10 And he took me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and let me see the holy town Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and a great voice at my back, as of a horn, came to my ears,
And he took me away in the Spirit into a waste land: and I saw a woman seated on a bright red beast, full of evil names, having seven heads and ten horns,
In the twenty-fifth year after we had been taken away prisoners, in the first month of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the town was taken, on the very same day, the hand of the Lord was on me, and he took me there. In the visions of God he took me into the land of Israel, and put me down on a very high mountain, on which there was, as it seemed, a building like a town opposite me. He took me there, and I saw a man, looking like brass, with a linen cord in his hand and a measuring rod: and he was stationed in the doorway. And the man said to me, Son of man, see with your eyes and give hearing with your ears, and take to heart everything I am going to let you see; for in order that I might let you see them, you have come here: and give an account of all you see to the children of Israel. And there was a wall on the outside of the house all round, and in the man's hand there was a measuring rod six cubits long by a cubit and a hand's measure: so he took the measure of the building from side to side, one rod; and from base to top, one rod. Then he came to the doorway looking to the east, and went up by its steps; and he took the measure of the doorstep, one rod wide. And the watchmen's rooms were one rod long and one rod wide; and the space between the rooms was five cubits; the doorstep of the doorway, by the covered way of the doorway inside, was one rod. And he took the measure of the covered way of the doorway inside, Eight cubits; and its uprights, two cubits; the covered way of the doorway was inside. And the rooms of the doorway on the east were three on this side and three on that; all three were of the same size; and the uprights on this side and on that were of the same size. And he took the measure of the opening of the doorway, ten cubits wide; and the way down the doorway was thirteen cubits; And the space in front of the rooms, a cubit on this side and a cubit on that side; and the rooms six cubits on this side and six cubits on that. And he took the measure of the doorway from the back of one room to the back of the other, twenty-five cubits across, from door to door. And he took the measure of the covered way, twenty cubits; and opening from the covered way of the doorway was the open square round about. And from before the opening of the doorway to before the inner covered way of the doorway was fifty cubits. And the rooms and their uprights had sloping windows inside the doorway all round, and in the same way the covered way had windows all round on the inside: and on every upright there were palm-trees. Then he took me into the outer square, and there were rooms and a stone floor made for the open square all round: there were thirty rooms on the stone floor. And the stone floor was by the side of the doorways, and was as wide as the doorways were long, even the lower floor. Then he took the measure of the square across, from before the lower doorway inside to before the inner doorway outside, one hundred cubits. And he took me in the direction of the north, And there was a doorway to the outer square, looking to the north; and he took the measure of it to see how wide and how long it was. And it had three rooms on this side of it and three on that; its uprights and its covered ways were the same size as those of the first doorway: it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. And its windows, and the windows of its covered ways, and its palm-trees, were the same as those of the doorway looking to the east; and there were seven steps up to it; and the covered way went inside. And there was a doorway to the inner square opposite the doorway on the north, like the doorway on the east; and he took the measure from doorway to doorway, a hundred cubits. And he took me to the south, and I saw a doorway looking to the south: and he took the measure of its rooms and its uprights and its covered ways by these measures. And there were windows in it and in the covered way all round, like the other windows: it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. And there were seven steps up to it, and its covered way went inside: and it had palm-trees, one on this side and one on that, on its uprights. And there was a doorway to the inner square looking to the south: he took the measure from doorway to doorway to the south, a hundred cubits. Then he took me to the inner square by the south doorway: and he took the measure of the south doorway by these measures; And the rooms in it and the uprights and the covered ways, by these measures: And there were windows in it and in the covered way all round: it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. The covered way was on the side nearest the outer square; and there were palm-trees on the uprights: and there were eight steps going up to it. And he took me into the inner square facing the east: and he took the measure of the doorway by these measures; And of the rooms in it and its uprights and its covered ways, by these measures: and there were windows in it and in the covered way round about: it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. And the covered way was on the side nearest the outer square; there were palm-trees on the uprights, on this side and on that: and there were eight steps going up to it. And he took me to the north doorway: and he took the measure of it by these measures; Its rooms, its uprights, and its covered way had the same measures, and its covered way had windows all round: it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. Its uprights were on the side nearest to the outer square; there were palm-trees on the uprights, on this side and on that: and there were eight steps going up to it. And there was a room with a door in the covered way of the doorway, where the burned offering was washed. And in the covered way of the doorway there were two tables on this side and two tables on that side, on which the burned offering and the sin-offering and the offering for error were put to death: On the outer side, to the north, as one goes up to the opening of the doorway, were two tables. There were four tables on one side and four tables on the other, by the side of the doorway; eight tables, on which they put to death the beasts for the offerings. And there were four tables for the burned offering, made of cut stone, one and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide and a cubit high, where the instruments were placed which were used for putting to death the burned offering and the beasts for the offerings. And they had edges all round as wide as a man's hand: and on the tables was the flesh of the offerings. And he took me into the inner square, and there were two rooms in the inner square, one at the side of the north doorway, facing south; and one at the side of the south doorway, facing north. And he said to me, This room, facing south, is for the priests who have the care of the house. And the room facing north is for the priests who have the care of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok, who, from among the sons of Levi, come near to the Lord to do the work of his house. And he took the measure of the open square, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide, being square; and the altar was in front of the house. Then he took me to the covered way before the house, and took the measure of its uprights, five cubits on one side and five cubits on the other: and the doorway was fourteen cubits wide; and the side-walls of the doorway were three cubits on one side and three cubits on the other. The covered way was twenty cubits long and twelve cubits wide, and they went up to it by ten steps; and there were pillars by the uprights, one on one side and one on the other.
And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away; and the Ethiopian saw him no more, for he went on his way full of joy.
I have knowledge of a man in Christ, fourteen years back (if he was in the body, or out of the body, I am not able to say, but God only), who was taken up to the third heaven. And I have knowledge of such a man (if he was in the body, or out of the body, I am not able to say, but God only), How he was taken up into Paradise, and words came to his ears which may not be said, and which man is not able to say.
Straight away I was in the Spirit: and I saw a high seat in heaven, and one was seated on it;
And I saw the holy town, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, like a bride made beautiful for her husband.
And straight away, when I have gone from you, the spirit of the Lord will take you away, I have no idea where, so that when I come and give word to Ahab, and he sees you not, he will put me to death: though I, your servant, have been a worshipper of the Lord from my earliest years.
And they said, Your servants have with us here fifty strong men; be pleased to let them go in search of Elijah; for it may be that the spirit of the Lord has taken him up and put him down on some mountain or in some valley. But he said, Do not send them.
And the wind, lifting me up, took me away: and I went in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of the Lord was strong on me.
And he put out the form of a hand and took me by the hair of my head; and the wind, lifting me up between the earth and the heaven, took me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the way into the inner door facing to the north; where was the seat of the image of envy.
And the wind, lifting me up, took me to the east doorway of the Lord's house, looking to the east: and at the door I saw twenty-five men; and among them I saw Jaazaniah, the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, rulers of the people.
And the other five thousand, measured from side to side, in front of the twenty-five thousand, is to be for common use, for the town, for living in and for a free space: and the town will be in the middle of it. And these will be its measures: the north side, four thousand five hundred, and the south side, four thousand five hundred, and on the east side, four thousand five hundred, and on the west side, four thousand five hundred. And the town will have a free space on the north of two hundred and fifty, on the south of two hundred and fifty, on the east of two hundred and fifty, and on the west of two hundred and fifty. And the rest, in measure as long as the holy offering, will be ten thousand to the east and ten thousand to the west: and its produce will be for food for the workers of the town. It will be farmed by workers of the town from all the tribes of Israel. The size of the offering all together is to be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand: you are to make the holy offering a square, together with the property of the town. And the rest is to be for the prince, on this side and on that side of the holy offering and of the property of the town, in front of the twenty-five thousand to the east, as far as the east limit, and to the west, in front of the twenty-five thousand, as far as the west limit, and of the same measure as those parts; it will be the property of the prince: and the holy offering and holy place of the house will be in the middle of it. And the property of the Levites and the property of the town will be in the middle of the prince's property; between the limit of Judah's part and the limit of Benjamin's part will be for the prince.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Revelation 21
Commentary on Revelation 21 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 21
Hitherto the prophecy of this book has presented to us a very remarkable mixture of light and shade, prosperity and adversity, mercy and judgment, in the conduct of divine Providence towards the church in the world: now, at the close of all, the day breaks, and the shadows flee away; a new world now appears, the former having passed away. Some are willing to understand all that is said in these last two chapters of the state of the church even here on earth, in the glory of the latter days; but others, more probably, take it as a representation of the perfect and triumphant state of the church in heaven. Let but the faithful saints and servants of God wait awhile, and they shall not only see, but enjoy, the perfect holiness and happiness of that world. In this chapter you have,
Rev 21:1-8
We have here a more general account of the happiness of the church of God in the future state, by which it seems most safe to understand the heavenly state.
Rev 21:9-27
We have already considered the introduction to the vision of the new Jerusalem in a more general idea of the heavenly state; we now come to the vision itself, where observe,