The Revelation- Re.20 “Conclusion”

“And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it./ And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”

Jesus in his prayer speaks of the glory which he had before the worlds began.”And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”(John 17:5). This throws light into the Temple of Solomon in which God appears to King Solomon. “That the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon./ And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.”(1 Ki.9:2-3) The house built with hand becomes hallowed when God sees His name therein. It is what the presence of God means.

Before the worlds began a body was prepared which in the case of his Son signified the Word made flesh. After having fulfilled his will he had to give account of it to which these verses refer. “Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are./ While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, “(John 17:10-11). As the tabernacle in the wilderness was built by the free will offerings dedicated unto his name the disciples who dedicated themselves as one were kept ‘through thine own name.’ Judas who wanted to make a little money on the side is mentioned as the son of perdition. “And none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.”

The Word was God. “That the scripture might be fulfilled” is not simply a word open to interpretation so given emphasis on the wrong places render Israel and their temple worship to that of Brobdingnagian proportions while Jesus is reduced to Lilliputian figure. This is how heresies have treated the inerrant word of God even in our present times. Abiding in Christ is to wear the badge of Christian as a disciple while Judas also would venture to ask, during the Last Supper “Is it I?” (Matt.26:25). He had already decided to betray him but just the same he asked as others were curious to know. The example of Jesus or his teachings did not connect with him really. Why? He had sold himself to serve God and mammon. “Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.(Luke 22:3)

So presence of God is word based which is true and glory of the Word sanctifies the person who does as dictated by it. “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”(John 17:17). He is blessed as we read in Ps.1. “But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”(Ps.1:2) Glory of the Word by unity of the Spirit, so Christ prays for the body to be a living temple. “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one./ I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.”(John 17:22-23) Solomon built a temple which was however imperfect because he did not keep it according to the Word of God. His heart was estranged because his own glory cut into the glory due unto his Name. ( 1Ki.11:1)

We are living two worlds at a time. Now of our lives show what the great city of Jerusalem coming down from heaven shall look like. As mentioned in vv.24-26 nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it.

²⁴ And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

²⁵ And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

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