Chapter 22 is the final chapter of the Book of Revelation. My desire has been to give as clear a picture as possible to the things that had been recorded in this book. It is not something that I took lightly and we will see why as we finish this chapter. There is a lot of insight in this final chapter, along with some instruction that will be helpful to note. John starts this chapter continuing with writing what he was seeing pertaining to the New Jerusalem. John starts off with this in verse 1-2;
(1)"And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the
throne of God and of the Lamb,(2) in the middle of its street. And on either side of
the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every
month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."
Again we see that the throne of heaven is the throne of God and the Lamb. A throne can only be occupied by one king. As I wrote earlier, I am going to show in future blogs, from scripture in the Old and New Testaments, that Jesus is God. From the throne comes forth the water of life. This is the water of life that Jesus said that He could give to the Samaritan women who was at Jacob's well as written by John in his gospel in his 4th Chapter, verses 7-14;
(7)" There came a women of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give Me a
drink.'(8) For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.(9) The Samaritan
women therefore said to Him, 'How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink
since I am a Samaritan woman?' (For Jews have no dealing with Samaritans.)
(10) Jesus answered and said to her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who
it is who says to you, "Give Me a drink," you would have asked Him, and He would
have given you living water.'(11) She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw
with and the well is deep; where then do you get that living water?(12) You are not
greater that our father Jacob, are You, who gave us this well, and drank of it himself,
and his sons, and his cattle?" (13) Jesus answered and said to her, 'Everyone who
drinks of this well will thirst again;(14) but whoever drinks of the water that I shall
give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a
well of water springing up to eternal life.'
This water of life that gives eternal life is the very Spirit of the Living God. Like I wrote in my last blog about Jesus relationship with the church, where Paul wrote this in his letter to the Ephesians Chapter 5, verse 26;
"that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the
word."
John began his gospel with this in verse 1;
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God."
And then in verse 4 John continued;
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
Getting back to the Samaritan woman in 4th Chapter of John's gospel, in verses 20-26, we start with her asking Jesus this;
(20)"Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem
is the place to worship."
Something to note here is the fact that there were two different groups of thought among the descendants of Jacob as to where it is that they should worship God. The Jews believed that the place of worship was in the temple in Jerusalem. Whereas, the Samaritans who where also descendants of Jacob chose to worship God on the mountain where Jacob's well was. This is why the Jews looked down on the Samaritans as a second class citizen, viewing them as law breakers to Jewish traditions. This visit to Jacob's well was not an unintentional turn of events for Jesus. He purposely went up there to meet with this woman to tell her what He told her so that His message could get to the rest of the Samaritans. He was not there to defend the practice of the Jews over theirs, but to present what was really going to become the true form of worship. Jesus reveals this to her in verses 20-26;
(21)"Jesus said to her, 'Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in
this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father.(22) You worship
that which you do not know, we worship that which we know, for salvation is
from the Jews.
Jesus was referring to Himself, for He had to come into the world through the linage of Jacob that offered sacrifice once a year for the forgiveness of sin. For this was a foreshadow of what Jesus would do Himself by offering up his own life as the final sacrifice for sin on the cross. This is why God would kill those who were motivated by Satan to destroy Israel. When Jesus would come into the world, He had to come in through a woman who understood that she needed to be cleansed once a year for the forgiveness of sin. This is what allowed Jesus to come into the world through Mary who understood this and practiced this. The preservation of Israel had to be there so that Mary could be there.
Jesus tells the Samaritan woman what true worship will be in verses 23 and 24;
(23)"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship
the Father in Spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
(24) God is spirit, and those who worship Him shall worship Him must worship
in spirit and truth."
God is a Spirit and God is the Word. It is The Word of God, through the presentation of the truth of the gospel, which is, the Word became flesh in the form of Jesus and gave Himself as the everlasting sacrifice that would allow anyone who would choose to receive Jesus, in the form of His Spirit the Living Water, into their souls, to become eternal beings with eternal life instead of death. It is Jesus Spirit as living water that satisfies the soul of man, for it is for this purpose that the soul was created. Therefore, when a person drinks of this water, they will never thirst. For the thirst of the soul is finally satisfied.
Jesus revealed something very important to the Samaritan woman that is important to note. It is nice that places are built for people to congregate and fellowship together. Though, it is important to note that to be able to even worship God, you must have His Spirit living in you. A person must be connected to God to be able to worship Him, for it is with our new existence in the Spirit that allows us to be in the presence of God. The second way we worship God is in truth. The early church was not interested in building places to worship. Instead, they would meet together in one of their homes to search the scriptures to see what was true. They understood what Jesus had taught them that it was not enough to just worship God, but you had to do it in the Spirit one receives through the new birth and in truth. This means that it was important to know what the truth is so that you could really worship God by speaking the truth in love. There is only one truth. If there is a multiple of truths then there is no truth.
This is what Jesus told Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews, about a new existence.
It is found in John's gospel in Chapter 4, verses 3-6;
(3)"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God.(4) Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? He
cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?'(5) Jesus
answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God.(6) That which is born of flesh is flesh, that
which is born of Spirit is spirit.
When Jesus says born of flesh, He is referring to the bodies that we come into the world with through our mother's womb. When Jesus says born of the Spirit, He is referring to what happens in a persons soul when they ask Jesus to come into their soul and be their God. This was only made possible through Jesus death, burial, and resurrection. When a person receives what Jesus did for them on the cross, they become part of Jesus body. Putting themselves on the cross with Him, they die with Jesus and put to death their sin nature, they are buried with Him, and in Jesus' resurrection, they are raised with Him into the newness of life with the power and Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. This is what it means to have a second birth, you become a new creation where your soul is now filled with the Spirit of the Living God.
When Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the temple in Jerusalem, that separated man from the place called the Holy of Holies, where the presence of God would show up once a year during the Passover feast, when the offering for the forgiveness of sins took place, was split in two. This was because, where before the cross, it was impossible for man to enter into God's presence, now man was able, through the blood shed by Jesus, to enter into God's presence forever.
Jesus put it this simple in the book of Revelation, when He said this in the letter to church in Laodicea, in Chapter 3, verse 20;
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the
door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me."
You can look at it this way, before Jesus died on the cross the doors to mans hearts were locked on the outside, preventing them from entering into God's presence. When Jesus died on the cross, He unlocked every lock on everyone's hearts door. All they would have to do now to enter into God's presence, was to just open the door from the inside and let Jesus in. There is no knob on the outside of the heart, for Jesus would never force Himself in.
Jesus reveals something to the Samaritan woman that He had not yet declared to anyone, when she responded to His remarks with this in verses 25 and 26;
(25)"The woman said to Him, 'I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called
Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.'(26) Jesus said to
her, 'I who speech to you am He.'
Continuing in Revelation Chapter 22, John sees this in verses 3-6;
(3)"And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb
shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him;(4) and they shall see His face,
and His name shall be on their foreheads.(5) And there shall no longer be any night;
and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, for the
Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever.(6) And he said
to me, 'These words are faithful and true'; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the
prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must shortly
take place."
They are referred to as bond-servant for two reasons.
First, because they were purchased with the blood of the Lamb, Jesus. As we read in Revelation Chapter 5, verses 9 and 10;
(9)"And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy art Thou to take the book, and
break its seals; for thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood
men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.(10) And Thou hast
made them to be a kingdom of priest to our God; and they will reign upon the
earth."
Second, the bond-servants are the believers who chose to receive the truth and allow Jesus, through the presence of His Spirit, to come into their souls and create in them a new being that would live forever. Whereas they were once isolated from the presence of God because of sin, they are now, through their new birth, joined together to Him in one Spirit. So bond-servant means that they have been bound together with Jesus and having their new glorified resurrected bodies, they will rule with Jesus and be called His servants. When it says that they will not need any light because the Lord God shall illumine them, it is revealing that they will exist as light, through the light of God.
Picture glowing beings that are radiating light. It is not just saying that God is their light, but also saying that because they are born of God, they are part of the illuminating light of God. It is also reinforcing the fact that the book of Revelation is revealing to the saints the things that will take place as the things that are foretold in this book begin to happen. This way they can prepare and will not be caught off guard.
In verse 7 Jesus says this to His Saints;
"And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the
prophecy of this book."
When Jesus says that He is coming quickly, Jesus is letting them know that when they see the things written in this book start to happen, they should know that His return is near. Then when He says that if you heed the words of this book, you will be blessed, to heed means to act on. Much of the instruction in the book of Revelation is to remain faithful to the end, even to the point of death and your reward will await you.
Also, to stand firm in the faith. The saints through this period of time will overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus, and their testimony of Jesus. Even in death they are still overcomers over Satan, for their reward is eternal. Most of the instructions in the book of Revelation are found in the letters to the seven churches, for they are intended for all believers.
(8)"And I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard
and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these
things.(9) And he said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and
of your brethren the prophets and those who heed the words of this book; worship
God."
May Jesus Spirit open our eyes to the revealing of His truth.
Jesus peace to you.
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