Revelation 22 VERSE
3. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb
shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.
This language proves
that the great God, the Father, is referred to, as well as the Son. The marks
of the curse, the deadly miasma, and the ghastly scenes of desolation and
decay, will no more be seen on the earth. Every breeze will be balmy and
life-giving, every scene beauty, and every sound music.
VERSE 4. And they
shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
The word his, in the
sentence, "And they shall see his face," refers to the Father; for he
is the one whose name is in their foreheads; and that it is the Father, we
learn from chapter 14:1. This will be a fulfilment of the promise in Matt. 5:8,
"Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God."
VERSE 5. And there
shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for
the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign forever and ever.
6. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true:
and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants
the things which must shortly be done. 7. Behold, I
come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this
book.
Here, again, we have
the declaration that there shall be no night in the city; for the Lord God will
be the light of the place. Verse 7 proves that Christ is the speaker, a fact
which it is of especial importance to bear in mind in connection with verse 14.
To keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book is to obey the duties brought
to view in connection with the prophecy, as, for instance, in chapter 14:9-12.
VERSE 8. And I John
saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to
worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things.
9. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy
fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the
sayings of this
p 768 -- book:
worship God. 10. And he saith unto me, Seal not the
sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. 11.
He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is
filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous
still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 12.
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man
according as his work shall be.
(For remarks on
verse 9, see on chapter 19:10.) In verse 10 John is told not to seal the
sayings of the prophecy of this book. The popular theology of our day says that
the book is sealed. One of two things follows from this: either John
disobeyed his instructions, or the theology above referred to is fulfilling
Isa. 29:10-14. Verse 11 proves that probation closes, and the cases of all are
unalterably fixed, before the coming of Christ; for in the very next verse
Christ says, "Behold, I come quickly." What dangerous and insane
presumption, then, to claim, as age-to-come believers do, that there will be
probation even after that event! Christ's reward is with him, to give every man
as his work shall be, which is another conclusive proof that there can be no
probation after that event; for all the living wicked, those "who know not
God," the heathen, and those "who obey not the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ," the sinners of Christian lands (2 Thess. 1:8), will be visited
with swift destruction from Him who then comes in flaming fire to take
vengeance on his foes.
The declaration of
verse 11 marks the close of probation, which is the close of Christ's work as
mediator. But we are taught by the subject of the sanctuary that this work
closes with the examination of the cases of the living in the investigative
judgment. When this is accomplished, the irrevocable fiat can be pronounced.
But when the cases of the living are reached in the work of judgment, we
apprehend that what remains to be done will be so speedily accomplished that
all these cases may almost be said to be decided simultaneously. We have
therefore no occasion to speculate as to the order of work among the living;
that is, whose cases will be decided first, and whose last, nor whether or not
it will be known that any are decided before all is finished.
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I will study this
more in depth tomorrow by the grace of God.
In His love always!
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