Quotes & Notes
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John Wesley's Notes:
So shall the covenant between God and his people be executed
in the most glorious manner.
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:
* a great. Re 10:4; 12:10
* Behold. Re 7:15; Le 26:11,12; 1Ki 8:27; 2Ch 6:18; Isa 12:6; Eze 37:27;
43:7 Joh 1:14; 14:23; 2Co 6:16
* they shall. Re 21:7; Ge 17:7,8; Jer 31:33; 32:38; Zec 13:9; 2Co 6:18;
Heb 8:10; 11:16
* God himself. Zec 8:8
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Adam Clarke's Commentary:
God, in the most especial manner, dwells among his followers,
diffusing his light and life
everywhere.
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Family Bible Notes:
The tabernacle of God is with men;
expressive of his intimate and
perpetual communion with them. Re 21:22,23; 22:4,5.
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People's New Testament Commentary:
Of old the Shekinah, the emblem of God's presence, dwelt in
the tabernacle between the Cherubim. In this glorious city of the
future, God shall make his tabernacle and dwell with men.
They shall recognize his
presence, his protection, his fatherly and omnipotent care over them.
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Robertson's Word Pictures:
The tabernacle of God is with men (hê skênê tou theou meta
tôn anthrôpôn). It is one of the angels of the Presence (Re 16:17; 19:5)
speaking. And he shall dwell with them (kai skênôsei met' autôn). Future
active of skênoô, already in Re 7:15 from Eze 37:27; Zec 2:10; 8:8 and
used of the Incarnate Christ on
earth by John (Joh
1:14), now a blessed reality of the Father. The metaphor stands
for the Shekinah Glory of God in the old tabernacle (Re 7:15; 13:6;
15:5), the true tabernacle of which it was a picture (Heb 8:2; 9:11).
God is now Immanuel in fact, as was true of Christ (Mt 1:23).
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Albert Barnes' Commentary:
And I heard a great voice out of heaven. As if uttered by God
himself, or the voice of angels.
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. The tabernacle, as that word
is commonly used in the Scriptures, referring to the sacred tent erected
in the wilderness, was regarded as the peculiar dwelling-place of God
among his people--as the temple was afterwards, which was also called a
tabernacle. See Barnes for Heb 9:2. The meaning here is, that
God would now dwell with the
redeemed, as if in a tabernacle, or in a house specially prepared for
his residence among them. It is not said that this would be on
the earth, although that may be; for it is possible that the earth, as
well as other worlds, may yet become the abode of the redeemed. See
Barnes for 2Pe 3:13.
And he will dwell with them. As in a tent, or tabernacle--skhnwsei. This
a common idea in the Scriptures.
And they shall be his people. He will acknowledge them in this public
way as his own, and will dwell with them as such.
And God himself shall be with them. Shall be permanently with them;
shall never leave them.
And be their God. Shall manifest himself as such, in such a manner that
there shall be no doubt.
{c} "tabernacle of God" 2Co 6:16
{d} "his people" Zec 8:8
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Jamieson-Faussett Brown:
out of heaven--so ANDREAS. But A and Vulgate read, "out of the throne."
the tabernacle--alluding to the tabernacle of God in the wilderness
(wherein many signs of His presence were given): of which this is the
antitype, having previously been in heaven: Re 11:19; 15:5, "the temple
of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven"; also Re 13:6.
Compare the contrast in Heb
9:23,14, between "the patterns" and "the heavenly things themselves,"
between "the figures" and "the true." The earnest of the true and
heavenly tabernacle was afforded in the Jerusalem temple described in
Eze 40:1-42:20, as about to be, namely, during the millennium.
dwell with them--literally, "tabernacle with them"; the same Greek word
as is used of the divine Son "tabernacling among us." Then He was in the
weakness of the flesh: but at the new creation of heaven and earth He
shall tabernacle among us in the glory of His manifested Godhead (Re
22:4).
they--in Greek emphatic, "they" (in particular).
his people--Greek, "His peoples": "the nations of the saved" being all
peculiarly His, as Israel was designed to be. So A reads. But B,
Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic read, "His people": singular.
God himself ... with them--realizing fully His name Immanuel.
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1599 Geneva Bible Notes:
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his
people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
(3) The Church is described by the speech, first of an angel, in two
verses, then by God himself, in four verses. The angel's speech
describes the glory of the
Church, by the most intimate communion with God, by giving of all
manner of good things according to the covenant, in this verse: and by
removing or putting away of all evil things, in the verse following Re
21:4.
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William Burkitt's Notes:
Observable is that variety of expressions which the Holy Ghost here
makes use of, to set forth the excellency of the church triumphant by,
1. She is blessed with God's immediate presence and abode, of which the
tabernacle was a sign; the Lord manifesting himself in heaven unto his
saints in a more immediate way than ever he did unto them here on earth,
the Tabernacle of God is with men; and to show the permanency of this
privilege, it is added, He shall dwell with them; after an inhabitation
here by grace, shall follow a cohabitation hereafter in glory.
Next it is said, They shall be his people and he will be their God;
which must not be so understood as if that relation did now begin
between them, but the comfort of that relation is now perfectly
understood, and they reap the complete advantage of that
covenant-promise, whose sweetness they did only taste before.
2. Having described the positive good which the triumphant church shall
eternally rest in; St. John next sets forth the primitive evils which
they shall everlastingly be freed from.
All sorrow, and all the causes of sorrow, shall be removed; they shall
have no outward occasion, nor inward disposition to weep:
there shall be no more death,
but immortality and eternal life; nor any more pain or sickness, but
pleasure for evermore.
Lord! what a sovereign cordial is this against all our present sorrows
and sufferings! to consider the time is at hand when all tears shall be
wiped from our eyes, all sorrows, and the causes of sorrow, banished
from our hearts, and everlasting joys shall possess our souls, and we
shall be with our Lord for ever, to obey him with vigour, to praise him
with cheerfulness, to love him above measure, to fear him without
torment, to serve him without interruption or distraction, and be
perfectly like unto him, as well in holiness as in happiness, as well in
purity as in immortality!
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