Since there will no longer be any curse, what is the use of the leaves in Revelation 22:2? Observe another very important fact. In both cases you have abundant water and the tree of life (Rev. The angel implies nothing of the sort. The gospel is always in season, 2 Timothy 4:2. "* There is no thought of making such a paradox to perplex the mind. The decem-regal division of the broken empire in the West, as all know, was long after Rome had ceased to be heathen. God could undoubtedly endue a tree with special medicinal powers. (ii) "Let him that hears say: Come!" And the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him, and shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. Those who enter into the city of God are those who have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. ", "And, behold, I am coming soon. The Risen Christ once again announces his speedy coming; and he makes two great claims. Those who live in a civilization in which the turn of a tap will bring cold, clear water in any quantity can scarcely understand how precious water was in the East. The point is this. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing. But the most ordinary knowledge suffices; for who does not know from the Bible that there was a Roman empire when Christ was born, one emperor, and no such state as that empire divided into ten kingdoms? There is both pathos and glory in the way in which the Revelation ends. Note the connection. Rev 21:4 "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes." As Ezekiel had it: "He that will hear, let him hear; and he that will refuse to hear, let him refuse" ( Ezekiel 3:27). 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. Of course they will be preserved through that crisis in some sort of way suitable to divine wisdom. It furnishes material for a contrast between the earthly Jerusalem and the heavenly city, because if there be one thing more remarkable than another in Ezekiel's description, it is the temple. Alford utterly mistakes in speaking of "nations outside," and "dwelling on the renewed earth, organized under kings, and saved by the influences of the heavenly city" (!) The very name indeed shows something similar; not of course that the church can ever be earthly. But it is what each saint has, though the blessed thought here is that the church has it not merely in the way of each person possessing his own; the bride has the whole of it (that is, the church in glory). "The Spirit and the Bride say: Come!" We say it has almost been almost two thousand years. 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 fire came down out of heaven from God, and devoured them. 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. Revelation 21:12), but also, all the various tribes of the earth (Revelation 7:9, 11:9, 13:7, and especially 14:6; see footnote referenced below as "Eternal Gospel"). And he shewed me a pure river ( Revelation 22:1 ). This city is seen now as the holy vessel of divine power for governing the earth during the millennium, "having the glory of God: and her brightness was like a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.". The only way I know to experience the blessing of the river of the water of life in our present day is to keep in close fellowship with Jesus. If total energies differ across different software, how do I decide which software to use? Of course there must needs be a consultation with the kings, when the kings exist and become an accredited part of that empire, as rulers subordinate to the beast. The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. But in this is shown what it is of importance to see the true nature of the kingdom or millennial reign. The first part is clear enough. When any wrong is done, it will be dealt with. Healing - Jeremiah 8:22 ff ; Ezekiel 27:17 ff, The English word therapeutic comes from the Greek word translated healing. The leaves somehow enrich heavenly life, making it full and satisfying. in the middle of its street. NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. rev2023.5.1.43404. It is thus that God is wont to deal as a rule in His judgments, not necessarily on the one that first introduces an evil, but on those that inherit the guilt, and perhaps aggravate it, instead of taking warning by it. *Most copies, it would seem, read , "of the earth;" the Alex. When Christ came personally to judge and govern the quick (Revelation 20:4), there were thrones; for the risen saints reign with Him. 27 And he rose and went. But what I particularly call your attention to is the exceeding importance of heeding the retrospect at the bride, or new Jerusalem here, and the consequent removal of the difficulty caused by taking the last vision of this book as part of the prophetic series which begins in Revelation 19:1-21. Commentary, explanation and study verse by verse. 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. Thus the second beast is no longer seen as an earthly power, but as a prophet-of course a false prophet. and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, (i) The dog was the symbol for everything that was savage and unclean. It is hard to see how Roman city, or anything civil connected with it, could be called "mystery." He comes to execute vengeance, and with a sign of death for rebels. That is to say, the heavenly saints are viewed still as the heads of the glorified priesthood, and also the executive in the administration of God's judgments. You don't get salty tomatoes. Sometimes they have contended for its application to pagan Rome. These are symbols, not literal thrones, rivers, streets, and trees. Then the angel said, Don't do that: for I am thy fellowservant, of the brethren the prophets, of those which keep the sayings of this book: worship God ( Revelation 22:9 ). "Cursed will be the ground; thorns and thistles will it bring forth. The thrones were already filled. Takes away our sin, brings eternal life (not merely everlasting existence, but the quality of Gods fife in our souls). Summary: Many churches have forsaken the Word of God and embraced worldly views of right and wrong. In the different fruit for each month of the year may we not see symbolized that in the life which God gives there is a special grace for each age from the cradle to the grave? "Five are fallen, one is, the other hath not yet come." Amidst the terrible persecution of his day, the one thing which John longed for was the speedy return of Christ. "I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God" (alluding to this very city) "[is] with men." What is the symbol (which looks similar to an equals sign) called? Only in the Spirit of God can the wounds and the breaches of the nations be healed. Of the nations - Of all the nations assembled there, Revelation 21:24. When a person dies, it will be a positive curse from God; if he die even a hundred years old, it will be like a baby dying now. Death reigns now because of sin; even in the millennial earth sin, and therefore death, though much limited, shall not altogether cease. It will be remembered that it was said to them that they must wait. She will despise everything really divine; she will only use whatever of God's word she can pervert for increasing her own importance, and gaining a greater ascendancy over the consciences of men, and enjoying herself more luxuriously in this world; for she will go far to obliterate all remembrance of heaven, and to make this world a kind of paradise which she embellishes, not with pure and undefiled religion, but with the arts of men and the idolatries of the world. The leaves of the tree were for the . In the future state of the blessed, that tree will abound, and all may freely partake of it; the emblem, the pledge of immortal life, will be constantly before the eyes, whatever part of the future abode may be traversed, and the inhabitants of that blessed world may constantly partake of it. Now, the speaker to the seven Churches is the Risen Christ; and, therefore, quite clearly there the Spirit and the Christ are identified. 22 # Matt. All rights reserved. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. 2) May view two trees, one on either side of the river of life; remember John 19:18 (same author ). No reward. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. "Let him that heareth," then, be encouraged to "say, Come." "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse." Then follows the proclamation of the angel, and the invitation to the supper of the great God, to eat the flesh of all the great ones of the earth. It will then be not the river which is in the midst of the street but the tree of life. God will own them, as having his seal and name on their foreheads. So, this is for the churches. That is the only basis upon which this gift is predicated and God gave me the faith to believe. As Revelation 17:1-18 was a descriptive digression, so is the portion from Revelation 21:9. When the beast dares to fight with the Lamb He shall overcome the beast; and they that are with Him, "called and chosen and faithful" terms, as a whole, entirely inapplicable to the angels. This phrase shows man's part in salvation. And, when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who was showing them to me. Little do they know, because they believe not what is here written, that it is about to come out of the abyss or bottomless pit. So, there will be a medicinal value in the leaves of the tree. "Alive the two were cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone." I really believe this will be the last time. It gives a retrogressive account of Babylon's character, and shows how it morally compelled the divine judgment. This is the great mission task of the church. A man can so long refuse the way of Christ that in the end he cannot take it.

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