Chapters 30,31 Revelation 22
CHAPTER XXX
Chapter 22.1-5: THE NEW EDEN
22.1: He showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, 22.2: In the midst of the street thereof, and on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 22.3: And there shall be no curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein; and His servants shall do Him service. 22.4: And they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 21.5: And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Old Testament sources mingle luxuriously together here. There was a river which went out from that Eden (Genesis 2.10) in which was found the Tree of Life (2.9). "Living waters" are to go forth from Jerusalem when the Lord returns (Zechariah 14. 8). "There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of our God" (Psalm 46.4), when the Lord breaks as under the chariots of the nations, and brings peace to the world. But far and away the most detailed sources are again to be found in Ezekiel, as the following table will show:
Revelation
Ezekiel
22.1:
A river of water of life out of the throne of God and of the Lamb
47.1:
Waters from under the threshold of the house eastward
22.2:
On this side of the river and on that was there the tree of life
47.7:
On the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other,
22.2:
bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month.
47.7:
Every tree . . . shall bring forth new fruit every month
22.2:
The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
47.12:
The fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for healing.
It is possible to read the record in Ezekiel almost naturally. Around the waters of the river which flows from the temple in Jerusalem, trees will be found in sufficient variety to offer fruit at all seasons, and their leaves will have therapeutic properties. It is a little difficult, to be sure, to see how a river which apparently starts as a mere trickle (47.2), and after '/a km reaches merely to the ankles (47.3), and after repeated similar distances to knees, loins, and full body-height (47.4,5), without any reference to tributaries, could do this without being torrentially fast at its shallow beginning, or practically stagnant after a mere 2 km: a stream which at the beginning, say, was 7 cm high, and after 2 km had risen to 175 cm, and whose width increased in proportion to its depth, would need to be flowing 1000 times faster at the beginning than at the end. There are some other problems, too, in applying the prophecies in Ezekiel purely literally, but the overall framework is literal nevertheless.
In Revelation, however, though the same material is used, the application is unashamedly symbolic. The Tree of Life offers deathlessness to those privileged to partake of it. The "healing of the nations" is a far more ambitious project than merely "healing", and looks to the time when the nations will be fully healed of all their ills. Such healing is needful, though, until the Millennium has reached its climax, another indication that the blessedness of Revelation 21 and 22 co-exists with a mortal world until that time is reached.
The Tree of Life was discussed under 2.7 on pages 63-64, when its significant relationship with the Cross of Christ was brought out. In Eden the original Tree was put out of reach when man sinned, for it was not right (indeed, perhaps not conceivable) that a sinner should live for ever Genesis does not say whether the Tree, with its conspicuous position in the Garden, was ever partaken of by Adam and Eve in their innocence. It certainly does not say that they were forbidden to do so. It might be thought a matter of little importance to decide whether it was a Tree, to eat once of whose fruit was to become immortal, or one which would sustain life without corruption for as long as it was accessible; but in fact the picture in Revelation is based on the latter possibility. The Tree is always there in the new Eden; it bears twelve manner of fruit and so is always attractive with its varied diet. Those who overcome are offered the right to partake of it, evidently not just once but perpetually. Its perpetual availability to those allowed to walk in this garden is itself a symbol of their continuing life of fellowship with God. The saint of those happy days will not be disposed to boast: "I have partaken of the Tree (that is, I have been given the gift of immortality), and therefore I shall never die!" Will he not rather, more humbly and more gratefully, say, "I have been granted the right to live constantly in the society of the God who walks in the garden (Genesis 3.8), to go no more out, and therefore I shall always share His life"? There is the same import in another figure in the Letters to the Congregations: "I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, to go no more out" (Revelation 3.12), and in the promise, "To him that over-
cometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I overcame and am sat down with My Father in His throne" (3.21).
The meat of life and the water of life (22.1) are always available. And so they will "hunger no more, neither thirst any more, for the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall lead them" (7.16-17; 21.6).
This is Eden restored, now beyond the perils which changed the first Eden into a wilderness. "There shall be no curse any more" (22.3) directly reverses the curse imposed after the Fall (Genesis 3.17-19). The word in T.R. is katanathema, though the shorter form with the same meaning, katathema, is now preferred. It means "anything cursed", so that the significance is "Nothing will any longer bear a curse". In either form it occurs only here: only the related verb is found in Peter's terrible lapse in the high priest's judgement hall, where he cursed and swore in his denial of his Master. But the Lord's surrender to the will of His Father in His own sad garden of tears had provided such a way of forgiveness that, on whomsoever Peter called down his curses, that curse need not fall. As for him, "I have prayed for thee that thy faith fall not" (Luke 22.32); as for them, "Repent and be converted" — this from the lips of this same Peter — "That your sins may be blotted out, and that there may come seasons of refreshing" (Acts 3.19-21). Now the seasons of refreshing have come, and no more within that city will anyone or anything be cursed, "for the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein."
"His servants shall do Him service". Neither A.V. nor R.V. has succeeded in avoiding the appearance of banality here: but the truth is anything but banal. R.S.V. does better with "His servants shall worship Him". For the servants are, as commonly, douloi, the ordinary word for bondservants or slaves; but the verb is, latreuo, and although this word is rendered in A.V. 'serve' 16x and 'do service' once, it is also rendered by 'worship' or a related word 6x; and the corresponding noun, latreia, is rendered 'service' 4x and 'divine service' once. Though the secular use of this word concerns working for hire rather than as a slave, in the Scriptures it becomes practically synonymous with 'worship', or at least the rendering of divine service. So here we have the spectacle of the slaves of the Lord Jesus elevated to the rank of priests, rendering divine service in the intimate presence of their Lord, "for they shall see His face" (22.4), in fulfilment of the promise, "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3.2). Or, as we read earlier, "They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (20.6) — and in some sense beyond this period also.
His name shall be in their foreheads. They have already been sealed in their foreheads (7.3-17; 14.1) against the tribulation they had to endure. But the Lord had promised long ago that He would write on them "the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is the new Jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from My God, and Mine own new name" (3.12). This name, which embodies the whole ground of their presence in this city at all, is Ye:kowah TsidKenuw, "the LORD our righteousness" (see pages 34-37, 71).
They shall reign for ever and ever. Hitherto we have been told of the saints of the first resurrection, who reign 1000 years (20.4,6). But just as we found it impossible to imagine the Lord Jesus abdicating His kingly authority when He should deliver up the kingdom to God (pages 331-333), now we find the same to be true of His saints. What is meant by reigning after the Millennium comes to its end, and there is no more sin, we may not know, but that is cannot result in loss of dignity or station for those who serve the Lord day and night in His temple we can be quite sure. Even had we not already shown that to play with the Greek expression "unto the ages of the ages" (RVm) is an unprofitable exercise (pages 25-27), there would be no point in seeking a finite duration here, for by this time all the ages that ever were in the redemptive programme are coming to their end: and still the saints 'reign' on into the times beyond, when all things have been made new.
CHAPTER XXXI
Chapter 22.6-21: EPILOGUE
22.6: He saith to me, These words are faithful and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His servants the things which must shortly come to pass. 22.7: And, behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book.
The Almighty Himself speaks for a moment. He had given the revelation to Jesus Christ (1.1), Who had sent the angel to John. But the initiative, here as always, had come from God, His Father. God is "the God of the spirits of the prophets", Who hath "in these last days spoken to us in His Son" (Hebrews 1.1). All valid revelation comes from Him through His Spirit, and this is the last, at least in its subject matter. Disciples were taught to "try the spirits", the men claiming to have these "spirits of the prophets", whether they are of God (1 John 4.1), and they who made such claims were taught by Paul to behave in such a way that their claims were not disallowed by their behaviour (1 Corinthians 14.32). But here there was no doubt: John was seeing before his eyes that God was speaking to him nigh at hand — directly in the fulness of His authority.
Still, at the very end of this Book, we are told that it concerns "the things which must shortly come to pass" (1.1), and this must surely settle for ever the idea that is only the earliest prophecies, say those of the opening seals, which would commence shortly after John's revelation was received. What proves to have been meant, in practice, is that the long drawn-out period of the first four seals would be succeeded, after an unspecified interval, by the crowded events of the last days, for which everyone must be kept on his toes, and of which, therefore, no one could be given a timetable. But to those who would be living in those days, the Lord repeats again the message which He gave at the very beginning, "Behold, I come quickly" (3.11; 22.12,20). To them, too, He repeats the urgency of giving attention to what has now been revealed: "Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book" (22.7).
22.8; I, John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. 22.9: And he saith to me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them which keep the words of this book: worship God.
John had done this before (19.10), and the verse was commented on at that point (page 311). The remonstrance of the angel contains an interesting comment on the angels' attitude to their office. He is a fellow servant of faithful servants of God at all times, whose common characteristic is that they "keep the words" of God, including those in this Book of Revelation.
22.10: He saith to me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. 22.11: He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still; and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still; and he that is holy, let him be made holy still. 22.12: Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to each man according as his work is.
The instruction to leave unsealed the prophecy of the Apocalypse is in sharp contrast with Daniel 12.4,9, where that prophet's words were to be sealed "even to the time of the end". Once more the indication is that Revelation is concerned first and foremost with the events of the times very close to the Lord's second coming, passing quickly through the intervening ages to the very last days, and speaking with a voice which, (no matter how mistakenly — and how beneficially — earlier ages might have thought it addressed itself to their day) only acquires its true historical significance when the time is truly at hand. Revelation brings into current perspective the events dimly foreseen in Daniel — which does give its panorama of the intervening periods, so that in the last days the unmistakeable message may be clearly seen and acted on by those who must endure their sufferings, and wait with patience for the glory so soon to be revealed.
In the intervening period, those who will not repent must be allowed to continue to seal their fates by persisting in the way of life to which they have given themselves: the unjust digging his own grave, or speeding his path to the Lake of Fire, with his continuing unjust deeds, and the abandoned giving himself Over to the reprobate mind to which God has left him. The righteous, on the other hand, must to the very end not be weary in welldoing, and those set apart to their Lord not turn longing glances to the world they have left behind them. By this time the door into the Ark will be closing, and saints must be within, or they will be locked out and cease to be saints; and those who have refused to repent will no longer be allowed to do so.
To give to every man according to his work. The Lord has said this before about His second coming, for "The Son of man shall
tome in the glory of His Father, with His angels, and then shall He render to every man according to his deeds" (Matthew 10.27); hut (his has also heroine something of a retrain throughout (he New Testament, related substantially in Romans 2.0; 14.12; 2 Corinthians 5.10; I ! eter (.17; and (bund in this Hook in 2.23; 20.12. It is an Old Testament chorus loo, (bund at least in Psalm 2H.4; 62.12; |oh M.I I (Klihu); |urcmi:m 25.14; Laminations 3.h'4; I'mverhs 24.12,19; Psalm 2H.4; Jeremiah 25.14. Not all these passages refer to judgement on the Day of Judgement, but they do all emphasize, what is so easily forgotten hy those who rightly insist on the primacy of faith in making us acceptable to God, that only the existence of sup|)oi ling deeds can show (hat the faith is real. This is the theme of |ames in 2.14-2H. The works can he of all kinds: letting a disohedient hrother take one's life (Abel), huilding an Ark on dry land before mocking contemporaries (Noah); letting events take their course until the promised child should Ix; born out ot due time (Abraham); working mighty deliverance against a dominant enemy (Gideon); letting oneself be confined in a den of lions (Daniel) — in short, doing, waiting when there is nothing to do but wait, suffering or daring to suffer: all these are works or faith which shall stand as witness to the faith itself. On the opposite side, in addition to the obvious deeds ot unrighteousness, there stand the pride, the evil-speaking, the lioasting even in one's apparent spiritual achievements which so evidently left the Lord out of account that "I never knew you I" must l)e H is only answer. The works are witnesses to what kind of faith there is, hut it is the candidate tor rejection who says, "You must receive me because of what I have done!" The men ot the right hand say only, "In your strength we tried. To You he the glory!"
There is a profound contrast between the words "Blessed are they that do His commandments" of A.V. and "Blessed are they that wash their robes" of R.V. The Greek of these two expressions is confusingly similar, as is shown in the tabulated comparison helow:
R.V. makariot hot plunotes (as s(olas autnn
A.V. makariot hoi poiontes (as entolax autou
R.V. does not so much as mention the possibility that A.V. might he right. R.S.V.m docs comment, "Other ancient authorities read do His commandments", and AB give 'IV probability to the A.V. reading. The layman cannot possibly decide between them, but they illustrate effectively the matter of salvation by faith and by works discussed above. The Book provides adequate precedents for both readings, for 7.14 refers to those sealed as those who have "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb"; while the keeping of the commandments of God is the theme in 12.17 and 14.12. On the ground of congruity only, it would seem that A.V. should be prefer red. But both thoughts are right. The saints have not come clean in their own right: they came to be cleansed, and the "blood of the Lamb" is the means whereby that cleansing has been secured to them. This is the submission of faith. But they have been required to order their lives thenceforth in accordance with the precepts given to them. So "keeping His commandments" (and seeking forgiveness and restitution when they fall) is their duty also. One could almost wish that both readings could be combined, for they combine together complementary truths.
The question of access to the Tree of Life has been dealt with on pages 64-65 and 374, and of entering into the gates on pages 368-370 "Without are dogs" and the following words have in principle been dealt with on page 357-358. The word 'dogs' in this context seems to have the connotation of unnatural sexual vices, a matter of particular relevance in the world of today, in which the entire foundation of Biblical morality is being rejected.
22.16:1 Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify to you these things for
the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright,
the morning Star.
See on 1.1; 22.K-9. The word translated 'churches' is (bund in this verse for the first time outside Chapters 1-3, and the omission of'seven' here may he significant. The same omission occurs also in 2.7,11, etc., but the object of both may be to assure us that the message reaches far beyond the original Seven Congregations in Asia to the saints of all ages since. The lampstands of the Seven in Asia have long since been "removed out of their place" (2.5), but the witness of this Book has survived for the exhortation and warning of their successors.
On "the Root and the Offspring of David" see notes on 3.7 and 5.5. The purpose of God in bringing about redemption caused Him to select David, foreseeing that of his race Messiah should be born: so the plan to bring the Christ to the world makes Him the Root of David. Though, therefore, He is in flesh the Descendant of David, He is His precursor in God's purpose, and
therefore also his Lord (Psalm 110.1). He is the "bright, the morning Star", for which see 2.28, where the Lord Jesus promises 'the morning star' as the reward for him who overcomes. The star in the east announced the Lord's birth (Matthew 2.1-23); the true Star Himself will return to complete the work then begun. The Lord Jesus will come in triumph, to fulfil the ancient prophecy of Balaam that "a Star shall come forth from Jacob" (Numbers 24.17).
22.17: The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let Him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come. He that will, let him take the water of life freely.
The Spirit speaks still through the message of this and every other Book of the Scriptures. "Come unto Me!" is the constant call of our Lord (Matthew 11.28; 16.24; John 6.45, etc.). But the Lord also, throughout the ages since He ascended from the earth, speaks through His servants, and therefore also, "The Bride says, Come!". Of course the Bride is not complete until the Lord Jesus returns and makes His saints His own, but all the faithful saints in their pilgrimage constitute the Bride in the making, and so the worthy cannot fail to speak the things which (like John in 22.8) they have seen and heard (Acts 4.20). And if it seems mere repetition to add, "and let him that heareth say, Come!", that addition serves to remind us that it is only they who do respond to this duty who can be regarded as truly participating in the Bride. There are, of course, more ways than publicly prophesying in His name of bearing witness that we are His, but in one way or another, the disciple individually and the congregations of" disciples collectively must ensure that their lamp is where it belongs: on the lampstand (Matthew 5.15 ; Revelation 1.12 ). "Freely ye have received: freely give!" (Matthew 10.8). The Lord is reminding us of these words when He says here. "Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely."
22.18:7 testify to every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add to them, God shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, even from the things which are written in this book (-22.19).
No doubt this applies first of all to the Apocalypse itself, but the words are parallel with similar ones in Deuteronomy 4.2 and 12.32 in relation to the Law, and in Proverbs 30.5-6: "Every word of God is tried: He is a shield to them that put their trust in Him. Add thou not to His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." And standing where it does at the end of the Bible as we have it, it is tempting to think that it was providentially
located at this point, as a general warning that the Scriptures as a whole are not to be trifled with. Those to whom the Sacred Writings have been committed have them in their hands as the oracles of God of which they are stewards (1 Corinthians 4.1-2), and of which the meaning must not be suppressed or overlaid with baseless additions. In the light of words like these it is hard to imagine that any professed believer in the Christian gospel could ever have been so foolhardy as to propose additional Scriptures given through himself or herself.
It has been no part of the purpose of this work to abuse those with whom the writer or his community do not agree. Throughout we have tried to keep in mind that "the Lord's servant must not strive, but be gentle towards all, apt to teach, forbearing, in meekness correcting them that oppose themselves" (2 Timothy 2.24-25); yet there are some matters on which plain seeking should not be shunned. Among these are tamperings with the Holy Scriptures, whether they are done by destructive criticism which denies or disputes their divine authority, or by wanton claims to inspiration by later leaders which compromises their uniqueness. It surpasses belief that anyone could have dared to put his or her own standing before God in direct peril by transgressing the plain instruction here given.
But it has happened none the less. "Science and Health, and Key to the Scriptures", by Mary Baker Eddy, imposes a positively alien teaching on that of the Bible, and asks for and receives from her followers in the 'Christian Science' Church a standing which makes her book the standard of what the gospel teaches. "The Book of Mormon", "Pearl of Great Price", "Doctrine and Covenants", and other writings of Joseph Smith and his successors do the same even more boldly within the 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints', and to this offence is added the continuing sin of claiming inspiration for the 'apostles', 'prophets', and 'priests' of this church. Even a community as full of good works as the Seventh Day Adventists is saddled with a doctrine of the inspiration of Mrs. Ellen White and her voluminous writings which, even if it embarrasses that church to-day, has not been repudiated. Even the 'Jehovah's Witnesses,' though they acknowledge no other Scriptures than the Bible, show, by the rigidity with which day-to-day conformity with the changing teachings of that body is inculcated and required, that it is what headquarters says the Bible means which must bind the minds and consciences of the 'publishers' and 'Kingdom-Hall' congregations. The autocratic determination of the Roman Catholic Church that its Pope is in certain circumstances infallible, and the decrees of its Councils to be received without demur, takes a different form but is little different in principle: and this has become even more unreasonable since that church effectively abandoned the pretence that its teaching to-day is what it has always been.
This is not a danger to such churches alone. It can infect those who lay such emphasis on the 'inner light' that they dispense, wholly or in part, with the authority of the Scriptures, and make the way they feel the judge of what is right, forgetting how deceitful is the human heart when it weighs anchor and sails away at the dictates of every wind of doctrine. But it is no less infectious in the minds of any who fasten on to what a person, or school, may have committed to writing, and hold so firmly to this that the Scriptures have no voice of their own. "It is written" can then mean little more than, "An honoured expositor tells us that this is the meaning of what is written, and we are content to abide by his judgement." It may well be that an injustice is done to the expositor himself by this attitude: any pioneer in thinking for oneself about the Bible is ill-served by any who deny similar freedom to.others; and the Scriptures themselves are not honoured by such a policy.
It is the hope and expectation of the present writer that no school of thought committed to his opinions should arise around the present work. If the work can open up avenues of approach which allow the Scriptures to speak their unfettered message to us, and bring some hope of understanding to a wider public, he will feel well-rewarded.
The punishments threatened by 22.18-19 on any who tamper with the Scriptures as they have been given to us are grave. Both the infliction of the plagues there described, and the denial of any part in the Holy City or in the Tree of Life, mean that those judged by God to be guilty of such acts will be regarded as having joined the ranks of the rebels against Him, and will lose their part in the way of salvation. This does not, of course, mean those who fail innocently in their understanding of Scripture, or those who without rebellious intent find themselves accepting interpretations which, in the end, will be found to be incorrect: but it stands nonetheless as a timely invitation to take stock, to any of us whose approach to Scripture as the unique guide to the understanding of God's purpose may give ground for concern.
22.20: He which testifieth Ihese things saith, Yea, I come quickly.
Amen: come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with
the saints. Amen.
We all believe that the time is far advanced. From whatever Starting point, believers in the Scriptures, and observers of the critical state of the world around, can see that the world will be
unable to surmount its own problems, quite apart from its outlook on the will of God. The time may not be far away when an anguished world will be staring its own dissolution in the face, and when saints at present comfortably at home in a tolerant society will face situations for themselves which will make this closing promise really seem to be what it is, the only hope, for world and saint alike. As one sees the day approaching, what can one say except what John says for all of us here:
AMEN! COME, LORD JESUS!
And fitting it is that in this anxious contemplation of the future with all its perils and uncertainties, we should be brought gently and tenderly to the present, and our ever-present need for the unbroken flow of the grace of God, given through the Lamb of God, our Lord and Saviour, with the seer's own prayer:
THE GRACE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST BE WITH THE SAINTS.
AMEN.
Back
