God uses them for this object,-the setting aside of her, the great religious corruptress, whose centre is found at Rome. Who are the persons thus invested with judicial authority of so glorious a nature and to reign, as we see later, with Christ? At the same time you will mark that these are not said to be executors of judgment as Christ is. But it is blessed that He says, "I come quickly;" and it is only Christ who in scripture ever says so. They said that, since God was the beginning, he received his power from no one; since he was the middle, he shared his power with no one; and since he was the end, he never handed over his power to anyone. vi., Jub. It was but an imperfect view they got even of justification; a far scantier perception, if they could be said to have had any, about Christ's Headship of the church, His priesthood, or almost anything else. And there shall be no more curse ( Revelation 22:3 ): The earth, you remember, was cursed as a result of sin. through the middle of the street . In my opinion it is not absolutely so. And, when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who was showing them to me. See: https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7495.htm. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. He, whose word cannot be broken, Formed thee for His own abode. Everything about it will contribute to sustain life. How appropriate. "I Jesus sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. Learn to do things without drawing attention to yourself. When Christ at God's right hand was announced, even from the very beginning, He was ready to judge the quick and the dead. The gospel had been preached there, as she of Chaldea was not without law and prophet. Today's Highlight in History: On April 22, 2000, in a dramatic pre-dawn raid, armed immigration agents seized Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy at the center of a custody dispute, from his relatives' home in Miami; Elian was reunited with his father at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington. Life in the holy city (21:22-22:5) No temple is needed in the city, because God is everywhere. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come: and let him that heareth say, Come: and let him that is athirst come: let him that will take the water of life freely." For two thousand years Israel was like dead, but now they have revived. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations unto it. THE CLAIMS OF CHRIST ( Revelation 22:12-13 ). More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free! This it is precisely which will bring out the indignant judgment of God upon the last phase of Babylon, so that the guilt of all the blood shed on the earth shall be imputed to her, and she may be judged accordingly. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.. But here there is none; a temple is for the earth. At its back is the river which watered the Garden of Eden and made it fruitful ( Genesis 2:8-16). 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. But no believer comes into judgment. Some connect these words with the preceding. The realities of the word of God always bless and honor the peoples who receive and obey it. A third of a mile from its source the river was ankle deep. ", It is I John who am the hearer and the seer of these things. 3. There are two possibilities. The Gothic hordes were not yet incorporated with the empire, still less were they horns of the beast, nor did they give their power to it, but destroyed it rather. There will be degrees of rewards in heaven. and on either side of the river was there the tree of life; not that it stood either in the midst of the street of the city, which being a pavement of gold, a tree could not well stand there; nor on both sides of the river, which is impossible, unless the tree of life is put for many trees of the same kind, as in Ezekiel's vision, to which the allusion is; and so some were on one side of the river, and some on the other, as there; see ( Ezekiel 47:7 Ezekiel 47:12 ) or unless it can be thought that such a solution of the difficulty is sufficient, that the root of it was on one side, and the branches grew over to the other; though the words may be better rendered, and the difficulty will be removed, and the sense be clear, "between the street of it", the city, "and the river, on this side, and on that side"; that is, the street on one side, and the river on the other, was the tree of life; compare with this ( John 19:18 ) . The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Nothing more is to be done. That the word can mean "therapy" or healing" in confirmed by BDAG and its use in Luke 9:11. It was the barbarians who brought in the prevalent ideas of liberty as well as feudalism, and accordingly it is they that have firmly stood for freedom; so that all the efforts to reconstitute the empire which have been tried over and over again have hitherto issued in total failure. each month . As throughout the vision, John uses present terminology to describe future conditions. It is interesting.God is going to have a tree that has twelve different kinds of fruit and every month a fruit will be ripe. They shall be full of wisdom and comfort, continually walking in the light of the Lord; and this not for a time, but for ever and ever. 1. His blows on this world come more nationally as on Israel; incomparably more severe, as in possession of greater privileges, is the judgment of corrupt Christendom, or Babylon as it is called here. That an openly heathen metropolis, devoted to the worship of Mars, and Jupiter, and Venus, and other wicked monstrosities of pagan mythology should be irritated with the gospel which exposes it all, and should consequently seek to injure the faithful, was to be expected, and a necessary result, directly that the uncompromising spirit of Christ was known. The bride breathes out this word to the bridegroom; and the Holy Ghost it is that gives strength to her desire that He should come. In Christ alone the longing of the soul can be satisfied. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, Do you understand what you are reading? 31 And he said, How can I, unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Today in History . It is not now lightnings and thunders and voices. Then we have another glorious description. Then there is the reigning power, but not the execution of judgment in this awful fashion which is attributed to the Lord Himself. "And fire came down out of heaven from God, and devoured them. "And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast." This is the second death." I am such a fruit lover anyhow; I am going to see if I can get a few of those planted in my yard. The situation of it--in the midst of the street, and on either side the river; or, as might have been better rendered, in the midst between the terrace-walk and the river. This is the first resurrection.". But what are we to understand by the Spirit? This can have two meanings. Man alone is to blame who has misapplied it. Scripture and facts refute all such theories. Thus, whether the books or the book be examined, all conspire to declare the justice, the solemn but most affecting righteousness, of God's final irrevocable sentence. The second speaker is Jesus Christ himself. These compose the third class here spoken of. and on either side of the river was there the tree of life; not that it stood either in the midst of the street of the city, which being a pavement of gold, a tree could not well stand there; nor on both sides of the river, which is impossible, unless the tree of life is put for many trees of the same kind, as in Ezekiel's vision, to which the allusion is; and so some were on one side of the river, and some on the other, as there; see Ezekiel 47:7 or unless it can be thought that such a solution of the difficulty is sufficient, that the root of it was on one side, and the branches grew over to the other; though the words may be better rendered, and the difficulty will be removed, and the sense be clear, "between the street of it", the city, "and the river, on this side, and on that side"; that is, the street on one side, and the river on the other, was the tree of life; compare with this John 19:18. So I dug it up and got it out of the napkin and it's all preserved. Here you may see the reason for saying that the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures are not absolutely the church, because when that symbol applies, and the one of the bride comes forward, we have got others too. What does Revelation mean when it says, There was no longer any sea? Past history therefore in no way suits the prophecy. Observe another very important fact. And it ever flows from age to age. The vision ends with the promise that the people of God will reign for ever and ever. When the second beast appeared, he even strove to put to death those who would not worship the beast, nor pay homage to his image, nor receive his mark. It was not like a tree that bears but once a year, or in one season only, but it constantly bore fruit - it bore every month. Salem Media Group. The sight of God produces two things. All this description closes in verse 5. But He "treadeth the winepress of the fury of the wrath of the Almighty God" another character of judgment never attributed to the saints, that I know of. "For the glory of God enlightened it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof." It can govern and bless but not convert man. After so many sorrows, trials, difficulties, dangers, how sweet to have such a word, and to know that He who speaks is the holy and the true, and surely about to come in the faithfulness of His love! NIV down the middle of the great street of the city. cum cdd. The antitype exceeds the type: in the first Paradise was only one tree of life; now there are "very many trees at the bank of the river, on the one side and on the other." I do not deserve it. In Daniel, for instance, we read: "Seal up the vision, for it pertains to many days hence" ( Daniel 8:26). "Behold, I am coming soon" is the very refrain of the chapter. Things are set down without any apparent order; there are repetitions of what has gone before; and it is often very difficult to be sure who is the actual speaker. Grace, which like the Lord, the Giver, Never fails from age to age.". What are the New Heavens and the New Earth? Our present world society has become a barren desert with spiritual and moral impotence. We are not to suppose that there will be sickness, and a healing process in heaven, for that idea is expressly excluded in Revelation 21:4; but the meaning is, that the life and health of that blessed world will have been imparted by partaking of that tree; and the writer says that, in fact, it was owing to it that they who dwell there had been healed of their spiritual maladies, and had been made to live forever. In the Book of Enoch the writer demands that no one should "change or minish ought of my words" (Enoch 104:10). "Surely I come quickly." ", All things are thus made new; and, further, "these words are faithful." This should take care of any notion that this is a literal tree. "The Lord God is the temple of it, and the Lamb as far as we can speak of any. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, beholding the beast that he was, and is not, and shall be present." "And he said unto me, It is done. The sun has disappeared, dissipated, gone. The book of life will confirm what is gathered from the books. We had Babylon with a spuriously ecclesiastical but a really murderous character, and at the same time guilty of corruption with the kings of the earth. * Idolatry is the awful stamp that she bears, and this too both in what she gives to man, and in what is written on her forehead before God. But what does it mean? Bear this in mind: to leave the last part out is fatal to any accurate understanding of the Revelation. So be it. "Having a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names inscribed, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel." Then he pronounces his blessing on the man who reads and obeys the words of John's book. Link Johns vision of the river of life with Psalms 46:1-11 verses 4 and 5--, There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most high. The presence of the tree on both sides of the river is an allusion to Ezekiel 47:1-12. on either side of the river . By and by, after our translation to heaven, He will work, and as vitally in those who bow to God, when it will be the reception of the prophetic testimony which is here owned to be none the less the testimony of Jesus. It was as clear as crystal. Amen.You didn't think I could do it, did you? The tree of life, in this paradise. [Note: E.g., Thomas, Revelation 8-22, p. "I'm coming quickly. They believe that John really saw many trees. The account given of Babylon inRevelation 17:1-18; Revelation 17:1-18 does not follow Revelation 14:1-20 or Revelation 16:1-21 in point of prophetic time, but differs from them in structure. Such a tree there was in the earthly paradise, Genesis 2:9. For a short time (what a mercy that it must be only for a short time!) And the devil that deceiveth them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where both the beast and the false prophet [are], and they shall be tormented day and night unto the ages of the ages.". smitten by God, and afflicted. That was why the Jews called the Gentiles dogs. And this is entirely confirmed byRevelation 17:1-18; Revelation 17:1-18, where it was told us that they are with Him when He comes. 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. 22:1-2 And he showed me the river of the water of life, shining like crystal, coming out from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the city street. Let others speculate, if they will: I am persuaded that he who essays to conceive the details is merely striving to draw a bow beyond the power of man. When any wrong is done, it will be dealt with. This is a repetition of titles used in Revelation 1:17; Revelation 2:8; Revelation 21:6. Not because any of their names were written therein, but in proof that they were not. I admit that there may be something more in the symbol than the literal hills of Rome, because they are said to be also seven kings. yet we esteemed him stricken, "And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. We have just seen that it is the eternal state. Consequently Christianity, as being directly aggressive on the falsehood of heathenism, was of all things the most offensive to Rome. Rev 22:2 - leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations; Note that on occasions the "nations" are clearly wicked and at other times, the "nations" are clearly saved people from all the nations. The day of the Lord on the world in no way sets aside His dealing with individual souls. All is opened, and this because we have the Holy Ghost dwelling in us; "for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." It is only when you try to spiritualize everything in it, and give everything some kind of a weird meaning, that it becomes a difficult book to understand. The tree of life in the Garden of Eden could perpetuate life forever (Genesis 3:22; Genesis 3:24). But when Christ and the church peacefully reign, such is the imagery that suits "a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. pl.") He was the word of God in the revelation of grace; when known, by and by, it will be as the executor of God's judgments. I say "righteousnesses," not "righteousness." Is not this reason enough for saying that not even the shadow of solid ground appears for the system? Everything that could attract the natural man was there; and all that which to him looks fair enough on the side of religion. In this respect, this new Paradise stands in strong contrast with that in which Adam was placed at his creation, where there seems to have been a single tree that was designated as the tree of life, Genesis 3:22-23. Heaven and the Afterlife: The Truth About Tomorrow and What It Means for Today by Erwin Lutzer. 2 through the middle of the street of the city. As man does not believe in the resurrection of man, it is no wonder that he does not believe in the resurrection of an empire. Since there will no longer be any curse, what is the use of the leaves in Revelation 22:2? "The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." And yielded her fruit every month - The word and is also supplied by the translators, and introduces an idea which is not in the original, as if there was not only a succession of harvests, which is in the text, but that each one differed from the former, which is not in the text. And they said Alleluia a second time; and her smoke goeth up unto the ages of the ages." But the church consists of souls called out from the earth, and is not of the world: consequently to the church the time is always at hand. This is what drove men to the idea of making the pope to be the beast. Some authors believe the tree of life here symbolizes the cross. Then the word is, "Award her even as she awarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she mixed, mix to her double. In the midst of the city street may be taken, not as the end of the first sentence, but as the beginning of the second. This is of immense moment doctrinally, because it decisively proves that it is altogether unfounded to assume, as is popularly done, that the Lord only returns at this juncture. And 2. 22 # Matt. In 1 Peter 2:24, the Greek word for "healed" is iaomai, related to the Greek word therape in the follow sense: [2390 /iomai ("to heal") draws the attention to the Lord, the supernatural Healer, i.e. "Cursed will be the ground; thorns and thistles will it bring forth. It is not the enjoyment of all, but it is the hinge on which all depends. That religious system has an incomparably nearer connection with this mysterious harlot than anything we have yet spoken of. In the midst of the street of it,. That is, of the city described in the preceding chapter, which shows that this vision belongs to that, and is a continuation of it, and which street was all of pure gold, Revelation 21:21. and on either side of the river was there the tree of life; not that it stood either in the midst of the street of the city, which being a pavement of gold, a tree could not well stand there; nor on both sides of the river, which is impossible, unless the tree of life is put for many trees of the same kind, as in Ezekiel's vision, to which the allusion is; and so some were on one side of the river, and some on the other, as there; see Ezekiel 47:7 or unless it can be thought that such a solution of the difficulty is sufficient, that the root of it was on one side, and the branches grew over to the other; though the words may be better rendered, and the difficulty will be removed, and the sense be clear, "between the street of it", the city, "and the river, on this side, and on that side"; that is, the street on one side, and the river on the other, was the tree of life; compare with this John 19:18. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for night shall not be there. And what shall we say of the wonderful wisdom of the Lord? H. B. Swete says: "No one who has watched the dogs that prowl in the quarters of an eastern city will wonder at the contempt and disgust which the word suggests to the oriental mind." Let us look at the different groups that are seen to have part in the first resurrection. 2. "So don't seal the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.". There the saints shall see the face of God; there they shall enjoy the beatific vision. That a corrupt religion is better than none I will not say: at any rate it troubles men; it is a thorn in the side of those who want no religion at all. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. In Ezekiels vision there are multiple trees on each side of the river that bear fruit monthly (Ezekiel 47:12). We have not to learn what the other mystery means; we know well that it is according to God and godliness. We can quite understand that God would comfort His people in the dark ages by this book; and a very imperfect glimpse at its real meaning might in His grace serve to cheer them on in their trials as far as it went. there is a son in the family, who, instead of being admonished by his father's wickedness, takes license from it to indulge the same. There is not going to be any interruption in history. In the days of his flesh Jesus had said: "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" ( John 8:12). Wisdom is a fountain of life to him who has it ( Proverbs 16:22). The spiritual power is wholly in the hands of the false prophet. But still it is a very solemn fact to read, and that which we are bound to preach that even in the perfect state of eternity, while there is the brightness of the heaven and of the earth into which no evil can enter, you have all the evil that ever has been all the wicked of every clime and of every age cast into the fixed condition of eternal judgment in the lake of fire. Were for the healing - That is, they contribute to impart life and health to those who had been diseased. "I am the root and the offspring of David," he says. "And the beast that was, and is not, even he is an eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth unto destruction." 1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. And there also is the tree of life bearing its 12 fruits for 12 months (Notice the "12"--Always a symbol of the church.) The Jews interpret the passage in Ezekiel 47:12 to which this refers, of future time, or the world to come (f); and speak of various trees and herbs of great fragrancy and medicinal virtues, which grow quite round on the sides of a laver that stands in paradise (g). But Peter said, "God isn't slack concerning His promises," that is the promise of the coming, "as some men count slackness." But in the final and heavenly city on earth, sin and death shall utterly cease. And then we come to a most cheering disclosure: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and [I saw] the souls of those beheaded on account of the witness of Jesus, and on account of the word of God: and those who had not worshipped the beast, nor his image, and had not received his mark upon their forehead, and on their hand; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years."
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