Revelation 22 Table Revelation 22:1-21 and He Shewed Me a Pure River of Water of Life, Clear As Crystal, Proceeding out of 1 the Throne of God and of the Lamb
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Revelation 22 Table Revelation 22:1-21 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of 1 the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of 2 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. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be 3 in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; 5 for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the 6 holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of 7 this book. And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I 8 fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy 9 brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the 10 time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy 11 still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man accord- 12 ing as his work shall be. 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of 14 life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idola- 15 ters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am 16 the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And 17 let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If 18 any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 2 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God 19 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. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, 20 come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. See Dr Ruckman’s commentary The Book of Revelation pp 578-608 and the Ruckman Reference Bi- ble pp 1669-1670. 1. Revelation 22:1, 14, 17. “...a pure river of the water of life...” is made available for ever accord- ing to the open invitation of Revelation 22:17 “...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” extended in particular to: End Times saints said to “...keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ...that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” Revelation 12:17, 14:12 Any and other non-Church Age saints meeting the conditions of Psalm 15:1-2 “LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and wor- keth righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart” and context and where for Old Testa- ment saints or End Times saints Revelation 12:17, 14:12 would apply James 2:18 “...I will shew thee my faith by my works” must be followed and whose works in continuance passed the works-based judgement of the “...great white throne, and him that sat on it...” Revelation 20:11. All those sets of saints will need both “...the water of life...” and “...the tree of life...” Revelation 22:2, 14 to sustain “...the blessing, even life for evermore” Psalm 133:3 and to come into “...the presence of the LORD God...” Genesis 3:8 and thereby at that time follow Psalm 100:4 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” according to Revelation 22:14 “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.” See www.timefortruth.co.uk/alan-oreilly/ Revelation 21 p 3 about “...the water of life....” Today’s believer has the promise of those blessings even now and in perpetuity by inspection ac- cording to 2 Corinthians 1:20-22 “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” See further Revelation 2 Part 1 pp 4-5 www.timefortruth.co.uk/alan-oreilly/ and this extract with respect to “...the tree of life...” Revelation 22:2, 14. Revelation 2:7 [“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God” – a fitting description of “...the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” Revelation 21:2]. The exhortation “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” applies in context as Paul states in 1 Timothy 4:1 “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” the context of Revelation 2:7 indicating that “doctrines of devils” include “the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” See remarks under Revelation 2:6. The exhortation in principle applies according to John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoev- er he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” The Lord’s promise “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God” would have historical and indeed devotional application for to- 3 day’s believer according to 1 John 5:4-5 “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” in the sense of trusting in John 6:57 “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” Doctrinally and prophetically the Lord’s promise applies to End Times saints of whom John states “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held” Revelation 6:9 and “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” Revelation 22:14. By contrast the Church Age saint is never under any altar because as Paul states “...God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us...hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” Ephesians 2:4, 6. Moreover the Church Age saint has no need of “the tree of life” as such because as Paul states “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” Romans 5:1-2 so that the Church Age saint can rejoice now that he is of those “...with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life” Philippians 4:3. Therefore “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice” Philippians 4:4.