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"Surely I am coming soon" (22.20)
An end that is never quite the End confronts the reader in the
conclusion of Revelation. Already in 21.20, the one seated on the throne
has proclaimed, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning
and the end." Chapter 22 begins with John's seeing into the actual New
Jerusalem; he looks directly to the throne itself: "Then the angel showed
me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of
God and of the Lamb flowing through the middle of the street of the city"
(1,2). He goes on to insist that on either side of the river in the middle
of the street is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit (2). In
chapter twenty-one, John has already described the street of city as being
"pure gold, transparent as glass" (21). One logically pauses to
ask what kind of street is constructed of gold yet is transparent as glass?
Further, in the middle of this street flows a river bright as crystal.
The street is transparent so as to be no street, and the river is crystal,
solidly transparent. The tree of life produces fruit monthly, and its
leaves "are for the healing of the nations" (2). Once again,
John is clear: this city is pure--"nothing accursed will be found there any
more" (4). One pauses to wonder about the "any more" here
[since one expects eternal perfection, beauty, and magnificence] but then
remembers John is after all moving rather freely through time, reporting what
he's seen [a vision into the eternal] , how things are [history, John's
experiences and those of humankind], and what will be [future] (1.19). In John,
one can almost say the future is known because the past is seen; and human life
appears to be an interlude, an interruption. One recalls Genesis:
"In the beginning... God created... and said, 'Let
there be light, and there was...and God separated
the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness
he called Night. And there was evening and there was
morning, on the first day" (1.1-5). In Genesis
as one begins in primordial, primeval time (First in order) in Revelation,
one can be said to be in the End. One is not at an end, however,
because heaven and earth are new (21.1). The "It is done" of
chapter twenty-one becomes "the time is near"
(22.10) and "Surely I am coming soon" (22.20). The
"surely" connotes a sense of after all this [vision,
persecution, death, endurance, rest and the Word], surely... John's final
"Come, Lord Jesus!" is ominous though unless one sees through the
tribulation of end times into immutable glory, light, love, and peace.
The "I am coming soon" carries both a blessing and a warning:
"Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book"
(7), a prophecy which has clearly seen through suffering, pain, and death,
calling for endurance and faith in God's merciful, just, and sovereign
control. "See! I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay
according to everyone's work" (12). Here echoes both Isaiah and
Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 17.5
5: Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
6: For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
7: Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
8: For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
9: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10: I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
11: As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.
12: A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.
13: O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
14: Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
15: Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.
16: As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.
17: Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.
...
19: Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
20: And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:
21: Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, ..
25: Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.
26: And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD.
27: But if ye will not hearken unto me... then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
Isaiah 40
1: Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
2: Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins.
3: The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4: Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
5: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
6: The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
9: O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
10: Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
11: He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
12: Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13: Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counseller hath taught him?
14: With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
15: Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
....
21: Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22: It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
23: That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
24: Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25: To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
26: Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
27: Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28: Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29: He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30: Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
The reader struggling in day-to-day requirements and searching for meaning
might learn from Jeremiah: "16: As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee."
Life demands a pastoring, and mercy cannot desire the woeful day of the
End. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, cried for his people, as should
we. The prophetic call itself never came to any of the prophets easily:
they understood the cost.
As John saw in the beginning one like the Son of Man commanding
him to "Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven
churches" (1.12), it is Jesus in the end who reveals Himself as having
"sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root
and the descendant [beginning and what has come] of David, the bright morning
star" (16). In the beginning (2.28), a promise has been made to those
who conquer that "even as I... received authority from my Father.. I will
also give [you who conquer] the morning star. In the beginning, an
invitation is extended: "Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the
Spirit is saying to the churches" (2.28). At the end, the invitation
is still open for the churches: "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And
let everyone who hears say, 'Come.' And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift" (17). As much as Revelation
is a call to endure on the part of the faithful, it is also a call to 'Come'
extended in mercy to those who persevere in ungodliness or separation from the
holy.
John in the end of his writing warns strongly against perverting the
teachings of this Revelation: "I warn everyone who hears the
words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that
person the plagues described in this book; if anyone takes away from the
words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person's share in
the tree of life and the holy city, which are described in this book" (18,
19).
In the ending of Revelation, the reader is still confronted with
choice, Joshua's choice of old: "Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him
in sincerity and in faithfulness... choose this day whom you will serve... but
as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24, 14, 15).
Revelation ends as it began: with a testimony for the churches,
"It is I, Jesus" and a prayer, "The grace of our Lord Jesus be
with all the saints. Amen"; remember, John began by saying to the churches,
"Look! He is coming..." and includes himself in urging them to
remember Jesus has called "us to be a kingdom, priests serving his
God and Father [Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth 91, 9, 10)] .
"Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the
saints. Amen."
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