The river is suggested partly by Ezekiel’s representation of the healing stream which was to issue from the new temple and flow through the dreary Ghor of the Jordan valley (Eze 47:1-12), partly by the reference (in a later apocalypse, Zec 14:8) to perennial waters issuing from Jerusalem as the dwelling-place of God in the new age. John has no use for Ezekiel’s idea that the stream would assist in the messianic transformation of nature. He changes the numerous trees on either side of the wady into the (generic) single tree of life, reverting as before (Eze 2:7) to the ideal of the Semitic paradise. Also, he drops the notion of the river sweetening the bitter waters of the Dead Sea. Cf. Pirke Eliezer, 51, aquae putei ascensurae sunt e limine templi atque scaturient prodibuntque. The Babylonian origin of the idea is outlined by Zimmern in Archiv für Relig. Wiss. 1899, 170 f. Unlike the earthly Jerusalem with its inferior stream, the new city is to be richly equipped with conduits and all that makes a city prosperous and secure (Isa 33:21).
πλατείας (“street,” or “boulevard”) collective and generic (cf. Jam 5:6) like ξύλον. Take ἐν … αὐτῆς with what precedes, and begin a fresh sentence with καὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ (W. H.), ξύλον being governed by ἔδειξεν (from Rev 22:1). The river, which is the all-pervading feature, is lined with the trees of life. The writer retains the traditional singular of Gen 2:9, combining it with the representation of Ezekiel (yet note sing, in Eze 47:12); he thus gains symbolic impressiveness at the expense of pictorial coherence. Ramsay (C. B. P. ii. 453) observes, however, that the waters of the Marsyas were “probably drawn off to flow through the streets of Apameia; this practice is still a favourite one in Asia Minor, e.g., at Denizli”.-κ. μῆνα, the poetic imagination soars over the prosaic objection that months are impossible without a moon (Rev 21:22).-καρπὸν, κ.τ.λ. To eat of the tree of life was, in the popular religious phraseology of the age, to possess immortality. In En. 24., 25., where the prophet sees a wonderful, fragrant tree, Michael explains that it must stand untouched till the day of Judgment (καὶ οὐδεμία σὰρξ ἐξουσίαν ἔχει ἅψασθαι αὐτοῦ). “Then the righteous and the holy shall have it given them; it shall be as food for the elect unto life.” So in contemporary Judaism; e.g., 4 Esd. 7:53 and 8:52 (“For unto you is paradise set open, the tree of life is planted, the time to come is prepared, a city is builded and rest is established,”) as already in Test. Levi. 18, where the messianic high-priest is to “open the gates of paradise and remove the sword drawn against Adam, and permit the saints to eat of the tree of life”. For the association of God’s city and God’s garden, cf. Apoc. Bar. iv.: for the notion of healing, Apoc. Mos. vi., Jub. x. 12 f., and the Iranian idea that (Brandt, 434 f.) the tree of many seeds had curative properties. John is therefore using the realistic and archaic language of Jewish piety to delineate the bliss of Christians in a future state where all the original glories and privileges of God’s life with man are to be restored. The Christian heaven is to possess everything which Judaism claimed and craved for itself. Cf. the Christian addition to 4 Ezr 2:12; Ezr 2:34-35; Ezr 2:38 f.; also the famous hymn to Osiris (E. B. D., ch. 183: “I have come into the city of God-the region which existed in primaeval time-with my soul, to dwell in this land.… The God thereof is most holy. His land draweth unto itself every other land. And doth he not say, the happiness thereof is a care to me?”).
κατάθεμα, a corrupt and rare form of κατανάθεμα = anything accursed (lit. a curse itself, Did. Rev 16:8). i.e., abstract for concrete, here = “a cursed person,” so Ps. Sol. 17:20 f.-λατρεύσουσι, unfettered and unspoiled devotion. The interruption of the daily service and sacrifice in Jerusalem on 17th July, 70 A.D., had sent a painful thrill to the heart of all who cherished the ideal of Act 26:7. No fear of that in the new Jerusalem!
The ancient ideal of intimate confidence is also to be realised (cf. on Mat 5:8 and Iren. Adv. Har. Rev 22:7). With this phrase and that of Rev 21:22 compare Browning’s lines: “Why, where’s the need of temple when the walls | O’ the world are that … This one Face, far from vanish, rather grows | Becomes my universe that feels and knows.” The idea here is that reproduced in the seventh and supreme degree of bliss in 4 Ezra 7 :[78] where the saints “shall rejoice with confidence, have boldness undismayed, and gladness unafraid, for they shall hasten to behold the face of him whom they served in life”. By Oriental usage, no condemned or criminal person was allowed to look on the king’s face (Est 7:8), In the ancient ch. 64 of E. B. D. (papyrus of Nu) the “triumphant Nu saith, ‘I have come to see him that dwelleth in his divine uraeus, face to face, and eye to eye.… Thou art in me, and I am in thee,’ ” The Apocalypse, however, shuns almost any approach to the inner union of the individual Christian and Christ which distinguished both Paul and the fourth gospel; it also eschews the identification of God and man which was often crudely affected by Egyptian eschatology. No allusion occurs to the supremacy of the saints over angels (Ap. Bar. 51:12, etc.), though John is careful elsewhere to keep the latter in their place (see on Rev 21:17, Rev 22:9). He also ignores the problem of different degrees in bliss,-ὄψονται. In Chag. 5 b there is a story of a blind rabbi who blessed some departing visitors with the words, “Ye have visited a face that is seen and sees not: may ye be counted worthy to visit the Face which sees and is not seen”. The Christian prophet has a better hope and promise. Compare, however, Plutarch’s touching faith (Iside, 79) that the souls of men after death will “migrate to the unseen, the good,” when God becomes their king and leader and where “they, as it were, hang upon him and gaze without ever wearying, and yearn for that unspeakable, indescribable Beauty”.
Philo (de Joshua 24) had already described heaven as ἡμέραν αἰώνιον, νυκτὸς καὶ πάσης σκιᾶς ἀμέτοχον. Cf. En. vi. 6.-Such teaching on heaven, though in a less religious form, seems to have been current among the Asiatic πρεσβύτεροι. Irenæus (5:36, 1-2) quotes them as holding (cf. above on Rev 2:7) that some of the blessed τῆς τοῦ παραδείσου τρυφῆς ἀπολαύσουσιν, οἱ δὲ τὴν λαμπρότητα τῆς πόλεως καθέξουσιν· πανταχοῦ γὰρ ὁ Σωτὴρ ὁρασθήσεται, καθὼς ἄξιοι ἔσονται οἱ ὁρῶντες αὐτόν, κ.τ.λ.
The epilogue (Rev 22:6-21) is a series of loose ejaculations, which it is not easy to assign to the various speakers. It is moulded on the lines of the epilogue to the astronomical section of Enoch (lxxxi. f.), where Enoch is left for one year with his children-“that thou mayest testify to them all.… Let thy heart be strong, for the good will announce righteousness to the good, but the sinners will die with the sinners, and the apostates go down with the apostates”. Two characteristic motifs, however, dominate the entire passage: (a) the vital importance of this book as a valid and authentic revelation, and (b) the nearness of the end. The former is heard in the definite claim of inspiration (Rev 22:6 f., Rev 22:16) and prophetic origin (Rev 22:8-9) which guarantees its contents, in the beatitude of Rev 22:7 b (cf. Rev 22:17), and (cf. Rev 22:21) in the claim of canonical dignity (Rev 22:18-19). The latter is voiced thrice in a personal (Rev 22:7; Rev 22:12; Rev 22:20) and twice in an impersonal (Rev 22:6; Rev 22:10) form. Both are bound up together (cf. Rev 22:20 and Rev 1:3). It is as a crucial revelation of the near future and a testimony to the authority and advent of the messiah (cf. Rev 22:20) that this apocalypse claims to be read, and honoured in the churches. This general standpoint is clear enough, but the details are rather intricate. It is characteristic of the Apocalyse, as of ep. Barnabas, that the writer often leaves it indefinite whether God or Christ or an angel is speaking. Sometimes the divine voice is recognised to be that of Christ (cf. Rev 1:10 f., Rev 4:1), or may be inferred from the context to be that of an angel (e.g., Rev 17:15; Revelation cf.1 and Rev 19:9), perhaps as the divine spokesman (Rev 21:5-6, cf. Rev 22:5; Rev 22:7). But frequently, even when the seer is addressed (Rev 10:4, Rev 14:13), the voice or Bath-Qol is anonymous (e.g., Rev 11:12, Rev 12:10, Rev 14:2, Rev 16:1; Revelation cf.17). In the epilogue, as it stands, it is impossible and irrelevant to determine whether Jesus (16) begins to speak at Rev 22:10 (so Spitta, Holtzm, Porter, Forbes) and resumes in Rev 22:18-20 a. But, while Rev 22:6-7, and Rev 22:8-9 are both intended in a sense to round off the entire Apocalypse, and not merely the immediately preceding vision, 8-9 (a replica of Rev 19:9-10) stands closer to Rev 21:9 to Rev 22:5 than does Rev 22:6-7. No λόγοι in the last vision justify the reference in 6, whereas the specific δεικν. μοι ταῦτα in 8 echoes the cicerone-function of the angel in Rev 21:9-10, Rev 22:1. Rev 22:6-7 very probably lay originally between 9 and 10 (for the juxtaposition of εἶπεν and λέγει cf. Rev 17:7; Rev 17:15), where they definitely mark the beginning of the epilogue already anticipated in 8 (cf. Rev 1:4; Rev 1:9) and in the broadened close of 9 (contrast Rev 19:10 above). It is not necessary (though perhaps a later scribe may have thought so) to account for John’s action in 8-9 by supposing that he mistook the angelus interpres for Christ. The λόγοι of 6, when this order is adopted, acquire their natural sense (cf. Rev 22:10), and the three successive angel-utterances (Rev 22:8-9; Rev 22:6-7; Rev 22:10-11) have a proper sequence. It is needless, in view of Rev 16:15 (cf. Rev 3:11) to omit Rev 22:7 a as an interpolation (Könnecke). But Rev 22:12-13 probably have been displaced from their original order (Rev 22:13; Rev 22:12) and position after Rev 22:16 (Könnecke), where Rev 22:17 echoes Rev 22:12 a, and Rev 22:14-15 carries on the thought of Rev 22:11. Rev 22:18-19 are plainly editorial, interrupting the connexion of Rev 22:17 and Rev 22:20. In 11 Resch (Agrapha, § 113) attempts to prove that some logion of Jesus is quoted. On the “inconsistent optimism” of Rev 22:13; Rev 22:15, cf. Abbott, p. 107.
As in En. cviii. 6 (only mention of prophets in Enoch), “what God announces through the mouth of the prophets” relates to the future.-πνευμ. the plurality of spirits is an archaic detail (cf. Rev 1:4) adapted also from the Enochic formula (Enoch 37:2, etc.), “God of the spirits”.
Here as elsewhere it is irrelevant to ask, who is the speaker? Angels are the envoys and mouthpieces of God here as in the O.T., and therefore entitled to speak in his name or in that of Christ. “The Oriental mind hardly distinguishes between an ancient personage and one who appears in his power and spirit” (A. B. Davidson on Eze 34:23). In 4 Esd. 5:31-40 the angel is also addressed as if he were the Lord-the angelic personality evidently fading into the divine, as here, and the writer being equally unconscious of any incongruity in the representation (cf. Zec 3:1-4). As the “showing” of the ἅ δ. γ. ἐν τ. is (Rev 1:1) an ἀποκ. of Jesus, he (or a word of his) naturally breaks in (7 a).-τηρῶν κ.τ.λ., an apocalyptic form of emphasis. Cf. e.g., Slav. En. xlvii. 1-3 and xxxvi. (“tell thou thy sons and all thy household before Me, that they may listen to what is spoken to them by thee … and let them always keep my commandments, and begin to read and understand the books written out by thee”). All apocalypses were meant to be transmitted to mankind, but the usual method of delivery is complicated (cf. En. lxxxii. 1, 2; Slav. En. xxxiii. 9, xlvii. 2, 3, etc.).
There is no trace of any reluctance on the prophet’s part to return to earth, as in Asc. Isa. (Gk.), 2:33-35.
The warning against any Christian θρησκεία τῶν ἀγγέλων is not, as in the parallel passage, an indirect exaltation of the prophetic order as equivalent to the angelic in religious function, but an assertion that even ordinary Christians who accept the Apocalypse are equal to the hierophant angel. Unlike Nebo, the angelic interpreter of Marduk’s will in Babylonian religion, he is not to be worshipped, for all his importance. Precautions against angel-worship could hardly be more stringent. “The repetition of the scene is enough to show that it does not represent a natural ebullition of feeling and its corretction, but that the narrative has a purpose … and that those who observed the practice made use of” John’s name, or at any rate believed they could appeal to him as sanctioning their superstition (Weizäcker, ii. 203-204).
The book of Daniel, the great classic of apocalyptic literature, is represented (cf. Slav. En. xxxiii. 9-11, xxxv. 3; En. xciii. 10, civ. 12, etc.) as having been providentially kept secret at the time of its composition, since it referred to a future period (Dan 8:26, Dan 12:4; Dan 12:9). This was a literary device, to explain why it had not been divulged before. As John’s apocalypse is for an immediate crisis, it is not to be reserved for days to come. It is not merely valid (7) but intended for the prophet’s contemporaries (unlike Isa 30:8, cf. Cheyne’s note), though reserved, like most of its class, as esoteric literature for the “wise” (contrast 4 Esd. 14:38-48). Some interval, however, is presupposed between the vision and its fulfilment, otherwise it would be futile to write the visions down, and to arrange for their circulation throughout the churches. A certain career (Rev 22:7; Rev 22:9; Rev 22:18-19) is anticipated for the Apocalypse. But (Rev 22:11.) persistence in good and evil is about all the writer expects-a stereotyped feature of the apocalyptic outlook on the obduracy of the wicked and the perseverance of the saints. Apocalyptic never encouraged propaganda, and no radical or widespread change is anticipated during the brief interval before the end. As in Dan 12:10-11, so here, the crisis simply accentuates and accelerates human character along previous lines. No anxiety is shown, however, as in 4 Esd. 4:50 f., whether the prophet himself is to see the end.
κύνες, an archaic metaphor, coloured by the nomad’s hatred of hounds; cf. Arabia Deserta, i. 337, 339 (“only the dog has no citizenship in the nomad life”. “It is the only life mishandled by the gentle Arab, who with spurns and blows cast out these profane creatures from the tent.”) Here κύνες are not merely impure pagans, but the impudently impure, possibly in the special and darker sense of “sodomites” (cf. 1Ti 1:10; Deu 23:19-20, collated with πόρνη and βδέλυγμα). cf. on Rev 21:8 and Cooke’s North Sem. Inscriptions, p. 68. Such loathsome practices were not uncommon in the Oriental cults.
Jesus in person now speaks in the colloquy (Rev 22:16; Rev 22:13; Rev 22:12) to ratify what has just been said. This apocalypse is not an individual fantasy (2Pe 1:21). For the contemporary need of such accrediting, cf. Herm. Sim. ix. 22 and Ascension. Isa. 3:30, 31 (where in the last days “everyone will say what is pleasing in his own eyes. And they will make of none effect the prophecy of the prophets which were before me, and these my visions also will they make of none effect, in order to speak after the impulse of their own hearts.”)-ἄγγελον, not John (Weiss, Wellh.) but the angelus interpres (cf. on Rev 1:2; Rev 1:20).-ὑμῖν, the plural here and in Rev 22:6 (cf. Rev 1:1) might suggest that John’s apocalypse incorporated some visions of other members belonging to the prophets in the Asiatic circle or school (cf. the tradition about the co-operative origin of the Fourth gospel, in the Muratorian canon). But while any Jewish Christian sources may have been drawn from this quarter, the final authorship and authority is claimed by (or, for) John himself (cf. Rev 22:8).-Δαυείδ. Like most early Christians, John attached more weight to the Davidic descent of Jesus as messiah (Baldensperger, 82 f.), than Jesus himself allowed. Here Christ’s authority in revelation is bound up with his legitimate claim to be messiah, and thus to inaugurate the new and eternal day of God. As ἀνατολή (the dawn = צֶמַח) was already a messianic symbol, and employed in LXX (Jer 23:5, Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12) to denote the messianic branch or stem, this double usage explains the imagery here (so Justin, Apol. i. 32). Jesus has not only the historic preparation of Israel behind him but the infinite future before him. In one sense he was the climax of Hebrew expectation; in another, he is of world-wide significance. In connexion with the heavenly Jerusalem it was natural that Jesus should be hailed as the scion of the David who had founded the first Jerusalem. The star-metaphor reflects the significance of the morning-star which meant the beginning of a new day for toilers in the Levant; but its eschatological outlook was taken ultimately from Babylonian astro-theology, where Nebo-Mercury (nebî = prophet), the morning-star, announced the new era, or from Egyptian theology where (cf. E. B. D. p. cxliii.) Pepi the dead king “goeth forth into heaven among the Stars which never perish, and his guide the Morning-Star leadeth him to Sekhet-Hetep [the fields of peace]”. The phraselogy brings out the conviction of the early church that the present trial was only the cold, dark hour before the dawn. Their faith in Jesus assured them that an eternal prospect of bliss awaited them, and that this vista of hope was hound up with the person of the risen Jesus (cf. Rev 22:13). The watchword was, sunrise and morning-star (cf. Expos. Dec. 1902, 424-441). Christianity was not some ephemeral Oriental cult, which had had its day; the cosmic overthrow meant a new era for its adherents. The Apocalypse thus closes, as it began (Rev 1:5-6) with a note of ringing emphasis upon the eternal significance of Christ in the divine plan and purpose.
Rev 22:13 Gathers up the double thought of 16 and of 12. As the Christian ἔργα (Rev 2:2; Rev 2:5; Rev 2:19, etc.) are done within the sphere of faith, their recompense is a religious as well as a thoroughly moral conception (cf. Hastings’ D. B. iii. 82, and Montefiore’s Hibbert Lectures, p. 538). To the day’s work, the day’s wage. For the origin of this feeling on Syrian or Semitic soil, where the fellahin’s work “was scrutinised before the wages were paid” by one who was “at once the paymaster of his dependents and their judge,” cf. Hatch’s Hibb. Lectures, pp. 224 f. and Dalman, i. § viii. 3. The reward, like the new Jerusalem, was safely stored in heaven. No fear of inadequate moral appreciation in the next world, at any rated
The promise of 12 a is caught up and answered by a deep “come” from the prophets in ecstasy (πνεῦμα personified, cf. Rev 2:7, etc.) and the Christian congregation.-νύμφη. Hitherto (Rev 21:2, etc.) this term has been reserved for the church triumphant in the world to come. Now, with the memory of these oracles fresh in his mind, the prophet applies it to the church on earth, as Paul had already done.-καὶ ὁ ἀκούων κ.τ.λ., a liturgical note, like Mar 13:14 (cf. Weinel, 84, 85).-καὶ ὁ διψῶν κ.τ.λ., addressed to strangers who sometimes attended the Christian worship (cf. 1Co 14:23-24). For this fine turn of expression (the double use of come), cf. Did. x. 6, “may grace come and may this world pass away. Hosanna to the God of David! If anyone is holy let him come [i.e., to the Lord’s table]; if anyone is not, let him repent. Mârăna thâ” (cf. below, Rev 22:20). The less likely alternative is to take ἔρχου here as addressed not to Jesus but to the outside world.
Luther strongly objected to the extravagant threat of this editorial note. The curse is certainly not only an anti-climax like the editorial postscript in Joh 21:24-25 (both indicating that either when published or when admitted to the canon, these two scriptures needed special authentication) but “an unfortunate ending to a book whose value consists in the spirit that breathes in it, the bold faith and confident hope which it inspires, rather than in the literalness and finality of its disclosures” (Porter). But the words are really a stereotyped and vehement form of claiming a canonicity equal to that of the O.T. (cf. Jos. Ant. xx. 11. 2, τοσούτου γὰρ αἰῶνος ἤδη παρῳχηκότος οὔτε προσθεῖναί τις οὔτε ἀφελεῖν ἀπʼ αὐτῶν οὔτε μεταθεῖναι τετόλμηκεν). They are adapted from Enoch cvi. 10 f. where the author expects his book to be a comfort and joy to the righteous, but exposed to perversion and alteration: “Many sinners will pervert and alter the words of uprightness” instead of refusing to “change or minish aught from my words”. Similar threats to careless or wilful copyists especially in frenaeus (Eus. H. E. Rev 22:20), and Rufin. pref. to Origen’s περὶ ἀρχῶν (cf. Nestle’s Einführung, 161 f.). This nervous eagerness to safeguard Christian teaching was part and parcel of the contemporary tendency to regard apostolic tradition (cf. Rev 18:20, Rev 21:14, etc.) as a body of authoritative doctrine, which must not be tampered with. An almost equally severe threat occurs in Slav. En. xlviii. 7-9, 56. (also Rev 3:3), so that the writer, in this jealousy for the letter rather than for the spirit, was following a recognised precedent (R. J. 125 f.), which was bound up with a conservative view of tradition and a juristic conception of scripture (Titius, pp. 206 f., Deissm, 113 f.). Rabbinic librarii got a similar warning in that age (cf. Bacher’s Agada d. Tann, i. 254), and Christian copyists, if not editors, required it in the case of the Apocalypse, although apparently they paid little heed to it, for as early as the time of Irenæus there were serious discrepancies in the copies circulated throughout the churches. John had himself omitted a contemporary piece of prophecy (cf. on Rev 10:4). But he explains that he was inspired to do so; this verse refuses to let others deal similarly with his book.
The prayer of Rev 22:17 is answered in Rev 22:20, which repeats the assurance of the messiah’s speedy advent. This μαρτυρία Ἰησοῦ, in the prophetic consciousness (Rev 19:10), is specifically eschatological. The close and sudden aspect of the end loomed out before Judaism (cf. 4 Esd. 4:26, 44 50, Apoc. Bar. xxiii. 7, lxxxiii. 1) as before the Christian church at this period, bat it was held together with calculations which anticipated a certain process and progress of history. The juxtaposition of this ardent hope and an apocalyptic programme, here as in Mar 13:5-37; Mar 13:4 Esd. 14:11, 12, is one of the antinomies of the religious consciousness, which is illogical only on paper. In Sanhed. 97 a, a rabbinic cycle of seven years culminating in messiah’s advent is laid down; whereupon “Rab. Yoseph saith, There have been many septennial cycles of this kind, and he has not come … Rabbi Zera saith, Three things come unexpectedly: the messiah, the finding of treasure-trove, and a scorpion” (cf. Drummond’s Jewish Messiah, 220).-Κύριε. The Lordship of Jesus is defined as his right to come and to judge (Rev 22:12), which is also the point of Rom 14:9-12 (cf. Kattenbusch, ii. 609, 658 f.). Ἔρχου, κύριε is the Greek rendering of the Aramaic watchword of the primitive church (cf. on Rev 22:17), which possibly echoed a phrase in the Jewish liturgy (cf. on 1Co 16:22, and E. Bi. 2935, 2936).
Rev 22:21. A benediction at the close of the reading (Rev 1:3, Rev 22:7) before the congregation, rather than an epistolary epilogue to the Apocalypse. The epistolary form in which apocalypses, like historical and homiletical writings of the age, were occasionally cast, was connected with their use in Christian worship. Such open letters of pastoral counsel were circulated by means of public reading, and were indeed designed for that end. They were not to be rejected as merely local (cf. Rev 2:7; Rev 2:23, Rev 22:7-21; Mar 13:14; Mar 13:37), any more than their contents were to be arbitrarily treated by individuals (Rev 22:18; Rev 22:1) in accordance with their own predilections.
Rev 22:1-5. And he shewed me a pure river, &c.- The first five verses of this chapter are a continuation of the description of the new Jerusalem. It is farther described with the river of life, and the tree of life, Rev 22:2 as if paradise was restored and improved. A river flowing through the midst of the streets, and trees growing on either side of the river, are wonderfully pleasing and agreeable objects, especially in the hot eastern countries. Of the fruits there is such plenty, that all may freely partake of them at all seasons; and the very leaves are for the healing of the nations; by all which is signified, the blessedness of immortality, without any infirmities. Then, too, there shall be no more curse, as there is in this present world, ever since the fall of man: but the blessed inhabitants shall enjoy the so-much-talked-of beatific vision; shall live in the light of God's countenance, and serve him, and reign for ever, Rev 22:4-5. See Eze 47:1; Eze 47:23. Both the waters of life, and the tree of life, are emblems of immortality: They that eat of the tree of life shall live for ever. Gen 3:22. The trees of life are so planted in this description, that all the inhabitants may come at the fruit of them freely, and without hindrance. They yield their fruits so plentifully, and so constantly, that there can be no want even in so large and populousa city; and even the leaves have a sovereign virtue against all sorts of indisposition. The continual succession of fruits shews the endless duration of the happiness of the saints, which is maintained by the continual effusions of the divine grace and favour. As to the division of the growth of the fruits by months, I think (says Daubuz,) that this arises from the ancient custom of making distributions every month, of meat and drink to servants, or such as depend for their maintenance upon rich men. The kings of Israel settled such distributions to be monthly; and so contrived, that the tributes which were to serve for that purpose, were laid on by monthly accounts. See 1Ki 4:7; 1Ki 4:27. Instead of there shall be no more curse, Rev 22:3. Bishop Sherlock would read, every curse shall cease. This part of the description of the new Jerusalem seems to point out to us how much greater the happiness of this state will be, than was the happiness of the first paradise. In this state, the faithful servants of Christ shall be in no danger of forfeiting their happiness, and losing paradise, as our first parents did: in this paradisaical state, they shall be a kingdom of priests unto God for ever. This evidently describes a state of happiness incomparably above the condition of this world, and only to be enjoyed in the heavenly Jerusalem.
Rev 22:6, &c.- The prophetic part of this book ends in a perfect happiness of the faithful, great above all imagination, certain as the word of prophesy, and lasting without end; a powerful encouragement and persuasive to constancy in the profession and practice of pure Christianity, whatever difficulties or dangers might attend it. What follows, to the end, is the conclusion of the whole book, or a sort of epilogue, which confirms the truth of the prophesies contained in these Revelations; shews the importance and use of them; and is well fitted to leave them with strong impressions on the hearts of readers, to preserve them from a compliance with any corruptions of the Christian faith and worship, and to encourage their constancy in the ways of truth and righteousness.
He said unto me, These sayings, &c.- In the conclusion, the angel ratifies and confirms all the foregoing particulars by a repetition of the same solemn assurance which he had given, ch. Rev 19:9 and Rev 21:5 that these sayings are true and faithful; and he was commissioned by the same God, who had inspired the ancient prophets, to shew the things that must shortly be done; which would very soon begin in part to be fulfilled, and in process of time would all be completed. Behold, I come quickly, says he, Rev 22:7. For we may observe, that the angel speaks sometimes in his own person, and sometimes in the person and character of Christ, whose ambassador and representative he was. Christ is said to come upon any notable and illustrious manifestation of his providence; and all these are but so many steps, to prepare the way for his last coming to judgment. A blessing too is pronounced (as in ch. Rev 1:3.) upon those who keep the sayings of this book; and, as Vitringa devoutly wishes,
"May the Lord bestow his grace and favour upon us, who have employed some time and pains in the study andexplication of this book, that some part of this blessing also may descend to us!"
Rev 22:8-21. John saw these things, and heard, &c.- St. John testifies himself to have been the person who saw and heard these things; and in his extasy falling into the same mistake which he had committed, ch. Rev 19:10 he is gently corrected in the same manner by the angel; who orders him, Rev 22:10 not to seal up this prophesy, as Daniel's was (ch. Rev 12:4-9.); for the time is at hand;-some of the particulars would very soon be accomplished, as indeed all would in their due season: which he farther enforces, Rev 22:11-15 with promises and threatenings, of rewards to the righteous, and of vengeance to the wicked. It was not thought sufficient to represent the angel speaking in the person of Christ, but Christ himself is also introduced, Rev 22:16 speaking in his own person, confirming the divine authority of this book, and attesting it to be properly his revelation concerning the churches: The Spirit and the bride, Rev 22:17. (that is, the spiritual bride,-the true church of Christ,) therefore receives it, and ardently wishes for its completion. The book being of this importance, a solemn adjuration is addedby Christ himself, that no man presume to add any thing to it, or take any thing from it, Rev 22:18-19. He who testifieth these things, saith, Surely I come quickly, Rev 22:20. He not only attests them to be true, but will also come speedily to accomplish them: to which St. John answers, and in him the whole church, Amen. Even so; Come, Lord Jesus! He closes all with the usual apostolical benediction, Rev 22:21 wishing the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to the churches of Asia in particular, and to all Christians in general. The conclusion is truly excellent, as well as all other parts of this book; and nothing could be contrived to leave these things with a stronger impression upon the minds of the readers. In the whole, from first to last, appears the majesty of the divine Revealer,-the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the author and finisher of every good work, and of this more particularly. This is the sure word of prophesy, whereunto Christians, as St. Peter says, do well to take heed and attend. 2Pe 1:19. Attention then to this book is recommended to us, upon the authority of St. Peter, as well as of the writer, St. John: a double blessing, as we have seen in the book itself, is pronounced upon those who shall study and observe it; first in ch. Rev 1:3 and here again, ch. Rev 22:7. Emboldened by which blessings, with Nehemiah we would pray, "Remember us, O my God, concerning this also, and spare us according to the greatness of thy mercy!" Neh 13:22. We would observe with the pious and excellent Dr. Doddridge, our faithful and useful companion through the writings of the New Testament,-How sweetlyand delightfully the canon of scripture concludes, leaving as it were the music of heaven upon the attentive ear! O thou blessed Root and Offspring of David! O thou bright and morning star! impress on all our hearts these thy gracious words which thou halt condescended to speak from the throne of thy glory! thereby as it were to aid the weaknessof our faith in those which thou didst deliver while dwelling in mortal flesh: then did the compassionate Saviour proclaim from an eminence in the temple, to a crowded assembly, on a day of peculiar solemnity, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink; Joh 7:37. And now, behold he makes the same proclamation from his celestial temple; he points as it were to the fountainhead of happiness, to the springs of the water of life near the throne of God; and says, whoever will, let him come, let him take, let him freely take of this living water, Rev 22:17. Yea, and not content with speaking this language by his Spirit only, he calls on his bride, to lift up her melodious voice, to publish this kind invitation. He calls on every one who hears it, to echo it back, as if the excess of his goodness overcame him, as if it were necessary to his happiness that men should accept of their own salvation.
With what sacred observance should these books be guarded, which contain a message of such infinite importance! of what dreadful curses are they worthy, who presume to add to what is already perfect, or to take away from that, which is in every part divine! Rev 22:18. God forbid that any of us should ever presumptuously attempt to do it! And may we be preserved from those mistaken interpretations, in consequence of which we might teach the world, asby His authority, any thing which He has not dictated; or deny any thing which carries with it the stamp of such an authority! Have pity, O Lord, upon our weakness! Impute not prejudices which thou knowest we do not allow; and give us a greater penetration of mind, to understand the true sense of thy word; a simplicity of heart to receive it; an integrity, so far as the duty of our stations requires, to declare, and a zeal to inculcate and defend it.
Whilewearethusemployed,-oremployedin any other services which Providence may assign us;-whatever labours may exercise;whatever difficulties may surround; whatever sorrows may depress; whatever malice, misrepresentation, or calumny may vex us; may it be our pleasure to hear the Lord of our love proclaiming, "Behold, I come quickly:-I come to put a period to the trials and suffering of my servants. I come, and my reward of grace is with me, to recompense with royal bounty every work of faith and labour of love. I come to receive my faithful persevering people to myself, to dwell for ever in that blissful world, where the sacred volume which contains the important discoveries of my will shall be no more necessary; but knowledge, and holiness, and joy, shall be poured in upon their souls, in a more immediate, a more noble, and a more effectual manner;" Amen! even so, come, Lord Jesus! hasten the blessed hour to us, and to all the churches, so far as it may consist with thy wise and holy counsels; and, in the mean time, may thy grace be with us, to keep alive the remembrance of thy love, and the expectation of thy coming, in our hearts; and to animate us to a temper and conduct which may suit the blessings we have already received, and the nobler felicity after which thou hast taught us to aspire! Amen, and Amen.
Inferences.-Let us again contemplate the new Jerusalem with new and growing delight. Let us raise our eyes to the water of life, which issues from the throne of God and the Lamb: to the tree of life, which grows on its banks, and produces such a variety of fruit, both for food and refreshment, and for the healing of the nations; to that more excellent paradise, in which there shall be no curse, where, from the throne of God and of the Lamb, shall be scattered ten thousand blessings on all his servants; who shall there serve him, with everlasting, with increasing delight, being admitted to see his face, and exulting in their having the name of God written upon their foreheads: which they reckon a brighter and nobler ornament, than the most glorious crown, or diadem, without such an inscription, could be. These are the words of truth and faithfulness; and, as such, may our faith embrace them, and our souls ever rest upon them.
O that we may feel our thirst after this water of life, our hunger after this fruit of the tree of life, powerfully and perseveringly excited. We shall then in both respects, be satisfied in the proper season; and, in the mean time, God will send us some refreshments, during our continuance in the wilderness. And O, may divine love, and every genuine regard to God and the Lamb, prevail and govern in our hearts; and may our lives be devoted to that service, in which we hope our eternity will be employed. Have we not already, as it were, received the mark of God in our foreheads? Have we not solemnly enlisted ourselves to fight under the banner of Christ? Have we not, in repeated and most affecting solemnities and ordinances of his own institution, declared our desire of being for ever devoted to him? O let us ever remember the sacred engagement. Let holiness to the Lord be written on our hearts, as well as on our foreheads. Let all our affections, and all our faculties, all our possessions, and all our pursuits, be consecrated to God. To bear this name and inscription, will now, even in this dark and benighted world, shed a glory around us. It will be as a sacred guide to our ways, it will cheer and animate our hearts, it will bring down to us many a delightful foretaste of that world, where (if faithful,) in his light we shall see light, and where we shall reign with him for ever and ever.
Again, Let us be very thankful, that the words of this prophesy are not sealed from us; but that truths, in which we have so important a concern, are so plainly published and proclaimed. The time is near, when a seal will be set on the characters of men: blessed be God, he who is now unrighteous and polluted, may be purified and reformed, justified and saved. Adored be that grace, that waits so long upon sinners! But the divine long-suffering towards them will have its period: yet a little while, and Jesus comes, to render to every man according to his works. May we then be fixed in a world of immutable holiness and happiness!
The Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, has discovered to us many evangelical truths in this mysterious book. He has directed our eyes to himself, even to the Lamb that was slain to redeem us to God by his blood; and has shewed us the saints in glory, laying down their crowns in his presence, and ascribing the praise of all their salvation to him; but he has shewn us nothing that is inconsistent with the necessity of real and universal holiness. Yea, he himself proclaims those alone to be entitled to enter the gates of the new Jerusalem, and to eat of the fruit of the tree of life, who do God's commandments. Let us not, therefore, deceive ourselves with vain words, nor attend to any who would sophisticate the word of God, and, fixing their view only on some detached passages of it, enervate, by their unguarded interpretations, its general scope and meaning. Let us, in reviewing scripture, observe what God commands and requires, and compare it with what he forbids, that we may thereby impartially judge and try ourselves. And how free soever we may be from any of the grosser crimes here enumerated, such as fornication, murder, and idolatry, let us not allow ourselves in the love and practice of any thing inconsistent with the immutable rule of righteousness and truth; as well knowing every allowed and continued indulgence of that kind, to be utterly irreconcilable with a well-grounded hope of inheriting eternal life. May it please thee, O Lord, to inscribe all these laws upon our hearts; that our joy, in the hope and prospect of the promised blessedness, may rise in proportion to our acquaintance with thy unerring word, and to the impartiality and diligence with which we trace the actions of our lives and the affections of our hearts by a comparison with it, and reduce them to a holy conformity to its precepts.
REFLECTIONS.-1st, The angelic guide further leads the apostle to view some other emblematical glories of this celestial city.
1. He shews him a river of water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God, and of the Lamb, the figure of those eternal consolations, and that vital influence, immediately derived from communion with the Fountain of eternal bliss.
2. The tree of life, the emblem of Jesus the Lord of life and glory, here spread its branches on both sides the river; or several in a row were planted on the river's bank, yielding perpetual fruit, new every month; and the very leaves are for the healing of the nations; intimating the rich provision of unceasing delights which is here made for the faithful, and their perfect preservation in soul and body from all decay or infirmity.
3. No curse can there enter; the eternal felicity and impeccability of the saints are secured; and before the throne of God and of the Lamb they shall pay their unceasing adorations, enjoy the beatific vision of the God of glory, and bear his bright image on them, as visibly as if his name was engraven on their foreheads.
4. No night is there; nor need they the sun or a candle, where the Lord God is their everlasting Light: and they shall reign with him for ever and ever. O blest abode! my soul, aspire after it, and eager press for an entrance into this everlasting kingdom of thy God and Saviour.
Secondly, We have,
1. A solemn ratification, given by the angel, of the certainty of these events. These sayings are faithful and true: he was sent expressly from the Lord Jesus to reveal to St. John the things which would begin shortly to be accomplished, and continue fulfilling until the end of time.
2. The Lord Jesus himself speaks, or the angel speaks as his representative: Behold, I come quickly; prepare to meet me; the whole period of time is comparatively short and momentary: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophesy of this book, faithfully adheres to the gospel word, and confidently expects the fulfilment of the promises.
3. Overcome with what he heard and saw, and scarcely himself through rapture, St. John fell before the angel; but again is reproved and prevented: angels are but our fellow-servants.
4. The Lord, or his representative angel, again addresses him, and bids him not seal up the prophesies of this book, but deliver them to the church, the time for their fulfilment now approaching: and when they are accomplished, men's everlasting state will be fixed unchangeably. He who in the great day is found filthy and unjust, must remain so for ever under the wrath of God; and he that is found righteous in the Lord, and made holy by his Spirit, shall be eternally blessed.
5. The adorable Jesus repeats his assurance for the comfort of his faithful people. Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his works shall be, whether good or bad. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last; the great Origin of all things, and the ultimate End for which all things were created; and what I say may be depended upon as the words of invariable fidelity: hear them therefore with attention and regard. And, since my nature and perfections are immutable, see that the necessary change be made in yourselves in order to your obtaining that happiness of which your sins may now render you incapable. And it will shortly appear how blessed are they that do his commandments, and approve their fidelity to God, that they may have right, through the promise, to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city, partaking of all the inconceivable blessedness prepared for the faithful: while those who shall be found disobedient, unholy, or profane, shall be eternally excluded from these bright mansions. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie; whoever lives and dies under the guilt of any of these things, perishes irrecoverably.
6. The Lord Jesus confirms to him what the angel had told him. I Jesus, your Lord and Master, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in, or concerning, the churches; and their future state and condition. I am the root and the offspring of David; as God, his root; as man, his offspring; and the bright and morning star, leading my faithful people in paths of everlasting peace.
7. The Spirit and the bride say, Come, welcome the Saviour, and wait the fulfilment of his promise. And let him that heareth, even every faithful soul, take up the word and say, Come. And let him that is athirst for spiritual blessings, come: and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely; and out of these wells of salvation, the scriptures, let him draw the living streams of grace and consolation. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophesy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, now the canon of revelation is complete, by new pretended visions, or wilful perversion of their meaning, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophesy, 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,-an awful sanction, which guards the sacred records, and binds the heaviest vengeance upon those who dare, by base adulterations, add thereto, or diminish therefrom.
Thirdly, The Lord Jesus closes his Revelation,
1. With a solemn confirmation of the whole. He which testifieth these things, saith, Surely, I come quickly, certainly and speedily, for the comfort and salvation of my faithful people.
2. The apostle, in the name of all the saints, professes his confidence in the promise. Amen! Lord, I believe; fulfil it in due season. Even so be it; come, Lord Jesus, and bring to us complete and final salvation!
3. He concludes with his benediction. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all! May you experience the riches of his free and unmerited favour and love; be strengthened by his Spirit mightily in the inner man, to stand faithfully in the evil day, comfortably and confidently persevering in the truth; may you, when all your conflicts end, enter into that eternal state of rest and blessedness which is here revealed. Amen! Such are my prayers for thee, Reader; may we now, without ceasing, be found uniting our supplications before a throne of grace; and together may we meet around a throne of glory, and spend a happy eternity in the praises of our adored Jesus! Amen!
