Revelation 22:1-6

The River of Life

1Then 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 2down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. 6The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."



Dig Deeper

In 1986, Lou Holtz took over as the head football coach at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame had a long tradition as a football power but had fallen on hard times. Holtz set about to restore the tradition of the program, including hanging a sign that used to hang over the door that led out of the locker room into the stadium. The sign simply read, "Play like a champion today." The sign and Holtz’s coaching inspired the Fighting Irish to go on a win a national championship in 1988. The sign still hangs over that door and inspires players to this day. Current sophomore left tackle Ryan Harris speaking of how the sign continues to motivate him, says, "Whenever I see it I think `Why not? Why not today? Why not this game? Why not right now? You just remember what you're out here to do. You came to Notre Dame to be a champion and every time I see it, I think `Why not? Let's go do it!"


John is in the midst of describing the ultimate victory of Christ and His people and the incredible age that awaits all those in Christ, and it truly is incredible. Yet, at the same time, John wants to instill Christians with the same vision that that sign at the football stadium at Notre Dame gives to it’s players. Why not now? Why not today? Act like a victor right now. The big difference is that every time the Notre Dame players run underneath that sign and reach up to touch n the way out, they know that they are being urged to play like champions but they have no guarantee that they will come out victors in the end. For Christians, not only are we urged to overcome right now, we know that we will reign victoriously with Christ in the end.


22:1-2 - The vision of the new Jerusalem continues as the angel shows John the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. The imagery for this part of the vision comes from both the springs of the Garden of Eden, and the Edenic image which was adopted by Ezekiel in his vision of the New Covenant Temple (Ezek. 47:1-9). Ezekiel said that he "saw a great number of trees on each side of the river (Ezek. 47:7). John expands the Garden of Eden imagery, saying that on each side of the river stood the tree of life. In other words, in the Kingdom, Paradise is restored, but it is not only restored, it is fully consummated and brought to its fullness and completion. In Ezekiel’s vision, the trees are constantly fruitful because they are nourished by the water from the sanctuary. In the same way, John says the tree bears twelve crops of fruit, yielding fruit every month. There is an endless supply of nourishment for those that overcome (Rev. 2:7). This tree is for the whole world as the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.


Again, John includes a picture of the vast influence of the gospel. This is not just a future healing, but it is life for those who should hear it in the present (John 5:24-25). The Kingdom, represented by the twelve crops of fruit, will bear fruit, in contrast to Israel who was symbolically cursed by Jesus as the fig tree which did not bear fruit and never would again (Matt. 21:19). Through the Kingdom, the paradise that was lost at the Fall will be restored progressively in the present age, and finally in the consummation of the age to come.


22:3-4 - John now announces the ‘money shot’ for all people in the Kingdom: No longer will there be any curse. This is another fulfillment of a promise from God of long ago (Ezek. 36:33-36), when God said: "On the day I cleanse you from all your sins" (v. 33). The Throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city (as John has already mentioned in Rev. 21:3, 11, 22-23), and his servants will serve Him. A common theme in the Revelation is that all of God’s people are prophets for God will now put His Spirit on all His people (Num. 11:29). All of God’s people are now considered prophets in the technical sense because they will see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. The imagery for this phrase comes from Moses and Aaron. Meredith Kline, in Images of the Spirit, comments: "Behind the imagery of Revelation 22:4 are the figures of Moses and Aaron. Aaron bore on his forehead the name of the Lord inscribed on the crown on the front of the priestly mitre. The very countenance of Moses was transformed into a reflective likeness of the Glory-Face, the Presence-Name of God, when God talked to him ‘mouth to mouth’ (Num. 12:8 ) out of the Glory-Cloud." Because we are all saints, we now have access to the face of God, as Paul wrote: "we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness" (2 Corinthians 3:18), and, because all the saints are priests (Rev. 1:6; 20:6), we wear His name name in our forehead (Rev. 3:12; 7:3; 14:1), serving in His Temple (Rev. 7:15).


22:5 - As John has already mentioned in 21:22-25, he reminds us that in the walls of the new Jerusalem, there will be nor more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. It is a common biblical theme to write of the Old Covenant as the time of darkness, and the New Covenant as the coming of the light (Isa. 60:1-3; Mal. 4:1-2; Luke 1:68, 78-79; John 1;4-5; John 8:12; Romans 13:11-12; 2 Cor. 4:4, 6; Col. 1:12-13; 1 Thess. 5:2-9; Heb. 10:23-25; 2 Pet. 1:19). The New Covenant is the age of progressive light that will come to full illumination at the Second Coming of Christ. John goes on to say that they will reign for ever and ever. The rule of Christ and His saints will last forever, not just for a thousand years. It will be an everlasting kingdom (Dan. 7:27).


22:6 - This is really the beginning verse which will review and summarize the central themes of the Revelation. The angel begins by testifying that these words are trustworthy and true, they are absolutely guaranteed to be fulfilled. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets (which may refer to the seven-fold Spirit of 1:4 and 4:5 or the spirit of each prophet), sent His angels to show His servants the things that must soon take place. It is significant that the section summarizing the book, begins with another reminder of the immediacy of the prophecy.


Devotional Thought

One of the great themes of the New Testament, and the book of Revelation is that saints of the New Covenant now have the type of access to God that only priests and prophets had in the Old Covenant. Do you take advantage of that each day, or do you sometimes see prayer time as a chore? Make a decision to approach your next prayer time as the incredible privilege that it is.