The End - Revelation 22

22:1-4 - The kingdom of God is on the celestialized earth and the righteous are here living with Heavenly Father and Jesus. The angel that is giving John the tour now shows him “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” On either side of the river “was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits.” I’m not sure if this means that there are several trees or if the river is positioned differently than I imagine. I’m not sure, but the point is that the river of pure water that flows from the throne of God is what waters the tree of life. That’s an interesting image. The fruit come “every month” which I think probably means that there is no on or off season, but the fruit of the tree of life grows constantly. It’s also noted that the “leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” Maybe it’s supposed to be thought of as a tea, I’m not really sure. The curse of the fallen world is gone and God and the Lamb will be on the earth with “his servants” who will serve him, “and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.” There’s been a lot of talk about loyalties being demonstrated on foreheads, but the IM comments, “As in earlier passages in Revelation, to bear a name on one’s forehead indicates allegiance. Bearing the name also suggests taking on the characteristics of the one names. Bearing God’s name on one’s forehead may also be connected to images of priesthood and temple service.” It makes sense that all those who live with God in the end would have had their temple ordinances done and accepted. This is why vicarious ordinances make sense and why the millennium will be so heavily focused on temple work. 22:5-17 - The glory of God will be the only light needed for the inhabitants of the perfected earth. The angel promises John “these sayings are faithful and true.” John is so overwhelmed by the amazingness of what he’s seen, he again “fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.” I’m sure that logically John knows that this angel is not for worshipping, but at some point during the demonstration, he becomes so overwhelmed that falling down to worship is what makes sense. I wonder what that’s like, it seems so abstract, maybe because I don’t fall down to worship anything. The angel, of course, is like “don’t do that, we are both servants of God,” but “seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.” I don’t know if this means that John is not supposed to hide the contents of this book, but to share the information freely as a warning to everyone else that the time is coming for judgment. God will “come quickly” which the IM says means, not soon, but all of a sudden, unexpectedly. The unjust are going to continue to be unjust, the filthy will continue to be filthy, but the righteous and holy will also continue to be righteous and holy. The angel says, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Outside of the city are the wicked, but inside are the righteous. Jesus has sent “mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.” Jesus is the one who is truly “the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” What Jesus offers is his right to do so, he’s not usurping anyone else’s position or pretending he has authority when he doesn’t. He is the legal and lawful authority to promise “him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” 22:18-21 – It makes sense that with John being commanded to take the words spoken here to the world, that Jesus would emphasize the importance of this particular message, promising, “if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in his book.” He similarly promises damnation to anyone who “shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy.” The part that has gotten a lot of attention, especially when it comes to determining the credibility of the Book of Mormon is the “don’t add anything else.” I’ve often wondered about this and I’ve heard it a lot when people say, “the Book of Mormon can’t be real scripture because God said don’t add anything else.” Now that I know a little bit more, it’s clearly a misunderstanding. The IM quotes Jeffrey R. Holland as remarking, “There is now overwhelming consensus among virtually all biblical scholars that this verse applies only to the book of Revelation, not the whole Bible. Those scholars of our day acknowledge a number of New Testament ‘books’ that were almost certainly written after John’s revelation on the Isle of Patmos was received. Included in this category are at least the books of Jude, the three epistles of John, and probably the entire Gospel of John itself. Perhaps there are even more than these.” He also points out that the Bible as a whole book as we know it didn’t exist until after 400 A.D. when it was compiled mostly by Jerome. So no adding to the book of Revelation, but there’s no limit on scripture according to John. John ends the book of Revelation warning “Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” And with that we are finished with the New Testament.