Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #24 of Revelation chapter 21 and we are going to read Revelation 21:11-12:

Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

I will stop reading there.  This describes the holy Jerusalem or new Jerusalem and it is the “city” God has built that is made up of everyone He has saved, so this is not a literal city but a figurative city comprised of all the elect throughout time.

We have already looked at the first part of verse 11, where it said that this city was “having the glory of God.”  We saw the historical type of the figure of Solomon’s temple.  Once it was complete, the ark was brought into it and the ark identifies with the presence and glory of God.  When the ark entered in, then the temple had the “glory of God,” but when the ark was captured the “glory of God” departed from Israel.  Once God saved the entire company of the elect, it was as if the presence of God was within each of His elect people, so the heavenly Jerusalem had the “glory of God.”

Then it goes on to say in Revelation 21:11:

… and her light was like unto a stone most precious…

The light is the light of this spiritual city of believers and this light “was like unto a stone most precious.”  Since this is the Bible and the Bible consistently uses the “light” as a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is speaking of Christ being the “light” of the city of God.  We can know this for certain because it says in Revelation 21:22-23:

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.

The city of God has no need of the sun or the moon.  It is very interesting that God makes this statement.  That is true, of course, of eternity future.  The lights of this world (the sun, moon and stars) will be gone, but what they had represented was light shining spiritually into the darkness of this sin-cursed earth and that it will not be necessary in the new heaven and new earth.  Christ will always be there and He is the Light, so there will be no need for God to develop a Gospel to rescue sinners because there will be no sin there.

Yet, at this point in time God’s people are alive and remain on the earth in the Day of Judgment and we have been doing so since May 21, 2011.  We expect to be here for a short while longer and, in all likelihood, Judgment Day will conclude on October 7, 2015, but throughout this period of time we have been left here to make manifest that we are children of God and we have no need for the light of the sun or light of the moon, spiritually, because we have the “glory of God” or the presence of God already in the holy city of the kingdom of God.  God has saved everyone to be saved and He has entered into each believer and indwells them and, therefore, He is the light of His people.  The world lies in “darkness” now and there is no question about this, according to the Bible.  Judgment Day is a time of intense spiritual darkness.  The Bible says, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened," according to Matthew 24:29, Mark 13:24, Luke 21:25, Revelation 6:12, chapters 2 and 3 in the Book of Joel, Isaiah 13 and many other places.  The “sun” being dark is reiterated again, and again, because the Light of the world is the Lord Jesus Christ and He has ceased to shine in the world.  There is no more salvation and mankind no longer has the spiritual light of God to enlighten the darkness of this world and, yet, God’s people have light in their dwellings. 

It reminds us of the thick darkness the Lord brought upon Egypt when He brought His plagues upon them.  One of the plagues was a plague of darkness and, yet, the Lord says the Israelites had light in their dwellings and that is because it pointed to the indwelling Holy Spirit that lightens the darkness for the child of God.  It is only in the child of God and this light no longer shines in the world.  The “stars” have fallen, so the light of the believers is of no use to the world because it is not lighting the world, but it is something personal and intimate within the child of God.  This is why God says in Micah 7:8:

Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, JEHOVAH shall be a light unto me.

This is presently the situation in this world and has been throughout the entire prolonged period of Judgment Day.  God is the light of His people.  The “city of God” has no need of the sun or the moon.  We do not need the Gospel lights for ourselves.  We would have desired it for the unsaved that still sit in darkness, but as far as we are concerned, we do not need the light of the Gospel to shine in order for us to become saved because we have already been saved.  This is what God is saying here.

So the city of God presently (and into the wonderful eternal future) has a light and the light is Christ.  It goes on to say in Revelation 21:11:

…… and her light was like unto a stone most precious…

The “glory of God” that the city possesses is God.  The light is Christ, but what is the precious stone?  We will find this is also referring to Jesus.  It says in 1Peter 2:3-4:

If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,

It also says of Christ in 1Peter 2:6:

Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

So in these two verses Christ is called a precious stone, so He is the precious stone of the city of God: “and her light was like unto a stone most precious.”  The light of that city and the precious stone both point to Christ.  Then it continues to say, in Revelation 21:11:

… even like a jasper stone…

We are not surprised when we search the Bible to find that this also points to Christ.  Do you see how God writes His Bible?  Christ is the subject matter of the entire Bible: “In the volume of the book it is written of me,” it says in the Book of Hebrews and this was a quote from the Old Testament.  The entire Bible speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ and in our verse in Revelation 21:11 God is really emphasizing that the holy city of God (the body of believers) has Jesus.  The elect have the Lord Jesus Christ, the glory of God.  Christ was typified by the ark.  We now have the indwelling light in the city of the elect and we have Jesus the precious stone and Jesus the “jasper stone.”  It says in Revelation 4:2-3:

And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

There is no one else in heaven seated upon a throne except God Himself.  Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ who is Almighty God and He is seated upon His glorious heavenly throne.  We have seen numerous descriptions of God because He is so infinite and glorious in His being. You cannot just mention God in a couple of words and think you have completely described His Almighty Person.  God is fabulous and wonderful and great and awesome and incredible.  So we have these Scriptures and many others with all types of superlatives that are lavished upon Him (and rightfully so) and they are all accurate and truthful.  Then we see more verses that describe the glory of God and His beauty.

Here, God is being described as a “jasper and sardine stone.”  As we saw in our verse, “Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone.”  The Bible is really highlighting Christ who indwells all those He has saved.  Then it says at the end of the verse in Revelation 21:11:

…clear as crystal.

We found the word “crystal” earlier in the Book of Revelation when it described the “sea of glass” and likened it to “crystal.”  In the final chapter of Revelation, it says in Revelation 22:1:

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

This is a good verse that helps us to see what is in view when we see the word “crystal.”  This word showcases the purity, holiness and sinless perfection of whatever is in view.  Here, what is in view is Jesus Christ, who is without sin.  The city of God possesses Jesus.  He dwells among them and He is their God and they are His people, so the body of believers is likened to crystal.  They are likened to that “sea of glass” that is pure and holy and this is the glorious picture of heaven.

Let us go on to Revelation 21:12:

And had a wall great and high…

The city of God that is made up of those God has saved as a “wall” that is great and high.  When we look in the Bible to find the spiritual definition of a “wall,” what do we find?  We find it is related to salvation, as we find at the end of the verse in Isaiah 26:1:

… We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.

Again the reference to the city would tie in to that heavenly Jerusalem, the city in our verse in Revelation, chapter 21.

It also says in Isaiah 60:18:

Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.

Here, again, God is identifying the “walls” with salvation.  Notice the next verse in Isaiah 60:19:

The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee…

Where did we read that language before?  We read it in Revelation 21:23:

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 in Isaiah 60, we are reading similar things.  Again, it says in Isaiah 60:19:

The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee, but JEHOVAH shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.

This fits perfectly with what we have been seeing in our verse concerning the city and the glory of God and the light that was the precious stone.  And we saw that Jesus, the Lamb, is the light thereof.  So here is another proof.  There are so many proofs that it would be difficult to jot them all down, but this is another proof that the Lamb, who is Christ, is JEHOVAH God.  In Isaiah it refers to Him as “JEHOVAH,” but in Revelation 21 it says the Lamb is the light thereof. 

Then it goes on to say in Isaiah 60:20-21:

Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for JEHOVAH shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.

Again, this is describing everyone that has become saved.  They have been made righteous.  By the obedience of one (Jesus Christ), many shall be made righteous.  This is what God has done.

The wall mentioned in Revelation 21:12 is said to be “great and high” and it is pointing to salvation.  Everything that identifies with this city is pointing to salvation because it is a city that is spiritually built through salvation.  It reminds us of the wall in the Book of Nehemiah.   Nehemiah was given the task by God to build the wall of Jerusalem and He did.  Interestingly, we are even given the amount of time it took to finish the wall.  It says in Nehemiah 6:15:

So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.

The number “52” is significant because of how God established the “year.”  First of all, God established the “week” in creation: six days He worked and the seventh day He rested.  From the very beginning that set in motion the seven day week.  God set the timekeepers in the heavens (the sun, moon and stars) that would keep track of time and seasons, accurately regulating days, weeks, months and years.  The length of a year is set by the motions of the celestial bodies and it happens to have fifty two weeks in each year.  There are not 53.  There are not 51, but exactly 52 weeks and that is not an accident.  It is also not a coincidence that Nehemiah built the wall in 52 days, pointing to the “acceptable year of the Lord” that we read about in the Book of Isaiah.  The “acceptable year” is the same thing as the “acceptable day” of salvation.  Actually, in 2Corinthians, chapter 6, it refers to an “accepted time” and the “day of salvation” in the same verse.  God joins together the “acceptable year” with the “day of salvation.”  It is the same principal as when God talks about a “year of vengeance” or a “day of vengeance.”  That is how He wrote the Bible and He can speak of the same thing as a day or a year. 

So Nehemiah’s wall was finished after the “acceptable year of the Lord,” so we can understand that the end of Nehemiah’s construction of the wall points to the end of God’s day of salvation.  It was the time He stopped saving people and we know from the Biblical calendar it was May 21, 2011.  That is when God finished His salvation program and the wall was built or the city was built or the temple was finished.  They are all describing the same truth: God has saved everyone He had obligated Himself to save when He predestinated them unto salvation.