REVELATION
CHAPTER 22, “Promise Of Life In New Heavens And Earth / Warning Against
Tampering With God’s Word”
By
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1.
In our last study, we looked at
chapter 21 and the future for mankind that will occur after the Great White
Throne of Jesus. This chapter contains
the most detail in all of the scriptures of the period of the new heavens and
earth which the Lord shall create.
1.1.1.
We saw the glory of the city of
1.2.
In this study, we are going to look at
chapter 22 and its description of further details of life during the new
heavens and earth as well as a warning about tampering with God’s word.
1.2.1.
In Tim Lahaye’s Revelation commentary he
includes the following quote from Dwight Pentecost’s book, “Thing’s To Come”,
concerning what life during the period of the new heavens and earth will be
like:
1.2.1.1.A life of
fellowship with Him.
For now we see through a
glass darkly; but then face to face (1
Cor. 13:12).
Beloved, now we are the
sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we
shall be like him; for we shall see him
as he is (1 John 3:2).
I will come again, and
receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also (John 14:3).
And they shall see his
face (Rev. 22:4).
1.2.1.2.A life of rest.
And I heard a voice from
heaven, saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from
henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that
they may rest from their labours; for
their works do follow them (Rev. 14:13).
1.2.1.3.A life of full
knowledge.
…now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known
(1 Cor. 13:12).
1.2.1.4.A life of holiness.
And there shall in no wise
enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination,
or maketh a lie; but they which are
written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 21:27).
1.2.1.5.A life of joy.
And God shall wipe all
tears from their eyes; and there shall
be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain; for the former things are passed
away (Rev. 21:4).
1.2.1.6.A life of service.
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 (Rev. 22:3).
1.2.1.7.A life of
abundance.
I will give unto him that
is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely (Rev. 21:6).
1.2.1.8.A life of glory.
For our affliction, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory (2 Cor. 4:17).
1.2.1.9.A life of worship.
And after these things I
heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power
unto the Lord our God (Rev. 19:1).
After this I beheld, and
lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds,
and people, and tongues, stood before the throne; and before the Lamb, clothed with white
robes, and palms in their hands; and
cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the
throne, and unto the Lamb….Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving,
and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen!
(Rev. 7:9-12).
2.
VS 22:1-2 - “22:1 And he showed me a river of the water of
life, clear as crystal, coming 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,
bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves
of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” - The River and the Tree of
Life
2.1.
We need to ask the question initially in this chapter of whom is
revealing things to John in this chapter, and to find this out we have to go to
the previous chapter, verse 9, where we read who it is, “And one of the
seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues.”
2.1.1. Even though it is a created
being, an angel, who is speaking beginning in verse 6, the message is from the
Lord Jesus.
2.2.
Again, we notice that the timeframe for this occurrence must be the
Eternal Reign of Christ in the period of the New Heavens and Earth.
2.2.1. There is really nothing
between the events of chapter 21 and 22 to consider anything but a continuation
of time and place in the events from chapter 21.
2.3.
In the city of
2.3.1. It only makes sense that
this river would flow directly from God’s throne, for after all it is only He
who gives us life in all ages.
2.4.
Interestingly, all along this river are growing the same tree that was
in the garden of Eden, the ‘tree of life’.
2.4.1. When Adam and Eve were
driven from the garden of Eden after sinning, they and their descendants were
banned from this tree of life since if they were to eat from it they who were
now fallen creatures would live forever.
2.4.2. This tree of life is now no
longer barred from men to eat from it, and thus its miraculous qualities are
recorded here as bring ‘healing for the nations.’ The word ‘healing’ can also mean ‘health’
and thus this can refer to “peace on earth” or just eternal life itself.
2.4.3. It is interesting also that
there are twelve different kinds of fruit, one for each month, which this tree
bears.
2.4.3.1.This verse also indirectly
tells us that forever time will be recorded, and that in fact perhaps we will
have the identical rotation of the earth and seasons which we currently have
may be experienced. However, the passage
of days will not be separated by night times as it is here on the earth.
2.5.
We can see also from verse two that there will indeed be ‘nations’
present at that time when the city of God is inhabited by the Lord and His
people. These will of course consist of
those redeemed by Christ.
3.
VS 22:3-4 - “3 And there shall no longer be any curse; and the
throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve
Him; 4 and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads” - God’s throne shall be on
the new earth in new Jerusalem, and we shall serve Him
3.1.
The first thing that is mentioned in this verse is that there ‘shall
no longer be any curse’ in this Eternal Kingdom of Christ.
3.1.1. During the Millennial Reign
of Christ we saw the earth’s curse being reversed, as all of the different
animals (some of which now are carnivorous) get along, etc., however the
reversal was not complete since there were rebellious people on earth who at
the end of the Millennium try to overthrow the Lord and some died by the age of
100 (though some lived long lives perhaps throughout the whole millennium).
3.1.1. Having no curse means that,
if the new earth will be similarly constructed to this earth, that there will
be no unfertile places, or places overgrown with weeds, but the entire surface
of the earth will be made to be green and luscious. That is, if the new earth shall contain
plants and trees such as we have today.
It will definitely have the tree of life and the river flowing from
Christ’s throne right down the street (a street that is gold perhaps?).
3.2.
We saw in the last chapter that there was no tabernacle in this city,
however we see here that there will be a throne, God the Father’s and Christ’s
throne will be there.
3.3.
Much as the Levites of the Old Testament were dedicated from birth for
the Lord’s service, and thus they served in His temple, God’s people will all
‘serve Him’ there.
3.4.
In this life, because of our unholiness none of us can see God, for He
dwells in unapproachable light due to His holiness, however when He has made an
end of sin and its effects and resurrected us with bodies like that of Christ
which show none of the results of sin, then we will be able to look directly
into His face.
3.5.
God’s Name is placed forever upon the foreheads of all of His people.
3.5.1. In Rev. 14:1, we saw that
the 144,000 Jewish converts had the Name of God on their foreheads.
3.5.2. In Rev. 3:12, Jesus said that
He would write the Name of God and the name of the City of
4.
VS 22:5 - “5 And there shall no longer be any night; and they
shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because
the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever” - There will be no longer
any night
4.1.
This verse is mostly a reiteration of what was written in Rev. 21:23,
“23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for
the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.”
4.2.
It seems pretty clear that a sun, moon, planets, and stars, or at least
some semblance of sun and the heavens such as we currently have will be present
during the Eternal Kingdom of Christ, however their light will not be needed as
they are now.
4.2.1. It is written in Genesis
that the heavenly bodies were given to us for light. Perhaps then there will be no sun, moon, or
stars in the new heavens and earth.
4.3.
We must not forget that at the last of this verse, Jesus reminds us
that we who are God’s people shall ‘reign’ with Him ‘forever and ever’.
5.
VS 22:6 - “6 And he said to me, “These words are faithful and
true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to
show to His bond-servants the things which must shortly take place” - The angel tells John that
the words of this prophesy can be relied upon as being ‘faithful and true’
5.1.
The angel tells us that ‘the Lord, the God of the spirits of the
prophets’ has caused this revelation to come about, and in saying that He
is the ‘God of the spirits of the prophets’, the angel is simply saying
that it is His Spirit that inspired all of the Holy Prophets of Old, for God’s
Word is inspired by Him.
5.2.
The purpose of this revelation to John of the book of Revelation is
spoken by the angel in verse 6, it is ‘to show to His bond-servants the
things which must shortly take place’.
5.2.1. The book of Revelation is
meant to be an encouragement to all Christians of all ages to help us to
realize that the Lord has everything in control and that He will come again,
bring judgment to the world, and lead us to spend eternity with Him in the New
Heavens and Earth.
5.2.2. The angel says that the
things in this book ‘must shortly take place’.
5.2.2.1.Since we know that the Lord
has told us that a thousand years is as a day to the Lord, then it has only
been two days to Him since Christ rose from the dead.
5.2.2.2.When we look back from
eternity upon this life that we led upon the earth, it shall seem to us as a
mere blip on the radar screen.
5.2.2.2.1.This does not at all mean
that what we do on this earth does not matter, quite the contrary, everything
that we do will have eternal consequences and thus is vital to us, those around
us, and to Christ.
6.
VS 22:7 - “7 “And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he
who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.”” - Jesus now speaks through
this angel, and He tells us that He is coming quickly
6.1.
We know that it is still the angel of the previous chapter, verse 9,
for John is rebuked by this angel in verse 9 of this chapter for worshipping
him instead of the Lord.
6.2.
In the gospels we see several times that the Lord teaches us that we
should always be living as if He were to return at that very moment.
6.3.
Jesus tells John that those ‘who
heed the words of the book of Revelation will be blessed’.
6.3.1. We saw in the first chapter
of Revelation that there is a special blessing to those who read the book and
hear it read, now here Jesus tells us that there is a special blessing to all
those who heed the words of the book.
6.3.1.1.To heed the words of the
book means to repent of your sin and turn to the Lord and let Him make you into
one of those who are faithful and obedient overcomers for Him.
6.3.1.1.1.If you will do this, you
will not suffer any of the curses of this book.
7.
VS 22:8-9 - “8 And I, John, am the one who heard and saw these
things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the
angel who showed me these things. 9 And he *said to me, “Do not do that; I am a
fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed
the words of this book; worship God.”” - John again shows his weakness and falls down to
worship a creature instead of the creator
7.1.
We may be amazed that John could fall down again and try to worship an
angel, however John being a man is weak and has seen tremendously powerful
revelations and heard astounding words, and all of this has served to overwhelm
him.
7.1.1. It does not appear to be a
sharp rebuke from the angel, rather just an admonishment.
7.2.
We should be encouraged and challenged by the humility of this mighty
angel when he tells John that he is just ‘a fellow servant’ of his, the
prophets of God, and of those who heed the words of the book.
8.
VS 22:10 - “10 And he *said to me, “Do not seal up the words
of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near” - John is told not to seal
up the words that he has received
8.1.
Whereas Daniel, in Dan. 8:26 and 12:4,9, was told to seal up his
prophesy, for some of it was only for his personal knowledge and not for the
world to know ahead of time, this prophesy of Jesus to John is meant to be an
open book.
8.1.1. We have seen a couple of
times in this book that there is a blessing for those who read, hear, and heed
the words of this book, and yet the history of the church has been such that of
all of the books of the Bible, the book of Revelation is the most ignored.
8.1.1.1.Since there are so many
interpretations of parts of the book, and because it has been a subject of
controversy, the church has ignored it.
8.1.1.2.Also, since there has been a
wrong assumption that a person could not understand the book, it has been
ignored by the church.
8.1.1.3.This has all come about
because of the deception of our enemy, for God has intended the book of
Revelation to be an open book which can be understood, and which should be read
and studied.
8.1.2. Jesus tells John not to seal
up the book because ‘the time is near’, and people need to be forewarned
of impending judgment if they are in sin.
The book is also for encouragement of the Christian of the tremendous
hope that he possesses.
9.
VS 22:11-12 - “11 “Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong;
and let the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is
righteous, still practice righteousness; and let the one who is holy, still
keep himself holy.” 12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me,
to render to every man according to what he has done.” - The unrighteous will be judged in their
unrighteousness, and the righteous will be rewarded according to their deeds
9.1.
The emphasis in verse 11 is not to encourage those who are in sin to
stay in that state, for God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked and it
is not His will that any should perish, but rather it is that when final
judgment does come it will be too late to turn from one’s wickedness.
9.1.1. To confirm that this
interpretation right for these verses, verse 12 states that the Lord will be
coming quickly and will be bringing reward, and thus ‘render to every man
according to what he has done’.
9.1.2. Jesus repeats in verse 12 what
He said in verse 7 that He is coming quickly.
10.
VS 22:13 - “13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the
last, the beginning and the end.” - Here, Jesus repeats what He has already said as
early as Rev. 1:8
10.1. Jesus said the same thing in
Rev. 21:6, 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 to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life
without cost.”
11.
VS 22:14 - “14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, that
they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into
the city” -
Those who ‘wash their robes’ are blessed
11.1. This verse contains the
seventh and last of the be-attitudes found in the book of Revelation.
11.2. When it comes down to it,
how successful we are in our Christian walk, witness, and ministry is dependent
upon how much of God’s Word we hide in our hearts and how obedient we are to
it.
11.3. Jesus says that we must wash
our robes.
11.3.1.God doesn’t do it all for
us, no we must exert ourselves, and commit ourselves to working out what He is
working into our lives, Phil. 2:12-13, “12 So then, my beloved, just as you
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who
is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
11.3.1.1.This is always the way it is
in the Christian life, God doesn’t just one day take us over, we lose
consciousness, and then we are fulfilling His plans for us.
11.4. Jesus promises those who
wash their robes that they may ‘have the right to the tree of life’ and that
they may ‘enter the gates into the city.’
11.4.1.As was previously mentioned,
we see the ‘tree of life’ first in the garden of Eden, and there were
see in Gen. 3:22-24 that if man were to eat of that tree that he would live
forever and for this reason after the fall of man access to the ‘tree of
life’ has been hidden from mankind, “22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has
become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his
hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore
the Lord God sent him out from the
garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So
He drove the man out; and at the east of the
11.4.2.There will be no unsaved
people ever to come within the city of
12.
VS 22:15 - “15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the
immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and
practices lying” - Jesus enumerates those who will be excluded from the city
12.1. ‘Dogs’ were
considered as unclean animals by the Jewish people of Jesus’ day, and thus
Jesus calls those who are disallowed from entering the city because they are
unbelievers as ‘dogs’.
12.2. ‘Sorcerers’ is the
same Greek word, ‘pharmacos’, which we saw before is the word from which
we get pharmaceuticals, and the word implies drug abuse.
12.3. ‘Immoral persons’ refer
to those of all types and ages who have sex outside of monogamous marriage with
one of the opposite sex.
12.4. ‘Murderers’ includes
not only those who have literally killed another person physically, but also to
that anger and hatred from the heart which is the same as murder in God’s eyes.
12.5. ‘Idolaters’ refers to
all of those who allow other gods into their lives as an object of
worship: literally anything that is
placed above the Lord or usurps Him from being the center of all of our
affections.
12.6. ‘Everyone who loves and
practices lying’ refers to those who tell half lies, white lies, etc. for
the purpose of deceiving others.
13.
VS 22:16 - “16 I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you
these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the
bright morning star.” - Jesus identifies Himself as ‘the root and the offspring of David’
13.1. We ought to ask ourselves
how it could be that Jesus could be both the ‘root’ as well as the ‘offspring’
of David?
13.1.1.David was called and raised
up by the Lord, thus Jesus is David’s root.
13.1.2.David was promised in a few
places in the Old Testament that one of His descendants would sit upon the
throne forever, and Jesus is a descendant of David’s by blood through His
mother (see Luke 1). Thus, Jesus is also
a “shoot” from David.
13.1.2.1.Jesus is called a ‘shoot’
that grows from David as Isaiah prophesied this in Is. 11:1-4, “11:1 Then a
shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear
fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord will
rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and
strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 And He will
delight in the fear of the Lord, And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with
fairness for the afflicted of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the
breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.”
14.
VS 22:17 - “17 And 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 wishes take the water of life without cost” - Jesus extends out the
invitation to all to ‘come’ and inherit all of the blessings and promises given
to God’s people
14.1. The Holy Spirit and ‘the
bride’ invite all to come.
14.1.1.It makes the most sense for
the ‘bride’ here to refer to the church (or God’s people of all eras)
rather than to the city, I think.
14.2. The one who hears these words
of the prophesy of the book of Revelation is to say to others, “Come”.
14.3. Those who are ‘thirsty’
are bid to come.
14.4. Those who would like to
receive freely the ‘water of life’ (salvation comes by grace apart from
works) are bid to ‘come’.
15.
VS 22:18-19 - “18 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 which are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the
words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree
of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book” - Warning about adding to
or taking away from the words in this book
15.1. Since the Holy Spirit is the
author of the entire Word of God, it comes as no coincidence that at the end of
the Revelation of God to us here that these warnings should occur, for they
refer not only to the book of Revelation itself, but to the Word of God as a
whole.
15.2. There are many ways to add
to or take away from the word of God, including:
15.2.1.Literally tamper with the
text and create translations of the scriptures that distort or leave out
portions of the text.
15.2.2.Knowingly misinterpreting
the teaching of God’s word according to our own preferences.
15.2.3.Place church traditions
above or instead of what the scriptures teach.
15.2.4.Refuse to judge everything
according to scripture and practice those things which are extra-biblical.
15.2.5.Teach and/or practice that
our conduct does not need to be aligned according to what scriptures teach is
God’s will for His people.
15.3. The warning to those who add
to the Word of God is that they will receive ‘the plagues which are written’
in the book.
15.3.1.Those cults who add to God’s
Word saying that He has given us further revelations are going to reap the
consequences, receiving all of the plagues written about in the book.
15.3.2.Those who twist God’s Word
to their liking, and those who lay requirements upon Christians which go beyond
what God’s Word says will receive all of the plagues in the book.
15.4. An even more serious warning
goes to those who take away some of the words of this book, God shall take away
their part from the tree of life and from the holy city.
15.4.1.These ones will therefore
spend eternity in the lake of fire.
15.4.2.Because of this verse, I
even have a problem with translations of the Bible that are a paraphrase, for
those translations have taken away God’s Word in places in favor of a more
palatable paraphrase.
16.
VS 22:20 - “20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I
am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” - Jesus reminds us once again that He is
‘coming quickly’
16.1. John adds his prayer at the
end here, “Come, Lord Jesus”.
16.2. We Christians should always
pray for the Lord’s soon return for therein our hope is contained. However, until He returns there is much work
for us to do and many souls to be saved.
17.
VS 22:21 - “21 The grace of
the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen” - John ends his letter by pronouncing the
blessing of grace from the Lord Jesus to be will all