who are the nations in revelation 22:2

And the city lieth foursquare, and its length is as much as the breadth." "Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book." And the Spirit and the bride say, Come: and let him that heareth say, Come: and let him that is athirst come: let him that will take the water of life freely." It was the barbarians who brought in the prevalent ideas of liberty as well as feudalism, and accordingly it is they that have firmly stood for freedom; so that all the efforts to reconstitute the empire which have been tried over and over again have hitherto issued in total failure. In general this has been either passed over in the chapter, or some unsatisfactory inference has been flung out, which can only embroil the prophecy. Revelation 22:2 Sermons: in the middle of its street. On this side of 4. He then goes on to give, as it were, his credentials. "And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which [sword] proceedeth out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh." As this was a great and spacious city, one fountain was not sufficient to provide water for it, therefore a river is mentioned; a great river, by which it was sufficiently watered. Revelation 22:2 ESV;NIV - through the middle of the street of the Archbishop Whatley thinks that the tree of life was among the trees of which Adam freely ate (Ge 2:9, 16, 17), and that his continuance in immortality was dependent on his continuing to eat of this tree; having forfeited it, he became liable to death; but still the effects of having eaten of it for a time showed themselves in the longevity of the patriarchs. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit. 1 Then 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. It is plain that they are not in this city. It is the fault, however, of the bad Greek text of Erasmus, Stephens, etc. So, there will be a medicinal value in the leaves of the tree. Then he pronounces his blessing on the man who reads and obeys the words of John's book. For a short time (what a mercy that it must be only for a short time!) All the energy to mislead men in the presence of the first beast was long in his hands, and now nothing more is spoken of. In my opinion it is not absolutely so. I say "righteousnesses," not "righteousness." Revelation 21:24). [11] William Barclay, The Revelation of John (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1976), p. 221. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits . He did this a little earlier and the angel said to him to stand up. 484).] We are not to infer, however, that there will not be variety in the occupations and the joys of the heavenly state, for there can be no doubt that there will be ample diversity in the employments, and in the sources of happiness, in heaven; but the single thought expressed here is, that the means of life will be abundant: the trees of life will be everywhere, and they will be constantly yielding fruit. All the streams of earthly comfort are muddy; but these are clear, salutary, and refreshing, giving life, and preserving life, to those who drink of them. I am not raising any question about the ten. We know that sometimes there were nine, sometimes eleven or more; but supposing this all perfectly certain, I affirm that, according to history, they did not receive their power as kings for one and the same time with the beast. Directly he had sinned, the word of God came, and he was called. It is a question here of distinctive character, apart from that of time, for which we must search other scriptures. This passage insists that the coming of Christ is close at hand; it must be the Risen Christ who is speaking. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at privacy@biblegateway.com. "And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. It is not now lightnings and thunders and voices. And now you can buy some trees that have peaches and nectarines on them. This tree is never empty, never barren; there is always fruit upon it. Finally they will destroy her. Let him who is thirsty come and let him who wishes take the water of life without price. One final word must be said about this passage. . When Adam and Eve fell, they lost their access to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden (cf. This very naturally filled him with intense wonder. I cannot imagine the audacity of man to mess around with the book of Revelation with a warning like that, or to try to read something into or read something out of it. It is altogether unfeasible, and it shows how carelessly we read the Bible that people are not stopped by such an expression. Now, as far as eternal life, that is God's gift. It is impossible to refer it to the past with any show even of reasonable probability, I will not say of reality or truth. "At the last day" does not mean merely an instant of time. Jesus is saying that in him is the fulfilment of this prophecy, that he is at one and the same time the eternal source of being from which David came and his promised descendant. John also saw the tree of life. God in His providence did sanction the great empires of old; and the principle continues as long as the church is here below. and others give , "of her." The presence of the tree on both sides of the river is an allusion to Ezekiel 47:1-12. on either side of the river . For the latter read , as render, as Rev., on this side and on that. On that account it was altogether out of place to pay homage to him instead of to the God who had sent him to serve. If you are a believer, do not be afraid, even if you know but little; for the Lord neither forgets nor slights those who may be comparatively unintelligent. - EBCNT, There are many references in Jewish apocalyptic literature to the tree of life found in Gen. 3 (cf. And then comes the gathering and the battle. And the devil that deceiveth them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where both the beast and the false prophet [are], and they shall be tormented day and night unto the ages of the ages.". What are the New Heavens and the New Earth? And the leaves of the tree - Not only the fruit will contribute to give life, but even the leaves will be salutary. The literal rendering is, producing twelve fruits - poioun karpous dodeka. He is urged to take up the same cry. - Constable. They will provide healing from the conditions of the old creation as the wiping away of tears removed the sorrows of the old creation (cf. 46. "And he saith to me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." Were for the healing - That is, they contribute to impart life and health to those who had been diseased. Left to man himself no such river is possible. Consequently Christianity, as being directly aggressive on the falsehood of heathenism, was of all things the most offensive to Rome. It is in Christ alone that men can see God. Behold ( Revelation 22:6-7 ). The question is, why is she thus designated? But he tells us further that the Spirit of prophecy, who prophesies in this book, is the testimony of Jesus. "A fountain," says Joel, "shall come forth from the house of the Lord" ( Joel 3:18). Lights, whether natural or artificial, are unnecessary, because God's glory fills every place (22-23). But he said, "You need to consider that one day is as a thousand years to the Lord and a thousand years is as one day"( 2 Peter 3:8 ). This brings in idolatry, real shameless idolatry too, not merely that subtle working of the idolatrous spirit that every Christian has to guard against. Surely this would awaken still another memory. The writer undoubtedly conceives of a single river running through the city - probably as meandering along - and that river lined on both sides with the tree of life. And it's great what man has been able to do messing around with some of the genetic codes of some of the plants and trees.When I was a kid we lived off of North Broadway Street here in Santa Ana, and we had a tree that had both Navel and Valencia oranges growing on it, as well as grapefruits and lemons. But whatever subsisted then, that which the Spirit here presents as a whole cannot be found realized at any point of time in the past. Then heaven is opened, and for a sight most solemn. Holding on to what others knew before them, or little more, they reduce themselves to a minimum of the truth. You may unsubscribe from Bible Gateways emails at any time. 3 No longer will there be any curse. But what are we to understand by the Spirit? Does God Really Work All Things Together for Good? Although there is such a levelling of human distinctions, and men have to do directly with God that is men raised from the dead or in their changed condition we still see the holy Jerusalem "the holy city, new Jerusalem," separate from the rest of those that fill the new heaven and earth. Again, to my mind it seems demonstrably true that the relation to the beast here brought before us must in all fairness be allowed to look onward to a later stage of Babylon. In the midst of the street of it That is, of the city which was described in the preceding chapter. No literal description of heaven is here intended. We know that the change of all those caught up takes place in the twinkling of an eye. For I am not aware that any scripture treats of the subject, beyond laying down principles such as we have sought to apply to the case. There will be degrees of rewards in heaven. At its back is the river which watered the Garden of Eden and made it fruitful ( Genesis 2:8-16). 4 Surely he has borne our griefs So be it. Her part in the corruption of the high and the intoxication of the low her idolatrous character has come before us. It cannot be done till the moment comes. We find a decree going forth that all the world shall be enrolled. Those who have access to it will enjoy all the rights, blessings, and privileges of eternal life. The answer here hinges on the meaning of the word (therapeia) in Rev 22:2. Guess we better get back." "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you" ( Deuteronomy 4:2). THE GREAT INVITATION ( Revelation 22:17 ). They shall reign with him for ever; their service shall be not only freedom but honour and dominion. (a) There is the idea of completeness. What prevents me from being baptized? 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. But the graphic account does not end until the Spirit of God shows us another view of Babylon altogether. The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life ( Proverbs 13:14). But now, when those symbols disappear, because of a new action of God (namely, the consummation of the church's joy), the elders and the living creatures disappear, and we have not the bride alone, but another class of saints, who at once come forward. On the contrary, it proved the immediateness of communion. When you give don't make a big to-do over it; don't play the Halleluia chorus and do cartwheels. "You know, God stepped out." It is the divine judgment of man eternal judgment. Of course they will be preserved through that crisis in some sort of way suitable to divine wisdom. It sounds, wow! In the eternal city the residents will have access to the tree of life there. Victorious power put forth to subdue is the meaning of the white horse. It gives a retrogressive account of Babylon's character, and shows how it morally compelled the divine judgment. Here were joined good and evil in godless union, for the worse, not for the better, this alliance, unholy in principle, irremediable therefore in practice, between God and the natural man, who substitutes rites for the grace and word of God, for the blood of Christ, and the power of the Spirit, and employs the name of the Lord as a cover for grosser covetousness and ambition, yet more aspiring than the vulgar world. And they said Alleluia a second time; and her smoke goeth up unto the ages of the ages." When the hour comes that is spoken of here, it is not for us, but for those who will be found after we are gone. The gospel of John and the Revelation perfectly disclose both, whether in grace or in judgment. Before God we have that which is found only by and in Christ, which is another and a higher character altogether as compared with the righteousnesses of the saints. In the midst of the street "This may be taken, not as the end of the first sentence, but as the beginning of the second. It is a time of strong delusion, be it remembered. Again, the affirmation of the truth of what God is declaring for your skeptical mind that finds it hard to believe that God should do such a thing for us. The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life ( Proverbs 10:11). "And the angel said unto him, Wherefore didst thou wonder? 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. Still God acts in a wisdom far above man, and holds to His principles even there. Take this quite simply and literally. And Jesus sits on the great white throne. Because ye have forsaken the fountain of life (Enoch 96:6). There is another remark to make. Life in the holy city (21:22-22:5) No temple is needed in the city, because God is everywhere. No great rivers can flow through cities or bring life to and plains except there are high mountains as sources of those rivers. After that we have the admonitions to the end of this book. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last ( Revelation 22:13 ). "And the nations shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour unto it. Here we learn at once of what His train consists. (ii) There follows the list of those who are debarred from the city of God. So Rev. It is not now the temple opened there, and the ark of the covenant seen when Israel's security is seen, as the object of God's counsels; nor is it a door opened above, as we saw it when the prophet was giving his introduction to the prophecy of God's dealings with the world as a whole, though in both cases all manifestly clusters round the Lord Jesus. This disposes of many a web of comments; for we find at once what is perfectly simple, what any child of God who believes this to be the word of God must own. Since there will be no death in the new earth these leaves will evidently promote wellbeing. down the middle of the city's main street. The only right principle in everything is to go to the source of divine truth, and to seek there refreshment and strength and fitness for whatever our God calls us to. Let us bear this in mind. We may have a special task in it, but this is not the work for us, as it seems to me. He has, I think, exactly that class in view when He sanctions the calling him who hears to say "Come." To call a man a morning star was to class him very high among the heroes. You like to reap where you didn't sow and so forth. Have we not all heard of the balance of power? "That day" does not mean a time when everybody will be converted, but when the Lord Jesus will govern righteously when overt evil will be judged, and good be sustained perfectly for a thousand years. "And fire came down out of heaven from God, and devoured them. "And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife." and on either side of the river was there the tree of life; not that it stood either in the midst of the street of the city, which being a pavement of gold, a tree could not well stand there; nor on both sides of the river, which is impossible, unless the tree of life is put for many trees of the same kind, as in Ezekiel's vision, to which the allusion is; and so some were on one side of the river, and some on the other, as there; see Ezekiel 47:7 or unless it can be thought that such a solution of the difficulty is sufficient, that the root of it was on one side, and the branches grew over to the other; though the words may be better rendered, and the difficulty will be removed, and the sense be clear, "between the street of it", the city, "and the river, on this side, and on that side"; that is, the street on one side, and the river on the other, was the tree of life; compare with this John 19:18. The tree of life is mentioned three times in Genesis 2, in Eden, and again four times in Revelation, three of those in the final chapter. The decem-regal division of the broken empire in the West, as all know, was long after Rome had ceased to be heathen. It is Jesus Christ who in his Cross has provided that grace by which alone man can be forgiven; but man has to appropriate that sacrifice. Psalms 1:3; Jeremiah 17:8; Ezekiel 19:10; Ezekiel 47:12). The idea in the mind of the writer is that of Eden or Paradise; but it is not the Eden of the book of Genesis, or the Oriental or Persian Paradise: it is a picture where all is combined, that in the view of the writer would constitute beauty, or contribute to happiness. Of the nations - Of all the nations assembled there, Revelation 21:24. 7th District AME Church: God First Holy Conference 2023 - Facebook It is to be supposed that it will far exceed anything yet seen on the face of the earth. "This is the first resurrection. the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit . This is the great mission task of the church. Wisdom is a fountain of life to him who has it ( Proverbs 16:22). Then another and immensely important act is described the binding of Satan. Can anything be less reasonable (even taking that ground, low as it is) than that the various rulers of the western powers, Catholic kings, join the Pope in destroying his own city, or his own church, whichever Babylon may be made? All rights reserved. So far the description has been of the exterior of the holy city; now the scene moves inside. But still we have not the end of Babylon yet. (b) There is the idea of eternity. On either side of the river is the tree of life[ a] with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. There is an indication in Hosea that for two days Israel will be as dead, but in the third day God will revive them and they will live before him. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! Each month had its own fruit. Then, when the Lamb and His purchase by blood are celebrated in heaven, the four living creatures join the elders, though each is distinct. Then the word is, "Award her even as she awarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she mixed, mix to her double. I can't earn it. Rivers bring life and health to a city. In the midst of the street of it,. That is, of the city described in the preceding chapter, which shows that this vision belongs to that, and is a continuation of it, and which street was all of pure gold, Revelation 21:21. and on either side of the river was there the tree of life; not that it stood either in the midst of the street of the city, which being a pavement of gold, a tree could not well stand there; nor on both sides of the river, which is impossible, unless the tree of life is put for many trees of the same kind, as in Ezekiel's vision, to which the allusion is; and so some were on one side of the river, and some on the other, as there; see Ezekiel 47:7 or unless it can be thought that such a solution of the difficulty is sufficient, that the root of it was on one side, and the branches grew over to the other; though the words may be better rendered, and the difficulty will be removed, and the sense be clear, "between the street of it", the city, "and the river, on this side, and on that side"; that is, the street on one side, and the river on the other, was the tree of life; compare with this John 19:18.

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