Luke 23:43

What exactly is the "Paradise" Jesus was talking about? The Greek word translated "Paradise"—used only three times in the New Testament—has the basic meaning of "park" or "garden." It describes an Eden-like setting. Additionally, by usage it is shown to indicate the presence of God's throne. This is seen in II Corinthians 12:1-5, where Paul relates the incident of "a man" (actually Paul himself) having a vision where he was "caught up to the third heaven . . . caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." "Paradise," then, refers to where God's throne is.

Revelation 2:7 also mentions Paradise: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." This gives us another indicator—the Tree of Life is shown to be in the Paradise of God just as it was in "Eden, the garden of God" (Genesis 2:8-9; this particular phrasing is used in Ezekiel 28:13).

Notice also Revelation 22:1-2:

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

The context of this is "a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. . . . Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God . . ." (Revelation 21:1-2). We see, then, that after the Millennium (see Revelation 20:1-5), the New Jerusalem descends, and it not only contains the Tree of Life, but also God's throne—for God Himself will be reigning on the new earth. This is (will be) Paradise, and the repentant criminal will be there with Jesus Christ.

David C. Grabbe
What Happened to the Thief on the Cross? (Part One)

Revelation 11:8

In Revelation 11:8, Jerusalem is referred to as "the great city." At first thought, Jerusalem is not a great city as New York City is great; it does not occupy as much territory nor does it have the population base. It is not of that sort of magnitude. However, we must not forget that Jerusalem, as a capital city, represents the entire nation of Israel and its greatness lies in what was given to it and what was expected of it considering those gifts.

The apostle John writes in Revelation 14:8, "And another angel followed, saying, 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." He adds in Revelation 16:19, "Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath."

Babylon is great too. When "great" is so used in this kind of context, it is not complimentary. "Great" is megálee in Greek, and it literally means "big." It can mean big or great in size, magnitude, and intensity or rank in a good or bad sense. How it is to be understood depends on what is being compared.

When God symbolically dwelt in the Holy of Holies, Jerusalem was known by its citizens as "the holy city." Tradition tells us that God departed His residence in the Temple shortly before AD 70. Jerusalem's title as "the holy city" does not come back into the story flow until Revelation 21:2, when New Jerusalem comes down from God out of heaven—long after the time covered in these prophecies. Revelation 21:3 specifically says that God again dwells there. However, at the time of the prophecies in Revelation 14 and 16, Revelation calls both Jerusalem and Babylon "great." This is not a positive comparison. Israel is great as Babylon is great, and at that time, neither of them is great in holiness.

Babylon is great in its anti-God, sinful influence and in economic, political, and military power, but it is most certainly not great in righteousness. Israel's conduct places it next to Sodom, Egypt, and Babylon in great defiance of God, His message, and His servants, and thus it loses its identification as "the holy city."

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beast and Babylon (Part Five): The Great Harlot