Revelation 21:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He 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."

NIV: ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

NASB: and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.'

CSB: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

NLT: He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.'

KJV: 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.

NKJV: And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Mature Christians know life brings tribulation and trouble as well as blessings and comfort. Pain and sorrow are inevitable in this life. Even Job, a righteous man in God's sight, experienced personal pain and sorrow. Nevertheless, he retained faith in the Lord and the assurance that he would ultimately be resurrected and would see his Redeemer on the earth (Job 19:25–27). Christians, too, look beyond suffering and sorrow to the eternal day, when "what is mortal may be swallowed up by life" (2 Corinthians 5:4).

Noticeably absent from the New Jerusalem are tears, death, mourning, crying and pain (Revelation 21:4). Pain, sorrow, mourning, the passing of friends and loved ones, and dying are all harsh realities of this life, but they will be over once and for all when we take up residence in the New Jerusalem. No wonder the apostle Paul regarded his death as gain (Philippians 1:21).

Revelation 20 described the total and complete defeat of all sin and evil. This verse describes the reality which comes about when God has enacted His judgment. All wrongs are made right, all sin is separated, and all suffering of all kinds are gone.

Revelation 21:1–8 continues the progression of events which came after the end of the tribulation: Christ's return to earth (Revelation 19:11–16), the defeat and destruction of those who war against Christ (Revelation 19:17–21), the incarceration of Satan (Revelation 20:1–3), the millennial reign of Christ (Revelation 20:4–6), the release of Satan and the nations' final revolt against God (Revelation 20:7–10), and the great white throne judgment (Revelation 20:11–15). Here we see the creation of the new heaven and the new earth. Upcoming verses describe the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:9–27).

This chapter focuses on the New Jerusalem. This is not the earthly, historic Jerusalem of the tribulation (Revelation 11:2, 8). Nor is it the surviving Jerusalem of the millennium that serves as Jesus' capital (Revelation 20:9). It is the heavenly city referred to in Hebrews 12:22, whose designer and builder is God (Hebrews 11:10, 16). John attempts to describe the indescribable using analogies to precious gems and metals.

Leading up to this chapter, all sin and evil have been entirely defeated. Satan is banished to hell, along with every person who rejected Christ, as seen in chapter 20. Here, John describes the nature of the New Jerusalem, the heavenly city which descends onto earth after the ultimate victory over evil. Chapter 22 is a further description of this perfect eternity, and last messages from Jesus to those who read John's words.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''