Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #26 of Revelation chapter 21 and we are looking at Revelation 21:12-14:

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: 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.

I will stop reading there.  Again, this describes the holy Jerusalem, which is a city that is built of everyone God has saved.  We saw that the “wall” pointed to salvation and the “gates” point to Christ who is the “gate” or the “door.”  We also discussed how the Bible has (spiritual) “gates” or “entry points” into the kingdom of heaven.

The number “12” points to the fullness of whatever is in view and in this case it is the “gates” or the fullness of the pathways God has established in His Word.  But we can also understand it to mean the fullness of Christ as the only “way” to heaven.

It goes on to say in Revelation 21:12:

…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:

There are 12 gates and 12 messengers.  They are not angels because it is speaking of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel.  It tells us that there are names written on the gates, so there are 12 names written on the 12 gates.  The number “12” in regard to the messengers or in regard to the twelve tribes of Israel points to the fullness of all who God has saved.

The 12 gates having 12 names that identify with the Israel is spiritually representing the names of all those God has saved and they are written upon the Lord Jesus Christ.  For instance, it says in Revelation 21:14:

And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

What does the “wall” represent?  It represents salvation: “Thy walls are salvation,” according to the Book of Isaiah.  The wall of the city had 12 foundations.  What is the foundation the city is built upon?  It can only be Jesus Christ, as we read in 1Corinthians 3:9-11:

For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

The only foundation the Bible allows for God’s building is Christ.  We read previously in Hebrews 11 of the heavenly Jerusalem whose “builder and maker is God.”  That city is comprised of everyone God has saved and it has only one foundation, just as there is only one “door” to heaven.  There is none other way to gain access to the kingdom of heaven but by the Lord Jesus Christ because He is “the way, the truth, and the life,” and no one can come to the Father but by Him.  There is one foundation and, yet, God speaks here of 12 foundations and the reason for this is that the number “12” points to the fullness of whatever is in view.  This is the fullness of the “Rock,” that foundation which is Jesus Christ.  Everyone that was saved and became a part of this city was built upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and none other.

Again, we read in Revelation 21:12:

…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:

This tells us that the names of the twelve tribes of Israel are written on the twelve gates.  Verse 14 tells us that the twelve foundations of the wall have the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.  We saw this previously in the Book of Revelation where God is seated upon the throne with twenty four elders round about Him.  It says Revelation 4:4:

And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

These twenty four elders clothed in white are a picture of those God has saved.  The white raiment is the “righteousness of saints.”  The crowns of gold are a picture of the crown of salvation.  There are 24 of them because there are 12 tribes of Israel and 12 Apostles of the Lamb or 24 elders in total.  They represent the sum total of everyone God has saved.  It includes all the saints of the Old Testament, beginning with Abel, and all the saints of the New Testament, to the very last one.   Every individual who was to become saved has become saved.  When we see the language of 24 elders or 12 gates that have the names of the 12 tribes or 12 foundations having the names of the 12 Apostles it represents everyone in the entire history of the world, from beginning to end of God’s salvation program on May 21, 2011.  It represents the fullness of the believers.  Their names are written on the gates because the gates point to Christ, so their names are written on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Likewise, they have their names written on the foundations and the foundations point to Christ, so their names are written on the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is a similar idea to what we find in the Book of Exodus, chapter 28.  God required to be made a couple of items to be worn by Aaron, the first high priest of Israel.  Being the high priest of Israel, Aaron is a type of Christ.  It says in Exodus 28:9-12:

And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold. And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before JEHOVAH upon his two shoulders for a memorial.

Aaron will bear the names of the children of Israel.  We do not think of this too much because the garment is just being made, but the names of the children of Israel will be upon his shoulders as he performs his high priestly duties.  Once a year he will enter the Holy of holies with the sacrificial blood and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat.  The mercy seat covers the ark and inside the ark are the Ten Commandments, representing the Law of God.  So Aaron the high priest of Israel comes there bearing their names and this would point to the Lord Jesus bearing the sins of His elect people whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  Christ bore your name and my name and the name of every person He intended to save throughout the history of the world when He died for sin at the world’s foundation.  At that point He died for us so it was as if our blood was shed in Him.  That is why God refers in Luke, chapter 11, to all the prophets whose blood was shed from the foundation of the world; all of God’s people are prophets.  The Bible says, “Thy sons and they daughters shall prophesy,” and that points to all the people of God speaking forth the Word of God.  That is the character of the true believer.  All the prophets (not just some of them) had their blood shed at the foundation of the world.  Some people try to change that because they do not like what the Bible says, but it is what the Bible says, not what EBible says or what Mr. Camping said or what I said or what any individual said.  It is the Bible that says that Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  Many do not like that idea because they are stubbornly set in their understanding that Jesus paid for sins in 33AD.  “That is what I learned.  Who does not know that?  I am going to hold onto that belief no matter what the Bible says.”  But the Bible says that Christ did not make payment then.  He died as the “Lamb,” the offering of God for sin, at the foundation of the world.  The work of Christ for His people was finished at the foundation of the world.  The blood of the elect that were predestinated before the foundation of the world was shed at that time.  I have mentioned that a few times, so let me quickly read about this in Luke 11:49-50:

Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

Of course, there is more involved in this verse, but the statement is plain and it fits with the rest of the Bible, like Revelation 13:8, where it says that Christ was slain from the foundation of the world or where it says the works were finished from the foundation of the world.  It fits perfectly and it was at that point we died in Him.

By the way, the spiritual definition of dying or giving up one’s life is to shed blood, because the “life is in the blood.”  Christ did not literally shed blood at the foundation of the world, but He did give up His life and He died.  Therefore, it says He shed blood from the foundation of the world.  He gave up His life and in Him we also shed our blood and died.  That is why it refers to the “blood of all the prophets.”  It does not mean just some prophets and it was not over time, but the blood of all the prophets was shed at one point, the foundation of the world.  The only way that can be true and harmonize with all the Biblical information is when we understand that is the point of the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Then everything fits and falls into place. 

Getting back to our present study and the names written on the gate and the names written on the foundations of the wall of the city, we find in Exodus 28 that the names of the children of Israel were written on the shoulders of the ephod.  A little further on it says in Exodus 28:15:

And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work…

Then it says in Exodus 28:21:

And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.

And, finally it says in Exodus 28:29:

And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before JEHOVAH continually.

Aaron bore their names on the breastplate which covers the heart.  Of course, God has something spiritual in view.  He is painting a beautiful picture of our great High Priest after the order of Melchisedec who bore the names of His people upon His heart.  Have you wondered why God said, “A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise”?  Sometimes we misunderstand and we think, “Oh, we have to have a broken and a contrite heart before God will accept us.”  That is not the case.  You can hit “rock bottom” in this world and some people have done so.  They could be homeless or in poverty, but they could still be as proud of heart as anyone else, even as a person that may have lots of money and lots of earthly possessions.  It is impossible for afflictions of this world to break the heart spiritually.  That is not what God means when He refers to a “broken and a contrite heart.”  Let us look at Psalm 51:17:

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Did you hear the first part of that verse?  They are the “sacrifices of God.”  That is telling us that it is the sacrifice of God, not man.  This is what God accepts and that sacrifice was the breaking of the heart of Christ on behalf of His people.  Why?  Just as Aaron bore their names on his heart in a figure, Christ bore the sins of His people upon His own heart or His own soul.  That is what we read in Isaiah, chapter 53.  Keep in mind that in the Bible, “heart,” “mind” and “soul” are all synonyms.  It says in Isaiah 53:10-11:

Yet it pleased JEHOVAH to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of JEHOVAH shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

It could just as easily have said, “He shall bear their names,” because as fallen human beings we carry the name of a sinner and we have multitudes of iniquities.  When Christ bore the name of the children of Israel or the Apostles of the Lamb, He was bearing their sins in His soul or upon His heart.  Here is what the Bible tells us happened, in Psalm 69:9:

For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

This is Jesus speaking.  The reproaches of the sinners God had determined to save fell on Christ. 

Their sins are an offense and reproach against God, but they were laid upon Christ.  This is obviously a Messianic Psalm because it says in Psalm 69:21:

They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

This is clearly language that identifies with the cross.  Then if we look back at the previous verse, it says in Psalm 69:20:

Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

Again, the word “reproach” is found that we saw in verse 9: “The reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.”  As a result, those reproaches broke Christ’s heart.   This is another proof verse that Jesus is God: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart.”

What does God do when He saves an individual?  He takes away the heart of stone (the arrogant and proud heart of man) and He instills a new heart and a new spirit and that heart is patterned after the heart of Christ.  That is why the Lord says of David, “He is a man after mine own heart.”  What kind of heart?  It is a broken heart.  The true believers are broken in heart, but not because of our own sins when we see the evil of it all and our grief and sorrow leads us to a breaking point – that will never happen.  But after God does a work of salvation in changing our heart, we receive the spirit that is after God’s own spirit and a heart after Christ’s own heart, broken and contrite.  The evidence will be submission and humility and a desire to do the will of God.  There will be no more pride and arrogance and no stubborn rebellion from that heart because it has been made new.

So the language of the names written on the “gates” or the names written on the twelve “foundations” directs us to the names of God’s people that were written on the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ when He died for the sins of His people.