Chapter 22

This chapter begins with a vision of Heaven. It is hard for us to say what is meant literally and what is metaphor. The line, " the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" (Revelation 22:2), looks metaphoric, and so the image of the trees of life may be metaphoric as well, though there is nothing impossible about the scene as it is described: "a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations...the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him" (Revelation 22:1-3). The clause, "there shall be no more curse" is clearly literal, for what need is there of cursing in Heaven? And who would dare?

The intimate relationship that the inhabitants of Heaven have with God is evident from, "they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads" (Revelation 22:4). While the city is open (as is indicated at Revelation 21:25) it is protected as we said, by the word of God, so that only those with pure intentions may enter " Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" (Revelation 22:14). Left outside are all those things which can distract one from true allegiance to God and all those who have allegiances to something other than God, "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie" (Revelation 22:15).

As we indicated in our comments to chapter 21, saying that "they need no candle, neither light of the sun" (Revelation 22:5) is different from saying that there are no candles and no Sun. The statement that "there shall be no night there... for the Lord God giveth them light" (Revelation 22:5) may be literally true, or it may reflect the continuous positive energy that pervades Heaven because of the presence of God.

Because the Lord God, Christ and the Saints "reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 22:5), even two thousand years seems like a short time, for this reason Christ says three times as a covenant, "I come quickly" (Revelation 22:7, 12, 20).

When St. John falls at the feet of Christ to worship him, "when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things"  (Revelation 22:8), Christ [we have seen above that this 'angel' is Christ] admonishes him as the angel did at Revelation 19:10, "Then saith he unto me, 'See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.'" (Revelation 22:9). This shows that all outward signs of homage are to paid to God alone, and, since Christ himself refuses them, it shows how grave a sin it would be either to make such a sign towards someone less than Christ, or for someone less than Christ to request or require that others make such signs to them.

Three times in this chapter we hear of the truthfulness of the message contained in all of Revelation (see Revelation 22:6, 16, 18). Three times we hear advice to obey the Lord's commandments (see Revelation 22:11, 12, 14). Three times we hear the importance of spreading the message contained in Revelation intact (Revelation 22:7, 10, 18-19). Three times we hear an invitation to the righteous to enter the Kingdom of God, from the Spirit, the Bride (Jerusalem) and from word of mouth, "And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him that heareth say, 'Come!'" (Revelation 22:17).

The importance of the message in its entirety, with no omissions or additions is forcibly underscored, "I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, 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 prophecy, 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" (Revelation 22:18-19). Because of this, I have presented my interpretations independently of the book itself, quoting it in its entirety on its own page, and not interspersing my reflections with the text in any way that could lead to confusion about what is the text, and what is my contribution.

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Angelo Amberson