Yeshua is Coming!

Last Week

We have now come to the final chapter of the Book of Revelation. For those who have not been with us, John the son of Zebedee was in exile on the isle of Patmos, and Yeshua revealed Himself to John there. John was commanded to write to seven communities in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey).

Last week we looked at the new Heavens, the new Earth and the new Jerusalem.

Today we will look at the closing remarks of John, the angel and Yeshua.

Let’s read Revelation 22:6-21.

Revelation 22:6–21 TLV

He said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true! Adonai, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel to show His servants what must happen soon. Behold, I am coming soon! How fortunate is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” I, John, am the one hearing and seeing these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel showing me these things. But he tells me, “See that you do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets and those keeping the words of this book. Worship God!” Then he tells me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do righteousness, and the holy still be holy. Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to pay back each one according to his deeds. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. How fortunate are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the Tree of Life and may enter through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Yeshua, have sent My angel to testify these things to you for My communities. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” The Ruach and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come—let the one who wishes freely take the water of life! I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God shall 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 share in the Tree of Life and the Holy City, which are written in this book. The One giving testimony to these things says, “Yes! I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Yeshua! May the grace of the Lord Yeshua be with all!

Angel’s Words: Trustworthy & True

This last chapter is truly a summary of the first. It forms a book end not only to Revelation but also to the entire Bible.

We begin with the angel that has been showing John all these visions (1:1) stating, “These words are trustworthy and true.” This formulation of words are similar to our modern-day Statutory Declaration, and “function as an oath formula that guarantees the truth of what has preceded.” (WBC, Vol. 52C) John started out Revelation by “testifying to the word of God and to the testimony of Yeshua the Messiah (1:2).

Also, Yeshua revealed Himself to the congregation in Laodicea as, “the Faithful and True Witness, the Originator of God’s creation.” We have just witnessed the creation of the new Heavens, new Earth and new Jerusalem. We are therefore reminded that Yeshua will accomplish His Word.

Spirits of the Prophets

The angel goes on and reminds John that God is ruler over the spirits of the prophets. This is a reference back to Amos 3:7 where the prophet Amos declares, “For the Lord Adonai, will do nothing, unless He has revealed His counsel to His servants the prophets.”

Concerning this verse,

It is not that [Adonai] cannot act without the help of prophets or that he is obliged to share his knowledge with them. Rather, consistent with other prophetical (Jer 7:25; 23:18, 22; 26:5; 35:15; 44:4) and historical (2 Kgs 17:13, 23; 21:10; 24:2) emphases on [Adonai’s] “servants the prophets,” this verse states simply that the prophets carry a message not their own. [Adonai] does explain his own actions and does use the prophets as his spokespersons. But he is hardly dependent on them.

The message of this angel who is speaking to John, carries the authority of the One who sent this angel, Yeshua the Messiah.

John’s Response

John’s initial response to this angel, is similar to his response to Yeshua in (Rev. 1:17), he fell down and worshiped. But the angel reacted by telling him, “Don’t do that! Worship God!” This is a good lesson for all of us. The presence of angels can be very overwhelming, but we are never to worship them. Worship is reserved for Adonai alone. In Isa. 48:11b we see Adonai declaring to the prophet, “I will not give My glory to another.” What is amazing is the rest of this chapter in Isaiah which we will cover in a minute.

The angel tells John to keep the prophesy of Revelation unsealed. This is exactly opposite from the end time prophesy given to Daniel. If you remember, Daniel was told twice (8:26, 12:4) to seal up the vision given to him. This vision of Revelation, however, had already started to come to pass in John’s day, specifically the Mother, Child and Dragon vision in chapter 12.

We are also warned by the angel that there is a point of no return, where evildoers will continue in their evil, and the judgement of Adonai is determined.

Yeshua is the First & the Last

Now in verse 22:12, just like chapter 1:12, we turn from the words of the angel to the words of Yeshua. Yeshua declares Himself to be the Alpha and the Omega, or in Hebrew, the Aleph and the Tav. He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. This declaration brings us back to the passage in Isaiah 48:10-15

Isaiah 48:10–15 TLV

Behold, I have refined you, though not as silver. I tested you in the furnace of affliction. For My own sake, for My own sake, I act. For how should I be profaned? I will not give My glory to another. Listen to Me, Jacob, Israel whom I called: I am He; I am the first; I am also the last. Surely My hand founded the earth, My right hand spread out the heavens. When I call to them, they stand together. Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them foretold these things? Adonai loves him. He will do His will against Babylon— His arm against the Chaldeans. I, I have spoken, yes I called him. I will bring him, so his ways will succeed.

Look at the attributes of the One speaking to Isaiah, firstly He is the one who called Israel. This is a reference back to Gen. 32:25-33

Genesis 32:25–33 TLV

So Jacob remained all by himself. Then a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When He saw that He had not overcome him, He struck the socket of his hip, so He dislocated the socket of Jacob’s hip when He wrestled with him. Then He said, “Let Me go, for the dawn has broken.” But he said, “I won’t let You go unless You bless me.” Then He said to him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he said. Then He said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but rather Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men, and you have overcome.” Then Jacob asked and said, “Please tell me Your name.” But He said, “What’s this—you are asking My name?” Then He blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, “for I’ve seen God face to face, and my life has been spared.” Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed by Peniel—limping because of his hip. That is why the children of Israel do not eat the tendon of the hip socket, to this very day, because He struck the socket of Jacob’s thigh on the tendon of the hip.

Next, the One speaking declares that they are "the First and the Last.” And as the First, this One declares that His “hand founded the Earth” and “spread out the heavens.” This is the creator of all things, and through His word the heavens and earth “stand together.”

Earlier in the chapter the One speaking argues that Isa. 48:5 “I foretold it to you long ago. before it came about I made you hear, lest you should say, ‘My idol did them, my carved image, yes, my molded image commanded them.’”

This argument continues in verse 14, as the One mockingly asks who of the false gods declared any of the future events, but then states of the One speaking that, “Adonai loves him,” and that He will accomplish His will against the Babylonians.

We have spent the last several chapters of Revelation discussing the ultimate destruction of the ultimate Babylon, and who is the One that accomplishes this destruction?

Then in verse 16 we have one of the most powerful arguments for the Compound Unity of Adonai in all of Scripture. Isa. 48:16

Isaiah 48:16 TLV

Draw near to Me, hear this: Since the beginning, I have not spoken in secret. From the time it existed, I was there. So now Adonai Elohim has sent Me, and His Ruach.”

The One speaking claims to have existed from the beginning, claims that Adonai Elohim has sent Him, and claims that Adonai Elohim has sent His Ruach. John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through Him, and apart from Him nothing was made that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it.”

Yeshua’s Blessing & Curse

And coming back to Revelation 22, we see Yeshua’s final declaration includes both a blessing and a curse, a encouragement and a warning.

How fortunate are those who wash their robes! We are called to walk right or righteously, the white robes are the right deeds of the Kedoshim. Those who walk right have the right to eat of the Tree of Life and to enter the glorious new Jerusalem. This is another reference back to the Tree of Life in Gen. 2:9 and the restoration of the Garden of Eden.

But then Yeshua warns everyone, in a list very similar to the 10 Words:

that dogs (a derogative reference to the wicked, specifically to male and female cult prostitutes, Deut. 23:17-18),

sorcerers (those who practice witchcraft, Deut. 18:10-11),

sexually immoral (from the Greek word pornos, a word that refers to all sexual behaviour outside of the marriage of one man and one woman Matt. 19:1-12),

murderers (Deut. 5:17),

idolators (Deut. 5:8-10),

loves and practices falsehood (opposite of keeping the faith, 1 John 1:6),

none of these will enter the kingdom of God. In all of these cases, the reference is to those who continue in the sin. And from all these sinful lifestyles, Adonai can forgive, and restore us, but we must not continue in these lifestyles.

Yeshua then closes His statement will a list of His credentials. He is the Root and the Offspring of David, He is the Bright and Morning Star. This is a reference to Isa. 11:1-5

Isaiah 11:1–5 TLV

Then a shoot will come forth out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch will bear fruit out of His roots. The Ruach of Adonai will rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and insight, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Adonai. His delight will be in the fear of Adonai. He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor decide by what His ears hear. But with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the poor of the land. He will strike the land with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt around His loins, and faithfulness the belt around His waist.

Testimony of John

John responds to Yeshua’s words with his own call and his own warning. The call that erupts from his heart is seen in Rev. 22:17

Revelation 22:17 TLV

The Ruach and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come—let the one who wishes freely take the water of life!

We are all called to come to Yeshua and drink of the water of life, the Ruach HaKodesh! This is an invitation to all who will have ears to hear.

And finally, John warns his readers, not to ignore, or exclude any of the words of this prophesy, or else.

Application for Today

In looking at the application there are several things that come to my mind. A blessing, a curse, and a soon coming King! The first is from Deut. 11:26-28

Deuteronomy 11:26–28 TLV

“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— the blessing, if you listen to the mitzvot of Adonai your God that I am commanding you today, but the curse, if you do not listen to the mitzvot of Adonai your God, but turn from the way I am commanding you today, to go after other gods you have not known.

And Deut. 30:19-20

Deuteronomy 30:19–20 TLV

“I call the heavens and the earth to witness about you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live, by loving Adonai your God, listening to His voice, and clinging to Him. For He is your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell on the land that Adonai swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob—to give them.

This was the covenant made with Israel, and it is the call that is set before all of us in the New Covenant. Choose Life, choose the way of Adonai, choose to follow Him!

And finally I think of the words of C.S. Lewis in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

“Do not look sad. We shall meet soon again." "Please, Aslan", said Lucy,"what do you call soon?" "I call all times soon" said Aslan; and instantly he was vanished away.”

Behold Yeshua is coming soon!