Ix. Anew Heaven And Anew Earth (21:1-22:5)
IX. A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH (21:1-22:5)
As he comes to the end of his visions John has a magnificent sight of the final state of things. He speaks of a new heaven and a new earth. There is a good deal of vivid description, sometimes of a very material kind. But when John speaks of streets paved with gold, of a city whose gates are made of single pearls, and the like, we must not understand him to mean that the heavenly city will be as material as present earthly cities. It is his way of bringing out the very great value of what God has for his people. He is concerned with spiritual states, not with physical realities.
Caird sees this section as in some ways the most important in the whole book: ‘Here is the real source of John’s prophetic certainty, for only in comparison with the “new Jerusalem” can the queenly splendours of Babylon be recognized as the seductive gauds of an old and raddled whore.’ Preston and Hanson speak of the belief that the ideal set forth is possible and proceed, ‘Indeed it is this conviction that has inspired all Christian efforts for the betterment of mankind. If it were not so, these chapters are more akin to the guide book than the profound interpretation of the will of God in human history which we have found throughout the previous chapters of Revelation.’ I do not think that John means that human effort can realize this ideal on earth. But the heavenly city is certainly the ideal set before believers and it is their inspiration to work for God and for good here on earth.