Revelation 22 pt 2:
The time has come to look at the epilogue of the Book of Revelation (but, just so you know, this is not the last episode with Revelation in it - we're gonna talk about inner healing in rev next).
In this book we've read messages from Jesus to the churches, then a description of the heavenly Courtroom of God, then we viewed cycles of future judgements against wickedness as they hit the earth, then an epic explanation of the ongoing cosmic spiritual battle around us, then we've watched the fall of the ghastly world system, we've read about the final battle and the kingly reign of Jesus, and we've also celebrated the consummation of the new heaven and the new earth.
Now John finishes this collection of epic letters and metaphors and visions with this epilogue:
22:6-21
The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”
“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”
Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near. Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.”
(then he says it again in verse 12) “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you (plural) this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
Here's the breakdown:
6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true, and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon.”
Author Robert L Thomas points out that this section parallels rev ch 1 in structure: the prophecy originates from both God and Jesus, addresses things that must take place soon, and uses an angel as the means of communication with John - same as chapter 1 verse 1: "The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John" - it contains the same three elements. The first sentence of the epilogue mirrors the first sentence of the prologue.
John's repeating the phrase from 21:5 'these words are faithful and true,' and then summarizing what happened: that a vision of the future was given to him.
We learn from this verse that we have a God who communicates with us through spiritual means and often using spiritual beings that know and serve Him.
And in this verse a divine being (maybe it's Jesus maybe it's his messenger, we'll get into that in a moment) is concurring the validity of the visions John has received.
Btw the phrase trustworthy and true seems to me to be related to the phrase faithful witness - this whole book has contained what Jesus says to the churches and what he shows to John and what He will do in the final battle - so he's either telling the truth and we can count on it, or the whole things bs - it all hinges on how trustworthy and faithful he is. is he telling us what he accurately sees and knows? i think He is.
That "faithful and true" phrase is taken from the OT prophetic bk of Isaiah, ch 65. It talks about ... the faithfulness and trustworthiness of God. and we know John took a lot from the last chunk of isaiah (called deuteroisaiah) bc it's a set of jewish prophetic poetic predictions and encouragements and oracles about the eschaton, the final day, very very similar to rev. The reason this phrase is included and emphasized is that John is confident, and inviting us to be confident, that Jesus' complete victory and the new perfect heaven and earth are a guarantee.
Having that sentence, "these words are trustworthy and true" right here in v6 can also be considered a concluding statement of the previous vision, AND even of the whole bk. And as such, according to G K Beale, it also introduces the formal conclusion to the entire bk. the epilogue. He says the phrase occurs in rev 4x, marking major sections like this.
Then it says "and the Lord, the God of prophetic spirits (or: the God who rules over the spirits of the prophets, or: the God of the Spirits who inspire the prophets, depending on which translation you think is best) sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon.”
It's John explaining how he received this revelation. it was delivered to his mind and spirit by an angel - and of course throughout the Bible sometimes the angel at work is Christ. or other times it's just an angel who works for Him. and ultimately it's a message from God, who rules over everybody.
some Bible verses related to this topic worth pointing out include rev 19:10 a verse that i love so much: "the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophesy" a verse that elevates our Christology by implying all the prophetic books of the Bible are about Jesus and for Him and glorify Him. and are kinda BY Him too, cause He is all, and in all.
Another verse related to this concept of the prophetic spirit and/or spirits of prophets is: Numbers 27:16 which refers to God as "the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh." and i personally think that's also related to "in the last days I'll pour my spirit out on all flesh" Joel 2!
And finally, Beale also relates this second part of v6 - as well as other spots in this epilogue - to Daniel 2:28-29 where Daniel is explaining to Neb that it's God who reveals mysteries and provides prophetic dreams, and that happens right before daniel 2:45, where Daniel saying “The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is TRUE and its interpretation is TRUSTWORTHY.” So, that phrase seems common in this literary genre. Daniel of course being ANOTHER book about the eschaton and establishment of God's kingdom on earth, and judging and defeating evil. the only difference is daniel claims his vision is of "latter days" and in rev the timing is described with phrases like "shortly" "quickly" and "soon." In fact, the last part of v6 tells us this message that has been delivered in rev is about "what must happen soon." Which some theologians take to mean we're closer to it, and others prefer to emphasize an inauguration of a new era that has already begun.
7a "Behold, I am coming soon.”
A summary sentence from Jesus. He says look Im arriving soon. The main point is My return. The future is Me. (u know those t shirts that say the future is female? well ... the future is Jesus)
7b Blessed is the one who keeps the prophetic message of this book.
Including this sentence which is so similar to chapter 1 is another way John brackets the book.
So how does one keep the prophetic message of a book? By honoring and worshipping the glorified savior the way all the persons and beings in heaven continually do in the book, and by living right by him while we expectantly await the complete fulfillment of said book.
Beale connects this word blessed (greek makarios) to salvation, citing its use here in 22:7 as well as a little later in verse 14 where it'll say "blessed are those who wash their robes" as well as in 14:13, 16:15, 19:9, 20:6, which to his credit do seem to be about being found approved, let in to the kingdom, and salvationy themes.
8a It is I, John, who heard and saw (clock it, heard and saw - huge theme we've discussed in earlier episodes) these things...
remember this could be St John the OG disciple, or a diff John, or people writing with the moniker John - an alias could be being used as a tribute and/or as protection of the persecuted author or authors.
8b and when I heard and saw (there it is, heard and saw - so he's saying HE'S a witness!) them [meaning the things in this book] I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me.
Here we go again with the accidentally almost worshipping an angel thing. Is this a recap of the time he already described? or a new time? idk
we touched on this in previous episodes but it could be a way of reminding the seven churches to steer clear of every kind of idolatry- many say there was a group of Christians getting too into angels and kinda starting to worship them so maybe john is including this to speak against that ... or it could be that all the heavenly beings in this book are very glorified and Christ-reflective and maybe that's confusing almost like they carry the image of Christ and it's very overlayed and a human like John might have trouble understanding how that works? did John mistake this radiant being for the one who is to be worshipped? maybe it was an honest mistake.
remember too that Jesus Christ gets cast as an angel in chap 1, 10, 14 of rev; those are cases of angelomorphic Cristology, so maybe John knew about those and thought this might be an instance of that - like the Angel of the Lord passages in the Hebrew scriptures. maybe John thought this is what was what was happening for a sec.
or it could be actually Jesus and He's just telling John something similar to what He said on earth "why do you call me good, only God is good" as a way to stoke conversation and meditation around who He is and also He was always deferring to the Father "i only do what I see the Father doing" etc - plus this bk has a lot about us being co-reigners and siblings with Jesus which seems like it could relate to the language of the angelic response we're going to see in the next verse. so those are some possible explanations.
9 But he (the angel) said to me, “Don’t! I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers the prophets and of those who keep the message of this book. Worship God.”
did you see that additional mention of the prophets? according to this angel John's "siblings" are other prophets, probably meaning spiritual siblings and maybe meaning other Biblical prophets like Daniel, Deborah, Micah and lots of others.
and we know also that this type of situation where a holy angel refuses worship has a lot of historical precedent in other writings like a lot of the apocryphal writings.
dr michael heiser on his podcast suggested that Jesus and an angel both could be standing there w john. he says, "I think the simplest solution is to assume
Christ is the referent of verse 13 (the Alpha and Omega) and that there is an
accompanying angel also in the scene or in the vision. That is, verse 8 points to
an angelic interpreter and Jesus is also present via earlier portions of the book.
Because this is actually just one part of a grand scene. These scenes tend to
flow over multiple chapters, and so it’s easy to sort of lose the characters. So I
think it is quite plausible that we’d have an interpreting angel here and Jesus in
the same scene, but that only comes out here in verses 8 and 13. And if that’s
the case, then it’s okay for the angel—the angelic interpreter—to say, “Don’t
worship me; worship God,” and Jesus is right there and refers to himself as the
Alpha and the Omega. There’s no problem. So I think you’d have two figures
there instead of just John and one other figure. I think you have John with two.
And I think verse 16 supports that. If you read verse 16:
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the
churches...”
So I think that suggests we’ve got two rather than one."
if so, maybe the angel here is similar to the angelic guide in Ezekiel that kinda facilitates the temple restoration vision and stands right there beside Ezekiel as God's glory presence returns.
but - what about you? have you ever worshipped the messenger a little too much instead of the one the message is about?
some people loooove their pastor, their Bible study leader, their favorite podcaster, their preferred worship leader, or their go to guru - so much they forget to think for themselves. or their faith is wrecked when the person falls or fails or dies. or they dont notice when their leader is drifting into heresy or taking strange political stances or just being a jerk to people. i've seen this a lot actually, from where i sit in north american evangelical Christianity. im not personally super prone to giving that level of unquestioning loyalty, and on top of that my experiences in the church made sure i knew there is a broken side to everybody - which will be the topic of a future episode soon. but i hope we can all realize, even if we didnt before the plethora of public scandals and increased exposure of atrocious "pastor" fails in the last 12 yrs, that we shouldnt worship the messenger. they may be so charismatic and appealing and smart sounding but let your main teacher be God. and let the one you adore be Jesus.
and then of course on witchtok, and in our increasingly spiritually charged but confused cultural milieu, people be worshipping angelic messengers too. there is sometimes an undue fascination, and that can seep into Christian communities as well.
And here's the thing yall - i see spirit beings. i'm a seer - not all the time, but i have seem angels. i've seen large intercession angels, people's life-assigned angel, healing angels, and also swoops and dots that i somehow knew in my heart were also somehow angels. i've sensed angels in a room and had words of knowledge anout what they were doing like giving someone something or whatever.
and the angels i've glimpsed have looked incredibly on mission to serve God's purposes and do their jobs for Him. they are not, in my experience, interested in telling us their names - unless i guess there was a reason to or something- they're not worried about trying our peanut butter, and they dont need or seek our attention 99.9% of the time. (im talking about the obedient ones not the fallen ones). these on-mission workers i've seen would prob say exactly what this one said: worship God, bro.
10 Then he said to me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words of this book, for the appointed time is near.
Oh so in Daniel 12 the OT prophet was told to seal certain things up until the time of the end, but now the revelator is told not to seal up what he saw (or at least most of it, there was one thing he was told not to write down in ch 10 whatever the 7 peals of thunder spoke right before the final trumpet, which i think might have had to do with the timing of the ending judgement day of the Lord - the one thing we're not supposed to exactly know). but the disclosure, this revealing, this apocalypse of this bk is way more unveiled now cause we're near and/or in the time of the end! if you've ever heard Christians talk about we're in the last days, this is prob what they mean.
It's getting pretty long but we are living in the time period where we have the Holy Spirit poured out on all flesh, and the eschaton has been told to us, however cryptically, and we're awaiting the return of Christ while fulfilling the mandate on the Church to make disciples of all nations. Maybe the reason this season is getting so long is that the Church is doing an imperfect job of making disciples of all nations. idk.
I want to point out too, where else have we seen the word seal? the throne rm scene in ch's 4 and 5! the lamb is found worthy to UNSEAL the book or scroll that most people think contains final judgements and/or prophetic final events. and here the revelator is instructed not to seal up the account of the final judgements and events. i guess when Jesus unseals something, don't try to seal it.
11 Let the wicked still act wickedly, and the filthy still be filthy. The righteous must still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
John is modeling this after the last chapter of the bk of Daniel which says "Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand."
Meaning, once we hit this point described - the final judgement and then establishment of forever-Eden that John sees - times up. Whatever you've been living like, that's you. that's what you chose. And that's what you'll be judged on. There is a point of no return.
The way this verse kinda tells wicked people to keep being wicked can be confusing to some more modern readers. we might think, isnt it better to tell people to repent? Some scholars say these are just expressions, not literal or deterministic, as we know people have a choice to their last breath or possibly sometimes beyond that. Other scholars think there comes a pt in future time where the angel stops focusing on exhorting unbelievers to become believers. some scholars lean towards how human character seems generally somewhat unchangeable / fixed in certain ways. or that there's an exodus-related hardening of hearts that could occur. (Beale gives that idea some validity by adding that "when ppl failed to listen to ordinary teaching, Isaiah and Jesus resorted prophetic declarations and actions, as well as the use of parables, which served to bring the judgement of God on the unrighteous by further hardening their hearts, while shocking wandering believers INTO repentance. [in] the visions of rev. the same process occurs... of course, there is always a remnant of unbelievers who are given 'ears to hear' ... they are shocked into the faith by the visionary parables ... and join the covenant community.") and still others read it like how i kinda naturally do, and glean that the end is so near by this chapter that John's saying game over. times up. put your pencil down. you've had your chance.
jeremiah and ezekiel both even have moments where they say: you know what, apostate ancient israel, just go ahead and keep worshipping idols then.
maybe you've experienced a stubborn and unwise person in your life too, and eventually had to say, ok you do you boo.
12a "Behold, I am coming soon...
Like i briefly mentioned earlier, some people think this describes an age which has now already started, some people think this includes multiple literal appearances of Christ throughout the Church age, and some think it's one big still future event aka the second coming of Christ which includes the final judgement battle described in ch 19.
2 Peter 3:10-14 says "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forwardto the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells."
12b ... I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to his deeds.
This might sound familiar to Jewish believers who are acquainted with Isaiah 62:11 "behold His reward is with Him and His recompense before Him"
many translations start new quotes here in v 12 to show that Jesus starts talking again and it isn’t the angel talking any more. i believe that's what Heiser would say about it bc he believes Jesus and an angel are both present in this scene. the Greek didn’t have quote marks. and some scholars say this is one continuous quote and the angel is angelomorphic Jesus, or that there's an angel speaking on Jesus' behalf.
i feel like this chapter actually kinda swaps back and forth a couple times (between stuff it sounds like an angel would say, like "these words are faithful and true," and "don't worship me im a fellow servant") and stuff Jesus would say (like "behold i am coming quickly" and "i am the alpha and omega"). so i'm sure john has his reasons for blending these messages - thats why most commentaries say either this angel was Jesus Himself or a very close reflecty knowledgey quotey holy Jesus-y worker.
He's saying Christ is arriving soon, and the consequences of the life we live are coming at that time too.
13 [here's where Jesus says] I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
Jesus is declaring here that He is these well known names for YHWH. Isaiah 44:6 says "I am the first, and I am the last, and there is no God before me." By using this terminology, Revelation is positioning Jesus within the identity of God. This is one of the bazillion reasons for the development of the doctrine of the trinity in Christianity. Jesus is God. the Son. The Lamb. The savior.
Jesus Christ existed before creation and has sovereignty over all things. In the midst of the early church's trials and hardships, John is reminding them that their Lord Jesus is in control and working something really good in to the totality of history.
14 (some translations end the previous quote right here before this word, some keep it red letter) Blessed are they who wash their robes so as to have [what are we blessed with?..] the right to the tree of life and enter the city through its gates.
I listen to podcasts about people's spiritual experiences and encounters sometimes - near death experiences etc, and recently a guy shared his vision of people washing their robes in blood and when they pulled out the garment from the blood it was pure white. and he knew when he saw it, this is how they get in.
"are you washed in the blood 🎵 in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb? are your garments spotless are they white as snow are you washed in the blood of the lamb"
our garments are made clean meaning we've been redeemed and therefore we are invited. bc God is actually really nice.
flashback to chapter 7 where we learn this about the humans that have white spiritual robes: "one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’"
and so we regain access to the tree of life - its a reversal of the consequences of the son in the first eden when humans got barred from it for a long while.
and we get to enter through the city gates, meaning we're invited in to this banquet, this party, this city, this garden, this new heaven new earth re-creation where we're allowed to partake because the slain and resurrected lamb paid our way, took the keys back, and lovingly fixed everything that was ever wrong so we could commune with Him forever.
15 Outside are the dogs (oh so those who behave like beasts, only concerned with their own physical cravings? oh so the same term used in Deuteronomy to describe idolatrous temple prostitutes and explain why they cant be LET IN ... TO THE TEMPLE), the sorcerers, the unchaste, the murderers, the idol-worshipers, and all who love and practice deceit.
aka - those who dont get an invite cause they loved evil and never repented of it. Jesus was standing there with His hand extended but they said no thanks we wanna drown.
this verse relates back to last chapter where it describes unbelievers are barricaded outside the city. the list here concludes with Liars/deceivers, just like in last chapter, and most commentaries i've come across have said these are pseudo-Christians being referenced here. looking at John's teaching from other books as well as rev, we can infer that he's talking about people who claim to be part of the people of God, the Covenant Community if you will, but they wont give up idolatry and/or an ungodly lifestyle.
16a “I, Jesus, sent my angel to give you this testimony for (or to, or over, or against, or in, or among, depending who you ask) the churches.
A quick literary note here: back in the glorious first chapter, it said "this is the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to Him to show his servants the things which must soon take place; He communicated it by His angel to His servant John who testified to everything he saw"
now in the last chapter, it says "I, Jesus have sent my angel to testify to you these things for the churches" - its the same but different, just like how John likes to do it
In chapter 1 John testifies, here Jesus' angel gives the testimony to "you" whoever that is, and it's for the churches. Some say "you" means the leaders of the 7 churches. or John. or the wider church. it's interesting to note that in chapter 1 John said "to the seven churches" then "grace and peace to YOU." so it might very well be the case that here "you" is pointing towards the churches or even the global church.
So Jesus gave us a testimony, basically about Him and His preeminence over all history. Then He says:
16b I am the root (the source, the life) and offspring of David remember rev 5:5 calls the slain risen lamb this; it's a well-known name for the jewish messiah. here it's phrased interestingly - how can an individual be the root and the offspring of ancient israel's king David? well, if creator God at some point decided to put on a bod, then this would be the case.
16c the bright morning star.”
another well-known messianic title. the old testament spoke of a divine being that would come from the lineage of the tribe of Judah. in the Bible stars are often metaphors for divine persons. and it's associated with a new day (or era) dawning. Jesus has begun His messianic reign. and yet we await the fullness of it, in kind with the Bible's many "already / not yet" vibes.
then he goes into this beautiful poem:
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let the hearer say, “Come.” Let the one who thirsts come forward, and the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water.
It's giving Isaiah 55, it's giving beautiful longing-filled, grace-filled invitation. as the people of God say in our hearts PLEASE ARRIVE QUICKLY, and plz be close to us. then anyone else who wants to join in on that cry is welcome to. and then GOD is saying to us come, receive life forever for free.
Next, Beale calls vs 18-20: the FIFTH exhortation to holiness. He would say first John wrote in v6 "blessed is he who heeds the words of prophesy in this bk" then in v10 the angel says to heed the bk and to worship God, then in v 11 "let the righteous continue to practice righteousness", then the fourth exhortation to holiness was in v13 blessed are those who wash their robes. and now fifth exhortation is more of a warning:
18a I testify and warn everyone who hears the prophetic words in this book...
now John is overtly and expressly TESTIFYING. cause he's a what - a witness. a prophet who has seen Jesus and is testifying this is how it works.
And look at what he wrote in 1 Jn 1! "That which was from the beginning, which we have HEARD, which we have SEEN with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and TESTIFY to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us."
There too he presents himself as a witness of Jesus! testifying. and testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophesy. maybe thats why he uses the old common jewish prophetic phrase in revelation's letters to the churches: "he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches"!!
and here in 22:18 he's like let it be known whoever hears these words...
18b if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues (or afflictions, or calamities) described in this book. and if anyone takes away from the words in this prophetic book, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city described in this book.
This should remind the reader of the very important verse Deut 4:2 where God says "do not add to what i command you and do not detract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord."
John employs the same canonization formula found in Deut to claim scriptural authority for his own prophetic book. that's serious, it's bold, and you shouldnt try this at home, but it worked out for him.
Not the disciple who calls himself the one Jesus loves also connecting his own prophetic work to Moses’ foundational law - the definitive final law code for the ancient nation of israel. similar to how this is the last final prophesy that gets canonized in scripture. That's one of many many tie ins of Moses and the exodus into the revelation!
and some Bible scholars think John's reasons for this go even deeper than just text preservation / canonization. for instance, you know how the letters address being careful to not entertain false teaching (which can also sometimes be called false prophesy)? well John is saying if you do that, for instance listening to the woman he called jezebel who was likely telling everyone idolatry was ok and just accept it, you're gonna be inviting destruction into your life spiritually. That's part of this warning too.
The he brings up plagues and curses. We know that in the end theres no longer any plague or curse in eden but there are those who are plagued and cursed in the end outside the city gates, cause they never chose to repent. they never heeded this prophesy they added to or took away from the gospel truth. they mistook the identity of Christ. they are banned here at the end, they will endure the plagues and the curse (i know those are two diff words in the greek but i feel they are related concepts) which are the consequences of evil aka rebellion against God who is good, who is love. so you get to choose whether you exist in the curse in the ban, or in the goodness in the eden. but here in rev 22 John says people are gonna do what they do, its gonna be more and more overt who they are / true colors, and when this point hits, there wont be any more time to change! if you've heeded the truth about Who Jesus really is great for you! if not, you're not gonna be let in on any other grounds.
look at how he skillfully wrote this, too: those who ADD will have the plagues ADDED to them, and those who TAKE AWAY will have the privilege of eden TAKEN from them. a little first century play on words ok. and i'm reminded of all the similar ways John uses similar measures of stuff as a way of implementing fairness and equality and justice throughout the bk.
Here's Heiser on adding and subtracting: "Adding to and taking away from God’s words are to lie. They are to reject and distort what the text says. And you can either do that by putting something in there that shouldn’t be in there or taking something out that should be there. And the effect of doing that generally is false teaching, and specifically in Deuteronomy it’s related to the sin of what happened at Baal-Peor with Balaam and how he got
Israel to sin. So it’s actually ...having to do
with false teaching in general, as opposed to “which New Testament text should
we use? Should we use the King James or something else?” That has nothing to
do with it. It’s really about obedience to the text as we have it—not inserting
anything in there to get out of obedience, and not taking anything away to excuse
ourselves from our own sin—our own idolatry."
20 The one who gives this testimony says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
Now Jesus Himself is explicitly testifying. So we've got a lot of witnesses here in this document: and angel, John, Jesus, the Spirit... it's a very official book. It's in a sense Legal in nature, bc the people who read it have a responsibility to respond rightly to what's being revealed.
And, Bible Commentary author Ranko Stefanovic (who happens to be a slightly more progressive than average Adventist) explains that the book of Revelation is also pastoral in its design. He says it cares for persecuted Christians by encouraging them with Christ's Lordship and sovereignty and imminent return. It holds the tension between the already and the not yet with care. By opening and closing with the same promise—Christ’s return—the book creates a bookend structure that keeps believers oriented toward their ultimate hope while demanding faithfulness and obedience in the present.
and like a lot of new testament letters, this book ends by saying:
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's holy people. (or some translations say: May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all).
what is grace from Jesus? it's Him enabling us to understand what we read in the Bible. and it's Him sending us power to endure and overcome.
The chronological Life Application Study Bible says this:
"Rev closes human history as Gen opened it - in paradise. But there is one distinct difference in Rev - evil is gone forever. Gen describes Adam and Eve walking and talking with God; Rev describes people worshipping God face to face. Gen describes a garden with an evil serpent; Rev describes a perfect city with no evil. The garden of Eden was destroyed by sin, but paradise is re-created in the New Jerusalem. The bk of Rev ends with an urgent plea: "come Lord Jesus!" In a world of problems, persecutions, evil and immorality, Christ calls us to endure in faith... Rev above all is a book of hope... It promises that evil will not last forever. And it depicts the wonderful reward that is waiting for all those who believe in Jesus Christ..."
I can't think of a better ending. Jesus give us more of Your grace.