What does Revelation 21:1-8 mean?

Revelation 21:1 Direct teaching

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

Revelation 21:2 Direct teaching

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Revelation 21:5 Direct teaching

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Isaiah 65:17 Background

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.

2 Peter 3:13 Background

Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Isaiah 66:22 Background

“For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord, “So shall your descendants and your name remain.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Direct teaching

...nce that God made to the ancestors. They will reign in it when they rise again to see God in this renewed creation, and judgment will occur afterward. It is fitting that in the very creation where they labored or suffered in many ways, they should receive the reward for their suffering. In the creation where they were killed because of their love for God, they should be brought back to life; and in the creation where they were subjected to servitude, they should reign. For God is abundant in all things, and everything belongs to Him. Therefore, it is proper for the creation itself, once restored to its original state, to be under the unrestricted rule of the righteous. The apostle clarified this in the Epistle to the Romans, when he said: "For the creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God. The creation was subjected to futility, not by its own choice, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be freed from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of the sons of God."

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Direct teaching

And further, there was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied, by a revelation that was made to him, that those who believed in our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem;

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

“For Isaiah spake thus concerning this space of a thousand years: ‘For there shall be the new heaven and the new earth, and the former shall not be remembered, or come into their heart;

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Direct teaching

Isaiah also, in declaring prophetically that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, undoubtedly suggests a similar view.

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness

For that there will be another world after this, is taught by Isaiah, who says, There will be new heavens, and a new earth, which I shall make to abide in my sight, says the Lord;

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness

For this renewal of heaven and earth, and this transmutation of the form of the present world, and this changing of the heavens will undoubtedly be prepared for those who are walking along that way which we have pointed out above, and are tending to that goal of happiness to which, it is said, even enemies themselves are to be subjected, and in which God is said to be all and in all.

Revelation 21:3 Direct teaching

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

Revelation 21:10 Direct teaching

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,

Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness

...ay and night. We must gather not only the new sayings of the Gospels, and of the Apostles and their Revelation, but also the old things in the law, which has the shadow of the good things to come, Hebrews 10:1, and in the prophets who prophesied in agreement with them. These things will be gathered together when we also read and understand them, and when, remembering them, we compare spiritual things with spiritual things at the right time. We must not compare things that cannot be compared with each other, but things that can be compared, and that have a certain likeness in wording that signifies the same thing, and in thoughts and judgments. In this way, by the mouth of two or three or more witnesses, Matthew 18:16, from the Scripture, we may establish and confirm every word of God. By these same Scriptures we must also refute those who, as much as they can, split the Godhead in two and cut off the New from the Old. In this way they are very far from being like the householder who brings out of his treasury things new and old. And since the one who is likened to another is different from the one to whom he is likened, the scribe who is made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

After His coming the righteous shall be collected from all the earth, and the judgment being completed, the sacred city shall be planted in the middle of the earth, in which God Himself the builder may dwell together with the righteous, bearing rule in it.

Victorinus, Connection to Revelation 21:16 Supporting witness

I say, in respect of the square city, he shows forth the united multitude of the saints, in whom the faith could by no means waver. As Noah is commanded to make the ark of squared beams, that it might resist the force of the deluge, by the precious stones he sets forth the holy men who cannot waver in persecution, who could not be moved either by the tempest of persecutors, or be dissolved from the true faith by the force of the rain, because they are associated of pure gold, of whom the city of the great King is adorned.

Methodius, Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna Supporting witness

...her with the whole body of the Church, since we are present with them in spirit and are keeping the holy feast with the Father and the brothers most honored there. Hail, city of the Great King, in which the mysteries of our salvation are brought to completion. Hail, heaven on earth, Zion, the city that is forever faithful to the Lord. Hail, and shine, Jerusalem, for your light has come: the Eternal Light, the everlasting Light, the Supreme Light, the Immaterial Light, the Light of one substance with God the Father, the Light that is in the Spirit, and in which is the Father; the Light that lights the ages; the Light that gives light to earthly and heavenly things, Christ our true God. Hail, city sacred and chosen of the Lord. Keep your feast days with joy, for they will not multiply so as to grow old and pass away. Hail, most blessed city, for glorious things are spoken of you. Your priest shall be clothed with righteousness, your saints shall shout for joy, and your poor shall be filled with bread. Hail! Rejoice, Jerusalem, for the Lord reigns in your midst. That Lord, I say, who in His simple and immaterial Deity entered our nature, and from the virgin's womb became incarnate

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Background

...er of us all." And in another of his Epistles he says, "But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, and to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, and to the Church of the first-born which is written in heaven." If, then, there are certain souls in this world who are called Israel, and a city in heaven which is called Jerusalem, it follows that those cities said to belong to the nation of Israel have the heavenly Jerusalem as their metropolis. And, in agreement with this, we understand as referring to the whole of Judah, of which also we are of the opinion that the prophets have spoken in certain mystical narratives, any predictions delivered either regarding Judea or Jerusalem, or invasions of any kind, which the sacred histories declare to have happened to Judea or Jerusalem. Whatever, then, is either narrated or predicted of Jerusalem must, if we accept the words of Paul as those of Christ speaking in him, be understood as spoken in conformity with his opinion regarding that city which he calls the heavenly Jerusalem, and all those places or cities which are said to be cities of the holy land, of which Jerusalem is the metropol

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Background

Jerusalem, the heavenly assembly, and church of the first-born that are written in heaven;

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. Mark Background

Remember, O Lord, the holy city of our God, Jesus Christ;

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Supporting witness

..."This rock and this gate are the Son of God." "How, sir?" I said. "The rock is old, and the gate is new." He said, "Listen and understand, O ignorant man. The Son of God is older than all His creatures, so that He was a fellow-councillor with the Father in His work of creation. For this reason He is old." "And why is the gate new, sir?" I said. He answered, "Because He became manifest in the last days of the divine arrangement. For this reason the gate was made new, so that those who are to be saved by it might enter into the kingdom of God. You saw," he said, "that those stones which came in through the gate were used for the building of the tower, and that those which did not come were thrown back again to their own place?" "I saw, sir," I replied. He continued, "In like manner, no one shall enter into the kingdom of God unless he receives His holy name. For if you desire to enter a city, and that city is surrounded by a wall and has only one gate, can you enter into that city except through the gate that it has?" "Why, how can it be otherwise, sir?" I said. "If, then, you cannot enter into the city except through its gate, so, in like manner, a man cannot enter into the kingd

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness

and we allow that the twelve gates of the celestial city, by being made like precious stones, indicate the transcendent grace of the apostolic voice.

Methodius, Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna Background

Hail, you heaven upon earth, Sion, the city that is for ever faithful unto the Lord.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Supporting witness

...ew earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away; there was also no more sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, like a bride adorned for her husband." "And I heard," it is said, "a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with men, and He will live with them; they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death will be no more, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain, because the former things have passed away." Isaiah also declares the same: "For there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and there shall be no remembrance of the former, nor shall the heart consider them, but they shall find joy and exultation in it." This is what the apostle mentioned: "For the form of this world is passing away." Similarly, the Lord declared, "Heaven and earth will pass away." When these things pass away, John, the Lord’s disciple, says that the new Jerusalem above will then descend, as a bride adorned for her husband; this is the dwelling place of God, in which God will live with men. The former Jerusalem is an image of this—that Jerusalem on the former

Peter of Alexandria, The Genuine Acts of Peter Supporting witness

for whose sake it now groans and travails, waiting itself also for our redemption from the corruption of the body, that, when we have risen and shaken off the mortality of the flesh, according to that which is written, Shake off the dust, and arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem, Isaiah 52:2 and have been set free from sin, it also shall be freed from corruption and be subject no longer to vanity, but to righteousness.

Athenagoras, The Resurrection of the Dead Supporting witness

But although the reason we can see in the creation of human beings is by itself enough to prove that the resurrection naturally follows the dissolution of bodies, it is perhaps right not to avoid bringing forward both of the proposed arguments. As has been said, we should point out to those who are not able to see them for themselves the arguments that come from each of the truths drawn from the first truth. And first of all, the nature of the human beings who were created leads us to the same conclusion and has the same force as proof of the resurrection. For if the whole nature of human beings in general is made up of an immortal soul and a body fitted to it at creation, and if God assigned such a creation, such a life, and such a complete course of existence not to the nature of the soul by itself, nor to the nature of the body by itself, but to human beings made from both, then this was so that, after passing through their present life, they might arrive at one common end with the same elements of which they are made at birth and during life. It unavoidably follows that, since one living being is formed from these two parts, and this one living being experiences whatever the so

Athenagoras, Connection to 2 Peter 3:13 Supporting witness

the life after the resurrection is... a blessed existence in which souls and bodies, perfected together, shall enjoy incorruption.

Methodius, From the Discourse on the Resurrection Supporting witness

for whose sake it now groans and travails, waiting itself also for our redemption from the corruption of the body, that, when we have risen and shaken off the mortality of the flesh, according to that which is written, Shake off the dust, and arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem, Isaiah 52:2 and have been set free from sin, it also shall be freed from corruption and be subject no longer to vanity, but to righteousness.

Anonymous, Treatise on Re-Baptism Supporting witness

...ishop in such a way as to receive the laying on of hands at once, and yet dies before receiving the Holy Spirit, would you judge that he has received salvation or not? For even the apostles themselves, and the disciples who also baptized others and had themselves been baptized by the Lord, did not receive the Holy Spirit at once. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. And after His resurrection, a considerable time passed before that happened. In the same way, when the Samaritans were baptized by Philip, they did not receive the gift until the apostles, who were invited from Jerusalem to Samaria, came down to them, laid hands on them, and gave them the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. During that interval, any one of them who had not received the Holy Spirit might have been cut off by death, and died deprived of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Nor can it be doubted that the same kind of thing is common in the present day and happens often: many people, after baptism, leave this life without the laying on of the bishop's hands, and yet are considered complete believers. Just so, the Ethiopian eunuch, when he was returning from Jerusal

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Direct teaching

“And if any one,” it is said, “was not found written in the book of life, he was sent into the lake of fire.” And after this, he says, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth have passed away;

Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness

Revelation 21:10-23 And the word of the new prophecy which is a part of our belief, attests how it foretold that there would be for a sign a picture of this very city exhibited to view previous to its manifestation.

Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness

...h in itself amounts to a proof of the diversity of the Christs: God's kingdom as an everlasting and heavenly possession. Besides, your Christ promises to the Jews their original condition, with the recovery of their country. And after the course of this life is over, repose in Hades, in Abraham's bosom. Oh, most excellent God, when He restores in amnesty what He took away in wrath! Oh, what a God is yours, who both wounds and heals, creates evil and makes peace! Oh, what a God, who is merciful even down to Hades! I shall have something to say about Abraham's bosom in the proper place. As for the restoration of Judea, however, which even the Jews themselves hope for exactly as it is described, being led by the names of places and countries, it would be tedious to explain at length how the figurative interpretation applies spiritually to Christ and His church, and to its character and fruits. Besides, the subject has been properly treated in another work, which we call De Spe Fidelium. At present, too, it would be unnecessary for this reason: our inquiry concerns what is promised in heaven, not on earth. But we do confess that a kingdom is promised to us on the earth, although bef

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness

But when the thousand years shall be fulfilled, and the prince of the demons loosed, the nations will rebel against the righteous, and an innumerable multitude will come to storm the city of the saints.