No one has noticed or commented on the headings used of late. As all things have become new and especially our mindset as we have revealed within the context of Scripture. This can be heard and seen in Romans 12:1-3. Now for the last chapter in your Bible, Revelation 22, and its headings of:
The River of Life and the Tree of Life:
Revelation 22:1-5 "And he (the one that had one of the seven vessel, chapter 21:9) of shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; And his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever." (KJV)
Revelation 22:1-5 "Then the angel (of chapter 21:9) showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever." (ESV)
Revelation 22:1-5, "And he (the Shepherd-Messenger or the angel of 21:9) pointed to me a river with crystal clear, living (meaning swiftly flowing) waters, flowing out of GOD's Throne, endorsing the reign of the Lamb. (Again this picture is taken from familiar Jewish prophetic narratives. Zechariah 14:7-8, 10-11, 16; and John 7:37-38; "And there shall be continuous day, no night; Every evening will be a new morning. On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, it shall continue in summer as in winter....The land will stretch out spaciously around Jerusalem --- to Geba in the north and Rimmon in the south, with Jerusalem towering at the center, and the commanding city gates --- Gate of Benjamin to First Gate to Corner Gate to Hananel Tower to the Royal Winery --- encircling the city. And they shall live in it. And there shall not again be a shutting in, but Jerusalem shall dwell safely....Then all the nations shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And the LORD will become king over all the earth; On that day the LORD will be One and His name One. Now for John 7:37-38, "On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, 'If any one thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes Me, as the Scriptures say, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" Just like Babylon is not a city in the symbolic language of Revelation, it is a fallen-mindset society; So the New Jerusalem is not a city but the redeemed (Roman's 12:2 of 1-3, renewed mind set) society of all of humanity! The bride of Christ! In John 7:37-38, when Jesus spoke of waters gushing forth out of our innermost being, he said that you are that city! We are the bride! GOD's redeemed society!) The Tree of Life is the central theme throughout the City - right down the middle of the street, as well as on each side of the River, producing twelve varieties of ripe fruit, all year round. The [1]leaves of the Tree are for the healing of the Nations. (The leaves of this tree define the tree. This is where the remarkable process of photosynthesis takes place. With sunlight, the leaves convert leaves dioxide into oxygen.
Again these beautiful pictures are reflecting Jewish prophetic writings.... see Eze. 47:12, "For the river itself, on both banks, will grow fruit trees of all kinds. Their leaves won't wither, the fruit won't fail. Every month they'll bear fresh fruit because of the river from the Sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing."
Then in Genesis 3:22, on the Tree of Life, "'Behold (GOD is speaking), The man, who was already created like one of US, now also partook of the knowledge of evil; [the idea of, "I am not who GOD says that I am and created me to be;"] (the lie of all lies) and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of this Tree of Life, and eat and live for ever in this "lost identity" state..." The text does not say, "he has now become like one of US!" The original Hebrew and the most authentic versions use the Perfect Tense, hayah, which is the qal stem, masculine, third person, active, and in the perfect form, and signifies was, not "is." The Samaritan text, the Syriac, and the Septuagint, have the same tense. The Greek verb, is the perfect active indicative tense of ginomai. See the note on 1John 3:12, Thought on, "Why the other tree and why the temptation in the Garden?") There will be no memory of any [1]curse! GOD's Throne, endorsing the reign of the Lamb will be the presence in her. Mankind's redeemed innocence is the central theme of this city! And they, His [2]bond-Bride, will [3]worship Him for all eternity! (See Galatians 3:11-14,(The Mirror) "Habakkuk confirmed conclusively the righteousness by GOD's Faith is the only basis of life; This terminated any possible justification before GOD based on our behavior. (Hab. 2:4, 3:17-19) The Law and faith have nothing in common! The Law measures a person's doing and experience as defining their life. While Faith measures GOD's doing in redeeming His design in us, as defining our lives, Now; Christ redeemed us from the [1]curse as the consequence of our failures to keep the Law. In His Cross He concentrated the total curse of the human race upon Himself. In His abandoning Himself to our death sentence, He absorbed and dissolved the horror of the curse in His own (humanity as a) human person. Scripture declares that anyone hung on a tree embodies the curse. (Deu. 21:23) This act of Christ released the blessing of Abraham upon the Gentiles! Now we are free to receive the blessing of the Spirit. (Righteousness by GOD's faith in the achievement of Christ, and not as a reward for our behavior.) In the obedience of Christ, Deuteronomy 28 is out-dated and destroyed! [Romans 5:19, Ephesians 1:3] The mass of non-Jewish Nations are equally included.)
Again quoting from Jewish Scripture, Zech. 14:11, "And the city shall be inhabited, for there shall be no more curse; Jerusalem shall dwell in security." (RSV)
The word, [2, G1401 from G1210] doulos, means slave, is from (G1210) deo, to bind; Also, to be bound together in wedlock. (Also from a French word (found in Genesis 3:15 'heel') meaning to bind as in to hinder, to lock up, to resist, to restrict.)
Here John intentionally employed the Jewish word for worship, [3, G3000, translated serve] latreuō, from λάτρις latris, to serve [in some contexts, for a wage; For hire,] but in the Jewish context describing their sacrificial service to GOD; see Paul's use in Acts 26:6-7, "And now for the hope of the promise having been made by GOD to the fathers; To which our twelve tribes hope to arrive, worshiping [latreuo] in earnestness night and day."
A Jew would be offended by the application of this term to Christian worship. In Philippians 3:3, Paul, however, takes this word and converts it to spirit worship, "We give "circumcision" its true spiritual meaning! Our worship (G3000) [latreuo] is not defined by anything external that should even remotely resemble the Law of works and religious rituals, doctrines, rites, and unbelief! We worship GOD in the certainty of our redeemed innocence and rejoice in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Faith-righteousness gives substance to spiritual worship; The flesh occupies the religious (corrupted) mindset with its own futile efforts to attain to righteousness.") And we will gaze upon Him, face to face; Recognizing every distinct detail of His divine features mirrored within you! his Name will find a face in you! (The word [1, G3359, from G3326 and ὤψ ōps, countenance, forehead] metopon, the face, is from (G3326) meta, properly denoting accompaniment. Also used in Rev. 3:12. see Psalm 17:15, "As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; When I awaken, I shall be satisfied, beholding Your form." and then in Psalm 34:5, "Look Him in the face - you'll glisten with GOD. You'll gleam, your face will scream, "GOD!" 2Cor. 3:18, "We've got our masks off; GOD's brilliance is bounding off our faces! We're a glow from knowing Him!" Quote taken from Rob Lacey.
"The whole earth is full of His Glory!" Isaiah 6:3) No more night! No lamps; Not even sunlight is required! Master GOD engulfs them with Light. And in this light will they reign supreme for ever and ever!" ("And the nations shall come to Your light and their kings to the brightness of Your rising!" Isaiah 60:3, "In Your light do we see the light!" Psalm 36:9 and 2Cor. 4:6. see also Rev. 21:23, "And the city had no need of the sun, not of the moon, that they might shine in it, for the Glory of GOD illuminates it; The Lamb is its lamp.") (The Mirror, with editing.)
This begins the end of our Bible studies as far as they go. But the LORD willing there shall be more to come under His leading. Until our next visit may the LORD increase our knowledge of HIM.
No comments:
Post a Comment