> Rev 22 >
A new heaven and a new earth 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth was gone, and the sea is now no more. 2 And I John saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying: Behold the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them. And they shall be his people; and God himself with them shall be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away. 21:1 new heavens and earth: He does not mean that the heaven and the earth and the sea will be destroyed and have disappeared and that others will be created in their place, but that the present ones will have thrown off their decay and become new, as though they have taken off an old garment and the accompanying dirt. (Oecumenius) heaven and earth fled away: This is that which the Lord said, 'Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away, ' Matt. 24:35." (Haimo of Auxerre) sea is now no more: I would not lightly say whether it is dried up with that excessive heat, or is itself also turned into some better thing. (St. Augustine City of God 20.16) For what use is there of a sea when people no longer need to sail it or to aquire by means of it the goods grown in regions lying far away? Moreover the 'sea' is symobolic of the turbulence and unsettledness of life, and so there will then be no need of it when there remains no trouble or fear among the saints. (St. Andrew of Caesarea) Luis of Alcasar maintains that the sea here mentioned is mystical, and so says St. Albert the Great. Primasius is uncertain upon the subject; so are Rabanus Maurus and St. Ambrosius Autpertus; while Berengaud admits both an allegorical and literal interpretation. 21:2 New Jerusalem, that is, the unified society of the elect perfected by love. New in relation to the glory of their bodies. For the bodies of the saints which are corruptible in quality. Coming down out of heaven, that is, from the highest heaven, so that they may put on their bodies and appear for the judgment. (Nicholas of Lyra) 21:3 the tabernacle of God with men: That is, the inseparable dwelling of God with humans, because the blessed will have that power by clear vision and perfect enjoyment. (Nicholas of Lyra) Or it means, in giving them Jesus Christ incarnate and sacrificed for us; and afterwards, by the continuation of his incarnation and his sacrifice, present among us in the sacrament of his body and his blood. (Augustin Calmet) St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Albertus the Great, and others understand the Humanity of Christ in which he made war against the devil. The same interpretation is given by Cardinal Hugo, Alexander de Hales, St. Anselm of Canterbury, Rabanus Maurus, etc. 21:4 There is so manifest a reference to the future world and the immortality and eternity of the saints. (St. Augustine City of God 20.17) The promise 5 And he that sat on the throne, said: Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me: Write, for these words are most faithful and true. 6 And he said to me: It is done. I am Alpha and Omega; the beginning and the end. To him that thirsts, I will give of the fountain of the water of life, freely. 7 He that shall overcome shall possess these things, and I will be his God; and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, they shall have their portion in the pool burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. 21:6 I will give water: That is, participation in the blessed life. (Nicholas of Lyra) The heavenly Jerusalem 9 And there came one of the seven angels, who had the vials full of the seven last plagues, and spoke with me, saying: Come, and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. 10 And he took me up in spirit to a great and high mountain: and he showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 Having the glory of God, and the light thereof was like to a precious stone, as to the jasper stone, even as crystal. 12 And it had a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and in the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. 13 On the east, three gates: and on the north, three gates: and on the south, three gates: and on the west, three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them, the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 21:12-14 The text depicts the blessedness of the saints, and their life which will be in God and with God, as is meant by describing it in material and grandiose terms, so leading our mind to consider its spiritual glory and brightness. (Oecumenius) Or the wall is the city itself which has twelve foundations, because its consistence is in the doctrine of the apostles and prophets; the foundation of which foundations is Christ, of whom Paul says; 'Other foundation can no man lay save that which is laid, namely, Jesus Christ. (Haimo of Auxerre) Nicholas of Lyra, Luis of Alcasar, and others are of opinion that the twelve foundations of the wall are the twelve articles of faith contained in the Apostles' Creed, which according to them contain the fundamental truths of the Christian religion, each precious stone being appropriated to signify some corresponding and fundamental article in the Creed. Description of the city 15 And he that spoke with me, had a measure of a reed of gold, to measure the city and the gates thereof, and the wall. 16 And the city lies in a foursquare, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth: and he measured the city with the golden reed for twelve thousand furlongs, and the length and the height and the breadth thereof are equal. 17 And he measured the wall thereof an hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, which is of an angel. 18 And the building of the wall thereof was of jasper stone: but the city itself pure gold, like to clear glass. 19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper: the second, sapphire: the third, a chalcedony: the fourth, an emerald: 20 The fifth, sardonyx: the sixth, sardius: the seventh, chrysolite: the eighth, beryl: the ninth, a topaz: the tenth, a chrysoprasus: the eleventh, a jacinth: the twelfth, an amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, one to each: and every several gate was of one several pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 21:15-18 The golden reed is the Divine Scripture composed by the wisdom of God, which comes into contact with the hearts of the faithful and gives them illustration. To measure the city and its gates, signifies to give to the less intelligent, according to the measure of their capacity, the understanding of the Scriptures. (Rabanus Maurus) The signification of measuring has already been considered in chap. 11:1, where John is commanded to rise and measure the temple. The measure here signified by the 'golden reed' is, says St. Albertus the Great, 'sacred doctrine.' Alexander de Hales says that it is wisdom, which is called a measure, because 'wisdom has ordered all things in number, weight, and measure;' and that the wisdom here meant is that which is contained in the Sacred Scripture. St. Anselm of Canterbury says, that " the measure is the Divine Scripture, and that it is golden because it is composed by the wisdom of God." A similar interpretation is given by Haimo of Auxerre. We may further add that Cardinal Hugo interprets it as signifying that "an understanding of the Scriptures is now given to each person of inferior intelligence according to his capacity, and a divine knowledge in regard to what is to come to pass." God and the Lamb give it light 22 And I saw no temple therein. For the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of the sun, nor of the moon, to shine in it. For the glory of God has enlightened it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof. 24 And the nations shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honour into it. 25 And the gates thereof shall not be shut by day: for there shall be no night there. 26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 27 There shall not enter into it any thing defiled, or that works abomination or makes a lie, but they that are written in the book of life of the Lamb.21:22 no temple: The worship of God in the time of the Old Testament was figurative in
respect of the worship adumbrated in the time of the New. 1 Cor. 10;
'All things happened to them in a figure.' The worship under the New
Testament, again, is figurative in respect of the worship in heaven; for the church militant represents, as best it may, the things which are heralds of the things in heaven; whence it is said that the church represents the joys of our mother which is above, which representation is
made in a material temple by services of the body. Whereas the state of
blessedness above is not figurative of anything waited for or not in
possession; for God is there beheld in clearness, and is there possessed
and adored presentially. For this reason says John, 'I saw no temple
therein,' because God is not worshipped there in a representative manner, but presentially. (Nicholas of Lyra) 21:23 There will be no need of physical light, since the elect will be perfectly enlightened. (Nicholas of Lyra) Or this means the sun is designated the New Testament, and the moon the Old Testament. In the state of darkness of this world the Church cannot go on in a straight path without frequent stumblings if these two luminaries he absent. But in that state of blessedness where there is no darkness, no stumbling, nothing uncorrected which can be corrected, the light of the New and of the Old Testament will not be necessary; for the saints will enjoy without end the light of Him who is the Author of light, and who lightens every man that comes into the world. (Berengaud) Or that is, no need either of a superior or inferior order of preachers. (Rabanus Maurus) Or that is, it had no need of any greater or lesser degree of teaching. 'To shine in it,' so that the citizens should be illuminated interiorly by it, namely, as ministered either by a higher or lower order of teachers; because they shall all be taught of God. (Cardinal Hugo) 21:24 A king is one who rules, and, indeed, all things and people are governed and suled by the holy angels. Therefore, here and in many place in Scripture, angels are called rulers of the earth. (Nicholas of Lyra) 21:25 Either this means that there will be peace and freedom from fear, so that will be no need of a guard, or that the apostolic teachings, which we call the apostles gates, will not be silent there, and that the apostles will be there, too, as teachers of new and more divine doctrines to the saints. (Oecumenius) Catechism Cross-Reference
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