Books Of The Bible
The New Jerusalem
Revelation Series • Revelation 21-22:6
FIRST LESSON: Revelation 21, 22:1-5
Leader: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
Congregation: And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
L: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’
C: And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’
L: Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’
C: Then he said, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
L: To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.
C: Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
L: But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.’
C: Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’
L: And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
C: It has the glory of God, a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal.
L: It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.
C: And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
L: The angel who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits by human measurement, which the angel was using.
C: The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass.
L: The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.
C: And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass.
L: I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
C: And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
L: The nations will walk by its light; the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
C: Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.
L: But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
C: Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city.
L: On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more.
C: But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
L: And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
GOSPEL John 14:1-3
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places/mansions/rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.
Bulletin Cover
Revelation 21
The New Jerusalem
Duncan Long
http://www.apocalipsis.org/artwork/new-jeru(2).htm
The New Jerusalem
Today we conclude our series of summer sermons on the Book of Revelation. Why the Book of Revelation? Because it is the inspired word of God for us. Why the Book of Revelation? Because God still speaks powerfully to our lives through this book. Why the Book of Revelation? Because it is sufficiently obscure, abstruse and confusing that we need a guide to walk through the book with us and explain to us much of the symbolism. Why the Book of Revelation? Because it is the only place in the New Testament that most fully describes heaven. Of all the 1189 chapters in the Bible, Revelation 21most clearly describes heaven, the New Jerusalem, the vision of eternity with God.
Revelation 21 is an essential chapter in our Bible. So many beautiful passages about the resurrection are in Revelation 21. For example, our mental images of the pearly gates. How many of us have heard jokes about the pearly gates in heaven? The jokes about pearly gates into heaven are part of our society’s humor. Where is the only place in the Bible that a person finds references to pearly gates? Revelation 21.
How about streets paved with gold. That heaven’s streets are paved with gold is part of our secular vernacular and street language. Where does the image of streets paved with gold come from? Revelation 21.
How about our image of heaven as being pure perfection? In the Bible, there is one place where heaven is described as a perfect cube, 12,000 stadia long; 12,000 stadia high; 12,000 stadia wide. This cube is symbolic of perfect perfection. Where does this symbol of an infinite cube come from? Yes, of course, Revelation 21.
Many of us operate with a mental image that heaven is pure perfection, whatever that pure perfection may mean. In a heaven of pure perfection, that means there are no more tears, and no more death, and no more pain and no more crying, for all of these things will have passed away for God makes all things new. And where do these words come from? Revelation 21.
Out of 1189 chapters in the Bible, Revelation 21 is the single most important chapter that most fully describes the grandeur of heaven. As the Apostle Paul says, “No eye can see, no ear can hear, no mind can imagine the good and beautiful things that God has prepared for those who love him.” I Corinthians 2:9. In Revelation 21, the prophet John envisions the good and beautiful things that God has prepared for those who love him and walk in his ways.
Before we examine Revelation 21 and its symbolism of pure perfection, I would like to briefly review the past eleven sermons by showing the past eleven bulletin covers. By reviewing the past eleven sermons, we get a feeling for the whole Book of Revelation, from beginning to end. The pictures are good. The pictures symbolize the thoughts of each chapter in Revelation. I will briefly review with you these pictures and what they mean.
SERMON ONE: REVELATION 1
PROPHET JOHN ON ISLAND OF PATMOS
PAT MARVENKO SMITH
http://www.revelationillustrated.com/shop/image02.asp
SERMON 2
SERMON TWO: REVELATION 2
A MAP: THE SEVEN CHURCHES
MIKE CAMPBELL
http://www.apocalipsis.org/rev-2.htm
SERMON THREE: REVELATION 3
BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK
DUNCAN LONG
http://www.apocalipsis.org/rev-3.htm
SERMON FOUR: REVELATION 4
“IS, WAS, EVER SHALL BE” ON THE THRONE
PAT MARVENKO SMITH
http://www.revelationillustrated.com/shop/image05.a
SERMON FIVE: REVELATION 5
THE VICTORIOUS LAMB
ALBRECHT DURER
http://www.conncoll.edu/visual/Durer-prints/apocalypse.all/big/Box%2022-30.jpg
SERMON SIX: REVELATION 6
THE FOUR HORSEMEN
ALBRECHT DURER
http://www.abcgallery.com/D/durer/durer5.html
SERMON NINE: REVELATION 13
THE SEVEN HEADED BEAST
PAT MARVENKO SMITH
http://www.apocalipsis.org/rev-13.htm
SERMON TEN, REVELATION 17, 18
THE WHORE, THE HARLOT, THE PROSTITUTE
THE WHORE OF ALL WHORES
PAT MARVENKO SMITH
http://www.apocalipsis.org/rev-17.htm
SERMON ELEVEN: REVELATION 20
THE FINAL JUDGMENT
WILLIAM BLAKE
http://www.biblia.com/heaven/judg-blake.htm
In the Book of Revelation, beginning with chapter six through chapter twenty, there have been fourteen consecutive chapters of “doom and gloom,” of “woes and wretchedness” of “anguish and affliction.” After fourteen long chapters of pessimism, chapter 21 explodes with the new visions of grandeur and greatness, of majesty and magnificence, of splendor and sparkle. In the Book of Revelation, everything is in symbolic language and we need to grasp the symbolic language of Revelation 21 about the new heaven, the new earth and the new Jerusalem.
SERMON TWELVE: REVELATION 21
THE NEW JERUSALEM
DUNCAN LONG
http://www.apocalipsis.org/artwork/new-jeru(2).htm
This completes our brief review of the previous eleven sermons. Today’s sermon will focus on the New Jerusalem, heaven and John’s visions of eternity.
Let’s backtrack a moment. While at the Last Supper in the Gospel of John, Jesus taught his disciples: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions/living spaces/rooms. If this were not so, would have I told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am you may be also. I am going to prepare a mansion for you. I am going to prepare a living space for you.” (John 14: 1-3)
Focus on the word “mansions.” In my father’s house are many mansions, are many living spaces. The King James’ Version and Tyndale’s Version of the Bible use the word, “mansions,” whereas the Revised Standard uses “living spaces.” I like the connotation of the word, “mansion.” When I think of the word, “mansion,” I think of the mansions over at Port Townsend or Craigdarrick Castle up in Victoria, BC or the many mansions that I have visited in my life. Mansions are like castles like the Hearst Castle in California or Neuschwanstein in Austria or Versailles in France. A castle or mansion connotes beauty, spaciousness, loveliness, and grandeur.
The Bible says that our minds cannot possibly conceive of the beauty and grandeur that God has prepared and is preparing for us in which there will be no more pain and no more death and no more sorrow. God’s mansions are incredibly perfect. It is a “living space,” not a dying space, where life is experienced at its fullest.
Revelation 21 is the Apostle John’s vision of pure perfection.
Let us do an exposition of Revelation 21, so we can more clearly see the vision of the mansion that Christ has gone to prepare for us. Please take out your reading that is printed in your bulletin insert and also a pencil or pen to mark it up. By circling and underlining key words, our minds are forced to slow down and concentrate. As we slow down our reading, we see things in the language that we perhaps did not see before.
As we slowly read the words of Revelation 21, which words speak most deeply to your life? If a word, phrase or sentence speaks deeply to your life, write the number “10” near it.
We will use the bulletin insert. Please follow along with it.
Leader: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. This image of a new heaven and a new earth and a new Jerusalem is from Isaiah 65:17-19. “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. 19I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress.”
“The sea is no more.” In the Jewish mind, the sea symbolizes a place of the dead, like a grave on the land is a place of the dead; so also is the sea a place of the dead. Ships in those first centuries sailed close to land, for their captains knew that the sea could swallow down those sailors at any moment.
Congregation: And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. John immediately forgets about the new heaven and the new earth, because he is really interested in the New Jerusalem. No more will be said about the new heaven and new earth because his mind will concentrate on the New Jerusalem.
L: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; In heaven, God will live among us. God’s home will be on our street. Our house and God’s house will be neighbors. God told Moses to tell Israel, "I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people" (Lev 26:11-12). Ezekiel wrote, "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people" (Ezek 37:26-27).
C: He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Circle the word, “every”. God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. What a vision.
L: Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’ Circle the four important words: death, mourning, crying, pain. Underline with a double line: WILL BE NO MORE. That is the vision of Revelation. Write the following words, “These words are trustworthy and true.” Believe these words. Trust them. Rely on them. These is not simply wishful thinking for fools who want to believe in the fantasy of a future life with no more death, no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain.
C: And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ The Lord God, after twenty chapters, finally opens his mouth and speaks for the first time, “I make all things new.” A similar conviction lies at the root of Paul's bold affirmation that "if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
L: Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ Underline. Underscore. Highlight. Jesus said in John 14. “Trust me. Trust God. I am going to prepare a place for you, a living space of many mansions. If this were not so, I would not have told you.” God wants us to trust the promises that God has given to us. His words are truth worthy and true. No more tears. No more pain. No more death. No more mourning.
C: Then he said, ‘It is done! Underline it. It is accomplished. It is finished. It is completed. It is the same words that Jesus said from the cross at the very end of his crucifixion experience and the seven last words: IT IS FINISHED. IT IS ACCOMPLISHED. God had spent all eternity of that project of creating a new heaven and a new earth and in that future moment, God will speak: THE JOB IS DONE.
L: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. God is the beginning and end of existence.
L: To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. To the thirsty, God will give water. We think of Jesus speaking to the woman at the well saying, “I will give you the water and you will never thirst again after you drink of the water of eternity.”
C: Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. Circle the word, “conquer,” and write in the word, “overcome.” Persistently and consistently in the Book of Revelation, we Christians are those who conquer evil in our lives. Those first Christians were facing enormous challenges and persecutions and martyrdom and God wanted those first Christians to conquer and overcome the evil that was all around them and within them. The Lord God wants us to overcome the power of evil in our own lives.
L: But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.’ Circle the word, “but,” and we see the stark contrast. Circle all eight words that describe the eight sins of that century and our century. Circle the word, “cowardly,” and remember the persecutions and killings by Nero and Domitian. Christians still can be cowards. The “faithless” are people who do not trust Jesus, God, the truth, the words of Jesus. The “polluted” are those who polluted by the culture in which they live. The “murderers” are those who murder others. The “fornicators” are those whose sexual values and behaviors are corrupted by the world around them and our flesh/sinful nature within us. Sorcerers stands for witchcraft. Idolaters are those who worship false idols. Liars are liars. For all such behaviors and beliefs, these people will inherit eternal punishment.
C: Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ Circle the word, “bride,” which is the wife of the lamb.
L: And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. The focus is now on the city. The focus is no longer on God who makes his dwelling place among the people and that there is no more death, mourning, crying and pain. Rather, the focus is on this New Jerusalem which is in fullest contrast to that evil city, Babylon, or Rome. Obviously, the New Jerusalem is a symbolic city.
C: It has the glory of God, a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. Circle the words, “glory, radiance, clear as crystal.” This symbolic city is glistening with radiance and light, like the brightest diamond ever.
L: It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. Underline “twelve gates” and “on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites.” The true Jews of the Old Testament are included in this symbolic vision of the New Jerusalem.
C: And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.Underline the words, “twelve foundations, and on them are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Both true Jews and true Christians are part of this new holy city.
L: The angel who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits by human measurement, which the angel was using. In Greek, the wording is “12,000 stadia.” We know the Greek word, “stadia” from which we get our English word, “stadium.” A “stadia” is a length. One stadia is 606 feet. The number 12,000, like the number 144,000, is a symbolic number. We learned long ago that Revelation is full of symbolism. It is the most symbolic book of our Bible. Most of the time, we can understand the symbolism of Revelation, but sometimes we cannot. The number 12 represents the true faith of the 12 tribes and the true faith of the 12\ apostles. The number, 1,000, represents perfection. 12,000 is another symbol of perfection for John, and so the number 144,000. The number 7 is also a symbol of perfection. The number 666 represents the perfection of evil.
The only other place that we find the shape of the cube in the Bible is the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament. (I Kings 6:20) The Holy of Holies in the temple is where God lived. Heaven becomes the infinite Holy of Holies where God lives.
I telephone John Laakso in our parish who is a retired mathematician from Boeing, and I asked him to tell me about the shape of the cube. He reminded me of the image of the cube in the recent Olympic games as a symbol of perfection. He said the cube is the strongest structure possible and that there is an elegance to its mathematical design. For John Laakso, it was intriguing that heaven was described by the prophet John as a perfect cube, an image of mathematical perfection.
The image we are to have in our mind is pure perfection. The image is a perfect, mathematical cube.
Look at the following image. Allow that image to seep into your mind and to soak in your cranial cavities. Notice the twelve pearly gates at the bottom of the cube. Notice the twelve layers of the foundation also at the bottom of the cube. Notice that the cube or pure perfection and pure strength is coming down from heaven. Notice the gold that is bright and sparkling, shining with light and brilliance. See the splendor of the heavenly city.
THE NEW JERUSALEM
PAT MARVENKO SMITH
http://www.revelationillustrated.com/shop/image33.asp
Notice the pearl for the gate. Notice that the gate is open. Notice the twelve foundational layers of twelve different stones. Remember that there are twelve gates that represent the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve foundations represent the twelve apostles.
C: The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass.
L: The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. Write, “The 12 stones of the signs of the Zodiac?” with a question mark. These are the most beautiful stones in the world. These twelve stones are found in the signs of the zodiac but the prophet John gives them in reverse order. Like many students of the Bible, I am not sure what this means. Since these visions of the New Jerusalem are so deeply soaked Old Testament imagery, it does not seem that the signs of the Zodiac are the source of imagery of these twelve stones.
Rather, it is wise to go to other parts of the Old Testament to find twelve stones. We find a reference to twelve stones in Exodus 28:21 where we discover the high priest wore an ephod (necklace) around his neck and that ephod had twelve stones in it. These twelve stones were like twelve prayer beads by which he prayed for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Some scholars point out that the twelve stones were found in the necklace of the high priest.
C: And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass.
L: I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. There is no temple in this city. No synagogue. No church. No mosque. No human made temple. Because the temple is the Lord God almighty AND the lamb. Notice again that the Lord God AND the Lamb are the temple. In other words, this is another way of saying that both the Lord God and Christ are to be worshipped.
C: And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. This city needs no streets lights nor sun nor moon nor stars, because the glory of God is its light AND the Lamb is its lamp. We recall that God is light. That Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.”
L: The nations will walk by its light; the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. The kings of the earth will bring the glory of their nation to God’s throne in heaven. The following quotation is powerful and insightful: “Finally--and this is what i find most amazing--the nations come marching into the city, each culture and people bearing their gifts to the whole of humanity. I think of Guatemalan and Peruvian clothing with its brilliant colors, of African singing and rhythms, of American jazz and European orchestral works, of Asian chants and Near Eastern delicacies. The nations that appeared to have been destroyed down to the last living being (Rev. 19-20), now come marching into the city, cleansed and converted, bringing their "glory" into it.”
“Here too the hopes of the biblical prophets for Jerusalem have come true, above all Isaiah 60:3: "Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn" and 60:11: "Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations--their kings led in triumphal procession."
C: Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. Heaven will be have perpetually open gates. There will never be darkness or night. The glory and the honor of the nations will be brought into it. I think of the Olympic opening ceremonies, where many of the nations of the world march into the area, wearing their symbolic clothing. It all seems to refreshing, so full, so varied, so wonderful in its dream and vision, of all the nations of the world working together in perfect harmony.
L: But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Even in this perfect heaven, John reminds us that not everyone’s name has been written in the Book of Life.
C: Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. Underline the phrase, “the river of the water of life.” Write the word, “the Holy Spirit.” From John’s gospel, chapter four about the Woman at the Well, we know that the living water, the water of life, is Holy Spirit/Spirit of Christ. This verse is Trinitarian: The throne symbolizes the Father; the Lamb symbolizes the Son; the water of life symbolizes the Holy Spirit.
RIVER OF LIFE IN THE NEW JERUSALEM
PAT MARVENKO SMITH
http://www.revelationillustrated.com/shop/image35.asp
L: On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. Notice the above picture and the water of life and the trees of life on either side of the river. The leaves on the tree are for the “healing of the nations.” Underline that phrase, “the healing of the nations.” We know that nations of this world are in need of healing: healing within the nation and between the nations. We all want to see this heaven, this New Jerusalem, where there is no more tears, pain and death. Also, the divisions with the nations and between the nations will have been healed.
C: But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Circle the word, “it” and write down the phrase, “the New Jerusalem.” The infinite God and Jesus the Lamb will be there in this new city.
Underline, the servants will worship him. That is the purpose of our life here on this earth and the purpose of our life in eternity. The primary purpose of life is to worship God in prayer and praise.
Underline, “they will see his face.” From the earliest stories in the Book of Genesis, people of faith have wanted to see God “face to face.” Finally, in heaven, we will see God face to face.
Underline, “his name will be on their foreheads.” The name of God is “the Lord” and the word, “the Lord” will be upon us.
L: And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. There will be no more night, and no more lights nor lamps or the sun because the Presence of God will be our light.
Underline the last words of this glorious book, “They will reign forever and ever.” Near the word, “they,” write in your own name. ___________ . The infinite God will reign; the Lamb will reign; and we will live with God forever.
We think of Handel’s Messiah, “And they will reign forever and ever.” Amen.
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