Revelation

22:12-21

Epilogue, 22:6-21

ii] The testimony of Jesus

John concludes his book with an epilogue, 22:6-21. It consists of loose sayings, prophecies and observations which sum up the character of the book. There is also a warning not to change or disregard the book and an assurance to the reader of Christ's return. This particular passage covers the central part of the epilogue.

As already noted, the structure of Revelation is open to debate and the epilogue, 22:6-21, is no exception. Beale takes the view that this passage consists of five exhortations to holiness, v6-7, 8-10, 11-12, 13-17, 18-20. Certainly exhortations to faithfulness, blessings for faithfulness and warnings, all with reference to Christ's coming, are central to the passage. As with the prologue there are different speakers giving testimony, but here the identity of those speaking is not so clear. None-the-less, a general division of testimonies is possibly: The testimony of the angel, v6-7; the testimony of John v8-11; and the testimony of Jesus (along with John's response) v12-20. Some commentators (eg. Vanni 1991) treat the passage as an antiphonal liturgical dialogue, although there is little agreement as to the speakers (God, John, an Angel, the Spirit, Jesus), v6-11, 12-16, 17-21. It is probably best to treat the passage as a collection of loose sayings, prophecies and observations, which recapitulate the themes of the prologue: "the hand of God and Christ who reveal this prophecy, the nearness of the end of all things, and the importance of faithful endurance for Christ", Osborne. Verses 12-20 consist of seven independent sayings of Christ loosely tied together thematically, with v21 serving as a closing benediction.

Christ is coming soon with his reward.

tacu adv. "soon" - swiftly, quickly, soon. The message from Jesus is that he will not delay his return for very long, rather he will come soon. Given that we have waited nearly 2000 years, it is difficult to understand what Jesus means by "soon". In truth, the problem is one of perspective. This present age is limited and thus in relation to the eternal perspective of the heavenly realm, the day of Christ's coming is nearly upon us; a thousand years for us is but a moment in the sight of God.

oJ misqoV mou met emou "my reward is with me" - the wages/reward/recompense of me is with me. Jesus comes to give what is due. Given that he comes to both bless and curse, "reward" misses the mark due to its positive spin; "recompense" is better.

apodounai (apodidwmi) aor. inf. "and I will give" - to give. The infinitive forms a purpose clause; "in order to give ...."

eJkastw/ wJV to ergon estin autou "to everyone according to what he has done" - to each as the work of him is. When Jesus returns, he will judge us on the basis of our works. Judgment on the basis of deeds done seems to strike at the heart of the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. The problem caused by reward for works texts is best resolved by arguing that the essential "work" demanded by God is faith in Christ, and that genuine faith issues in deeds. None-the-less, many interpretive difficulties remain.

The one who comes is the beginning of all things and the end of all things. John is here repeating a concept he has already developed, cf. 1:8, 17, 2:8, 21:6. William Lee does a nice job paraphrasing these three title used by Christ: "I am He from whom all being has proceeded and to whom it will return. I am the primal cause and the final aim of all history. I am the one who has created the world and who will perfect it."

Blessings and warnings, v14-15.

oiJ plunonteV (plunw) pres. part. "those who wash" - the ones washing. The participle functions as a substantive. The washing image is used in the Bible to describe being immersed in the sacrificial death of Christ by means of which Jesus takes our punishment on himself and thus secures our acquittal, cf.7:14. So the phrase means, "blessed are those who repent." It is not just repentance at the time of our conversion, for the washing is a present continuous action, (durative present tense). The washing entails an ongoing act of repentance, an ongoing recognition of lostness apart from Christ, an ongoing desire for completness in Christ = turning to Christ. Note the alternate reading found in some manuscripts, "do his commandments" - the Judaizers live on!

iJna "that" - This clause my be read as introducing a final clause expressing purpose, "in order to" or better a consecutive clause expressing consequence / result, "with the result that, NRSV, NEB. Note the interesting use of iJna + future of the verb to-be followed by the usual form of a verb in the subjunctive mood; "that will be / may have ..... and may enter ...." There are a number of examples of iJna + fut. in this book.

epi "[the right] to" - [the authority, power] over [the tree of life]. Presumably the right/authority "over" means the right/authority to feed on the fruit of the tree of life, or possibly "opens the way to the tree of life", Junkins. The image of feeding from the tree of life comes from the book of Ezekiel and harks back to the "tree of life" in the garden of Eden. It is an image of "eternal life", of eternal sustenance in union with Christ.

eiV "into [the city]" - [they may enter] into [the city]. It is those who wash who have the right to go through the gates and enter the city, not those who eat from the tree of life, given that the tree is in the city. Here again is a strong Old Testament image. It pictures our coming into the kingdom of God, our coming into the presence of the living God, and our being blessed and ruled by him. cf. Zechariah.

exw adv. "outside" - Outside the city gate, those not allowed to enter.

oi kuneV (wn unoV) "dogs" - The term was used by Jews to describe unclean Gentiles, those without God. This may be the sense here = "unbelievers". John takes time to describe these unwashed. Note the full list in 21:8. They are: i)"cowardly" - they run from the battle and do not stand with Christ; ii) "Unbelieving" - unfaithful; iii) "Vile" - nasty; iv) "Murders" - haters; v) "Sexually immoral"; vi) "Practice magic arts" - into power games; vii) "Idolaters" - worship the creation rather than the Creator; viii) "Love to lie" - full of deceit. These unwashed may also be pseudo-Christians, "dogs" as in Philippians 3:2, ie. those who bear the outward marks of religion.

filwn (filew) pres. part. "[everyone] who loves" - loving. This, and the following participle "practicing", are adjectival, limiting "everyone".

In two separate saying Jesus is identified as the source of this revelation to John, and then the person of Jesus is further defined.

uJmin pl. dat. "you" - to you. Note the "you" is plural, so the revelation is not so much for John, but the church.

marturhsai (marturew) inf. "to give [you] this testimony" - to bear witness [to you]. The infinitive forms a final clause expressing purpose, "in order to testify". "To bear witness" here has the sense of declaring or announcing the revelation.

"The Rood and the Offspring of David" - A messianic title, The Warrior Messiah of the seed of David.

"The bright Morning Star" - Also a messianic title referring to the star that will come out of Jacob, Num.24:17.

A call to come to Christ.

ercou ... ercou .... ercesqw (ercomai) imp. "come .... come .... let him come" - The invitation to come is rather confusing. It is possible that the first two invitations to come are a call for the return of Christ, so Beasley-Murray, although it is more likely that they are all a call to come to Christ, so Mounce, Beale, Osborne. Presumably Christ makes the first call to come, the second is from the church and the third a general call to come to Christ penned by John. There is some debate as to the identity of "the thirsty" and "whoever wishes". Most commentators argue that the invitation is for unbelievers to accept Christ, so Beasley-Murray, Mounce. Some think the invitation is to believers and is a call to faithfulness, for a closer walk with Jesus, so Beale. Possibly it is a call to both believers and unbelievers, a call to commitment and a call to a deeper commitment, so Osborne. If it is a call to commitment such that the one who is "thirsty", who "wishes", is an unbeliever, then we are again reminded that the gospel may only be for "seekers" rather than the whole of humanity, ie. the gospel functions as the key to unlock the mysteries of the universe, but functions as such only for those who seek the key. This would mean that accurate communication is more important than a presentation reliant on motivational techniques. This is of course a rather contentious issue, but worthy of debate. Note, the enigmatic saying of Jesus "do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs", Matt.7:6. This verse is often used to support the "seeker" argument, but most likely has nothing do with presenting the gospel. The saying is found within the context of judging others and is most likely an example of pharisaic judgementalism. Jesus is not saying "do this", rather he's saying "don't do it."

A warning against interfering with John's prophecy, v18-19.

marturw (marturew) "I warn" - I bear witness. The sense is obviously "warn", but a word like "declare" would be closer to the Greek.

tw/ akouonti (akouw) pres. part. "[everyone] who hears" - hearing. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "everyone". "I declare to everyone who hears the prophecies of this book."

ean + subj. "if" - Forming a conditional sentence 3rd class where the condition is a possibility, "if, as may be the case, ..... then ...."

epiqh/ (epitiqhmi) aor. subj. "adds" - lay upon. Certainly "adds" properly represents the Greek, although in a general sense "alters" is acceptable. "Adds" is chosen to parallel the adding of the plagues upon those who add to the text, or better, the meaning of the text. For the plagues see chapters 15 and 16.

taV gegrammenaV (grafw) perf. pas. part. "described" - having been written. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "the plagues"; "God will add to him the plagues which are recorded in this book."

afelh/ (afeirew) aor. subj. "[if anyone] takes [words] away" - take away. Remove, subtract, delete, omit..... Remove the truth of the prophecy, not just the words. Conditional sentence as v18.

to meroV autou "his share" - the part of him. The noun "part" means that which a person possess by right, their lot, their share. A person who fiddles with the truths in this revelation will lose their right to enter the city and eat of the fruit from the tree of life. This statement seems to extend the requirement for salvation beyond faith in Christ. The best approach to this problem is to hold that the warning carries its own power such that those who have "come" will not even want to tamper with the revelation. Those who do wilfully tamper, show by their actions that they have not come.

oJ marturwn (marturew) pres. part. "he who testifies" - the one testifying. The participle functions as a substantive.

ercou kurie Ihsou "come Lord Jesus" - This imperatival phrase in Greek is equivalent to the Aramaic Marana tha, "our Lord, come."

Concluding benediction. The fact that this document ends with a benediction indicates that it is an epistle/letter. The benediction serves as a call (prayer request) for God's grace to flow onto his people, a request which is supported by propositional promises in the scriptures and therefore a prayer request that will be answered. See Metzger for the many variants for this verse, eg.: CristoV "Christ" is added in some texts; amhn "Amen" is found in some texts; and there are seven variant objects, meta pantwn, eg. "with you all", "all the saints", "with all of us", ...

Revelation Introduction

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