Revelation 21:25 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.

NIV: On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

NASB: In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;

CSB: Its gates will never close by day because it will never be night there.

NLT: Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there.

KJV: And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

NKJV: Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).

The gates of New Jerusalem will never be shut to those who qualify by faith in Christ to enter the city. In ancient times cities closed their gates at night to keep out hostile forces, but no hostile forces exist to threaten New Jerusalem. All kinds of evil occurred under the cloak of darkness in ancient times, as well as today, and hostile forces usually chose nighttime to invade an ancient city, but night does not exist inside New Jerusalem. The city's all-pervasive light emanates from the glory of God and the Lamb.

The perpetually open gates are a clear reminder that Jesus is the Door to heaven and He does not withdraw His invitation to enter (John 10:7–9). However, if a person rejects the invitation and dies, it is too late to change his eternal destination. Hebrews 9:27 states: "It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment." Second Corinthians 6:2 and Hebrews 3:15 offer valuable counsel: "Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."

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.''

Accessed 5/4/2024 8:59:10 AM