Revelation 21:22-27
“And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun... for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof... And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth.”
King James Version
The New Jerusalem — needing no temple, for God and the Lamb are its temple; no sun, for the Lamb is its light; the nations walk in its light, and nothing unclean enters.
Fulfillment References
Isaiah 60:19-20 Ezekiel 48:35 Revelation 22:1-5 Isaiah 65:17-19
How Traditions Read This Prophecy
Apostolic (Oneness) PentecostalGod and the Lamb are one temple and one light — the one God dwelling unmediated with His people, fully revealed in Jesus.
JewishThe vision fulfills Isaiah 60 (the LORD an everlasting light) and Ezekiel's 'the LORD is there.'
CatholicThe consummated communion of God with the redeemed — the Lamb the temple and light.
ProtestantGod's dwelling with His people perfected; no temple needed, for God and the Lamb are present.
OrthodoxThe eternal city radiant with God's glory, the Lamb its light.
DispensationalThe eternal New Jerusalem following the millennium, God dwelling with the redeemed.
AcademicThe imagery fulfills Isaiah 60:19-20 and Ezekiel 40-48 (48:35); the absence of a temple strikingly reverses Ezekiel's temple-centered vision.
Scholarship & Sources
21:22-27 fulfills Isaiah 60:19-20 (the LORD an everlasting light) and Ezekiel's vision climaxing in 'the LORD is there' (48:35); strikingly, there is 'no temple,' because God and the Lamb are present directly.
Open the full interactive entry →Cross-references, Hebrew/Greek, Dead Sea Scrolls notes, study tools and multi-tradition analysis in the interactive explorer.
Bible Prophecy Explorer · based on J. Barton Payne’s Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy catalogue · an openly Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostal study resource — all traditions presented fairly. Pastor: C. Myles Young, PhD · Bishop: Nathaniel J. Wilson, Ed.D.