New Jerusalem Message 3 Revelation 22

Revelation 22:1–5 NKJV

1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 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. 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. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 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.

Prayer

Message

In Revelation 22, we read a synopsis or conclusion along with an invitation to enjoy what is being shared. Aren’t you glad to know that you can know what heaven will be like, but it is not an exclusive place. You do not have to pay some high price to go. Jesus paid the price price that we can go for the asking. Amen.

“Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe”

What is interesting is this marriage of bookends of the Bible. We see similarities in the Genesis Account as we see in the bookend, Revelation.

Common terms: river, tree of life, fruit,

There are five themes interwoven into our final chapter of overview of heaven:

The River of the Water of Life

The Tree of Life

God & the Lamb are at it’s Center

God’s Children will Worship & Reign Together

All Evil Fruit will be absent

To understand imagery we must understand where they were in Bible times.

Climate of Israel

Israel has a wide variety of climatic conditions, caused mainly by the country’s diverse topography. There are two distinct seasons: a cool, rainy winter (October–April) and a dry, hot summer (May–September). Along the coast, sea breezes have a moderating influence in summer, and the Mediterranean beaches are popular. Precipitation is light in the south, amounting to about 1 inch (25 mm) per year in the ʿArava Valley south of the Dead Sea, while in the north it is relatively heavy, up to 44 inches (1,120 mm) a year in the Upper Galilee region. In the large cities, along the coastal plain, annual rainfall averages about 20 inches (508 mm) per year. Precipitation occurs on about 60 days during the year, spread over the rainy season. Severe summer water shortages ensue in years when the rains come late or rainfall totals are less than normal.

Average annual temperatures vary throughout Israel based on elevation and location, with the coastal areas adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea having milder temperatures—ranging from about 84 °F (29 °C) in August to about 61 °F (16 °C) in January—and higher rates of humidity than areas inland, especially during the winter. Likewise, higher elevations, such as Upper Galilee, have cool nights, even in summer, and occasional snows in the winter. However, the coastal city of Eilat, in the south, despite its proximity to the Red Sea, is closer to the climate of the Jordan and ʿArava valleys and the Negev, which are hotter and drier than the northern coast; there, daytime temperatures reach about 70 °F (21 °C) in January and may rise as high as 114 °F (46 °C) in August, when the average high is 104 °F (40 °C).

We may tend to forget about an arid lifestyle with the emergence of air conditioning. We may tend to lack understanding the importance of water when we have been dependent for so many years on city provided water, or rural water systems.

The imagery meets a longing for the people of the Palestinian region.

Water and the tree became religious symbols of the Bible for the reason of the region. Those symbols are life giving. Oh dearly beloved, our God, our Jesus is life giving.

The River of the Water of Life

symbolizes the source of eternal life.

Obviously, John being on the Isle of Patmos when the water was speaking to him. The lack of trees or fruit was speaking to his being. God implanted the message and John’s unique way of communicating shared as best he understood. The OT had its influence on him.

You will remember that there was a river in the Garden of Eden.

Someone read:

Genesis 2:10 “10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.”

Psalm 46:4 “4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.”

Ezekiel had a vision:

Ezekiel 47:1–2 “1 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side.”

Zechariah 14:7–8 “7 It shall be one day Which is known to the Lord Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen That it will be light. 8 And in that day it shall be— That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur.”

Time and again God’s people prophesied of this river that was life-giving.

Water

Life Giving

Jesus-Samaritan Woman

John 4:14 “14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.””

John 7:37-39 The Promise of the Holy Spirit

John 7:37–39 “37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

The Water in the Revelation represents eternal life.

Revelation 7:17 “17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.””

Revelation 21:6 “6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”

Revelation 22:17 “17 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.”

We studied this morning in the Exodus that the plagues struck at the sources of the fresh water

Tribulation

Revelation 8:10 “10 Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.”

Revelation 16:4 “4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.”

Ill. Mr. Theo-in last days wants water

Oh dearly beloved, in the New Jerusalem there will be plentiful water. Pure, fresh and undefiled. Amen.

“Proceeding from the throne of God and the Lamb.”

John 1:4 “4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

No temple in the City-it flows from the throne of God and the Lamb

What does this indicate? A boundless supply.

Canal or flowing through the middle. Gold yet transparent as glass is hard for us to understand.

The River points to eternal life in Christ.

The Synergy of Heaven will be the Lord and life Itself

the Tree of Life

Points to eternal life

Revelation 22:2 “2 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.”

Song Seven Bridges Road-Woodley Road

Mature Trees border the road

Magnolia Lane-Mature Trees

Movie-Gone with the Wind

Movie-Forrest Gump, the Notebook

When we think of those trees we think of Stamina, Consistency, bulwarks, stand whatever befalls.

John promised the church at Ephesus

Revelation 2:7 “7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ’”

-If they are found faithful.

To eat of the tree is to have eternal life

Revelation 22:2 “2 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.”

Revelation 22:14 “14 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.”

To be denied the tree is to lose eternal life

Revelation 22:19 “19 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.”

Ezekiel 47:12 “12 Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.””

Hebrews–Revelation 6. Eternal Life in the Holy City (22:1–5)

Ezekiel (47:12) had written of trees by the side of the river which bore fruit every month for food and for healing. Although John speaks of the tree of life, one gets the idea of a grove or a row of trees flanking each side of the river. John specifies twelve kinds of fruit rather than the same kind of fruit 12 times yearly, but this is not certain. His point is the abundant and regular supply.

The trees by the river have their life in God.

Genesis 2:9 “9 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Wisdom in Psalm 1 “1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

“The trees of the leaves will be for the healing of the nations.”

I thought there was no healing in heaven?

They are health giving, health providing.

Revelation 21:24 “24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.”

“His servants shall serve Him.”

Hebrews–Revelation 6. Eternal Life in the Holy City (22:1–5)

In short, all the Christian hope of eternal life can be summed up in the simple statement that we shall be “with God” completely.

Hebrews–Revelation (6. Eternal Life in the Holy City (22:1–5))

Worship and Reign. John says little about the activities of men in this heavenly city, but it seems clear that he expects men to worship God unceasingly, and to share in God’s reign. They shall worship him; they will look on his face, see him in a new fullness; they continue to wear his name on their foreheads in constant confession of his ownership, their identity and security.

Also, if we see Jesus face to face, we will see our other loved ones face to face and we will recognize them.

Reigning for ever and ever this reign is without end. We do not know clearly what such a reign would be. Evidently, God is sovereign; man would not want any of God’s sovereignty for himself. The idea of kingdom is very important to John (1:6; 5:10; 2:26–27; 3:21).

Revelation 1:6 “6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Revelation 5:10 “10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.””

Revelation 3:21 “21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

John had promised the victorious Christians that they would share in this reign. Now it is fulfilled. Swete (p. 302) sees this reign as being partly realized in the present life of the church.

Absences in the City. God’s presence automatically excludes evil and its fruits. The first Eden had come under a curse because of man’s sin; there will no more be anything accursed in the new Eden. Night, with its darkness and uncertainty, is a symbol of evil; sinful men loved darkness rather than light (John 3:19); redeemed men live forever in the light of the Lord God (see comment on 21:25).