Jerusalem · God and the Lamb its temple and light
Revelation 21:22-27
John · ~95 AD · Status: Future · Confidence: 60%
“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, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”
King James Version · the opening — all 6 verses are below
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.
Read the whole passage — all 6 verses (KJV)
21:22And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
21:23And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
21:24And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
21:25And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
21:26And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
21:27And 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.
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 →
Audio narration (listen to this prophecy read aloud), cross-references, Hebrew/Greek, Dead Sea Scrolls notes, a prophetic timeline, network maps, study tools and multi-tradition analysis in the interactive explorer.