Revelation Chapter 3:11-13

(*All Bible verses are from the NIV unless otherwise noted)

Luke 12:38-39 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

1 Thess 5:2  … for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

Most early believers looked for Christ’s immediate return. But the Lord was not speaking in terms of time as we measure it:

Mark 13:32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

The eternal principle is that every Christian is cautioned to live their lives in obedience to God’s will so they will be spiritually ready at all times to come before their Maker. The book of 2 Peter challenges believers to never stop growing in godliness and Christ-like qualities:

2Pet 1:5-8 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2Tim 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Jas 1:12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

1Pet 5:4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

To Israel, the Tent of Meeting, Tabernacle, and then the Temple, represented a holy place to meet God – His dwelling place of judgment and mercy:

Exod 29:42 “For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the LORD. There I will meet you and speak to you;

Exod 30:36 Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.

Exod 40:35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

1Kgs 8:10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.

1 Kings 7:21, states that Solomon, “Erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz.” Consider the significance of the two Hebrew names:

• Jachin (Jakin): “He will establish”
• Boaz: Ancestor of King David

Heb 9:26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Heb 10:10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Because of Jesus, a structure of stone and mortar is no longer needed to represent the dwelling place of God. Through faith, we become God’s Temple in whom the eternal sacrifice for sins has been made by Jesus!

1Cor 3:16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

2Cor 6:16 …For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

Eph 2:19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Matt 25:34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

Acts 20:32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Eph 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,

Heb 9:15  For this reason, Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

Exodus 33 describes the temporary tent of meeting pitched outside the camp where Moses would go to meet God. The larger Tabernacle eventually took its place. Eventually, King Solomon constructed a beautiful Temple in Jerusalem where sacrifices to God were made to cleanse Israel from her sins. The “Holy of Holies,” the inner-most sanctuary, was where God would meet the High Priest.

Exod 40:1 Then the LORD said to Moses: 2 “Set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month. 3 Place the ark of the covenant law in it and shield the ark with the curtain. 4 Bring in the table and set out what belongs on it. Then bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5 Place the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the covenant law and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.

The Book of Deuteronomy describes the conquest of Canaan by Joshua and the Israelite tribes. The books of First and Second Samuel recount the story of David’s rise to power and the conquest of the hill fortress of Jerusalem. David makes Jerusalem the capital of a united Israel, and brings the Ark of the Covenant to the city. King David’s son, Solomon, eventually erects the long-awaited Temple as a permanent abode of God among His people (1 Kings).

For the rest of Biblical history, Jerusalem is considered the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel (Isa 52:1, 60:14) the Faithful City, and the mountain of the LORD Almighty (Zech 8:3) – a symbol of God’s divine love for His people. The prophets expressed this love in terms of a husband caring for and protecting his wife:

Isa 62:5  As a young man marries a young woman,so will your Builder marry you;as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,so will your God rejoice over you.

Isa 54:5 For your Maker is your husband— the LORD Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. 6 The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit— a wife who married young, only to be rejected,” says your God.

Eph 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

2 Cor 11:2   I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.

Rev 19:7-9 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) 9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

Rev 21:9-10 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

The Greek word used here as “new” is kainos , and means something recently made, fresh, unused, or unworn, as opposed to something old that is simply refurbished². A person’s name, onoma³, distinguishes that person from others. Remember the “white stone” with a “new name” given to those who follow God, such as Chosen, Servant, Holy, Redeemed, Child of God, Faithful, and True (Rev 2:17)!

Isa 41:9 I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

Isa 43:1 But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

Isa 62:1-2 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. 2 he nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.

Isa 62:12 They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.

Eph 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

Acts 2:38  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Rom 9:26 …and,“In the very place where it was said to them,‘You are not my people,’there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ ”

1 Cor 6:11  … But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

2 Cor 5:17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Col 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

1John 3:10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

1. Strong’s G5035 ↩︎
2. Strong’s G2537 ↩︎
3. Strong’s G3686 ↩︎

*All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™