A VIEW OF HEAVEN                                        Part 1 Everyone has the desire to go to heaven one day.  God has given us a view of that place we read about in Holy Writ called heaven.  It is described in Revelation 21 and 22 as the “Holy City. . .coming down from God. . .”   As we go through chapters 21 and 22, we must realize that John is using symbolic language, as he has through the books.  If we read literal meanings into these descriptions, we distort the purpose.  As I have pointed out in my recent class, Revelation is filled with Old Testament imagery.  There are two Old Testament passages that figure prominently in the imagery in chapters 21 and 22.  They are Isaiah 60, where the prophet sees a picture of glorified Zion, and Ezekiel 40-48, where the prophet describes the ideal temple and city. In Revelation 21:1-23 we see a description of the new Jerusalem.  In verses 24-27 John describes the inhabitants of the city, and in verses 22:1-5 is a description of life in the city. “And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying ‘Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” (21:9-10).  We see here a metaphor which combines three separate strands of tradition.  Firstly is the idea of Israel as the bride of God (or the church as the bride of Christ).   The second idea is of a mountain, a high mountain, where a revelation comes.  The third idea is of Jerusalem as the holy city.  These thoughts are combined in one.  In another part of Revelation, John discusses the new Jerusalem as a bride.  In the Old Testament the mountain is where God made Himself known.  He revealed Himself to Moses on Mount Sinai; and other prophets had experiences on mountains, such as Elijah.  Jesus was taken up into a mountain to be tempted.  He preached the Sermon on the Mount, and He was transfigured on a mountain.  So in the Bible the mountain is a place of spiritual intensity.  We find, also, many Old Testament references to Jerusalem as “the Holy City.” “. . .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:  On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates” (21:11-13).  This is a reference to Ezekiel 48, where the prophet describes the gates which lead into the Holy City.  There are three on each side, making a total of twelve; however, John lists them in a slightly different order than Ezekiel, and the purpose is different.  In Ezekiel the purpose of the many gates is to allow the nations to go out to their allotted places, where, in Revelation the purpose of the gates is to allow the nations to come in.  We could say perhaps that the twelve gates symbolized perfect access. “And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles” (21:14).   These twelve foundation stones would provide perfect strength.  In Ephesians 2 Paul reminds us that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.  John, himself, is an apostle, perhaps the last remaining apostle at the time he was writing the Revelation in about A.D. 95.  John stressed the need for apostolic witnesses and apostolic tradition.  Everything that the church does, even today, is based on what the apostles said and wrote in Holy Writ. John then says, “And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.  And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breath:  and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs.  The length and the breath and the height of it are equal” (21:15-16).  In Revelation, chapter 11, John was given a measuring rod, and this measuring rod showed that the church was under persecution and needed God’s protection.  The measuring rod here is not for the purpose of showing protection but for showing the size and grandeur of the city.  It’s more like the Old Testament proto-type in Ezekiel 40, where there is a measuring of the ideal temple.  This is a golden reed, appropriate for the measuring of such a glorious city. The city is laid out as a square, similar to the city of Ezekiel, a perfect square.  This reminds of  the cube- like shape of the most holy place in the tabernacle.  So, in addition to the perfect access provided by the twelve gates and the perfect strength provided by the twelve foundation stones, we see the perfect size.   Some get the impression, of the description given here, that the important thing is the size per se.  That is not the purpose, the purpose is not to tell us how big heaven is and how many it will hold.  Nothing in our imagination or experience can compare to this picture of heaven and new Jerusalem.   After the measurement of the city, there is a measurement of the wall. (21:17-18)  Why is there a wall?   Ancient cities were built with walls for protection.  The wall is a symbol of the protection which God affords those who are in the New Jerusalem,  The danger and trouble and heartaches of life are over.  It is a place where gold is transparent glass.  I don’t know of any gold on earth that is transparent.  John again is stretching language beyond the physical limits to convey to us the wonder and beauty of heaven. We’ll begin here in our study next week of this beautiful place called heaven. Bill Young