A
Study of the Book of Revelation
Chapter 22
1. ¶
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
The angel showed John a pure river
of water of life, clear as crystal originating in the throne of God.
The throne of God is prominent in
the concluding vision John saw.
The river is pure, no germs, no
diseases, no pollution, it is not muddy, but bright and clean.
2. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the
river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and
yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing
of the nations.
In the midst of the city stands the
tree of life. Here are symbols of
eternal life:
1. 12 manners of fruits - number 12 stands for divine
authority and power. These fruits
represent the joy and beauty of Heaven.
2. Yielded her fruit every month - speaks of the
bounty of Heaven.
3. Leaves of the tree were for the healing of the
nations - notice nations are still around.
The saints of the heavenly city will
eat of the fruit of the tree and nations shall use its leaves. If we desire to eat of the fruit and drink of
the water of life, we can do so.
The Scripture seems to indicate that
we will not have to eat, but will be able to do so if we desire.
After the resurrection, Jesus ate
literal food. I believe the tree of life
is for our pleasure and enjoyment.
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:
The curse of the Garden of Eden is
gone. The curse of sin is over and will
not be there. This speaks of His
authority and power. We will see Him
face to face and we will serve and honor Him.
4. And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their
foreheads.
We will walk with Him, talk with Him
forever. This tells us that the believer
will be identified with God for all eternity.
5. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle,
neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall
reign for ever and ever.
God wants us to know that the night
is over. He tells us here and back in
Revelation 21:25. All through the Bible,
God is associated with light. Darkness
is gone forever. Jesus Christ will
replace the candles, the sun, etc. He
will be the light of the city.
6. ¶ And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true:
and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants
the things which must shortly be done.
God keeps his promises. He has always been faithful and true to His
word. He is God of the past just as He
is God of the present.
God used an angel to inform John and
us through the writings of John.
Shortly be done here” covers a few
thousand years, but they are short compared to eternity.
7. Behold, I come quickly:
blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
This is the promise of the
Saviour. In comparison to eternity it
will be quickly.
Blessed – means happy.
8. And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had
heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which
shewed me these things.
John says he saw and heard these
things he has told us about. John says
this outline of world history is true.
John said when he saw them and heard them, he was so overcome he fell at
the angel’s feet to worship the angel.
The angel is the one that had shown John these things.
9. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy
fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the
sayings of this book: worship God.
The angel speaks to John. The angel said, “Don’t worship me,
John.” The angel identifies himself to
John as a fellowservant…
Notice the angel told John to
worship God!
The angel actually told John, “Hey,
I am a member of the team.”
10. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy
of this book: for the time is at hand.
This is a point on the availability
of the Scriptures. This is an open book.
Since the book of Revelation is not
a closed book, maybe we can understand it!
The very name of this book is unveiling.
In Daniel 12, God told Daniel to
seal up the book and rest until the time of the end. But the angel told John not to seal this
book.
“For the time is at hand” refers to
the coming of Christ.
11. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is
filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous
still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
“He that is unjust” refers to those
who have not been justified by Christ.
“And he which is filthy” means the
polluted ones.
“unjust still and the filthy still”
– indicates that the people formerly of the earth, now in hell are in a
permanent state, which was fixed and determined at the second coming of Christ
when all the wicked were judged and cast into the lake of fire.
“The righteous still” means those
that are born again and will always be born again.
“Still” – means they had previously
been caught up to meet Jesus and they are with Him and will forever be with
Him.
“He that is holy” speaks of being
born again and an abundant and spirit filled life.
“Still” in this verse means they are
permanently fixed and will forever stay fixed.
12. And, behold, I come quickly; and my
reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
And behold means to look
suddenly. The second advent of Christ
will happen suddenly!
Notice the reward is singular. The term rewards
is not found in the Bible. It appears
that work on the part of the Christian is required to receive a reward.
The Bible also tells us about
crowns. In order to receive a particular
crown and each on e is different.
|
Scriptures
|
Crown of
|
For Whom
|
Comment
|
|
2 Tim. 4:8
Matt. 24:42, 46 |
Righteousness
1 John 2:28
2 Peter 3:14 |
Those that love His
appearing
|
Those right with God at
His coming.
|
|
James 1:12
Rev. 2:10 |
Life
|
Enduring, abiding,
sticking with Christ even through suffering
|
The faithful’s crown or
the martyr’s crown
|
|
1 Thess. 2:19
Phil 4:1 |
Rejoicing or Joy
|
The fruitful – brought
others to Christ
|
The soulwinner’s crown
|
|
1 Peter 5:2
|
Glory
|
The spiritual leader an
example to flock.
|
Pastors’, or leaders’
crown.
|
|
1 Cor. 9:19-27
Rev. 3:11 Phil. 1:20; 3:12-14 |
Incorruptible or Victor’s
Crown
|
Those mature in every
area. The faithful from beginning to
end in Christian life.
|
Those that practiced the
Word and were Christlike. If you get
this you may get it all.
|
13. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end, the first and the last.
“I am” - A great name of God
discussed in Exodus 3:14.
Alpha and Omega are the first and
last letters of the Greek alphabet.
Christ and none other can make these
claims. The Lord is the creator and at
the end and forever He will be in complete control.
14. Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have
right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Greek authorities tell us that in
the original language, this should read, “Blessed are they who have washed
their robes.”
These are the Christians or saints
rewarded to the highest degree. The word
blessed in this verse means happy.
Not only does the blood-washed
believers have right to the tree of life, but they will enjoy continued access
to the city. The saints will have all
rights to enjoy the blessings of God.
15. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and
murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
This verse does not mean just
outside the city limits. This verse
refers to the same group mentioned in Revelation 21:8.
“Dogs” refers to those who followed
the old sin nature. This speaks of those
in the lake of fire. This is a contrast
verse. This is a colored photograph of
unbelievers.
16. I Jesus have sent mine angel to
testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring
of David, and the bright and morning star.
“I Jesus” - The King of kings and
Lord of lords.
We are again assured that this is
not a riddle, not a book of confusion, but it is the Revelation of Jesus
Christ.
“In the churches” - We haven’t hear
of the church since chapter 5.
“I am” – the great name of God
“Root” – Jesus Christ is God.
“Offspring of David” – refers to the
fact that Christ came into the world through the tribe of Judah (Gen.
49:10,11). David was from the tribe of Judah.
“and the bright and morning star” –
The bright star against a dark background means that Christ is a bright light
against the darkness of human history.
17. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that
heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely.
And the Spirit is the The Holy
Spirit and the bride is the bride of Christ.
This is an invitation to the tribulational people to believe.
Anyone that hears this invitation is
urged to come. The ones who are
desperate are invited. The invitation
extends to all.
Water of life here is Jesus Christ
and eternal life; and freely means come without price.
18. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the
prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add
unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Here is a warning for those who
tamper with the Word of God. There have
been attacks on the Word of God in all ages, and the worst attack will come during
the Tribulation.
God will add the judgements of the
Tribulation to those who dare tamper with the Word of God.
“For I testify” – this is assured
from Jesus Christ.
“Every man that heareth the words of
the prophecy of this book.” He is saying
to all that hear or read the message in Revelation.
“If any man shall add unto these
things.” – This means adding to the teachings of the book of Revelation.
The book of Revelation tells of many
judgements of God, so the one adding to His message shall suffer under the same
penalities of the judgment.
Dear sinner, don’t try to explain
away the judgements of God. What you
sow, you shall reap.
19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of
this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of
the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Here is a warning to those who deny
or explain away the teachings of the book of Revelation.
This speaks of those who would
subtract from this book of Revelation.
“Take away his part” means the same
as “deny him any part”.
The whole passage therefore should
be viewed as indicating an entire condition of the heart and life.
Adding to or taking away from gives
insight to the attitude of a rejecting heart.
20. ¶ He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord
Jesus.
“He which testifieth these things” -
This is the Lord Jesus and these things
are the sayings and promises of this book.
“Surely I come quickly” - Here is
the final announcement of the second coming of Christ.
“Quickly” speaks of the suddenness
in which the Lord will come.
John was convinced the Lord was
coming – Amen means I believe it.
This is the prayer of the apostle
John. After all that John saw, he prayed
for the coming of the Lord. This is the
last recorded prayer of the Bible.
21. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
This great book of Revelation ends
on the basis of grace.
1. We are saved by grace.
2. We are kept saved by grace.
3. We become spiritual by grace.
4. We enter Heaven by grace.
THANK GOD FOR GRACE!
References:
Clark, Neal. Survey of the Book of Revelation. Pensacola,
Florida: Thee WFBI Press, 1999. Print.
Falwell, Jerry. Liberty Commentary on the New Testament.
Lynchburg, VA: Liberty Press, 1978. Print.
