Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #32 of Revelation chapter 21 and we are going to read Revelation 21:19-20:

And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

I will stop reading there.  We had gotten into verse 19 and we were discussing the 12 foundations which God said were “garnished” with precious stones.  We looked at “jasper” and we saw how God relates that to Himself.  Regarding “sapphires,” we went back to Exodus 28 where God described the breastplate of judgment that the high priest wore and it had 12 stones with the names of the children of Israel and the “jasper” and “sapphire” were mentioned.

As we go on, we see that the third precious stone is the “chalcedony” and it is used only in this verse.  It is a compound word made up of two words that likely mean “copper appearance” or “copper like.”  I do not know what else we can learn from this.   I am sure there is more to learn, but I do not know what it is, so we will just move on.  We do know that the 12 stones identify with the Lord Jesus Christ and, so too, would the chalcedony. 

The fourth stone is the “emerald” and we saw the emerald in Exodus 28 on the breastplate of judgment, but let us go to Exodus 39 because God repeats the language we read in the prior chapter 28 concerning the breastplate of judgment.  It says in Exodus 39:8-14:

And he made the breastplate of cunning work, like the work of the ephod; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled. And they set in it four rows of stones: the first row was a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this was the first row. And the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.  And the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they were inclosed in ouches of gold in their inclosings. And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name, according to the twelve tribes.

It is interesting how God speaks here of engraving precious stones and today we have an entire jewelry industry that engraves precious stones, and it comes right from the Bible.

But, here again, God is describing the “breastplate of cunning work” and He is listing the stones, just as He did in Exodus 28. 

We also find the emerald mentioned in an interesting place where God speaks of Tyrus, a representation of mankind.  It says of Tyrus, in Ezekiel 28:12-15:

Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

God is speaking of mankind and we know it is man because God says, “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth,” and this cannot apply to Satan.  The “precious stones” that were his covering have application to man that was created in the image of God and was perfect until iniquity was found in him.  We do not know how long it was before Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree, but man was perfect until that point.  In his perfection and purity and holiness, every precious stone was his covering.  Then God mentioned many of the stones that were on the breastplate of judgment, as well as the stones of the foundations of the wall of salvation found in Revelation 21. 

Again, we recognize some of the precious stones: sardius, topaz, beryl, jasper, sapphire and emerald.  At this point in the beginning of the creation, man was “perfect in beauty.”  The creature man was created good and dwelt on the earth a short time before he sinned and it was as though he had this beautiful covering of righteousness.  It was not the imputed righteousness of Christ at that point, but it was righteousness as when a man walks uprightly according to the Law of God and Adam did so at the beginning and, therefore, he had the precious stones for a covering. 

But, in Revelation, chapter 21, God is describing the new creatures He has made “born again” as new beings in both their souls and bodies (at the end of this world) and then God creates a new heaven and new earth and all is new.  If we could go back to Genesis 1 God said, “Let there be…” and He formed a glorious, beautiful and wonderful earth, heaven, sun, moon and stars and new creatures made to inhabit the earth, with man as the “crown jewel” covered with precious stones, but then iniquity was found in man when he sinned and he brought ruin upon mankind and a curse upon the creation.  Now we have the chaos and the mess of this sin-cursed earth because of man’s sin, but God worked out a salvation program for the history of this world and now He has gathered all His people and formed them into a new holy city. 

Revelation, chapter 21 is the unveiling of the glorious new heavens and new earth inhabited by new creatures with no sin.  More than that, we have a guarantee from God that there will never be an occasion for sin to enter into it.  The former things are forgotten, never to be remembered.  There is eternal life and no more death.  With that language, God is guaranteeing that there can be no more sin because sin brings death.  So now man has his covering again.  He is covered with the precious stones.  The wall of salvation has foundations that are adorned with these precious stones – the purity, the holiness, the righteousness and sinless perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, it will always be “perfect in beauty” as the first creation could not be.

Let us go back to our verse in Revelation 21:20:

… The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite…

I am going to try to speed this up a little bit because the “sardonyx” is only used here, but it is a precious stone that points to the beauty and purity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The stone “sardius” is mentioned in Exodus 28, Exodus 39 and Ezekiel 28 and it, again, points to Christ and the righteousness He imputes to the body of believers.

I am going to comment on the “chrysolite” and “chrysoprasus” together because the prefix “chryso” is derived from the Greek word for “gold” and, again, that points to purity.

The “beryl” is found in some interesting places.  Let us go to Song of Solomon, chapter 5, which is a beautiful account of Christ and His eternal bride, the body of believers.  Speaking of Jesus, it says in Solomon 5:10-14:

My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.

Here, God used two precious stones to describe Christ because these stones describe that which is “perfect in beauty.”  These stones describe sinless perfection, so God applies it to the Beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Also, as it describes the four living creatures, which represent the glory of God, it says in Ezekiel 1:16:

The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

The appearance of these “four creatures” was like the color of the “beryl.”  It is God’s perfect beauty of holiness.  That is also why it was said in Revelation 4 that the Lord God was seated upon the throne and it was said to look upon as a jasper stone and a sardine stone – perfect holiness.  The “precious stones” represent that perfection.

The “beryl” and the “topaz” are also found in Exodus 28, Exodus 39 and Ezekiel 28.  As God discusses the 12 stones of the breastplate of judgment in Exodus and the 10 stones in Ezekiel 28, we, again, see “purity.”

The eleventh stone is a “jacinth,” which is used only twice in the Bible.  It is used once here and it is also used in Revelation, chapter 9 in the description of the 200 million horsemen, which are a picture of everyone God has saved out of the entire history of the world.  They are numbered here to be 200 million, which is likely an actual number, but we do not know for sure.  In this account of the Day of Judgment, it says in Revelation 9:16-17:

And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

The breastplates of the 200 million are said to have “fire and brimstone,” but also “jacinth,” a precious stone.  That helps us to identify who God refers to, as He cannot be describing an army of false prophets, but He is describing the entire company of the elect, all the saints that were also described as being on horseback in Revelation, chapter 19.  The “jacinth” is a precious stone that describes purity and, in this case, it would apply to the saints of God as they go forth in the day of battle in Judgment Day.  Christ is judging the world with “ten thousands of his saints.”  It says in the Song of Solomon that Christ is “the chiefest among ten thousand.”  The number “10,000” points to the completeness of everyone He has saved.  So here is Christ and His saints, as the Bible says, “Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?” 

The last stone found is the “amethyst.”  It is also found in Exodus 28 and Exodus 39, in regard to the breastplate of judgment worn by the high priest.  The amethyst is also one of those precious stones.

We will continue in our study of Revelation 21 with verse 21 the next time we get together.  God is going to speak of the 12 gates as 12 pearls: “every several gate was of one pearl.”  When we think of this world and what it values, it is often the “jewels.”  It is the gold, silver, pearls and precious stones, so God uses the language of the world in speaking of the things that have the most worth and value to describe the incredible blessings He has bestowed on His people and to represent the purity of His people.  These precious stones, like diamonds and gold, are valuable because of their purity, so God uses this language to typify His people in the new creation.