Throw Out the Lifeline

Bible Study Lessons

BIBLE CLASS NOTES

by Bill Thornhill

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

Chapter Twenty-two

In the first paragraph of this chapter (vv. 1-5) we find a continued description of New Jerusalem. In the 2^nd (vv 6-11) we find declaration of the truthfulness of John’s witness, the command not to seal the book, and his falling before an angel. In the 3^rd (vv 12-17) Jesus reiterated his promise to destroy his enemies and extended an invitation to those who would be a part of his holy City. In the 4^th (vv. 18-19) is the solemn warning against tampering with the book. Finally, (vv. 20-21) is the benediction.

Anyone reading both Ezekiel and Revelation is aware of the passage on which this description of New Jerusalem is based. In Ezekiel 47:1-6 we have language so hauntingly similar, we know the first two verses of this passage are based on the prophet’s beautiful words. This is another reason we are convinced that Ezekiel’s Temple and John’s New Jerusalem are the same thing.

In the 1^st verse we read, And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. The student will recall from chapter twenty-one, the New Jerusalem is the Temple of God and God is her Temple. Ezekiel saw water proceeding from under the threshold of the Temple and John saw it proceeding from the throne of God. These rivers of perfect water are emanating from the very same place; it is the same water.

Before discussing the characteristics of the water, we need to inject still another passage from Old Testament prophecy. In Zechariah 14:8 he added a dimension not found in Ezekiel or Revelation. He said the waters flowed eastward to the Dead Sea, bringing its waters to life, and westward to the Mediterranean Sea. Neither summer drought or winter freeze can stop the flow. This symbolizes salvation is for all mankind. All men are saved (healed) by the same stream of the water of life. (Other passages regarding this stream are: Isaiah 12:3; 30:25; 35:6-7; 49:10; and Joel 3:18.)

Of this river John said it is pure…clear as crystal. This water is so pure it is diamond-like in is appearance. The river is divine, and its purpose is to give constant life to those who live close to it. Jesus spoke of himself as being the fountain of such a river. He told the woman at Jacob’s well, in John 4:7-14, she could have the living water from the fountain of living waters. Jeremiah accused the Jews of his day of forsaking the fountain of living waters, God, and hewing for themselves broken cisterns (2:13).

In the 2^nd verse John pictured this stream flowing through the midst of the City and on either side was broad avenues divided by what we would call “traffic islands.” In these “islands” grew the tree of life. His words are, 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. Although “tree” is singular, we do not get the idea of just one tree but several of the same variety. This tree, the tree of life, bore fruit in rotation with trees bearing fruit each month. The symbol points to everlasting providence in salvation. Ezekiel speaks of the same tree, but spoke of it in the plural (47:7 & 12).

Recalling the fall of our fore parents in the Garden of Eden, we are reminded man was separated from the Tree of Life. In New Jerusalem we are again given access to the Tree of Life. The healing power of the leaves refers to the Christian’s continual cleansing by the blood of Christ while dwelling in the City. Here is a feature in the New Jerusalem that the Old Testament Temple did not have. There the sacrifices offered could never remove the sins of the Jew permanently (Hebrews 9:1-15).

Returning to the River of life and the Tree of life, we observe they are restored to man in New Jerusalem. Jesus in John 5:24-25 speaks not of a physical resurrection, but a spiritual one, for he said the hour of its occurrence now is! The “dead” hearing the voice of the Son of God and living, speaks of the spiritually dead Jews who heard the Gospel and responded to Christ in contrast to the Jews who persecuted Jesus as recorded in John 5:16.

Painting more details of New Jerusalem in the 3^rd verse, John said, And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. In Old Jerusalem man lived under the curse first expressed in Genesis 3:14-19. The curse of spiritual death experienced by Adam, and his descendants because they too would sin (Romans 5:12), still resides with those never cleaned by the blood of the Lamb. The first part of this verse which literally reads, And every curse shall not be any longer, suggests the curse in Genesis 3:14-19 was not just a single curse but a multifaceted one involving far more than physical labor, pain, and death. The curse of spiritual death was far more serious because if one dies while under this curse, he is eternally separated from God!

In Ezekiel God promised his people would one day be returned to the Eden from which they had fallen (36:33-36). The prophet declared this promise would be fulfilled after the land of Judah was made desolated by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar. Since Palestine had never been even remotely like Eden, the promise was fulfilled in Christ and in New Jerusalem. In this holy City no one lives under the curse of being separated from God. There is no more curse to those who live in New Jerusalem because Christ took upon himself the curse for us. Paul made this clear in Galatians 3:10-14.

The throne of God and of the Lamb being in New Jerusalem is another symbol to impress on us the closeness of the relationship between God, and the Lamb, and the citizens of the Kingdom. We always have access to the throne of the monarch of the spiritual world.

In the last words of the 3^rd verse, and His servants shall serve Him, we find two things worthy of attention. (1) The word “servants” is douloi, meaning bondservants or slaves. Citizens of New Jerusalem are honored to belong to God and the Lamb as slaves, for the Lord paid the price to redeem us. (2) As slaves we obediently serve without question, depending on our Master for leadership and every spiritual blessing needed to sustain us. In New Jerusalem all are slaves of Christ.

In the 4^th verse John wrote, They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. These words indicated the closeness of the relationship between Elohim and his devotees. To look on the face of God denotes a very close spiritual relationship. In 1 John 3:6 we read, Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Citizens of New Jerusalem do not, on this earth, look directly into the face of Deity, but we see him through his word. In 3 John 11 this divine advice is given, Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.

Previously, we dealt with the mark on the forehead. Let us add here: slaves often bore in the foreheads the mark of the one to whom they belonged. Throughout Revelation, God’s seal is seen on those who are his (7:3; 9:4; 14:1). The seal means they are approved of God having the right to live within the sacred precincts of New Jerusalem.

In the 5^th verse we read, There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. Here we have a repetition of some concepts found in 21:23-25. Repetition is a fine way to emphasize what the Holy Spirit was doing here. New Jerusalem is a spiritual City completely lighted by our God.

John concluded the description of New Jerusalem and the sentence literally reads, And they shall reign to the ages of the ages. The reign began with the destruction of Old Jerusalem, as we saw in chapter 20, and continues even now. It will go on for all eternity.

Let us proceed to the second paragraph. The 6^th verse reads, Then he said to me, These words are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. To find the antecedent of the pronoun “he” in this passage, we must go back to 21:9, where we find one of the seven “chalice angels” speaking. The visions of Revelation are completed and the book hastens to its conclusion. In this portion of the chapter, we observe the Lord himself speaking of his own identification and his coming. The angel also speaks, as we just demonstrated. These matters are important to our understanding of the book. The word “faithful” means trustworthy, completely dependable. What is written in the book would assuredly come to pass! The angel next affirmed the words of the book were from the Lord God himself. The word “must” suggests the events prophesied are necessarily going to happen; they cannot be avoided; they are inevitable. (Review the study of the word “shortly” that was studied previously). As the observant Stubblefield put it, “Verses 6 and 7 are bookends with Revelation 1:1-3, repeating almost the same thing and stressing the nearness of fulfillment.”

In the 7^th verse we read, Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. There seems to be some confusion regarding who actually spoke these words. Most English translations indicate the spokesman was our Lord. However, this may not be the case since we learned from the 6^th verse; the spokesman is one of the angels who poured out the seven chalices of wrath. The words of this verse are a combination of the words spoken in 1:3 and 3:11. On these occasions the words were undoubtedly spoken by our Lord. However, here, the possibility exists the words were spoken by the angel quoting the Lord. This may be an explanation for the reaction of John in verse eight and the angel’s rebuke in verse nine.

The words, Behold I am coming quickly, reassert what Jesus said to the church at Philadelphia in 3:11 in a slightly different context. The Lord, as quoted by the angel, said the end of all the things was near. The Lord was about to come in judgment on the city of Jerusalem. Her destruction was imminent. The words, Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book, is a partial quote from 1:3. The word “keeps,” from teron, means to be watching, to be watchful, or to guard something. Jesus pronounced a blessing on those who were watching for the things predicted to come to pass. “Prophecy,” propheteias, refers to what was revealed.

In chapter 1:3, the Lord pronounced a blessing on those who read, heard, and kept the book. Only the keeping of the book is mentioned here. They had already read and heard the book, for it would have been delivered before the prophetic events transpired. Christians that were indifferent to these words would have been trapped inside the city of Jerusalem.

Coming now to the 8^th and 9^th verses we read, Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God. The words of the messenger have the same meaning as those discussed in 19:10. We need to explore the question of why John would make the same mistake twice. Some think he didn’t but his mistake was twice recorded. Others believe he did but his human nature caused him to fall in awe before an angel twice. Nonetheless, in both instances John was forbidden to worship any being other than God.

We hasten to the message of the 10^th verse reading; Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. The first thing striking one’s mind is the difference between the command given to the Apostle John and the one given to the prophet Daniel in 8:26 and 12:4. In Daniel the prophet was told to seal up his vision because it refers to many days in the future, and until the time of the end. (Note the definite article “the” implying the end of a specific time, not the end of all time.) This suggests two things: (1) the time of the future of Daniel had arrived, and (2) the “time of the end” of which he spoke had come to its conclusion. In contrast to Daniel, John was told not to seal up his prophecy. The events Daniel foresaw where not going to transpire for some 550 years afterward. The events of Revelation took place about 550 years after Daniel, thus, John was forbidden to seal them up. John was prohibited from sealing them as they were to shortly take place, as the angel said the time is at hand.

If the time for the fulfillment is yet future, what possible interpretation can be given to verse eleven? The 11^th verse reads, He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. If these words were for the dim distant future of John and us, Christians have erroneously attempted to convert sinners down through the ages. According to this verse, we should have left them in the condition in which they were found! The climax of Revelation was so close the angel told John to leave the people of Jerusalem in the condition in which they were found. (Jeremiah was told essentially the same thing in 7:16; 11:14-17; 14:11-12.) The people, once known as the children of God, had passed their “failsafe” point.

Having arrived at the 3^rd paragraph of this exquisite chapter, we read, And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. (Vv 12-13) In these two verses either the Lord spoke for himself, or was quoted by the Angel. Our view is the latter. The words are quoted from 3:11; 22:7; 2:23; 20:12; 1:8 and 10. The point to be emphasized here is the promise of the Lord related his imminent coming. All the language of these verses has been discussed in the references given so we will not repeat it here.

Because everyone is judged according to his deeds, there is in the 14^th verse, a blessing pronounced on some. The angel told John, Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. The word “blessed” (makarioi) means happy and to be congratulated, as it does everywhere in the Revelation. Let us investigate some important matters in this text. First, the word “do” is poiountes, meaning to make preparation, to perfect, accomplish, fulfill, or put into execution. Those who do the commandments of God have right to the tree of life and to enter the holy City. Secondly, “commands” is from entolas, bespeaking an edict, a charge, an injunction, a direction, or a commission. Thirdly, “right” is from exousia, indicating authority, right, permission or power. The sentence is simply saying those who are obedient to God have been given right, permission, power or authority to partake of the tree of life, meaning they are granted eternal life. They do not have an inalienable right, but the privilege is granted as God’s response to obedient faith. Partaking of the tree of life and entering the City are parallel sentiments. Fourthly, these obedient ones may enter the holy City. “May enter” is from eiselthosin, meaning to go or come in. At conversion the Christian enters the holy City, and if he remains obedient he will always eat of the tree of life.

In the 15^th verse, in contrast to the spiritual condition of the blessed, John described the ones outside the City when he said, But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever lives and practices a lie. The “outside” to which reference is made is outside the City mentioned in the 14^th verse. These outsiders are those who rejected the Messiah, his Gospel, and persecuted the church of God. These words depict those who had once been God’s royal priesthood, his holy nation, chosen generation, his own special people. Now they are described as “dogs” (kunes) the most unclean of the unclean animals. There is an interesting play on words here. “Dogs” refers to mongrels, those who once had pure bloodlines now corrupted by other bloodlines. The Jews had once been the purebreds of God; however, due to their mixing their religion with others of heathen nature, they became mongrels.

In the 16^th verse, it appears the spokesperson changes. The possibility must be granted the Lord is being directly quoted by the angel. Either by direct quote or direct statement, Jesus said, I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. The source of the Revelation is reiterated. The language found here is a repetition of that found in 1:1b and 5:5. (These words are used several times in Old Testament prophecies such as Isaiah 11:10; 27:6, with reference to the Messiah.)

In the 17^th verse we find an invitation extended by the angel to the readers of this exhilarating book, And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. This invitation was to those desiring, choosing, exercising their will, inclined or disposed to take the water of life. The water of life was found in the River of Life, which flowed through the midst of the celestial City of New Jerusalem where salvation is found. It urges those who were inclined to leave old Jerusalem with all her corruption, to come to the holy City. The invitation is to take of the water of life freely. Taking a look at the word “come” is in order. It is from erchou, in the imperative, meaning to come, to go, or to pass. The command has a sense of urgency connected to it, seeming to tell the people to whom it was directed to “come now,” “do not put this matter off!” The reason for the urgency was the impending destruction of Jerusalem. Although, for us, there is no longer any urgency due to the imminent destruction of Jerusalem, there is urgency because of death.

Now to the 4^th paragraph in which we find the awesome solemn warning, For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. (Vv 18-19). The spokesperson here, again, seems to be the angel who has been speaking since 21:9. He gave John, as well as all others, a premonitory warning. This prophecy is not to be altered! Why is this warning given so near the end of the book? Moses gave a similar warning in Deuteronomy 4:2, as did Solomon in Proverbs 30:6. It would be reasonable to expect that if Christians to whom these words were first written could understand them, there would be others, such as the Judaizers, or even the unconverted Jews, who would be able to understand the book? If they read and understood Revelation, would there not be a desire to “doctor” the book to make it fit their views? Were not the New Testament Scriptures, at the very time this book was written, being wrested or twisted by the false teachers as pointed out in 2 Peter3:14-16? This testimony (witness from God through the angel) was to everyone… “Everyone” would go beyond the scope of just the seven churches in Asia.

The first prohibition is not to “add” to the things in the book. “Add” (epithet) means the act of placing upon or imposing something on. The angel speaks not of adding literal words to a text, as in the case of interpolations in our English texts, but the imposition of an interpretation on the words never intended by Inspiration. The second prohibition is none were to take away… “Take away,” (aphele) means to remove, cut off, or cause to disappear. Again, they were not to impose interpretations on the language of this book causing to disappear, be removed, or cut off, the plain teaching of God. This warning is no less valid today than in yesteryear. We must not tamper with the words of this weighty book, assigning meaning not there, or attempting to destroy meaning found there. We accept the book for what it says, studying it in light of Old Testament prophecy and concordant works in the New Testament.

This brings us to John’s apostolic conclusion found in the 20^th and 21^st verses. It seems to us the spokesperson here is John rather than the angel. The verses read, He who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. John asserted he was reporting what was said by the One who promised, Surely I am coming quickly. The One who spoke these words was the Lord, as we learned from the 12^th verse. Again, we emphasize the coming of which the Lord spoke was his coming in judgment on Jerusalem and has no connection with what is commonly called “the second coming.” This is not the “parousia,” but the “ercheomai.” This is not a coming in which he was personally seen, but a coming in which the Jews saw his punishment on them.

In the 21^st verse John closed with the typical apostolic benediction, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Twice in this short closing John used the word “Amen,” meaning so be it, or let it come to pass. It was the desire of the eminent apostle that the Christians to whom he wrote, and those who would flee from Jerusalem, might be the recipients of the sweet, gentle, unmerited gift of God called “grace.” The alternate reading is perhaps best for it reads, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen. It appears the benediction was more far reaching than to those saints to whom he wrote; but at the very least, it refers to them. What a magnificent book!