Chapter Twenty-Two
Admonitions and Salutation
22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of
life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
This
chapter continues the line of thought began in the previous one, with one of
the angels who had one of the seven vials continuing to show John a grand vision
of Heaven. Here John
sees the water of life which Christ had described
to him previously. “I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of
life freely” (Revelation 21:6).
The
water of life is not literal water, but is described as such because it has the
same importance. In
And
notice the source of this river. It does
not simply spring out of the ground, but comes from the throne of almighty God. This is the reason for its purity and its
amazing life giving powers. This is not
real water, but signifies the free-flowing fountain of life in Heaven. Life that
will never end, and will never be tempered with anything unpleasant. As the Lord said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly” (John
22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on
either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner
of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of the nations.
The
location of the tree of life as given by this verse is a little confusing. The problem lies not with the Bible per se,
but with the King James translation. The
words are basically correct, but the punctuation is wrong. Every other translation I have seen connects
the first part of this verse with the previous verse. This gives an entirely different, but I
believe correct, meaning to the verse. I
will quote one such translation of these two verses.
“Then he 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; also, on either side of the river the tree of
life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the
leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:1-2 RSV).
It
is the river which is in the middle of the street, not the tree of life as the
wording of the King James Version might suggest. The tree grows along side the street and the
river. The fact that the tree grows on “either side of the river” shows that it
was not just a single tree but many trees.
This does not contradict the statement in this verse which says the “tree”
of life at all. Its just as if someone
said, “the peach tree grows quite well in the temperate climate of
Taken
together these two verses paint a beautiful portrait in our mind of Heaven. There is a
beautiful shiny street of pure gold running through the middle of the city. A crystal clear river of the water of life
flows down the middle of the street. And
to top it all off, beautiful trees of life lining the street of gold. Some cities in the South like
The
tree of life in many ways is to be compared to the water of life, it is simply
a symbol of eternal life. That is, of
the abundance of life which is to be enjoyed by the saved in Heaven. But there are
also some noteworthy differences between the two. The tree of life goes back much further in
biblical history than does the water of life.
The tree of life was even in the Garden of Eden. “And out of the ground made the Lord God to
grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of
life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and
evil” (Genesis 2:9). While Adam and Eve had access to
the tree of life they had eternal life. They
could have lived forever as human beings on the earth had they never sinned.
After
Adam and Eve sinned, by
eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God then denied
them access to the tree of life. “And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is
become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his
hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: therefore
the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from
whence he was taken. So he drove out the
man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming
sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life” (Genesis
3:22-24). The next reference to the tree
of life in the Bible is in the book of Revelation and shows the tree to be in
Heaven. Mankind lost
access to this marvelous tree in the Garden of Eden, but can regain it in Heaven.
The
tree of life is no ordinary tree. Not
only does it have extraordinary powers to give eternal life to the partakers of
its fruit, but it also bears more than one kind of fruit! Imagine a tree that yielded apples in the
spring, oranges in the summer, and bananas in the fall. But what is truly amazing is that the tree of
life bears twelve different types of fruit, one each month. Of course we are not talking about a real
tree here, but a symbol. And its manner
of bearing fruit year round is representative of the fact that in Heaven there will be
no times of plenty and times of scarcity.
There will be no drought or famine, but rather everything will be
wonderful all the time.
We
are somewhat spoiled today to have fresh fruits and vegetables available to us
practically year round. Today we get
produce grown in green houses or in places like
Throughout
history one of the greatest difficulties man has faced is staving off
starvation between harvests. You had to
make your food stretch for the entire year which called for a great deal of
planning and restraint. But in Heaven all of these
worries will be forgotten, the tree of life will continually supply man’s
needs.
“And the leaves of the tree were for the
healing of the nations.” The leaves
of many plants have medicinal value. For
example, the aloe plant, also known as the burn plant, is supposedly very soothing
when the juice is applied to burned skin.
Similarly, the leaves from the tree of life have the power to “heal the nations.” This is again a reference to the positive
affect the presence of righteous people will have on an otherwise heathen
nation. A Christian does not as yet have
access to Heaven and to the
fruit of the tree of life, but these things have been promised. God not only promised these things to
faithful men, but also left them a pledge.
“Now he that hath wrought us for
the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the
Spirit” (II Corinthians 5:5). The
Holy Spirit was given to
man by God as an earnest or pledge of the future gifts He has promised. This is like a leaf from the tree of life. It is not the fruit which is so desirable,
but it is a pledge that the tree will soon be made available.
22:3 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:
When
the tree of life was taken away from man in the Garden of Eden, God also did something else, He cursed the ground. “And
unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the
voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee,
saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow
shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life” (Genesis 3:17). This made man’s
existence much more difficult than it would have been. But in Heaven there will be
no such curse. Man’s existence will be
free from problems and difficulties. He
will have the curse lifted from him, plus he will have regained access to the
tree of life.
“But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall
be in it.” Above and beyond all of
the other wonderful aspects of Heaven mentioned thus
far, is the fact that God and Christ will dwell with
man there. And the redeemed will worship
God before His throne for ever and ever.
“Therefore are they before the
throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth
on the throne shall dwell among them” (Revelation
Man
cannot presently understand how wonderful it will be to serve God for eternity. But for the saved He will be their light and
their everything. Their love and
adoration for Him will compel them to worship Him time without end.
22:4 And they shall see his face; and his name
shall be in their foreheads.
To
see the face of God will be an unbelievable privilege. Even the great prophet and leader Moses was not allowed
to see God’s face. “And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me,
and live. And the Lord said, Behold,
there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to
pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock,
and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: and I will take away mine
hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen” (Exodus
33:20-23). The fact that man will be
allowed to see the face of God in Heaven shows that the
relationship between God and man will be much closer there. The redeemed have been reconciled to God and
will be granted many things formerly impossible for men.
“And his name shall be in their foreheads.” This idea has been expressed several times
previously in different applications. To
say that the name of God will be in the foreheads of the redeemed in Heaven means that they
will have true desire and affection toward Him.
They will truly enjoy serving Him because they love Him and this is what
they want to do.
22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they
need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light:
and they shall reign for ever and ever.
It
was pointed out toward the end of the previous chapter that there will be no
night in Heaven. Again this is
due to the fact that no physical bodies will be relied upon to generate the
light. In fact there will be no need for
physical light at all. Since there will
be no physical eyes to make use of the light, no light will be needed as it is
now. The reason that no physical eyes
will be present is that redeemed man will no longer occupy physical bodies. “It is
sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a
spiritual body” (I Corinthians
The
reigning of mankind has been previously discussed in other terms. In chapter twenty the saved were said to
reign with Christ in His kingdom
for a thousand years. This however, is
different. The redeemed will reign with
God and Christ in Heaven for all
eternity. They will reign victorious
over Satan and his evil companions, and over all of his attempts at defeating
them in their quest for eternal life.
22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are
faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew
unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
The
person speaking is still the angel which began to speak to John in the previous
chapter. The angel has now finished his
discussion of the glories of Heaven, which have occupied our thoughts for over a chapter
now. Instead he begins to try to wrap up
this marvelous book.
The
angel states that the things he has shown John are undeniably
true. He also reveals the source of
these comments as being God, who he refers to as “the Lord God of the holy prophets.”
The God who inspired this angel to speak is the same God who inspired
all of the prophets of the past to speak.
Such renowned men as Moses, Elijah, Samuel, and many others. “For
the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (II Peter
The
angel then states his mission. He was
sent by God to reveal to God’s servants, which means righteous men, certain
things which must soon begin to occur. Of
course he is speaking of the things John has been shown
in this grand revelation. This statement
is very similar to one we saw at the beginning of this book. “The
Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God
gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to
pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John” (Revelation 1:1).
In many ways our present verse is just a repeat of the first verse of
the book.
“Shortly be done,” has the same meaning
as “shortly come to pass” in chapter
one. It means the prophesies of
Revelation must soon begin to be fulfilled, and not that they will ALL soon be
fulfilled. As we have progressed we have
indeed seen that the prophesies given in this book covered the entire Christian
era, beginning with John’s day and concluding with the end of the world.
22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that
keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
The
speaker has changed in this verse, and instead of the angel, it is Christ who is
addressing us. “Quickly” is a relative term.
It has been nearly 1,900 years since He spoke these words and He has yet
to return. When compared to the life
span of a man it is a very long time. But
compared to eternity it is truly but the blink of an eye.
“Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of
the prophecy of this book.” “Keepeth”
is from the Greek word “tereo,” which Strong’s defines as “to guard (from loss or
injury, properly by keeping the eye upon; by implication to detain (in custody;
figuratively to maintain); by extension to withhold (for personal ends;
figuratively to keep unmarried):-hold fast, keep (-er),
(pre-, re-) serve, watch.”[1] There are
several meanings here, but I believe the context can lead us to the correct one. The idea is that the Christian should
understand these prophesies and watch for their fulfillment. A blessing is pronounced on those who do this. Certainly many Christians have been able to
escape potentially dangerous situations by understanding that they were going
to be the fulfillment of prophesy. In
addition, it is certainly reassuring to see how God’s plans have unfolded
throughout the Christian age, and to see how Satan has been slowly brought to
his knees by God.
22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to
worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
“These things” refers to the visions of
Heaven John has just been
shown by the angel. He was so
overwhelmed by the beauty and glory of Heaven that he forgot about what he was
doing and fell down before the angel to worship him. He did this once before in chapter nineteen
and was rebuked sternly by that angel for doing so.
22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not:
for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which
keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
This
angel, like the one in chapter nineteen, also rebuked John for worshipping
him. The angel reminds John that he is
not to be worshipped since he is also a servant of God as John is, and as so
many other people are, in particular, the prophets and people who understand
and remember the prophesies of Revelation.
The reason that he mentions in particular those who keep the prophesies
of Revelation, is that only Christians would do this with the proper
understanding. So in reality he is
speaking of Christians here. But among
all men and angels there is not a single one worthy of worship. As the angel points out, God is the one who
is to be worshipped. This rules out the
worship of idols, images, saints, and apostles as has been the practice of the apostate
Roman Church for many
centuries.
The
angel tells John that he should
not try to conceal the contents of the book he has just written. When Daniel wrote his book of inspired
prophesy he was instructed to seal it up for a time. But John was instructed that it was to be
different with him. “The time is at hand.” This means that the prophesies of this book
were soon to begin to be fulfilled when it was written in the A.D. 90’s, and He
wanted His people to have access so they could begin to understand what was
happening.
This
verse is not permission to continue in a life of sin, far from it. When the Lord returns there will be both
righteous and unrighteous people in the world.
Christ’s coming will not change that, in fact it will seal
it. When He returns it will be too late
for anyone to change. All things must be
said and done prior to His return. If,
when He comes, He finds someone who is unjust or filthy, then this is how that
person will be judged. On the other
hand, if, when He comes, He finds someone righteous or holy, this is the way
the person will be judged. So He is
saying that in whatever state He finds a person that is the state in which he
will be judged.
To
give more importance to the warning just given in the previous verse, Christ now adds the
comment that He will return quickly. This
tells people not to waste time, but to straighten out their lives immediately. Regardless of when He returns no one has a
guarantee of life beyond today, so everyone would do well to be prepared to
meet “…him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews
4:13).
Christ also says that
He will bring His reward with Him. He
will reward every man based on his life.
The righteous will be granted entrance into Heaven, while the unrighteous will be damned to Hell. For the righteous the reward is to be in His
presence forever. That will begin when “we which are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thessalonians
This
is the fourth and final time in the book of Revelation where Christ refers to
Himself as alpha and omega. Again, these
are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. By this He indicates His eternal nature, nothing
was before Him and nothing will be after Him.
There
is no secret as to how someone can make it to Heaven. If anyone
will keep God’s commandments then the tree of life is theirs to partake of
freely, and the gates of Heaven will swing wide to greet them. As Christ simply said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John
For
all men who choose to live carnal lives, and whose desire is to the flesh, the
gates of Heaven will close shut
and leave them standing outside. The
dogs referred to here certainly are not canines for they will have no place in
eternity. Despite the naive sentiments
of many pet owners, dogs are nothing more than animals and have no souls. The dogs referred to here are immoral men,
homosexuals, and male prostitutes.
Sorcerers
are those who practice unauthorized magic and divination. I say unauthorized because God has in the
past authorized and empowered some men to do these things. But there are others who pretend to have
powers and practice these things for their own profit.
Whoremonger
is from the Greek word “pornos,” which Thayer defines as “a man who prostitutes his
body to another’s lust for hire, a male prostitute. A man who indulges in unlawful sexual
intercourse, a fornicator.”[2]
Idolaters
are those who serve anything other than God.
Someone does not have to literally bow down before an idol to be and
idolater. A job, the television, another
person, a car, and many other things can be idols in a person’s life. If a person allows something to take away
from their service to God it becomes an idol.
A
liar is anyone who tells something which he knows is not true. His intentions are not the issue. While most people generally regard lying as
wrong, it is also widely accepted as being necessary at times. Most everyone feels comfortable telling a “little
white lie,” but, unfortunately, there is no such thing. A lie is a lie regardless of the person’s motive. All lies are sin and will be punished as
such.
The
fate which awaits the people who practice any of these evil things is without
doubt. They “shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone”
(verse 8) which is Hell.” This is the
same as saying they are “without.” In
eternity there are but two places. If
someone is not in Heaven then they are
in Hell.
Here
Jesus corroborates
the claim of the angel that he was speaking for God. Jesus also lets it be known that He is
superior to the angels, by saying that the angel which talked with John was His. Then Jesus tells John that the things which
have been revealed to him are for the benefit of the churches.
Next
He states that He is a descendant of
The
Spirit is the Holy Spirit which God has
given to Christians as a comforter. The
bride has previously been identified as the Lord’s Church. Both openly
proclaim an invitation to join the Lord’s Church and thus become qualified to
enjoy the wonders of Heaven just described. The invitation is a standing one and will be
there until Christ returns. The Lord expressed His desire for others to
be brought into the fold before He ascended into Heaven. “And
Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is
given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go
ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with
you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen”
(Matthew 28:18-20).
Ideally
when a sinner hears the invitation he will accept it and then in turn he will
also begin to invite others to join him.
This is what is meant by the phrase “And
let him that heareth say, Come.” But,
unfortunately, most people spurn the invitation of God. Their desire is not for righteousness but for
physical pleasure. To them the
invitation is foolishness. But to the
wise it is life and peace.
The
thirst spoken of here is spiritual. It
is the thirst which can only be quenched by the water of life which flows in
abundance in Heaven. The water
flows freely for all who are willing to lay aside their sins and come to drink
of it. It is not difficult to get to
this precious water, but a person must go to where it is to obtain a drink, and
it lies in the land of righteousness. Therefore,
a person must turn from sin and embrace holiness and godliness in order to
reach this water. Many explores of past
centuries ventured into strange lands in search of the fountain of youth. The seventeenth century Spanish explorer
Ponce de Leon, for example, thought it might be in
22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the
words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God
shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words
of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of
life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this
book.
Jesus now gives everyone who hears the
prophesies contained in this book a very stern warning. Any man who tampers with it will be dealt
with very harshly. Whether it be an
addition or a deletion, no tampering whatsoever is permitted. For the person who adds to this book he will
be forced to suffer the many plagues which have been mentioned in Revelation. And we have certainly seen many great and
terrible things brought against Satan and his evil accomplice
As
the book was written so should it remain.
It is created in perfection from the mind of God and cannot be improved
upon despite the best intentions of men.
The warnings given in these verses are meant to apply to this book and
not to the entire Bible. However, the
principle does apply to every book of the Bible. No man can hope to improve on the inspired word
of God. And when a man teaches or
practices anything not contained in the Bible he is guilty of adding to it. Or when a man fails to teach or practice
something taught in the Bible he is guilty of deleting from it. Neither will be treated lightly by God. The only safe and logical course is to follow
the biblical pattern as precisely as possible.
Most
of this verse seems to be the comments of John, with a quote of Christ added in. He repeats the statement that Christ made
earlier in this chapter that His return is imminent. John then adds an “amen” to this. One meaning of amen is “so be it.” And I believe this is what is intended by
John here. He is ready for Christ’s
return whenever it occurs. Then to that
he even adds an invitation for Him to return.
Certainly this old and wearied servant of the Lord’s was ready to see
His face once more knowing what joy and happiness it would bring.
John closes this
marvelous book with a simple but meaningful statement. He wishes the grace of the Lord upon all of
his brethren. Grace is unmerited favor. It is God giving man something he does not
deserve. Without the abundant grace of
God salvation would have never come to man in the first place. Man is a sinful creature and deserves to be
correspondingly punished. But God, being
as loving, merciful, and gracious as He is, chose to pardon man’s iniquities
through the blood of His own Son.
Then
to this John simply adds
another amen. Thus concludes what to me
is the most intriguing, fascinating and beautiful book in the entire Bible. There might be more important books, but I
know of no other which is so beautifully written, and can build the faith of a
Christian so much when understood. I
join John in saying, “Amen.”