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Two Women at the End of the Bible

Revelation 17-18 presents a woman named Babylon and chapters 19, 21-22 reveal a woman named New Jerusalem who is the bride, the wife of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.

The sixty-six books of the Bible speak of many things and contain many revelations. In the end, however, there are two women. The conclusion of the Bible, the last chapters of the book of Revelation, is a story of Babylon and Jerusalem—two cities and two women. We need to have a clear understanding of the principles represented by these two women.*

New JerusalemBabylon, the development from Babel in Genesis 11, signifies confusion and rebel-lion against God. In Revelation 18:4-5 there is a cry, “Come out of her, My people, that you do not participate in her sins and that you do not receive her plagues; for her sins have accumulated up to heaven, and God has remembered her unrighteousnesses.”

By the end of Revelation 18 Babylon is destroyed and chapter 19 begins with praises to God. Then there is a wonderful declaration in 19:7, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”

May we all love the Lord Jesus and pursue Him to experience Him, gain Him, and be filled with Him that we may be constituted into New Jerusalem as His bride, His wife.

* from Witness Lee, The Four Men in the Bible, chap. 9, published and © by Living Stream Ministry.

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by Don on April 19, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on April 19, 2024

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/04/19/two-women-at-the-end-of-the-bible/

I Come Quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Revelation 22:5 completes the description of New Jerusalem and the blessings in it. Then this divine record continues to the Lord’s words in 22:7, “And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this scroll.”

New JerusalemThe Lord says twice more “I come quickly” (v. 12, 20). We must say, “amen” to His speaking. In our human concept we might think He has not come quickly but this is His word.

Revelation 19:7, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” Matthew 25:10, “those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast.”

His coming depends on our readiness. Do not think you are ready for His coming. Even Paul, as a mature Christian, was still pursuing, seeking more of the Lord; read his words in Philippians 3:12-14.

We cannot make ourselves ready by our own effort but we need to cooperate with the Lord to deny ourselves, to seek Him, to pursue to gain more of Him, to love Him in incorruptibility (Eph. 6:24). This is our way to be ready for and to hasten His coming. This is our path to the wedding feast and to New Jerusalem.

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by Don on February 14, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on February 14, 2024

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/02/14/i-come-quickly-amen-come-lord-jesus-2/

Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in the Spirit Now and in New Jerusalem

New JerusalemRomans 14:17 declares that “the kingdom of God is…righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Today we have the reality of the kingdom within us. In the coming age and eternity the kingdom will also be manifested around us.

The context of Romans 14 shows that these three blessings are for today. However, today they are only inward; the outward situation of the world is unrighteous, not peaceful, and sad. At the end of John 16 the Lord’s words about this age are that in Him we have peace but in the world we have affliction.

When the Lord returns to reign over the whole earth there will be righteousness and peace and joy inwardly and around us, in the kingdom age and even more in eternity.
• 2 Peter 3:13, “we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”
• the name Jerusalem means foundation of peace
• Revelation 19:7, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”

If we live a kingdom life today we will be fully prepared to enjoy these three blessings now and to enter into their fullness in the coming age and in New Jerusalem.

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by Don on February 9, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on February 9, 2024

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/02/09/righteousness-peace-and-joy-in-the-spirit-now-and-in-new-jerusalem/

Revelation is a Book of Praise

New JerusalemRevelation is a book of praise, including verses 5:8-14, 7:9-12, 14:1-3, 15:2-4, and 19:1-7. This praising includes both loud voices and singing.

“Every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them, I heard saying, To Him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.” (5:13)
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.” (19:6)

“Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” This is Revelation 19:7 which is a praise related to New Jerusalem, “the bride, the wife of the Lamb” (21:9).

Surely this praising of God and the Lamb will continue in New Jerusalem. But let’s not wait! We can speak, shout, or sing praises today to have current experience of New Jerusalem. Here is a song with the praises of Revelation 5:12-13. Worthy is the Lamb!

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by Don on December 13, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on December 13, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/12/13/revelation-is-a-book-of-praise/

The Bride in the Millennium, the Wife in Eternity 

“Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready….Blessed are they who are called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:7, 9).

The millennium will be the wedding day in which the overcoming saints will participate (Rev. 19:7-9). To the Lord a thousand years New Jerusalemare like one day (2 Pet. 3:8), so the millennium will be the wedding day of the Lamb with the church as His bride….The millennium of one thousand years will be one day for the Lamb to marry His bride. In the new heaven and new earth, all the saints of both the Old Testament and the New Testament will be the New Jerusalem, enjoying the divine married life with the Triune God for eternity.*

Matthew 25:1-13 is a parable about this wedding feast. The feast begins when the Bridegroom comes, which is when the Lord Jesus returns visibly to earth. “The bridegroom came; and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast” (v. 10). Ten Virgins Went Forth speaks about having a good supply of oil for our lamps to be “those who were ready.”

Our desire is the be ready for the wedding feast is accomplished by loving Him now and by opening our heart for Him to make His home in us (Eph. 3:16-18). Then we are rooted and grounded in Him and strengthened to apprehend with His Body all His riches. The consummation is glory to God now in the church and forever in New Jerusalem (3:21).

More posts at The Wedding Feast and New Jerusalem.

* From chapter 28, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

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by Don on December 14, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on December 14, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/12/14/the-bride-in-the-millennium-the-wife-in-eternity/

The Universal and Heavenly Woman

New Jerusalem is the eternal wife of Jesus Christ the Lamb. She is composed of both God’s Old Testament and His New Testament people and is previewed in Revelation 12, which begins, “And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon underneath her feet, New Jerusalemand on her head a crown of twelve stars.”

This universal and heavenly woman is the total composition of God’s people on the earth. The sun signifies God’s people in the New Testament age (Luke 1:78), the moon signifies God’s people in the Old Testament time, and the stars signify the patriarchs (Gen. 37:9).…We also see that the rest of the woman’s seed are those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus (v. 17). Those who keep the commandments of God are the Jews, and those who have the testimony of Jesus are the New Testament believers.*

“The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of the prophecy” (Rev. 19:10). This is the word of an angel to John. The “spirit of the prophecy” is the focus, the essence of the entire book of Revelation (v. 1:2, 9). To be the testimony is to display, to live out, to shine what Jesus Christ is (Phil. 1:20-21; 2:15); this is much more than to merely hold doctrines about Him.

Eventually New Jerusalem will be the eternal testimony brightly shining with the glory of God.

* From chapter 28, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

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by Don on December 9, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on December 9, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/12/09/the-universal-and-heavenly-woman/

The Fine Linen Garment is the Righteousnesses of Christ Lived Out through Us

Revelation 19:8 says, “And it was given to her [the wife of the Lamb in v. 7] that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.”

The fine linen garment here is the embroidered garment in Psalm 45:14 and the white garment in Revelation 3:5. This garment is Christ lived out through us to be our righteousnesses, our righteous acts. Please see the previous post.

Perhaps some may ask what the righteous acts are that are specifically spoken of here. The Gospels record many righteous acts, such as Mary’s act of expressing her love to the Lord by anointing Him with ointment….Our heart is often touched by the love of the Lord, and we make an outward expression of it. This is our righteousness, our fine linen garment….Any expression which results from our love for the Lord and which is done through the Holy Spirit is a stitch among the thousands of other stitches in the embroidery work.*

New JerusalemLoving the Lord and behaving in spirit are crucial for bringing forth the fine linen garment. Anything we do alone is contaminated by our fallen nature. “All of us became like him who is unclean, and all our righteousnesses are like a soiled garment” (Isa. 64:6).

May we all have the desire Paul had, to gain Christ and be found in Him, not having our own righteousness but the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith (Phil. 3:8-9).

* From chapter 5 of The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, available at www.ministrybooks.org/ and www.livingstream.com/en/the-church/8012401-glorious-church-the.html.

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by Don on May 4, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on May 4, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/05/04/the-fine-linen-garment-is-the-righteousnesses-of-christ-lived-out-through-us/

Two Garments Prepare the Bride

New JerusalemRevelation 19:7 declares, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”

Verse 8 continues, “And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.”

The Scriptures reveal that there are two kinds of garments for Christians. One is the Lord Jesus….The other is the fine linen garment, bright and clean, spoken of in verse 8. Whenever we come before God, the Lord Jesus is our garment….On the other hand, when we are presented to Christ, we must be arrayed with fine linen, bright and clean. This is the righteousnesses of the saints. “Righteousnesses” means a succession of righteous deeds, one after another. All of these righteous deeds together are our fine linen garment.¹

These two garments are also in Psalm 45. Verse 13 describes the a woven garment with gold and verse 14 mentions an embroidered garment. These two garments are further described in a footnote on Revelation 3:5:

Every Christian needs two garments. The first is the garment of justification for our salvation, signifying Christ, the Christ whom we received, as our objective righteousness (Luke 15:22; 1 Cor. 1:30). The second is the garment of approvedness for our acceptance, signifying Christ, the Christ whom we live out, as our subjective righteousness (Phil. 1:21; 3:9).²

The righteous deeds do not originate from ourselves but from Christ living in us and through us. We need more daily experiences of living Christ. The “brightness” and “cleanness” of Christ lived out today will increase to the brightness and cleanness of New Jerusalem.

¹ From chapter 5 of The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, available at www.ministrybooks.org/ and www.livingstream.com/en/the-church/8012401-glorious-church-the.html.

² A portion of footnote 2 on Revelation 3:5 in the Recovery Version Bible, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim CA, 2003.

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Bible verses quoted in these posts are from The Holy Bible, Recovery Version, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim CA, 2003. The New Testament of this Bible, with its outlines, is at online.recoveryversion.org; this too is © by LSM.

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by Don on May 2, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on May 2, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/05/02/two-garments-prepare-the-bride/

The Marriage of the Lamb has Come, and His Wife has Made Herself Ready

Revelation 19 presents rejoicing in heaven first for the destruction of Babylon, second for the reign New Jerusalemof God, and third for the marriage of the Lamb.

Verse 19:7 declares, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”

The marriage of the Lamb, with the wedding feast, has come and His wife is ready. But, not all the believers are ready; some are immature, some are sinful (see Ten Virgins Went Forth to Meet the Bridegroom). How can the bride be ready? The answer is in 1 Corinthians 12:26, if “one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it.” Because the five wise virgins are ready, the whole bride is looked upon as ready.

In chapter nineteen, the declaration that the wife has made herself ready is spoken while looking upon the overcomers. The whole body of the church must wait until the time of the new heaven and the new earth to be the bride. She will not be ready until then. But one thousand years prior to this, there is an announcement that the wife has made herself ready….Because the overcomers are fully ready, a declaration can be made that the wife has made herself ready.*

The Lord’s word to the first disciples is also to us, “be ready, because at an hour when you do not expect it, the Son of Man is coming” (Luke 12:40). Don’t say “my Master delays” (Matt. 24:48). Lord, draw us and supply us daily to get ready for Your coming.

* From chapter 5 of The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, available at www.ministrybooks.org/ and www.livingstream.com/en/the-church/8012401-glorious-church-the.html.

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by Don on April 29, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on April 29, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/04/29/the-marriage-of-the-lamb-has-come-and-his-wife-has-made-herself-ready/

Hallelujah! The Lord our God the Almighty Reigns

On the way to the manifestation of New Jerusalem, after the destruction of Babylon (Rev. 17–18), New Jerusalemthere are praises in heaven (19:1-4). Then verses 5-6 have more praising.

“And a voice came out from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all His slaves and those who fear Him, the small and the great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.” Revelation 19:5 is a call to praise and verse 6 is the response of a great multitude.

As we read this proclamation, what are our hearts set upon? This passage does not say that we will reign and that we should therefore rejoice and be exceeding glad. Neither does it say that we will receive a crown and that we should therefore praise God. It says that the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. God’s mind is that He should reign, that He should exercise authority. When God rules, it is Christ who rules….Because God reigns and Christ reigns, everyone rejoices with exceeding gladness and shouts, Hallelujah!*

When the Lord God reigns, this fulfills God’s will “to head up all things in Christ” (Eph. 1:10) and for Christ to “have the first place in all things” (Col. 1:18). We should cooperate with God by praying for this according to the pattern in Matthew 6—”Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.”

When earth is headed up and Christ has the first place in all things, then New Jerusalem will appear out of heaven from God.

* From chapter 5 of The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, available at www.ministrybooks.org/ and www.livingstream.com/en/the-church/8012401-glorious-church-the.html.

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by Don on April 27, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on April 27, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/04/27/hallelujah-the-lord-our-god-the-almighty-reigns/

The Lamb’s Wife has Made Herself Ready

Revelation 17–18 present the judgment on Babylon. In contrast, Revelation 21–22 shows a wonderful picture of New Jerusalem.

Revelation 19:7 is an early word about New Jerusalem, “the marriage of the Lamb [Jesus Christ] has come, and His wife [New Jerusalem] has made herself ready.”

Because before Him the overcomers represent the bride and because this group of people is ready in His sight, God is able to declare that the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made herself ready. However, the “has come” is fully realized in the new heaven and the new earth. In Revelation 21:2, John actually saw the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven. At that time the bride was truly ready in every sense. This is not merely the readiness declared in chapter nineteen, but the readiness in actual fact.*

New JerusalemAll God’s judgments were completed in Revelation 20, so chapter 21 begins with “a new heaven and a new earth.” This is a new beginning of a new creation, a creation that is pure, without sin or corruption of any kind, without death, and without the devil. The old creation has passed away.

Verse 21:4 tells us that God “will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death will be no more, nor will there be sorrow or crying or pain anymore; for the former things have passed away.” This blessing is not only within New Jerusalem but also for the nations that live around the city.

* From chapter 5 of The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, available at www.ministrybooks.org/ and www.livingstream.com/en/the-church/8012401-glorious-church-the.html.

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by Don on April 25, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on April 25, 2022

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God has Judged Babylon; Say Hallelujah

New JerusalemRevelation 18 speaks about the eternal destruction of Babylon. Verse 21: “a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, Thus will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence and shall be found no more at all.”

Revelation 19:1-3 is a response to this throwing down. “After these things I heard as it were a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, ¹Hallelujah! The salvation and the glory and the power are of our God. For true and righteous are His judgments; for He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and He avenged the blood of His slaves at her hand.And a second time they said, Hallelujah! And her smoke goes up forever and ever.”

[In Revelation 18 the] sinful deeds of Babylon are announced and the consequences of her judgment are set forth. All who are of the same mind with God must say, Hallelujah, for God has judged Babylon. Though the actual judgment is in the future, the spiritual judgment must take place today. The actual judgment will be performed by God in the future, but the spiritual judgment must be made by us today.*

We too should join this praising. God’s judgments are “true and righteous.” Therefore we respond by praising Him. If there is anything about Babylon we like or any aspect of God’s judgment that bothers us, we must ask Him to shine on us and expose how our opinion is different from His.

¹ Hallelujah means “praise Jah” or “praise Jah joyously;” Jah is a short form of Jehovah.

* From chapter 5 of The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, available at www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm and www.livingstream.com/en/the-church/8012401-glorious-church-the.html.

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by Don on April 22, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on April 22, 2022

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2022/04/22/god-has-judged-babylon-say-hallelujah/

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