Smoodock's Blog

Presumably, the angel, whom the Lord had sent, is the speaker in Revelation 22:17, and he quotes the Spirit and the Bride saying to the Lord, “Come!” That is, they bid the Lord Jesus to come quickly, as he promises to do in the Apocalypse. Then the angel, probably speaking to the churches (Revelation 22:16) and by implication to all who hear the Gospel through their preaching, invites them to also bid the Lord to “Come!” Finally, he tells all who are thirsty to “come” and drink freely of the water of life (viz. the River of Life that flows out of the throne of God – Revelation 22:1).[1] Just after the imprisonment of John the Baptist, Jesus told the woman of Samaria that the water he offered her was like “a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Later on in his ministry Jesus called out to the people in Jerusalem:

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37-39)

Both in John 4:14 and 7:37-38 Jesus obviously spoke in metaphor. The ‘river’ pointed to the Spirit of Christ within the believer (Romans 8:9), just as John 7:39 says. Yet, many Biblical scholars believe the River of Life that flows from the throne of God (Revelation 22:1) is a literal, physical river, but, clearly, if John 4:14 and John 7:39 are taken into consideration, this isn’t so. Rather, the water of Life that flows out of the throne of God is Jesus, who (via the Gospel) gives life to all who hear and obey the preaching of those he sends.

From what we read in Revelation 22:18-19 we are able to understand that the Apocalypse is a very important book, and that it must be preserved in the form and context in which it was delivered to the churches. When Moses delivered the Law to ancient Israel he said: “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you” (Deuteronomy 4:2). In other words, should a man add to the word of God or take from the word of God, he is unable to keep the commandments of God. That seems to say that in doing so he violates Scripture and defiles it in such a manner that it is no longer God’s word. Additions to and subtractions from the Scriptures make them common, and thus they become man’s words, not God’s. The spin man puts upon the word of God causes it to become no better than a human message, and a lie at that, because the speaker or writer unlawfully claims that he is communicating the message of God.

In the context of Revelation 22:18-19 this would mean changing the Apocalypse through additions or subtractions affect its sacredness. Therefore, the warning is given that whosoever does so would find himself inheriting those things with which the wicked were plagued (cp. Matthew 25:29-30; Luke 11:34-35; John 15:6). He would also lose his right to the tree of life and his citizenship in New Jerusalem (Revelation 22:19). The Lord ends the Apocalypse with a final warning, saying he is coming quickly (Revelation 22:20), and the elect reply: “Come!” and may the grace of the Lord, Jesus, be with us all! Amen.

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[1] See my study: The River of Life.