3.  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.

4.  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes:  and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:  for the former things are passed away.

5.  And he that sat upon the throne, said, Behold, I make all things new.  And he said unto me, Write:  for these words are true and faithful.

6.  And he said unto me, It is done.  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end:  I will give unto him that is athirst, of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7.  He that overcometh shall inherit all things:  and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Vs. 1-7.—­It is unquestionable that the phrase “new heavens and a new earth” is to be understood sometimes as descriptive of moral renovation in the world.  As the moral change affected by grace in the character of an individual sinner is called a new creation, and is in truth no less, so in respect to a community.  The analogy in this case is the same as between a revolution and an earthquake.  Thus, we must understand Is. lxv. 17, lxvi. 22, of that great moral change which will characterize the millennium.  But the “new heaven and the new earth” are here contrasted with the “first heaven and the first earth which were passed away,” (ch. xx. 11.) The apostle Peter describes the very same grand and glorious change.  Mingling the important facts of authentic history with the future facts of prophecy, he tells us that the “heavens and the earth which are now, ... are reserved unto fire.”—­He speaks obviously of the visible heavens and earth.  These “heavens shall pass away ... and “the earth also, ... shall be burnt up.”  He adds,—­“We look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (2 Pet. iii. 7, 13.)—­“There was no more sea,” no more disorderly passions, animosities, arising from human depravity, to interrupt the delightful harmony and fellowship of saints in glory.  It is estimated that about two thirds of this world are occupied by water.  In that happy place occupied by the people of God, there is no sea; consequently, “yet there is room,” many mansions, room enough for all the redeemed.  “The holy city,” compared to a “bride,” two very incongruous emblems, shows the poverty of symbols, their inadequacy to represent the church triumphant:  how then shall created objects furnish suitable emblems of the glorious and glorified Bridegroom?  In vision the city seemed to the apostle as if suspended in the air on the same plane with himself; for now he stood neither on “the sand of the sea,” (ch. xiii. 1,) for “there was no more sea,” nor upon the earth, for it was “passed away.”  No intervening object could obstruct his view.—­He heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Behold,