Welcome to the last chapter in the book of Revelation. The journey we began at the beginning of the year is ending at its close. To God be all praise for allowing us to see the end of this year.
Verse 1 shows us a river that flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb, with which the new Jerusalem is watered. Comparing this with the Garden of Eden, Eden was watered by earthly sources (a mist which rose out of the ground, Genesis 2:6; a river hat flowed from Eden itself, Genesis 2:10). Now, just as in Eden, we have the tree of Life again. Unlike Eden, however, we don’t have any trees of Knowledge of good and evil. Then, man ate the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of good and evil, and was subsequently excluded from Eden, so as not to eat of the tree of Life, after being corrupted by sin. Now the tree of Knowledge is excluded, and mankind is free to eat of the tree of Life forever.
There have been many attempts to get an idea of what Heaven will be like. Personally, I have stopped trying to figure these things out. I simply plan to get there and see for myself. This passage however tells us that we shall reign forever and ever. What are we going to be reigning over? There have been many speculations, ranging from us being kings over the earth and the renewed creation, to ruling planets and star systems. Whatever the correct speculation, Heaven is not a thing to be missed.
Verse 6 shows us that God is not satisfied with His people being ignorant, which is why He sends His angels and messengers (“angel” means messenger) to reveal to us what will soon happen, so that we may be ready, and that we may keep the sayings of this book. For those who believe that all one has to do is confess Jesus as Lord and then continue in an unregenerated lifestyle, please remember this verse (7), as well as verse 14. We don’t have to fulfil the laws of Moses, but we still have a good deal of things to do. No one will be forced by God to do good or evil; we are all allowed to do as we like, but it is best for us to remember that our God comes, to give us according as our works shall be.
So, where is hell? See v.15. Interestingly, Christopher Marlowe opined something similar in his Dr. Faustus poem, the fact being quite ironic as it was Mephistopheles, a demon, that recounted this to Dr. Faust. Hell is simply where God is ‘not’. We know God is everywhere (for those who don’t, read Psalm 139), but God’s manifest presence isn’t everywhere. Where God’s manifest presence is, there is Heaven. Not any place in the sky. Where God’s manifest presence is not, there is hell. And those who live their lives outside of God’s manifest presence will simply transit from an unperceived hell, which is here on earth, to the final, perceived lake of fire. May we always desire the manifest presence of God.
We are called to persuade people to come and drink of the water of life freely. In other words, accept Jesus Christ’s offer of salvation. It is free, and we pay nothing to acquire it. The Bride says come. To Christ and no other. The message of the Church must always be Christ. Some “churches” have sadly been putting forward strange messages, because they are listening to strange voices. We always end up echoing what we listen to. If we listen to the truth, we will echo the truth. The reverse is the same. The speech of the Bride is synonymous with that of the Spirit, because she hears His voice. As Christians, our speech must be synonymous with that of the Spirit, because we hear His voice (cf. John 10:4-5). And what is the major message the Spirit is calling to the world? ETERNAL LIFE IS FREE!!! AND IT IS FOR ALL!!! Verse17 tells us this unequivocally, because the word “whosoever” denotes an open check. Should you answer the call, you will be one of the “whosoever”. As a wonderful old hymn so expertly put it, “whosoever meaneth me!” That’s something to celebrate about, isn’t it?
Happy new year and peace to you all.
Simple Complexities 