Revelation 21:22 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

NIV: I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

NASB: I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

CSB: I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

NLT: I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

KJV: And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

NKJV: But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

In Old Testament times, the Israelites worshiped God in a temple, but New Jerusalem doesn't need a temple because the entire city is the dwelling place of Almighty God and the Lamb. In Old Testament times God's presence graced a temple in Jerusalem. It was the center of Jewish worship for centuries before the exile, when it was laid waste by the Babylonians. When a delegation of Jews returned from captivity, they rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 6:13–18).

Although no temple is located in this heavenly New Jerusalem, a temple exists on earth in Jerusalem during the millennium. Malachi 3:1 predicts part of this end-times victory, saying "And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple." Zechariah 14:16 predicts that survivors of the nations that launch an assault on Jerusalem will "go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths." These concepts of worship and festivals imply the existence of a temple in Jerusalem during the millennium.

This lack of an explicit temple also reinforces the new covenant promised by God in Jeremiah 31:31–34, which indicates a direct relationship between man and God.

Revelation 21:9–27 presents a description of the New Jerusalem. Interpreters disagree about whether this is a flashback to the millennial reign of Christ, or a description of the eternal state of the city. A flashback is not unprecedented in Revelation, occurring in chapters 11, 14, 15, and 17. However, some verses here clearly refer to eternal conditions, and most scholars take this as a depiction of the eternal, final heavenly city.

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.''