Revelation 21:3 Commentary and Bible Study

Another exceedingly auspicious proclamation is made from heaven. This is the dawn of eternity, the beginning of that blessed age for which God made the world in the first place. Heaven rejoices to see that the history of the world has led to its proper conclusion. Now finally all types and shadows will become redundant. The language used is a language familiar to the readers of Old and New Testaments. Israel made the tabernacle in the wilderness under the Lord’s instruction and Jehovah came in token form and dwelt in it. Then in a sense the tabernacle of God was with men and he dwelt with them. But though he dwelt with them through the visible symbol of the Shekinah glory (Exodus 19:16-18; 40:34; 1 Kings 8 10) (a name given by rabbinic literature to the visible pillar of fire), the reality figured by this symbol did not come to pass until the incarnation. Only then does God truly dwell with his people, and especially when we see him as he is (1 John 3:2).Every Israelite was born into a covenant which made him one of God’s people. This was however a covenant entered by natural birth and they were the people of God only in an earthly sense. A remnant of them went on to trust in God for salvation and to truly and spiritually become the people of God, but the nation as a whole could only be called the people of God in a typical sense. They received earthly benefits such as protection from the nations around and the growth of their crops. The true people of God are those who are born of God. This is the marvellous relationship which every true believer knows, whether Jew or Greek. But the children of God are hidden from the world, just as Christ is now hidden. ‘Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not’ (1 John 3:1). The coming of the eternal kingdom will change this and it is this wonderful truth that is celebrated in this verse. No longer will there be any doubt about whom the Lord favours. He will make his distinctive love abundantly clear. It is put in different ways to emphasises that now we walk by faith. We know from the word of God that the Holy Spirit is mysteriously within us. We know that Christ is ever near to us. We know we have access to our heavenly Father, constantly. But we do not sense them or feel them or touch them or seen them. But then things will be different: ‘He will dwell with them.’ Will you see the Father? No, nothing tells us will see the Father, but we will constantly sense his glory and his being. We have sensations in this life: sensations of warmth, especially when you go from a cold area into a warm area. We enjoy various scents and fragrances and there are all sorts of things we appreciate by sense. Can we imagine an atmosphere which is just redolent with the glory of God the Father? We cannot see him, but we can sense and be assured of his presence, and somehow feel his power, his glory, and his majesty. But we will see Christ, who is God with the Father. We will see him because he wears that body that he assumed on earth in glorified form eternally, just for us.