Revelation 22: Eternity... And the River & Tree of Life

Bible Study Series: Revealing Jesus in Revelation

Revelation Chapter 22: Eternity... And the River & Tree of Life! 

by I Gordon

Well, we made it. No, not heaven just yet. Believe me, that will be saying 'we made it!' on a whole different, out-of-this-world, scale! So, granted, the celebrations today are somewhat subdued in comparison, but we have made it in our series to the last chapter of Revelation. Thirty three messages down, two to go! This study will be from Revelation 22:1-11 and we will see some things here that were last seen in the opening chapters of the Bible.  So what will we focus on? We'll see...

• The river of life mentioned flowing from the throne of God. Have we seen this before and what is the spiritual takeaway for today?
• The tree of life makes a long awaited return! What three trees does the biblical story revolve around?
• The glorious eternal state is described. What is the 7-fold state of perfection given in this chapter?  
• And what would the angel showing John all these things want us to know for the here and now?

Let's start by diving in to the river of life!

The Life-giving River of Life

Rev 22:1-2 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 (2) down the middle of the great street of the city. 

In the last chapter we were given an amazing glimpse into the New Jerusalem. We saw that it descends out of heaven, giving light to the new earth. We saw that it was made from all sorts of precious stones, gold and pearls, and that the glory of God floods and shines through the entire city. So far everything has been incredibly beautiful, but what about the vegetation? What about some greenery? Oh it's got that too! There is a river of life flowing through this city that is as pure as a river has ever been! Now all rivers need to have a source and this normally begins with the melting glaciers and snow high in a mountain range. So what about this river... what is its source? In a word, God! This river comes directly from the throne of God and the Lamb! Do you think this is going to be a very special river? Yeah, you should! Just as there was a river that flowed out of Eden and watered the ground, so I believe this will be a literal river... but its life giving pure properties are unlike anything we have ever experienced on this planet! This is spiritual living water!

The Return of the Tree of Life

Rev 22:2 On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

So not only do we have the river of life, but the tree of life makes a long hoped for return as well! You will remember this tree from the garden of Eden where Adam and Eve were to eat from it but instead were deceived (and disobeyed) and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Thus, as I have written before, we could say that the entire Bible story revolves around three trees:

1. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil - from which mankind ate, deciding that we can call the shots without the Lord and 'be like God' ourselves. Eating for this tree was the source of all our problems!
2. The tree of life - which restores eternal spiritual life to the individual who eats from it. This tree provides the solution to our need.
3. The tree of Golgotha - this is the cross. As scripture says 'Cursed is everyone hung on a tree' and thus Jesus became that curse for us so that we may eat, spiritually speaking (and literally in the future) of the tree of life once again! This tree provided the way to the solution, the way back to God who is life, for those wanting to partake from it! 

Our need of spiritual nourishment

Now look at  what it says about the tree of life: it bears twelve kinds of fruit and it bears fruit each month!¹ This might possibly appeal to my taste buds for some would say I like fruit. I'm not sure where they get this from but down the backyard of my house I currently have blueberries, guavas, mulberries, avocados, feijoas, apples, persimmons, mandarins, oranges, lemons, plums and ugli-fruit. Excessive? Maybe, but definitely tasty! But what I don't have is a tree that yields different types of fruit and does so every month of the year! I'll keep an eye out in the garden center but I haven't seen a 'tree of life' advertised so far! And I don't think I will because trees need time to recover after producing their crop². Some of these fruits are only available for a few weeks and then the tree goes into rest and recovery mode! But not so the tree of life. Why? Because it is fed and nourished constantly by the river of life and we saw what the source of that is... the throne of God! This picture also points to the spiritual reality and our need to be constantly sustained by the Lord Jesus. It reminds us of a couple of well known scriptures in the Old Testament:

Isa 40:28-31 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. (29) He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (30) Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; (31) but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Psa 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. (2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (3) He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

So where are your roots? What are you feeding on today? If it is in God's word and His Spirit you will be tapped into the source of spiritual life that flows from God and you will be fruitful.

The Perfection of the Eternal State

Rev 22:3-5 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. (4) They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. (5) There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

I like these verses because they give a 7-fold state of perfection: 

So which of those pushes your buttons? Yeah ok... all of them! But which do you long for the most? To me the most amazing one is that we will see His face. I just can't imagine coming before my Savior and seeing Him face to face. Especially with a face that shines like the sun! But just looking into the eyes of the One who gave up everything so that I could inherit all, will be crazy. And I know at the start I'll simply be bowed down, looking at His feet before ever thinking of looking at His face!  Concerning seeing His face Charles Spurgeon writes:

By which I understand two things: first, that they shall literally and physically, with their risen bodies, actually look into the face of Jesus; and secondly, that spiritually their mental faculties shall be enlarged, so that they shall be enabled to look into the very heart, and soul, and character of Christ, so as to understand him, his work, his love, his all in all, as they never understood him before."
Charles Spurgeon

I like both of those but especially the second thought. We will look into the heart and character of Christ and understand, like never before, what He did to fulfill a plan agreed to before the foundation of the world!

Now you may recall that the curse was said to be removed in the Kingdom age for Zech 14 states: 'And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one... and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.' (Zec 14:9,11) But there is still sin in the Kingdom age for the 'sheep' amongst the nations will be allowed to enter into the Kingdom and live in their natural fallen bodies. But in the eternal state all sin is gone, forever. Thus when it says here that there is no more curse it means that there will be no sin, no ungodliness, no cause for any judgment... only perfection for then on eternally. It is about now, with the thought of eternal holiness and joy in your mind, that I can see your brain starting to overheat and smoke seeping out of your ears. And mine too! Eternity is a difficult thought to grasp. In fact we can't. But we like it! And believe it. And hope in it for it is true.   

Think also on the fact that in eternity there is no night. Some of us like a good snooze but that is only because we get tired. But God doesn't get tired and He doesn't sleep. And neither shall we. Now if the thought of having no sleep is already making you feel sleepy... well, remember that believers will have a body that does not wear out, does not get dozy at the end of the day, does not have eyelids that slowly start to grow heavy and slip down in the evening hours... or anything of the like! It will be an eternal day with the light of God illuminating heaven and earth and the energy of God sustaining all believers. This is all coming saints!

Words that can be trusted!

Rev 22:6-9 The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place." (7) Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book. (8) 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. (9) But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"

Now in view of all that John has just been shown, it is interesting to note the reaction right now of both the angel showing John these things, and John himself.

• The Angel - He says 'these words are faithful and true!' Such was the glory and scope of this vision of the new heaven and the new earth, that the angel needed to say it again - This is all true. This is all trustworthy. This is your future. We need that reminder. Maybe the bills are stacking up; maybe your health is failing; maybe you are struggling with the evil day in which we live; Maybe you are struggling with loneliness or are watching people prosper while feeling overlooked. Whatever it is, we need to look up again and remember that these words of what is coming for the believer in Christ are faithful and true. And they will soon take place. This is not story time. These are the words of God.
• The Apostle John - He reacts to what he has seen by falling down at the feet of the angel to worship him! Oooops! No doubt John was overwhelmed by what he had seen but this is not the first time he had done this! You may remember that in Rev 19:10, when John saw the bride of Christ and the wedding of the Lamb, he was overcome and fell down to worship the angel at that time. That was met with a pretty swift 'do not do that! Get on your feet! I am a fellow servant so worship God alone!' So poor old John... overcome with this vision he has gone and done it again and is met with the same 'do not do that' message!⁴ But I like what the angel says here - 'I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!' - It is a cool thought that whether it is church age believers like you and me, or Old Testament prophets, or angels performing their unseen duties for the Lord throughout all ages... we are all on the same team and are all servants of God, who alone is worthy of praise and worship. 

Keeping the words of this book

Note also that the angel speaks of God's people as those that 'keep the words of this book'. This is similar to Jesus' words just earlier in verse 7 where He says "Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book." (Rev 22:7)

So how do you keep or heed the words of the prophecy in this book? What are we to do?

• Firstly start by reading the book of Revelation, as we have been doing, for there is a specific blessing in reading its words (Rev 1:3)
• Secondly set your mind on the eternal matters that Revelation deals with. For in doing so you will be fulfilling the command to set your mind on the things above! (Col 3:2)
• Thirdly live in the light, hope and expectation of Jesus coming and allow that to be a motivation in making the most of the time you have, making choices that live on into eternity.
• Fourthly, allow the thought of Jesus' soon return to result in personal purity as John commands in his epistle where he states: 1Jn 3:2-3 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. (3) And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Now you will note that Jesus also speaks in verse 7 to declare that He is coming quickly. This is actually repeated three times in this one chapter by the Lord so it must be important. In fact, it is important enough to be the focus on our next, and last message, in this series. So I'll save the points for then!  

In view of the end... remember Revelation!

Rev 22:10 And he *said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 

Now the angel has finished speaking to John and instructs him to not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. So what exactly does this mean? 

Now the last verse in this passage that we will focus on today is verse 11 and it is, on the surface at least, well, a little odd.    

A final warning and exhortation!

Rev 22:11 "Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy."

Now at face value, this verse sounds a little odd. Why? Because you would think that it would say 'let him who does wrong, repent and believe.' 'Let the one who is filthy, wash his clothes in the blood of the Lamb.' But no... it says let the one who does wrong still do wrong and the one who is filthy still be filthy. What is the thought here? It is a warning given to those that are reading or hearing the words of this prophecy that if you have got to this point and are still doing filthy and doing wrong, then nothing will change them. The quote Walvoord again on this:

In effect, he advocates status quo for both the wicked and the righteous. By this he does not mean that men should remain unmoved by the prophecies of this book, but rather that if the prophecies are rejected, there is no other message that will work. If the warnings of the book are not sufficient, there is no more that God has to say. The wicked must continue in their wicked way and be judged by the Lord when He comes.   

One of the scary things we have seen during this series in Revelation are the times when there was a clear judgment of God and instead of humbling themselves and crying out for salvation, the wicked have cursed God and shaken their fist at Him (Rev 9:20-21, Rev 16:9-11). The reality is exactly as the Bible has always declared - that apart from the miraculous saving work of God, 'the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?' (Jer 17:9). Thus, this is God's final word to mankind and if mankind constantly hardens their heart towards God, despite having heard these warnings, then God hardens them in their decision (as He did Pharaoh before judging Egypt at the time of the Exodus) and says continue in your wrong and filthy ways. 

The Great Separation

In contrast, look at God's word to the righteous: 'let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.' That is, let the wicked be wicked and the righteous, righteous. God desires that there is a clear division and separation between the two! We find ourselves in a point of church history that is often characterized, at least in the West, by the last message to the Church of Laodicea. And as we saw in the study on that church, it was and is a worldly church. In other words, it looks a lot like the world and desires similar things to the world. 

Yet God desires that there is a great separation in this age and for what is to come. There should be a clear division between the world and the people of God... a clear division between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. A worldly church is like the trumpet that gives an unclear sound causing confusion amongst it hearers and is of no use to the wicked or the righteous. It doesn't draw or convict the world for they have already been into worldliness all their live. And it isn't of any use to the true sheep, for they want to grow close to God and desire what He desires. So who does it attract? Goats. As Charles Spurgeon said 'A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats!' 

Conclusion

So, what have we seen? 

• We have seen the purest of all rivers will be seen and experienced in the eternal state for the river of life shall flow with life giving living water, right from the throne of God itself! 
• We have seen that believers shall eat of the fruit that is produced every month from the tree of life. Yes! The tree last seen in the garden of Eden is set to make a comeback and it is fair to say that you may see me sitting under that tree, eating. And if there is a job going to serve as the tree of life fruit tester, I will be putting my hand up for that one! 
• We have also seen the perfection of this eternal state... no curse, no separation from God, no night or darkness (in any form that that comes!) but instead there will be face to face contact with Jesus and the light of God illuminating everything in the universe as we serve and reign with Christ! As I have said before, bring it on!
• And we have heard the angel stating, for those that are thinking that this all sounds like a fictional story or fairy tale, that 'these words are faithful and true.' And the angel certainly knows what he is talking about for He brought these prophecies directly from the One who is true and cannot lie! 

So, in view of all these things, draw near to God believer. In view of all these things, thank Him for who is and what He has planned. Let the wicked be wicked, but let the righteous be righteous.  And may there be a clear division and separation between the two! May it be clear on whose side you are on!

God bless.

FOOTNOTES