The New Jerusalem, part 3

Shalom, everyone!



Let’s continue on with this fascinating place:

17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

First, we are told in these verses that the measurement of its wall is 144 cubits, “according to the measure of a man, that is, of the messenger.” A cubit is roughly 18 inches, the measure from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow of that arm. Sometimes a “royal cubit” is considered “a cubit and a hand breadth,” or closer to 21 inches, a “hand breadth” being the width of a man’s hand at the knuckles (about 3 inches), but generally speaking the Scriptures would say that such a “royal cubit” was being used. (See Ezek. 40:5.)

If we assume that the standard cubit is being used, we are talking about a measurement of 72 yards or 216 feet. Again, I believe that this is not the height of the wall but rather its thickness, and in particular, the thickness of the wall at the city gates. (The thickness may be greater elsewhere.) After all, 72 yards is less than 1/24^th of a mile! How can that be a wall “great and high” compared to a city 1,500 miles high?

Second, one should note a particular equation here in verse 17:  the measurement of a man is the same as the measurement of the “angel” or messenger. The Greek actually words it this way:

Rev. 21:17
17 Kai emetreesen to teichos autees hekaton tesserakonta tessaroon peechoon metron anthroopou ho estin aggelou.
The Greek New Testament (Kurt Aland et al., ed., United Bible Societies, 1975, p. 892.)

So, it is actually the words “anthroopou” (“of a man”) and “aggelou” (“of a messenger”) that are equated with the words “ho estin” (“that is” or “that equals”). It’s very likely that this “messenger” IS (or was) a “man” in life! In any case, the measurements didn’t change just because a “messenger” who poured out one of the final bowls of plagues was the person doing the measuring.

Verse 18 says that the construction of its wall was from “jasper” (Greek: iaspis). Some theologians claim this to be “diamond.” Indeed, the Complete Jewish Bible uses the word “diamond” in translation for this word. God’s Word Translation uses the words “gray quartz.” Most versions leave it as “jasper.” Looking up “jasper” in Wikipedia gives this information:

“Jasper, a form of chalcedony,^[1] is an opaque,^[2] impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for vases, seals, and at one time for snuff boxes. When the colors are in stripes or bands, it is called striped or banded jasper. Jaspilite is a banded iron formation rock that often has distinctive bands of jasper. Jasper is basically chert which owes its red color to iron(III) inclusions. The specific gravity of jasper is typically 2.5 to 2.9.^[3] The jasper is, along with Heliotrope (bloodstone), one of the traditional birthstones for March. It's also a stone in the Jewish High Priest's breastplate, described in Exodus 28.”

and

Etymology and history

The name means "spotted or speckled stone", and is derived via Old French jaspre (variant of Anglo-Norman jaspe) and Latin iaspidem (nom. iaspis)) from Greek ἴασπις iaspis, (feminine noun)^[4] from a Semitic language (cf. Hebrew יושפה yushphah, Akkadian yashupu), ultimately from Persian یشپ yašp.^[5]

(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasper for more and a picture.)

Investigating further, the heliotrope (the bloodstone) is a green chalcedony with red flecks of jasper within it, looking as though the green stone were spattered with blood. However, even the red flecks are identified as the “jasper” within the heliotrope.

Therefore, I believe that the “jasper” is a blood-red form of chalcedony, a microcrystalline form of quartz (silicon oxide).  The only reasons I can see for wanting it to be the diamond are (1) verse 11 above said it was “clear as crystal,” (2) diamonds are the hardest known substance to man, and (3) diamonds are a more expensive gem.

However, there are problems with each of these points: (1) clarity does NOT dictate either hue or material, (2) nothing is said or implied within these verses about the hardness of the walls or of the need for hard walls, and (3) jasper CAN be more expensive than diamonds like this: If the jasper as the “blood” of the “bloodstone” is the blood-red form of chalcedony and represented the blood of the Messiah so that one could not enter the city without going through the “blood,” wouldn’t that make it more precious than diamonds? Furthermore, diamonds, being a crystalline form of carbon, can BURN, given enough heat! Thus, I conclude that this “jasper” is indeed the “yushfah” used in the high priest’s breastplate, the red variety of chalcedony.

Notice, too, that all the walls were constructed of jasper as is the first foundation. If this city is a pyramid in shape, that would mean that the entire outer casing of the city would be made from the “blood” of the “bloodstone!” There’s no way in except through the “blood.”

More later.

In the Messiah's love,
Retrobyter