Year 0, Day 31: Revelation 22

End of the Cycle of Three Years

Okay, Happy New Year’s Eve.  I will confess that when I put this reading list together I always thought it would be neat to read the last chapter in the Bible knowing that tomorrow I’m going to pick up the Bible again and start way back in the beginning.  There’s just something cool about that.  Or maybe it’s just me.

The River of Life

One of the first images we get in this last chapter of our Christian Bible is of the river of life.  Rivers are often seen as a source of life because they bring fresh water, they are not usually large enough to be threatening, and they are not large enough to be disorienting.  The River of life imagery is all over the Old Testament: Genesis 2:8-16, Ezekiel 47:1-7, Psalm 46:4, Joel 3:18, and Zechariah 14:8. 

It is also thought that the River of Life is a symbolic image of the Holy Spirit.  Notice that throughout this entire chapter the Father and the lamb are mentioned, but seldom is the Holy Spirit depicted.  Since the River of Life flows out of the throne of God and the Lamb, it makes sense that this River of Life is interpreted as the Holy Spirit.

The Tree of Life

Now we move on to the image of the Tree of Life.  John pulls the Tree of Life image from 2 sources: Genesis 3:6 and Ezekiel 47:12.  The variety of fruit may be a reference to the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23.  The fact that the fruit are available all year round may be a symbol of God’s plenteousness.  The leaves are not only for the healing of those inside of the city, but for all nations – all people.

Inside the City

Inside the city something interesting happens.  Those within the city will see God’s face.  In Exodus 33:20-23 we learn that no man can see God and live.  However, since salvation comes through Jesus Christ we can say that through Christ we transcend even our own humanity.  If the inhabitants can see God’s face always, then life becomes true worship of God.  In other words, heaven will be perpetual worship of God – but true worship, that is worship through right living.

The Final Words

And now we turn to the final words.  These final words are curiously disjointed.  The angel speaks, Christ speaks, John speaks, and sometimes there is not much sense to the order of the speaking.  The angel speaks first, and he reminds John that God is the inspiration of the prophets.  The Old and New Testaments are the product of the same God.

The next speaker is Christ, and he reminds us that not only is he coming quickly, but that the best follower of Christ is the “devout student.”  Far too many Christians are devout in “faith” without being a true student of God at all.  Anyone can follow their own thinking or pious human tradition.  But a true follower is by definition submitted to the one they are following.  Far too many of us are “academic students” of God but not all that devout in faith.  Here, Christ tells us that to be proper we need to be both devout in faith and a true student.

The third speaker is the angel, and we have again the warning against angel worship that we had in 19:10.  Curiously, in this text we hear the angel say “Do not seal up the words…”  In the apocalyptic literature before Christ, the works usually end with “Seal up the words of this prophecy…” (See Daniel 8:26, for example).  Christ has changed our relationship with God’s plan in the world.  Yes, there are some things along the way that we have encountered that were shut up, but in Christ we have general access to an understanding of what God is doing in the world.  Thanks be to God for that!

We also hear a curious word from the angel about mankind remaining the same: “Let the evil doer do evil … and the holy still be holy.”  This could be a reiteration of Daniel 12:10 and Ezekiel 3:27.  If this is true then it is saying that in the end it will be too late to change the ways of humanity.  However, it could also be a comment that God does not force people to follow Him.  Those who love God do so by choice.  Those who obey God do so by choice.  Those who deny God likewise do so by choice.

The next speaker is Christ.  He gives us the message of each person receiving rewards of their earning.  This is not to be confused with the reward of salvation, which Christ earns for us.  Salvation is always a gift and it is never based on our works.  However, clearly we will receive the fruit of our works – whether good or bad.

Christ then blesses those who “wash their robes.”  Christ is acknowledging that while God has provided the means to salvation through Jesus Christ, we must appropriate our salvation.  In other words, it is like getting a bath ready for someone else.  We can fill the tub with water and put soap and a washcloth on the edge of the tub.  But the person will only get clean if he gets in and applies the soap to himself.  A person only is cleansed if the humble themselves and submit to the cleaning process.

Christ then bans those outside the city from entering.  The list given in the ban is nearly identical to the list in 21:8.  The major difference here is the addition of the category “dogs.”  In ancient days, dogs were an unclean animal – a scavenger.  The dog is that thing which perpetually returns to disgusting habits. For example, see Proverbs 26:11, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so the fool returns to his folly.”  This addition to the list could be John’s way of indicating the people who always go back to their disgusting behavior.  However, in those days male temple prostitutes were also nicknamed dogs.  In this case, the additional category added here could simply refer to a sexually immoral person.  Since we have the specific mention of sexually immoral already in the list, I tend to lean towards the first interpretation.

Christ then gives us a list of testimonies.  First, He attests to the fact that the prophecy presented here is true.  This is a bookend to the promise given to us in Revelation 1:1.  Then He says that he is the root and offspring of David.  This is John’s attempt at reminding his audience that Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah 11:1.  Jesus is the eternal king on David’s promised throne.  The third promise is regarding being the morning star.  This likely refers to Jesus as the light of the world.  The morning star chases away the darkness, sin, and death.

We then move to the famous “come passages,” although we don’t know to whom the words “Come” are spoken.  One way to take these words is the church bidding Christ to come quickly.  Another way to take this passage is as a beckoning for mankind to come to God.  This is especially true when the passage is thought to include the “let him take the free gift…” part.  At the very least, this passage is a reminder for us to be missionaries and bid people to come.

After the “come” passage we receive yet another warning.  This warning should not be taken literally to encompass the book of Revelation.  The warning is about twisting the ideas and teachings within the book, not about altering the specific words contained. (See Galatians 1:8-9)  This warning is commonly used at the end of documents to prevent intentional interpretive alterations.

In the end, we should be impressed how many times John tells us that Christ is coming quickly – 4 times in this chapter alone!  This is a clear indication that John is writing this work as a testimony of hope to a people who are under great persecution.  As a final note, it should be understand that the last word of this document (in the Greek, at least) is Grace.  If there is a word John wants his audience to focus upon in the midst of their trials, it is grace.  Although John could not know it, it is also pretty neat that this word then becomes the final word of our Christian Bible, too.