781. 第9节 这就是启示录所描述的“新天新地”, 以及由此降临的“新耶路撒冷”的含义。

在启示录中, 我们读到:

我看见一个新天新地, 因为先前的天地都过去了。 我约翰又看见圣城, 新耶路撒冷, 由神那里从天而降, 预备好了, 就如新妇妆饰整齐, 等候丈夫。 (启示录21:1-2)

象这样的事在以赛亚书中也有记载:

看哪, 我造新天新地; 你们当因我所造的永远欢喜快乐! 因我造耶路撒冷为人所喜, 造其中的居民为人所乐。 (以赛亚65:17-18)

我在本章前面已说明, 如今主正在建造一个新天堂, 由那些在世时承认, 或离世后能承认主就是天地之神的基督徒组成, 如祂在马太福音 (马太福音28:18) 中所说的那样。

Intellectual things -- ideas, knowledge, facts, even insight and understanding -- are more separate and free-standing than emotional things, and it's easier to imagine numbering them as individual things. Our loves and affections tend to be more amorphous -- they can certainly be powerful, but would be harder to measure. Using words like “much,” “many,” myriad” and “multitude” to describe a collection of things gives the sense that there is an exact number, even if we don't know what it is and don't want to bother trying to count. These words, then, are used in the Bible in reference to intellectual things -- our thoughts, knowledge and concepts. Words that indicate largeness without the idea of number -- “great” is a common one -- generally refer to loves, affections and the desire for good. Here's one way to think about this: Say you want to take some food to a friend who just had a baby. That's a desire for good (assuming you're doing it from genuinely good motives). To actually do it, though, takes dozens of thoughts, ideas, facts and knowledges. What does she like to eat? What do you have to cook? What do you cook well? Can you keep it hot getting to her house? Is it nutritious? Does she have any allergies? So one good desire can bring a multitude of ideas into play.