Revelation 22

If you haven't read about the earlier verses of Revelation 22 you can go back to the previous page.

"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." (Rev 22:12)

This verse is good evidence of the Biblical truth that people do not receive rewards at death; they await the Second Coming at which time Jesus brings those rewards with Him. Is this indicating a salvation by works? Not at all; we are not saved by works. However, scripture does speak of rewards for works.

"For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward." (Mark 9:41)

There will be rewards in heaven for works but we have to get there to receive them and the getting there is not by works.

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." (Rev 22:13)

This is the Son speaking as in Rev 1:11-13

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." (Rev 1:8)

"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." (Rev 22:14-15)

What a blessing it will be to enter into those gates! The saved will know that they have eternity to look forward to. Sadly, the lost will not make it in. It is not saying that they will always be alive outside the city. As we have seen, they meet their end in the Lake of Fire experience described in Revelation 20.

"I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." (Rev 22:16)

Jesus was David's Lord since He existed before David and He was also a descendent and therefore the offspring of David. Jesus confronted His enemies with this conundrum:

"Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?" (Matt 22:42-45)

"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Rev 22:17)

Who is doing the inviting? - it is both the Spirit and bride (the church). We have the privilege of inviting others to join us in that holy city to partake of the water of life freely.

"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." (Rev 22:18-19)

This is a warning to not alter the meaning of scripture. It is not talking about word changes that do not change the meaning as in the many different versions of the Bible. There are versions however and certainly many explanations of and beliefs regarding the scriptures that do alter the meaning. We should be careful to do our best to determine and follow the true meaning.

"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (Rev 22:20)

"Quickly" indicates that He will waste no time when He does come no doubt due to His eagerness to collect His bride but that doesn't mean that the event was to happen soon relative to John's day.

The thought of coming quickly is tepeated 3 times in this chapter:

"Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book." (verse 7)

"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." (verse 12)

"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (verse 20)

Revelation 22:20 says that Jesus testifies these things - the things related in the book of Revelation. Revelation 1:2 said that John gave a record of the testimony of Jesus. In between those two verses we have that testimony.

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." (Rev 22:21)

I would like to express my appreciation to our weekly study group in which we spent 32 months (with some breaks for other things) studying this amazing book. In the over 80 sessions we spent on Revelation, the group's input was very helpful in providing thoughts which improved this study.