Verse 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.
This river of water is metaphor for life eternal given by God through the sacrifice of the Lamb for the sins of the world.
Verse 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.
The continual picture in these last chapters of the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ is that of restoration. The heavens, the Earth, and everything in them will be restored back to their condition at Creation when God “saw that it was good”. Never again will there be an adversary or one to turn the people of God away from Him. All is safe and secure and righteous. The tree of life which was in the midst of the Garden of Eden is there for all to enjoy. No more will believers have to try and picture what life was like for Adam and Eve in the Garden at the very beginning of time. They will be experiencing it.
Verses 3-4 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: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
The curse is recorded in Genesis chapter 3. “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Genesis 3:14-19
Application: The phrase, “his name shall be in their foreheads” is metaphor for the thoughts of the saints which shall be on the LORD Jesus Christ. The soul (the mind, the will, and the emotions) of every believer in Heaven will be focused on Him for eternity. And all believers will see the face of Jesus.
Verse 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.
At the creation, a day started at dusk and went from darkness to the light of day. This was to show a number of things such as the fact that sin which is dark can be revealed by the light of the Gospel and of Jesus Christ. This was to show hope. People and critters needed the darkness of night to rest and restore their physical bodies. But the daylight was theirs to work in and to enjoy. But in Heaven and in the New Jerusalem where people are spiritual in nature and form, night is not needed and the presence of the LORD Jesus Christ who is light will make it so that no darkness can invade the heavens and the Earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Verses 6-7 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. 7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
As stated already, the visions and the information they contained were now over. Notice that the things were to shortly be done. God does not measure time like mankind does, but the information contained in this powerful book of Scripture has happened, has been happening, and will happen until all prophecy is fulfilled. Why? Because the LORD Jesus Christ was, He is, and He is to come. The return of the LORD Jesus Christ is just around the corner of time. And if a blessing is wanted, God’s people need to “keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book”. The Greek word translated as “keepeth” is “tereo” and it means to attend to carefully, to take care of, to guard, and to observe. The “eth” ending on the verb is peculiar to ( belonging exclusively to) the King James Bible and it means the action of the verb is ongoing. So the keeping of the sayings of the prophecy are to be continually attended to, taken care of, and observed. In other words, this book of the Bible is to be read and studied and understood continually and not just looked at briefly when reading through the Bible or when looking for a particular passage of Scripture, etc. Why? Because no one knows when Jesus will come, and when He does, the event will be a quick one. Understanding this book allows believers to gauge where they are in time in terms of the fulfillment of prophecy which will lead up to Jesus’ return for His people.
Verses 8-9 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. 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.
Again, the Apostle is reminded that the angel sent to him is a fellowservant living in Heaven and is not to be worshiped. And again, it appears that believers who depart this physical world for eternity in Heaven appear to be like the created angels and also act as messengers between God and man.
Verse 10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
The prophet Daniel was directed by the angel sent to him to seal up the book he had written. “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Daniel 12:4 But the Apostle John was ordered not to seal up the contents of this book. Why? Because the books of Daniel and Revelation have nothing to do with each other. This is not what is taught in most churches, but it is true never the less. This writer was always taught that Daniel and Revelation “fit together like a hand and a glove”. Well, they can be forced to do so as has been done in the Scofield end-time doctrine. But the only things these two books have in common is that an angel was sent to reveal future events which included revealing one-world governments that God viewed as beasts. These nations/government existed historically and so they are part of both of these books. However, the book of Daniel was to be sealed until “the time of the end”. The end of what? The end of the nation Israel. The book is not about the end of the world. Daniel was so upset at what he understood would happen to his nation and to his people that it made him sick. Hundreds of years passed between Daniel’s writing and until the nation Israel was destroyed, but Daniel saw it. The Apostle John, on the other hand, was not upset or made sick at what he saw and understood because it was all about the future end of the world and the coming back of the One he had lived with and served under for 3 1/2 years. He wrote the book of Revelation around 95 AD and the Romans had already destroyed the physical city of Jerusalem and the Jews had already been scattered all over the place. So the Apostle John had already experienced the fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel and of Jesus regarding the end of the physical nation of Israel. All believers should be looking for the second coming the the LORD Jesus Christ to this Earth to usher in eternity. Therefore all believers should be reading and studying this book in earnest as “. . . when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:28
Verse 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.
The Word has been given, end-time prophecy has been given to warn mankind to repent, but just as time continues daily and the seasons follow each other, living men and women will continue doing what they want to, disregarding the signs of the times. “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, unto the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:26-30 But the Christian believers who are living righteously and following Jesus will be ready for the end and will not be taken unawares.
Verses 12-13 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
The Greek word translated as “quickly” is “tachu” and it means speedily or without delay. Jesus’ statement is in the present tense even though the Apostle John penned these words almost 2000 years ago. So Jesus could not have meant that He was going to come quickly as He still hasn’t come. So it would appear that Jesus means, when He does choose to come, He will come quickly and therefore people need to be ready at all times. It will be such a quick event, there will not be any time to consider it or to prepare one’s heart if not already a practicing Christian believer cleansed by the shed blood of the LORD Jesus Christ. And when He does come He will reward His people according to those things that were done for the Kingdom of God when living their physical lives on this Earth.
Application: Once again, Jesus identifies Himself as Alpha and Omega, just as He did in the beginning of this book. Why does Jesus use the Greek alphabet letters instead of the Hebrew alphabet letters? After all, He was sent to the house of Israel, His twelve apostles were all Jewish, and the early Church was started by Jews for Jews. Perhaps it was because Greek was the universal language of the time. The apostles that penned the New Testament books were Jewish and would have known Hebrew, but they wrote in Greek. Then also, perhaps it was because Jesus cursed the nation Israel as desolate, predicted its dissolution, and therefore knew that Hebrew would become an insignificant language and would not be common enough for the people of the world at that time and beyond to understand the written Word.
Verses 14-15 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. 15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Those people following Jesus and being obedient to His commandments have eternal life. Those people not following Jesus and not being obedient to His commandments are kept out of the New Jerusalem or eternity in Heaven.
Verses 16-17 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. 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.
The angel Jesus sent to reveal the visions to the Apostle John so that the Church down through the ages could read and understand the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ provided Jesus’ testimony, the very testimony of God, very God. This book contains the formal written statement from the LORD Jesus Christ as to the course of the end of the ages and the promises to the Church that are now being fulfilled and will be fulfilled in their entirety in the near future. His Spirit and His holy city are calling to all those that can hear His voice to come into His kingdom and seek His fellowship, His salvation, His protection, and His love. But there needs to be a spiritual thirst for the things of Heaven, for righteousness and for forgiveness and for thankfulness to the One who gives life.
Application: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Matthew 1:1 Jesus was constantly referred to as the son of David. King David was promised that he would always have a descendant on the throne. Jesus, the Messiah, is the descendant of both King David and Abraham through the lineage of both Mary and Joseph. The common people of Jesus’s day knew who He was. “And all the people were amazed, and said, is not this the son of David?” Matthew 12:23 In the verses above, Jesus states that He is the offspring of David. That is an identity that He clearly claims. The difficulty grasping with the fleshly mind is that Jesus was and is God dwelling in a body of flesh. So His body was of the lineage of King David, but He was/is at the same time deity. Hence His title of “son of man”. Jesus is not “a god” as taught by Jehovah Witnesses, nor is He the third god in the Catholic doctrine. Simply He is God Almighty manifesting or indwelling a body of flesh so that mankind can see Him, hear Him, and relate to Him. This has been discussed elsewhere in this web site, but continues to be explained as this seems to be a point of confusion in the Christian understanding.
Verses 18-19 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: 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.
The LORD Jesus Christ is so protective of the contents of this book and was so sure that man would eventually pervert its message that He put this very serious warning at the end of it. None of the other 65 books of the Bible have a warning against editing the contents or against misinterpreting the contents. Pay attention reader. Jesus does not want any changes to this book. To do so could lead to judgement and to preventing an individual from going to Heaven. This is serious. God says what He means and He means what He says. Any casual glance at the shelves in so called “Christian” book stores will demonstrate a plethora of books, commentaries, and just plain fiction novels about the end-time scenario that is supposed to represent the Book of Revelation. Do not go there. Read the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ yourself and ask the LORD to reveal it. This writer has intentionally procrastinated in tackling this book on this website for fear of mishandling its contents. This writer will say again on this last book of the Bible, that error in interpretation may be present. It is your job to do the research and the study for yourself to be sure that the contents of this website are accurate. Just as this writer is responsible for the words of this website, you the reader are responsible for checking them out and not just accepting them. Do not be lazy. Put in the work and pray. And let your prayer be as the verse below, “Even so, come, LORD Jesus.” Amen
Verses 20-21 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. (Revelation 22)