He Reigns
Bible reading
9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
– Revelation 21:9-27 (NIVUK)
15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honour of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Devotional
Have you ever gone on a trip and seen something that you thought was incredibly beautiful? All you could do was stare and marvel at what you were seeing. Maybe it was an ocean view, a waterfall, a mountain range or a flower in full bloom. You took so many photos of what you were seeing but none of the pictures did justice to what you experienced. The photos were close to reality, but the vibrancy was missing. When you tried to explain what you saw to family and friends they didn’t get as excited as you because your words could not convey the beauty you had seen. All you were left with is a longing to return and bring as many people with you as possible so they could see it too.
We are reading what John was seeing and we have that same feeling of knowing it must have been incredible and yet not quite understanding the magnificence of it all. John is using all the vocabulary he has to try and describe the indescribable. He’s seeing what no living person has seen before – this is our home, the destination we have lived our lives to see and experience. John has a sneak-peak, and I can only imagine what he must have felt while seeing the new heaven and new earth join and become one.
As we try to imagine the colours, the richness and the beauty of heaven I want to focus on two things that caught my attention.
First, there is no temple! I´ve gone to church since I was born. It is more than a ritual that I do. Church is where I go to learn, to be challenged, to be loved, to be confronted, to laugh and to cry. I was baptized in a church, married in a church and will be buried from a church. My life has centred around church because that is where we gather to focus, in community, on God. But in heaven, there will be no need for a building – not a church and not a temple. God and the Lamb are the temple. We will always be at Church because we will always be with God and the Lamb.
The second thing to notice is that there is no night. No darkness, no fear, no threat. Heaven is permanently safe, secure, and full of the glory of God shining in it and the Lamb is its lamp. Imagine living in perfect safety, perfect rest, and perfect communion with God.
This vision that John sees belongs to those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. That book is still open, and names are being added every day. Whose name do you want to see written there? Pray for them, talk with them, and share Jesus with them. This is too perfect a vision to not share it with everyone!
– Connie Main Duarte
This devotional is part of a series that helps us navigate the texts of the book of Revelation with fresh eyes. A new devotional every Saturday.
These devotionals are available in Portuguese and in English.