WELCOME
PRAYER
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SILENCE
Okay, my friends, we are at what we could call the penultimate teaching of Revelation which is a fancy way of describing the second to the last teaching.
John is still in the last vision which he received at the beginning of Chapter 21 and which began with him saying:
Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
I want to reiterate that all that John saw and all that we have covered from Revelation 21 and what we will continue to cover in chapter 22 through verse 5 occurs AFTER the second coming of Christ with reward and destruction of Israel.
Again, from chapter 21 verse 1 – Revelation chapter 22 verse 5 – John sees, in vision, what will be the case once Jesus has come, Jerusalem has been sacked, and the former covenant age is done once and for all.
I emphasize this because there are those who believe that what John is describing here is ONLY to those who are of the Church in that age and they say this because after verse 5 in Revelation 22, John continues to receive warnings from the angel and from Jesus about the approaching hour.
So let me explain this on the board quickly:
Revelation 22.1-5
July 8th 2018
Meat
First View (my View)
All describe what Chapter 21 and Chapter 22:6-end is a return of Jesus and
is coming and what 22 through verses the angel warning John that everything was
leads up to the end. 5 describe what comes now ready to happen.
after
________________ ____________________ ________________________________
Chapters 1-20 Chapter 21-22:5 Chapter 22:6-end
Chapter 1-20 Chapter 21-22:5 Chapter 22:6-end
_________________ ____________________ ________________________________
All describe what The end described occurs This chapter and verses are simply to
Is coming and what after all of Revelation tell the reader that everything that John
Leads up to the end. is over and applies only to writes is “ABOUT” to happen to THEM THEN.
Those of that age and day.
The Hyper View of Fulfillment Preterist
What John sees in Revelation 21:1-Revelation 22:5 is for the reader of that age to see what will be the end result for them and their age once everything else in chapters 1-20 are over.
Now Listen – BECAUSE John sees the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven and says that there is a NEW HEAVEN and a NEW earth and that in the New Jerusalem there is NO temple, I have to believe that what he was seeing was after Jesus had taken His bride. I say this because of the following:
The New Age could NOT begin until all the things of the former age were gone – especially the temple. Hebrews makes this plain.
The temple fell at the end of the siege, after all the murders, bloodshed and the city was overcome. The Believers the Bride, the Church was taken (saved) by this time by Christ who upon His return rescued the Saints from certain destruction!
Additionally, Revelation 22:14 which says: “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,” refers BACK to the description in Revelation 21! So we know that at the end of Revelation 20, we COULD have had Revelation 22:6-end been added there, and then Revelation 21:1-Revelation 22:1-5 end it up. But because God wanted to end the Revelation with a specific reminder to the Seven Churches that He was coming quickly, the book is given to us in the manner that it is.
In other words, what John describes in Revelation has to have happened after EVERYTHING else in Revelation happened, including His coming quickly – otherwise the Bride was not ready to be presented and shown to John, neither was the New Jerusalem in place, and neither was the earth ready to be a new heaven and new earth that could bear the New Jerusalem.
For these reasons I adamantly reject the hyper preterist fulfilment view which says NOTHING matter at all anymore and embrace the full preterist view that says
ALL that God needed to do for the salvation of man relative to the Nation of Israel and its Messiah and Bride are finished, and now the Kingdom rolls forward uninterrupted forevermore.
Okay, let’s go to verse one of chapter 22 where John continues with what He is shown about the AGE to come – even in His day.
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.
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.
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:
4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
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.
In our study of Rev. 21, we saw how John drew heavily on the Old Testament to depict with rich symbolism the glories of this present, everlasting new covenant age.
John also echoed many spiritual truths taught elsewhere in the New Testament, which the writers of those epistles proclaimed to be existing realities in their own day.
Revelation 21 is not as much about prophecies fulfilled in the past, as it is about ongoing spiritual realities that are being lived out by God’s people to this very day.
For the body of Christ, Revelation 21 is a beautiful portrayal of God’s relationship with His new covenant people.
It’s also part of our manual on how the Church is to walk in spiritual victory and how we can help advance God’s ever-expanding spiritual kingdom on this earth.
I emphasize spiritual without any hestitancy.
When John was told that he would be shown “the bride, the Lamb’s wife,” he is actually shown a city called New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:9-10), which John vividly describes for his readers, lacing his words with all kinds of Biblical symbolism.
Unlike the Jerusalem that went up in flames (Matthew 22:7; Revelation 17:16, 18:8-9, 18:18), the New Jerusalem is a city with no temple, “for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (verse 22).
It’s a city illuminated by the glory of God, where “the Lamb is its light” (verse 23; see also John 8:12).
Now note: The New Jerusalem is not a cube-shaped city that God’s people will one day live in, but God’s people ARE THE New Jerusalem.
This is not the only passage of Scripture where a physical structure is used to describe God’s people.
God’s people are also described as a holy structure in Ephesians 2:19-22 by Paul and in his description, like that of Revelation 21, both structures are built on the foundation of the apostles (and Ephesians 2:20 and Revelation 21:14).
For me this directly and clearly illustrates the import of the Words of the Apostles (as found in the New Testament which work in Harmony with the Word written on our minds and Hearts and the power of the Spirit.)
As we move into Revelation 22 we see that the beginning of the chapter continues John’s description of the city of God, the new Jerusalem.
I do not believe that there should have been a chapter break placed between Revelation 21 and 22 where it presently sits but the break should have been after verse 5.
Once verse five is delivered, Jesus returns and recaps, through John, what He had already promised earlier in the book, particularly the nearness of His promise to come in judgment to the Seven Churches. Verse 1
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.
Now, we recall that the identity of the angel who shows John this river is one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues.”
This same angel takes John to see “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
In Revelation 17:1, we saw that an angel, fitting the exact same description, took John to see “the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters.”
In this way, John contrasts two women in the same way that the apostle Paul does in Galatians 4:21-31, where he portrays one woman in slavery representing the old covenant and another free woman representing the new covenant.
John’s vision of the river of life flowing through the new Jerusalem is very similar to Zechariah’s vision which describes the time of the day of the Lord in chapter 14:8, saying:
“And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur”
Of course, Futurist teach that this is a future event and that water will literally flow from material Jerusalem.
But I maintain that this passage is to read IN ACCORDANCE with the fact that this is seen coming from the New Jerusalem, not the former and is a fulfillment of the Words of our Lord to the Woman at the Well when He said in John 4:13:
“Whoever drinks of this (well) water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life‘”
I suggest that this is fulfillment of when Our Lord cried out and said before being crucified:
‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water‘” (John 7:37-38).
John continues and says
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.
This is remarkably similar to Ezekiel’s vision of a river flowing from the threshold of the temple where he writes in Ezekiel 47:1-12.
“When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. Then he said to me: ‘This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live…’ Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
Now, because of the obscurity and impossibility of knowing exactly what this verse actually literally means there are a lot of opinions offered.
For example, Duncan McKenzie, author of “The Antichrist and the Second Coming,” makes the following observation about these passages and their parallel nature to each other, saying:
This picture, and this language, speaks to our present setting here on earth, where the nations of the world are in need of healing and where all kinds of immorality still exists outside of God’s city (verse 15).
He continues:
“So one way of applying this text is to ask questions like these: Is Syria in need of healing today? Is Nigeria in need of healing today? Is Indonesia in need of healing today? Is America in need of healing today?
The church, the body of Christ, is a channel of the living waters of Christ, and we are equipped with the healing that the nations need.
As members of the body of Christ, we have been given the responsibility and the grace to link arms with one another and work together to see the nations healed by the living water of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
This response is pretty typical of many full preterists who in response to the news of total fulfillment often slip into making this earth the Kingdom of God materially – something I believe is, and has always been, a mistake.
Steve Gregg provides other ways the contents of this verse can be read, saying:
“The purpose of the leaves of the tree is…said to be for the healing of the nations (verse 2), but the question intrudes itself, what nations?
If we take this to mean that humanity in the new creation will be organized into discreet political nations, then these are matters of which we have little or no additional information.
On the other hand, if nations be understood simply in the sense of “the Gentiles,” then it may simply be a reference to the church saints of Gentile extraction in the holy city.“
Others say the reference is to “the converted Gentiles who are among the glorified saints.” Adam Maarshalk says that this view seems to enjoy the favor of most expositors, and adds, quoting Milligan:
“It is impossible to think that the nations here spoken of have yet to be converted. They have already entered the New Jerusalem, and that they are healed can signify no more than this, than they are kept in constant soundness of health by what is here administered to them.”
Maarshalk adds,
“Taken, however, as a symbolic picture of the New Covenant blessings in the present age, the leaves of the tree could refer simply to the fact that as the gospel advances, the kingdom, like a mustard tree (Matthew 13:31-32), or a cedar tree (Ezekiel 17:22-23), spreads its branches, providing all nations a place of refuge and healing under the shadow of its leaves.” (and he cross references Ezekiel 31:4-6 and Daniel 4:11-12 to support this take).
We cannot help but notice, however, that John’s reference to “the tree of life” takes us back to Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, and to the tree of life that was there. We read in Genesis 2:9 and 3:22-24:
“And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9).
“Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever’— therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:22-24).
From this story it seems that the outcome of eating from the tree of life (back then) would have been eternal life. Eating of it was banned once Adam and Eve fell. Now, however, the eating the body and drinking the blood of Jesus eternal life is freely available.
So here in Revelation 22, in New Jerusalem, in the New Heaven and the New Earth, the tree of life is available for everyone and it bears fruit 12 months each year.
In the Garden of Eden there was one tree of life, but in New Jerusalem there is a tree of life “on either side of the river.”
A really interesting take on this is found in the Commentary by Jamieson-Fausett-Brown (1882) which says this:
“How striking it is that, as in the beginning we found Adam and Eve, his bride, in innocence in Paradise, then tempted by the serpent, and driven from the tree of life, and from the pleasant waters of Eden, yet not without a promise of a Redeemer who should crush the serpent; so at the close, the old serpent cast out for ever by the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, who appears with His Bride, the Church, in a better Paradise, and amidst better waters (Rev. 22:1): the tree of life also is there with all its healing properties, not guarded with a flaming sword, but open to all who overcome (Revelation 2:7), and there is no more curse.”
I tend to align myself most closely with this explanation as it seems to include all the important elements. In Genesis Satan reigns. At the end of that age, Satan is bound.
In Genesis a curse is given. In Revelation there is no more curse, noting that the Revelation depiction speaks to the environs of the New Jerusalem and therefore all of the application is spiritual – women still suffer the curse of pain in child-birth, men still have to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow and physical death remains a reality – but in the Spirit all the elements of the curse (especially spiritual death) are eliminated, and God is victorious. Of course I could be missing mountains in this assessment. Verse 3 takes us a little deeper, saying:
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:
So, is this another reference to the Garden of Eden, and the curses spoken over the serpent and over humanity as I just mentioned?
Is this a reference to the curse of the law, which was removed in Christ according to Galatians 3:10-13?
Most scholars believe that verse three and the curse reference parallels to Zechariah 14:11 which says
“The people shall dwell in [Jerusalem]; and no longer shall there be utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.“
Now, by looking at the LXX we see super strong similarity between the two statements:
I’ve written them on the board:
Zechariah 14:11: kai anathema ouk estai eti
Revelation 22:3: kai pan katathema ouk estai eti
Though I am anything but a Greek scholar, in fact I am a Greek fool, but we ought to immediately take note that John immediately parallels with his “katathema statement” a comment that intentionally contrasts with it.
By doing so he underscores the objective, concrete matters involved.
Maarshalk provides literal translation of 22:3, then the Greek text, to show the parallel, which is:
And every cursed person will not be [there] any longer (22:3a)
And the throne of God and of the Lamb in it will be (22:3b)
Note the parallel in Greek:
kai pan katathema ouk estai eti (22:3a)
kai ho thronos tou theou kai tou arniou en autç estai (22:3b)
The scholars point out that without question 22:3b speaks of location, not existence and that the same should be true of 22:3a.
In other words, John means that accursed persons are absent, not that the curse no longer exists…
Now, stay with me – because this is important. John has just learned that at the end of his visionary tour of Old Age and now the New Jerusalem in the New Age, certain persons will be excluded from the new Jerusalem.
This is pointed out in the previous chapter (verse 8) and it is repeated here in chapter 22 at verse 27 where it says:
“and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
Now as he looks inside the new Jerusalem, he can happily report that this is true and the Greek supports it “every cursed person will not be there” (22:3a).
This truth is so important that he states it once again at 22:15 where we read:
“Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”
In Revelation 22:3, in addition to describing the setting of this victorious age John could also be encouraging the followers of the Lamb who have been abused by the religious leadership of Israel and letting them know that such will not be part of the heavenly city of peace as they are “accursed” and will not be allowed into the New Jerusalem.
Now, Because the city gates are open day and night, and because those who are not allowed in ARE in fact still outside BUT existing somewhere, I interpret this to be the state of all who have not received Christ as King.
We will address this in a minute.
Zechariah 14 Revelation 21-22
14:2, 4, 8, 10-12, 14, 16-17, 21 “Jerusalem” 21:2, 10, 14-15, 18-19, 21, 23; 22:14, 19
14:6-7 Alteration of patterns of light, day, night 21:24-25; 22:5
14:8a Living water source in Jerusalem 22:1, 17
14:8b No problem of seasons causing death 22:2
14:11 Absence of anathema; katathema 22:3
14:14 Glory of nations received within 21:24, 26; see also Isaiah 60:5-14
14:16 Nations positively influenced 21:24
14:17-18 Outsiders in negative condition 21:27; 22:15
When we read, however, “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:”
I think we have to ask ourselves, for clarity, “What is the “IT” when it says:
“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:”
And the answer is obviously, the New Jerusalem. Okay, verse 4
4 And they (His servants) shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
Of course if we hearken back to Jesus words to the church in Philadelphia we remember that He said:
“Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name” (remember that all the way back in Revelation 3:11-12?).
Look how it is all being brought forward to the end of it all AND then the beginning of the New Age.
In our studies of Revelation 7 and Revelation 14, we also saw that God sealed the foreheads of His servants with His name.
In contrast, we also read that those who followed the beast had the Beast’s mark, his name (or the number of his name) on their right hands or foreheads (verses 13:15-17). I want to read verse 3 and 4 together again:
“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:”
We note that God and the Lamb are referred to as HIM – singular here, though they are differentiated in title.
And then in verse four we read:
4 And they (His servants) shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
Whose face are the servants going to see? The face of Him whom they serve and whose names are in their foreheads. And so some of my assumptions.
First of all, I believe that the face we will all see is Jesus face, who is God in the flesh. I am not convinced we human beings will ever “see” God without seeing Jesus.
Also, I think that when we are talking about these specific descriptions of the victorious age, I cannot help but see two sets of participants at play.
Here in Revelation we are first having the servants of God in the New Jerusalem being described.
These are the 144,000 who labor as servants in the New Jerusalem in some form or another.
The second application is to the rest of the Human race, who too have His name written on their minds and hearts, but move from being servants to being daughters and sons, as Paul differentiates between the two in scripture.
One Kurt Simmons, who we have appealed to over the past 99 weeks, gives his take on the significance of Revelation 22:4, saying:
“The fall brought man’s banishment from the presence and fellowship of his Creator; man was driven from the garden; he was estranged from God and became an exile in the earth… Even in the temple, God was in the Holy of Holies, separate and removed from the worshipper. None could approach except through the sprinkling of blood and the appointed mediator. The stranger that drew nigh was put to death. However, the veil of separation was rent in twain in the cross of Christ (Matt. 27:51); man can now boldly enter into that which is within the veil, made faultless before his presence by the blood of Christ (Heb. 6:19; 10:19-22; Jude 24). We are no longer servants, but have attained the adoption of sons, are become heirs of the King, and enjoy a ‘face to face’ relationship with God through Christ.”
Final verse (5) where John writes:
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.
This should sound familiar since in Revelation 21 we already saw that Jesus is the light in New Jerusalem, the city of God:
“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.”
This passage lines up with other statements made by the prophets, as well as those made by the writers of the gospel accounts and epistles.
Isaiah wrote in chapter 60:
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you… The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory. Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; For the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended.” (
Daniel 12:3 also reads:
“Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.”
John, speaking of Jesus, wrote in John 1:4-5)
“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”
Again, John 8:12 has Jesus say:
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.‘”
To abide in this light, we too must be of the light, which is why Romans 13:11-12 says
“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.“
And why 1st Thessalonians 5 says
“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night… But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.”
And it is at this point we put our hands on the edge of the pool of the deep end, and prepare to pull ourselves out of the waters of Revelation. Here, John writes:
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.
7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
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.
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.
10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
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.
12 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.
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.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
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.
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.
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:
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.
20 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.
We will wrap it all up . . . next week.
Questions/Comments
Prayer
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