The Mystery of Ephraim

Chapter 21 gives an account of the happy state of those being saved, consisting of all the elect, both Jews and Gentiles, which will take place upon the first resurrection, and will continue during the thousand years’ reign, and which will be happy times in the new heaven and the new earth.

Revelation 21

¹ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea. — a new atmosphere took place when saints came not to Mount Sinai, but to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; and when God dwelt among men;

— everything that has any connection with sin will be removed; the ‘sea’ in this context is a hiding place, from which the beast and the dragon came forth, they will be no more.

² And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. — the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from God, all ready like a bride arrayed for her husband;

— earth shall then become as heaven, or rather it shall be heaven on earth; God dwelling visibly among men, and sin and suffering being forever done away.

³ And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them; and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them and be their God.

— saying, behold the tabernacle of God is with men; in allusion to the tabernacle being with the Israelites in the wilderness, and the Shekinah, or divine Glory and Majesty, being in the midst of them, as an accomplishment of the promise in Ezekiel 37:27;

— the phrase seems to denote the personal presence of God the Father appearing with his Son, the Messiah with his saints in the Temple; and reign among them as their King.

⁴ And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.” — and there shall be no more death; natural or persecution as in former times; nor will they die a natural death any more; these children of the resurrection;

— and inhabitants of the new heaven and earth, and as kings and priests, they will live better than angels.

⁵ And He that sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said unto me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” — and he that sat upon the Throne said; by whom is meant, God the Father, who is often represented in this book as sitting on the Throne as distinguished from Christ the Lamb.

⁶ And He said unto me, “It is done! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the Water of Life freely. — God the Father is also the Alpha and Omega, as Aleph is the beginning of the Hebrew alphabet; and cause of all things; as Tau is the last of the Hebrew alphabet;

— in fact, this same title “Alpha and Omega,” among many others, are derived from the Father’s.

⁷ He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. — he that overcometh… against all spiritual enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, the antichristian beast, his image, mark; not being deceived; obey his commandments who is more than a conqueror through Christ;

— one that perseveres to the end, notwithstanding all temptations, trials and difficulties.

⁸ But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” — the Ethiopic version renders it, “who pollute themselves” with unnatural lusts;

— and all liars; and all such as are liars with their tongues, and particularly those who speak lies compulsively in successions, as the followers of the man of sin, and who are given up to believe a lie, that they might be damned; all lies being of the devil, the trinity, or the Trinity, all are abominable to God; each and everyone of them are;

⁹ And there came unto me one of the seven angels, who had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, “Come hither; I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” — the bride, his wife, all the elect of God, consisting of the raised and living saints at the coming of Christ; who will make up one body, one general assembly;

— and be as a bride, prepared and adorned for her husband: these were first betrothed to Christ in eternity, and now all glorified, the marriage is consummated, and they are declared publicly to be the bride, the Lamb’s wife; Revelation 19:7.

¹⁰ And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the Holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, — John never saw this Holy Jerusalem or “the new Jerusalem” before, so this is a new revelation.

¹¹ having the glory of God. And her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. — even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal: God the Father who sits on the throne is said to be looked upon like a “jasper”

— the divine Shekinah illuminating the whole city, perhaps the whole earth which pendant in the air, shone with an elegant and amazing lustre, expressive of the perfect illumination, purity and holiness of its happy inhabitants.

¹² It had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: — but these gates of that great city, the New Jerusalem, are said to be twelve, in allusion to the twelve tribes of Israel, who represent all the elect of God, and to the twelve gates of Ezekiel’s city, Ezekiel 48:31;

— or, having a great and high wall, having twelve gates, and upon the gates twelve angels and their names inscribed, which are the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: on the east three gates and on the north three gates and on the south three gates and on the west three gates; and the wall of the city having twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹³ on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. — East: Issachar, JUDAH, Zebulon;

— West: Benjamin, EPHRAIM, Manasseh;

— North: Asher, DAN, Naphtali;

— South: Gad, REUBEN, Simeon;

— but these would be different from that of Ezekiel 48:31 shall be the gates of the city, named for the tribes of Israel, three gates toward the north: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one.

¹⁴ And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. — the Churches of God was founded in twelve patriarchs, and twelve tribes; the church in twelve apostles; thus making a total of twenty four; perhaps these are the twenty four elders we met earlier, Revelation 4:4.

¹⁵ And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof and the walls thereof.

¹⁶ And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as great as the breadth; and he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs; the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. — and the city lieth four square; to the four corners of the world, from whence its inhabitants come and indicates its regularity, uniformity, perfection and immovableness;

— and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs; or fifteen hundred miles; a monstrously large city indeed! such an one as never was upon earth; see Ezekiel 48:35 and which shows, that this is not to be understood literally, but mystically;

— and intends the capaciousness of it, here being room enough for all the twelve tribes of Israel; that is, for all the elect of God; for as in the Father’s house, so in this kingdom state of his, there will be many mansions, or dwelling places, enough for all his people. This city will hold them all;

— the Jews say of the Jerusalem to come, that in time it shall be so enlarged as to reach to the gates of Damascus, yea, to the throne of glory.

¹⁷ And he measured the wall thereof: a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

¹⁸ And the wall was built of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. — the jasper being a very hard and bright stone; and salvation can never be made void; it will last for ever, and in this state will come forth as light, as a lamp that burneth; it is represented by the same precious stone as God sitting on his throne; see Revelation 4:2.

¹⁹ And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,

— (1) jasper, on this stone, in the breastplate, Benjamin’s name was written (2) sapphire, its colour is azure, or sky blue (3) chalcedony, a misty grey colour, clouded with blue, yellow, or purple (4) emerald, on this stone Judah’s name was written.

²⁰ the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.

— (5) sardonyx, partly of the sardian, and partly of the onyx stone (6) sardius, this was Reuben’s stone (7) chrysolite, a stone of a dusky green colour, with a cast of yellow (8) beryl, a stone of a pale green colour (9) topaz, a stone very hard and transparent, of a beautiful yellow, or gold colour (10) chrysoprase, a stone of a green colour, inclining to that of gold (11) jacinth, a stone of a purple, or violet colour (12) amethyst, a stone of a violet colour, bordering on purple.

²¹ And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each separate gate was of one pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were, transparent glass. — a single gate was of one pearl; the pearl of great price: this shows that this account cannot be taken literally, but mystically, for no such pearl was ever known, but large enough to make a gate of.

²² And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. — poor thing, the Holy Ghost always missed out! and those who call themselves “pastors” are continuing telling lies saying and re-enforcing in numerous ways that there is a holy ghost!

— Revelation 21: 8 above: “and all liars,” shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone;

— so is it wrong to say that 99.99 percent of professing Christians are LIARS?

²³ And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it; for the glory of God gave it light, and the Lamb is the light thereof. — for the glory of God did lighten it; the Shekinah, or glorious presence of God, which filled the Temple of Solomon, and shone round about with the presence of God, who is light itself.

²⁴ And the nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. — and the nations of them which are saved; most nations are saved, with a few exceptions: Ammon, Tyre, the Amalekite and perhaps a section of Egypt where they are to be remembered no more.

²⁶ and they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

²⁷ And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but only they that are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. — the indication is to the care of his elect to exclude all things unclean from the precincts of the sanctuary;

— those that are written in the book of the Lamb, the true children, the elect of God, will enter the heavenly city, where they will have complete and perfect salvation. Then shall the righteous shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!

Revelation 22

Chapter 22 contains a further account of New Jerusalem, a City beautified by the river that ran through it, called a river of water of life, said to be pure and clear as crystal, and to have its rise from the throne of God and the Lamb; and by the tree of life in its midst, situated on each side the river, bearing twelve sorts of fruit, yielded every month, the leaves of which heal the nations.

¹ And he showed me a pure river of the Water of Life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. — the River of Life: The Tree of Life: now the Water of Life means living or running water, like a spring or fountain, as contrasted with a stagnant pool; and he showed me the river coming forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb;

— a great stream or river watered the Garden of Eden, so here the heavenly Paradise receives its water from a healing stream of perennial waters issuing from the Throne of God and of the Lamb Himself.

² In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, there was the Tree of Life, which bore twelve kinds of fruit and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. — the Tree of Life; there twelve kinds of fruit, according to each month giving its fruit;

— not one sort of fruit one month, and another sort another month, and so on, but twelve sorts every month; are planted on each side of beautiful trees, not only to serve for ornament and refreshment, but which, like the tree of life in paradise, should be ‘for the healing of the nations,’

³ And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.

⁴ And they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads. — and they shall see his face; the face of God, so as if he is not to be seen ’till now; they shall see him as he is; not only the angels, who always behold the face of God, but all the saints, risen and changed, being pure in heart and perfectly holy; they shall see him face to face;

— it appears as if during the Millennium the saints didn’t managed to see the Father’s face, only after the Millennium is over?

— “His name shall be in their foreheads” such name of Elohim could be in the shortened form, like Samuel, Ezekiel, Daniel, Jeremiah, Zechariah; perhaps they would be other variants?

⁵ And there shall be no night there, and they will need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light. And they shall reign for ever and ever. — again, for the glory of God will lit the sky; the Shekinah or glorious presence of God will be manifested from the Throne of God.

⁶ And he said unto me, “These sayings are faithful and true,” and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must shortly be done.

⁷ “Behold, I come quickly.” Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. — this book is a prophecy of things to come, and therefore cannot refer to the times of Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 AD or 132 AD, which some interpreters do, like the book of Ezekiel,

— for then it would be a narrative of things past; the sayings of it are the things contained in it; to keep these sayings is to read them with an open mind with observation, so that as events unfold we can meditate upon them.

⁸ And I, John, saw these things and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

⁹ Then said he unto me, “See that thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them that keep the sayings of this book. Worship God!” — this is the second time John did so, though being warned of and rebuked for it;

— for angels are not to be worshipped; hence John was forbidden to worship an angel, any angel; the angel being a fellow servant of the same Lord;

— worship God: Father and Son, and these two only, not three, with reverence and godly fear and according to God’s revealed will.

¹⁰ And he said unto me, “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. — this angel, in contrast to the injunctions given to Daniel (Daniel 12:9-13), bids the prophet “Seal not the words of the prophecy” ~ the reason being, “for the time is near.”

¹¹ He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.”

¹² “And behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every man according as his work shall be. — my reward is with me; I bring with me a power and authority to recompense every man according to what he hath done.

¹³ I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” — God the Father is the original Alpha and Omega, as Aleph is the beginning of the Hebrew alphabet; and cause of all things; as Tau is the last of the Hebrew alphabet;

— many of Christ’s names and titles are derived from the Father:

“Have regard for him, and obey his voice. Provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for My name is in him” Exodus 23:21.

¹⁴ Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the Tree of Life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. — faith and good works aren’t enough; commandments need to be kept, which are the whole duty of man; so the question is, which commandments to keep? This is a life-long struggle;

“Many will say to Me in that Day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful works?’” Matthew 7:22

¹⁵ For outside are dogs and sorcerers, and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. — lying is a serious crime, and many are liars, particularly those lying tongues that speak lies in successions; (more at the end):

¹⁶ These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto Him:
¹⁷ a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
¹⁹ a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19

¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the Bright and Morning Star.” — both in a temporal and spiritual sense; he sprung from the root of David, or descended from him;

— as David’s Lord and David’s Son; he is also the bright Star of the morning; not the other “light bringer” Lucifer, which the beasty Roman church had given him.

¹⁸ For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book: If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. — it is true that this solemn caution particularly refers to this book of the Revelation;

— but this is equally true as a useful warning given to the whole Scriptures; in like manner, as Moses guarded the law, (Deuteronomy 4:2; Deuteronomy 12:32); God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book;

¹⁹ And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life and out of the Holy City, and from the things which are written in this book. — here the Lord Jesus adds a solemn admonition, if any one shall have added to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book;

— and if any one shall have taken away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his portion from the tree of life, the penalty is death! The meaning is, that such a person would be regarded as an enemy of God and would share the fearful doom of all such enemies.

²⁰ He that testifieth these things saith, “Surely I come quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

²¹ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. — this concluding verse might close the book of Revelation; it is isn’t, because the message of the seven thunders in chapter 10 from that “little book” are yet to be announced or revealed!

— that little book has a sweet and bitter message: “it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.” Hence the mystery about this sweetness and bitterness remains, and so when would that time to be revealed be? Perhaps these seven thunders would be revealed with the appearance of the two witnesses in chapter 11?

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More on liars and the non-existing yet offending ‘holy ghost’:

Throughout the study of this mysterious holy ghost we have found him to be missing in the entire book of Revelation. John never saw him; it is as if he had taken a long journey away, or that he was lying in bed with a flu. He was simply not around; Period.

But there was one cherub in the Garden, full of beauty and power, but pride and ego swelled over his head, and he slowly envy and like to be the Most High, led a rebellion to take over the heavenly throne of the Most High, but he was kicked out and fallen like lightning down onto this earth.

He was and is the dragon, the Devil, Lucifer, the other ‘light-bringer’ which the Roman church, whom John describes as the great whore of Babylon, has so much affiliation with, and that this lie is also well-embedded and entrenched by her protesting harlotry daughters.

Such deceitful doctrine is a big cover-up of the Devil, who craves to be the Third Person, but is an abomination to God. There are professing Christians who loves to invent lies, others to tell lies, and still others loves to hear them; more so with this doctrinal lie of the holy ghost.

Unless repented off, such lie infuriates both the Father and the Son, and the penalty is death: “and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death,” Revelation 21:8.

~ by Joel Huan on January 22, 2023.

Posted in Revelation