And the nations shall walk by its light; and the kings of the earth bring their glory to it.
The Bible's closing vision shows a shining city, with whole nations and their rulers walking outside it in its light. Two questions shape this verse: when does this happen, and are the nations inside the city or outside?
Many read the whole chapter as a picture of eternity. One writer argues that two details here rule that out and point instead to the millennium, the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth.
These verses prove beyond contradiction that the heavenly city is shown here in connection with the millennial earth. There are no "nations" in eternity, and no "kings of the earth" to bring their glory and honour to it. If people had noticed this, they would have avoided the mistake, and they would have gained a valuable key to understanding the dispensations… The nations living during the millennial kingdom will be those spared in the judgments connected with the day of the Lord, brought in at the appearing of Christ.
Older English versions say the kings bring their glory "into" the city. Several writers argue for "to" instead, and the difference matters.
"And the nations shall walk in the light of it." It is plain that they are not in this city. "The kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour unto it" — not into but unto. That is, it is simply an expression of the homage that they pay.
Read that way, the gift becomes an admission about where everything the kings hold comes from.
They thereby acknowledge the heavens, and the heavenly kingdom, to be the source of all they possess and enjoy; they render homage to Him who is the Source.
If the nations stay outside while the city shines in glory, two different states exist at the same moment. One writer met the objection that this cannot be by pointing to a mountain scene the disciples once witnessed.
There is no need at all for the New Jerusalem, which receives the homage, and the nations with their kings to be alike or in the same state… Why should the nations and their kings not be in an earthly condition, while the New Jerusalem is glorified? Why should the city not match the transfigured Moses and Elijah, and the nations and kings match the disciples, still unchanged on the holy mountain? … The simple, natural meaning of the passage joins two different states together: a higher, heavenly one, and a lower, though blessed, earthly one.
The nations walk by means of the shining city. The church has that same job now, and one writer measures the future against the present.
"Of them that are saved," as is well known, has no authority, and it is "by," or "by means of," rather than "in," as in the received text. The world should have been able to walk by the light of the church now. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." … But when the Lamb is the Lamp, the faithful and true Witness if all else has failed, the church will do its work for the nations as God intends. In glory it will become the perfect vessel for displaying the light by which they walk.
Another writer pictures how that light reaches the earth. The city passes on what it receives.
The holy city will hang above the earthly Jerusalem. It will send out the rays of the glory of God, which fill and surround it completely… The city enjoys the direct light within; the world gets the light of the glory passed on to it.
Commentators differ on whether the glory goes into the city or only up to it. Earlier in Revelation, "the kings of the earth" keep very different company, and one writer sets the two groups side by side.
Just as the light of God streams out of the heavenly city, so into it shall flow the glory and honour of the kings of the earth and of the nations. In Revelation 17:2 we saw the kings of the earth trading with the false Babylon before the coming of Christ. They have now gone to their doom, along with the nations who forgot God. The kings and nations of our chapter are those who have passed into millennial blessedness in happy subjection to the Lord.
- Light received. The glory of God fills the city, and it enjoys that light directly, from within.
- Light transmitted. What it takes in, it gives out; the nations below walk by means of the shining of the glorified church above.
- Light acknowledged. The kings bring their glory and honour to the city, paying homage to the Source of all they hold.
- Light timed. Nations and earthly kings do not exist in eternity. So this scene belongs to the thousand-year reign, with the heavenly city above the earth.
- Light owed now. The world should already walk by the church's light: "You are the light of the world." What the church fails at now, it will do perfectly then.
And its gates shall not be shut at all by day, for night shall not be there.
Revelation 21 describes the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God. Here John notes two things no walled city on earth has ever managed: gates that never close, and a day that never ends.
Every ancient city shut its gates because something outside could get in. In the holy city, that reason has vanished, along with the darkness that once made people uncertain of God.
"Its gates will never be shut by day — and there will be no night there." Perfect security — no need to shut those gates; and there is no darkness there. In John's writings, darkness means ignorance of God. Where does doubting come from — where uncertainty? From ignorance of God. All is gone now, and "there is no night there."
Set this beside the old Jerusalem. Nehemiah, rebuilding its walls, gave the opposite order.
During the night, and even when the least trace of darkness lay on the scene, the gates had to stay closed. Otherwise evil, and evil men who always love darkness rather than light, would slip in and corrupt the city. Later, when the gates of Jerusalem began to grow dark before the Sabbath, Nehemiah ordered them shut and told his men to keep them shut until the Sabbath was over. Servants of the enemy were always watching for a chance to slip in unnoticed and tempt the Jews to break the Sabbath day. So when Scripture says there will be no night in the heavenly city, the contrast teaches us that all evil is gone, and the gates will never be shut.
With no gate to close, something else keeps the city pure. One writer connects the unbroken day to the armour God gives believers now.
The light of an endless, unclouded day is sure protection for the entrance to the city, and it is enough. God already gives us that same light as the Christian's armour — "the armour of light." (Rom. 13:12.) For "anything that becomes visible is light." It detects and exposes everything unsuited to itself. So it guards the ways into the heart against anything that would spoil our enjoyment of the presence of Him who is light — and that is where He has set us.
Most cities open their gates to receive. This city opens them to give.
A great city like London keeps its gates open all the time. It depends on every part of the earth for its very life. From north, south, east, and west, supplies pour into it without stopping. But the holy city will open its gates for the opposite reason: not for supplies to flow in, but for blessing to flow out to the whole earth. This city of God will look out in every direction, and wherever it looks it will pour out its blessing.
An open gate can let things in as well as out. Verse 27 rules that out, and one writer draws a lesson from it.
Light and blessing pass out through the gates to the world. Yet Scripture assures us that "nothing unclean will ever enter it." Today we can become defiled by the world while we claim we are carrying blessing to it. In the day of glory the world will receive blessing through the church, and the world will leave no stain on the church.
Many read these verses as a picture of eternity. One writer argues from the wording itself that the scene belongs to Christ's coming reign on earth.
These verses show beyond contradiction that this passage links the heavenly city with the millennial earth. There are no "nations" in eternity, and no "kings of the earth" to bring their glory and honour to it.
Isaiah 60:11 makes a near-identical promise to the earthly Jerusalem. The small difference between the two matters.
Its gates are never shut, for inside it is continuous day. If we compare this with Isaiah 60:11, we find an instructive contrast. In that glad day the gates of the earthly Jerusalem will also stand open all the time. But there will be night there, for Isaiah says they shall not be shut day or night. The wealth of the nations, and their kings, will be brought into that city. So on earth things will be on a lower footing.
- No night — darkness hides evil and breeds doubt about God. It is gone, and everything else follows from that.
- No enemy — no darkness means no danger. Nehemiah barred his gates against evil; this city has none to bar out.
- No guard but light — light exposes everything unfit, so light is the city's protection. Believers wear that same "armour of light" now.
- No limit outward — the gates stand open on every side. Blessing flows out to the whole earth; nothing needs to flow in.
- No stain inward — the world receives blessing through the city, and the city takes no stain from the world. Today we often get that backwards.
And they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations to it.
The closing vision of Revelation shows the holy city coming down from God, with the nations around it bringing what they treasure. Verse 24 named the kings; this line widens the tribute to whole nations, and raises the question of who may go inside.
The word "nations" tells us when this scene happens, who these nations are, and what they carry:
These verses show beyond argument that the heavenly city is presented here in connection with the earth of the thousand-year kingdom. The reason is plain: there are no "nations" in eternity, and no "kings of the earth" to bring their glory and honour to it. ... The nations living during that kingdom will be those spared in the judgments of the day of the Lord, which begins when Christ appears. ... The kings of the earth will bring some of their wealth, like the Queen of Sheba when she came to Jerusalem, as offerings that show their submissive homage.
Translations differ here. Some read "into it," others "to it," and commentators say the difference matters:
The word translated "into" should be given as "to," or "unto." Otherwise it would seem as if the kings of the earth had access into the heavenly city! ... The kings of the earth will pay their homage by bringing their glory and honour to it as offerings. In this way they recognise it as the object of God's delight, and as the place where God displays His presence and glory, because the throne of God and the Lamb are there.
Another writer ties this homage to Jerusalem on earth:
They will not come into the city. They will show their allegiance to it by willing tribute. Zechariah 14:16-19 explains this further. It shows that the nations must send representatives to Jerusalem on earth every year to keep the Feast of Booths. Jerusalem in Israel will be God's centre on earth. By recognising this, the nations own their allegiance to the heavenly city, the capital of heaven and earth, for God dwells there.
Verse 24 already said the kings bring their glory. So why say it again? The difference lies in who brings:
In verse 24 it is the kings of the earth who bring their glory and honour. In verse 26 it is the glory and honour of the nations that are brought. The same distinction appears in the thousand-year kingdom. Of the honour to be given to the Messiah, Psalm 72:11 says, "May all kings fall down before Him, all nations serve Him!" Both the rulers and their peoples will be of one mind... Now kings and nations serve and exalt themselves. But then... rulers and their subjects will present their glory and honour to the heavenly Jerusalem. They will own their allegiance and pay their tribute to the exalted King of kings and Lord of lords!
The city has no temple inside it. Yet the nations bring gifts to it as people bring gifts to a temple:
It has no temple, for "its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb." But to it, as to a temple, the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour. And the kings are not the only ones who come to it this way: they bring the glory and honour of the nations to it.
The gates of the city never shut. So can anything walk in? The next verse answers:
No danger threatens the city; on the contrary, "They shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations to it." ... "But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life." So God's holiness is given the fullest scope. The impure, the detestable and the false are shut out from His presence. They are unfit for it morally and in every way. Yet His sovereignty is kept intact.
One writer traces the direction of it all. Everything good comes down; everything valued goes back up:
Heaven is acknowledged as the source of all light, glory and blessing... And to it they bring honour and glory. The open gates, never closed, mean security. They also suggest contact and exchange with the earth.
- Light down. Heaven is the source of all light, glory and blessing for the earth below.
- Tribute up. Glory and honour travel the other way, carried to the city and not into it. No earthly king walks through those gates.
- Kings and nations. Verse 24 has rulers bringing their own glory. This verse widens it to whole nations, so rulers and peoples are of one mind.
- A temple without a temple. The city holds no temple building. Yet the nations treat it as one and send their gifts where God and the Lamb dwell.
- Timing. Nations and kings of the earth do not exist in eternity. So this scene shows the city over the earth of the thousand-year kingdom.