Revelation 22

Revelation 22:1

22:1, 2 A pure river of water of life flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street. On either side of the river grows the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, no longer forbidden. This suggests God’s ceaseless provision for every season. The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations is a figurative way of saying that they will enjoy perpetual health. 22:3-5 A. T. Pierson summarizes as follows: And there shall be no more curse, perfect sinlessness; but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, perfect government; and His servants shall serve Him, perfect service; They shall see His face, perfect communion; and His name shall be on their foreheads, perfect resemblance; And there shall be no night there, perfect blessedness; And they shall reign forever and ever, perfect glory.

Revelation 22:6

O. Closing Warnings, Comforts, Invitations, and Benedictions (22:6-21) 22:6 The interpreting angel reminds John again of the trustworthiness of all that he has revealed. The Lord God had sent His angel to show His servants the panorama of events that must shortly take place. 22:7 The climax, the high point of it all will be the glorious Advent of the Savior. He assures us that He will come quickly. This may mean either soon or suddenly, but soon is preferred. A special blessing is given to each one who keeps the words of this prophecy. We can do this by living in the hope of His Coming. 22:8, 9 When John saw and heard these things, he fell down at the angel’s feet, but he was forbidden to do so. The angel was only a created being; only God should be worshiped. 22:10 John was not to seal up the prophecy because the time of fulfillment was near. To seal here means to postpone disclosure. 22:11 When the time of fulfillment comes, the unjust will be fixed in their impenitence. The filthy will have no further chance to change when the Lord returns to earth. But the righteous will continue to live righteously, and the holy to live in holiness. 22:12, 13 Again the Lord announces His soon Coming, this time with the promise of reward to every one according to his work. Again He identifies Himself as the Alpha and the Omega. The same One who created all things will draw the curtain on the stage of time. 22:14 This verse may read, Blessed are those who do His commandments or Blessed are those who wash their robes (margin). Neither reading teaches salvation by works but rather works as the fruit and proof of salvation. Only true believers have access to the tree of life and to the eternal city. 22:15 Forever excluded from heaven will be dogs, sorcerers, the sexually immoral, murderers, idolaters, and liars. Dogs here may refer to male prostitutes (Deu_23:18), unclean Gentiles (Mat_15:26), or Judaizers (Phi_3:2). 22:16 The Lord sent His angel with this message to the churches. He speaks of Himself as the Root and the Offspring of David. As to His deity, He is David’s Creator; as to His humanity, He is David’s Descendant. The Bright and Morning Star appears in the sky before the sun rises. Christ will first come to the church as the Bright and Morning Star, that is, at the Rapture. Later he will come to the earth as the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings (Mal_4:2). 22:17 There are two ways of understanding this verse. First, it may be a gospel appeal throughout, with the Spirit, the bride, and the hearer urging the thirsty to come to Christ for salvation. Or the first three uses of the word come may be prayers for Christ to return, followed by two invitations to the unsaved to come to Him for the water of life (salvation) and thus be ready for His return. 22:18, 19 If men add to the things written in this book of Revelation, they will suffer the plagues described in it. Since the subjects in this book are woven throughout the Bible, the verse, in effect, condemns any tampering with God’s word. A similar judgment is pronounced on anyone who takes away from the words of this prophecy. This does not apply to minor differences of interpretation, but to an outright attack on the inspiration and completeness of the Bible. The penalty is eternal doom. God shall take away his part from the tree of life (NKJV margin). It means that he will never share in the blessings of those who have eternal life. 22:20 Revelation closes with a promise and a blessing. The promise is that the Lord Jesus is coming quickly. As mentioned previously, this could mean soon or suddenly. The hope of a sudden return would not excite the same anticipation or watchfulness as the hope of a soon return. Every redeemed person responds to the blessed hope, Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! GENESISREVELATIONCreation of heavens and earth (Gen_1:1). Destruction of heavens and earth (Rev_20:11 b). Creation of new heavens and new earth (Rev_21:1). Start of Satan’s reign on earth (Gen_3:1-7). Satan cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev_20:10). Entrance of sin (Gen_3:1-7). Sin banished (Rev_21:27). Pronouncing of the curse on creation (Gen_3:1-7).

The curse removed (Rev_22:3). Right to tree of life forfeited (Gen_3:24 b). Access to tree of life restored Eviction of man from the Garden of Eden (Gen_3:24 a). Man welcomed back to [Paradise] (Rev_22:1-7)Entrance of death into the world (Gen_2:17; Gen_5:5). Death forever removed (Rev_21:4). Marriage of the first Adam (Gen_4:1)Marriage of the last Adam (Rev_19:7).

Sorrow comes to mankind (Gen_3:16)Sorrow eliminated (Rev_21:4). 22:21 And now we come to the final blessing of this wonderful book of Revelation, and of the word of God. It is a peaceful close to a book filled with the thunders of divine judgment. John wishes for The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to be with God’s people. There are three interesting variant readings in the manuscripts here.

1. In the critical (NU) text John wishes Christ’s grace to allwhich hardly fits Revelation’s theme of impending wrath on the majority.
2. The traditional (TR, KJV, NKJV) reading is better. Christ’s grace is wished to you allmany of the hearers and readers of Revelation will be true believers.
3. The best reading in light of the sharp contrasts between saints and sinners in this book is found in the majority text and NKJV margin: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen.