************************** We come now to some of the most beautiful words written in the Scriptures. At least this is my opinion. Up until this point in the last chapters of the Revelation, John’s description of the city of God was from an external view. He was standing on the mountain and watching the city as it descended from heaven. Now however, just as the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel was shown the temple first from the outside, and after that entered into the very sanctuary, John also now enters the New Jerusalem. He now begins to describe what he saw on the inside of the city of God. It is probably my favorite passage in the entire Bible:
Then he showed me a
river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and
of the Lamb, and flowing down the middle of the great street. On either side of
the river grew the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its
fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
There will no longer be
any curse, and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it. His
bond-servants will serve Him. They will see his face, and his name will be on
their foreheads.
And there will no
longer be any night. They will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the
light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them, and they will reign
forever and ever.
And he said to me,
“These words are faithful and true.”
The Lord, the God of
the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show to his bond-servants the
things which must soon take place. (Revelation 22:1-6 my own paraphrase).
The Water of Life
The subject
of the water of life is a common one in Scripture. Jesus used it often in his
teaching. My mind immediately goes to the account told to us of one hot day
when Jesus sat in the shade of a tree near a well of Samaria. The well was
outside of the city of Sychar. The disciples had gone into town to get some food,
but Jesus chose to remain at the well to rest and to wait for them to return.(to continue reading, please press the READ MORE link below)