And he shewed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, going out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Scripture's last chapter opens with a river, and where it flows from settles everything: a throne. John is still seeing the holy city, and what pours out of that throne is not judgment but life.
The wording marks a moment. One commentator notes that this title for the throne belongs to one stretch of time. The river takes its character from it.
The opening verse lays down a beautiful truth. At the point intended, the throne is now called the throne of God and the Lamb. It was not so before He came to reign. It will not be so when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — shall be all in all. And out of this throne, now called for the first time the throne of God and the Lamb, comes a river of life bright as crystal. It is the full, unhindered power of enjoying that eternal life which the believer has here in utter weakness and with many hindrances. Such is its source, its character, and its time.
Why is the Lamb named beside God at this throne? One writer shows what that name does to a sinner's fear of it.
"The throne of God" expresses eternal stability. The presence of the Lamb marks it as resting on the immediate ground of accomplished redemption. It is not God's throne in creation, nor in providence, but in redemption. When I see the Lamb, I know its connection with me as a sinner. "The throne of God," on its own, would only frighten me away. But when God reveals Himself in the Person of the Lamb, He draws the heart and quiets the conscience.
One writer sets this river beside what John once saw coming out of the same throne.
First, there is "the river of the water of life" (v. 1), a symbol of the fulness of life in the Spirit flowing from the throne. Earlier in Revelation, John was caught up to heaven. He records that lightning, thunder and voices came out of the throne — fitting symbols of the holy judgments of God that were about to come from it. Here we have passed beyond the judgment. We learn that the throne which dealt out judgment to the nations has become the source of unceasing blessing to the City. For the City, the judgments of the throne were exhausted at the Cross.
One writer measures human government against this throne.
No earthly throne — not even the best of them — has proved itself to be a fountain of life. Their rule has been too harsh or too weak. Or their decisions have passed through lesser human channels and reached the people polluted. Here at last is a throne of absolute righteousness, exercised in kindness, and life is the result. What is more, nothing defiling can touch the city from which it flows out to men, so no pollution reaches it as it flows.
The clearness of the water is not decoration. One writer holds it against what our own lives reflect. (Where the ESV says bright as crystal, older translations read clear as crystal.)
Any small reflection of Christ seen in one another will help to sustain the new life. But in ourselves the stream is often fouled and muddied with the things of earth, so it reflects little of the loveliness of Christ. In Christ the river of water of life is "clear as crystal."
Scripture's first garden also had water and trees, and it ended with man shut out.
Notice there is only one river here, and only one tree. You will remember Genesis 2. There were four rivers there, and two trees — the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life. When man sinned, he was driven out, so that he could not touch the tree of life. But when he was driven out of the earthly paradise, God opened a heavenly one to him.
The vision is future. Yet one writer says its substance belongs to believers now.
In each fresh feature of the heavenly city, we have seen the same thing. What glory pictures, the Holy Spirit has already made true to faith in the Christian... The Holy Spirit has come from the glory where Jesus is, and He lives in us. In the knowledge of Him, He brings into our hearts more than all the joy of the feast of tabernacles in the coming kingdom. He makes us channels of the living waters now.
- Source — Everything depends on the throne. The river has no other spring, and whose throne it is sets its character.
- Lamb — That throne is named for redemption, not creation or providence. God alone on the throne would drive a sinner off; the Lamb there draws him in.
- Reversal — Lightning and thunder once came out of this throne. The cross exhausted that judgment, so now life flows out instead.
- Purity — Clear as crystal. No pollution reaches the stream, because nothing defiling touches the city it flows through.
- Now — What John saw in glory, the Holy Spirit already makes real to faith. He makes believers channels of the same living water today.
In the midst of its street, and of the river, on this side and on that side, [the] tree of life, producing twelve fruits, in each month yielding its fruit; and the leaves of the tree for healing of the nations.
The tree stands in the middle of the street and on both sides of the river. Writers take the river and the tree as a pair, each pointing to a Person.
Second, we learn that in the midst of the street of the City and on either side of the river is the tree of life (v. 2). The river speaks of the Holy Spirit as the Water of Life; the Tree speaks of Christ as the Food of Life. The City will stay fresh for ever as it drinks from the River of Life and feeds on the Tree of Life. The River will never fail, the Tree will never wither and the City will never grow old.
Eden had a tree of life too. One writer marks what the new scene has that Eden did not.
In Eden's paradise there was no "healing" power; there was the tree of life, but only death for the disobedient. Man on the earth has his portion in the goodness of a God who is showing His kingdom openly. From the heavenly city comes provision for healing the nations.
Eden also held a second tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. One writer traces both trees to Christ.
Both trees in Paradise find their answer in Christ, and in Him they agree: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sometimes called the tree of responsibility, and the tree of life. On the cross He took up the question of man's responsibility and settled it for ever, as the claims of God's glory required. Then, risen out of death, He became the tree of life for all His people.
Older translations read "twelve manner of fruits," which suggests twelve different kinds. One writer says that wording is wrong:
The words "manner of" are omitted because they misrepresent the fact stated. It is not twelve kinds of fruit. As the next clause shows, it is twelve fruits: one crop gathered every month, a picture of fruitfulness that never ends.
Others read the twelve as variety, and see in it something the city keeps discovering:
The fruits speak of the varied glories of Christ. It is not enough to know and feed upon Christ in one aspect. We need Christ in His fulness. The City will stay fresh for ever as His graces and excellencies unfold one after another.
Healing here reaches whole nations, and it comes through what they see in Christ.
For long centuries the nations have been torn by strife and violence. They will find healing when they come to appreciate the beauty of Christ, for the leaves show His outward beauty. A leaf from the Tree of Life will end strife and conflict, jealousy and distrust. Christ seen in the perfection of His way will end strife among the nations, just as knowing Christ in His graces brings healing among the Lord's people today.
The same tree meets two needs at once.
The tree of life is there, on either side of the river of life. No other tree stands there to threaten death. The tree of life bears full, varied and constant fruit for those inside. It also gives gracious help to the need of those outside: its leaves are for the healing of the nations.
What believers do now — feed first, then pass blessing on — carries into glory.
While we feed on the fruit of it, "the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." When the church is in glory, it will not lose the character of grace. God now gives us the bread of life to feed on. Our first delight must be in God. Then, in second place, comes the joy of love when He makes us ministers of blessing to others.
Details in the verse itself fix the period it describes.
This glorious tree again bears the mark of the number twelve. Its fruit comes in twelve kinds, and it yields twelve times a year. The fruits seem to be for the heavenly city, but even its leaves bring healing to the nations. The mention of months, of nations and of healing shows that the whole scene belongs to the millennium and not to the eternal state.
- Cause — Christ settled the question of man's responsibility at the cross, then rose as the tree of life for His people.
- Gift — the river pictures the Spirit as the water of life; the tree pictures Christ as the food of life. Neither fails, so the city never grows old.
- Fullness — twelve fruits every month picture supply that never stops. Some writers also see the many glories of Christ unfolding inside the city.
- Reach — what the city enjoys as fruit reaches the nations as leaves; grace does not stop at the city wall.
- Result — healing means the end of strife, jealousy and distrust among nations. Months, nations and healing all point to the kingdom age, not eternity.