Revelation 22:19-20

Verse 19 “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.”

Now we see that taking away is as bad as or worse than adding to the words. The punishment is definitely worse. The consequences of adding to God’s Word is that you had to suffer the plagues without protection. Now you lose your salvation (there goes eternal security out the window), your place in New Jerusalem, and all the good things (blessings and eternal rewards) which are contained in this book. Taking away is not just removing passages or sections that may not be liked, but I believe spiritualizing away all the plagues of this book is also taking away from the prophecies found in it.

Verse 20 “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

For the last time Yeshua warns that He is coming quickly. How many times has He warned this, yet how many say that there is no Second Coming or that He delays it? Amen basically means “so be it.” It is a statement of decisiveness. No plea bargaining, no appeal. Then John adds his own feelings on this. Even in spite of all the horrific things that are going to happen, John wants the Lord to return, as I am sure do we all who love the Lord. This world is definitely not our home. It is full of evil which is hard to bear.

Revelation 22:17-18

Verse 17 “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.”

The Holy Spirit, who convicts and the Bride, the Church who is supposed to be bringing the gospel to the world, tell everyone to come to Yeshua. Those who have an ear to hear, and those who are thirsty for a relationship with God are invited to come and drink of the water of life that Yeshua freely offers all.

Verse 18 “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;”

Now comes a huge warning. For those who hear the words of the prophecy of the book of Revelation (and actually very few do in Christian circles), anyone who adds things which do not belong there, or changes the meanings of the words (such as spiritualizing things when they should be taken literally), or deletes (ignores) passages, God will make that person suffer all the plagues that are written in the book. This is a seriously frightening thing for me in writing this blog. I continually and have continually prayed over all the years I have been studying this that I not be deceived or led astray into lies and deceptions, nor lead others into it. I have prayed for truth and understanding and wisdom to understand what has been written, so that I can help others understand and be ready both spiritually and physically for what lies ahead. It scares me deeply to think that I could be the cause of leading anybody astray.

I was raised to believe in a pre-tribulation rapture (obviously I have changed my mind on that) and this verse always puzzled me when viewed through that belief. If all Christians were to be gone before any of these plagues took place, how on earth could this be a threat that they will suffer them, just because they taught Revelation incorrectly? Now I understand how that can happen. These so-called prophecy teachers that say, “Peace and safety,” because you are going to be raptured out, are in for a really bad time. Jer. 14:13-15 “Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place. Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.” Under those circumstances, do not think that I entered into this blog lightly. For twenty years I have sought the Lord to show me truth no matter the cost. It has been a long journey, as He has had to reveal it in steps, as it was too hard to handle all at one time. I had to “grow” into understanding. And even now, I continue to learn and update. But I will continue to go back and correct as God shows me, so that I do not lead astray. My one fear has been that I might be guilty of this, and I have constantly prayed to not be guilty of that sin. While at times I have had to piece information together to understand, and hypothesis is the result rather than definitive facts, I hope that I have been clear that it is hypothesis and not fact, and have not “added” anything that does not belong. I abhor that in others, and I pray to not be guilty of it myself.

While it is helpful to look at extra-biblical sources to get a better idea of what else is going on in the world and to be able to better understand what the Bible does say by understanding the context of things, this information can never be in opposition to Scripture and be correct. That is where many go wrong. They supplant what the Bible says in lieu of what they learn outside of the Scriptures. This is what is leading many to declare whom they think the antichrist is, or predict events which the enemy is planning, but which are not described in Scripture. I have seen the enemies' plans be derailed more than just a few times. They can plan what they want, but unless God allows it, it will not come to pass, so no matter what we learn of their plans, we always have to weight it against Scripture.

Revelation 22:15-16

Verse 15 “For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”

This verse almost makes it sound as if just outside the gates of New Jerusalem there are all these sinners just living their lives, but who cannot enter into New Jerusalem. That is not what is indicated here. The word “without” can be (and is in some other verses) translated as “away.” In other words, away from or to put it another way, excluded from God’s entire kingdom (not just New Jerusalem) are those who have found themselves thrown into the lake of fire. God’s White Throne Judgment has rid the world of all of these sinners previous to this, so there are none left to be living anywhere near God’s kingdom, much less just outside the gates. Throughout the New Testament and in Revelation several times, it gives lists of sins that will keep a person from entering into the kingdom of God. This is just one more reminder that those who think they are “good enough” will not be making it in on their own “goodness.” They will be excluded from the kingdom of God. God gives multiple warnings before punishing.

Verse 16 “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.”

Again Yeshua identifies Himself as the author of these things, who has sent an angel to tell John, who then is to tell the churches. He verifies His ancestry which qualifies Him as the King, and again refers to Himself, as He did earlier in the book, as the bright and morning star. All of these are identities with which we are familiar.

Revelation 22:14

Verse 14 “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,.”

Now we have a third blessing in this book. This blessing differs in that it is not about the book of Revelation, but about keeping God’s commandments. Yeshua told us that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. One of them being (I hate to keep beating this drum, but….) keeping the Sabbath. Whether you want to believe it is the seventh day of the week or the first, are you keeping it according to God’s ways? Or are you spending the day running from this service to that meeting to this service to that choir rehearsal, etc. Are you spending the day RESTING? You may think that you are spending it with the Lord if you are pursuing church activities, but are you really spending it with the LORD? Or are you expending your energy running around doing church activities for the church? I know Christians who feel that your degree of Christianity is measured by how many services you are attending during a week and especially on Sunday. By their standards "good" Christians show up to Sunday night service and "really good" Christians show up to Wednesday night prayer meeting. How ridiculous. God made no commandment about the number of services you should attend.

Spending the Sabbath with the Lord does mean spending time in Bible study, prayer, and praise, however, not all of it should be corporate, as most people really need a lot more family time and quality one on one time with the Lord. And the entire day does not have to be spent doing these things, as they do take energy. The main command is to set the day apart as holy and REST. That is what God did. He ceased being active and took time to sit back and enjoy His creation. After all, what is the sense of having beauty around you if you do not take the time to enjoy it? If we spend all our time working, we never have time to appreciate anything, and God wants us to appreciate what He has given us. Just taking the time to stop and smell the roses, as they say, is a way of worshiping God. It is showing our thankfulness and appreciation. I know that I appreciate a day off from work. I need it to get myself focused again. I know that I appreciate that I can spend time studying God's Word on my own without feeling guilty about the laundry not being done or the rug not being vacuumed, but I also know how important it is to take time to just appreciate the day and God's gifts and especially connect with my family. The Sabbath is a guilt free pleasure that God gives us as a gift, yet we refuse to take advantage of it. Instead Christians spend the day hurrying from service to service and being just as exhausted at the end of the day as they are any other day. Mental work (you should be listening to the sermons not sleeping through them) is just as exhausting at times as physical labor. To spend the entire day in or leading church services is not the same as resting. People spend virtually no time with their family, as a family unit, enjoying each other and learning about each other. We do need to spend time in corporate worship, but not to the point of excluding rest or family time. And taking time to enjoy all that God has given us is worshiping God. I know that when I give a gift, if the person never takes the time to enjoy it, I feel like it was not appreciated, nor was it worth my effort to give it to them. I am sure God feels the same way.

Getting off my soapbox on that issue, those who keep the commandments have the right to eat from the tree of life. This has already been mentioned, so we will not cover that further. And they may enter into the gates of the city. We already know that no sinner is going to get past those gates.

Revelation 22:11-13

Verse 11 “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.”

This is a very hard verse to comprehend. It would seem that the wicked are being told to not repent and to in fact continue in their wicked ways. That would seem to fly in the face of all Scripture which exhorts unbelievers to repent. As that interpretation would contradict the very nature of Scripture, it is clear that this must be seen in a different way. In Daniel 12:10 we read, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” As Revelation was meant for believers, it would be illogical to issue a directive to unbelievers through it. Instead it would seem that just as in Daniel the angel is merely stating a fact, “the wicked shall do wickedly”, that this is how this should probably be interpreted. In other words, God’s wrath is not going to change anybody’s mind. We saw that before in Revelation. It just hardens their hearts further. There is a time when there is no more chance for repentance, so the wicked will just continue on as they have been. They will follow the course they have set for themselves and continue in their rejection of God. The word “let” in this case would more probably be said to mean “allow.” Allow the unjust to continue in their ways of being unjust. Allow the filthy to continue in their pursuit of filthiness. Nobody, not even God (as it would break His condition of free will), can change their minds against their will, so just let them go their way. Do not drive yourselves crazy trying to bring people to the Lord who do not want any part of Him. I believe that is how this is how this verse should be interpreted. And the same is true for the righteous and holy. They are allowed to continue on their path also, without Satan being allowed to pull them from their course, if they choose to follow Yeshua.

Verse 12 “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”

Once again we are warned that Yeshua is coming quickly. He will be bring His reward with Him to give every man according to what He deserves. For the righteous, eternal life. For the unrighteous, eternal damnation.

Verse 13 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”

Just as He introduced Himself as the Alpha and Omega in the first chapter in Revelation, so Yeshua again announces who He is. He is the beginning of all things (He spoke the world into existence in Genesis) and He is the end of all things (here at the end of the world and the beginning of eternity.) He is the first and the last. Everything in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation has actually been about Yeshua. The Bible is a portrait of Him from beginning to end. From the first verse to the last, everything revolves around Him and His work.

Revelation 22:8-10

Verse 8 “And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.”

John now tells his readers that this was not a dream, nor his imagination. He has seen and heard these things for real. And when all was revealed, John made the mistake (again) of falling down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed him these last things. And this after just having done it, and been corrected, when Yeshua came out of heaven on His horse to slay the armies at Armageddon.

Verse 9 “Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.”

John is again chastised for bowing down to anyone but God, and is in fact told that the angel (This does not have to mean angel in the sense of those spiritual entities. The Greek word means messenger.) is a fellow servant, and not just any fellow servant, but one of the prophets who has kept the sayings of this (Revelation) book. This would seem to narrow it down to a person who has not just been a prophet, but who has kept the prophecies of this particular book. It might be that this is one of the two witnesses, or it might just be an end times saint who has had the gift of prophecy. Scripture does teach that at the end, this gift will again be being given and used. Acts 2:17-18 “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” John is (again) told to worship only God. He is obviously overcome by all of this, as he certainly knows better than to worship anyone other than God.

Verse 10 “And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.”

Daniel was told to seal up the visions he had seen, as they were for the time of the end - our day. But John was told to not seal up the prophecies of this book, for the time was at hand for them to start being fulfilled. We do not know exactly when the first seal was opened after Yeshua’s resurrection, possibly fairly soon, but we do know that the letters were addressed to churches that existed at the time. The sayings of the book indeed were to start being applied immediately. The warnings to the churches were very real to the churches of that day, as well as our own. The time for all of the prophecies to start being fulfilled was at hand, and even though it has taken 2,000 years for them to be fulfilled (and they are not yet all fulfilled), the book did need to be understood immediately. So the time really was “at hand” and the book had to remain unsealed.

Revelation 22:6-7

Verse 6 “And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.”

Now the angel that has been showing John all of this reiterates that everything that John has been told and shown is very true. That God, the same God of the prophets of old, has sent the angel to show God’s servants everything that will shortly come to pass. First, notice that it is “servants” plural, not servant. This was not just shown to John, it was meant to be shown (through John) to all of us. Remember that there is a blessing upon those who read and heed the warnings in this book of the Bible. There is a reason for that. Forewarned is forearmed. We know what is coming and can spiritually, if not physically, prepare ourselves to face what lies ahead. And I believe it does lie ahead for anyone reading this, unless you die an untimely death or are near to death due to illness or advanced age. The angel said that these things must shortly be done. To John it would be another 2,000 years, but for us it is right around the corner. Things could wait a few more years, but I feel that would be the outside limit. Everything is hanging on a precipice at this point just waiting for God’s permission to begin. His permission is the only thing holding it back. The preparations for the temple are complete, even the altar has been constructed, so there is nothing more that need be done for the temple to go up.

Verse 7 “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.”

Yeshua gives the warning He has given many times before. He is coming quickly. Not only in the sense of rapidly when He does come, but soon from God’s perspective of time. For John it would not be soon from his perspective, but from our perspective it will be soon in the same way it is for God. Again, I believe everything is about to “hit the fan” as the saying goes. The world is on the brink and poised to enter into that last phase.

There was a blessing at the beginning of the book and now there is another blessing. First it was for those who read and heed what the book says, and now it is for those who keep or listen and adhere to the prophecies of this book rather than listening to the ridiculous things that people are teaching about the future. This book, which I have heard many pastors dismiss as a) irrelevant to Christians (they think it is for Jews and unbelievers), or b) too difficult to bother with, or c) unnecessary to study, has not just one blessing, but a double portion of blessing for those who take it seriously and try to understand it correctly. No other book in the Bible carries as much importance for believers as this book does. The gospels are important for unbelievers, as they point the way to salvation, but this is the book that believers should all be studying as diligently as possible. The double blessing may be that you live to see the rapture.