And no curse shall be any more; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him,
The Bible's last chapter closes the story Genesis opened. The verse names three things: the curse is gone, the throne of God and of the Lamb stands in the city, and His people worship Him there.
The Bible speaks of the curse long before this verse ends it. One writer traces where it fell.
When sin entered the world the serpent, its source, was cursed (Genesis 3:14), and the ground too (verse 17). Cain, who added to his father's sin and completed it, so to speak, was also cursed (Genesis 4:11). All who are under the works of the law are under the curse (Galatians 3:10). But in the heavenly Jerusalem there is no more curse with its long train of ills and miseries. Neither the curse nor its dreadful effects can ever enter the holy city of God, surrounded by His glory.
The curse did not simply fade. One writer points to thorns to show who carried it.
And then, there is to be no more curse — God and the Lamb shall be in it. The Lamb bore the curse. Thorns the earth was to bring forth, as the product of the curse, and thorns were pressed onto His holy head. He bore the curse that He might remove it.
How much of this belongs to the thousand-year reign of Christ, and how much only to eternity? One writer holds that the earth is not yet wholly free of the curse even in that reign.
Now that the curse is gone, all is unmixed blessing in the city. The throne of God and of the Lamb ensure perfect truth and righteousness, yet with perfect grace in administration (v. 3). During the thousand year reign (the Millennium) the curse of Genesis 3:17-19 is largely removed from the earth, but not completely. Isaiah 65:17-25 says so, and verse 20 in particular. Only exceptional cases will call for a curse.
This throne has appeared all through the book. Here it carries a new name, and it does new work.
Note here, the throne of God and the Lamb are now in it. That throne, which was acting in judgment to bring about blessing, was now fixed in the heavenly city; but it is not the seat of judgment now. The Lamb still holds its place in the scene, and it is the throne of the Lamb as well as of God. The reader will notice that now for the first time it is called the throne of the Lamb.
The verse gives the throne as the reason there is no curse. One writer explains why a holy throne means lasting joy.
The reason given here is that "the throne of God and of the Lamb" is in it. That throne is supreme, and all own it as supreme. Its perfect government therefore secures a state according to God. God's holiness, shown in His throne, will be the eternal guarantee of the happiness of the redeemed. And His love, and the love of the Lamb, will be their eternal and satisfying portion.
The verse names God and the Lamb, then speaks of one Master: "his servants will worship him." Older translations read "serve him." One writer asks the obvious question — whom do they serve?
They are His servants, and now no one else divides their allegiance with Him. Without reserve "they serve Him." Serve whom, it may be asked — God or the Lamb? Here, as often in his writings, John draws no distinction; he speaks of both as one. There is but one throne named, but One whom they serve, but One whom they see, but One whose name is written on their foreheads.
Everything that spoils service now will be gone.
Ours will be a service without stopping, without weariness, without flagging energy. In joy and freedom our service then will be one of pure love, without a flaw, and without one legal thought. How varied the character of service will be! How gladly the whole being enters on an eternal life of service to Him!
This scene is the reality, and it shapes how believers come to God today.
They shall serve and they shall reign at the same time. They shall then be openly priests and kings. But grace has already made them so. Knowing this, they have the privilege of drawing near by faith to that glorious place where they will one day truly stand. Our best instruction is gathered by looking forward.
- Curse — cancelled. It began on the serpent, the ground, and Cain, and rested on all under the law; not one trace of it enters the holy city.
- Cost — the Lamb. The earth's thorns were pressed on His head; He bore the curse to take it away.
- Throne — no longer judging. For the first time it is called the throne of God and of the Lamb, now pouring out life instead of judgment.
- Master — one. God and the Lamb are named, yet the verse says "him" — one throne, one Master, one name.
- Servants — finally free. Service without weariness, without a flaw, without a legal thought. Looking ahead to it teaches us to draw near by faith today.
and they shall see his face; and his name [is] on their foreheads.
Revelation 22:4 closes the description of the holy city with two promises: sight of His face, and His name on the forehead. One answers a refusal God once gave; the other says whose the redeemed are.
Moses once asked to see God's glory, and God said no.
Then comes that glorious statement, "they shall see His face." His face and His glory go together in the revealing of Himself. The law was given, and broken. Then Moses found grace in God's sight, and this made him bold, so he said, "Please show me your glory." The answer was: "You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live." Under grace the contrast is great. Now we can say, "God … has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." But what we have here goes far beyond that. Brought into favour, we shall live in the full light of the knowledge of God, perfectly revealed in Christ. The prayer of our Lord will be fulfilled: "that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory." We shall see the face of God for ever, as we behold Him.
The face now radiant is the same face men once treated with contempt.
"They shall see His face," that face once covered so shamefully with the spit of men, now radiant with the glory of God. The best wine of the kingdom is being poured out. We shall see His face.
In the Bible, seeing someone's face means you are welcome before them. David shut his son Absalom out of his presence — his order, in older translations, reads "let him not see my face."
They shall moreover see His face. We read that the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. David, on the other hand, gave orders about Absalom: "Let him return to his own house; he is not to come into my presence." So to see the Lamb's face in glory means close approach and the enjoyment of His presence. It is a place of nearness, and of honour and blessing too. This alone tells us of the saints' perfect condition, just as John writes: "We know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is."
A name on the brow first says whose they are. The exact wording here adds a second thought.
We have already seen that the name worn on the forehead first means ownership: it marks out those who have it as belonging to Christ. This says a great deal. To be His is the sum of eternal blessedness, for it brings us into everlasting association with Him, both now and in heaven itself. There is, however, another thought. In chapter 14 the Name is "written" on their foreheads; here it is only said to be there. We gather from this distinction that here the leading feature is moral conformity to the One whose name they bear. … What joy it will be to the Lord Himself, as He looks over the countless crowds of His glorified saints, to see His own likeness shining from every face!
If His name is on every brow, then the labels people carried on earth are finished.
They will see His face and He will be seen in their faces… The names we have borne on earth will have passed forever. No more will "thief" be written on the brow of the saved criminal, nor "sinner" on the woman of Luke 7:36-39, nor will "Pharisee" be seen on the face of Saul of Tarsus. These names will have passed with the lives that earned them, and the Name of Christ alone will be written on every sinless brow.
Revelation has already shown the beast marking foreheads. This mark is its opposite, and it carries a call for today.
His name will be stamped on our foreheads. That is the opposite of the number of the Beast stamped on the foreheads of the ungodly (Rev. 13:15-16). This should speak to us now. It should encourage us to give the world a clear confession of His name in both our words and ways.
- Barred — God told Moses that no one can see His face and live; here He gives what He once refused.
- Beheld — the face shining in glory is the face men once spat on.
- Belonging — in Scripture, to see a person's face is to be welcome before them; the name on the brow says whose they are.
- Likeness — here the name is not written but simply is there. It marks a character like His in every face, and every old label — thief, sinner, Pharisee — is gone.
- Now — the mark of Christ answers the beast's mark, and it calls for a plain confession of His name in our words and ways today.
And night shall not be any more, and no need of a lamp, and light of [the] sun; for [the] Lord God shall shine upon them, and they shall reign to the ages of ages.
The vision of the holy city ends with two facts: God is the light, and His people reign. Both last for ever. That raises two questions: what exactly goes, and how long is "forever and ever"?
This verse is not a new subject. It is the last line of a long description of the city, and one writer treats it as that whole vision packed into a sentence.
This is, so to speak, the summary of the blessings the heavenly saints, the Church, enjoy in the state of the thousand-year kingdom. And what a summary! All darkness gone for ever. God Himself is their blessed source of light — not now through instruments, but in His own person. He shines upon them in all His glory, and they are able to rejoice in the glory.
Night is more than the absence of sunshine. One writer reads darkness as not knowing God — something that still dims our light today.
Not only will the light of the City never cease, it will never grow dim. Darkness is ignorance of God even as light is the knowledge of God. Today our light is often hindered by our ignorance. Our ignorance comes mostly from trying to walk in the light of our own reason, instead of walking by the light of Christ and so having His mind.
There is a second loss when night ends. Darkness is also the cover under which wrong things happen.
This verse repeats the fact that there is no night there. So evil gets no chance to work under cover of darkness, and there are no times of dark, dismal experience.
The verse names two kinds of light. One writer points to their two different makers — one man, one God — and says the city needs neither.
Man makes the "lamp," and God has made the "sun," but there is no need for either there. Everything that suits this world, and everything it needs, is past for the heavenly saints — the Bride, the Lamb's wife — and they "will reign forever and ever."
God Himself is the light of that city. One writer turns that into a question for today: would God alone be enough if every other light went out?
The sun stands for God's natural mercies. He is so full of tenderness and mercy that He gives us these things richly to enjoy. He did not spare His own Son, so will He not with Him freely give us all things? These natural gifts are, in a way, light to us. But suppose we lost them. What then? Suppose every natural joy, every comfort, every earthly ray of light were gone. Suppose we also lost everything we have made for ourselves, which is what the lamp pictures. Could we still say, "The Lord God gives us light — He is enough"?
The saints do reign a thousand years over the earth. But this verse says something longer.
There is no night there, and no need of light, for the Lord God gives it. As to their state, they reign — not for the thousand years, as they do over the earth, but for ever and ever.
Another writer weighs the exact wording, and sets it beside the kingdom Christ hands over.
The expression "to the ages of the ages," I believe, carries its strongest sense here. It does not refer only to what we call "the kingdom," though of course the reigning begins then. In 1 Corinthians 15:24 Christ delivers up a kingdom at a definite point called "the end."
The people who reign here were once slaves. One writer traces the crown back to its cause.
These people were once sinners — slaves of Satan, and of the lusts he held them by. The priceless blood of Jesus has set them free and brought them into the communion with the Father and the Son shown here. How could words less glowing than these describe their condition? They need no lamp or light of the sun, because the Lord God gives them light; and they reign forever and ever.
One writer adds that reigning is not the only thing they will do.
We cannot forget that service matters just as much in our lives as reigning. Both will be in perfect balance in that day.
- Night ends. No darkness means no ignorance of God and no cover for evil — the light never ceases and never dims.
- Lights end. Man's lamp and God's sun both go. Everything that suits this world is over for the heavenly city.
- God gives. He is the light Himself, in person, not through instruments — and the test now is whether He is enough when other lights go out.
- The reign extends. Not the thousand years only. Writers take "to the ages of the ages" in its strongest sense — past the point where Christ delivers up the kingdom.
- Grace explains it. Former slaves of Satan reign forever through the priceless blood of Jesus — and serving stands in perfect balance with reigning in that day.