Bible Commentaries
Revelation 22

Verses 1-17

24 The vision has ended. John now is back again in Patmos and tells what will be in the days of the vision. It is not that the common and abominable will be outside the city, unable to enter. Then all will be God's people and misery will be no more ( Rev_21:3-4 ). But those who are false before-these have no hope of entering into the city. In Israel, this is a reward.

1 The river of living water can be traced from the laver of the tabernacle ( Exo_30:18 ) through the ten lavers and the molten sea of Solomon's temple ( 2Ch_4:2-6 ) and the waters which flowed from the threshold of Ezekiel's house (Eze.47) to the crystal stream here described.

2 Ezekiel describes the trees which line the millennial river ( Eze_47:7 ; Eze_47:12 ).

2 The square, or common, or plaza, was a wide open space which had corners ( Mat_6:5 ) and a center. The streets of eastern cities could not be denoted by this word, which means wide , broad , for they have always been exceedingly narrow, and were called by a distinct name ( Mat_6:2 ; Luk_14:21 ; Act_9:11 ; Act_12:10 ).

3 At this point the seer changes his viewpoint back to Patmos. What was present to his gaze is now put in the future. His slaves will minister; they will reign. Hence their reign is for the eons of the eons. This would present a difficulty if John spoke from the standpoint of the last eon, for only one eon will then remain in which they can reign ( 1Co_15:24 ).

3 The "curse" is not yet gone or the leaves of the trees were useless. But there is no more anything devoted to God for destruction. His way with men has changed.

5 Though the temple and priesthood are gone, they continue to reign for the eons of the eons. This corresponds with the Hebrew scriptures, for the temple with its ritual lasts "for ever" (for the eon) but the kingdom continues "for ever and ever" (for the eons of the eons).

6 This section should not be referred to the far future which John has been describing. He reverts to the time when the prophecy was given to him. Hence the era is impending, the Lord is still to come, the sayings of the prophecy may still be kept.

10 It is God's will that this prophecy should be known by His slaves. Daniel was commanded to seal up his vision because much was to intervene before its fulfillment. As this era is impending-there is nothing between the present and this prophecy-it is time for it to be studied and understood. Nothing (except a knowledge of the special epistles written for the present) will help us more in estimating the true trend of present day movements than a clear conception of their outcome in the great judgment period just ahead. All of the factors of the end time are rapidly taking on the form which they will have in that day. Israel is going back to the land. The nations are forming the great confederacy. The religions of the earth are uniting. In it all God is given no place.

12 As in the first chapter ( Rev_1:8 ), the Lord Jesus suddenly intervenes and closes the prophecy with His own august declarations. The three-fold title, the A and the Z, the First and Last, and the Origin and the Consummation, are most appropriate after the revelation of the marvelous jeweled city and the glories of the new earth. At present He has only begun: then He will finish. The A and the Z suggests that He is the whole alphabet of God's revelation, the First and the Last, His place in the times in which it is accomplished, and the Origin and Consummation, His place in the purpose which underlies it.

16 The night is darkest just before the dawn. His earthly people will long for the Morning Star to herald the approach of day. Then He, from Whom David sprang and Who descended from David, will fulfill all the promises which God made to Him.

17 Come ! All who know Him and His will cannot but obey this last request. The hearts of all saints should well up into one grand shout to urge His speedy return. There is no other help, no other hope. Come! Lord Jesus!

Come, then, and, added to Thy many crowns,

Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth,

Thou Who alone art worthy! It was Thine

By ancient covenant, ere Nature's birth;

And Thou hast made it Thine by purchase since

And overpaid its value with Thy blood.

Thy saints proclaim Thee King; and in their hearts

Thy title is engraven with a pen

Dipped in the fountain of eternal love."

Cowper, in The Task

Verses 18-21

18 It is one of the saddest commentaries on the frailty of mankind to find that this warning has about seven variant readings in the three manuscripts we consult. Who would not suppose that these lines would be most anxiously and scrupulously copied by the scribe? Surely no transcriber would dare to add or subtract a single letter! Yet there is not only one transposition, but four additions and three omissions in a passage fearfully denouncing such a practice. May God forgive if we, unwittingly, have failed to restore or expunge these mutilations!

20 The desire for the coming and presence of the Lord is the truest test of spiritual condition. The saints long for Him, not merely for their own happiness but for the manifestation of His glories and the blessing of all creation.