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111 lines
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<p id="Chapter21" align="center">Commentary by A. R. FAUSSET<br>CHAPTER 21
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<p id="Re21_1"><a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,'1-27');">Rev 21:1-27</a>. THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH: NEW JERUSALEM OUT OF HEAVEN.
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<p>The remaining two chapters describe the eternal and consummated kingdom of God and the saints on the new earth. As the world of nations is to be pervaded by divine influence in the millennium, so the world of nature shall be, not annihilated, but transfigured universally in the eternal state which follows it. The earth was cursed for man's sake; but is redeemed by the second Adam. <i>Now</i> is the Church; in the millennium shall be the kingdom; and after that shall be the new world wherein God shall be all in all. The "day of the Lord" and the conflagration of the earth are in <a href= "#" onclick="return mV('2Pe',3,10,11);">2Pe 3:10-11</a> spoken of as if connected together, from which many argue against a millennial interval between His coming and the general conflagration of the old earth, preparatory to the new; but "day" is used often of a whole period comprising events intimately connected together, as are the Lord's second advent, the millennium, and the general conflagration and judgment. Compare <a onclick="return mV('Gen',2,4);">Gen 2:4</a> as to the wide use of "day." Man's <i>soul</i> is redeemed by regeneration through the Holy Spirit now; man's <i>body</i> shall be redeemed at the resurrection; man's <i>dwelling-place,</i> His inheritance, the earth, shall be redeemed perfectly at the creation of the new heaven and earth, which shall exceed in glory the first Paradise, as much as the second Adam exceeds in glory the first Adam before the fall, and as man regenerated in body and soul shall exceed man as he was at creation.
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<p><b>1. the first</b>—that is the former.
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<br><br><b>passed away</b>—<i>Greek,</i> in A and B is "were departed" (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>apeelthon,</i>" not as in <i>English Version,</i> "<i>pareelthe</i>").
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<br><br><b>was</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "is," which graphically sets the thing before our eyes as present.
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<br><br><b>no more sea</b>—The sea is the type of perpetual unrest. Hence our Lord rebukes it as an unruly hostile troubler of His people. It symbolized the political tumults out of which "the beast" arose, <a onclick="return mV('Rev',13,1);">Rev 13:1</a>. As the physical corresponds to the spiritual and moral world, so the absence of <i>sea,</i> after the metamorphosis of the earth by <i>fire,</i> answers to the unruffled state of solid peace which shall then prevail. The <i>sea,</i> though severing lands from one another, is now, by God's eliciting of good from evil, made the medium of communication between countries through navigation. Then man shall possess inherent powers which shall make the sea no longer necessary, but an element which would detract from a perfect state. A "river" and "water" are spoken of in <a onclick="return mV('Rev',22,1,2);">Rev 22:1-2</a>, probably literal (that is, with such changes of the natural properties of water, as correspond analogically to man's own transfigured body), as well as symbolical. The sea was once the element of the world's destruction, and is still the source of death to thousands, whence after the millennium, at the general judgment, it is specially said, "The <i>sea</i> gave up the dead...in it." Then it shall cease to destroy, or disturb, being removed altogether on account of its past destructions.
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<p id="Re21_2"><b>2. And I John</b>—"John" is omitted in A, B, <i>Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic,</i> and ANDREAS; also the "I" in the <i>Greek</i> of these authorities is not emphatic. The insertion of "I John" in the <i>Greek</i> would somewhat interfere with the close connection which subsists between "the new heaven and earth," <a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,1);">Rev 21:1</a>, and the "new Jerusalem" in this verse.
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<br><br><b>Jerusalem...out of heaven</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,12);">Rev 3:12</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gal',4,26);">Gal 4:26</a>, "Jerusalem which is above"; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,10);">Hbr 11:10</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,22);">12:22</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',13,14);">13:14</a>). The <i>descent</i> of the new Jerusalem <i>out of heaven</i> is plainly distinct from the <i>earthly</i> Jerusalem in which Israel in the flesh shall dwell during the millennium, and follows on the creation of the new heaven and earth. John in his Gospel always writes [<i>Greek</i>] <i>Hierosoluma</i> of the old city; in the Apocalypse always <i>Hierousaleem</i> of the heavenly city (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,12);">Rev 3:12</a>). <i>Hierousaleem</i> is a <i>Hebrew</i> name, the original and holy appellation. <i>Hierosoluma</i> is the common <i>Greek</i> term, used in a political sense. Paul observes the same distinction when refuting Judaism (<a onclick="return mV('Gal',4,26);">Gal 4:26</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Gal',1,17,18);">Gal 1:17-18</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gal',2,1);">2:1</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,22);">Hbr 12:22</a>), though not so in the Epistles to Romans and Corinthians [BENGEL].
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<br><br><b>bride</b>—made up of the blessed citizens of "the holy city." There is no longer merely a Paradise as in Eden (though there is that also, <a onclick="return mV('Rev',2,7);">Rev 2:7</a>), no longer a mere garden, but now <i>the city of</i> God on earth, costlier, statelier, and more glorious, but at the same time the result of labor and pains such as had not to be expended by man in dressing the primitive garden of Eden. "The lively stones" were severally in time laboriously chiselled into shape, after the pattern of "the Chief corner-stone," to prepare them for the place which they shall everlastingly fill in the heavenly Jerusalem.
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<p id="Re21_3"><b>3. out of heaven</b>—so ANDREAS. But A and <i>Vulgate</i> read, "out of the throne."
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<br><br><b>the tabernacle</b>—alluding to the tabernacle of God in the wilderness (wherein many signs of His presence were given): of which this is the antitype, having previously been in heaven: <a onclick="return mV('Rev',11,19);">Rev 11:19</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',15,5);">15:5</a>, "the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven"; also <a onclick="return mV('Rev',13,6);">Rev 13:6</a>. Compare the contrast in <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',9,23);">Hbr 9:23</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',9,14);">Hbr 9:14</a>, between "the patterns" and "the heavenly things themselves," between "the figures" and "the true." The earnest of the true and heavenly tabernacle was afforded in the Jerusalem temple described in <a onclick="return mV('Eze',40,'1-');">Eze 40:1 - 42:20</a>, as about to be, namely, during the millennium.
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<br><br><b>dwell with them</b>—literally, "<i>tabernacle</i> with them"; the same <i>Greek</i> word as is used of the divine Son "<i>tabernacling</i> among us." Then He was in the weakness of the <i>flesh:</i> but at the new creation of heaven and earth He shall tabernacle among us in the glory of His manifested Godhead (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',22,4);">Rev 22:4</a>).
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<br><br><b>they</b>—in <i>Greek</i> emphatic, "<i>they</i>" (in particular).
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<br><br><b>his people</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "His <i>peoples</i>": "the nations of the saved" being all peculiarly His, as Israel was designed to be. So A reads. But B, <i>Vulgate, Syriac,</i> and <i>Coptic</i> read, "His <i>people</i>": singular.
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<br><br><b>God himself...with them</b>—realizing fully His name Immanuel.
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<p id="Re21_4"><b>4. all tears</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "every tear."
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<br><br><b>no more death</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "death shall be no more." Therefore it is not the millennium, for in the latter there is <i>death</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',65,20);">Isa 65:20</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,26,54);">1Cr 15:26, 54</a>, "the <i>last</i> enemy...destroyed is <i>death,</i>" <a onclick="return mV('Rev',20,14);">Rev 20:14</a>, <i>after</i> the millennium).
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<br><br><b>sorrow</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "mourning."
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<br><br><b>passed away</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "departed," as in <a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,1);">Rev 21:1</a>.
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<p id="Re21_5"><b>5. sat</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "sitteth."
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<br><br><b>all things new</b>—not recent, but <i>changed from the old</i> (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>kaina,</i>" not "<i>nea</i>"). An earnest of this regeneration and transfiguration of nature is given already in the regenerate soul.
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<br><br><b>unto me</b>—so <i>Coptic</i> and ANDREAS. But A, B, <i>Vulgate,</i> and <i>Syriac</i> omit.
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<br><br><b>true and faithful</b>—so ANDREAS. But A, B, <i>Vulgate, Syriac,</i> and <i>Coptic</i> transpose, "faithful and true" (literally, "genuine").
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<p id="Re21_6"><b>6. It is done</b>—the same <i>Greek</i> as in <a onclick="return mV('Rev',16,17);">Rev 16:17</a>. "It is come to pass." So <i>Vulgate</i> reads with <i>English Version.</i> But A reads, "They ('<i>these words,</i>' <a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,5);">Rev 21:5</a>) are come to pass." All is as sure as if it actually had been fulfilled for it rests on the word of the unchanging God. When the consummation shall be, God shall rejoice over the work of His own hands, as at the completion of the first creation God <i>saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very good</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',1,31);">Gen 1:31</a>).
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<br><br><b>Alpha...Omega</b>—<i>Greek</i> in A and B, "<i>the</i> Alpha...<i>the</i> Omega" (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',1,18);">Rev 1:18</a>).
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<br><br><b>give unto...athirst...water of life</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',22,17);">Rev 22:17</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Isa',12,3);">Isa 12:3</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Isa',55,1);">55:1</a>;<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',4,13,14);">Jhn 4:13-14</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',7,37,38);">7:37-38</a>). This is added lest any should despair of attaining to this exceeding weight of glory. In our present state we may drink of the stream, then we shall drink at the <i>Fountain.</i>
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<br><br><b>freely</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "gratuitously": the same Greek as is translated, "(They hated Me) without a cause," <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',15,25);">Jhn 15:25</a>. As <i>gratuitous</i> as was man's hatred of God, so <i>gratuitous</i> is God's love to man: there was every cause in Christ why man should love Him, yet man hated Him; there was every cause in man why (humanly speaking) God should have hated man, yet God loved man: the very reverse of what might be expected took place in both cases. Even in heaven our drinking at the Fountain shall be God's <i>gratuitous</i> gift.
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<p id="Re21_7"><b>7. He that overcometh</b>—another aspect of the believer's life: a conflict with sin, Satan, and the world is needed. <i>Thirsting</i> for salvation is the first beginning of, and continues for ever (in the sense of an appetite and relish for divine joys) a characteristic of the believer. In a different sense, the believer "shall never thirst."
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<br><br><b>inherit all things</b>—A, B, <i>Vulgate,</i> and CYPRIAN read, "<i>these</i> things," namely, the blessings described in this whole passage. With "all things," compare <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,'21-23');">1Cr 3:21-23</a>.
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<br><br><b>I will be his God</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "I will be to him a God," that is, all that is implied of blessing in the name "God."
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<br><br><b>he shall be my son</b>—"He" is emphatic: <i>He</i> in particular and in a peculiar sense, above others: <i>Greek,</i> "shall be <i>to me</i> a son," in fullest realization of the promise made in type to Solomon, son of David, and antitypically to the divine Son of David.
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<p id="Re21_8"><b>8. the fearful</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "the cowardly," who do not <i>quit themselves like men</i> so as to "overcome" in the good fight; who have the spirit of slavish "fear," not love, towards God; and who through fear of man are not bold for God, or "draw back." Compare <a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,27);">Rev 21:27</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',22,15);">22:15</a>.
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<br><br><b>unbelieving</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "faithless."
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<br><br><b>abominable</b>—who have drank of the harlot's "cup of abominations."
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<br><br><b>sorcerers</b>—one of the characteristics of Antichrist's time.
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<br><br><b>all liars</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "all <i>the</i> liars": or else "all <i>who are</i> liars"; compare <a onclick="return mV('1Ti',4,1,2);">1Ti 4:1-2</a>, where similarly <i>lying</i> and dealings with <i>spirits</i> and <i>demons,</i> are joined together as features of "the latter times."
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<br><br><b>second death</b>— <a onclick="return mV('Rev',20,14);">Rev 20:14</a>: "<i>everlasting</i> destruction," <a onclick="return mV('2Th',1,9);">2Th 1:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mar',9,44,46,48);">Mar 9:44, 46, 48</a>, "Where THEIR worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
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<p id="Re21_9"><b>9.</b> The same angel who had shown John <i>Babylon the harlot,</i> is appropriately employed to show him in contrast <i>new Jerusalem, the Bride</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,'1-5');">Rev 17:1-5</a>). The angel so employed is the one that had the last seven plagues, to show that the ultimate blessedness of the Church is one end of the divine judgments on her foes.
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<br><br><b>unto me</b>—A, B, and <i>Vulgate</i> omit.
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<br><br><b>the Lamb's wife</b>—in contrast to her <i>who sat on many waters</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,1);">Rev 17:1</a>), (that is, intrigued with many peoples and nations of the world, instead of giving her undivided affections, as the Bride does, to the Lamb.
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<p id="Re21_10"><b>10.</b> The words correspond to <a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,3);">Rev 17:3</a>, to heighten the contrast of the bride and harlot.
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<br><br><b>mountain</b>—Compare <a onclick="return mV('Eze',40,2);">Eze 40:2</a>, where a similar vision is given from a <i>high mountain.</i>
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<br><br><b>that great</b>—omitted in A, B, <i>Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic,</i> and CYPRIAN. Translate then, "the holy city Jerusalem."
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<br><br><b>descending</b>—Even in the millennium the earth will not be a suitable abode for transfigured saints, who therefore shall then reign in heaven over the earth. But after the renewal of the earth at the close of the millennium and judgment, they shall <i>descend</i> from heaven to dwell on an earth assimilated to heaven itself. "From God" implies that "we (the city) are God's workmanship."
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<p id="Re21_11"><b>11. Having the glory of God</b>—not merely the Shekinah-cloud, but God Himself as her glory dwelling in the midst of her. Compare the type, the earthly Jerusalem in the millennium (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',2,5);">Zec 2:5</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,23);">Rev 21:23</a>, below).
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<br><br><b>her light</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "light-giver": properly applied to the heavenly <i>luminaries</i> which diffuse light. Compare <i>Note,</i> see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Phl/Phl002.html#Php2_15">Php 2:15</a>, the only other passage where it occurs. The "and" before "her light' is omitted in A, B, and <i>Vulgate.</i>
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<br><br><b>even like</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "as it were."
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<br><br><b>jasper</b>—representing <i>watery crystalline brightness.</i>
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<p id="Re21_12"><b>12. And</b>—A and B omit. <a onclick="return mV('Eze',48,'30-35');">Eze 48:30-35</a>, has a similar description, which implies that the millennial Jerusalem shall have its exact antitype in the heavenly Jerusalem which shall descend on the finally regenerated earth.
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<br><br><b>wall great and high</b>—setting forth the security of the Church. Also, the exclusion of the ungodly.
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<br><br><b>twelve angels</b>—guards of the twelve gates: an additional emblem of perfect security, while the gates being never shut (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,25);">Rev 21:25</a>) imply perfect liberty and peace. Also, angels shall be the brethren of the heavenly citizens.
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<br><br><b>names of...twelve tribes</b>—The inscription of the names on the gates implies that none but the spiritual Israel, God's elect, shall enter the heavenly city. As the millennium wherein <i>literal</i> Israel <i>in the flesh</i> shall be the mother Church, is the antitype to the Old Testament <i>earthly</i> theocracy in the Holy Land, so the <i>heavenly</i> new <i>Jerusalem</i> is the consummation antitypical to the <i>spiritual</i> Israel, the elect Church of Jews and Gentiles being now gathered out: as the spiritual Israel now is an advance upon the previous literal and carnal Israel, so the heavenly Jerusalem shall be much in advance of the millennial Jerusalem.
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<p id="Re21_13"><b>13. On the north...on the south</b>—A, B, <i>Vulgate, Syriac,</i> and <i>Coptic</i> read, "<i>And</i> on the north <i>and</i> on the <i>south.</i>" In Ezekiel, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan (for which Manasseh is substituted in <a onclick="return mV('Rev',7,6);">Rev 7:6</a>), are on the east (<a onclick="return mV('Eze',48,32);">Eze 48:32</a>); Reuben, Judah, Levi, are on the <i>north</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Eze',48,31);">Eze 48:31</a>); Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, on the <i>south</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Eze',48,33);">Eze 48:33</a>); Gad, Asher, Naphtali, on the <i>west</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Eze',48,34);">Eze 48:34</a>). In Numbers, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun are on the east (<a onclick="return mV('Num',2,3,5,7);">Num 2:3, 5, 7</a>). Reuben, Simeon, Gad, on the south (<a onclick="return mV('Num',2,10,12,14);">Num 2:10, 12, 14</a>). Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin, on the <i>west</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Num',2,18,20,22);">Num 2:18, 20, 22</a>). Dan, Asher, Naphtali, on the <i>north</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Num',2,25,27,29);">Num 2:25, 27, 29</a>).
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<p id="Re21_14"><b>14. twelve foundations</b>—Joshua, the type of Jesus, chose twelve men out of the people, to carry twelve stones over the Jordan with them, as Jesus chose twelve apostles to be the twelve foundations of the heavenly city, of which He is Himself the Chief corner-stone. Peter is not the only apostolic rock on whose preaching Christ builds His Church. Christ Himself is the true foundation: the twelve are foundations only in regard to their apostolic testimony concerning Him. Though Paul was an apostle besides the twelve, yet the mystical number is retained, twelve representing the Church, namely thirty the divine number, multiplied by four, the world number.
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<br><br><b>in them the names,</b> etc.—As architects often have their names inscribed on their great works, so the names of the apostles shall be held in everlasting remembrance. <i>Vulgate</i> reads, "<i>in</i> them." But A, B, <i>Syriac, Coptic,</i> and ANDREAS read, "<i>upon</i> them." These authorities also insert "twelve" before "names."
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<p id="Re21_15"><b>15. had a golden reed</b>—so <i>Coptic.</i> But A, B, <i>Vulgate,</i> and <i>Syriac</i> read, "had (as) <i>a measure,</i> a golden reed." In <a onclick="return mV('Rev',11,2);">Rev 11:2</a> the non-measuring of the outer courts of the temple implied its being given up to secular and heathen desecration. So here, on the contrary, the city being measured implies the entire consecration of every part, all things being brought up to the most exact standard of God's holy requirements, and also God's accurate guardianship henceforth of even the most minute parts of His holy city from all evil.
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<p id="Re21_16"><b>16. twelve thousand furlongs</b>—literally, "<i>to twelve thousand stadii</i>": one thousand furlongs being the space between the several twelve gates. BENGEL makes the length of <i>each side</i> of the city to be twelve thousand stadii. The stupendous height, length, and breadth being exactly alike, imply its faultless symmetry, transcending in glory all our most glowing conceptions.
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<p id="Re21_17"><b>17. hundred...forty...four cubits</b>—twelve times twelve: the Church-number squared. The wall is far beneath the height of the city.
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<br><br><b>measure of a man, that is, of the angel</b>—The ordinary measure used by <i>men</i> is the measure here used by the <i>angel,</i> distinct from "the measure of the sanctuary." Men shall then be <i>equal to the angels.</i>
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<p id="Re21_18"><b>18. the building</b>—"the structure" [TREGELLES], <i>Greek,</i> "<i>endomeesis.</i>"
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<br><br><b>gold, like...clear glass</b>—Ideal gold, transparent as no gold here is [ALFORD]. Excellencies will be combined in the heavenly city which now seem incompatible.
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<p id="Re21_19"><b>19. And</b>—so <i>Syriac, Coptic,</i> and ANDREAS. But A, B, and <i>Vulgate</i> omit. Compare <a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,14);">Rev 21:14</a> with this verse; also <a onclick="return mV('Isa',54,11);">Isa 54:11</a>.
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<br><br><b>all manner of precious stones</b>—Contrast <a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,12);">Rev 18:12</a> as to the harlot, Babylon. These precious stones constituted the "foundations."
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<br><br><b>chalcedony</b>—agate from Chalcedon: semi-opaque, sky-blue, with stripes of other colors [ALFORD].
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<p id="Re21_20"><b>20. sardonyx</b>—a gem having the redness of the cornelian, and the whiteness of the onyx.
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<br><br><b>sardius</b>— (See on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Rev/Rev004.html#Re4_3">Rev 4:3</a>).
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<br><br><b>chrysolite</b>—described by PLINY as transparent and of a golden brightness, like our topaz: different from our pale green crystallized <i>chrysolite.</i>
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<br><br><b>beryl</b>—of a sea-green color.
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<br><br><b>topaz</b>—PLINY [37.32], makes it <i>green</i> and transparent, like our chrysolite.
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<br><br><b>chrysoprasus</b>—somewhat pale, and having the purple color of the amethyst [PLINY, 37, 20, 21].
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<br><br><b>jacinth</b>—The flashing violet brightness in the amethyst is diluted in the jacinth [PLINY, 37.41].
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<p id="Re21_21"><b>21. every several</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "each one severally."
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<p id="Re21_22"><b>22. no temple...God...the temple</b>—As God now dwells in the spiritual Church, His "temple" (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>naos,</i>" "shrine"; <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,17);">1Cr 3:17</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',6,19);">6:19</a>), so the Church when perfected shall dwell in Him as her "temple" (<i>naos:</i> the same <i>Greek</i>). As the Church was "His sanctuary," so He is to be their sanctuary. Means of grace shall cease when the end of grace is come. Church ordinances shall give place to the God of ordinances. Uninterrupted, immediate, direct, communion with Him and the Lamb (compare <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',4,23);">Jhn 4:23</a>), shall supersede intervening ordinances.
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<p id="Re21_23"><b>23. in it</b>—so <i>Vulgate.</i> But A, B, and ANDREAS read, "(shine) <i>on</i> it," or literally, "<i>for</i> her."
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<br><br><b>the light</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "the lamp" (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',60,19,20);">Isa 60:19-20</a>). The direct light of God and the Lamb shall make the saints independent of God's creatures, the sun and moon, for light.
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<p id="Re21_24"><b>24. of them which are saved...in</b>—A, B, <i>Vulgate, Coptic,</i> and ANDREAS read "(the nations shall walk) <i>by means</i> of her light": omitting "of them which are saved." Her brightness shall supply them with light.
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<br><br><b>the kings of the earth</b>—who once had regard only to their glory, having been converted, now in the new Jerusalem do bring their glory into it, to lay it down at the feet of their God and Lord.
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<br><br><b>and honour</b>—so B, <i>Vulgate,</i> and <i>Syriac.</i> But A omits the clause.
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<p id="Re21_25"><b>25. not be shut...by day</b>—therefore shall never be shut: for it shall <i>always</i> be day. Gates are usually shut by night: but in it shall be no night. There shall be continual free ingress into it, so as that all which is blessed and glorious may continually be brought into it. So in the millennial type.
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<p id="Re21_26"><b>26.</b> All that was truly glorious and excellent in the earth and its converted <i>nations</i> shall be gathered into it; and while all shall form <i>one</i> Bride, there shall be various orders among the redeemed, analogous to the divisions of <i>nations</i> on earth constituting the one great human family, and to the various orders of angels.
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<p id="Re21_27"><b>27. anything that defileth</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>koinoun.</i>" A and B read [<i>koinon,</i>] "anything <i>unclean.</i>"
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<br><br><b>in the Lamb's book of life</b>— (See on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Rev/Rev020.html#Re20_12">Rev 20:12</a>; JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Rev/Rev020.html#Re20_15">Rev 20:15</a>). As all the filth of the old Jerusalem was carried outside the walls and burnt there, so nothing defiled shall enter the heavenly city, but be burnt <i>outside</i> (compare <a onclick="return mV('Rev',22,15);">Rev 22:15</a>). It is striking that the apostle of love, who shows us the glories of the heavenly city, is he also who speaks most plainly of the terrors of hell. On <a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,26,27);">Rev 21:26-27</a>, ALFORD writes a Note, rash in speculation, about the heathen <i>nations,</i> above what is written, and not at all required by the sacred text: compare <i>Note,</i> see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Rev/Rev021.html#Re21_26">Rev 21:26</a>.
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