chief cornerstone.

So this is interesting here in that city of Jerusalem, that the name of the apostles are mentioned, and the name of the tribes of Israel are mentioned here, upon the gates and the foundation of that city. Now notice verse 15, 16, and 17, we get the size, the measurement of that city. It is incredible, because John received an information from this angel. Apparently this angel in verse 15, it says that he had a golden reed in his hand. It says, and he that talked with me, that's the angel, from verse 9, had a golden reed to measure the city and the gates thereof and the wall thereof. So he had this measuring stick.

And he was ready now to measure the size of the city. And we learn here from these next verses, sixteen and seventeen, the size of the city. Now again, the city of Yerushalayim, that city, the heavens are vast, you can't even imagine the size of heaven, there is no measurement. But that city, according to the Scripture, has a size. It's a cubicle, apparently, and it is a cubicle that is about one thousand five hundred miles long, one thousand five hundred miles wide, and one thousand five hundred miles high. Look at these verses, verse sixteen. And the city lieth four square, the length of it as large as the breadth, and he measured the city with a reed twelve thousand furlongs. The length, the breadth, and the height of it are equal.

And he measured the wall, the roof, and he gives us also a measurement of the wall. Just a point to mention here on this measurement, it's a cubicle. It is equal, the length, the width, the height are the same measurement. It's a cubicle. And twelve thousand furlongs, furlongs about six hundred feet, so it comes to about one thousand five hundred miles long. That's the length of it, the breadth of it, and also the height of it. Now we usually use about eight foot high ceiling. Now you can just visualize in your mind, I know it's very difficult to visualize, how can God situate all the heavenly company, the church, the saints that have been redeemed out of every people, tongues and nation, how can God fit them into this size of the city of Yerushalayim?

I don't know. I can only tell you, beloved brothers and sisters, that our blessed Lord, our blessed God is able to fit anything anywhere because He is the Creator God. He will place His people as He will, as He wishes, in the place that He has prepared for the people of God. But just the measurement, just to figure out, you can just imagine the size of this city. And if you have a problem with the height, you can always drop the height a little bit lower and you can sit the next There, and the next one, I'm just trying to visualize that when I was reading this, it is incredible. Also remember, brothers and sisters, that in the eternal order, we will no longer be in the same condition that we are today. We're going to have a body that is suitable for the presence of God. You remember when Yeshua appeared to His disciples in the upper room in Yerushalayim?

He came through the wall. He came through the door. He appears in the presence of the brethren in the city, and Thomas had to bow himself and confess, My Lord and my God. And you remember when Yeshua went to heaven from the city of Yerushalayim, from Mount Olive, He just was taken up to heaven. And we're going to be like him, we shall see him as he is, we're going to be suitable for the presence of God, and God will enable his people to dwell in this wonderful city that is called the city of Jerusalem, the size of it is humongous, it's about two million, two hundred and fifty thousand square miles.

Not to count the height of it, of one thousand five hundred miles high, that's the size of the city. And then it tells us also the fact that the size of the wall here in verse seventeen, the measure of the wall thereof was hundred and forty and four cubits. Hundred and forty-four cubits is about two hundred and sixteen feet high, and according to the measure of a man, that is of an angel. So as the angel was measuring, giving John this information, this is an amazing information about the city of Jerusalem. It was a city of four square. It was a square city, the same height, the same width, the same length.

You remember when Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem with the instruction that God had given to him, and in First Kings chapter six, the Holy of Holies was a square. It was twenty cubits square, the width, the length, the height was the same measurement. It's really representing to us the place where God is dwelling in the midst of His own people, and it is the city that is called the city of four square. The length, the breadth, and the height are the same measurement. Well, in the next verses, as he described to us the city, he tells us what this city is made of. In verses 18, 19, 20, and 21, first of all, you notice that in verse 18, we find out what the wall is made out of.

And the building of the wall of it was of jaspir, or jaspir, and the city was pure gold. Like unto a clear glass, you know, two things we want to mention here in this verse 18, the fact that it was Jasper speaks again, as we have read earlier, Jasper in verse 11 is a diamond that is pure and clear. What we learn there, that there is holiness and purity in that city. You know, the world today do not know what holiness is all about. We, ourselves, because of our sin nature, often don't realize how holy God is. We don't realize this. But he's not only holy, he's also righteous. And that's why it says that the city was of pure gold.

And you know, in the Bible, every time we read of pure gold, it speaks about the righteousness of God. When the tabernacle was built, the Ark of the Covenant, there was the pure gold overlaid within and without. It speaks of the righteousness of God, of the purity of God. And in this new city of Jerusalem, there will not be anything that is unrighteous. It was made, in a sense, there's a description here, it is made, it is existing upon the purity and the holiness of God and the righteousness of God.

Look at this secondly in verse 19 and 20, not only that a wall was made out of diamond, jasper, and out of gold, it's also the foundation itself is made out of precious stones. It says here, And I'm reading also verse 19 and 20, very difficult to read those names of the precious stones in the English language, it's much easier to read it in the Hebrew if I read the Hebrew text, but here the foundation of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. And then it tells you the first foundation was of jasper, and then, and sapphire, and so on, and if you read all these colors in verses 19 and 20, you will notice that the majority of the colors are green.

There are some red and purple, but the majority of it are green. And when you think of the green color, it speaks to us of life. We all love when the spring is coming, and the flowers are growing, and the grass is growing, and there's that greenish color that speaks to us of a new life, new beginning, a new start.

And what we see here, the verse nineteen and twenty, the foundation of this city are made out of precious stone. Mostly of them will be green, which will speak to us of life, that which is eternal life, eternity here, and beautiful colors that you have here mentioned in verses nineteen and twenty. Gives you the first and the second and the third, and it began, you notice, with the first one is the jasper. Again, we talk about the jasper already more than once. It's mentioned in verse eleven, the jasper. We talked about it a bit later, jasper, verse eighteen, and now again jasper. It's that diamond, that clear, pure diamond that is representing to us that purity and holiness of the God who had brought us into the city of Yerushalayim. And then in verse twenty-one, the gates and the street of it are made out of pearls. And of gold. Look at this, brothers and sisters, the twelve gates were twelve pearls, and every several gate was one pearl.

And the street, you notice there's one single street, we don't read the plural streets, but we have one single street, the street in the center of the city of Yerushalayim that was made out of pure gold. Now, I love the thought of a pearl. You know, you ladies would say, you know, you'd love to have pearls, you know, to wear, you know, perhaps on your rings or chain, necklace, and so on. But, you know, a pearl, in order to have a pearl made, there's a cost that's involved in order to have a pearl. It's very expensive. It's not a cheap stone. A pearl is very expensive. The Bible tells us in Matthew chapter 13, speaking to us about the Messiah Yeshua, it says in verse 45 of Matthew 13, 45 and 46, that the kingdom of heaven is like a merchantman seeking goodly pearls. And then it says, when he had found one pearl of a great price, he went and he sold all that he had, and he bought that one pearl.

It reminds us of what the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, have done for us. You know, you and I conceded before God as a precious pearl, where the Messiah was willing to sell everything that he had in order to purchase this one pearl for himself, the precious company of believers, redeemed saints. And the Lord described this to us so vividly, so beautifully in Matthew chapter 13, when he says, he's speaking about this merchant man who is going around to look for pearls, and when he found that one precious pearl of great price, he went and he sold everything that he had, and he bought it.

You see, there was a price that God had to pay in the person of the Son, as the man, Yeshua, the Messiah, died for us. In order to purchase us for himself, to bring us to be a company that belonged to him, not only for a time, but for eternity. And we are so precious to him. The redeemed company are so precious to him. And we see here, brothers and sisters, it's not coincidence that we have those twelve gates, and those twelve gates have those twelve pearls, and every several gate had one pearl upon it, and in a sense it represent how precious the city and the people that inhabit that city to God, like that precious pearl found, that the merchant found and sold all that he had in order to buy that pearl. Matthew 13. And also it tell us about the street.

You know, there's a song about the city with the golden street. It says here that there's one single street of that city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass, that again the purity of that street represent the presence of God, His righteousness, and the people of God are being seen there in that city with the pearly gates and the street that is made out of gold. And I would like to remind you again that it does not have a plurality of streets, but only one single street there that is made out of pure gold, representing the holiness and the righteousness of God. Now let's move on in our chapter, in the presentation of the eternal holy city of Yerushalayim. In verse 22 up to verse 27, we see certain things that never will come into that city of Yerushalayim. You know, in the eternal order, there are certain things that will never ever be present there anymore.

Look, a few things. There are four things that we have here in verse 22 to 27. The first thing that will be not there anymore is a temple. Verse 22, And I saw no temple therein, why? For the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb are the temple of it. You know, the temple in Hebrew, we call it Beit Mikdash. Simply means in English a place or a house of holiness, or a holy place, a place that had been sanctified, set apart for God's people and for God's presence. Well, in the history, our own people Israel used to go to the tabernacle to meet God, or to the city of Yerushalayim, Salomon built this magnificent temple, and the people of Israel will go to the temple to worship the Lord.

But in the eternal order, in the eternal city of Yerushalayim, one does not need any longer to go to a place, what we would call Beit Mikdash, to the temple, but God is going to be that temple. The Lamb, Yeshua, the Messiah, is going to be that temple. Why? Because we are going to be in His presence. You don't need anymore to go to a temple, because He is that temple. He will dwell there. It says here that the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb of God are the temple of that city. It's so beautiful to see that. There will be, again, the word temple in Hebrew, mikdash, Beit Mikdash, simply mean a place of holiness.

A place that is set apart, sanctified, kadosh. It comes from the Hebrew word kadosh, and there's no need anymore because God is going to be there. Because the Messiah Himself, and again it's mentioned the Lamb, brothers and sisters, remember that the token of His suffering on the tree will never leave us. We will always see and view again and again the price that He had to pay in order to bring us, to give us a right and a title to the presence of the Lord. That's why the Bible says in Revelation 5, And I saw a Lamb as it had been freshly slain. Why freshly slain?

Because always the realization that the price had to be paid, the Messiah Yeshua had to die to become the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. You and I will realize it and will appreciate it throughout eternity. That is the only title that we have into the presence of God is the precious blood of the Messiah. So no temple in verse 22. Look at that in verse 23, there is no more need for the sun and the moon.

In verse 23 it says, And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. You know, we need the sun during the day, the moon during the night, that God had given men, the human race, to give us light. The very fact that we can see each other today is because the sun is still the reflection and the light that we have from the sun. We can see, we can walk today, we can live today because of the light that God had given to us.

But that need is not going to be anymore there because God Himself will give light. The Messiah, the Lamb again, will be the one that will be the light of that city of Yerushalayim. When he is going to be there in the presence of his own people. This is wonderful. In verse 24 it says, the nations and the kings will walk and live in the light of this light.

By the way, that's why some people believe that Revelation chapter 21 and 22, in a sense, kind of go back to the millennial age and shows us how the heavenly Jerusalem kind of ruling over the earthly Jerusalem and the earth at that time. That's why some of them believe, because we read here of nations and kings of the earth, and that's why some believe that it's really taking us back to the millennial age, showing to us how the heavenly Jerusalem will control or will rule over the earthly Jerusalem and the earthly lands and nations and so on. But that only shows us here, I don't see that in that way, it shows us here that there will still be nations.

There will still be kings on the earth, but those kings, those nations will inhabit the eternal heaven and the eternal earth. Remember, verse one says that I saw a new heaven, but not only a new heaven, but also a new earth. So there will be people and kings and nations who are redeemed and saved living in the eternal order on earth, just the same like the heavenly company, the church, is going to be living in that new city of Jerusalem. But the nations and the kings will walk in the light of it. Imagine, they don't need anymore the sun and the moon because the light that is shining from the glory of God and from the glory of the Lamb, Yeshua the Messiah, will shine throughout the whole universe and everyone will live and walk in that light and the king of the earth will bring their glory and honor into that city. So the kings of the earth will bring honor and glory to that very city by praises and worship of that wonderful Savior, the Messiah himself.

And then verse 25 and verse 26, it tells us that there will be no night there. Verse 25 and verse 26 says, And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into that city. So there will be no night.

You know, night, we naturally don't like night. Because at night, we often think of night, we think of that which is dark and fearful, and that which cause men to do that which is evil by night, and so on. And that's why that night, brothers and sisters, will no longer exist. God have separated the day and the night in the beginning of the creation, but in the eternal order, there will be no night anymore. There will be that shining of that light from God and the Lamb, and the gates will no longer be shut. You know why you shut a gate?

You shut a gate because you're afraid of enemies or people who will come against you, and you preserve yourself by shutting the gates. Those gates will be there, but they will be always open. It will be simply an invitation for those of this eternal order, the kings and the nations to come in, to bring their glory. There will be a communication between the City and the people who will live here upon the face of this earth. Now notice quickly, verse 27, there will also be no sin anymore in that eternal order into the city of Jerusalem. Look verse 27, There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles, neither whatsoever that worketh abomination.

Or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. In other words, what really he's emphasizing here, to us today as we read it, he says, listen, in the eternal order, anything that has abomination, anything that defiles, everything that lies, that will be totally removed. Only those that are going to be written in the Lamb's Book of Life are going to be able to enter into that city. That's what this angel is saying to John. Revelation 13 and verse 8, we read about it earlier, the Lamb's Book of Life, and here is again, we have the name the Lamb's Book of Life. You remember, we had to understand in the two books, the Book of Life and the Lamb's Book of Life, not to mix them up. The Book of Life is a record of all the people that were born into this world.

The Lamb's Book of Life is a record of all the people from among those that were born that have accepted the Messiah, and their names are now written in both books, in the Book of Life and in the Lamb's Book of Life. Unbelievers, not only that they were not written in the Lamb's Book of Life, but when they die without faith in the Messiah, their name was erased from the Book of the Living.

So it is important for us to see in these verses only the ones that are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will enter into that city, and others, of course, in chapter 20, we saw the great white throne judgment, and they were cast into the lake of fire. Now, let's quickly conclude here with the first five verses of chapter 22. In chapter 22, verses 1 to 5, we see things that will be in that New Jerusalem. You see, in verse 22 to 27 of chapter 21, we see things that will not be, but now we find out what they will be in the city of Yerushalayim. First of all, there will be a pure river. It's called the River of Life.

It says there in verse 1, And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. Again, brothers and sisters, notice, God and the Lamb. Why God and the Lamb? Why not God and His Son? Why not God the Father and God the Son? Well, He is God the Son.

But nevertheless, the Lamb is emphasizing His work, what He had done in order to allow people like us to be eternally related to Him. So it is God and the Lamb, and He showed me that pure river. Of water of life, this is beautiful to see that that river of water of life clear as crystal proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. Apparently there will be that one river, the pure river of water of life that will come, notice he used the word water of life because there will not be death anymore, and that river will be a fountain and a river that will flow throughout the city of Yerushalayim. It was Korach, the sons of Korach, who spoke about that water of the rivers. Psalm 46 where he said, in verse 4 of Psalm 46, There is a river that streams thereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her. She will not be moved. God shall help her, and that right early. Of course, the writers of Psalm 46 were speaking about the city of Yerushalayim, the earthly city of Jerusalem. And the psalmist was writing about the city that the river of streams of that river will make glad the people of God. Well, here we see the same thing. The water of life that come through that river will make eternally glad those that belong to Yeshua, the Messiah, those that are living in that city. Notice another thing, brothers and sisters, that will be in this city. Again, the tree of life is going to be there. You remember the tree of life that we read of it in Genesis chapter two?

In Genesis chapter three, it says here in Revelation twenty two and verse two, it says, In the midst of the street, singular street, and on either side of that river was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manners of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. This is also one of those verses that cause some questions to arise. What does that mean, twelve manners of fruit, twelve months, and also what does it mean that it is for the healing of the nations, plural?

And we learn from that, brothers and sisters, that that tree of life, Is one of the pictures in the Bible that typify for us the person of Yeshua the Messiah. In a sense, really, He is that tree of life. You remember in Genesis chapter 2, where God said to Adam, He made the tree of life in the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and He said to Adam, Adam, the day that you will eat out of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely die. But He never told Adam not to eat from the tree of life. We never read it in Genesis chapter 2, that God said to Adam, Adam, I don't want you to eat from the tree of life. We never read that. But apparently, Adam and Eve never ate from the tree of life, but they did eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

And it plunged the whole human race into sin. So you know what God did at the end of chapter three of Genesis, Genesis chapter three verses twenty two to twenty four, God cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, and you remember he put that angel with the flaming sword that he will not allow Adam and Eve to come and eat of the Tree of Life and live in that condition forever.

So God barred them from ever approaching that Tree of Life, ever eating of the Tree of Life. It says it this way, the Lord God said, Behold, man became as one of us after they have eaten from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, to know good and evil, and now lest he put forth his hand and take also of the Tree of Life and eat of it and live forever.

So therefore the Lord sent them forth out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he took them. So he drove out men, this is verse 24 of Genesis 3, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim and the flaming sword which turn every way to keep the way of the tree of life. You know Adam, he probably would have now after this sin condition would have gone and began to eat from the tree of life and live in that state of sin throughout eternity. And God stopped it.

He cast him out there and he barred men, Adam and Eve, from eating of the tree of life. But now brothers and sisters, now in Revelation, notice that Revelation is the book of last things. Genesis is the book of first things. And now we see how here now God is introducing again the tree of life. And we read in the scripture that now that tree, verse two, bare twelve manners of fruits, and yielded her fruits every month, and the leaves of the trees were for the healing of the nation. Now, to this point here I want to mention now, first of all, the word month, apparently, in the eternal order, the only way of knowing the time is passing by, this word month suggests that there may be some sort of indication, by the way, to know that the time passes by, is that every time they see a different fruit on that tree, they will know that a month passed by.

And the month might not be the same way we are looking at this today, because it is eternity. It is only here and now that we have days and weeks and months and years, but in the eternal order, the only indication of time passes by, in a sense, is that every month there will be different fruit upon the tree. Can you imagine? You come into the tree, the first month you're going to see apples.

The next month you come, oh, you see no more apples, you see bananas. And the following month you come again, or the following time you come, oh, we see it's finished, now we see a grapefruit. And every time, every season, every month, according to here, there will be a different fruit on top of the tree. There's another thing about the tree, that the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Now, wait a minute. If there is no more sickness, which we just read earlier, No more sorrow, no more death, no more pain, no more crying, and so on. Why is it needed for the healing of the nations? Again, I want you to understand, the thought here, the word for healing is really deal with therapy. It has nothing to do with people getting sick.

It's for therapeutic reasons, not for healing because of sickness. It is simply to sustain, to encourage, to refresh the people of God throughout eternity. So we have the fruit upon the tree, we have the leaves for the healing of the nations, and again, brothers and sisters, we have nations. That's why some believe that Revelation 21 takes us back to the millennial age and the city of Jerusalem kind of reigning above the earthly millennium period. But others say no. Revelation 21 and 22 take us totally to a new order. There will still be nations, there will still be kings, as we mentioned here in Revelation 21 verse 24 and Revelation 22 and verse 2, but all these nations and distinctions that will exist does not mean that it will be separating one from another. All are saved nations. All are company who are redeemed belong to God in the eternal order.

And then quickly finally to conclude here, in verse 3, we read that God and the Lamb will be there with the people of God. He said that there shall be no more curse. But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. Now, brothers and sisters, again, God and the Lamb, He repeating it so many times to emphasize the way that we could have been in that city because the Lamb paid the price for us. But no more curse. You know how the curse came? The curse came because of sin.

God cursed men because of disobedience. But no longer curse because there will be no longer disobedience. And God is going to be, the throne of God is going to be in that city of Yerushalayim, and His servants shall serve Him. You know, sometimes people ask, what am I going to do in heaven? You think you're going to play the violin the whole day long, and you're going to play the flute, and you're going to sit down and relax? You know, we are going to serve in eternity. We are going to serve, but willingly to serve, joyfully to serve. From the heart it will be a service that will be pure, because we are going to be there in eternity with the Lord. His servant shall serve Him. We are still going to be blessed by serving God. In verse 4 of chapter 22, it says that we're going to see His face. You know, we are longing to see the face of the Lord, it says in verse 4, and they shall see His face.

Can you imagine, brothers and sisters, to see the face of our blessed Lord Yeshua the Messiah? We're going to be suitable to see His face, and you know, you sometimes wonder how the person of Yeshua looks like. You know, the early disciples have experienced to see Him here in His life. They saw Him. When Moses wanted to see the glory of God, he said, show me thy face. Show me thy glory. And God said to him, I cannot show you. No one can see God and live.

And here we see the eternal order because of who we're going to be, suitable, glorified in the presence of God, we are going to be able to see his face. You know, sometimes we sing those songs that I'm going to look upon the face of one, the one that paid the price for my sins. What a wonderful truth to learn that they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. Every one of us, you know, we have that new name, and his name, because we belong to him. Our forehead's going to be the mark that we belong to him, it's going to be on our foreheads, as it says here in verse 4, and his name shall be in their foreheads. And he conclude here, speaking about this eternal holy city, the New Jerusalem, in verse five of chapter twenty-two, when he says there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.

No night, no need of candle to light, the Lord will give that light, and God himself will be that light of that city of Yerushalayim and the people of God, and we shall reign with him forever and ever. It's wonderful. What a great presentation of the city of Yerushalayim, the eternal holy city, the New Jerusalem. It is a free city. It is a sought-out city. It is a heavenly city that God's people are going to be there forever and ever. May the Lord hasten that day and take us to be with Him into that city.