556 The vision of the heavenly Jerusalem; SECT. XXV. SECT. Rev. A sublime and particular description of the splendour, glory, purity, AND REVELATION XXI. 9. ND after he, who sat on the throne, had Rev. XXI. 9, to REV. XXI. 94 AND there came un to me one of the seven angels, which I have just now mentioned, there came to me one had the seven vials full seven last thee the bride the Lamb's wife. 10And he carried me ry of God and ber XXI.9. of the seven angels who had the seven vials full of the plagues, and talked of the seven last plagues which had lately been with me, saying,Come poured out; and he spake with me, saying, hither, I will shew Come, and I will shew thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb, and thou shalt observe how beautiful 10 and glorious she is. And he brought me, in a vision of the spirit, to a great and high moun- away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and he shewed me that great city, the holy tain, and shewed me Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from that great city, the hoGod; which I understood to be an emblem of ly Jerusalem, descending out of heaven the church of Christ, in its most happy and from God. 11 glorious state. And it was indeed a most de- 11 Having the glolightful object to behold, having the glory of light was like unto a God shining round about it; and its lustre [was] stone most precious, like to that of a most precious gem, bright as a even like a jasper jasper stone, and clear as crystal; for the whole stone, clear as crystal; city, as it was represented to me pendent in the air, shone with an elegant and amazing lustre. 12 And it appeared having a great and high wall, for ever to secure it from all the attacks of its enemies; having also twelve gates, and over the gates there appeared twelve angels, as a celestial guard posted there; and there were ten thereon, which are names written upon them, which were the tribes of the children names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel; of Israel. to signify that it was the dwelling of the Israel 13 of God. And the city made a complete square, 13 On the having on the east side, which I first viewed, north, three gates; three gates; on the north, three gates; on the on the south, three south, three gates; and on the west, three gates. gates, and on the west, 14 And as I saw the city suspended, as it were, in the air, I had an opportunity of observing, that a The twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.] Such a regard continually maintained to the Jews, and their manners, and their temple-worship, might have a great tendency to conciliate their regards: and may the 12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates; and at the gates twelve angels, and names writ the names of the twelve east, three gates; on the three gates. 14 And the wall of the them the names of the Lamb. den reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof. as the breadth and thousand furiongs; the equal, Which was like to pure gold; 557 XXV. Rev. the city had twelve the wall of the city had twelve foundations; and FCT. foundations, and in in them, the names of the twelve apostles of the the twelve apostles of Lamb were engraven; to signify, how great a dependence the church had on their testimony, XXI.14. and what an influence the gospel, which they preached, had upon raising this noble and Divine 15 And he that talk- structure. And he that spake with me had, as 15 ed with me, had a gol- the angel who appeared in vision to Ezekiel (chap. xl. 3,) a measuring rod, but with this thereof, and the wall circumstance of illustrious distinction, that it was a golden reed; and it was given him, that he might measure the city, and its gates, and 16 And the city li- its wall. And the city was a complete square ; 16 eth four-square, and and its length was exactly equal to its breadth ; the length is as large and he measured the city with the reed, and each he measured the city side was twelve thousand stadia, or furlongs. with the reed; twelve And, which was most extraordinary of all, it length, and the breadth appeared to me, in this vision, as a perfect cube, and the height of it are so that its length, and its breadth, and its heighth, were equal; which was an intimation how impossible it was for any of its enemies to scale the 17 And he measur- bulwarks that defended it. And he measured 17 ed the wall thereof, an the thickness of its wall, and found it one hunbundred and forty and four cubits, according dred forty-four cubits, the square of twelve ; and to the measure of a this was according to the measure of a man, that man, that is, of the is, of the angel who had the measuring-rod in his hand, and accurately took the dimensions of 18 And the building it. And the building of its wall was like a 18 of the wall of it was of complete rock of jasper, and the city [was] jasper and the city : was pure gold, like un- pure gold, and it was bright and clear like reto clear glass. fined glass. And to signify how firm the foun- 19 19 And the foundations of the walls of the city, which were the the city were garnish- emblems of the apostles and their doctrine, ed with all manner of [were] they appeared, adorned with every preprecious stones. The cious stone, like so many vast and solid rocks of jasper; the second, a gems, lying under the gates, and appearing rasapphire; the third, a diant and glorious, while the city hung, as I chalcedony; the fourth said before, suspended in my sight. The first foundation [was] jasper; the second sapphire; the third chalcedony; these were on the east 20 The fifth, a sar- side; the fourth emerald; the fifth sardonyx; 20 angel. dations of the wall of first foundation was an emerald; donyx; b Its length, its breadth, and its heighth were equal.] As this is quite inconceivable, with regard to any cubical structure, which can be supposed this bigness, I look upon it as a wise and well-judged in timation, that all these descriptions are figurative. The like intimation is given in the vision of Ezekiel; according to which, if it were able to be taken literally the 558 XXV. And was enlightened by the glory of God, &c. ame SECT. the sixth sardius; these were on the north; donyx; the sixth, the seventh chrysolite, or a stone of the colour of sardius; the seventh, a chrysolite; the eighth Rev. pure gold; the eighth beryl; the ninth, topaz; a beryl; the ninth, a XXI. 20. these were on the south; and, to complete the topaz; the tenth, a square, the tenth was chrysoprasus, or a beauti- chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; ful mixture of gold and green; the eleventh, the twelfth, an hyacinth; and the twelfth, amethyst; which ap- thyst. peared on the west side; thus were they agreeably variegated and decorated, with all the elegance and magnificence that can be imagined. 21 And the twelve gates [were] twelve pearls; each of the gates was of one entire undivided pearl, pearls; every several with all the beautiful pillars and arches mould- gate ings and cornices. And the street of the city, pearl; and the street of the city was pure instead of being paved with common stones, gold, as it were trans[was] pure gold, the substance being transpa- parent glass. rent as glass, and reflecting the light that shone upon it, with a lustre equal to that of polished 23 21 And the twelve gates were twelve was of one the Lord God Almigh 23 And the city 22 gold. And whereas the temple made so con- 22 And I saw no d Glory of the Lord, &c.] Some have thought, this was an extraordinary lustre, which seemed always to hover over it, like a sun never going down. I rather think, that the whole city appeared to him like a luminous object, sending out rays on every side, which he apprehended to be in consequence of God's dwelling there; and that these rays might have much of the lustre of the Shechinah. Mr. Fleming argues from this text, that the Lamb is the Shechinah in the heavenly world. e The kings of the earth.] This is the were clause upon which Mr. Worthington insists very much, to prove, that we are to understand this description, not of the heavenly world, but of some glorious state of the Christian church, which is to pass upon earth; and it must be acknowledg ed a plausible argument. The reader must consider, whether it is sufficient to outweigh those on the other side; and if it be not, I suppose he will find no solution preferable to that which I have here given; for I cannot suppose, that the kings of the earth are those who are to reign in this it shall not be shut at 26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations Reflections on the heavenly Jerusalem. 559 XXV. were to conceive all the monarchs upon earth, sict. uniting all their treasures to adorn one single place, they could produce nothing comparable Rev. 25 And the gates of to what I then saw. And the gates of it shall XXI. 25. not be shut by day; and that is equivalent to saynight ing, they shall never be shut at all; for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring 26 the glory and honour of the nations into it; whatever is most desirable among all nations, seemed to meet together, to adorn that place, where 27 And there shall good men of all nations shall dwell and reign in uo wise enter into with God for ever. And nothing unclean shall 27 it any thing that defileth, neither whatso- enter into it, nor [any thing which] practises ever worketh abomi- abomination and falsehood of any kind, but only nation, or maketh a lie those who are written in the Lamb's book of life", but they which are in which none of such a detestable character can book of life. possibly have any place. into it. written in the Lamb's IMPROVEMENT*. GLORIOUS things are God. (Psal. lxxxvii. 3.) indeed spoken of thee, O thou city of Ver. Thus does the Divine Being conde scend to aid our feeble faith, by such sensible representations. But none of these things which are spoken, can give us an idea grand and magnificent enough. The pearls and the gems, the 18, 21 gold and the crystal, the honour of kings, and all the nations they 24, 26 govern, all fall inconceivably short of that glory; for eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, ner, active and boundless as the human imagination may seem, has it entered into the heart of man to conceive, new earth, whose glory shall be reflected from, and so adorn the blissful city which they shall then inhabit. (Compare Isa. 1x. 3, 11, 20; lxvi. 12.) f There shall be no night there.] Mr. Whiston supposes, that a comet, meeting the earth at the conflagration, (for to such a concurrence he ascribes that awful phenomenon,) shall give it such a blow, as to destroy its diurnal motion, leaving only such a degree of it, that, like the moon with respect to us, it shall move round its axis, while it performs its periodical revolution round the central body; and so as to turn always the same face towards it; so that one hemisphere shall be always enlightened by the sun, and the want of it in the other, shall be supplied by a supernatural light. But the four dark corners, (which where they are it is difficult to say) shall be the habitation of Gog and Magog. It is hard to determine whether this agrees less with the description here given, or the principles of good philosophy. See Whist. g But only those, &c.] As it is certain, *There are many beautiful ideas in the description, which I have not collected together in this improvement, as some of them have been taken notice of betore, and some occur in the next chapter. -560 The vision of the tree of life. SECT. ceive, what God has prepared for them that love him, in these reXXV. gions of perpetual day, of everlasting security, in this grand temVer.ple, the whole of which shall be replenished with the most sensible 23 tokens of his presence. (1 Cor. ii. 9.) 27 3 And who shall abide in this thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in this thy holy hill? They who are written in the Lamb's book of life, they whom God has, from the beginning, chosen to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth, being predestinated to the adoption of children, through Jesus Christ unto himself. And who are these? None that are unclean and profane; none that work abomination and a lie; but the pure and pious, the humble and the holy. Form us, O Lord, to this character by thy grace and never let the gaudy glare of sensual enjoyments, and worldly possessions, turn our eyes from contemplating this glorious sight, or alienate our hearts from the pursuit of this blessedness; till, having heard of it by the hearing of the ear, and believing the faithful report, our eyes shall behold those Divine substantial glories, which these emblems, resplendent as they are, can but imperfectly represent. In the mean time, O Lord, lead us onwards through what dark and gloomy path thou pleasest,to these abodes of light and glory; determine for us in what cottages we shall lodge, though ever so mean and obscure, while we are pursuing our journey to this royal, this imperial palace. SECT. Rev. XXII. 1. SECT. XXVI. The Apostle hath a further vision of the river of life, and of the tree of life; describes the happiness of the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem, and receives a further message from God by an Angel, before whom he is about to renew his prostration; but is for. bidden. XXII. 1–9. REVELATION XXII. 1. REV. XXII. 1. a pure river of crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb. AND ND having given me this view of the holy AND he shewed me xxvi. city, he, that is, the angel who conde- water of life, clear as scended to be my guide on this occasion, shewed me the pure river of the water of life which was clear as crystal, issuing out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb; an emblem of that perpetual life, and overflowing joy, which shall be the portion of all the blissful inhabitants of the 2 New Jerusalem. And in the midst of the street of it, and on the one side and the other of the ri- either side of the river, [was] the tree of life, (Gen. iii. 3, 22,) pro 2 In the midst of the street of it, and of ver, |