Read with Me
Revelation 22:16-21 (HCSB)
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright Morning Star.”
Both the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Anyone who hears should say, “Come!” And the one who is thirsty should come. Whoever desires should take the living water as a gift.
I testify to everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of this prophetic book, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, written in this book.
He who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.”
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.
Listen with Me
These closing paragraphs serve not only as the closing note to the visions given to John, but also as a sort of signature of the type the Paul often employed (1 Corinthian 16:25, Galatians 6:11, Colossians 4:18, 2 Thessalonians 3:17). Here, Jesus Himself declares conclusively that this message is from Him and is not just a dream from John’s own mind.
Jesus identifies Himself as the Root and the Offspring of David. In other words, as God, He is the originator of the Davidic line of kings, having chosen David from among all his brothers (1 Samuel 16:6-12). And as the Messiah, He is a direct line descendant of David according to the flesh on both sides of his genealogy (Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:23-38).
Jesus also describes himself as the Bright Morning Star. Astronomically, the morning star is the planet Venus when it is at the point in its orbit where it rises shortly before the sun. Symbolically, this indicates that the light of Jesus’ presence when He was in the flesh presaged a greater, more all-encompassing light that rose on humanity with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit into the hearts of all the people of God’s kingdom.
The summons to “come” spoken by both the Spirit and the Bride, the Church, is not a call for Jesus’ ultimate return. Instead, it is a call to the people of the world to come into the gates of the New Jerusalem where they will find the river of life from which to drink, and the tree of life from which to eat. It is a call to leave the kingdom of this world and to enter fully into God’s kingdom.
The double curse found in verses 18 and 19 are designed to protect the integrity of God’s revelation to John. No one is allowed to add anything to what Jesus showed to John and which he had faithfully recorded. If they do, then the plagues described in the visions will be added to them. No one is allowed to strike out or remove anything that Jesus had shown to John. It was (and still is) tempting to remove, ignore, or downplay those parts of the revelation that are frightening or hard to understand. But if people do that, they will have their share in the tree of life removed as well.
By the way, some have debated whether these curses apply only to the Book of Revelation or to the whole Bible, since they appear at the end of the whole collection of books that are in our Bibles today. As John wrote this down, the Revelation was a free-standing letter written to the seven Churches of Asia. As with all the New Testament “books”, they only existed as stand-alone documents until they were first gathered together as codices in the late 3rd or early 4th century. Therefore, even though no one should add or subtract from God’s entire revelation contained within the covers of our Bibles, the curse as written applies to this specific letter.
The coming alluded to in the final two verses is not referring to Jesus’ ultimate coming, but is to His coming to avenge the persecution to which the Church had been subjected, and the deliverance promised throughout this vision. At the time when John wrote down this vision, he was an old man in his nineties, and he had no idea if he would see the end of the persecution before he died. His closing prayer was for the speedy deliverance of God’s people as promised in this vision, and that in the midst of the persecution, no matter how long it lasted, that God’s people would experience His sustaining grace.
Pray with Me
Father, it is easy to lose hope any time we allow ourselves to get focused on the present circumstances. But You have given us abundant cause for hope, both in Your promise of victory and in the pictures You have given us of Your ultimate triumph over every challenge, every evil, every hardship. Help me, Lord, to always keep my focus upwards while I work and wait. Amen.