Chapter 22
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(M129) 1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the midst of the street thereof(281). And on this side of the river and on that was the tree(282) of life, bearing twelve _manner_ of fruits(283), yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
(M130) 3 And there shall be no curse(284) any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his servants(285) shall serve him; 4 and they shall see his face; and his name _shall be_ on their foreheads. 5 And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever(286).
III The Epilogue
1 The Final Words of the Angel with the Promise of Christ
(M131) 6 And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass. 7 And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book.
(M132) 8 And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship(287) before the feet of the angel that showed me these things. 9 And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow‐servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this book: worship(288) God.
(M133) 10 And he saith unto me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand. 11 He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still(289): and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still.
(M134) 12 Behold, I come quickly; and my reward(290) is with me, to render to each man according as his work is. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. 14 Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right(291) _to come_ to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates(292) into the city. 15 Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolators, and every one that loveth and maketh(293) a lie.
(M135) 16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for(294) the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star.
2 The Closing Testimony of John
(M136) 17 And(295) the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely.
(M137) 18 I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto(296) them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: 19 and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written(297) in this book.
(M138) 20 He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus.
3 The Author’s Benediction
(M139) 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus(298) be with the(299) saints. Amen.
ANALYSIS AND NOTES
The Book of Revelation bears the inherent marks of a thoroughly wrought out and carefully finished literary production, showing evident traces of design and arrangement throughout, which constitute a studied setting for the remarkable series of visions that contain its chief message to the church. Behind the outer form lies the deep experience of the author who received a fresh revelation of divine truth. To him God spoke in strange visions and in a marvellous way about the divine purpose concerning his people and the great world of men: for couched though it is in the strange figures of Apocalyptic, a method of religious thought belonging to that time, it yet bears to the Christian mind indisputable marks of divine inspiration. Moved by the visions which it records, John wrote to the churches in Asia a message not only for them but for all believers in all time; for its lessons lie not alone in the events of that age, but in the wider and permanent relations of the church and the world throughout the centuries, and they appeal to us with new force as the varying conditions continue to change with the revolving years. The lessons of the book are for us in our day no less than they have been for others in the past, and as they will be for still others in the advancing future; and though these lessons are not always easy to grasp or lightly to be understood, they are yet eminently worthy of our attentive study and patient consideration. The synthetic analysis which is here given, attempts to set forth the main thought of the Revelation as it has been interpreted by many eminent commentators, and it is presented in as concise a form as is consistent with clearness for the benefit of the general reader, for the chief purpose of the present work is to make plain the symbolic view as it has taken form in the mind of the writer. No extended discussion of the more difficult portions of the book has been attempted, for a satisfactory conclusion is more often reached by careful thought than by elaborate argument, though it has seemed best to reinforce the view presented by constant reference to well‐known authorities, and also to provide a brief comparison of different opinions on the main points of disagreement for those who desire further study.
The book is found upon examination to consist of three principal parts, which are those common to every finished composition, viz:—
I THE PROLOGUE, OR INTRODUCTION, Ch. 1:1‐3:23; II THE MAIN APOCALYPSE, OR REVELATION PROPER, Ch. 4:1‐22:5; and III THE EPILOGUE, OR CONCLUSION, Ch. 22:6‐21.
This division is one generally accepted by those who have studied the book, for it is to most minds both natural and obvious, though some make the Introduction end with the first chapter, and include the Epistles to the Churches in the second part. As these, however, are not so markedly Apocalyptic in form as the chapters that follow, and do not enter into the chief message of the book, but rather serve to prepare the way for it, they are more properly regarded as part of the Introduction.
I The Prologue, Ch. 1:1‐3:22
The introductory and epistolary portions of the book which occupy the first three chapters, consist of four parts, viz. the superscription, the salutation, a vision of the exalted Redeemer, and messages to the seven churches in Asia. These give the source and authority of the Revelation, convey a greeting to the seven churches that are named, set forth the present activity of Christ in his redemptive work with the certainty of his personal return, and then present particular messages to each of the churches in Asia, which through their general condition afford a perspective view of the continuous and varied experience of the whole church in the process of redemption. These preliminary parts of the book, also, serve to introduce the great theme which is to occupy the subsequent revelation, viz. Christ and the Church through Time to Eternity. The style is at once that of Apocalyptic, though the form is less characteristic in the second and third chapters than in the first and subsequent ones; the literary construction is marked by obvious and sustained artistic skill; and the subject‐matter shows a profound inner connection of thought with the visions that follow, affording a clear indication of the unity of the whole work that should not be overlooked in our study of the book.(300)
1 The Superscription, Ch. 1:1‐3
In the superscription the book is described, its history and contents are given (v. 1‐2), and a blessing is pronounced (v. 3) upon those who read it, i. e. aloud before the congregation (ἀναγινώσκων), and those who hear and keep the things written therein, an indication that they were expected to be understood. This blessing is the first of seven beatitudes found in the book (see App’x C), and serves to show that the office of public reader in the primitive church was established in the first century, evidently because of a general lack of education among the early converts. The book is declared to be the Revelation or Apocalypse of things about to happen,—not a revelation which has Jesus Christ for its subject,(301) but “the things which must shortly come to pass”, a phrase that is best interpreted as a prophetic formula for the uncertain future which is always near with God (cf. Lu. 18:8), and not to be taken in the stricter sense of limiting the prophecy to the immediate future,(302)—to have been given of God (v. 1), and to have been made of, i. e. through or by, Jesus Christ as the communicating witness,(303) to have been sent by the instrument of an angel, and to have been testified to by John, who witnessed concerning the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ(304) which he received through the visions that are herein recorded. These introductory verses (v. 1‐3) are usually regarded as an integral part of the book, though they are thought by some to have been added afterward as an introduction and authorization by the church, probably by the elders at Ephesus.(305)
2 The Salutation, Ch. 1:4‐8
The salutation is an address and greeting of grace and peace to the seven churches in Asia from John, in the name of each person of the triune God, viz:—(1) in the name of the Father, who is designated as “him who is and who was and who is to come”,(306) i. e. whose existence is alike present, past, and future, the Eternal One, and expansion of the sacred name Jehovah, the I AM, or the I WILL BE, of Hebrew historic faith (cf. Ex. 3:14, Am. R. V., marg.); (2) in the name of the Holy Spirit, who is typified by “the seven Spirits that are before his throne” as being seven‐ fold in his operation, i. e. complete and perfect (cf. Isa. 11:2);(307) and (3) in the name of Jesus Christ, who is presented as “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth”, whose redemptive work is declared in a doxology of praise (v. 5b and 6) which is rendered unto him as the one “that loveth us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood”,(308) and whose coming again is notably heralded—a pivotal thought throughout the book.(309) The descriptive phrase “the firstborn of the dead” is an evident recognition of Christ as the first to conquer death by resurrection. The closing part of the salutation (v. 7‐8) is exclamatory and parenthetical, and forms a kind of prelude to all that follows, affirming the certainty of the second advent as if already present, and introducing at this point the divine witness, which is generally attributed to Christ who speaks as God, affirming himself to be the source and end of all things, the Eternal and All‐Ruler, whose word stands as surety for the fulfilment of the visions. The fact of God as All‐Ruler (Παντοκράτωρ, “the Almighty”),(310) and the realization of that fact in history, “constitutes the deep undertone which pervades every part of the Apocalypse, and rises here and there into its loftiest strains”. Terms like this, never applied to any but God in the Old Testament, and well understood as belonging only to the Divine Being, are freely used of Christ in the Revelation, showing how fully his divine nature was realized in that stage of the church’s experience. The connection of the eighth verse may properly be considered as the answering voice of Christ to the cry of John in the seventh, “Behold he cometh”!
3 The Introductory Vision (The Glorified Son of Man), Ch. 1:9‐20
This vision presents a transcendent Christophany, unfolding the source of the Revelation, and introductory to all that follows throughout the book; a view of the glorified Son of Man in his exalted relation to the church as King‐Priest, manifesting his dignity and authority in bold and striking imagery through a seven‐fold vision.
(1) The Trumpet Voice, Ch. 1:9‐11
A great voice is heard, making a special revelation to John as he partook with the saints in the tribulation of Jesus(311) in the isle of Patmos, off the coast of Asia Minor,(312) where he was banished for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, when he was in the Spirit, i. e. in the ecstatic state peculiar to the prophets, on the Lord’s day;(313) speaking behind him, i. e. while the speaker was yet unseen, in a voice as of a trumpet, commanding him to write the things which he saw in a book (v. 11), and to send it to the seven churches which are then named, the chief churches in Asia, to whom the message of the Revelation is addressed as the typical representatives of all the churches throughout the world. The human name Jesus is here found twice in one verse (v. 9), and occurs in the Revelation nine (or ten) times, whereas it is seldom used by Paul and never by Peter in the Epistles. This seems to point toward the Johannine authorship, for the name that belonged to the earthly life of our Lord was not likely to be used by one who had not known Jesus in familiar fellowship.(314)
(2) The Triumphant Son of Man, Ch. 1:12‐13a
The divine Savior at this point appears in the vision as “one like unto a son of man”, i. e. human though transfigured, standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks, or lampstands, which represent in symbol the seven churches of Asia bearing light on the earth, and in a wider sense the whole church in its completeness witnessing for the truth, for seven is the number of universality—a scene recalling the temple, and indicating Christ’s triumphant and continual presence in the midst of his people.(315)
(3) The Gracious Apparel, Ch. 1:13b
The Divine One is clothed with a garment down to the foot, the mark of dignity, and is girded about with a golden girdle at the breasts as for reigning or priestly intercession, not about the loins as for toil or conflict, indicating the nature of Christ’s present and continuous work on behalf of his church.
(4) The Glorious Appearance, Ch. 1:14‐15, and 16c
The revealed Son of Man is majestic in form and mien, and wondrous in appearance, like the Ancient of Days in Daniel’s vision (Dan. 7.9f), his head and hair like wool in purity and majesty, his eyes penetrating and enkindling as a flame of fire, his feet awe‐striking and destructive like molten brass glowing in a furnace, his voice sounding like the roar of cataracts, and his countenance like to the unclouded sun—symbols all of these of his exalted state, and perhaps intended to present a reminiscence of the transfiguration. The Greek word Χαλκολίβανος (v. 15), translated “burnished brass” by the Revisers, is of unknown origin, and occurs only here and in ch. 2:18. It is thought to have been a technical term in local use among the metal workers of Ephesus, and to apply to some alloy of copper or brass.(316) The literal interpretation of the word is “incense‐ brass”, which suggests a metal used for making utensils in which to burn incense, evidently precious, and having a glow in the furnace, or like a furnace.
(5) The Seven Stars, Ch. 1:16a
The Glorious One has in his right hand seven stars, which, we are told (v. 20), are the angels, or heavenly representatives of the seven churches, i. e. Christ holds the churches in his right hand, for the stars and the angels are declared to be identical.(317) It will be seen that the seven angels, which stand as the ideal representatives of the churches throughout the first part of the Revelation, are here presented under another symbol, as seven stars which are upheld in the hand of Christ “like a chain of glittering jewels”, thereby showing his sustaining care of the churches. The angels of the churches that are symbolized by the stars, are not to be regarded as true angelic beings any more than the stars are real stars, but are the churches themselves personified by angelic forms after the manner of the Apocalyptic. The figure is not properly applicable to the bishops, pastors, or leaders of the churches, though often so interpreted, for these are leaders upon earth, whereas the angels like the stars belong in heaven.(318)
(6) The Two‐Edged Sword, Ch. 1:16b
Out of the mouth of the Conquering Christ proceeds a sharp two‐edged sword,(319) the emblem of the Word of God in its penetrating power (cf. Eph. 6:17b, and Heb. 4:12) which is designed both to reprove and punish, and which serves to show that the divine Christ speaks with supreme authority.
(7) The Assuring Message, Ch. 1:17‐20
The Gracious Savior reassures John, who fell at his feet as one who was dead, both by his touch and by his words as of old on the holy mount (Mat. 17:7); declaring that he, the Son of Man, is the first cause, and final arbiter of destiny, the ever living one though once dead; affirming that he has the keys of death and of Hades,(320) i. e. through his own resurrection has forever gained the power over death, holding the key of its control, and has also the key of Hades, the invisible spirit‐world, which is commonly associated with death in the New Testament as the general habitation of the dead during the intermediate state (not “hell”, as in the Authorized Version); and reaffirming the command to John to write therefore the things which he saw in a book, viz. “the things which are”, i. e. which now exist, looked at from the divine point of view as beheld in the vision, and “the things which shall come to pass hereafter”, i. e. which shall be made manifest in history, those things that belong to the mystery(321) of the seven stars and the seven golden candlesticks, or to the mysterious and hidden future of the church of Christ in the world which the seven churches represent in its ideal unity.
The change of symbols in this vision is apt to be confusing unless we catch the distinctive meaning of each. Three different symbols are here used to represent the churches, each presenting a different point of view, viz:—(1) the angels, who represent the churches in their individual and organic life, engaged in active service for God; (2) the stars, which represent the churches in their relation to Christ, receiving and reflecting light from him and upheld by his hand; and (3) the candlesticks, which represent the churches in their relation to the world, bearing light to men upon the earth. If these distinctions are kept in mind the interpretation will be greatly simplified. At this point it may also be well to note that the view which regards the visions in the Revelation as purely literary in origin, fails to satisfy the circumstantial account of John. On the contrary we find it is more in accord with the spirit of the record to regard them not as literary inventions in which the message is clothed, but as true visions divinely given which were, nevertheless, essentially adapted to and conditioned by the previous mental training and habits of the writer—the product of an ethical and not a magical inspiration. In fact the reality of the visions is in some sense coming now to be recognized upon psychological grounds as the natural view.(322) And it should also be seen that the studied literary setting of the visions, indicating arrangement and design upon the part of the seer in his record of them, does not militate against the view that the visions were real and the experience recorded an actual one. But, “even were the supposition correct that the seer had only certain truths divinely impressed upon his mind, which his poetic fancy led him to clothe in the shapes before us, it would in no degree modify either the extent of his inspiration or the value of his teaching”.(323)
4 The Seven Epistles, Ch. 2:1‐3:22
The seven epistles are Christ’s messages of encouragement and warning, of praise and blame, which were given to John in vision, and which are addressed to the seven churches of proconsular Asia,(324) the scene of John’s later ministry, and through them to the church at large, for each epistle contains not only a message to the particular church, but “what the Spirit saith to [all] the churches”. The form of epistles or letters in an apocalypse was foreign to the Jewish method of writing, but was doubtless introduced by John because the use of such letters or epistles had already become established in the church as a characteristic expression of the Christian mind.(325) These seven churches were not the only ones then existing in Asia,(326) but were evidently chosen to represent them all, and were intended through their individual experience “to exemplify the experience of the whole church in the field of history”; not, however, in numerically successive and historic stages, but the general experience of the church universal throughout all time, for seven is the symbol of universality, and the seven churches are here intended to symbolize the universal church. Each of the seven churches named occupied a strategic point of special opportunity for gospel dispersion, and they were doubtless addressed for that reason, though the message imparted was divinely intended for the whole church in all the ages. The number seven occurs so often in the Revelation that it necessarily attracts our attention, and the book itself has not inaptly been styled “the Book of Sevens”. In each case, too, as here, the number has a symbolic reference, a fact that should not escape our observation, for it points the way to a general principle of interpretation, viz. that _every number used throughout the book, without exception, has an acquired symbolical meaning_,(327) i. e. its ordinary arithmetical value is ignored, or becomes subordinate, and it represents a different idea that has in some way become associated with it as a number; and this important consideration often furnishes a key to the correct interpretation. The origin of this symbolism is very early, antedating history—seven, for example, was a sacred number with the Accadian predecessors of the Semites in the remote dawn of Babylonian civilization.(328) This use probably had its rise from observations of the heavenly bodies, such as the phases of the moon lasting seven days, the seven planets of ancient astronomy, and the Pleiades, together with the occurrence of seven as a factor in gestation and in other well known phenomena, all of which served to impress upon the Eastern mind that the number was somehow inwrought in the order of nature and must therefore have a special significance. In a similar way the number ten probably had its origin as a symbol in the fact that it represented the complete number of digits on a man’s hands, and formed the norm of mathematical reckoning. Other numbers, also, from some real or fancied relation to things, became ready symbols for the Oriental mind. In the Apocalypse numbers are often introduced first in their ordinary significance, as the seven churches, and then pass easily and naturally to their symbolic meaning which is usually apparent. But it should be seen that a number does not thereby cease to have a quantitative value when it becomes symbolical, e. g. the seven churches represent a number still, though it is the number of all the churches, the whole church, and not seven units as before. It is the definite numerical value only that is lost in the symbolism, and not the entire idea of number or quantity; and the failure to recognize this fact may lead us astray in the interpretation, as for instance, in that of the thousand years in