Revelation 21:23 Commentary and Bible Study

The sun and the moon were made for this world. They were placed as light bearers in the heavens: the sun to rule the day, and the moon to rule the night. But the sun after all was given not just for the practical purpose of providing light to this world; it was also a symbol of God’s glory. Just as it is a light too bright to look upon, so no mortal man can see God and live (Exodus 33:20). As the sun is the highest source of all energy to this world and on which all physical life is dependent, so all creation owes its existence to God and is dependent on ‘His most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions’. Just as the beauty of the sun’s rays and its transformation of earth’s landscape lifts our spirits, so the beauty of God’s truth makes all things visible and thrills our souls. In heaven God will have no rivals, nor would we want there to be any. All things point ahead to his glory; we have no desire to look back. God himself will fulfil the function of those lights. What exactly this means we are not told. This verse warns us that the world to come is so different from our present world that it is not easy to envisage what it will be like. We know however that we will see God (Matthew 5:8), that we now know only in part (1 Corinthians 13:12), that nothing in this present world is as glorious as what will be revealed (1 John 3:2). The realisation of our own immortality and endless opportunity to explore the being of God will surely fill our souls as full as they are capable of being filled.These things will be just as Isaiah prophesied long ago: ‘The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. ²⁰ Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended’ (Isaiah 60:19-20). Notice that where Revelation says, ‘The Lamb is the light thereof’, picking up on Isaiah 60:19, Isaiah says, ‘the LORD [Jehovah] will be to you an everlasting light’. The deity of the Lamb is fully confirmed.