Tuese: THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH by Tuese Ahkiong

THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH by Tuese Ahkiong

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

When someone is placed in Christ and born again (regenerated) by God's amazing grace, they are said to be a new creation and that the new has come. Nothing physically changes. Most people who believe the Gospel and have ailments are not healed of their AIDS or cancer or a loss of an arm. what has changed is one's spiritual relationship towards God. One is now spiritually alive to God and is a new creation.

The Scripture does not always speak of heaven and earth as the literal physical earth, sky or place where God dwells. If heaven is where God is and it is perfect, why is it necessary to have a new one?

The Bible also speaks of heaven and earth as a covenant world. The old covenant world is the old heaven and earth of law and death. The new heaven and earth is the new covenant world of grace in which righteousness reigns and which we are under. Praise God!

Apocalyptic Language is exaggerated, hyperbolic expressions used to describe a nations rise or fall in terms of its universe, sun, moon, stars, earth as shining, glowing, collapsing, darkening,shaking, dissolving, melting, falling…

GOD WIPES OUT EGYPT’S HEAVEN AND EARTH

Isaiah 13:6
Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come!
7 Therefore all hands will be feeble,
    and every human heart will melt.
8 They will be dismayed:
    pangs and agony will seize them;
    they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.They will look aghast at one another;
    their faces will be aflame.
9Behold, the day of the Lord comes,
    cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the land a desolation
    and to destroy its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light;
the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.
11 I will punish the world for its evil,
    and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will putan end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
12 I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the HEAVENS tremble, and the EARTH will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger.

GOD WIPESOUT EDOM’S HEAVEN AND EARTH

Isaiah34:1-6
Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples! Let the EARTH hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it.
2 For the Lord is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter.
3Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood.
4 All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree.
5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the HEAVENS; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction.
6 The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood; it is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For theLord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

YESHUA DESCRIBES JERUSALEM’S SUN, MOON, STARS, HEAVEN AND EARTH TURNING TO BLOOD,DARKENING, FALLING…

Matthew24:29-35 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the HEAVENS will be shaken. 30Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with aloud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35HEAVEN AND EARTH will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Mark13:24-31 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in THE HEAVENS will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 HEAVEN AND EARTH will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Luke21:25-33 “And there will be sign sin sun and moon and stars, and on THE EARTH distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of THE HEAVENS will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

29 And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. 33HEAVEN AND EARTH will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

ACTS2
¹⁹And I will show wonders in the HEAVENS above and signs on THE EARTH below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;²⁰the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

REV6:12
Judgment of Jerusalem 70 A.D.
I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sack cloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,13 and the stars in the sky fell to EARTH, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The HEAVENS receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

Again,this is NOT literal language but apocalyptic. If one star hit the earth, THERE IS NO MORE EARTH. Our sun is relatively a small star and it is thousand of times bigger than the earth. The passage above says star[S} plural falling to the earth.

Haggai 2:
²¹“Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, ²²and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother.

Noticed how the shaking of heaven and earth is the fall of nations, kingdoms, chariots, riders or armies by judgment! It is not the physical earth or the HEAVENS rocking but apocalyptic language of God describing a kingdom being judged. God took the Babylonians, and would take down the Persians, then Greeks and Romans.

In the Hebrews 12 passage, the context is superiority of the New Covenant over the Old. In fact, the entire book is the superiority of Christ, The Gospel, The New Covenant over the Old. The old HEAVENS AND EARTH  of The Old Covenant was being shaken and removed; and the New Covenant which is everlasting and CANNOT BE SHAKEN was being brought into full effect by 70AD, the destruction of the symbol of the OT, Jerusalem and the Temple.

Hebrews 12:

25See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. ²⁶At that time his voice shook THE EARTH, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only THE EARTH but also THE HEAVENS ” ²⁷This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹for our God is a consuming fire.

Isaiah 51:15-16

I am theLord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— theLord of hosts is his name. 16 And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing THE HEAVENS and laying the foundations of THE EARTH, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”

** Isaiah poetically and prophetically describes The Lord’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt through the Red Sea. He recounts how The Lord gives His Word to Moses thus creating the covenant world or people of God; the world or Heaven and Earth of Israel.

Deuteronomy 31:30-32:1

31:30 Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel: 32:1 “Give ear, O HEAVENS, and I will speak, and let the EARTH hear the words of my mouth.

**Moses speaks to the assembly of Israel and calls them HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.

Yeshua spoke the following on the sermon on the mount.

Matthew 5:17-18

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until HEAVEN AND EARTH pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Yeshua said that He came to FULFILL The Law and The Prophets.

-Did He do it or did He fail?

He then says UNTIL (conditioned upon) heaven and earth passing away,

not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Did you get that? HEAVEN AND EARTH HAVE TO PASS AWAY FIRST BEFORE THE LAW PASSES! -

-Did the Law pass?

-If you answer yes, then heaven and earth had to have passed first.

What heaven and earth is Yeshua talking about? Is it the material heaven and earth? Is it referring contextually to the heaven and earth of the 1st covenant which was also symbolic of the temple, law, priesthood, sacrificial system...?

-If you answer no, the Law did not pass, then why are you not offering animals for sacrifice? Taking your 3 trips to jerusalem? being killed for not keeping the proper Sabbath which is on Saturday????

Search your feelings and your Bible, you know that the heaven and earth covenant world of Judaism has passed, therefore, the Law has passed.

ALSO, The Olivet Discourse is said in the context of Yeshua stating that the temple is coming down in "this generation (30-70AD)" along with Him saying heaven and earth will pass away but His Words will not pass away.

MATTHEW 24:1-2 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 HEAVEN AND EARTH will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

MARK 13:1-2 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 HEAVEN AND EARTH will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

LUKE 21:5 And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

32 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. 33 HEAVEN AND EARTH will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

**Notice how Jesus says that until heaven and earth pass away, the law will not pass away; not even a small iota or dot. Well, if the law has passed, then that means heaven and earth passed first.

Matthew 24:34-35 Truly,I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 HEAVEN AND EARTH will pass away,, but my words will not pass away.

Mark 13:30-31; Luke 21:32-33

**The context of Matthew 24 is the destruction of the temple that stood when Jesus was speaking. The Temple symbolized Israel’s priesthood, sacrificial system, The Law, Jewish economy, The Covenant. The Temple was known as "HEAVEN AND EARTH." It was where God came down in His glory in The Holy of Holies to meet man.

Verses 1-33speak of the destruction of the temple, “Great Commission,” Great Tribulation, Abomination Desolation, Sun, Moon & Star darkening, the parousia/return of Christ. Verse 34 says that that generation would not pass away until all those things take place. Verse 35 says heaven and earth, The Old Covenant, would pass away but Jesus’ Words will not pass away, especially what He is saying in this context.

2Peter 3:1-13

This is NOW the second letter that I am writing to YOU, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up YOUR sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that YOU should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through YOUR apostles, 3knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the PROMISE of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the HEAVENS existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the HEAVEN AND EARTH that NOW exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

8 But do not overlook this one fact,beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward YOU, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then THE HEAVENS WILL PASS AWAY with a roar, and the HEAVENLY BODIES will be burned up and dissolved, and THE EARTH and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought YOU to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which THE HEAVENS will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH in which righteousness dwells.

**2Peter3 is about THE HEAVEN AND EARTH of Israel, the old covenant world passing away. The writer employs the same kind of apocalyptic language from the O.T.

v1 Peter is writing a second letter, NOT TO Christians in 2014 but "...To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 1Pet 1:1) in the 1st century around 67AD.

v2 Peter says the prophets and Yeshua, The Lord, via the Apostles are stirring up their sincere mind by reminder of [THE PREDICTIONS] first of SCOFFERS.

Why and When? Peter is reminding the saints he writing TO because SCOFFERS are already present [In the last days] SCOFFING. The Last Days were the last days of Judaism between 30-70AD. [Peter says Pentecost is the fulfillment that he and his hearers were in the last days, Acts 2:¹⁶But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;

The writer of Hebrews says says that he and the presents of Christ represented the last days 1:1-2 "1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,²but in THESE LAST DAYS he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Hebrews 9:26

for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

**The age that was ending was the 1st covenant age Old Cov. Judaism.

v3-4 Around 30 AD, Yeshua had PROMISED (2Pet3:4) to return in "this generation" first century (Matt 24;34) and thus the scoffers were mocking that He had not returned yet.

v6-7 But just like God did in the OT with Noah, destroying that HEAVEN AND EARTH world of Noah's time. see v 6. The earth did not perish but the people of that covenant world did. Notice how verse 7 says that THE HEAVEN AND EARTH that NOW exist which is the Mosaic Law/ Old covenant is being stored up for fire and judgment.This happened in 70AD.

Notice how the formation of Israel was symbolized as the creation of “Heaven and earth,” and so its removal is symbolized as heaven and earth being destroyed, removed or passing away.

Hebrews 12:25

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. ²⁶At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also THE HEAVENS.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹for our God is a consuming fire.

Haggai 2:

²¹“Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, ²²and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother.

***Noticed how the shaking of heaven and earth is the fall of nations, kingdoms, chariots, riders or armies by judgment! It is not the physical earth or the heavens rocking but apocalyptic language of God describing a kingdom being judged. In the Hebrews 12 passage, the context is superiority of the New Covenant over the Old. In fact, the entire book is the superiority of Christ, The Gospel, The New Covenant over the Old. The old heavens and earth of The Old Covenant was being shaken and removed; and the New Covenant which is everlasting and CANNOT BE SHAKEN was being brought into full effect by 70AD, the destruction of the symbol of the OT, Jerusalem and the Temple.

Rev21:1 Then I saw a NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

** The events within The Book of Revelation are said to soon take place, the time is near, coming quickly, at hand TO those whom the book was written to, the 7 churches in Asia 1:4 ?

* If God wanted people to know that He was coming quickly, shortly,soon, at hand, near, what language would He then use?

REV 1:1,3, 7,9-11; 22:6, 7, 10, 12, 20

THERE IS DEATH IN THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH

v6-7 Israel will fill up the measure for her sin and God would repay them.
v8-15 God execute Israel.
v15-16 God will create a new people with a new name
v17-19 God will create a new heavens and new earth with a new Jersusalem; a new covenant people.

Isaiah 65

I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me;

    I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
    to a nation that was not called by my name.
²I spread out my hands all the day
    to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
    following their own devices;
³a people who provoke me
    to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
    and making offerings on bricks;
⁴who sit in tombs,
    and spend the night in secret places;
who eat pig's flesh,
    and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
⁵who say, “Keep to yourself,
    do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
    a fire that burns all the day.
⁶Behold, it is written before me:
    “I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will indeed repay into their lap
⁷    both your iniquities and your fathers' iniquities together,
says the Lord;
because they made offerings on the mountains
    and insulted me on the hills,
I will measure into their lap
    payment for their former deeds.”

⁸Thus says the Lord:
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
    and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,
    for there is a blessing in it,’
so I will do for my servants' sake,
    and not destroy them all.
⁹I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
    and from Judah possessors of my mountains;
my chosen shall possess it,
    and my servants shall dwell there.
¹⁰Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
    and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
    for my people who have sought me.
¹¹But you who forsake the Lord,
    who forget my holy mountain,
who set a table for Fortune
    and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,
¹²I will destine you to the sword,
    and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
because, when I called, you did not answer;
    when I spoke, you did not listen,
but you did what was evil in my eyes
    and chose what I did not delight in.”

¹³Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, my servants shall eat,
    but you shall be hungry;
behold, my servants shall drink,
    but you shall be thirsty;
behold, my servants shall rejoice,
    but you shall be put to shame;
¹⁴behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart,
    but you shall cry out for pain of heart
    and shall wail for breaking of spirit.
¹⁵You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse,
    and the Lord God will put you to death,
    but his servants he will call by another name.
¹⁶So that he who blesses himself in the land
    shall bless himself by the God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
    shall swear by the God of truth;
because the former troubles are forgotten
    and are hidden from my eyes.

¹⁷“For behold, I create NEW HEAVENS
AND A NEW EARTH,
and the former things shall not be remembered
    or come into mind.
¹⁸But be glad and rejoice forever
    in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
    and her people to be a gladness.
¹⁹I will rejoice in Jerusalem
    and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
    and the cry of distress.

²⁰No more shall there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
    and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
²¹They shall build houses and inhabit them;
    they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²²They shall not build and another inhabit;
    they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
    and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
²³They shall not labor in vain
    or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
    and their descendants with them.
²⁴Before they call I will answer;
    while they are yet speaking I will hear.
²⁵The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
    the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
    and dust shall be the serpent's food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

Isaiah 66
²²“For as THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH
    that I make
shall remain before me, says the Lord,
    so shall your offspring and your name remain.
²³From new moon to new moon,
    and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
declares the Lord.

***The New Heavens and the New Earth are the New Covenant World.

Notice how there are still evil things taking place in the NHNE: v21:8, 27, 22:2,11, 15,

The NHNE is likened to a covenant. Not everyone is the covenant people of God. Many modern Christians are assuming way too much on what they believe the NHNE to be. Notice below that under the NHNE there is sin: cowardly, faithless, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, socerers, idolaters, liars, unclean, doers of detestable and false; evildoer, filthy, dogs, sorcerers, sexually immoral, and those who love and practice falsehood. If the NHNE is perfect, then why do nations need healing?
What if the NHNE is a covenant and within that covenant, there is righteousness, peace and joy in Holy Ghost? It's a realm that the wicked cannot enter unless they go through The Way, The Truth and The Life Himself, Yeshua ? Ain't this how the city gates can never be shut without the evil coming in? This is a spiritual reality that was near, soon, at hand, coming quickly to the first century Church.

Revelation 21
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
⁸But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
²⁷But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Revelation 22
²through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
¹¹Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

¹⁵Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood

Revelation 21
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ²And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which isthe second death.”
⁹Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.¹²It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— ¹³on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. ¹⁴And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
¹⁵And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. ¹⁶The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. ¹⁷He also measured its wall, 144 cubits byhuman measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. ¹⁸The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. ¹⁹The 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, ²⁰the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. ²¹And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

ch22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and thatthey may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root andthe descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
¹⁷The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
¹⁸I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, ¹⁹and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
²⁰He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
²¹The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

Tuese

Monday, September 8, 2014

THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH by Tuese Ahkiong

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