Revelation — Chapter 22

Authorship & Background

Deep Dive

Setting: This is the last chapter of the Bible. Chapter 21 showed the new heaven and new earth and the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God, with no temple because God and the Lamb are its temple. Verses 1–5 finish that vision by showing the city's heart: a river, a tree and the throne. Then the book closes with an epilogue (vv6–21) that deliberately echoes its opening in chapter 1: the same chain of revelation from God to an angel to John, the same blessing on those who keep the words, the same "I am coming soon," and the same titles for Jesus. Revelation began as a letter to seven struggling churches in the Roman province of Asia, probably about AD 95, and it ends the way a letter ends, with a prayer and a word of grace.

The four reading approaches stay close together here:

• Futurists like Guzik read vv1–5 as the eternal state still to come, with a real river and tree whose glory goes beyond anything on earth.
• Historicists like Henry and JFB read it as the church in its final heavenly glory, the end point of the history the book has traced.
• Preterists mostly agree this is still future, though some see the blessings of the new covenant already flowing in the church now.
• Idealists read the river and tree as pictures of the life God gives his people, fully enjoyed at the end and tasted already.

All agree on the center: the curse is gone, God's people see his face, and Jesus is coming.

The River of Life (vv1–5)

• "The river of the water of life, bright as crystal" (v1). This picks up Ezekiel 47, where a river flows from the temple, deepens as it goes, and turns the Dead Sea fresh. Zechariah 14:8 promises "living waters" flowing from Jerusalem, and Psalm 46:4 sings of "a river whose streams make glad the city of God." Jesus offered "living water" to the woman at the well (John 4:10–14) and cried out at the feast, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink" (John 7:37–38). Here that promise is fully kept.
• "Flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb" (v1). One throne, shared by God and the Lamb. The source of life is not a place but a person on a throne. In Ezekiel the river came from the temple. Here there is no temple (21:22), so it comes straight from God's throne.
• "Through the middle of the street of the city" (v2). The ESV, like many translations, links this phrase to the river. Some older translations link it to the tree instead. Either way, the river runs down the main street. The city is also a garden. The Bible began in a garden (Gen 2) and ends in a garden-city.
• "On either side of the river, the tree of life" (v2). The tree of life was last seen in Genesis 3:22–24, when Adam and Eve were driven out and cherubim with a flaming sword guarded the way back. Now the way is open. "Tree" may be a collective, meaning a row of trees on each bank, or a single great tree whose branches span the water. Ezekiel 47:12 has "all kinds of trees" on both banks.
• "Twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month" (v2). Twelve is the number of God's people (twelve tribes, twelve apostles, the twelve gates and foundations of 21:12–14). Fruit every month means a supply that never runs out. There is no harvest season and no lean season.
• "The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" (v2). "Healing" is therapeia, the word behind "therapy." Its basic sense is "service" or "care," and in Luke 12:42 it means a household of servants, but the lexicon gives "healing" for this verse and for Luke 9:11. Some, like JFB and Guzik, read it as "health-giving," keeping people well rather than curing disease, since nothing in the city is sick. Others see it as the healing of the wounds and divisions between nations, finished for good. Either way, the nations are there (21:24–26), and the rift that began at Babel is healed.
• "No longer will there be anything accursed" (v3). The curse of Genesis 3:14–19, on the ground, on toil, on childbirth, on death, is undone. Zechariah 14:11 promised a Jerusalem where "there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction." The Old Testament in English ends with the word "curse" (Mal 4:6). The Bible as a whole ends with the curse removed.
• "His servants will worship him" (v3). The Greek verb is latreuō, which means both "serve" and "worship." In the city they are the same thing. Note the singular "him" after "God and the Lamb": John speaks of the two as one.
• "They will see his face" (v4). In the Old Testament no one could see God's face and live (Exod 33:20). Moses asked and was shown only God's back. Jesus promised, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt 5:8), and John wrote, "we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). Here the oldest longing of God's people is met.
• "His name will be on their foreheads" (v4). The high priest wore "Holy to the LORD" on his forehead (Exod 28:36–38). Now every servant carries God's name, and the whole people are priests. This answers the mark of the beast on the forehead (13:16). Everyone bears someone's name, and these bear God's (3:12; 14:1).
• "Night will be no more… the Lord God will be their light" (v5). This is Isaiah 60:19–20: "the LORD will be your everlasting light." In Revelation night stands for danger and darkness. Its removal means nothing to fear.
• "They will reign forever and ever" (v5). In Genesis 1:26–28 people were made to rule over creation under God. That calling, lost in the fall, is restored and made permanent. The reign in 20:4–6 was a thousand years. This one has no end.
• Commentators: Henry reads the river and tree as paradise restored, the Eden lost by the first Adam won back by the second. He writes, "All the streams of earthly comfort are muddy; but these are clear, salutary, and refreshing," and of the tree, "This tree is never empty, never barren; there is always fruit upon it." JFB calls the water "infinitely superior to the typical waters in the first Paradise," and notes the tree is now "not guarded with a flaming sword." Guzik treats the river and tree as symbols tied to a real thing, recognizable but beyond what an earthly river can show. He sets out the contrasts between Eden lost and Eden restored, and calls seeing Jesus' face the greatest blessing of heaven. On "healing," Guzik and JFB both press the "health-giving" sense. The lexicon allows it from the word's root meaning of care, but it lists "healing" as the meaning here, so the point shouldn't be pushed too hard.

Jesus Is Coming (vv6–21)

• "These words are trustworthy and true" (v6). The same words were said in 21:5 and 19:9. The epilogue begins by standing behind everything in the book. "The God of the spirits of the prophets" means the God who inspired the prophets. John is placed in their line. "What must soon take place" repeats 1:1 word for word, closing the frame.
• "Behold, I am coming soon" (v7). This is the first of three times in this chapter (vv7, 12, 20). "Soon" is tachy, "quickly, speedily." The lexicon gives the classical sense "sudden" as well. The approaches read it differently: - Preterists take much of the book's "soon" as fulfilled in the first century. - Futurists often stress "suddenly": when it comes, it comes without delay. Guzik takes this line. - Many read it as imminence: the next great event on God's calendar is Christ's return, and every generation must live ready (2 Pet 3:8–9).
• "Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book" (v7). This is the sixth of Revelation's seven blessings and echoes 1:3. The book was given to be obeyed, not just decoded.
• "I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel" (v8). John did the same thing in 19:10 and was stopped then too. It is striking that the apostle, after everything he has seen, can still go wrong this way. Overwhelming spiritual experience is not a guarantee against error.
• "You must not do that!… I am a fellow servant… Worship God" (v9). The angel ranks himself with John, the prophets and every believer who keeps the book. Angels are servants, not objects of worship (Col 2:18; Heb 1:14). The contrast is pointed: the Lamb receives worship throughout the book (5:8–14), and the angel refuses it. That says who the Lamb is.
• "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near" (v10). Daniel was told to "seal the book, until the time of the end" (Dan 12:4, 9) because its fulfilment lay far ahead. John is told the opposite. The book is meant to be read openly, now, in the churches.
• "Let the evildoer still do evil… and the holy still be holy" (v11). This sounds like permission, but it is a solemn warning. It echoes Daniel 12:10: "the wicked shall act wickedly… but those who are wise shall understand." The time to change is running out, and choices harden into character. People are becoming more of what they already are. Ezekiel 3:27 has the same tone: "he who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse."
• "Bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done" (v12). This echoes Isaiah 40:10 and 62:11, where God comes with his reward. Jesus now says it of himself. Judgment by deeds runs right through Scripture (Ps 62:12; Matt 16:27; Rom 2:6; 2 Cor 5:10). It doesn't contradict salvation by grace. Deeds show whether faith was real (Jas 2:14–26).
• "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (v13). God the Father used "Alpha and Omega" in 1:8 and 21:6. Jesus used "the first and the last" in 1:17 and 2:8. Here Jesus claims all three titles together. In Isaiah, "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god" (Isa 44:6) is the LORD's own claim. Few statements of Christ's deity anywhere in Scripture are clearer.
• "Blessed are those who wash their robes" (v14). This is the seventh and last blessing. Washing robes picks up 7:14, those who "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." The KJV reads "Blessed are they that do his commandments." The two readings look alike in Greek: plynontes tas stolas ("washing the robes") and poiountes tas entolas ("doing the commandments"). The oldest manuscripts that contain Revelation, Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus, read "wash their robes," and nearly all modern translations follow them. Neither reading teaches salvation by works, since obedience in Revelation always flows from belonging to the Lamb.
• "The right to the tree of life" and "enter the city by the gates" (v14). Adam was barred from the tree. The washed are given the right to it. The gates of the city never shut (21:25), and those who are washed walk in.
• "Outside are the dogs and sorcerers…" (v15). "Dogs" in the Bible are not pets but scavengers, roaming and unclean (Ps 22:16; 1 Kings 21:23). It was a common insult for the impure or outsiders, which Paul turns on false teachers (Phil 3:2), and Deuteronomy 23:18 may use it for male cult prostitutes. "Sorcerers" is pharmakos, related to "pharmacy," a word for poisoners and magicians. The list repeats 21:8 and 21:27. It is not a picture of crowds camped outside heaven's walls but a statement that these things have no place inside. The closing phrase, "everyone who loves and practices falsehood," fits a book that has unmasked so much lying: the false prophet, the deceiving beast, Babylon's sorceries.
• "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches" (v16). Jesus speaks in his own name and puts his signature on the whole book. "You" is plural: this is for every congregation that hears it read.
• "I am the root and the descendant of David" (v16). In 5:5 he is "the Root of David." Isaiah 11:1, 10 calls the Messiah both a shoot from Jesse's stump and the root of Jesse. Jesus is David's source as God and his descendant as man. He pressed exactly this puzzle on the Pharisees: how can David's son be David's Lord? (Matt 22:41–46).
• "The bright morning star" (v16). The morning star, which we now know as the planet Venus, shines brightest just before dawn and announces that night is ending. Balaam prophesied that "a star shall come out of Jacob" (Num 24:17), and Peter speaks of the morning star rising in believers' hearts (2 Pet 1:19). Jesus promised "the morning star" to the faithful in Thyatira (2:28). Now he says he is that star.
• "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come'" (v17). The Bride is the church (19:7; 21:2, 9). The first two "Come"s are probably addressed to Jesus, a prayer for his return, as in v20. Then the invitation turns outward: "let the one who is thirsty come." The Spirit and the church call Christ to come and call the world to come to him, in the same breath.
• "Take the water of life without price" (v17). This is Isaiah 55:1: "Come, everyone who thirsts… buy wine and milk without money and without price." The last invitation in the Bible is free. The only requirements are thirst and willingness.
• "If anyone adds… if anyone takes away" (vv18–19). This echoes Moses' warning in Deuteronomy 4:2 and 12:32 ("You shall not add to the word… nor take from it"). Ancient authors sometimes closed a book with a curse on anyone who altered it, because copies were made by hand and could be changed. The warning first protects this book. Many Christians also see it as a fitting seal at the end of the whole Bible, though the verse itself speaks of "this book."
• "His share in the tree of life" (v19). The KJV reads "the book of life" here. Almost all Greek manuscripts read "tree of life." The KJV wording goes back to Erasmus, who had no Greek manuscript for the last verses of Revelation in 1516 and translated them back into Greek from the Latin, where "tree" (ligno) and "book" (libro) look alike. Modern translations follow the Greek. The meaning is the same: whoever tampers with God's word puts himself outside the city.
• "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (v20). Jesus speaks his last words in the Bible: a promise. John answers for the church with "Amen" and a prayer. "Come, Lord Jesus" matches the Aramaic prayer Marana tha, "Our Lord, come!", which Paul quotes untranslated in 1 Corinthians 16:22. It was one of the earliest Christian prayers, prayed in Jesus' own language. The Didache, an early church manual, places it at the close of the Lord's Supper.
• "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen" (v21). A book full of beasts, plagues and judgment ends with grace. It closes the way Paul's letters close, a reminder that Revelation is a letter to real churches. Manuscripts vary in the last words ("with all," "with all the saints," "with the saints"), and the ESV follows "with all."
• Commentators: Henry: "He will come quickly; let this word be always sounding in our ear," and "What comes from heaven in a promise should be sent back to heaven in a prayer." He sees in v13 that "the Bible ends with a clear proof of the Godhead of Christ." On v17 he hears "an open and general invitation to all." JFB says on v11, "The punishment of sin is sin, the reward of holiness is holiness." He calls Jesus "Root of David, as being Jehovah," and "offspring of David as man," and the morning star that "ushered in the day of grace." He notes that the "wash their robes" reading "takes away the pretext for the notion of salvation by works." Guzik reads v11 as the door to change closing, and sees no second chance after death. On v17 he stresses that no one has to understand every doctrine or feel worthy enough before coming; the water is taken, not earned. All three note the contrast between the Old Testament's last word, "curse," and the New Testament's last word, grace. The Tyndale notes see the epilogue as a mirror of the prologue in chapter 1, pressing perseverance, warning, the truth of the message and the nearness of Christ's coming.

Pointing to Christ

The Bible opens with a garden, a river and a tree, and people who lost them. It closes with a garden-city, a river from the throne of the Lamb and the tree of life open again. What lies between is the Lamb who was slain. The curse is gone because he became a curse for us (Gal 3:13), and the robes are white because they were washed in his blood. The water is free because he paid for it. The last words of Jesus in Scripture are a promise, "Surely I am coming soon," and the last prayer of his people is the right answer: "Come, Lord Jesus." The final word is grace.

Commentary

• Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik covers the river and tree of life, the no-more-curse promise, the final invitation, and the Bible's closing words.
• Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
• Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

Articles

• GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org The warning against adding to or taking from the words of this book, and its scope.
• Crossway: crossway.org How the Bible's story runs from Eden lost to Eden restored, with the river and tree of life returning in this chapter.
• GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Revelation -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

• No More Curse (v.3) — Everything sin broke in this world is finally undone. What part of the curse's damage in your own life do you most long to see reversed?
• Seeing His Face (v.4) — God's servants will see Him face to face, the ultimate destiny of everyone who belongs to Him. Is that nearness your deepest longing, or has something smaller taken its place?
• Reward for the Journey (v.12) — Christ promises to come again and repay everyone according to what they've done. Does that promise motivate faithfulness in you, or does it feel distant and abstract?
• The Open Invitation (v.17) — The Spirit and the bride invite anyone who is thirsty to come and take the water of life freely. Have you truly come, and are you inviting others to come too?
• Longing for His Return (v.20) — Christ promises He is coming soon, and the fitting response is to want Him to. Do you long for His return, or does the idea unsettle you more than it excites you?
• Grace Has the Last Word (v.21) — The Bible closes not with a threat but with a blessing of grace for all. Whatever you're facing right now, is grace the word you're standing on?