The Glory To Be Revealed - Revelation 22:1-5

"The river of the water of life and the tree of life recall Eden before the fall into sin (Gen. 2:8–10)." [1]  This is truly Eden, restored. The Creation and the New Creation form "bookends" to God's story.

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:1–2, NIV)  The picture also hearkens back to Ezekiel’s vision of a future glorious temple (Ezekiel 47:1–12; see Zechariah. 14:8).  With this information it is clear that John did not imagine a literal building of the Temple in Palestine, but understood this eschatological temple as part of the New Heavens and New Earth.

"The garden of Eden had its river and its tree, but it did not contain the throne of God and of the Lamb. For this reason the city surpasses the original paradise. The throne equally belongs to the Father and the Son—God and the Lamb." [2]  Throughout Biblical history God's people were restrained from "seeing His face." Now “they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” (Revelation 22:4, NIV).   The only group ever mentioned before that bore the name of God were the 144,000.  “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.” (Revelation 14:1, NIV).  There is no dispute that this group in Revelation 22 includes the saints of all ages.  Surely this supports the view that the 144,000 are indeed the Church?

Father, to bear Your name forever, to see you face-to-face and to serve You forever is more than my mind can imagine.  Truly Paul was right when he wrote, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18, NIV). My response is simply to remain silent, in awe.  One's only response is worship.   May I live today, by Your grace, in light of this glory to be revealed.  




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1. Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (2496). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
2, Easley, K. H. (1998). Vol. 12: Revelation. Holman New Testament Commentary (415). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers