What Does Revelation 21:4 Mean? God Will Wipe Away Every Tear

Revelation 21:4 promises that in the new creation God himself will wipe away his people's tears, and that death, sorrow, crying and pain will be gone for good. It describes the final state of God's people, after Christ returns, when God comes to live with them. It is one of the most tender verses in the Bible, and it does not ask anyone to pretend that their tears do not matter. It says they will end.

Here is what the verse says, and how it comforts us now.

The Verse in Its Setting

Revelation 21 opens with a new beginning:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Revelation 21:1 (KJV)

Then a voice from the throne explains what it means:

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Revelation 21:3–5 (KJV)

The order matters. Before the promise about tears comes the promise about God: "he will dwell with them." The end of pain flows from the nearness of God.

God Himself Does It

The verse does not say that tears will simply stop. It says "God shall wipe away all tears." The image is personal, like a parent drying a child's face.

Elsewhere the Bible shows that God has noticed each one:

Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

Psalm 56:8 (KJV)

Revelation 7 gives the same promise in the middle of the book, and shows who brings it:

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

Revelation 7:17 (KJV)

The one who wipes away tears is also the Lamb who was slain. He knows what suffering is. At the grave of his friend Lazarus, the Gospel says simply, "Jesus wept" (John 11:35).

An Old Promise

John was not saying something new. Isaiah had promised it centuries earlier:

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

Isaiah 25:8 (KJV)

Paul quotes the same passage when he speaks of the resurrection:

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

1 Corinthians 15:54 (KJV)

Revelation 21:4 is where that promise is finally kept. The reason tears can end is that death has been defeated by Christ's resurrection.

"The Former Things Are Passed Away"

This last phrase explains the whole verse. Death, sorrow, crying and pain belong to the old order. They are not permanent features of reality. They are part of a world under the curse, and that world is passing away.

People often ask whether we will remember sad things. The Bible does not say exactly. It does say that those things will no longer have power to hurt. For more, see what happens when you die?

Comfort for Now

Revelation 21:4 does not mean Christians should not grieve. Jesus wept. The Psalms are full of tears. Paul told believers not to grieve "as others which have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13), which assumes that they would grieve.

What the verse gives is a horizon. Paul put it this way:

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Romans 8:18 (KJV)

Pain is real, and it is not the end of the story. If you are reading this verse in a time of loss, it is not asking you to feel better. It is telling you what God has promised to do, and that he is near enough to do it himself.

For what life in the new creation will be like, see what will we do in heaven for all eternity?