Revelation 21:24: Difference between revisions

Taken literally, this verse suggests that in the new earth there will be two companies of people: the redeemed who inhabit the new Jerusalem, and unregenerate nations of earth who live outside the city but who are influenced by its presence, walking in its light, and bringing their glory to the city. This fact has led many scholars to the conclusion that John is here describing the millennial Jerusalem, not the Jerusalem of the eternal order when all wicked men shall have been cast into the lake of fire. However, it is equally possible that John is using conventional human language to describe the universality of the knowledge of God in the eternal order. In the divine consummation, the redeemed will consist of peoples from every nation and tribe and people and tongue (7:9) who will not lose their national identity. John’s language means no more than the statements of the prophets: “and many peoples shall come and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob’ ” (Isa. 2:3); “and nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isa. 60:3). This is the affirmation of the universality of the knowledge of God.<ref>George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972), 284.</ref>

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[[Category: Unfinished articles]]