Revelation 21:27; And There Shall In No Wise Enter into It Anything that Defiles

Posted on Posted in Devotions Tagged with , ,

Revelation 21:27 (KJV)  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life. 

Telling what will not enter the city is equally revealing to telling what will enter her – And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life. 

Another future of emphatic negation, “shall in no wise enter”, dwells upon the characteristic purity of the city.

Even with wide open gates certain things will never gain access to the city. Though completely open, the city will exclude the works of darkness (Swete).

To read into these words that lost people will roam about outside the city (Caird) is completely fallacious. The verse is rather intended as a warning to the reader that the only way to enter the city of the future is by becoming a loyal follower of the Lamb right now (Revelation 21:7) (Johnson).

Revelation 21:7 (KJV)  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 

With the later “neither whatsoever” means “nothing unclean.” The adjective can refer to what is “common” to all (Titus 1:4), but in a number of places include here, it has been passed over into an ethical meaning (Mark 7:2; Acts 10:14).

Titus 1:4 (KJV)  To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. 

Mark 7:2 (KJV)  And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. 

Acts 10:14 (KJV)  But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. 

No undefiled entity will enter and contaminate the city (cf. Revelation 21:8; 22:15).

Revelation 21:8 (KJV)  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. 

Revelation 22:15 (KJV)  For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 480-481]