"Let the Revelation speak and tell what is truth. . . . Uplift Jesus as the center of all hope."
XLVII. Healing, Life, Invitation
Chapter 22
THIS week's lesson closes the special study of the text of the most wonderful book in the Bible. We reach the great climax in sin forever past, in the demonstrated, healing blessing of God upon His whole creation. We have already learned of the land and of the city, and yet the prophet seems loath to leave them. He tells us of other things about that city; he warns again those who are rebellious and unsubmissive; he invites again to the glorious future. Let us —
Question the Text
1. What attraction of the city was shown John?
And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the street thereof. Rev. 22: 1, 2. Note 1.
2. What did he see on either side of this river?
And on this side of the river and on that was the Tree of Life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Verse 2. Note 2.
3. What is said of that glorious city and land?
And there shall be no curse any more. Verse 3. Note 3.
4. What reason is given that there shall be no curse?
And the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and His servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face; and His name shall be on their foreheads. Verses 3, 4. Note 4.
5. How is that city lighted?
And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign forever and ever. Verse 5. Note 5.
6. How does the angel again affirm to God's children His revelation? and what assurance is given?
And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must shortly come to pass. And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book. Verses 6, 7. Note 6.
7. How did the overwhelming glory affect John?
And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that showed me these things. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this book: worship God. Verses 8, 9. Note 7.
8. What instruction is given to John, and what decree is mentioned?
And he saith unto me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand. He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still. Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to render to each man according as his work is. Verses 10-12. Note 8.
9. What blessing does the Lord again pronounce?
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to come to the Tree of Life, and may enter in by the gates into the city. Verses 13, 14. Note 9.
10. What classes are without the city?
Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and maketh a lie. Verse 15. Note 10.
11. By what other words does Jesus announce Himself?
I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star. Verse 16. Note 11.
12. What blessed invitation is given?
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely. Verse 17. Note 12.
13. What solemn warning is given regarding the sacredness of this book?
I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Tree of Life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book. Verses 18, 19. Note 13.
14. With what blessed words does the book close?
He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen. Verses 20, 21. Note 14.
Note and Comment
1. Read the sentence as in the American Revised Version. The Common Version is not understandable. How the Tree of Life can be in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, is difficult to understand. But the Revised Version carries the close of the sentence into the second verse, giving us the clear meaning. The river of water of life flows down through the great, broad street of the city, in the midst. It carries us back to God's plan of irrigation. The fountain wells up from the throne of God, and pours out the wealth of its blessing by constant division all over the earth, bearing the water of life to all that need it. It does not, like our rivers here, gather up the richness of the soil and bear it out into the great salt sea; it does not wash the land of all its richness, as have many of the watersheds of the world, until nothing is left but stone or gravel, and barren hills. Mount Zion, we may well believe, is the very highest point of land in the new earth. There is the throne of the King, and out from that throne pours the river which will water the whole earth, dividing into streams and subdividing until the whole earth is watered by the life-giving flow.
2. THE TREE OF LIFE.—Arching over this river is the Tree of Life, and this Tree of Life bears its twelve manner of fruits — not at one time, but each kind of fruit a month. Each fruit will be in season in its month, when the tribes of Israel come up to worship God; for they shall come up from Sabbath to Sabbath, and from month to month, according to Isa. 66: 23. At each one of these monthly gatherings there will be the new, delectable fruit of the Tree of Life. "The healing of the nations" may be rendered "the service of the nations." The original word is "therapeia," from which comes our "therapeutics." Its literal meaning is "attendance." Out of that it has come to be used as a medical term, meaning "cure." "Therapon" is an attendant, a servant, a minister; and "therapeia" is service, attendance. In just what kind of service these leaves will be placed, whether for the building of bowers and the ornamentation of palace or home, we do not know; but we do know this, — that these leaves will be for some blessed service of the children of God, even as the fruit furnishes them food.
3. NO CURSE. — The margin of the Revised Version reads, "no more anything accursed." Murdock's Syriac reads, "And there will be no blight any more," and Etheridge's Syriac translation reads, "And there shall be no falling away." Another prophet, looking forward to the same time, declares, "Affliction shall not rise up the second time." Nahum 1: 9. God's universe shall not be cursed with sin forever. More heavily than anywhere else in the universe, it has rested upon this earth. It has been well called "the sin-cursed planet." But where that curse has rested the most heavily, there it is said, "And there shall be no curse any more." He who was made a curse for us by His own mighty sacrifice, will lift the curse from the whole creation.
4. HIS NAME. — There is reason why there shall be no more curse. The curse comes in consequence of sin. Every blasted, blighted thing we see upon this old world is blasted and is blighted because of sin. Every pale face, every crippled form, every wasted life, every premature death, yea, every death, are all here because sin is here. But in that glorious new heavens and earth there will be no more sin. "Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever." Isa. 60: 21. Instead of a character which reveals selfishness and unrighteousness, these characters will reveal God and His righteousness. "His name shall be upon their foreheads." As before shown, this means His character; they will be impressed by His character. His throne will be there. His light and glory will permeate all, and the servants of God shall serve Him. Having no sin, they can look upon His face and bask forever in the sunlight of His love. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." True, description is of the city, but the city is the capital of the earth. As every soul in the earth is represented in that city, we may know what the earth will be by the character of the city. In this world the character of the cities is always worse than that of the country; but the character of the capital of the kingdom, which represents every soul in the kingdom, will stamp after the same mold and pattern the character of the entire realm. God has made all things new. The reproach of His people is forever wiped away. They have7learned of His infinite love in travail, in strife; their faith has pierced the darkness, and they have believed when to all intents and purposes there was nothing upon which to base faith save His own Word and His own assurance. Now faith gives place to sight, and hope to the glad fruition of all the ages.
5. NO NIGHT. — And this is the city again: "There shall be night no more." This we learned in our last lesson. For the very joy of the telling, the prophet repeats it. "The Lord God shall give them light." They walk and talk and eat and drink, bathed in the infinite, life-giving glory of the Father; for not only is the throne of the Lamb there, but the throne of God is there. The one spot in the universe which has felt the curse heaviest will receive most of the glory of God, because in God's plan it will be demonstrated to all the countless worlds through countless ages that "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound," and that lesson through all coming eons will prevent sin from rising again. The very primary lessons taught throughout God's universe will be God's love and what that infinite love has wrought.
6. FAITHFUL AND TRUE. — He has told us this before. The history of the world since the Revelation was written has again and again evidenced the truth of his prophecy. But the angel himself wants to say it again, and so he says it, that the words are faithful and true; and God has sent His angel Gabriel, as He has sent him to all the prophets of the past, to tell the things which must shortly come to pass. The book is written for the last days — most emphatically for the closing days of the Christian dispensation. The last days include all the time from our Lord's first advent to His second advent; but these ages pass through wonderful transformations, and not all will be known until we reach the last generation; and therefore all will not know the teaching and meaning of the wonderful sayings of this book until the last generation is reached. Then, to meet the needs of that generation, God's Spirit will flood with light His entire Word, and this Revelation of Jesus Christ; and therefore to every soul of that last generation comes the assurance and the promise: "Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book."
7. "I FELL DOWN TO WORSHIP." — John had once before fallen down to worship at the feet of the angel. He had mistaken him for a divine being. He was admonished then that he should not worship the angel. Rev. 19: 10. Seemingly the angel comes to him with added glory; and the wonderful story that he tells of the marvelous transformation that God is making in this old earth surpasses so much the wildest imagination of the prophet, that the glory of the angel and his story overpower him, and he again seems to think that the angel is divine. But God would not have men worship angels, however great their glory; for the glory with which they are invested is the glory of the Father, and not their own. God would not have His children worship men, however great those men may be exalted; for any talent or power which they possess is that which comes from the Father above. So it was with the angel. He did not overestimate himself; he was not there to lead men away to worship him. All angels so minded separated with Lucifer in the rebellion in heaven. This angel felt that it was his highest joy to tell John, "I am a FELLOW SERVANT with thee and with thy brethren the prophets;" nay, more, "with them that keep the words of this book." He was not a human, but a ministering spirit of God. He had ministered to Adam, to Enoch, to Abraham, to Elijah, to Daniel, to Isaiah, to Ezekiel, to all God's servants the prophets, through all the past. He brought the message to Zacharias that John the Baptist was to be born, to Mary that she should be the mother of the child Jesus, to John upon the island of Patmos; and now he comes down through all these closing days and ministers again to those who see the Revelation in its fulness and keep the sayings of the prophecy of the book. But they are not to worship angels. They are not to worship the creature, however great. The very message for this time is, "Fear God, and give glory to Him; . . . and worship Him." And so the angel's admonition, "Worship God."
8. SEAL NOT UP THE WORDS OF THE PROPHECY OF THIS BOOK. — Their fulfilment began in the very days of John; and we may well believe that those who came afterward gave great study to the book and found encouragement in it. It was almost lost to the church during the Dark Ages, as was all the rest of the Word of God. "Higher critics" in the last days set it aside as a visionary document, hardly worthy of study; but God's children may find in it the revelation of the Master, a rehearsal of all the precious promises of His Word, a setting forth of the great drama and tragedy of sin, and the triumph of righteousness. "The time is at hand" comes with special force in the very closing days. The time is at hand when character is fixed. Another prophet, looking forward to this time, saw "multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." See Joel 3: 13, 14. John announces when that time shall come — when men, by their own choice, shall have accepted or rejected God's message, and the fiat goes forth from the eternal throne. Let the righteous be righteous still, and let the wicked be wicked still. They have taken their choice forever. It is no arbitrary decree of God; it is the free choice of the mortal. And just beyond that, separated by that little word "quickly," covering the period of time when the plagues shall be poured out, occurs the second coming of our Lord, to render to each one according to his work.
9. THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA. — "Alpha," the first letter in the Greek alphabet; "Omega," the last letter of the Greek alphabet, — the language used for the writing of this book; — including all that comes between; so Christ is the beginning and the end of all the good that comes to this earth. He is the Author and the Finisher of the faith of His children; and those who have believed in Him as the Author will see the glad fruition of the finishing. And those who have so submitted to Him will spell out His wonderful character in their own life from the Alpha to the Omega, and will enjoy it forever.
And then comes the blessing. The Common Version is, "Blessed are they that do His commandments;" the Revised, "Blessed are they that wash their robes." It is simply the difference in a Greek word; some of the ancient copies have the one and some the other. The washing of their robes in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ cleansed from sin; and he who is cleansed from sin in Christ, keeps God's commandments. There can be no washing of robes and the robes preserved white, without the working out of love in the character in the individual thus washed. "Faith which worketh by love" God demands of His children (Gal. 5: 6), and love keeps all of God's commandments, "and His commandments are not grievous" (1 John 5: 3). And so those who wash their robes in the fountain opened by the Saviour will be obedient children, and will have the right to enter in through the gates into the city. These gates, we learn, have upon them the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel (chapter 21: 12). Every one who enters them will enter under the name of one of those tribes; and this throws light upon that other text in Isa. 45: 17, "Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be put to shame nor confounded world without end."
10. WITHOUT. — The prophet's vision still dwells with him, of the great mass of the wicked who, led by Satan, thought to take the city and destroy God and His children. He recalls the classes to which they belong — the vile, the sorcerers, the fornicators, the murderers, the idolaters; and all of them are summed up in that one expression, "every one that loveth and maketh a lie." The margin is, "every one that loveth and DOETH a lie;" and everything is a lie that is not in harmony with God. "A God of truth" is He; and he who does not know His character and the essential truth of His character, is one who loves and does falsehood. And in that glorious triumph of the people of God, he will have no part; he will be "without."
11. I JESUS. — To save us from this, Jesus tells us that it is He who is testifying these things for the churches, — He who has been one among the children of men, He who has met all that all the others have had to meet, the offspring of David, and yet "the Bright and the Morning Star," next to God the highest in all the universe, one with the Father. It is said of Lucifer that he was the "day-star." He chose the selfish things; he sought his own honor, even to the dethronement of God (Isa. 14: 12-14); but the "Bright and the Morning Star" said, "I will leave all the glory of heaven and all the glory which I have with My Father, and I will come clear down to the very lowest depths, that of sinful man, and take upon Myself the seed of David, and so overcome for all who will have faith." And this He did. See Phil. 2: 5-9; Rom. 1: 3; Heb. 2: 17.
12. "COME." — What a pleading it is! The Spirit says "Come" — the Spirit that moved God to give His Son to die, the Spirit that moved our blessed Lord to give Himself an eternal sacrifice, for He will never be again what He was. He gave Himself. He will always be a brother to His human children; He will always bear the form of the human. He gave all that when He gave Himself for us; and that Spirit which led Him to make that sacrifice, invites us to "come." The bride, the holy city, says "Come." How many there are in this world that will take long journeys to the far ends of the earth to visit a city dressed out on some gala occasion, with some exposition in hand! How many millions will soon traverse the continent of America to visit San Francisco and her exposition, which will last, at the very longest, only six months, and its glories will fade during that time; and men will die there, and the journeys will be attended with danger. But here is an eternal city, bright, glorious, righteous, the inhabitants of which shall live forever and ever, and all these glories and beauties and righteousness and life and joys unspeakable are inviting all the souls of earth to "come." And then "he that heareth these things," whose ears have been touched by the joyful sound, who has tasted all the sweets of salvation — "let him say, Come." And so, reader, we bid you come! "And he that is athirst." O, how many thirsty ones there are in this world! They have drunk of the waters of this life, and thirst still. Their throats have been burned by the poisonous drafts of this world's mixing. They have thought to drown in drink the sorrows of life. They are thirsty still. Let those who are thirsting for that which satisfies, drink of the waters of life. Yes, every one that will. God bars no one; He separates no one from that fountain by a cordon of ecclesiastical police. By no council, by no decree, by no church rules, by nothing that men can do or have done does He bar any one from His presence. He leaves the choice with the soul. "He that will" — it is the broad "whosoever" — "let him take the water of life," not in little driblets, not muddied8by an erroneous theology, nor poisoned by the speculations of infidelity, but right from the great Fountain of Life, let him drink, and drink freely.
13. 'I TESTIFY,' John says. He has learned of the value of God's Word. He knows it is sure. No professed teacher of Christ must add to it; no professed teacher of Christ must take from it. It must not be ignored in the character building. Let it all stand in its great strength and fairness. All the warnings are needed, all the sentences against wickedness will be executed, all the promises are true.
14. I COME QUICKLY. — Jesus testifies again, and declares, 'Yea: I come quickly.' The King is coming — He who has so long stayed away from His own, who has suffered His own children who loved Him to go down into dishonored graves, suffering everything that human ingenuity moved by demons could invent — is coming. He will wipe away all the tears, heal all the wounds, let His great grace overcome all that the devil has endeavored to destroy. Yes, He is coming quickly! Would that every soul who professes His name could say, with John — and John represents God's true church — 'Amen' — let it be so, Lord; come quickly. 'Come, Lord Jesus.'
Why should we fear Him? the best Friend in all the universe; the merciful One to us in all our sins; the One who invited us when we were sinning against Him; the One who followed us in our hardness of heart, when we would not yield to Him; the One that touched us with His own grace when we turned to Him, and said, 'Thy sins are all forgiven thee;' the One that took away the hard heart, filled with malice and wickedness and envy, and gave us a heart of flesh, upon which He could write His holy law; the One that took away the enmity of His law, and placed therein that love of His precepts that made them a delight; the One that will banish death and bring life forevermore. He is coming! Why can we not say, 'Amen; come, Lord Jesus'? And that we may be kept to that time, the apostle declares, 'The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints' — His great, wondrous grace. 'Amen.'
[A Review of the book will be given in our next issue.]
