The New Age

Revelation 21 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Revelation 21
The New Jerusalem

1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for

the first heaven and the first earth had passed

away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the

Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of

heaven from G-d, prepared as a bride beautifully

dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud

voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling

of G-d is with men, and he will live with them.

They will be his people, and G-d himself will be

with them and be their G-d. 4He will wipe every

tear from their eyes. There will be no more death

or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order

of things has passed away."

5He who was seated on the throne said, "I am

making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this

down, for these words are trustworthy and true."



This morning, as I was taking the boys to school,

my older son started to ask me about the Alamo.

He's a fan of the old west. I'm glad that he has

an interest in American history. It's good to

learn a little bit about history. Maybe it's

besause he's still too young, but in conversation

I try to get him to see that history, as much as

writers try to spin the story, is a record of

human folly, as much as anything. Maybe that's

why Henry Ford was quoted as saying that 'history

is mostly bunk'. As a youngster, I remember my

first introduction to history was reading books

about the period of American history during the

Prohibition, and the famous Chicago gangster, Al

Capone. It was only many years later that I

began to realize that the history book stories

were edited versions. They leave alot out.

Years later, my interest turned to the history

surrounding the advancement of the theory of

evolution and the history of science. And then

history surrounding certain aspects of the

Biblical narrative. Over the years, I've read

quite a bit about these areas of history, and I'm

left with the conclusion that I still have alot

to learn. One thing that becomes obvious is that

each writer tends to support their particular

bias. It can be misleading. Modern writers seem

to favor distortion even more than in times past.

Hidden agendas are not very well hidden. My

preference is only that my son would be able to

get the facts. He prefers to find heros in

history. Ah, good old ancient greek tradition.


The passage above describes a new age. It's the

real deal. It's hard for me to read this passage

without considering the implications. Who is the

hero in this prophecy? Is the writer trying to

give us the facts or is there a hidden agenda? I

like the way it's written; 'Then I saw...' is

repeated over and over throughout the book. We

have in these passages, an eyewitness account.

He is only writing what he saw and heard during

the time that he was taken into this 'vision'.

Of course, the sceptic would have us believe that

he was out in the sun too long. It was all a

hallucination of some kind. But he clears the

air of that notion when he writes that he was

explicitly told to write it all down. I'm

thinking that if he had not been given explicit

instructions to do so, he would have kept it all

to himself. Believe it or not, not everyone has

a narcissistic impulse. Remember that the man

who wrote this was at the end of the line. He

was in permanent exile. He had spent his days in

anonymity, serving only a desire to further the

preaching of the gospel; the reason that he wound

up as a political prisoner on what was an ancient

version of Gitmo. The question that I ask is,

What is it about the gospel that frightens people

so much? It's supposed to be good news. The

only other question is, how to interpret what he

saw?


If there is a hero in the book, it would have to

be Jesus, who returns to lay claim to the title

of the King. It's his world and he'll be taking

it back some day. I suppose that could be a

frightening idea to anyone who isn't fully

convinced of the legitimacy of their power and

position. For those without power and position

to bother them, well, it sounds like a change for

the better -- no more sorrow and pain; a place of

genuine peace and rest. It's a vision of

absolute equality. There isn't anything to fight

about. If you think about it, it's a place

unlike anything we've seen around here. There is

no earthly parallel. There is no reference to

time. It's a unique vision of the future. As

far as I know, there just isn't another view of

the future that includes an entirely new

universe, in the sense that the present universe

is replaced by one that's brand new. If there is

any way to wedge the doctrine of evolution into

other christian doctrines, this doctrine of

eschatology presents the final defeat of

evolution.


As far as a hidden agenda goes, as I read the

book, the writer seems as amazed by what he sees

as will anyone who reads it. I have a commentary

on the book of Revelation, and I realize that

there is alot within its pages to disagree over.

There is alot of room, within the metaphorical

language used in certain passages to entertain

uncertainty. But in those passages where he

writes, '...I saw...' or '...I

heard...' there is no room to suggest, Well, what

he really saw was... or what he really heard

was... Yes, it's a unique eyewitness account of

future events. And the events are described in

such an unusual way that it would be hard to

convince me that there could be any sort of

sophisticated hidden agenda.


Then there is the context. I don't have much

detail about the life of John. But given what

he's written, there isn't any reason to expect

tht once he went into exile that his burning

passion for truth and love, that's clearly

expressed in the gospel, suddenly turns to a

passion for the kind of judgement and wrath

that's described in the Revelation. Nah, I don't

think that there is anything in what he wrote

except the truth of what happened to him. And I

get the sense that he is just as amazed and

puzzled by it all as others have been in years

since. John was told to write, so he wrote.


6He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and

the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who

is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from

the spring of the water of life. 7He who

overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be

his G-d and he will be my son. 8But the cowardly,

the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the

sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts,

the idolaters and all liars—their place will be

in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the

second death."


What I find in some of the characters in history,

is only that men are subject to the same problems

and passions in every age. Isn't that what makes

Shakespeare's writing timeless? He was able to

see the characteristics that are common to all

men in all times. I don't have any problems with

the Revelation. Not because I can explain

everything that is described in the book, but

because I see that it lays out a completely

believable scenario for the end of time. In the

end, the Creator will have to take back control

of his creation by force. It will not be

surrendered. So when I hear the silly questions

about why G-d allows this or that to happen, I

see that he has given us liberty to act as we

choose to. We can do as he wishes or we can do

things another way. Look again at the parable

that Jesus spoke from yesterday:


Matthew 24

45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant,

whom the master has put in charge of the servants

in his household to give them their food at the

proper time? 46It will be good for that servant

whose master finds him doing so when he returns.

47I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge

of all his possessions. 48But suppose that

servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master

is staying away a long time,' 49and he then

begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and

drink with drunkards. 50The master of that

servant will come on a day when he does not

expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.

51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a

place with the hypocrites, where there will be

weeping and gnashing of teeth.


He will not put up with bad behavior forever.

And as soon as he puts an end to evil in his

creation, a creation that was spoiled by Adam's

rebellion, he replaces the old run down

creation, a creation irrepairably defiled by sin,

with something completely new. Something we've

never seen before. And again, Is anyone paying

attention to the script?