Revelation 22
CHAPTER 22
Eden restored
And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the midst of the street thereof. And on both sides of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no curse any more, and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein, and his servants shall serve him. 4 They shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be night no more, so they do not need the light of a lamp, nor the light of the sun; for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Final charges
6 And he said to me: These words are faithful 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 come quickly. Blessed is he that keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. 8 And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that showed me these things. 9 And he said to me: You must not do that! I am a fellow-servant with you, and with your brothers the prophets, and with those that keep the words of this book. Worship God! 10 And he said to me: Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book. For the time is at hand. 11 He that is unrighteous, let him continue to do unrighteousness, and he that is filthy, let him remain filthy, and he that is righteous, let him continue to do righteousness, and he that is holy, let him remain holy.
12 Behold, I come suddenly; and my reward is with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. 14 Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to eat of the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15 Outside it are the dogs and the sorcerers and the fornicators and the murderers and the idolaters and lovers and practisers of falsehood.
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.
17 And the Spirit and the bride say: Come! And he that hears, let him say: Come! And he that is thirsty, let him come. Let him that desires take the water of life freely.
18 I testify to every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, that if anyone shall add to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book.
19 And if anyone shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and out of the holy city, which are written of in this book.
20 He who testifies these things says: Yes. I come quickly. Amen. Come Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen.
Commentary
22:3 Eden will be restored. The curse that came upon the earth and all creation as a result of Adam’s sin will be removed. Again we see that God’s plan is to establish His Kingdom here on earth- hence the language of paradise restored.
22:12 The coming of Christ will be “sudden” and we must therefore remind ourselves throughout each day that Christ really might come any time- and be prepared for Him. Christ brings the reward to us, from Heaven to earth (1 Pet. 5:4); we don’t get the reward on death by going to Heaven.
22:15 Lovers and practisers- People can love sin without personally practicing it by loving to watch and read of these things, participating in them from a distance.
22:17 If we grasp the wonder of the eternal future made possible, our natural reaction will be to invite the person next to us to come and share in it too. Good news about something doesn’t remain silently within anyone.
