Revelation - Part 22
Notes
Transcript
The Final chapter. Here’s we go.
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
2 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. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.
4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
Here, in the opening verses of the chapter,
We are still on the same subject we left off with in the last chapter
which is New Jerusalem, the Holy City
Also known as Heaven.
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
The second thing John notices about the inside of the city is the river of the water of life.
The last chapter was talking about the outside walls,
the gates, the jewels on the gates.
The only thing John mentions about the inside of the city up to this point is the street.
He said in chapter 21 that it was pure gold like transparent glass
So, he walks into the gates
notices that even the ground is made out of valuable materials
The part that most people don’t worry about
God has laid with pure gold
Aside from the street, John notices the river of the water of life.
The Greek grammar here cannot denote “living” water in the way we might describe a river that is moving vs a swamp that is stagnate
The word “life” here is a state of being that is “owned” by the water.
It is the Water OF Life, not living waters.
This is the same water that Jesus mentioned in the last chapter,
and he also talked about in John chapter 4 and john chapter 7
We went over that last week, so I won’t belabor the point.
But the water of life is promised to anyone that is thirsty.
Ezekiel also saw a river that brought life in his vision of the temple
9 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.
Some would argue that this is the same river John is seeing
Ezekiel sees the river of life coming from the temple
and John sees it coming from God’s throne
and John said that there is no temple in heaven
but that God is the temple.
Zechariah, and Ps 46 also mention this river of life giving water in heaven.
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
So, here, the Water flows from the throne of God and the Lamb.
The word’s of, that are added in English, might confuse you into thinking that there are two thrones
One for God and one for the Lamb
However, the word “Throne” is singular in Greek and genitive.
genitive, in most contexts shows possession.
Like our use of an apostrophe “s”.
It is one singular throne that is possessed by God and the Lamb.
This single throne is God’s Throne and it is the Lamb’s throne.
This is because the Lamb is symbolic of the body of Christ
Jesus is not an actual lamb
but this is only figurative language.
There is one throne, and one on the throne
according to chapter 4
The one on the throne is both the lion and the lamb
We clearly identified the one on the Throne is Jesus.
2 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. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
In verse 2 we see the Tree of life
It almost sounds like there are multiple trees
some one one side of the river,
some on the other side
and 12 different types of fruit
But it does not say trees of life
It says tree of life
So, we have the book of life
the river of life
and not the tree of life
This is the same tree from the Garden of Eden
It brings immortality
or eternal life
as opposed to the other tree in the Garden
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
which brings death
The tree is growing somehow on both sides of this river
it brings life, like the water does
and it also bring healing to the nations
Nations here refers to people, not kingdoms
It is plural because there will be all kinds of people there
all races, colors, languages, sizes and social status
There are 12 kinds of fruit on the tree
Each month a new fruit appears
12 is a common number in the bible
3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.
That word accursed there is katathema, or “cursed thing”.
These are abominations, or things devoted to destruction, like the idols taken from Jericho for example.
Again, we see the imagery of the Lamb.
Throne is consistently singular
and here it also says “his” and “him”
Not “they” and “them”
4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
I believe this is the same face the disciples saw.
The same face Moses asked to see,
but didn’t get to see until the mountain of transfiguraration
There are two faces here
Just “his” one face.
Jesus.
His name, which is Jesus, will be on our heads
As opposed to the number or name of the beast
for those who took his mark on their foreheads or hands.
5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
This is repeated from the last chapter.
6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
So, I want to point out the chain of custody again
We saw this in chapter 1
6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
In verse 6, it says that one who sent this message to John
Was “the LORD”, the “God of the spirits of the Prophets.”
Prophets is a reference to the OT
in contrast to the Apostles
So, the Same God of the OT
Who spoke through the Prophets
Is the same God that is sending these words to John
Through the Angel, or messenger, that is talking to John.
And notice that it says his words are “Trustworthy and true.”
Which is the same Greek words elsewhere translated as
“Faithful and True”
and who’s name is that?
Jesus.
To further validate this,
The angel delivers the message by
saying…
7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
So, this is clearly Jesus talking
Which means that Jesus is the God who spoke through the prophets
If we still doubt that it is Jesus talking
Verse 16 says it plainly.
Look again at verse 6, and then look at verse 16
6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
Who is sending the angel with a message in verse 6?
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
And in verse 16, who is sending the angel with this message?
And, if it is not clear
the message is this entire book of Revelation
Not just what is said here at the end.
Ok, back to ver 8.
Revelation 22:8 “8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me,”
So, Jesus, who is God, gives the message to the angel
and the angel gives the message to John.
And then John again tries to worship this angel
It isn’t clear if he is doing this twice
or just recounting where he did this earlier
But the same thing is told to John
9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
Don’t worship the Angel, worship God
Which, is Jesus.
Also, keep the words of this book.
10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
So, he wants John to tell people about the book
Which is want the angel told him last time he tried to worship him
He said I’m on your team
I’m on the same mission
and telling people about this book is going to save them if they do what the book says.
So, don’t hide your light, basically.
11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
So, the angel, on behalf of Jesus
Say everyone needs to keep doing what they are doing until Jesus returns.
It doesn’t mean that we want people to not change.
it just indicates that most people will not change.
That is just the fact.
People, at the very end of time
Even knowing about this book
will not change.
but they will suffer the consequences for those that do not change…
12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Again, we hear Jesus claiming to be Alpha and Omega, first and last, beginning and the end.
The only God
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
So, first we heard about the consequences of not changing
And here we also see the reward for changing
The washing of robes indicates baptism
They are being born again
from dirty to clean
and gain access to the tree of life
15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
“Dogs” here is not to be taken literally.
It is a figure of speech that can be applied to any evil person.
This list is similar to the list given in the last chapter
but is also not an exhaustive list.
It just describes the type of people will be left outside of Heaven.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
We’ve already covered this verse,
which proves that it is Jesus sending this message to us
and also proves that is is him who is call “Alpha and Omega, etc.”
Descendant of David is a messianic term
And bright and morning star points back all the way to Balam’s prophecy
17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.
28 And I will give him the morning star.
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
The Bride is the Church,
and so, God and the Church are calling for anyone who hears to come.
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
God is still calling more to come
and his bride the church is calling them too.
Whosoever will
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
Whoever is thirsty,
Come drink the waters of life free of charge.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,
19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
So, we are warned not to add to, or take away from this book
Some say this only applies to Revelation
but I think God knew we would put this book last in our Bibles
and these words would be at the very end
Don’t add to , or take away from God’s word
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
So, Jesus says “I am Coming Soon”
and John says, Amen, Come, Lord Jesus
And I will echo John’s words
Amen, Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
