The New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation

PILCHANLEE UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS THESIS: THE NEW JERUSALEM IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION: A STUDY OF REVELATION 21-22 IN THE LIGHT OF ITS BACKGROUND IN JEWISH TRADITION. This thesis explores the meaning of the New Jerusalem in Rev. 21-22. It is divided into four major parts. The first one is the OT background study from Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah. This section observes the prophetical messages of restoration, centering around the Temple/Jerusalem motif, which is one of the main concerns of the early Jewish writers and Revelation. The second one is the study of early Jewish tradition. This pmi investigates how the New Jerusalem theme develops during the second Temple period and post-70. This observation shows that some (not all) of the early Jewish tradition understands the rebuilding of the New Temple as the transference of the Heavenly Temple. For this reason, the Heavenly Temple/Jerusalem is emphasized. The third pmi is the NT background study. Here two facts demonstrated: Christ as the New Temple and the church as the New Temple. This conclusion provides a suitable foundation for developing our argument in Revelation. Finally, the fourthpart is the study of the New Jerusalem in Revelation, particularly Rev. 21-22. John uses much of the Jewish tradition in his writing. His main argument is that the church (which is symbolized by several images) is placed in heaven now (chs. 4-20) and the church (which is symbolized by the New Jerusalem) will descend to the earth from heaven (21 :2) in the future. This assumption is closely related to the early Jewish idea. However, he does not follow the current Jewish idea without any modification but he differentiates his understanding from it by christologically interpreting the OT messages. This is well shown in his following announcement: "I saw no Temple in t4e city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb" (21 :22). Ant. b. Git. Hal. m. MT PRE Shab. Sheq. ABBREVIATIONS ABBREVIATIONS FOR EARLY JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN LITERATURE Antiquities of the Jews Babylonian Talmud Gittin Hallah ARN Abot deRabbi Nathan Edu. Eduyyot Gen. R. Genesis Rabba Lam. R. Lamentations Rabbah Mishna Men. Menahot Massoretic text of the Hebrew Bible Pirke deRabbi Eliezer Ros. Hash. Rosh Hashshanah Shabbat Sanh. Sanhedrin Sheqalim Deuteronomy Sifre Deut. Midrash on Numbers and Song. R. Song of Songs Rabba Suk. Sukkah t. Tosefta Tanh Tan/:zuma Lekh Lekha Tem. Temurah Tel'. Tam. Vay.R. Yom. Terumot Ta'an. Ta'anit Tamid Tg. Targul11 Vayyigra Midrash (Midrash Rabbah on Leviticus) Yoma Yad. Yadayim 1 QpHab Peshel' on Habakkuk from Qumran Cave 1 lQH Hodayot (Thanksgiving Hymns) from Qumran Cave 1 lQM Mil/:zamah (War Scroll) from Cave 1 4QpIsa Pesher on Isaiah from Qumran Cave 4 1 QS Community Rule/ Mannual of Discipline 1 QSa Messianic Rule from Qumran Cave 1 CD Damascus Rule 4QMMT Halakhic Letter from Qumran Cave 4 11 QTemple Temple Scroll from Qumran Cave 11 OT Old Testament NT 1 Chron. 1 Chronicles 2 Chron. 1 Pet. 1 Peter 1 Cor. 1 Kgs 1 Kings 2Kgs 1 Mace. 1 Maccabees 2 Mace. 1 Sam. 1 Samuel 2 Sam. 1 Tim. 1 Timothy 2 Tim. Col. Colossians Dan. Deut. Deuternomy Eph. Exod. Exodus Ezek. Gal. Galatians Gen. Heb. Hebrews Hos. Isa. Isaiah Jer. Jn John 1 Kgs. Lam. Lamentations Lev. Mk Mark Nah Neh. Nehemiah Num. Provo Proverbs Ps(s). New Testament 2 Chronicles 1 Corinthians 2 Kings 2 Maccabees 2 Samuel 2 Timothy Daniel Ephesians Ezekiel Genesis Hosea Jeremiah 1 Kings Leviticus Nahum Numbers Psalms