Rev 22:3-5 | KingComments | STEP | . The words “then he showed me” introduce a new section. Nevertheless, this section forms a whole with the previous one, for it still deals with the city. John gets to see “a river of the water of life”. This river is a picture of the Lord Jesus (cf. ). The river also speaks of the eternal life that God’s children now already are allowed to enjoy through the Spirit ( ). The water is “clear as crystal”. There is no pollution at all; the water is totally pure, without any mixture with something else. That could not happen of course, for the origin of this water is “the throne of God and of the Lamb”. The throne speaks of a kingdom, of authority. Wherever God and the Lamb have authority, there comes room for life in wonderful refreshing streams. Death and curse have no chance to disturb the enjoyment of life. Life can be enjoyed to the full. What John sees makes one think of the scene in Ezekiel 47 ( ). But there is a great difference. There it is about a literal river in the earthly Jerusalem, while here it is about the heavenly Jerusalem with a symbolic presentation of matters. . Then the gaze is turned to “the tree of life”. It is “in the middle of its street”, that is the street of the city, and at the same time on either side of the river. It is one tree, though it is on several places at the same time. That cannot be explained logically. Anyway, this tree of life is a picture of the Lord Jesus. At the very beginning of the Bible you also read about the tree of life ( ). God put the tree of life in the middle of the paradise. Next to it He put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You don’t hear anything anymore of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil here. Here we see only the tree of life. Here the Holy Spirit connects the beginning and the end of the Scripture. In Genesis 2 there is mention of two trees. There a river is also mentioned, which divides and becomes four rivers ( ). Here, however, is only one tree and one river. Here there is no mention any more of the responsibility of man. Man cannot be tempted by satan in the kingdom of peace as happened in paradise. After all, satan is bound during the time of the kingdom of peace ( ). Therefore only the tree of life is here. Man is allowed to eat from it all the time to enjoy the continuous blessing of the kingdom of peace. It indicates a continuous dependence on the Lord Jesus. He gives power to walk on that one street and He gives refreshment, regardless which side of the river a person lives. The church will be allowed to enjoy Him in a new way “every month” of the thousand years, for the fruits will be for the inhabitants of the city. The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations on earth. All conflicts and disagreements will be ended by the Lord Jesus. There will no longer be war, all wounds will be healed. . “There will no longer be any curse” in this wonderful situation, for the Lord Jesus reigns. To His reign blessing is attached and no curse. Curse is a result of sin. Everything that has to do with sin will in no way get a chance to exercise its influence in the new Jerusalem. Also the removal of the curse makes one think of the beginning when the curse entered the world ( ). Here it has been removed. In this way the end condition is the counterpart of the start condition in every view. Sin will still be found on earth ( ; ). In the city, this will not be the case. Again the emphasis is put on the throne of God and of the Lamb as the source of blessing. Enjoying the blessing does not mean that no service is being done. The believers who form the new Jerusalem are here called “bond-servants”. That is not a name for oppressed people, but a title for voluntarily obedient people. They want to serve Him out of love for Whom they have been bought, God, and by Whom they were bought, the Lamb. Serving here also doesn’t mean performing slave labor, but serving in a religious sense, serving as priest in a worship service. This is the greatest privilege of human being. It is also noticeable that it is written that they will serve “Him” (singular), while it refers to two Persons: God and the Lamb. This indicates that God and the Lamb are one God. You have come across this way of writing about God and the Lord Jesus also in the letters written by John. Sometimes you do not know whether he is talking about God or about the Lord Jesus. That does not matter, for with both Persons it is about God. . Besides being surrounded by blessings and the unlimited possibility to enjoy them, there is an even greater privilege. That privilege is seeing the face of God and of the Lamb. That is, there will be free access to and relationship with God and the Lamb. It is the reward for those who are pure in heart ( ). Outwardly His Name will be “on their foreheads”. It is the open proclamation that they are worshipers of God and the Lamb (cf. ). . There will no longer be need of natural light sources in the city ( ). God Who is light ( ), has driven out all darkness. What John already has announced in his first letter as the principle of the new life – that the believer, regarding the new life he has received, walks in the light ( ) –, has then become reality for the heavenly order of things. It is not possible for the darkness to return. In the new Jerusalem, which is formed by men who all have the new, eternal life in the Son Who is the eternal life, it will be day forever. Also after the millennial kingdom of peace that situation will not change. We shall reign with Christ forever. After the kingdom of peace our government with Christ will not cease, but the form of government will change ( ). The kingdom of the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man will last for a thousand years. As the Son of God, He will reign forever, without ceasing to be Man. . John gets the assurance that there is no doubt that what is said is true: “These words are faithful and true.” They are indeed because He Who has spoken those words, is faithful and true ( ). God’s Word is beyond all doubts. It has always been like that of course, but nevertheless, it is emphasized here. God gives such assurance concerning His Word because He knows that you can be weak in your faith in His Word. Just hold on to what the prophets have spoken about it in a way that mistakes are not possible. The Lord, He Who has authority over all things, is “the God of the spirits of the prophets”. That is, He has directed the spirit of the prophet in what he had to write down. It is about “things which must soon take place”. You also encountered these words also at the beginning of this book ( ), so that the end of this book closes the circle, so to speak. It is a remembrance of the purpose of the book, which is that you will look forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus. There is nothing left that still has to take place before the coming of the Lord Jesus for the church. If that already applied to John and Paul, how much more does that apply to us. . The angel has told John that the events of this book will soon be fulfilled. That makes your desire for the Lord to grow more and more. How wonderful it is then to hear the Lord Himself saying that He is coming quickly. It is as if He wants to focus your eye, concerning the future things, on Himself. His desire is to fulfill everything written in this book. Therefore, you do not look forward to events in the first place, but to a Person. Until then, “the words of the prophecy of this book” are at your disposal. If you heed them, you are “blessed”. Heeding the Word of God has always been a source of blessing. It gives you light on your way and it shows you what your future is, because your future is connected with Christ. The Lord connects special blessings to the reading of this book, which unfortunately is often considered to be an incomprehensible book and left unread by many believers. Now read Revelation 22:1-7 again. Reflection: Mention the blessings that are related to the river of living water.

‏ Revelation of John 22:3-5

A River of the Water of Life

Rev 22:1. The words “then he showed me” introduce a new section. Nevertheless, this section forms a whole with the previous one, for it still deals with the city. John gets to see “a river of the water of life”. This river is a picture of the Lord Jesus (cf. Rev 21:6). The river also speaks of the eternal life that God’s children now already are allowed to enjoy through the Spirit (Jn 7:38).

The water is “clear as crystal”. There is no pollution at all; the water is totally pure, without any mixture with something else. That could not happen of course, for the origin of this water is “the throne of God and of the Lamb”. The throne speaks of a kingdom, of authority. Wherever God and the Lamb have authority, there comes room for life in wonderful refreshing streams. Death and curse have no chance to disturb the enjoyment of life. Life can be enjoyed to the full.

What John sees makes one think of the scene in Ezekiel 47 (Eze 47:1-12). But there is a great difference. There it is about a literal river in the earthly Jerusalem, while here it is about the heavenly Jerusalem with a symbolic presentation of matters.

Rev 22:2. Then the gaze is turned to “the tree of life”. It is “in the middle of its street”, that is the street of the city, and at the same time on either side of the river. It is one tree, though it is on several places at the same time. That cannot be explained logically. Anyway, this tree of life is a picture of the Lord Jesus.

At the very beginning of the Bible you also read about the tree of life (Gen 2:9). God put the tree of life in the middle of the paradise. Next to it He put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You don’t hear anything anymore of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil here. Here we see only the tree of life. Here the Holy Spirit connects the beginning and the end of the Scripture.

In Genesis 2 there is mention of two trees. There a river is also mentioned, which divides and becomes four rivers (Gen 2:10). Here, however, is only one tree and one river. Here there is no mention any more of the responsibility of man. Man cannot be tempted by satan in the kingdom of peace as happened in paradise. After all, satan is bound during the time of the kingdom of peace (Rev 20:1-3). Therefore only the tree of life is here. Man is allowed to eat from it all the time to enjoy the continuous blessing of the kingdom of peace.

It indicates a continuous dependence on the Lord Jesus. He gives power to walk on that one street and He gives refreshment, regardless which side of the river a person lives. The church will be allowed to enjoy Him in a new way “every month” of the thousand years, for the fruits will be for the inhabitants of the city.

The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations on earth. All conflicts and disagreements will be ended by the Lord Jesus. There will no longer be war, all wounds will be healed.

Rev 22:3. “There will no longer be any curse” in this wonderful situation, for the Lord Jesus reigns. To His reign blessing is attached and no curse. Curse is a result of sin. Everything that has to do with sin will in no way get a chance to exercise its influence in the new Jerusalem. Also the removal of the curse makes one think of the beginning when the curse entered the world (Gen 3:17). Here it has been removed. In this way the end condition is the counterpart of the start condition in every view. Sin will still be found on earth (Psa 101:8; Isa 65:20). In the city, this will not be the case.

Again the emphasis is put on the throne of God and of the Lamb as the source of blessing. Enjoying the blessing does not mean that no service is being done. The believers who form the new Jerusalem are here called “bond-servants”. That is not a name for oppressed people, but a title for voluntarily obedient people. They want to serve Him out of love for Whom they have been bought, God, and by Whom they were bought, the Lamb. Serving here also doesn’t mean performing slave labor, but serving in a religious sense, serving as priest in a worship service. This is the greatest privilege of human being.

It is also noticeable that it is written that they will serve “Him” (singular), while it refers to two Persons: God and the Lamb. This indicates that God and the Lamb are one God. You have come across this way of writing about God and the Lord Jesus also in the letters written by John. Sometimes you do not know whether he is talking about God or about the Lord Jesus. That does not matter, for with both Persons it is about God.

Rev 22:4. Besides being surrounded by blessings and the unlimited possibility to enjoy them, there is an even greater privilege. That privilege is seeing the face of God and of the Lamb. That is, there will be free access to and relationship with God and the Lamb. It is the reward for those who are pure in heart (Mt 5:8). Outwardly His Name will be “on their foreheads”. It is the open proclamation that they are worshipers of God and the Lamb (cf. Rev 13:16 ; Rev 17:5).

Rev 22:5. There will no longer be need of natural light sources in the city (Rev 21:23). God Who is light (1Jn 1:5), has driven out all darkness. What John already has announced in his first letter as the principle of the new life – that the believer, regarding the new life he has received, walks in the light (1Jn 1:7) –, has then become reality for the heavenly order of things.

It is not possible for the darkness to return. In the new Jerusalem, which is formed by men who all have the new, eternal life in the Son Who is the eternal life, it will be day forever. Also after the millennial kingdom of peace that situation will not change. We shall reign with Christ forever. After the kingdom of peace our government with Christ will not cease, but the form of government will change (1Cor 15:24). The kingdom of the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man will last for a thousand years. As the Son of God, He will reign forever, without ceasing to be Man.

Rev 22:6. John gets the assurance that there is no doubt that what is said is true: “These words are faithful and true.” They are indeed because He Who has spoken those words, is faithful and true (Rev 19:11). God’s Word is beyond all doubts. It has always been like that of course, but nevertheless, it is emphasized here.

God gives such assurance concerning His Word because He knows that you can be weak in your faith in His Word. Just hold on to what the prophets have spoken about it in a way that mistakes are not possible. The Lord, He Who has authority over all things, is “the God of the spirits of the prophets”. That is, He has directed the spirit of the prophet in what he had to write down.

It is about “things which must soon take place”. You also encountered these words also at the beginning of this book (Rev 1:1), so that the end of this book closes the circle, so to speak. It is a remembrance of the purpose of the book, which is that you will look forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus. There is nothing left that still has to take place before the coming of the Lord Jesus for the church. If that already applied to John and Paul, how much more does that apply to us.

Rev 22:7. The angel has told John that the events of this book will soon be fulfilled. That makes your desire for the Lord to grow more and more. How wonderful it is then to hear the Lord Himself saying that He is coming quickly. It is as if He wants to focus your eye, concerning the future things, on Himself. His desire is to fulfill everything written in this book. Therefore, you do not look forward to events in the first place, but to a Person.

Until then, “the words of the prophecy of this book” are at your disposal. If you heed them, you are “blessed”. Heeding the Word of God has always been a source of blessing. It gives you light on your way and it shows you what your future is, because your future is connected with Christ. The Lord connects special blessings to the reading of this book, which unfortunately is often considered to be an incomprehensible book and left unread by many believers.

Now read Revelation 22:1-7 again.

Reflection: Mention the blessings that are related to the river of living water.