The books of Zechariah and of Revelation are full of dreams and visions, but the dreams and the visions have a purpose. They set the tribulations of the present age within the context of the great sweep of history which will conclude with the triumph of God and the restoration of the cosmic harmony which was broken by man’s disobedience. In Zechariah’s case the disobedience is primarily the loss of god-centred vision and leadership which culminated in invasion defeat and exile, and the restoration relates primarily to the rebuilding of the temple at the heart of a godly city and nation. In John’s case, although his book was written against the background of the physical destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by the Romans in AD 70, the new Jerusalem is essentially a visionary concept detached from the physical realities of the old city. But each in his own context holds before us the assurance of God’s final triumph so that we may be strengthened and encouraged in the here and now, the day of small things as Zechariah has called it earlier in his prophecy. Let you hands be strong.
Zechariah seems to have been a contemporary of the prophet Haggai, whose brief oracles were sharply focussed on the requirement to rebuild the Temple now that the exiles had been allowed to return to Jerusalem around 450 BC. Zechariah shares Haggai’s zeal for a rebuilt temple and a purified community, but he makes his appeal in apocalyptic language and imagery, which reaches beyond the immediate challenge faced by his own generation, pointing forward beyond the rebuilding of the temple to the coming of an ideal age. It is Zechariah who dreams of a king riding into Jerusalem on a humble donkey. The Jerusalem of Zechariah’s dreams will be a prosperous city, at peace with itself and with its neighbours. Sadly, by the time the later chapters of Zechariah were written, probably more than a century later, the vision of a temple restored and a city hallowed by its presence had rather soured. Before the coming of the day of the Lord, there are false prophets to be rooted out, and a shepherd – a close associate of the Lord of hosts – whose sheep will be scattered as he himself is put to the sword.
At the heart of John’s vision of a new Jerusalem, there is no temple at all. In its place there is the throne of God and of the Lamb, from whom and through whom streams the light which fills the whole city, just as the light of the setting sun, shining through the Lamb in our own west window, fills this place with light at evensong on a sunny evening. The whole city has become a beacon of light to the world and a centre of pilgrimage, because the glory of God is there. The kings of the earth come loaded not with gifts of gold and silver from their treasuries, but bringing their own glory in tribute to the glory of God which they recognise as its source. The river of life flows from the throne of God, because God is the source of all life. The twelve fruits of the tree of life, ripening in rotation throughout the year, symbolise the everlasting continuity of God’s provision for our needs, whilst its leaves are for the healing of the nations. We are all included. Nothing that is evil can survive in the presence of God, but in this city where the tree of life flourishes and its leaves heal the nations of all that is evil, there is neither death nor darkness.
And the servants of God, among whom we may all find our place, are here raised to the dignity of priests and kings. We read that they will see the face of God, his name will be on their foreheads, and they will reign forever and ever. In the earthly temple the high priest wore the sacred name of God on his forehead just once a year, when he entered the holy of holies, the inner sanctuary of the temple, the place closest to the presence of God. But in this city where God’s presence is everywhere, we shall all wear his name and see his face – that is to say, since the face expresses who someone is, we shall all see God’s face and know who he really is, just as he sees us and knows who we really are. What an awesome yet exhilarating prospect.
But is it not all just a dream, the dream of an old man living in exile on the isle of Patmos almost two thousand years ago? Yes, of course it’s a dream, and poetic images are not to be confused with realities we can see and touch. But dreams, poetic images, music, may be as near as we can get to the truth when we are seeking to apprehend that which lies at the farthest limits of comprehension or expression. Moreover, this vision of a new Jerusalem, a new world, offers a satisfactory reconciliation of that strand of old testament prophecy which looks forward to a golden age for God’s chosen people, with the realisation in the present age of God’s plan for the salvation of the world. It is because our Lord Jesus Christ triumphed over sin and death through his passion and resurrection that we, in union with Him, can expect to share in his triumph and dwell with him in a new Jerusalem.
We do not know whether heaven will be anything like the new Jerusalem in John’s vision. What we can say is that beyond the limitations of time and space, there is a different reality, which we call Heaven, where God’s rule is complete and undisputed, where all that is evil has been healed and restored, a place of cosmic harmony like the final utterly satisfying resolution of a great sequence of chords on the world’s largest organ. And we have that confidence because there was once a king who rode into Jerusalem humbly on a donkey, a shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep. It is Jesus whose life and death laid the foundations of the new Jerusalem by restoring the cosmic harmony which our disobedience had broken, and drawing us into that restored harmony by our integration into his own life and death. That is the spiritual journey we all have to make. In the light of to-day’s presentations about a possible pilgrimage to the holy land, an important element of the judgment each one of us has to make is whether such a physical journey to the places where Jesus lived and died will assist our progress or distract us.
Meanwhile, there is work to be done here in Zechariah’s ‘day of small things’. The battle has been won. The foundations of the new Jerusalem have been securely laid, but as members of the body of Christ it is our privilege throughout our life to share in the work which day by day asserts his rule – brings about his kingdom – here on earth as it is in heaven. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Let your hands be strong.