CCLVI JERUSALEM THE GOLDEN ND I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 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. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. And there came unto me one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. NOTES In the following Notes R.V. signifies the English Revised Version of the Bible. The recent German translation of the Old Testament is referred to by the name of the translator and editor, Kautzsch. P. I. 'God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.' The Biblical account of the creation of man agrees remarkably with some even more detailed accounts of the same event which have been handed down among rude peoples in various parts of the world. It may be not uninstructive to compare a few of these accounts with the Biblical narrative. Thus, for example, the Maoris say that Tiki made man after his own image. He took red clay, kneaded it with his own blood, fashioned it into human form, and gave the image breath. See R. Taylor, 'New Zealand,' p. 117; compare Shortland, Maori Religion and Mythology,' p. 21 sq. In Tahiti it was said that Taaroa, the Creator, made man out of red earth. One day he caused the man to fall asleep; and while he slept, the Creator took out one of his bones (ivi) and made a woman out of it, whom he gave to the man to be his wife. See Ellis, 'Polynesian Researches,' i. p. 110. The story of the creation of woman out of a rib of the first man seems to have been current in New Zealand also. See J. L. Nicholas, 'Narrative of a Voyage to New Zealand,' p. 59. In the Pelew Islands there is a legend that the first men were made out of clay kneaded with the blood of various animals, and that the characters of these first men and of their descendants were determined by the characters of the animals whose blood had been kneaded with the primordial clay. See Kubary, 'Die Religion der Pelauer,' in Bastian's 'Allerlei aus Volks- und Menschenkunde,' i. pp. 3, 56. According to a Melanesian legend, told in Mota, one of the Banks Islands, the hero Qat made men of clay, the red clay from the marshy riverside at Vanua Lava. At first he made men and pigs just alike, but his brothers remonstrated with him, so he beat down the pigs on all fours and made men walk upright. See Codrington, 'The Melanesians,' p. 158. Some of the wild tribes of Borneo tell how in the beginning two great birds tried to make man. For this purpose they first made trees; but by this means they could not succeed. Then they tried to form him out of the rocks; but they only succeeded in making statues. Lastly they took earth, mixed it with water, and so modelled a man of red clay, and he 419 |