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God's Peoples in the New Jerusalem

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God's Peoples in the New Jerusalem KOREA PRESBYTERIAN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY Vol. 50 No. 4 God’s Peoples in the New Jerusalem: Revelation 21:3 Reconsidered HAN Chul-Heum, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Theology Seoul Hanyoung University, South Korea I. Introduction II. The Use of the “Nations” in the Book of Revelation III. Conclusion Korea Presbyterian Journal of Theology Vol. 50 No. 4 (2018. 11), 9-30 DOI: 10.15757/kpjt.2018.50.4.001 10 KOREA PRESBYTERIAN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY Vol. 50 No. 4 Abstract This article argues that John envisions God’s peoples, rather than God’s people, in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:3), comprising both God’s servants as the central people of the new city and the repentant nations as its “peripheral” dwellers. In so doing, this study foregrounds the fact that the saved status of the nations is restricted to a certain extent by their “marginalization” in the city, although its literal meaning must be balanced by its symbolic meaning due to the fact that Revelation belongs to the genre apocalypse. First, the nations enter the New Jerusalem to walk by its light (Rev. 21:24-26), while God’s servants worship and see his face in the city (Rev. 22:3-4). Second, the nations are entitled to the leaves of the tree of life, which are for their healing (Rev. 22:2), whilst presumably God’s servants derive benefit from the fruit of the tree. The “marginalized” status of the nations in the New Jerusalem, in comparison with God’s servants who take center stage in the New Jerusalem, is related to their predominantly negative image before the introduction of the city (Rev. 11:18; 19:15; 20:3, 8), on the one hand, and to the tension of Jewish apocalyptic tradition regarding the eschatological fate of the Gentiles between Gentile subservience to Israel and Gentile full participation in eschatological salvation, on the other hand. Thereby John hardly treats the nations once complicit with Babylon and its oppressed on exactly the same footing, probably in reflection of apocalyptic justice. Keywords New Jerusalem, God’s Peoples, Nations, Repentance, Apocalyptic Justice God’s Peoples in the New Jerusalem DOI: 10.15757/kpjt.2018.50.4.001 11 I. INTRODUCTION This article addresses the question whether John envisions God’s one people or two peoples in the New Jerusalem. According to the NRSV, God will dwell with his peoples in the New Jerusalem: “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples (λαοί), and God himself will be with them” (21:3).1 In contrast, most English translations—and the New Korean Revised Version—adopt the singular reading “people (λαός)” (e.g., NIV, RSV, KJV, ESV, NASB, etc.). This article supports the NRSV translation. One important rule of textual criticism is that generally the more difficult reading is to be preferred, especially when the superficially erroneous meaning makes sense on more mature consideration.2 This study will show that not only the principle lectio difficilior potior (“the more difficult reading is the stronger”), but also an in-depth literary analysis of relevant verses supports the variant reading “peoples.” There are some exegetical observations in favor of the plural λαοί. The major claim of this article is that there are God’s peoples in the New Jerusalem and that God’s peoples comprise God’s servants and the nations. God’s servants worship and see his face in the New Jerusalem, with God’s name on their foreheads (22:3-4). In comparison, the nations walk by the light of the New Jerusalem and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it (21:24).3 People will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it (21:26). Presumably, the nations enter the New Jerusalem by its gates, which are never shut (21:25).4 * This article is a revised and extended version of parts of my doctoral dissertation. Chul Heum Han, “Suffering and Resistance in the Apocalypse: A Cultural Studies Approach to Apocalyptic Crisis” (Ph.D. Dissertation, Vanderbilt University, 2014), 170- 71, 247-52. 1 Unless otherwise indicated, quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). Interestingly, a commentator takes the plural form λαοί and translates it as “people” (David E. Aune, Revelation 17-22, [Word Biblical Commentary 52C; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998], 1122). 2 Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2002), 12*-13*. 3 The light of the New Jerusalem comes from God and the Lamb (21:23; 22:5). 4 It is assumed in this study that the nations and the kings belong to the same 12 KOREA PRESBYTERIAN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY Vol. 50 No. 4 The nations, now part of the people of God, indeed recall the same groups, previous enemies of God, who were associated and compliant with the beast and Babylon.5 Intriguingly enough, the Apocalypse makes no mention of their repentance in the immediate context. In view of these facts, the nations may seem out of place in the New Jerusalem. However, this article shows that the Book of Revelation is embedded with hints at the repentance of the nations; in so doing, this study suggests that the somewhat “marginalized”6 status of the nations reflects not only their primarily negative image in the old age before the introduction of the New Jerusalem but also Jewish apocalyptic tradition, which expects Gentile subordination to Israel as well as Gentile full participation in eschatological salvation. group. It has been suggested that there is a difference between the nations, indicating a spiritual paganism who will be saved through the mission of the spiritualized Judaism symbolized by the “gates” bearing the names of the twelve tribes, and the kings of the earth who are “those companions of Christ’s millennial kingdom who have reigned on earth” (Edmondo F. Lupieri, A Commentary on the Apocalypse of John, trans. Maria Poggi Johnson and Adam Kamesar [Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans, 1999], 350-52). Lupieri is less convincing in his view that it is not yet said in 21:24 that the nations enter Jerusalem but merely that they walk by the help of her light (Ibid., 350). Walking by the light of the city presupposes entrance into the city. Besides, the negative image associated with the “kings of the earth” is so strong that they cannot be counted as rulers in the millennium (Rev. 6:15; 17:2; 18:3, 9; 19:19), let alone the symbolic interpretation of the “gates” as Judaism. 5 David Mathewson, A New Heaven and a New Earth: The Meaning and Function of the Old Testament in Revelation 21.1-22.5 (London: Sheffield Academic, 2003), 172. 6 I use quotation marks to indicate the possibility that the marginalization of the nations in the New Jerusalem is not so much literal as symbolic, in view of the fact that symbolism is an important characteristic of the Book of Revelation, which belongs to the genre apocalypse. Among others, symbolic numbers, such as 7 and 144,000, and the symbolism of the “dragon” and the “beast” come to mind. God’s Peoples in the New Jerusalem 13 II. THE USE OF THE “NATIONS” IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION 1. The “Nations” before the Introduction of the New Jerusalem David Aune remarks that the “nations” is used negatively in the Book of Revelation, except for four cases (15:4; 21:24, 26; 22:2).7 Before the introduction of the New Jerusalem, the nations are described in preponderantly negative terms. Among other things, the nations are God’s opponents under divine wrath (11:18; 19:15) and they are deceived by evil powers (20:3, 8). Indeed, 15:4 is the only case when this expression is used in a positive sense before the inauguration of the new age: “All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed.” The significance of this verse should not be underestimated, insofar as it presupposes the possibility of the nations repenting. Thus construed, 15:4 anticipates the presence of the nations in the New Jerusalem, as a result of their repentance. In addition, it must be noted that the “nations” is sometimes used in a neutral sense when employed in four-fold idiomatic expressions,8 which refer to the whole population of the earth, out of which both God’s people as well as God’s opponents may well come. On the one hand, it is true believers coming from the same groups that are highlighted: by his blood, the Lamb ransomed saints from every tribe 7 David E. Aune, Revelation 1-5, (Word Biblical Commentary 52A; Dallas: Word Books, 1997), 212. “The term ‘the nations’ occurs some twenty-three times in Revelation (2:26; 11:2, 18; 15:3; 16:19; 18:23; 19:15; 20:3, 8; 21:24, 26; 22:2), including five times in the phrase ‘all the nations’ (12:5; 14:8; 15:4; 18:3, 23), and seven times in the varied lists, which include ‘every tribe, language, people, and nation’ (5:9; 7:9; 10:11; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6; 17:15) (Ibid.). 8 In most cases, all inhabitants of the world are represented as “tribes, languages, peoples, and nations,” with different orders; “tribes” is replaced by “kings” in 10:11 and by “multitudes” in 17:15. The “polysyndetic list of four ethnic units, which cumulatively emphasize universality, is probably based on the frequent mention of the three ethnic groups of ‘peoples, nations, and languages’ in Daniel (3:4 [LXX has four ethnic units], 7, 29 [LXX v 96]; 5:19; 6:25 [LXX v 26]; 7:14; cf.
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