Strange as it may seem, this tabernacle is also called the bride, the wife of the Lamb (Rev. 21:9-10). How can the wife of the Lamb be also God’s dwelling place? It is hard to explain. However, the Bible tells us that the New Jerusalem is, on the one hand, God’s tabernacle and, on the other hand, Christ’s wife.
The Father’s home is the Son’s wife. In eternity God the Father has a home, which is called the tabernacle, and God the Son has a wife, which is that very tabernacle. How can the theologians systematize this?
This tabernacle is also called the holy city (21:2-3). A tabernacle is only a tent. How could a tent be a city? The New Jerusalem is a city; the city is a tabernacle; and the tabernacle is a wife. This is what the Bible tells us. I will leave the matter there.
At first the children of Israel had the tabernacle. Then they entered the good land, conquered the enemy, and secured the peace. Afterwards they built the temple. The tabernacle was then merged with the temple (1 Kings 8:4).
These two, the tabernacle and the temple, were God’s greatest blessing to His people on earth. This is because both were God’s home. As long as they had the house of God, they could locate God. They could tell others where He was. The tabernacle and the temple were the center and focus of the Old Testament.
When we come to the New Jerusalem, we are told that it is the tabernacle of God. John must have been looking around for the temple, since he tells us, “And I saw no temple in it” (Rev. 21:22). He then adds, “For its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.” These words are troublesome, but from carefully reading these last two chapters, we can see that the city is not only the tabernacle, but also the temple. As the tabernacle, the city is the wife of the Lamb. As the temple, the city is the enlargement of God Himself and the Lamb.
As we dig through all that is implied here, we must conclude that this city is the enlargement of God Himself, so it is the wife of the Lamb. The wife is God’s redeemed, including us. The new city is the tabernacle, the wife, and the temple. This city is all-inclusive. Theologians are left with no explanation for the strange city. We say, however, that it is the mingling of the Triune God with man.
So far we have made reference to God the Father (21:22) and to Christ the Son, the Lamb (v. 22). Where can we find the Spirit mentioned? Revelation 22:17 tells us, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! Let him who hears also say, Come! Let him who is thirsty also come; he who wills, let him take the water of life freely.” Thus in these two chapters we have the Triune God mentioned. And there is also the tabernacle, the temple, the bride. In 21:7 it says, “He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be God to him, and he shall be a son to Me.” Here is an indication that this city is composed of the sons of God. If the city is a wife, how could it be made up of sons? Is it male or female? This bothers the human mentality.
With our limited understanding, we can only say that the New Jerusalem is a composition of the Triune God and His redeemed people. The Old Testament presents first the tabernacle, then the temple. It also considers God’s redeemed people as His wife (Isa. 54:5-6) and His redeemed and regenerated ones as His sons (Exo. 4:22; Isa. 43:6). In this New Testament age we also have a double status. We are the sons of God, enjoying and inheriting all the Father’s blessing (Rom. 8:14, 17). We are also the wife of Christ, participating in His love (Eph. 5:31-32). As sons, we enjoy the Father’s life; as a wife, we enjoy the Son’s love. The New Jerusalem, then, is composed of the Father’s sons enjoying His life; it is also the wife of the Lamb, enjoying the Son’s love. Both life and love are here; one is for the sons, the other for the wife.
This composition of the Triune God and His redeemed and regenerated people is a mingling. This city, as the tabernacle and temple of God, is where He dwells. The New Testament tells us clearly that God does not dwell in a physical building (Acts 17:24), that we are the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15) and God’s temple (1 Cor. 3:16). The New Jerusalem, then, is the ultimate consummation of God’s dwelling place. We are that dwelling place; God is the Dweller.
Where do we dwell? We dwell in God! This fulfills what Moses said in Psalm 90:1: “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.” We are God’s dwelling place, and God becomes our dwelling place. This is also the concept in John 15:4: “Abide in Me and I in you.” We say this is the mingling of God and man.
Some may say that God is too lofty to mingle with mean man. We have been saved, redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and uplifted. We are human, but we are no longer mean. We are noble, even splendid. Our full splendor is yet to be manifested. When He comes, we shall be transfigured. Then our splendor will appear in full. We are not only joined to the Lord; we have even been mingled with Him. He dwells in us, and we dwell in Him. What a wonder this is!
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