by Brian Godawa
Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Cor. 5:17).
But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation (Gal. 6:14-15).
“Paul’s declaring “old things passed away; behold, new things have come” also matches closely with God’s statement in Revelation 21:1, 5: And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea…. And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
The New Bride Described
“If this new bride represents the church, what does all of this bold, dramatic imagery mean? Given the dramatic character of the Revelation, John speaks of the church in elevated and ideal terms because of her redemptive standing with God. John presents her glorious and secure repose based on her prophetic promises. Though the church in John’s time was under unrelenting assault, John sees through the “fog of war” and visualizes her as she stands before God, virtually merging the heavenly and the earthly phases of the church. The picture he presents is not only symbolic but also protensive: He looks at the end results of the present redemptive reality.”
Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., The Book of Revelation Made Easy: You Can Understand Bible Prophecy (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision Press, 2008), 115-116.
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The body of Christ is the new temple of God’s presence:
“Though God established his holy Temple as the centerpiece of worship for his old covenant people, with the coming of the new covenant he dis-establishes the external Temple system. The bride-church is the tabernacle-temple of God (Rev. 21:3) because God dwells within her and no literal temple is needed (Rev. 21:22; cp. Eph 2:19–22; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9). The old Jerusalem with its physical Temple “made with hands” is passing away as the new Jerusalem temple without the Temple supplants it (Heb. 8:13; 9:11, 24; 12:18–28). This is finalized in A.D. 70.”
Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., The Book of Revelation Made Easy: You Can Understand Bible Prophecy (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision Press, 2008), 118.
2 Corinthians 6:16
16 For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
1 Peter 2:4–7
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
Ephesians 2:19–22
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
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Alexander is quoting: Daniel 7:14.
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12,000 stadia, the dimensions of the Roman empire:
“In 21:16 we learn that the city appears as a cube of 12,000 stadia on each side. This also suggests a first-century setting for the new Jerusalem. Mulholland (1996:122) writes: “The vision has a practical purpose in the dimensions of the city. If one takes a map of the Mediterranean area and draws a square of 1,400 miles [his value for the Greek measure; others compute it as almost 1,500 miles] to the scale of the map, then places the center of the square on Patmos, the western edge of the square extends to Rome, the eastern edge to Jerusalem, and northern and southern edges approximate the northern and southern boundaries of the Roman Empire in the first century. At the time of John’s revelation, whether it took place in the 60s or the 90s, all the Christian communities known to exist were located within those boundaries.””
Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., The Divorce of Israel: A Redemptive-Historical Interpretation of Revelation Vol. 2 (Dallas, GA: Tolle Lege Press, 2016), 726.
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Twelve tribes on the gates and twelve apostles on the foundation:
“And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (21:14). We might have expected John to place “the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel” as the “twelve foundation stones” of the city, since Israel historically preceded, anticipated, and gave way to new covenant Christianity (cp. Ge 12:3; Jn 4:22c; Ac 1:8; Ro 11:17–21). However, Revelation dramatically presents Israel’s then current judgment and collapse which required a “new” Jerusalem (21:2) upon new, more secure foundations. After all, Abraham “was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb 11:10; cp. Heb 12:28). Nevertheless, the “juxtaposition of the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles shows the unity of ancient Israel and the NT church””
Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., The Divorce of Israel: A Redemptive-Historical Interpretation of Revelation Vol. 2 (Dallas, GA: Tolle Lege Press, 2016), 783.
The jewels on the foundation represent the 12 jewels of the high priest’s breastplate that represent the 12 tribes, now fulfilled in the new 12 apostles:
Revelation 21:19–20
19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.
Exodus 28:17–21
17 You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; 18 and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19 and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. 21 There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes.
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Rivers of living waters: Revelation 22:1.
“But this image of the “river of the water of life” probably “reaches even farther back” to the original river in Eden (Beale and Carson 2007:1153). Indeed, “few doubt that Ezekiel’s vision of a life-giving stream has been influenced at least in part, by Gen. 2:10–14, which portrays paradise as a garden, rendered fruitful by a river flowing out of Eden”…
“In the New Testament the concept of “living water” is distinctively Johannine (Jn 4:10–11, 14; 7:38) and pictures the Holy Spirit cleansing and giving eternal life (cf. Isa 44:3; Eze 36:25–27; Tit 3:5).”
Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., The Divorce of Israel: A Redemptive-Historical Interpretation of Revelation Vol. 2 (Dallas, GA: Tolle Lege Press, 2016), 805.
John 4:10–11
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?
John 4:14
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 7:38
“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of li
ving water.”
Titus 3:5
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
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From: Revelation 22:2
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“Tree” as tree in the Garden of Eden and the “tree” of Christ’s crucifixion:
“John probably chose this [Greek word for “tree”] for two reasons: First, this is the word the LXX employs in referring to Eden’s tree of life (Ge 2:9; 3:22). Thus it strengthens his association with Eden. Second, and just as importantly, in the New Testament this word frequently refers to Christ’s cross: Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24; cp. Deuteronomy 21:22. Thus, the tree of life ultimately reflects the cross-work of the Lamb, his redemptive labor which is so important in Revelation (22:1; cp. 5:6, 12; 7:9–10, 14, 17; 12:11; 14:4c; 15:3; 17:14; 19:7, 9).”
Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., The Divorce of Israel: A Redemptive-Historical Interpretation of Revelation Vol. 2 (Dallas, GA: Tolle Lege Press, 2016), 808.
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From: Revelation 22:3.
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From: Revelation 21:22.
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Believers as the new covenant temple of God:
Ephesians 2:19–22
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
1 Peter 2:4–5
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
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CHAPTER 22
Marduk’s four war horses:
Marduk did have four horses but they did not have the colors of the four horses of the Apocalypse. I made that creative license choice, not to claim a literal correspondence, but only a literary reflection.
Enuma Elish Tablet IV:50-54:
He mounted the terrible chariot, the unopposable Storm Demon,
He hitched to it the four–steed team, he tied them at his side:
“Slaughterer,” “Merciless,” “Overwhelmer,” “Soaring.”
Their lips are curled back, their teeth bear venom,
They know not fatigue, they are trained to trample down.
William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, The Context of Scripture (Leiden; New York: Brill, 1997–), 397.
A different translation of their names:
He mounted the storm-chariot irresistible [and] terrifying.
He harnessed (and) yoked to it a team-of-four,
The Killer, the Relentless, the Trampler, the Swift.
James Bennett Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament , 3rd ed. with Supplement (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969), 66.
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CHAPTER 23
Gischala is quoting from: Zechariah 9:10-12; 3:8; 6:12.
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Gischala is quoting Zechariah 6:12-15.
Zechariah 6:12–15
12 And say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD. 13 It is he who shall build the temple of the LORD and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” ’ 14 And the crown shall be in the temple of the LORD as a reminder to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah. 15 “And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the LORD. And you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.”
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Spiritual temple with living stones:
1 Peter 2:4–5
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The Prophet like Moses:
Deuteronomy 18:18–19
18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
For a detailed explanation of how Jesus fulfills this prophecy of being like Moses, see: “Islam's Objection To Jesus Being The Prophet Of Deut. 18:15” Let Us Reason Ministries, 2009, online. http://www.letusreason.org/islam2.htm
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Gischala quotes from:
Zechariah 10:9–10
9 Though I scattered them among the nations, yet in far countries they shall remember me, and with their children they shall live and return. 10 I will bring them home from the land of Egypt, and gather them from Assyria, and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon, till there is no room for them.
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The protected Remnant in Zechariah:
Zechariah 8:6–8
6 Thus says the LORD of hosts: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the LORD of hosts? 7 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.”
“And they shall be my people and I will be their God” is defined by Paul as being fulfilled in the new covenant Gospel (2Cor 6:16; Heb 8:8-13).
Zechariah 8:11–12
11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the LORD of hosts. 12 For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.
Zechariah 9:7–8
7 I will take away its blood from its mouth, and its abominations from between its teeth; it too shall be a remnant for our God; it shall be like a clan in Judah, and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites. 8 Then I will encamp at my house as a guard, so that none shall march to and fro; no oppressor shall again march over them, for now I see with my own eyes.
The gathering and restoration of Israel:
The following is from Brian Godawa, Israel in Bible Prophecy: The New Testament Fulfillment of the Promise to Abraham, (Los Angeles, Embedded Pictures Publishing, 2017), 59-61.
In Acts 2, we read about the first explosion of the Gospel with the first baptism of the Holy Spirit. It was the thing that Jesus had told them to wait for, which would launch them into all the world with the Good News (Acts 1:4). Pentecost would be the historical inauguration of the heavenly New Covenant achieved by the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ. It would be the pouring out of God’s Spirit upon his people (Isa 32:12-19; 44:5; Ezek 36:25-28; 37:14).
The disciples asked Jesus if this was the time of the restoration of Israel (1:6), the very thing we have been discussing in this work. Jesus told them that the restoration of Israel would begin occurring when the Holy Spirit came upon them, but they were not to worry themselves with the timing (1:8).
And what was the restoration, but the pouring out of God’s Spirit and the regathering of Jews from all over the known earth in a spiritual metaphorical resurrection? (Ezek 37). So when the disciples were baptized with the Spirit at Pentec
ost and began to speak in foreign tongues, that was the fulfillment of God’s pouring out of his Spirit. Pouring is a form of baptizing (Heb 9:10, 13, 19, 21). But it was also the beginning of the regathering of Jews because “there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5). The list of nations that are described (Acts 2:9-11) just happens to be a representative sampling of the seventy nations of Genesis 10. To the ancient Jew, those seventy were “all the nations” to which the Jews were scattered (Amos 9:9). According to the apostle Luke, Pentecost of AD 30 was transformed into the beginning of the gathering of Jews from all the nations.
And that gathering of Jews included the Gentiles. It was a gathering of two bodies into one that was occurring all throughout the book of Acts. Notice these passages that say that the evangelism of Acts is the very fulfillment of the promise to gather the Gentiles with the Jews as his people:
