May God Grant Us Wisdom and Revelation to See New Jerusalem
Revelation 1:1, “The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to Him to show to His slaves the things that must quickly take place; and He made it known by signs,* sending it by His angel to His slave John.”
All the pictures in Revelation are signs. The revelation in the book of Revelation is composed mainly of signs, that is, symbols with spiritual significance, such as the seven lampstands signifying the churches and the seven stars signifying the messengers of the churches (1:20). Even the New Jerusalem is a sign, signifying the ultimate consummation of God’s economy. This book, then, is a book of signs, symbols through which the revelation is made known to us.**
Since Revelation is a book of spiritual signs, New Jerusalem as a whole, the last feature presented in Revelation, and the various characteristics of this city, must be signs, symbols with spiritual significance.
To see this, we need to join Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1. Verse 17, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him, the eyes of your heart having been enlightened…”
This prayer concludes (v. 22-23) with the church, the Body of Christ, the forerunner of New Jerusalem. MAy we receive wisdom and revelation for this. May God answer this prayer in us!
* “Made known by signs” is an unusual translation but Bible Hub shows ten translations which use “signified” or “signify.” It also has a definition for the Greek verb from Strong’s Concordance, “to signify, indicate, give a sign, make known.”
** Life-Study of the New Testament, Conclusion Messages: The Church, the Kingdom, and the New Jerusalem, message 257, p. 2687, by Witness Lee. Published 1998 and © by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, California.
