Insight from Revelation 21\u201322:5:<\/p>\n
These verses are, in many ways, connected to Genesis 1-3. In fact, it would be a great help to the preacher or teacher to read the first three chapters of the Bible before reading these verses in Revelation.<\/p>\n
But while these verses are connected to Genesis 1-3, they are, at the same time, very different from Genesis 1-3. A new Adam (Jesus) and his bride (the church) have been placed in a new garden. The garden is not small. It is enormous! And there is no threat of evil. Adam and his bride have conquered the serpent! There is no curse. There are no tears. There is no death. Everything flourishes. The dwelling place of God is with people!<\/p>\n
The reader needs to remember that this is apocalyptic literature. John is still using symbols in his writing. Thus, the reader needs to think very carefully about the symbols and what the symbols might represent. Many of these symbols are drawn from Genesis 1-2. Many are drawn from other portions of the Bible (particularly the Old Testament).<\/p>\n
For instance, John measures the city and it is a perfect golden cube. The only other perfect golden cube in the Bible is the Holy of Holies in the ancient temple! That was a small holy \u201cspace\u201d surrounded by a great deal of space that was not holy. In the new heavens and the new earth, however, everything will be holy! God will be celebrated in every place!<\/p>\n
In the original Holy of Holies, only the high priest was welcome. In this new Holy of Holies, however, all people are welcome because all people are holy! All people are able to freely commune with God.<\/p>\n
The symbols in these verses are intended to bring help and encouragement and strength to the churches. This means that the preachers or teachers need to carefully study these symbols and help the people think very hard about the meaning behind the symbols. The symbols in these verses are grace from God for the churches. They help the reader persevere during these times of intense suffering.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_crdt_document":""},"class_list":["post-4758","reading-plan","type-reading-plan","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan\/4758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reading-plan"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}