From Pages 9-10 out of 61. ebook-commentary-on-revelations-on-revelation-volumes-1-22
In Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem is pictured in much the same way as it is in Isaiah 60.
18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. 19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 20 Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.
Therefore, this “kingdom from heaven” bears a striking resem- blance to the Jewish Temple. As suggested in
Hebrews 8:5, which says,
“Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”
And Psalm 78:69 also says,
“And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he
hath established forever.”
We also know that the Temple appears to be a symbolic model of heaven and earth, with the Temple's inner sanctuary being a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.
G. K. Beale writes the following concerning the fact that the Temple in Jerusalem was a symbol or model of heaven and earth
The Old Testament temple was a microcosmic model of the entire heaven and earth.
Again, one of the most explicit texts affirming this view is Psalm 78:69, which says, (again)
“And he built the sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he founded forever.”
Josephus himself understood the three-part structure of the taber- nacle to signify something interesting (which will be of interest to our flat earther fans out there) that the tripartite structure of the temple was a shadow of the earth and sea and heaven itself, saying,
“the earth = outer court, and the sea = inner court, but the third portion = the holy of holies, was reserved for God alone, because before the resurrection heaven was inaccessible to men.” (Antiquities 3.181)
The new Jerusalem is also a symbolic depiction of the kingdom of God. Indwelt with the Holy Spirit, every member of the body of Christ, according to 2 Corinthians 6:16, is said to be “a temple of the living God.” And just as the spirit of God was believed to be present in both the Holy of Holies of the Temple as well as in heaven during Old Testament history, the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, is also present in heaven as well as in the hearts of the modern church, the new Temple of God, on earth. In this way, we might wonder why John would describe “the body of Christ” as the temple of God? Here in Verse 2, John may be hinting at a possible answer.
In Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem is pictured in much the same way as it is in Isaiah 60.
18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. 19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 20 Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.
Therefore, this “kingdom from heaven” bears a striking resem- blance to the Jewish Temple. As suggested in
Hebrews 8:5, which says,
“Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”
And Psalm 78:69 also says,
“And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he
hath established forever.”
We also know that the Temple appears to be a symbolic model of heaven and earth, with the Temple's inner sanctuary being a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.
G. K. Beale writes the following concerning the fact that the Temple in Jerusalem was a symbol or model of heaven and earth
The Old Testament temple was a microcosmic model of the entire heaven and earth.
Again, one of the most explicit texts affirming this view is Psalm 78:69, which says, (again)
“And he built the sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he founded forever.”
Josephus himself understood the three-part structure of the taber- nacle to signify something interesting (which will be of interest to our flat earther fans out there) that the tripartite structure of the temple was a shadow of the earth and sea and heaven itself, saying,
“the earth = outer court, and the sea = inner court, but the third portion = the holy of holies, was reserved for God alone, because before the resurrection heaven was inaccessible to men.” (Antiquities 3.181)
The new Jerusalem is also a symbolic depiction of the kingdom of God. Indwelt with the Holy Spirit, every member of the body of Christ, according to 2 Corinthians 6:16, is said to be “a temple of the living God.” And just as the spirit of God was believed to be present in both the Holy of Holies of the Temple as well as in heaven during Old Testament history, the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, is also present in heaven as well as in the hearts of the modern church, the new Temple of God, on earth. In this way, we might wonder why John would describe “the body of Christ” as the temple of God? Here in Verse 2, John may be hinting at a possible answer.