Revelation 22:2b–3 - What God Wants For His People
Acts 14 describes the journey of Paul and Barnabas as they preached the gospel. Many people trusted in Jesus. But they also made enemies in the cities of Iconium, Antioch, and Lystra. In fact, in Lystra, Paul was stoned by the crowd and left for dead. He survived, and went on to the city of Derbe, and the book of Acts says, “When they had preached the gospel to that city (Derbe) and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.”
They went back to the places where their lives had been in real danger. Why would they do that? It’s because God’s people were in those cities. There were Christians there, and the next verse in Acts 14 tells what Paul and Barabas did when they returned. It says they were, “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” Through tribulations. Life would be filled with troubles and difficulties. Paul and Barnabas knew this from experience!
Today we remember Reformation Day, October 31, 1517, when the great church reformer Martin Luther nailed to the door of the Wittenberg church his collection of statements calling for a return to the truth of God’s Word. The last two of his 95 theses echoes Acts 14. Number 94 and 95 says, “Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.”
In other words, the Christian life is not always tranquil. It’s often not peaceful. There is real pain. There is actual suffering. There’s conflict and uncertainty, because truly, as the Scriptures teach, this world has been cursed by sin. And yet we know – as Paul knew, and as Martin Luther knew – that Jesus Christ has broken the power of sin’s curse over those who are born again. True Christians are not under the reign of sin any longer. We are now under the reign of Christ. In Romans 6, Paul explains that sin no longer has dominion over those who are in Christ Jesus.
Now, sin still affects, without a doubt. It has its effect within us, and also, all around us. But it does not rule over us. And yet, “many tribulations.” Whatever troubles you are enduring or have endured, you shouldn’t conclude that God the Father does not love you or have a plan for you. The Father loved His Son and had a plan for Him, but He endured tribulation to fulfill that plan. Like the disciples in those ancient cities, we need our souls strengthened, and we need to be encouraged to continue in the faith.
Put differently, we need to be strengthened and encouraged to rest in God’s grace and obey His holy Word. We can live according to God’s will because the power of sin’s curse is broken. And in Revelation 22 – another glimpse of the vision Jesus gave to John – we learn more about that. We learn what God wants for His people, both in this world and in the world to come.
Now, two weeks ago, we saw the river of life flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, running through New Jerusalem. These are symbols of the abundant, eternal life and the salvation that flows from the triune God to His people.
Here, John continues to tell us what he saw. “Also, on either side of the river, the tree of life.” Which is to say, “on each side.” On one side of the river, and on the other side. The OT prophet Ezekiel saw a similar vision of trees lining the banks of a great river. Trees of life stand along both sides of the river of the water of life.
This kind of tree has been mentioned before in the Scriptures – in Genesis 2 and 3. It stood in the garden of Eden and was representative of eternal life – of unhindered fellowship with God, of abundant life and all its blessings. The tree of life shouldn’t be confused with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That tree was a tree of testing for Adam and Eve. They ate from it and sinned, so they were banished from the garden which contained the tree of life, but in this vision of the new earth – the tree of life is accessible. John sees a new garden, where sin can no longer come in and have its effect.
Now, a river and the vegetation along the riverbanks are connected. Their relationship is used in Scripture as a metaphor for the relationship between God and His people. Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water.
And Jeremiah 17, “Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water.”
John sees the trees of life watered by and nourished by the river of life. The trees are not God’s people in the vision, but they signify the nourishment of His people. Look at the next statement. Each tree of life stood “with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.”
Fruit trees have seasons. My favorite season is peach season. Maybe you’ve had a perfect, ripe peach. I wish we could get them year-round, but the season is only 3 months or so. However, John learns that the trees of life bear fruit “each month.” All year long.
Now it says “twelve kinds of fruit.” We’ve seen the number 12 many times already in Revelation, referring to the OT tribes of Israel and the NT apostles. But some scholars read this as, “the tree of life bearing fruit twelve times,” which fits with the monthly yielding. It seems we should understand this to mean simply that they bear fruit continually – regularly.
Speaking of peaches, maybe you’ve traveled on Hwy 151 through McBee past McLeod Farms. If so, you may have seen their acres and acres of peach trees. For part of the year, all the trees look dead. Of course, they aren’t dead; they’re just out of season. But they look so desolate, like all the life is gone. If you drive by during that time and want a peach, you’ll have to wait.
But the fruit of the trees of life is always available. There’s plenty.
And notice the last sentence of verse 2. “The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” This is very important. The tree of life represents the eternal life of God that we receive through the person and work of the Lord Jesus.
But what is this healing? It’s the fullness of our salvation and the completion of our restoration to God and to what is truly human according to His good plan. That healing is on the way. But also, it’s here now. Eternal life has broken into our reality at this time. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.” He meant the true knowledge of God and real personal fellowship with Him. This is freedom from the rule of sin over us.
It’s the ability to love and live according to God's moral law. Eternal life is the power to walk in God’s ways, and it’s guidance from God, as He leads us by His Word and His Holy Spirit. Eternal life is deliverance from the foolishness and deception and darkness of this world so we can walk in the light of God’s truth with wisdom and discernment, with understanding, learning from God and from those who speak to us in line with God’s Word.
Eternal life brings healing. Sin shatters a person; eternal life begins to put the pieces back together. Eternal life makes us whole. It grounds and establishes us in a world where we will face “many tribulations.” It is hell that we must endure in this world – it’s the curse of sin! But eternal life has begun to reverse the results of the curse, and when Christ returns, He will complete that reversal.
When you know Jesus and you aim to follow Him each day – in each decision and moment – He pours on His healing. He treats your wounds; He medicates you. The Great Physician tends to your sickness.
And I find it interesting that it's the leaves of the tree that are for the healing of the nations. I thought it might be the fruit. But Christ focuses John’s attention on the leaves. That could be because in the book of Genesis, which describes trees and a river that flowed out of Eden to water the garden, the leaves of the trees play an important role as well. In Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve sinned, they were stricken with shame, and so they covered themselves. They made garments with leaves. Then, when God came calling, they hid.
They had to mask what they could not heal. Don’t we often do the same thing? We try various worldly ways of curing our problems, but really we only cover our problems. We naturally choose sin because we think that will help the situation! Sin is not the medicine; it is the disease. It’s not the cure; it’s the curse.
The cure for the curse of sin is not of this world but the cure did come into this world. He came into the world so that we might have healing, and have it in all its fullness. One day, when our great Healer has returned to defeat sin and death once and for all, everything will be healed.
But the hope of healing is not all future. Healing has broken in – now. It is here, with and among the people of God. He’s healing us. He’s feeding us weekly in worship together, and daily with His Word. He’s curing us as we pray without ceasing. He’s healing us as we humble ourselves. He’s treating us as He trains us in His righteous ways. Don’t you want to be healed?
In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul wrote, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” We beg you – be healed! “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” For our healing God sent Him. May you be healed more and more by His Word and Spirit among His people. May you be honest with yourself and with God and with others about the healing you need.
Now at this point I don’t know that verse 3 takes a great deal of explaining. John says in that New Jerusalem, [3] “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.” The healing of eternal life comes to us by grace alone through faith alone – faith in Christ alone. Salvation from sin’s curse is by and from God alone. We cannot earn it; we don’t deserve it. Our rebirth by the Spirit’s power begins the healing, and where there is healing, worship begins.
As we worship, more healing comes. It’s cyclical: healing, worship, healing, worship. In the future, on the new earth, the people of God will worship unhindered by sin’s curse. The triune God will be present with us there. We won’t hide from His presence or cover our shame. We will rejoice in His presence, finally free from our shame.
And yet if you are in Christ, you have now been set free. You are free from the penalty of sin, and free to obey God, knowing that His grace covers your sin, and His mercies, like the fruit of the trees of life along the bank of the river of life, are continually made new and available to you. God wants those He saves to receive His healing and to then offer Him worship. That’s what we learn in this symbolic vision of the new heavens and earth.
There are many tribulations, but healing comes with salvation, and with strengthening by God’s Word and Spirit, and by encouragement from His Word and His people, and then we will continually return to Him the praise and honor and glory that He deserves.
We’re going now to the Lord’s table, we will conclude with the Lord’s prayer, in which Jesus taught us to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In heaven – right this minute – the people of God are healed and they are worshiping. That is what God wants for His people. You can have that partly now and perfectly on that Last Day, but first, you must have Christ. Trust in Him!
Bow with me in prayer.
They went back to the places where their lives had been in real danger. Why would they do that? It’s because God’s people were in those cities. There were Christians there, and the next verse in Acts 14 tells what Paul and Barabas did when they returned. It says they were, “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” Through tribulations. Life would be filled with troubles and difficulties. Paul and Barnabas knew this from experience!
Today we remember Reformation Day, October 31, 1517, when the great church reformer Martin Luther nailed to the door of the Wittenberg church his collection of statements calling for a return to the truth of God’s Word. The last two of his 95 theses echoes Acts 14. Number 94 and 95 says, “Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.”
In other words, the Christian life is not always tranquil. It’s often not peaceful. There is real pain. There is actual suffering. There’s conflict and uncertainty, because truly, as the Scriptures teach, this world has been cursed by sin. And yet we know – as Paul knew, and as Martin Luther knew – that Jesus Christ has broken the power of sin’s curse over those who are born again. True Christians are not under the reign of sin any longer. We are now under the reign of Christ. In Romans 6, Paul explains that sin no longer has dominion over those who are in Christ Jesus.
Now, sin still affects, without a doubt. It has its effect within us, and also, all around us. But it does not rule over us. And yet, “many tribulations.” Whatever troubles you are enduring or have endured, you shouldn’t conclude that God the Father does not love you or have a plan for you. The Father loved His Son and had a plan for Him, but He endured tribulation to fulfill that plan. Like the disciples in those ancient cities, we need our souls strengthened, and we need to be encouraged to continue in the faith.
Put differently, we need to be strengthened and encouraged to rest in God’s grace and obey His holy Word. We can live according to God’s will because the power of sin’s curse is broken. And in Revelation 22 – another glimpse of the vision Jesus gave to John – we learn more about that. We learn what God wants for His people, both in this world and in the world to come.
Now, two weeks ago, we saw the river of life flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, running through New Jerusalem. These are symbols of the abundant, eternal life and the salvation that flows from the triune God to His people.
Here, John continues to tell us what he saw. “Also, on either side of the river, the tree of life.” Which is to say, “on each side.” On one side of the river, and on the other side. The OT prophet Ezekiel saw a similar vision of trees lining the banks of a great river. Trees of life stand along both sides of the river of the water of life.
This kind of tree has been mentioned before in the Scriptures – in Genesis 2 and 3. It stood in the garden of Eden and was representative of eternal life – of unhindered fellowship with God, of abundant life and all its blessings. The tree of life shouldn’t be confused with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That tree was a tree of testing for Adam and Eve. They ate from it and sinned, so they were banished from the garden which contained the tree of life, but in this vision of the new earth – the tree of life is accessible. John sees a new garden, where sin can no longer come in and have its effect.
Now, a river and the vegetation along the riverbanks are connected. Their relationship is used in Scripture as a metaphor for the relationship between God and His people. Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water.
And Jeremiah 17, “Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water.”
John sees the trees of life watered by and nourished by the river of life. The trees are not God’s people in the vision, but they signify the nourishment of His people. Look at the next statement. Each tree of life stood “with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.”
Fruit trees have seasons. My favorite season is peach season. Maybe you’ve had a perfect, ripe peach. I wish we could get them year-round, but the season is only 3 months or so. However, John learns that the trees of life bear fruit “each month.” All year long.
Now it says “twelve kinds of fruit.” We’ve seen the number 12 many times already in Revelation, referring to the OT tribes of Israel and the NT apostles. But some scholars read this as, “the tree of life bearing fruit twelve times,” which fits with the monthly yielding. It seems we should understand this to mean simply that they bear fruit continually – regularly.
Speaking of peaches, maybe you’ve traveled on Hwy 151 through McBee past McLeod Farms. If so, you may have seen their acres and acres of peach trees. For part of the year, all the trees look dead. Of course, they aren’t dead; they’re just out of season. But they look so desolate, like all the life is gone. If you drive by during that time and want a peach, you’ll have to wait.
But the fruit of the trees of life is always available. There’s plenty.
And notice the last sentence of verse 2. “The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” This is very important. The tree of life represents the eternal life of God that we receive through the person and work of the Lord Jesus.
But what is this healing? It’s the fullness of our salvation and the completion of our restoration to God and to what is truly human according to His good plan. That healing is on the way. But also, it’s here now. Eternal life has broken into our reality at this time. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.” He meant the true knowledge of God and real personal fellowship with Him. This is freedom from the rule of sin over us.
It’s the ability to love and live according to God's moral law. Eternal life is the power to walk in God’s ways, and it’s guidance from God, as He leads us by His Word and His Holy Spirit. Eternal life is deliverance from the foolishness and deception and darkness of this world so we can walk in the light of God’s truth with wisdom and discernment, with understanding, learning from God and from those who speak to us in line with God’s Word.
Eternal life brings healing. Sin shatters a person; eternal life begins to put the pieces back together. Eternal life makes us whole. It grounds and establishes us in a world where we will face “many tribulations.” It is hell that we must endure in this world – it’s the curse of sin! But eternal life has begun to reverse the results of the curse, and when Christ returns, He will complete that reversal.
When you know Jesus and you aim to follow Him each day – in each decision and moment – He pours on His healing. He treats your wounds; He medicates you. The Great Physician tends to your sickness.
And I find it interesting that it's the leaves of the tree that are for the healing of the nations. I thought it might be the fruit. But Christ focuses John’s attention on the leaves. That could be because in the book of Genesis, which describes trees and a river that flowed out of Eden to water the garden, the leaves of the trees play an important role as well. In Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve sinned, they were stricken with shame, and so they covered themselves. They made garments with leaves. Then, when God came calling, they hid.
They had to mask what they could not heal. Don’t we often do the same thing? We try various worldly ways of curing our problems, but really we only cover our problems. We naturally choose sin because we think that will help the situation! Sin is not the medicine; it is the disease. It’s not the cure; it’s the curse.
The cure for the curse of sin is not of this world but the cure did come into this world. He came into the world so that we might have healing, and have it in all its fullness. One day, when our great Healer has returned to defeat sin and death once and for all, everything will be healed.
But the hope of healing is not all future. Healing has broken in – now. It is here, with and among the people of God. He’s healing us. He’s feeding us weekly in worship together, and daily with His Word. He’s curing us as we pray without ceasing. He’s healing us as we humble ourselves. He’s treating us as He trains us in His righteous ways. Don’t you want to be healed?
In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul wrote, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” We beg you – be healed! “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” For our healing God sent Him. May you be healed more and more by His Word and Spirit among His people. May you be honest with yourself and with God and with others about the healing you need.
Now at this point I don’t know that verse 3 takes a great deal of explaining. John says in that New Jerusalem, [3] “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.” The healing of eternal life comes to us by grace alone through faith alone – faith in Christ alone. Salvation from sin’s curse is by and from God alone. We cannot earn it; we don’t deserve it. Our rebirth by the Spirit’s power begins the healing, and where there is healing, worship begins.
As we worship, more healing comes. It’s cyclical: healing, worship, healing, worship. In the future, on the new earth, the people of God will worship unhindered by sin’s curse. The triune God will be present with us there. We won’t hide from His presence or cover our shame. We will rejoice in His presence, finally free from our shame.
And yet if you are in Christ, you have now been set free. You are free from the penalty of sin, and free to obey God, knowing that His grace covers your sin, and His mercies, like the fruit of the trees of life along the bank of the river of life, are continually made new and available to you. God wants those He saves to receive His healing and to then offer Him worship. That’s what we learn in this symbolic vision of the new heavens and earth.
There are many tribulations, but healing comes with salvation, and with strengthening by God’s Word and Spirit, and by encouragement from His Word and His people, and then we will continually return to Him the praise and honor and glory that He deserves.
We’re going now to the Lord’s table, we will conclude with the Lord’s prayer, in which Jesus taught us to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In heaven – right this minute – the people of God are healed and they are worshiping. That is what God wants for His people. You can have that partly now and perfectly on that Last Day, but first, you must have Christ. Trust in Him!
Bow with me in prayer.
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