Bible Commentaries
Revelation 22

Verses 1-5

The Heavenly Jerusalem Revelation 21:1 to Revelation 22:5 describes the Heavenly Jerusalem. If the book of Revelation gives us a breathtaking description of the new Jerusalem falling from heaven and dwelling upon a new earth, how much more when we see it with our eyes.

Revelation 21:1 Comments - The Scriptures tell us that the first heaven and earth will be consumed with a fervent heat. See:

2 Peter 3:10-12, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”

Revelation 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” Comments - In his book Heaven: Close Encounters of the God Kind, Jesse Duplantis was speaking with Jesus about this verse. Jesus Christ said that the worst day of His life is yet to come. He then explained that on the Great Judgment Day all tears will be wiped away. Jesus said that this included His tears because once judgment is set there will be no more opportunity for the lost. Jesus was broken and sorrowful because He knew the day was coming when some of God’s creation would be eternally damned to Hell, and those in Hell are souls for whom Christ died. [119]

[119] Jesse Duplantis, Heaven Close Encounters of the God Kind (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Harrison House, 1996), 125-7.

Scripture References - Note similar verses:

Isaiah 25:8, “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces ; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.”

Revelation 7:17, “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes .”

Revelation 21:8 “But the fearful” - Comments - Why would it be sinful to be fearful? Is not fear a natural human characteristic? Here is an example to explain how it becomes sinful. As I am now managing a group of marketing agents in Lighthouse Television, I am evaluating the performance of each agent. Some of the agents are confident enough to continually call me, or come to my office and keep me briefed on the status of potential clients. However, other marketing agents are too fearful to call me. I have to pull information out of them. This timidity makes for an unproductive performance for this agent. In fact, I get angry when information is not given to me quickly enough to avoid problems. This timidity is not fitting for the position of a marketing agent. Rather, boldness and confidence are needed to perform well. I want to replace these timid, fearful agents with those who are confident, who take the initiative to communicate with me on a regular basis. (January 2001)

Note:

2 Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

Revelation 21:10 Comments - The Book of Jubilees (4.26-27) tells us that this Mount Zion will be sanctified in the new creation for a sanctification of the earth; through it will the earth be sanctified from all (its) guilt and its uncleanness throughout the generations of the world. [120]

[120] The Book of Jubilees, translated by R. H. Charles, in The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English With Introductions and Critical and Explanatory Notes to the Several Books, vol. 2, ed. R. H. Charles, 1-82 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913), 19.

Revelation 21:12 “and had twelve gates” Comments - In the Tabernacle of Moses' time, there was only one gate into the courtyard. The tribe of Judah encamped before this gate and Moses’ family encamped directly in front of this gate. These twelve gates show that in heaven, all nations and tribes will all have access to fellowship of God.

Revelation 21:12 “and at the gates twelve angels” Comments - These twelve angels guarded these twelve gates. Note also that in the Garden of Eden, there were two angels who guarded the entrance.

Genesis 3:24, “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”

Revelation 21:14 Comments - In his book Heaven: Close Encounters of the God Kind Jesse Duplantis tells how he stopped at this wall to read the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. He read the names of Peter, Paul, James and John before the angel took him by the hand and pulled him into the City of God. [121]

[121] Jesse Duplantis, Heaven Close Encounters of the God Kind (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Harrison House, 1996), 85-7.

Revelation 21:27 Comments - We read in Revelation 21:27 that “there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth.” The word “anything” is found in the neuter gender, so that its meaning not only refers to people, but to all things, animate and inanimate, living and non-living. So we read the account of Rebecca Springer’s visit to Heaven in the book Within Heaven’s Gates where she ate the fruit of the trees and the juice fell down upon her white garment. But as she looked for a defiling stain on her white role, she found none. After eating she looked at her hands and they were as fresh as if they had just been washed. Then she noticed that there was no rotten fruit on the ground under these trees, because as soon as it falls it evaporates so as not to defile the beautiful garden. [122]

[122] Rebecca Springer, Within Heaven’s Gates (Springdale, Pennsylvania: Whitaker House, 1984), 26-8.

Revelation 22:1 Comments - Mary K. Baxter, in her heavenly vision, describes the river of life as “a sea of glass, like a sea of crystal, but it was flowing.” [123] This description matches that given earlier in the book of Revelation:

[123] Mary K. Baxter, A Divine Revelation of Heaven (New Kensington, Pennsylvania: Whitaker House, 1998), 126.

Revelation 4:6, “And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal : and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.”

In his book I Saw Heaven Roberts Lairdon mentions the River of Life, “The River of Life is quite different from anything on earth. When you walk into it, it purifies you. It cleanses you of anything remaining from your earthlife and gives you life from its source, the Throne of God.” [124]

[124] Roberts Lairdon, I Saw Heaven (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Albury Publishing, 1991), 39.

Revelation 22:1-2 Comments - Every major book written by those who have been to Heaven describe the river of life and the tree of life. Jesse Duplantis makes a special note about the purpose of the fruit on the tree of life. He and others were told to eat the fruit and to smell its leaves in order to gain strength for their journey to the throne of God. It helped people to stay in the glory of God. When Jesse began to feel weak, his angel went over to this tree, picked its fruit and had him eat it to gain his strength back. [125]

[125] Jesse Duplantis, Heaven Close Encounters of the God Kind (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Harrison House, 1996), 73, 76, 113.

Revelation 22:3 “and his servants shall serve him” Comments - People often ask what we will be doing in Heaven. God’s Word gives us a general idea in Revelation 22:3 by saying that “His servants shall serve Him.” I believe that every person will use his unique talents and gifts to serve the Lord just as believers do in this life.

Verses 6-21

Conclusion Revelations Revelation 22:6-21 serves as a conclusion to the book of Revelation.

Revelation 22:10 Scripture Reference - Compare Daniel 8:26.

Daniel 8:26, “And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.”

Revelation 22:11 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.

Revelation 22:11 Comments - In his quotes of “The Letters of the Churches of Lyons and Vienne,” Eusebius (A.D. 260 to 340) gives to us an interpretation of this verse as seen by the early Church during their years of persecution.

“But the blessed Blandina, last of all, having, as a noble mother, encouraged her children and sent them before her victorious to the King, endured herself all their conflicts and hastened after them, glad and rejoicing in her departure as if called to a marriage supper, rather than east to wild beasts. And, after the scourging, after the wild beasts, after the roasting seat, she was finally enclosed in a net, and thrown before a bull. And having been tossed about by the animal, but feeling none of the things which were happening to her, on account of her hope and firm hold upon what had been entrusted to her, and her communion with Christ, she also was sacrificed. And the heathen themselves confessed that never among them had a woman endured so many and such terrible tortures. ‘But not even thus was their madness and cruelty toward the saints satisfied. For incited by the Wild Beast, wild and barbarous tribes were not easily appeased, and their violence found another peculiar opportunity in the dead bodies. For, through their lack of manly reason, the fact that they had been conquered did not put them to shame, but rather the more enkindled their wrath as that of a wild beast, and aroused alike the hatred of governor and people to treat us unjustly; that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ‘He that is lawless, let him be lawless still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still.’” ( Ecclesiastical History 5.1.55)

He says that it refers to the cruelty of the wickedness and to the perseverance of the saints in the midst of persecutions. The wicked become more cruel and the righteous find a greater level of grace and anointing.

Revelation 22:11 Comments - Note these insightful words from Marietta Davis regarding this verse. After the spirit explained to her why infant children in heaven, so tender and pure in nature, are protected from the wicked spirits bound in hell, she says:

“In this the wisdom and goodness of God is displayed. No absolutely contrary element in the world of spirits mingles with the pure and harmonious. Thus, the sacred Scripture is fulfilled that says, when speaking of these conditions, ‘He who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.’ In other words, let there be a separation between the qualities of good and evil with those who have departed from the flesh, let those who are holy enjoy that without the warring of evil elements, and let the unholy come together by their affinities. For it is justly written that an impassable gulf is fixed between good and evil (Luke 16:26), since these extremes can in no way blend.” [126]

[126] Marietta Davis, Caught Up Into Heaven (New Kensington, Pennsylvania: Whitaker House, 1982), 94.

Dwight Thompson interprets Revelation 22:11 to mean that once a person enters eternity, his personality is forever shaped and established. After death, a person cannot repent and change his character. What he has been shaped and molded into during his life is the way he will spend eternity. He is forever wicked while in Hell. A person in Heaven will always be just and holy in God’s presence. The only thing that we can take with us into eternity is our character.

Revelation 22:16 “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches” Comments - This verse at the end of the book of Revelation tells us that that message to the seven churches was not limited to chapters 2 and 3, but rather, the message continued throughout the entire book.

Revelation 22:17 “and the bright and morning star” Comments - We know that at dusk the bright “star” that is first visible in the night is actually the planet Venus. The emphasis in Revelation 22:17 is that just as Venus is the first and brightest star in the sky, so is Jesus Christ the firstborn from the dead. The stars that become visible as darkness approaches represent the Church. In fact, God likened the seed of Abraham to stars in Genesis 15:5.

Genesis 15:5, “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.”

Revelation 22:18 Illustration - Today, cults add their own revelations to Scriptures.

Scripture References - Note:

Deuteronomy 4:2, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”

Deuteronomy 12:32, “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.”

Proverbs 30:6, “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”

Revelation 22:18-19 Comments - Adding To and Taking Away from the Scriptures Revelation 22:18-19 gives readers a stern warning not to add to what is contained in the book of Revelation or to take away from it. In essence, John is saying that the canon of the Old and New Testaments are closed. The words of no other person will have the same weight of authority as do the books of the Holy Scriptures. If someone claims to speak with equal or greater authority than the Holy Scriptures, then he is a liar and subject to the judgment pronounced in these verses. Throughout history, men have tried to override Scriptures. For example, the Roman Catholic has held the words of the Pope at equal or greater authority to the Scriptures, which has led to doctrinal error because they did not close the canon of the Scriptures among themselves. Although there are many great men and women of God among the Catholic church across the world, some of their doctrines are out of bounds. Other groups have done the same because they placed their new teachings above the teachings of the Holy Scriptures. If you will watch those who teach such false doctrines, the judgments written in Revelation 22:18-19 will come into their lives and God’s Word will judge them.

Revelation 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Revelation 22:21 “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all” Comments - In a similar way that the early apostles were instructed by Jesus to let their peace come upon the home of their host (Matthew 10:13), so did Paul the apostle opening every one of his thirteen New Testament epistles with a blessing of God’s peace and grace upon his readers. Peter did the same in his two epistles. Now John the apostles invokes this blessing in his second and third epistles and Revelation. Matthew 10:13 shows that you can bless a house by speaking God's peace upon it.

Matthew 10:13, “And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.”

This practice of speaking blessings upon God’s children may have its roots in the Priestly blessing of Numbers 6:22-27, where God instructed Moses to have the priests speak a blessing upon the children of Israel. Now John closes his epistle to the seven churches of Asia Minor by restating the blessing that he opened his epistle with in Revelation 1:4.