He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Rev 21:4.

With this post, we heroically move forward, hopefully beyond verse four, but first, I feel the need to recap where we are in this journey.

We closed out our last look at Revelation 21, discussing verse three, which reads like this.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, (Revelation 21:3 NASB)

If Jesus is seated on His throne in the New Jerusalem, as the millennial reign begins. Isn't it possible that the promised peace has come? Since the followers of Christ will stand alongside the martyred saints that were resurrected, are now immortals, and cannot be harmed. So then, death too should be done away with, right?

Why ask such a lengthy question?

Because I was recently asked,

“if these things have been done, why does seem that they are being done again at what appears to be the end of time, after the great white throne?”

With a question like that, the following statement would be, I don't see a need for things such as we see in Revelation 21:4 after the end of judgments.

“and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4 NASB)

Let's break this down, as usual.

• “ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes;."

  This is a continual process.

  Why? Because, for the believers who have struggled with heartache and loss, as I have, those things that caused sorrow or agony will be put behind us, just as the Father puts our sins behind Him, never to be seen or heard of again.

  While the thousand years roll by, there will be those from among the nations that will suffer pain and loss. But, with Jesus sitting on the throne, comfort will be given to those from the nations that may need comfort. And healing, which comes from the leaves off the tree of life, can also be brought. Of course, I don't understand all that healing implies. Still, as we saw in the Genesis account, the tree of life brought immortality, so there has to be more to what these leaves do than providing a primitive bandage.

  And one last thought on the tears.

  The dead, having been resurrected, are now standing before the great white throne. Matthew's account tells us that these are the nations and conveys that some have their names written in the book of life because of their works.

  Those works are explained as acts of kindness – something that Jesus would do, like giving someone a drink of water, a blanket, or a visit to a prisoner.

  What are the probabilities that these called sheep are so profoundly and emotionally touched that they cry?

  Pretty good, huh? Jesus will also wipe the tears from their eyes.

• "There will no longer be any death;."

  I already pointed out that a few from the nations will die.

  We have an example in Isaiah 65.

  “No longer will babies die when only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at one hundred! Only the cursed will die that young!” (Isaiah 65:20 NLT)

  No more unexpected loss of children; Adults will live full lives, well past one hundred; but, there seems to be a catch as the passage tells us that only the cursed will die young, as in one hundred.

  Cursed is a horrible word choice as the Hebrew word qâlal primarily lends itself to someone being of little account. My granddad used to say, of particular people, “they ain't no account.” I suppose, in his world, they had borrowed money and never paid it back, or perhaps they were the wrong skin color.

  I cannot imagine the Father even thinking that way. He seems to find the good in everyone, and thankfully He found it in me. I have a grandson who stopped breathing when he was three days old; this is NOT a good sign, but it led the doctors to the cancerous tumor sitting on his brain stem. One of the scary things we were told is that the cancer looks very similar to brain stem tissue, and to cut into the brain stem would be cataclysmic for my grandson. Most of the tumor got removed, and the rest was killed with chemo. The end result - my grandson, who just graduated from high school, is affected on his left side like a stroke victim. We just watched him get publicly awarded for being a mentor to new students in the program. School administrators all raved about how much they loved him, and I love that they loved him. You know what, though, not everybody can tolerate the repetitious things he says and the occasionally painful high fives he gives. Because of all these things, they might consider my grandson of little account, and some might think he is worthy of death. As you can imagine, I do not feel that way at all. I long to see the day when he finds a place where he can continue to bring his vitality to others.

  How do I comprehend this?

  Well, here it is, May 26, 2022, and only a couple of days ago, a troubled young man killed more than 20 people, most of which were, in a sense, babies. So naturally, far too many politicians jumped on the anti-gun bandwagon and screamed that people should not have guns. So this evokes the next question.

  Is God going to take away all weapons?

  The answer is yes, as Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3 both speak of the nations beating their swords into plowshares. (Do not get hung up on the idea that everyone has swords because that would be odd at best, but many people, including little gangsters, have guns. The weapons will be made into farming tools.) I do not think this is a voluntary act on their part. Remember, Cain, killed Able with a rock.

  The Hebrew origins aligned with the word plowshares are uncertain; however, we are told that a mattock, which is a pick for turning over the ground, is an alternate usage.

  “And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.” (Isaiah 2:4 NASB)

  The usage of the term nations indicates that they will still have their broken natures, this is the same instincts that brought about what we see in Genesis 6.

  “God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. Then God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them, and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth." (Genesis 6:12-13 NASB)

  What's the point here?

  Weapons are now repurposed as farming and gardening implements. The passage gives us the final word when it says, "Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.” This tells me that organized war is done and that NO one will be teaching the other how to fight.

  How is this cessation of fighting possible?

  Because Isaiah 2:4 tells us that “ He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples.”

  The Hebrew word for judge shâphaṭ means to decide controversies, act as law-giver, condemn, punish, and vindicate when necessary.

  Might some heinous acts demand the death penalty?

  Based on what we see on the news, I would think so. While Isaiah 11 exhibits mercy, there is one line that conveys how he dispenses justice without fanfare.

  "And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked." (Isaiah 11:3-4 NASB)

• “the first things have passed away.”

  What does that mean?

  You would think we should know the answer to this.

  I wish I could tell you that the law goes away. It might be safe to say, in a sense, that it does because, after the great white throne and the end of all judgment, there would be no more need for the law.

  How is that possible?

  Because for the Christians, our broken natures from Adam will have been changed at the church's rapture, right before God's wrath gets poured out. (See 1 Corinthians 15:52).

  If you have been able to follow along with me, you would understand that many from the nations will come to a knowledge and acceptance of Jesus Christ. However, the methods of gaining salvation seem to vary, as the leaves of the trees of life will bring healing to the nations (although, it would be foolish to think that number includes all of them.) I can understand this because a vast number whose names will not be found in the book of life will be deceived and try to kill God at the end of the thousand years; therefore, Only those who have their names in “the book of life” will make it into the kingdom after the Great White Throne.

  So while there may not be a need for a proclaimed law, that law, written upon our hearts, is nothing less than the moral character of God. Since we are in His image, His character is our character, and we will live by those motives.

  Don't even consider the idea that sin would again infiltrate the heavens as it did with Satan. I think it's safe to say that God will not tolerate this scenario again. It appears that the motive to commit treason will be eliminated with Satan.

  What other firsts could we consider?

  According to Isaiah 25, the veil that covers the eyes of all people will be lifted.

  You might try to angrily argue, I know the Lord, follow him, and, like Paul, pray in the Holy Spirit more than you all, so you are not talking to me. Don't you wish? Paul's gospel says differently.

  "For now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known."
  (1 Corinthians 13:12 NASB.)

  The truth is, you have no idea what an unhindered communication with God would be like. Now apply this idea to Adam, and you can better understand the death he brought upon himself and us. Someday soon, we will obtain what Adam had before the fall. So this could easily be one of those issues that will pass.

  Ponder this thought.

  As I sit here writing about the hope that is in me, I am painfully aware of how this broken, sin-ridden flesh fights against the things of God; therefore, I do something like this and let the words speak to me as well.

  Will there be a day in which Satan's voice does not permeate my thinking?

  Absolutely, and it may begin, for the believers, at the rapture. For everyone else, you would think that it should definitely start at the start of the millennial reign of Jesus because Satan will be locked up during this time and unable to afflict people. But it is painfully apparent that human natures continue to be broken for the nations, and their minds work far too freely. The evidence for this can be found in Revelation 21, as God sees it necessary to say,

  “and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.” - Revelation 21:27 NASB.

  As I have mentioned, there are those trees of life along the river that come from beneath God's throne. We are told that the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations. Just thinking about what this healing can mean boggles my mind, so I accept that it does. So, this moves the idea that Satan's voice can no longer invade our thinking to the time beyond the throne of judgment. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's look of life can come in. Having given myself over to the King of Kings, I have every confidence that my name is in there. How about you?

I feel as though I could go on for days about the things that came first and will pass away; some were arbitrary, but some came because I fell in love with my Father once again. He is all that I need.

Hebrews 12:2 The act of fixing my eyes on Jesus. An edited repost.

This idea of fixing my eyes on Jesus will not let go of me.

Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author, and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The KJV puts it this way:

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;"

The Greek word for fixing or looking is aphorao and means to consider attentively.

To be honest, I have a problem with this idea of looking, because it implies distance, and distance suggests that I can never get close to God. Some churches I have been a part of, with their superstar pastors, have demonstrated what it is like to have a leader that is untouchable, and I have had more of that than I can stand. I have also, because of choices I made, experienced infidelity in marriage and divorce. The battle I had to fight was learning that God did not act like the people who have created false imagery in me. While God may never leave me, I sometimes wonder how embarrassed He is with how I talk or act. In the worst of conditions I have never experienced any distancing toward me on God's part, but I can assure you I have felt significantly distanced at times. There is no doubt in my mind that this distance I felt was because of my selfish indulgences.

The NET version says: "keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,.." This version has pulled in both concepts; keeping our eyes on Jesus, and the idea of our fixation upon Him.

Why would you fix your eyes on something?

Detectives do it because they are on the hunt for something. Artists study or set their eyes upon a subject so that they can capture what they see. We, as believers, are told to fix our attention, vision, thoughts, and emotions upon Jesus because I believe that God wants us to live in a state of peace that passes understanding.

To be filled with peace, at a time when it is illogical, passes my understanding. Yet, having read this, and desired it, I find it easier to comprehend knowing that was God in the situation, though I did not know it, and He only wanted good for me.

Hebrews, the faith book, is meant to train us and establish us with the benefit of a solid information, and believable eyewitnesses. If I could equate this life to a trial, the evidence for the prosecution would be overwhelming and beyond a reasonable doubt. In reading Hebrews, I find out that the peace I just spoke of, requires faith, and is wrapped up in my faith.

Is it my faith or God's?

I suppose both. I have to exhibit some degree of faith in the process of accepting my position within the family of God; I have to act in faith upon God's promises to me to live in this world; And, God has placed His confidence in me that I will succeed and join Him in eternity. Example: There was a brief time in my life that I was keenly aware of a tremendous faith for healing.

How would I know that? I was a shy person who for the longest time was very timid. Speaking out boldly, or placing my hands upon someone for healing, would have been out of character for me. However, in several circumstances, I saw God's hand at work in extraordinary ways. Here is where the faith aspect comes in. God's word tells us to lay our hands on the sick, and they will recover. There is no emotion needed in that, merely obedience. The faith part is acting and letting God do what he said he would.

"Not with bodily eyes, for at present he is not to be looked upon in this manner, but with the eye of the understanding, or with the eye of faith; for faith is a seeing of the Son;" ( John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)

Having read several commentaries on the passage, I agree with Gill. I believe that the intent is to focus on Jesus at all times and in every circumstance, but that seems impossible to do. When I was at work, I was barraged by customers, to the point that I barely had time for a thought of my own.

Where and how do I squeeze God into this hectic scene?

I know I am not alone in this struggle, because it is a human struggle, and it does not take a detective to realize that few people invest quality time with God to the degree that He becomes predominant in their thinking. For me to say, I am looking at Jesus with the eye of my faith makes it sound like I am very spiritual, although I sometimes wish I could be like Enoch and simply walk off the earth, that will never happen. In reality, this ability to stay focused on God seems to imply some act of our inward man that can operate aside from the circumstances the body is experiencing. What we are talking about here could be nothing more than the ability to reason, and that ability to reason would have to include the mind, would it not?

For the skeptics who think this inward man talk is something new age, I give you Paul's own words.

2 Corinthians 4:16 NASB 16) Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

If you consider our beginnings then this inward man idea may make more sense. In Genesis 1:27 we see God creating man in His image.

NASB “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

God's image is a spirit, therefore the man was a spirit, and, just like the Father, eternal. We don't see a body on the man until Genesis 2:7, after the completion of the earth.

John 4:23-24 NASB "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24) "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

This plays a role in our understanding of death as well, for the spirit never dies. Since the spirit never dies, then how did Adam understand this death that was to come upon him should he partake of the forbidden fruit? Because of the eternal nature of the spirit, death, in one regard, would have to mean eternal separation from the Father God. God, in the form of Jesus, had no intention of allowing that to happen as long as He could do something about it, and therefore, through Christ's activities in “death”, we were redeemed. Paul, in Ephesians, speaks of a mystery.

Ephesians 1:6-9 NASB to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8) which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9) He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him.

It is almost overwhelming when you let it all sink in.

It would seem that the spirit, which wars against the flesh, can function independently of the body.

Galatians 5:17 NASB For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

If that is the case then I should be able to have a conversation with you and the Father at the same time. In truth, I am not that good. If I have too many conversations going on at the same time, then someone is going to lose in the battle for my attention.

I believe that Paul was speaking to this distinction between the spirit and the flesh when he wrote:

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 1 Corinthians 14:14 NASB

Perhaps I am missing the point. It may be that Paul is saying that the spirit bypasses human reasoning. I have never been able to pray in the spirit without involving my mind, as something had to initiate this conversation. That does not mean that if I am praying in the spirit (that means praying in tongues to me,) that I am always keenly aware of what I am praying, but I always have a general idea.

Do not despair at the apparent futility of this exercise of the tongue for James tells us that God gives wisdom to those that ask. Is he talking about understanding everything that you might say in tongues? Probably not, but at least we have the opportunity to understand a great deal of what we say in tongues.

Since the topic had to do with fixing our eyes on Jesus. I think we have found that there is so much more to this simplistic phrase. Fixing my eyes on Jesus entails all of me, body soul and spirit. And, the spirit wants to take a well-needed advantage of the desire to commune with the Father. Now, this is where I could move into an entire teaching on aspects of our communications with, not only the Father but the body of Christ as well.

Back to my struggles with fixing my eyes on Jesus (A funny thing happened as I wrote this. I slipped up and wrote ears instead of eyes; I have since fixed that error. Why that might be funny is because if we could hear what God is saying, and respond, then maybe we would be walking as Enoch did. We have no evidence that Enoch saw God. So then, any seeing would have been by faith. Hearing, on the other hand, is a different story altogether.)

So, as I was trying to deal with the continual onslaught of customers at work, I could at the same time be praying in the spirit on the inside If I can pray in the spirit, then I can have communication with the Father at the same time too. I think it would primarily be Him talking to me.

The trick in this is to fine-tune your listening skills.

You should be aware that there are too few of us that have any clue how to listen to others. With your insight, you picked up on something. How does one fine-tune their listening skills so that God becomes the focus? Prayer, which is merely conversations you are having with God, often on behalf of others; that, and spending time in His word. The words that God uses currently, are no different in theme, from those he has already spoken. Trust me on this one, God can speak your language. How many translations of the Bible are there?, many, and yet He has brought innumerable lives into the family by speaking their language or slang. There is always the skeptic who does not believe that God speaks all the time. While God is not just incessantly rambling to hear His head rattle, as we often do, but there is a purpose in everything He says.

Keep this in mind as you read your Bible; everything in that book has a purpose. For example, why does the Gospel of John emphasize things like the cloth that was folded so precisely in the tomb (there was a reason); why is the trip to Samaria a three-day journey?; Why did Jesus go to the Samaritans, they were effectively Gentiles, and going there was contrary to his stated mission? There are things that all throughout the Bible that seem like nothing and yet the Jewish leadership believes that when the Messiah returns (he already did) that he will explain even the spaces between the letters; they are that serious about God's word. If only we were that serious about His Word as well.