who are the nations in revelation 22:2
So, this is for the churches. The bride is in view. You don't get salty tomatoes. Even when God was judging providentially in the beginning of the Apocalyptic visions (Revelation 4:1-11), associated thrones were seen. We believe it to be a beautiful symbol of a far greater reality. You must with the best authorities leave out this addition, if you would have the true force of the verse. Here is the great excellency of this paradise. Therefore we find in connection with the book a most solemn warning. 474.]. We are not to suppose that there will be sickness, and a healing process in heaven, for that idea is expressly excluded in Revelation 21:4; but the meaning is, that the life and health of that blessed world will have been imparted by partaking of that tree; and the writer says that, in fact, it was owing to it that they who dwell there had been healed of their spiritual maladies, and had been made to live forever. "I am the bright morning star," he says. The 76ers will await the winner of the Celtics-Hawks series in the . 4. For who knows not the horrors of Mariolatry? And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. The day of the Lord on the world in no way sets aside His dealing with individual souls. And I heard as it were a voice of a great multitude, and as a voice of many waters, and as a voice of mighty thunders, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God the Almighty reigneth. All our springs of grace, comfort, and glory, are in God; and all our streams from him are through the mediation of the Lamb. The visions of this prophetic book open, not with the rapture of saints to heaven, but the sight of saints already raptured, often before the seer in the visions, but seen always in a complete condition without addition to their number. Does the Bible Condemn Using Tarot Cards? The absence of a temple is therefore no loss but a gain for this city. The second speaker is Jesus Christ himself. The individual has his own fruit too. But whatever subsisted then, that which the Spirit here presents as a whole cannot be found realized at any point of time in the past. Why will the nations need healing in the New Jerusalem? But He "treadeth the winepress of the fury of the wrath of the Almighty God" another character of judgment never attributed to the saints, that I know of. First, "I saw thrones, and they sat upon them." And the leaves of the tree - Not only the fruit will contribute to give life, but even the leaves will be salutary. but it does not follow that various bodies are not raised at different times. And here observe. Thus everything implies their simultaneous presence for the same time and common action with the beast, in plundering and then destroying Babylon. "And let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.". All the dead are there who had not part in the first resurrection. It is written to be believed, not to be ignored or explained away. (b) There is the idea of eternity. The river deepened the further it flowed. 22:12,13 Behold, I am coming soon, and I have my reward with me, to render to each man, as his work is. I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and the morning star. Lit., twelve fruits. Then comes the glory. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. But the day is coming when Satan will be allowed to have things his own way. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright the morning star. Then, strangely enough, he delivers exactly the same warning against angel worship as in Revelation 19:10. It is a question here of distinctive character, apart from that of time, for which we must search other scriptures. . beyond the physical healing itself and its benefits (as with 2323 /therape).]. In perfect submission to him they will find perfect freedom and the only true royalty. To make good sense, supposing there to be but one tree, we should either, as Mede, suppose that the Greek for street is a plain washed on both sides by the river (as the first Paradise was washed on one side by the Tigris, on the other by the Euphrates), and that in the midst of the plain, which itself is in the midst of the river's branches, stood the tree: in which case we may translate, "In the midst of the street (plain) itself, and of the river (having two branches flowing) on this and on that side, was there the tree of life." He identifies himself as the author of the book. Revelation 18:1-24 need not delay us long. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true ( Revelation 22:6 ): It sounds too good to be true. a tree of life, yielding twelve fruits, according to each month giving its fruit; and the leaves of the tree are for healing of the nations. If total energies differ across different software, how do I decide which software to use? The great city was either guilty Jerusalem or Babylon. We have created different types of hybrids and different kinds of resistances and so forth.In fact, they have created a tomato plant now in Israel at the Beersheba University, a tomato plant that you can irrigate with seawater. Was there the tree of life - Not a single tree, but it abounded everywhere - on the banks of the river, and in all the streets. It is altogether foreign to history. This should take care of any notion that this is a literal tree. Then we have a description of Babylon given. 2 through the middle of the street of the city. Healing - Jeremiah 8:22 ff ; Ezekiel 27:17 ff, The English word therapeutic comes from the Greek word translated healing. The leaves somehow enrich heavenly life, making it full and satisfying. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come ( Revelation 22:16-17 ). So be it. All the energy to mislead men in the presence of the first beast was long in his hands, and now nothing more is spoken of. To call a man a morning star was to class him very high among the heroes. It is not now lightnings and thunders and voices. What remains of the last chapter of the Revelation is curiously disjointed. "For God put [it] into their hearts to do his mind, and to do one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled." 23 # Is. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. The supply never fails; the tree is never barren. This proves conclusively that the leaves of the Tree of Life are like a poultice, a panacea compound made up of the Vine (the Lord Jesus) the Branches (Christians), their fruit (of the Spirit), and finally, the Leaves (the Eternal Gospel Message of Salvation given to the tribes of the earth through the Twelve Tribes of the Israel of God) that all come together to produce the Great Commission and the fulfilling thereof, in and among, the nations. The healing of these nations takes place, in and through the Gospel, when it is preached and taught, received and obeyed, by individual members of those nations. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits . This chapter explains how it was that Babylon was so offensive to God, and wherefore He judged her thus sternly. These were simply the characters of provisional judgment that filled the interval after the church was gone, and before the reign with Christ. "Faithful" is what belongs to a man. Then, as we have seen, comes the final test of the nations of the earth after that kingdom has run its course, and the devil let loose once more deceives flesh and blood after the analogy of all other dispensations. The literal rendering is, producing twelve fruits - poioun karpous dodeka. Accordingly it is another figure. The angel implies nothing of the sort. But the attempt, again, to apply what is said here to a future city of Babylon in Chaldea seems to me no less vain. You know it is going to be new, because these don't exist anymore here. Dog can denote a thoroughly immoral person, and that may be its meaning here. Such is the meaning of the verse "The rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were finished. When any wrong is done, it will be dealt with. A final note: In apocalyptic symbolism, particularly the symbolism employed in Revelation, and other prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures, it is quite common to understand trees as poetic references to humans. I take it, therefore, that God intended this analogy to be noted by us; that it is not a pursuance of the prophecy, but a description of the holy city previously named, just as the other was a description of the corrupt city, whose judgment had been announced. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. To whom else could they say it? Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus. In short, Babylon, the disgusting counterpart of the holy city, in earthly ambition seeks the kings and the masses for her own present objects, while the other suffers now and will reign then. Keep going back to the manger and the Cross. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. I. But he tells us further that the Spirit of prophecy, who prophesies in this book, is the testimony of Jesus. of Here were thrones, and people sat upon them, changed 'before this into the image of Christ's glory. How could one speak of "months" if this is heaven? Worship God.". It is interesting.God is going to have a tree that has twelve different kinds of fruit and every month a fruit will be ripe. And there (or they) are seven kings." What a solemn and weighty fact in the government of God! But a very different point of interest is to be observed. There is nothing more to hear of nations; nothing more to do with separate countries, kindreds, or tongues. In the ancient days, since all books were hand-copied by scribes and everyone knew how easy it was for a scribe to make mistakes in the copying, it was a regular custom to insert at the end of a book a solemn warning against change. "And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. There are thrones filled with certain persons, who reign along with Him. (ii) "Let him that hears say: Come!" (ii) There follows the list of those who are debarred from the city of God. "And the city has no need of the sun, nor of the moon, that they should shine for it." The point of this guarantee is this. But the wages of a dog is more difficult. THE GREAT INVITATION ( Revelation 22:17 ). Apparently a total of twelve trees (or more) that yields fruit each month (is the monthly fruit different?). the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit . Thus the only use that seems made of the book is negative and exclusive. In the midst of the city street may be taken, not as the end of the first sentence, but as the beginning of the second. But John is overwhelmed again; he is just wiped out, overwhelmed that the guy tells him that, so he falls down at his feet again to worship him. God will own them, as having his seal and name on their foreheads. We may illustrate it by the members of a family. By and by, after our translation to heaven, He will work, and as vitally in those who bow to God, when it will be the reception of the prophetic testimony which is here owned to be none the less the testimony of Jesus. I will tell thee the mystery of the woman." therapeian). Evidently that will be the function of this tree in the new earth as well, to sustain immortality. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. The very reverse is the undeniable fact. The friendships of the evil are not lasting. But all this will be a great reversal of man's history and political maxims. Then comes not the destruction only of these rebels by divine judgment, but the dissolution of heaven and earth. These compose the third class here spoken of. "Upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of the harlots and of the abominations of the earth.". down the middle of the great street of the city. Since there will no longer be any curse, what is the use of the leaves in Revelation 22:2? As there is but a single class of trees referred to, it might have been supposed, perhaps, that, according to the common method in which fruit is produced, there would be sometimes plenty and sometimes want; but the writer says that, though there is but one kind, yet the supply is ample. In Greek, the word is ethnos, meaning people joined together by a common culture and custom, which in turn makes them a nation. To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient, Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament, The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. The Risen Christ once again announces his speedy coming; and he makes two great claims. It is not a syllogism that is wanted or that can satisfy here: only require, only believe, the word of God. There are two possibilities. If you are a believer, do not be afraid, even if you know but little; for the Lord neither forgets nor slights those who may be comparatively unintelligent. They received their power as kings when the beast ceased to exist. Now, these words were declared of God the Father in chapter one. Genesis 2:9; The tree of life reappears now in new Jerusalem fulfilling Gods promise to make new Jerusalem like Eden (cf. What Every Christian Should Know about the Protestant Reformation. Do not wonder at the vast numbers, or at their defection. 22:20,21 He who testifies to the truth of these things says: "Yes, I am coming soon." pl.") Bear this in mind: to leave the last part out is fatal to any accurate understanding of the Revelation. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. Who can describe his generation? Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Satan will bring forth an empire suited to his purposes, as it springs from Satanic principles which deny God; and this is part of what appears to be meant by the beast ascending out of the bottomless pit. If only an imperial city, what has this to do with mystery? And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely ( Revelation 22:17 ). 24:23; 60:19, 20; Rev. The first part is clear enough. For remark, the beast or Roman empire is described here as that which once existed, which then ceased to exist, and which assumes a final shape when it reappears from the bottomless pit. Things are just going to go on and on and on. All is opened, and this because we have the Holy Ghost dwelling in us; "for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." She will despise everything really divine; she will only use whatever of God's word she can pervert for increasing her own importance, and gaining a greater ascendancy over the consciences of men, and enjoying herself more luxuriously in this world; for she will go far to obliterate all remembrance of heaven, and to make this world a kind of paradise which she embellishes, not with pure and undefiled religion, but with the arts of men and the idolatries of the world. It is an added digression for the purpose of describing an object already named passingly in the foregoing series, which closes at Revelation 21:8. For his life is taken away from the earth.. "Flesh and blood," we know, "cannot inherit the kingdom of God." And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ rest or be upon or be with all of you. There was the sad register of undeniable sin on the one side; there was no writing of the name on the other side. "I am the root and the offspring of David," he says. Summary: Many churches have forsaken the Word of God and embraced worldly views of right and wrong. smitten by God, and afflicted. Thus (without speaking of the resurrection of the wicked at the close) there were certainly more acts than one, not to speak of the two witnesses put to death and caused to rise after three days and a half, when the spirit of life entered them, and they not only arose, but went up to heaven, as we know. So far they were right. The book begins by promising a revelation to be given by Jesus ( Revelation 1:1); this is the attestation of Jesus that, however the vision came, it came from him. "The nations shall walk in the light of it," Any one of spiritual judgment can see that it should not be "nations of them which are saved." There is a real danger, subtle danger there. Now, Jesus said, "If we do our works to be seen of men then we have our reward now." 12 f., and the Iranian idea that (Brandt, 434 f.) the tree of many seeds had curative properties. But that idea is wholly insufficient to cover or meet the word of God, which gives clear and strong reasons that prove the mistake of applying this to the pope as its complete fulfilment. "At the last day" does not mean merely an instant of time. But here there is none; a temple is for the earth. In her own course, and in the matters of her portion, the church does not know time at all. However, God is going to reward me according to the works that I do. In 1 Peter 2:24, the Greek word for "healed" is iaomai, related to the Greek word therape in the follow sense: [2390 /iomai ("to heal") draws the attention to the Lord, the supernatural Healer, i.e. Beyond controversy, however, it is a most unusual and abnormal reappearance, which is altogether exceptional in the history of the world. In the case of Eden, the tree of life is clearly associated with the perpetuity of human life (Gen. 3:22). . Little do they know, because they believe not what is here written, that it is about to come out of the abyss or bottomless pit. This, then, would be another warning that every man is writing his own destiny. I don't deserve it. Past history therefore in no way suits the prophecy. Now there was nothing more repulsive and fatal to paganism in every form than the truth revealed in Christ, which exposed every thing that was not itself not the truth, definite and exclusive. Evidently the new creation will not have a lunar calendar, since there will be no moon (Revelation 21:23), but another type of calendar will define months. On these two verses compare Ezekiel 47:1-12; Joel 3:18; Zechariah 14:8. The fact is, in the very best authorities it does not exist at all. Babylon must hear, I do not doubt, the final testimony of God the gospel of the kingdom that is to go forth in the last days; but she loves her pleasure and power, and refuses truth. Observe another very important fact. There was not yet fairly out before men what God foresaw as that which must finally provoke His judgment. We can fairly trust God that He will not give a worse place to Paul; yet I do not think that this is his place. But now, when those symbols disappear, because of a new action of God (namely, the consummation of the church's joy), the elders and the living creatures disappear, and we have not the bride alone, but another class of saints, who at once come forward. In the first eight verses of Revelation 21:1-27 we have the new heaven and the new earth, but besides, awful to say, the lake of fire. Here I am obliged to say that our authorized version, and not merely it, but our common Greek Testaments, are altogether wrong. What confusion! But the prophecy shows us the beast revived and the separate kings reigning for the same time, before divine judgment destroys them at the coming of Christ and His saints. [12] "The tree of life is apparently used collectively to include a number of trees. Ezekiel 47:1-12). Then heaven is opened, and for a sight most solemn. He equally expresses what God is. It is a description, and not one of the visions that carry us onward. The sight of God produces two things. I Jesus have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches ( Revelation 22:15-16 ). and others give , "of her." Every one who loves and acts falsehood is shut out. The gospel is always in season, 2 Timothy 4:2. Revelation 22:2 . So, when you pray don't go out on the street corner and do a big thing so that everyone goes by and says, "What is happening? It is certain that we ought to read (not "upon" but) "and* the beast." More than half of the nation's Black population (56%) lived in Southern states in 2021, up from a . A tree surrounded by water is the epitome of a fruitful tree (cf. God could undoubtedly endue a tree with special medicinal powers. He is coming forth in indisputable human glory, but the greatest care is taken to let us know that He had that which was above man above the creature; for "no man knoweth the Son but the Father." It clearly contrasts this mystery with another. This would not be fitting for the church nor the Christian. (2.) Creature lights are gone. In Revelation 22:2, the reference to the nations is found to be the same Greek word, that is, ethnos. Death and hades, which had so long been executioners in a world where sin reigned, and were still doing their occasional office where righteousness is to reign, themselves disappear where all traces of sin are consigned for ever. But what does it mean? If some few have joined on one side, some are sure to help the other, because they are jealous of any one acquiring such a preponderant authority: and power as to govern the rest. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. In the future state of the blessed, that tree will abound, and all may freely partake of it; the emblem, the pledge of immortal life, will be constantly before the eyes, whatever part of the future abode may be traversed, and the inhabitants of that blessed world may constantly partake of it. "Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book." It is much more likely that the whole passage is a great invitation to all men to come to Christ. The earthly paradise was well watered: no place can be pleasant or fruitful that is not so. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." It is possible that the tree of life in the New Jerusalem is literal and that its leaves and various fruits will somehow enrich our existence in the eternal state. This may suffice for Revelation 18:1-24. Death reigns now because of sin; even in the millennial earth sin, and therefore death, though much limited, shall not altogether cease. He is urged to take up the same cry. The simple fact of conquering far and wide, and of exercising vast political power in the earth, does not constitute any title to such a name. Here were joined good and evil in godless union, for the worse, not for the better, this alliance, unholy in principle, irremediable therefore in practice, between God and the natural man, who substitutes rites for the grace and word of God, for the blood of Christ, and the power of the Spirit, and employs the name of the Lord as a cover for grosser covetousness and ambition, yet more aspiring than the vulgar world. We have here a note of time of signal value. "I will raise him up at the last day." It is Jesus Christ who in his Cross has provided that grace by which alone man can be forgiven; but man has to appropriate that sacrifice. He was a divine person, whatever new position He assumes for the world. We find a decree going forth that all the world shall be enrolled. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! He will not fail to take up the gage He has given our hearts. Several commentators take the reference to the "tree" (singular) as generic. When its own season arrives, as it surely will, the divine hindrance is to be removed, and the devil then is allowed to do his worst. Psalms 1:3; Jeremiah 17:8; Ezekiel 19:10; Ezekiel 47:12). For her sin., have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." Further, after this Jesus introduces Himself, as well as sends His angel. , , . b. When the beast dares to fight with the Lamb He shall overcome the beast; and they that are with Him, "called and chosen and faithful" terms, as a whole, entirely inapplicable to the angels. *It is the aorist in Greek, which in such a case as this it is difficult correctly to represent in English; for neither "reigned" nor "hath reigned" could convey that God had entered on His kingdom, but rather that it was past. 1. fol. Is God worried about Adam eating once or in an on-going pattern from the Tree of Life at Genesis 3:22? This is the first resurrection.". In the millennium described in Eze 47:1-23 and Re 20:1-15, the Church shall give the Gospel-tree to the nations outside Israel and the Church, and so shall heal their spiritual malady; but in the final and perfect new Jerusalem here described, the state of all is eternally fixed, and no saving process goes on any longer (compare Re 22:11). The Lord sent it for the churches. Which bare twelve manner of fruits - Producing twelve fruit-harvests; not (as our version) twelve manner of fruits (Prof. Stuart). More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free! They are glorified saints, and not angels. (ii) The ancient commentator, Andreas, says that the Risen Christ is saying: "Let each man do what pleases him; I will not force his choice." Revelation 2:7; Genesis 2; Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:2). Alford utterly mistakes in speaking of "nations outside," and "dwelling on the renewed earth, organized under kings, and saved by the influences of the heavenly city" (!) The, nature of the case exempts of course the saints of the millennium;* and this very simply, because they are never said to die at all. Moral unfitness has its just censure; but sovereign grace must be asserted also. They then come down to the earth; and those who eat their leaves and fruit receive that living water into themselves, and are cured ( Rev.22:2 ). The tree of life is mentioned three times in Genesis 2, in Eden, and again four times in Revelation, three of those in the final chapter. We have not to learn what the other mystery means; we know well that it is according to God and godliness.
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