INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 22 This chapter contains a further account of the above city, a confirmation of the visions of this book, and the conclusion of it. The city is further described by the river that ran by it, or through it, called a river of water of life, said to be pure and clear as crys... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SHOWED ME A PURE RIVER OF WATER OF LIFE,.... Not baptism, which used to be administered in rivers and pools of water; and which engaged to purity of life; and, the power and authority of administering which was from God and Christ; but in this Jerusalem state there will be no use nor need of... [ Continue Reading ]
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 s... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE SHALL BE NO MORE CURSE,.... As there was in Eden, from whence a river came, and where was a tree of life; for there the serpent cursed for his concern in man's transgression, and the earth on account of it; but in this new earth, and paradisiacal state, and on the inhabitants of it, will b... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SHALL SEE HIS FACE,.... The face of God, so as he is not to be seen now; they shall see him as he is; not only the angels, who always behold the face of God, but all the saints, risen and changed, being pure in heart, and perfectly holy; they shall see him face to face, they shall have inti... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE SHALL BE NO NIGHT THERE,.... This is repeated from Revelation 21:25 to express the certainty of it, and to observe, that the happiness of this state will greatly lie in the light thereof; it will be one everlasting day, ημερα αιωνος, "day of eternity", or eternal day, as in 2 Peter 3:18... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID UNTO ME,.... That is, the angel that talked with him, and showed him the above things: THESE SAYINGS ARE FAITHFUL AND TRUE; not only what are delivered in particular concerning the new Jerusalem state, in which are many things new, and unheard of before, and which may seem strange, and... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, I COME QUICKLY,.... These are the words not of the angel, but of Christ, as is manifest from Revelation 22:12 and which are to be understood not of Christ's coming in his power to destroy Jerusalem, for this was past when John had these visions, and wrote this book; but of the second and per... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I JOHN SAW THESE THINGS, AND HEARD THEM,.... He was both an eye and an ear witness; some things he saw, and others he heard; and to render his testimony the more authentic, he puts his name to it; and he being an apostle of Christ, and a man of great sincerity and probity, is to be believed. AN... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAITH HE UNTO ME,.... The angel at whose feet John fell down to worship: SEE THOU DO IT NOT; this he said in great haste, and with much vehemence, to hinder him from doing it, as his short way of speaking shows: FOR I AM THY FELLOW SERVANT: of God, and of Christ, and am no more the object of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAITH UNTO ME,.... Not the angel, but Christ, as is manifest from Revelation 22:12. This clause is left out in the Ethiopic version. SEAL NOT THE SAYINGS OF THE PROPHECY OF THIS BOOK; as the orders are, when things are intended not to be published, but concealed, at least as yet, because of... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT IS UNJUST, LET HIM BE UNJUST STILL,.... These words are not to be considered as ironical expressions, such as in Ecclesiastes 11:9 much less as an allowance to do injustice and commit filthy actions; nor even as deterring persons from these things, by tacitly suggesting, that should they con... [ Continue Reading ]
AND, BEHOLD, I COME QUICKLY,..... This is repeated, to confirm the truth of Christ's second coming, and the speediness of it, and to point at the time when the above shall be, and to add what follows. AND MY REWARD IS WITH ME: which words are taken out of Isaiah 40:10 and which being compared toget... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA,.... Revelation 1:8. These characters are all put together here, which are before used in Revelation 1:8 and are very pertinently mentioned in this place, when all promises and prophecies, relating to the glorious kingdom of Christ, were just finishing, and that itself was ready... [ Continue Reading ]
BLESSED ARE THEY THAT DO HIS COMMANDMENTS,.... Either the commandments of God, Revelation 12:17 the precepts of the moral law, which are the whole duty of man; which are done either legally in order to obtain life, and then they must be perfectly done, which no man can do; hence none live, and are j... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WITHOUT ARE DOGS,.... That is, without the holy city are such persons who are comparable to dogs for their filthiness, impudence, and voraciousness, as are persecutors, heretics, and apostates, Matthew 7:6. Some think Sodomites are intended, as in Deuteronomy 23:18. So Abarbinel and others inter... [ Continue Reading ]
I JESUS HAVE SENT MINE ANGEL,.... As John, the writer of this book, sets down his own name, who was an eye and ear witness of the things contained in it, that they might be more surely believed, Revelation 22:8 so Christ, the author of it, puts his name Jesus to it, to engage the greater attention... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE SPIRIT AND THE BRIDE SAY, COME,.... Hearing Christ say that he should come quickly, Revelation 22:7 the Spirit and the bride express an earnest wish, and a most affectionate desire after his coming: by "the Spirit" may be meant the Spirit of God in the hearts of his people, who not only conv... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I TESTIFY TO EVERY MAN,.... These are not the words of a scribe, who having wrote out a copy of this book, added the following adjuration to it, to deter persons from adding to it, or diminishing it; for the book is not yet finished, and both Christ and John speak after this; and to insert such... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF ANY MAN SHALL TAKE AWAY FROM THE PROPHECY OF THIS BOOK,.... As he may be said to do, who denies the authority of this book, which has been done by some, and which the Holy Ghost foresaw; or takes it away from, or denies the reading of it to the people, as the Papists do with respect to the wh... [ Continue Reading ]
HE WHICH TESTIFIETH THESE THINGS,.... Not the angel, Revelation 22:16 nor John, who sometimes used this way of speaking, John 21:24 but Christ, as appears from what follows; for he SAITH, SURELY I COME QUICKLY; who not only asserts the speediness of his coming, as in Revelation 22:7 but expresses... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST BE WITH YOU ALL. AMEN. That is, let a sense of the love of Christ, shown in all his regards to his church and people, which is always the same in itself, though the saints have not always the same perception of it, abide upon you: may you see your interest in the r... [ Continue Reading ]