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 forever and ever.
5. there ] Read, any more. See Rev 21:25.
they need no candle &c.] Read, they have no need of light of lamp, neither of light of sun.
giveth them light ] Read, shall give light upon them. Here end the visions.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And there shall be no night there – notes on Rev 21:25.
And they need no candle – No lamp; no artificial light, as in a world where there is night and darkness.
Neither light of the sun; for the Lord God, … – See the notes on Rev 21:23.
And they shall reign forever and ever – That is, with God; they shall be as kings. See the notes on Rev 5:10; Rev 20:6. Compare the Rom 8:16 note; 2Ti 2:11-12 note.
Remarks On Revelation 21:1-5 And Revelation 22:1-5
This portion of the Apocalypse contains the most full and complete continuous description of the state of the righteous, in the world of blessedness, that is to be found in the Bible. It seems to be proper, therefore, to pause on it for a moment, and to state in a summary manner what will be the principal features of that blessedness. All can see that, as a description, it occupies an appropriate place, not only in regard to this book, but to the volume of revealed truth. In reference to this particular book, it is the appropriate close of the account of the conflicts, the trials, and the persecutions of the church; in reference to the whole volume of revealed truth, it is appropriate because it occurs in the last of the inspired books that was written. It was proper that a volume of revealed truth given to mankind, and designed to describe a great work of redeeming mercy, should close with a description of the state of the righteous after death.
The principal features in the description are the following:
(1) There will be a new heaven and a new earth: a new order of things, and a world adapted to the condition of the righteous. There will be such changes produced in the earth, and such abodes suited up for the redeemed, that it will be proper to say that they are new, Rev 21:1.
(2) The locality of that abode is not determined. No particular place is revealed as constituting heaven; nor is it intimated that there would be such a place. For anything that appears, the universe at large will be heaven – the earth and all worlds; and we are left free to suppose that the redeemed will yet occupy any position of the universe, and be permitted to behold the special glories of the divine character that are manifested in each of the worlds that he has made. Compare the notes on 1Pe 1:12. That there may be some one place in the universe that will be their permanent home, and that will be more properly called heaven, where the glory of their God and Saviour will be especially manifested, is not improbable; but still there is nothing to prevent the hope and the belief that in the infinite duration that awaits them they will be permitted to visit all the worlds that God has made, and to learn in each, and from each, all that he has especially manifested of his own character and glory there.
(3) That future state will be entirely and forever free from all the consequences of the apostasy as now seen on the earth. There will be neither tears, nor sorrow, nor death, nor crying, nor pain, nor curse, Rev 21:4; Rev 22:3. It will, therefore, be a perfectly happy abode.
(4) It will be pure and holy. Nothing will ever enter there that shall contaminate and defile, Rev 21:8, Rev 21:27. On this account, also, it will be a happy world, for:
(a)All real happiness has its foundation in holiness; and,
(b)The source of all the misery that the universe has experienced is sin. Let that be removed, and the earth would be happy; let it be extinguished from any world, and its happiness will be secure.
(5) It will be a world of perfect light, Rev 21:22-25; Rev 22:5. There will be:
(a)Literally no night there:
(b)Spiritually and morally there will be no darkness – no error, no sin.
Light will be cast on a thousand subjects now obscure; and on numerous points pertaining to the divine government and dealings which now perplex the mind there will be poured the splendor of perfect day. All the darkness that exists here will be dissipated there; all that is now obscure will be made light. And in view of this fact, we may well submit for a little time to the mysteries which hang over the divine dealings here. The Christian is destined to live forever and ever. He is capable of an eternal progression in knowledge. He is soon to be ushered into the splendors of that eternal abode where there is no need of the light of the sun or the moon, and where there is no night. In a little time – a few weeks or days – by removal to that higher state of being, he will have made a degree of progress in true knowledge compared with which all that can be learned here is a nameless trifle. In that future abode he will be permitted to know all that is to be known in those worlds that shine upon his path by day or by night; all that is to be known in the character of their Maker, and the principles of his government; all that is to be known of the glorious plan of redemption; all that is to be known of the reasons why sin and woe were permitted to enter this beautiful world. There, too, he will be permitted to enjoy all that there is to be enjoyed in a world without a cloud and without a tear; all that is beatific in the friendship of God the Father, of the Ascended Redeemer, of the Sacred Spirit; all that is blessed in the goodly fellowship of the angels, of the apostles, of the prophets; all that is rapturous in reunion with those that were loved on the earth. Well, then, may he bear with the darkness and endure the trials of this state a little longer.
(6) It will be a world of surpassing splendor. This is manifest by the description of it in Rev 20:1-15, as a gorgeous city, with ample dimensions, with most brilliant colors, set with gems, and composed of pure gold. The writer, in the description of that abode, has accumulated all that is gorgeous and magnificent, and doubtless felt that even this was a very imperfect representation of that glorious world.
(7) That future world will be an abode of the highest conceivable happiness. This is manifest, not only from the fact stated that there will be no pain or sorrow here, but from the positive description in Rev 22:1-2. It was, undoubtedly, the design of the writer, under the image of a Paradise, to describe the future abode of the redeemed as one of the highest happiness – where there would be an ample and a constant supply of every want, and where the highest ideas of enjoyment would be realized. And,
(8) All this will be eternal. The universe, so vast and so wonderful, seems to have been made to be suited to the eternal contemplation of created minds, and in this universe there is an adaptation for the employment of mind forever and ever.
If it be asked now why John, in the account which he has given of the heavenly state, adopted this figurative and emblematic mode of representation, and why it did not please God to reveal any were respecting the nature of the employments and enjoyments of the heavenly world, it may be replied:
- That this method is eminently in accordance with the general character of the book, as a book of symbols and emblems.
- He has stated enough to give us a general and a most attractive view of that blessed state.
- It is not certain that we would have appreciated it, or could have comprehended it, if a more minute and literal description had been given.
That state may be so unlike this that it is doubtful whether we could have comprehended any literal description that could have been given. How little of the future and the unseen can ever be known by a mere description; how faint and imperfect a view can we ever obtain of anything by the mere use of words, and especially of objects which have no resemblance to anything which we have seen! Who ever obtained any adequate idea of Niagara by a mere description? To what Greek or Roman mind, however cultivated, could there have been conveyed the idea of a printing-press, of a locomotive engine, of the magnetic telegraph, by mere description? Who can convey to one born blind an idea of the prismatic colors; or to the deaf an idea of sounds? If we may imagine the world of insect tribes to be endowed with the power of language and thought, how could the happy and gilded butterfly that today plays in the sunbeam impart to its companions of yesterday – low and grovelling worms – any adequate idea of that new condition of being into which it had emerged? And how do we know that we could comprehend any description of that world where the righteous dwell, or of employments and enjoyments so unlike our own?
I cannot more appropriately close this brief notice of the revelations of the heavenly state than by introducing an ancient poem, which seems to be founded on this portion of the Apocalypse, and which is the original of one of the most touching and beautiful hymns, now used in Protestant places of worship – the well-known hymn which begins, Jerusalem! my happy home! This hymn is deservedly a great favorite, and is an eminently beautiful composition. It is, however, of Roman Catholic origin. It is found in a small volume of miscellaneous poetry, sold at Mr. Brights sale of manuscripts in 1844, which has been placed in the British Museum, and now forms the additional ms. 15,225. It is referred, by the lettering on the book, to the age of Elizabeth, but it is supposed to belong to the subsequent reign. The volume seems to have been formed by or for some Roman Catholic, and contains many devotional songs or hymns, interspersed with others of a more general character. See Littells Living Age, vol. xxviii. pp. 333-336. The hymn is as follows:
A Song Made by F. B. P.
To the tune of Diana
Jerusalem! my happy home!
When shall I come to thee?
When shall my sorrows have an end –
Thy joys when shall I see?
O happy harbor of the saints –
O sweet and pleasant soil!
In thee no sorrow may be found,
No grief, no care, no toil.
In thee no sickness may be seen,
No hurt, no ache, no sore;
There is no death, no ugly deil*,
Theres life forevermore.
No dampish mist is seen in thee,
No cold nor darksome night;
There every soul shines as the sun,
There God himself gives light.
There lust and lucre cannot dwell,
There envy hears no sway;
There is no hunger, heat, nor cold,
But pleasure every way.
Jerusalem! Jerusalem!
God grant I once may see.
Thy endless joys, and of the same.
Partaker aye to be.
Thy walls are made of precious stones,
Thy bulwarks diamonds square;
Thy gates are of right orient pearl,
Exceeding rich and rare.
Thy turrets and thy pinnacles.
With carbuncles to shine;
Thy very streets are paved with gold,
Surpassing clear and fine.
Thy houses are of ivory,
Thy windows crystal clear;
Thy tiles are made of beaten gold –
O God, that I were there!
Within thy gates no thing doth come.
That is not passing clean;
No spiders web, no dirt, no dust,
No filth may there be seen.
Ah, my sweet home, Jerusalem!
Would God I were in thee;
Would God my woes were at an end,
Thy joys that I might see!
Thy saints are crownd with glory great,
They see God face to face;
They triumph still, they still rejoice –
Most happy is their case.
We that are here in banishment.
Continually do moan;
We sigh and sob, we weep and wail,
Perpetually we groan.
Our sweet is mixed with bitter gall,
Our pleasure is but pain;
Our joys scarce last the looking on,
Our sorrows still remain.
But there they live in such delight,
Such pleasure, and such play,
As that to them a thousand years.
Doth seem as yesterday.
Thy vineyards said thy orchards are.
Most beautiful and fair;
Full furnished with trees and fruits,
Most wonderful and rare.
Thy gardens and thy gallant walks.
Continually are green;
There grow such sweet and pleasant flowers.
As nowhere else are seen.
Theres nectar and ambrosia made,
Theres musk and civet sweet;
There many a fair and dainty drug.
Are trodden under feet.
There cinnamon, there sugar grows,
There nard and balm abound;
What tongue can tell, or heart conceive,
The joys that there are found?
Quite through the streets, with silver sound,
The flood of life doth flow;
Upon whose banks, on every side,
The wood of life doth grow.
There trees forevermore bear fruit,
And evermore do spring;
There evermore the angels sit,
And evermore do sing.
There David stands with harp in hand,
As master of the quire;
Ten thousand times that man were blest.
That might this music** hear.
Our Lady sings Magnificat,
With tune surpassing sweet;
And all the virgins bear their parts,
Sitting above her feet.
Te Deun doth Saint Ambrose sing,
Saint Austin doth the like;
Old Simeon and Zachary.
Have not their song to seek.
There Magdalene hath left her moan,
And cheerfully doth sing.
With blessed saints, whose harmony.
In every street doth ring.
Jerusalem, my happy home!
Would God I were in thee;
Would God my woes were at an end,
Thy joys that I might see!
*devil, in ms., but it must have been pronounced Scotic, deil.
**Musing, in ms.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rev 22:5
There shall be no night there.
The light of the blessed
This declaration would be no good news to us in our present state. Night brings rest and refreshment to wearied bodies, and often over-laden minds. Yet who of us all remembers to give thanks, because daylight does not invite us unceasingly to toil and anxiety? But, if we think upon the subject, we shall see that the blessings of the night are all connected with a state of trouble, labour, and imperfection. Hence we may understand there being in heaven no time of sleep and darkness. For centuries we have been trying to light up a dark world, and trying in vain. There is indeed a light come into the world, but it shineth in a dark place. It is pleasant news to many that Christ died to save sinners, but when told that all thin was to bring them nearer to God, to enable them to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, then the greater number turn from the light and plunge back into the darkness. Some there are who do humbly and thankfully accept that light. Their path shineth more and more; yet even with them it is very far from being perfect day. They have light, but it is to guide them through darkness, for life here is, and must be, this night to the Christian, though he sees afar off the rising of the dawn. He is here in much ignorance of Gods character, works, and ways. He knows enough to save him, but not enough to satisfy him. Gods dispensations are full of mystery; Gods dealings in his own case are often a trial to his belief. Again, Satan tempts the Christian to doubt the love of God, the truth of God, and the word of God, and to question whether he is really in a state of salvation. At times he feels in much darkness through these temptations; almost lost. There shall be no night there. Once more, the Christians life on earth is darkened by frequent mourning, and by death. Fears dim his vision, friends pass out of his reach, he beholds them no more! But there are no graves, no funerals, in heaven; for there shall be no more sorrow, nor sighing, nor any night there. (F. J. Scott, M. A.)
Heaven
We may safely say that those who muse much on heaven are often privileged with such foretastes of what God hath prepared for His people, as serve, like the clusters of Eshcol, to teach them practically the richness of Canaan. With them it is not altogether matter of report that the inheritance of the saints is transcendently glorious. They have waited upon the Lord, until, according to the promise of Isaiah, they have been enabled to mount up with wings as eagles.
I. With our present constitution there would be nothing cheering in an arrangement which took away night from our globe. The alternation of day and night, the two always making up the same period of twenty-four hours, is among the most beautiful of the many proofs that God fitted the earth for man, and man for the earth. We know that other planets revolve in very different times on their axis, so that their days and nights are of very different lengths from our own. We could not live on one of those planets. We could not, at least, conform ourselves to the divisions of time: for we require a period of repose in every twenty-four hours, and could not subsist, if there were only to come such a period in every hundred, or in every thousand. And besides this, it is very easy to speak of night as the season of dreariness and gloom, as the representative of ignorance and error–but what should we be without night? Where is there so eloquent an instructor as night? What reveals so much of the workmanship of the ever-living God? So that there is not necessarily anything very desirable in the absence of night: it would be the reverse of a blessing to us in our present condition, and would imply the diminution rather than the enlargement of knowledge. What then are we to learn from the statement that there shall be no night in heaven? We learn much, whether it be the natural, or the figurative, night, whose total absence is affirmed. Night is now grateful, yea necessary, to us, as bringing quiet and repose to overwrought bodies and minds. But all this arises from the imperfectness of our present condition; we are so constituted that we cannot incessantly pursue either occupation or enjoyment, but must recruit ourselves. And it would evidently be to raise us very greatly in the scale of animated being, to make it no longer needful that we should have intervals of rest; body and soul being incapable of exhaustion, or rather of fatigue. There is no night there, because there we shall need no periods of inactivity; we shall never be sensible of fatigue, and never either wish or want repose. It is given as one characteristic of Deity, that He never slumbers nor sleeps. It is affirmed moreover of the four living creatures which are round about the throne, that they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And, therefore, I read the promise of a splendid exaltation, of an inconceivable enlargement of every faculty and capacity, in the announcement of the absence of night. And though it be true that night now discloses to us the wonders of the universe, so that to take from us night were to take a revelation of the magnificence of creation, whence comes this but from the imperfection of faculties–faculties which only enable us to discern certain bodies, and under certain circumstances, and which probably suffer far more to escape them than they bring to our notice? Be it so, that night is now our choice instructor. I feel that night is to cease because we shall no longer need to be taught through a veil, because we shall be able to read the universe illuminated, and not require as now to have it darkened for our gaze. I shall be adapted in every faculty to an everlasting day. And if from considering night in its more literal, we pass to the considering it in its metaphorical sense, who can fail to be struck with the beauty and fulness of the promise of our text? We take night as the image of ignorance, of perplexity, of sorrow. And to affirm the absence of night from the heavenly state may justly be regarded as the affirming the absence of all which darkness is used to represent. I behold the removal of all mistake, of all misconception; conjectures have given place to certainties; controversies are ended, difficulties are solved, prophecies are completed, parables are interpreted. I behold the hushing up of every grief, the prevention of every sorrow, the communication of every joy. I behold the final banishment of whatsoever has alliance with sinfulness, the splendid reimpressment of every feature of the Divine image upon man, the unlimited diffusion of righteousness, the triumphant admission of the fallen into all the purities of Gods presence, and their unassailable security against fresh apostacy.
II. St. John is not content with affirming the absence of night: he proceeds to assert the absence of those means or instruments to which we are here indebted for the scattering of darkness. They need no candle, neither light of the sun. And what then is to make their perpetual day? The Lord God giveth them light. The whole apparatus of mirror, and temple, and sun, will be taken away, because we shall be admitted to the beatific vision, to all those immediate manifestations of Deity which are vouchsafed to the angel or the archangel. The Lord God giveth them light; is not this to say that the Lord God giveth them Himself? for you will remember what is affirmed by St. John, This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. And therefore God in some ineffable way is to communicate Himself to the soul. There will probably be a communication of ideas: God will substitute His ideas, great, noble, luminous, for our own, contracted, confused, obscure; and we shall become like Him, in our measure, through participating His knowledge. There will be a communication of excellences: God will so vividly impress His image upon us, that we shall be holy even as He is holy. There will be a communication of happiness: God will cause us to be happy in the very way in which He is happy Himself, making what constitutes His felicity to constitute ours, so that we shall be like Him in the sources or springs of enjoyment. The expression, the Lord God giveth them light, seems to indicate that our future state, like our present, will be progressive; there is to be a continued communication of light, or of knowledge, so that the assertion of Solomon, The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day, may be as true hereafter as here. Whatever may be the attainments of the just man whilst on earth, he sees only through a glass, darkly. But he has yet to pass into a scene of greater light, and to read, in the opened volume of Gods purposes, the explanation of difficulties, the wisdom of appointments, the nice proportions of truth. Then shall the Divine attributes rise before him, unsearchable indeed and unlimited, but ever discovering more of their stupendousness, their beauty, their harmony. Then shall redemption throw open before him its untravelled amplitude, and allow of his tracing those unnumbered ramifications which the Cross, erected on this globe, may possibly be sending to all the outskirts of immensity. Then shall the several occurrences of his life, the dark things and the bright which chequered his path, appear equally necessary, equally merciful; and doubt give place to adoring reverence, as the problem is cleared up of oppressed righteousness and successful villany. But it shall not be instantaneous; for if the mysteries of time were exhausted, and redemption presented no unexplored district, God would remain infinite as at the first, as sublime in His inscrutableness as though ages had not been given to the searching out His wonders. Thus will the just proceed from strength to strength; knowledge, and love, and holiness, and joy, being always on the increase; and eternity one glorious morning.
III. and they shall reign for ever and ever–they shall be kings for ever and ever. Wonderful assertion! wonderful, because made of beings apparently insignificant. Yes, of us, who are by nature children of wrath, of us, who are born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards, even of us is it said, They shall be kings for ever and ever. And on what thrones shall we sit in heaven? over whom shall we be invested with dominion? I connect the different parts of the verse; and I read in its last clause, only differently expressed, the same promise, or prophecy, which I find in all the rest. I shall reign over the secrets of nature; all the workmanship of God shall be subject to me, opening to me its recesses, and admitting me into its marvels. I shall reign over the secrets of Providence; my empire shall gather back the past, and anticipate the future; and all the dealings of my Maker shall range themselves in perfect harmony before my view. I shall reign over the secrets of grace; the mediatorial work shall be as a province subject to my rule, containing no spot in all its spreadings which I may not explore. I shall reign over myself: I shall be thorough master of myself: no unruly desires, no undisciplined affections: I shall not be what an earthly king often is, his own base slave: no war between the flesh and the spirit, no rebellion of the will, no struggle of corrupt inclinations; but with all that true royalty, the royalty of perfect holiness, I shall serve God without wavering, and find His service to be sovereignty. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
The happiness of heaven, as it is a state of uninterrupted light, proceeding immediately from God
I. Who these happy persons are who shall partake of this happiness.
II. Point out something of the happiness of heaven as expressed therein.
1. The happiness you shall have in heaven is light, and sweet as light.
(1) Knowledge.
(2) Purity.
(3) Joy.
2. There shall be no intermission of that happy day and light you shall have in heaven, for there shall be no night there.
3. The light the saints have in heaven is not by such means and instruments as they have it here.
4. The Lord God will give you light immediately from Himself. As the sun is seen by its own light, so will God be known by you in heaven. He will communicate Himself immediately unto you for your joy, happiness, and satisfaction, without means, and be instead of all means; for you shall behold His face, and be satisfied with His likeness.
5. You shall be made capable in heaven to take in this light from the Lord God to your comfort and satisfaction.
6. Your light of all kinds in heaven shall be full and perfect, your knowledge, your enjoyment, your conformity to His image shall be full and perfect, for it shall be immediately from Himself.
7. Your light from the Lord God in heaven shall be everlasting and endless.
Conclusion:
1. Be persuaded, without delay, to enter into that state in which you will get a right to this happiness, be made meet for it, and be actually admitted into it when you die, and at the resurrection of the just.
2. As for you who have a right and title to this happiness, give all diligence to have your right to it made clearer to your knowledge and faith, and kept clear, and to arrive unto the full assurance of the hope of it unto the end. (James Robe, M. A.)
A blessed country
I. Perfect Illumination.
1. Material illumination. No night.
2. Individual illumination. No candle–a candle lights only one or two persons.
3. Universal illumination. Light of the sun illumines the world.
4. Spiritual illumination.
II. Perfect Rest. The Lord giving them light.
1. No anxiety.
2. No exertions.
3. No dread.
III. Perfect triumph. They shall reign.
1. Over self.
2. Over sin.
3. Over materialism.
4. Over ignorance.
IV. Perfect continuance. For ever–unbroken by any shock, or change, or chance. (Thos. Heath.)
The world without a night
I. A realm ever clear in vision.
1. There will be no error in our conception of things there. Far enough am I from believing that we shall ever see all things in heaven. There will always be universes lying beyond the ken of the most penetrating eye. Nor do I believe that different minds will ever have exactly the same view of things, see things in exactly the same light. Our views will necessarily be relative. They will be true to us, but not necessarily true to others. God alone can see the whole of a thing. We only see sections and sides. Not only does it appear impossible, but undesirable. Diversity of view gives a freshness and charm to society. Still, our range of vision, though limited, and our views, though relative, will be clear and accurate.
2. No doubt as to the path of duty. Gods Will, will radiate on everything without, and will express itself in every impulse within.
II. A realm ever pure in character. There are the holy angels whose natures, through the ages of their being, have never been clouded with one impure thought or touched by the thrill of one unholy passion. The redeemed of all ages are there. They have had their robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. Christ, whose love for purity was so unconquerable, that He gave His lifes blood to cleanse the pollution of the world, is in the midst of its throne. He who is light, and in whom there is no darkness at all, fills with the sunshine of His presence the whole of that blessed scene.
III. A realm ever beautiful in aspect.
1. All natural beauties will be there.
2. All artistic beauties will be there. The very instinct of genius is to invent, imitate, and create, and there genius will flourish in perfection.
3. All moral beauties will be there. The beauty of holiness, the beauty of the Lord, will adorn every spirit. Thus all wilt rejoice in each other, and all rejoice in the Lord whence all their beauty came.
IV. A realm of ever unchecked progress.
1. No check to the advance of life. The vital energies will always be increasing. Sinew and soul, character and conscience, will be ever growing in force. No blight to wither, no shadow to chill there. But all the influences that play around existence there, inspire, invigorate, and uplift.
2. No checking of labour. Our range of action will be unrestrained. We shall be always abounding in the work of the Lord.
V. A realm ever joyous in spirit. A bright day sets the world to music. What happiness, then, must there be in a world where there is no night. (Homilist.)
Light the blessing of heaven
1. There shall be no sin there. The works of darkness are excluded, and all that have fellowship with them. And more than that–the past sins of those who are admitted shall not enter there to haunt them.
2. There shall be no more sorrow there. Heaviness may have endured for the night, but this is the morning-tide, and joy cometh. It is the harvest of joy after the seed-time of tears; and all the light and brief afflictions of the mortal life shall be turned into an exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
3. There shall be no chastisement there. The fatherly correction, which brought them home, shall be no more.
4. There shall be no trial there, and no temptation any more. For they have endured, and are blessed; yea, they have endured unto the end, and they are saved.
5. There shall be no weariness there.
6. There shall be no ignorance there; but they shall all know, even as also they are known.
7. There shall be no decay there, Because there is no corruption, there shall be no more drawing to an end as soon as we are born.
8. There shall be no loneliness there. For this also is of the night.
9. There shall be no adversary there–no spiritual wickedness any more to wrestle with in heavenly places–no powers of darkness! The prince of this world is cast out of the next; his engines, his lies, his fury, all are spent.
10. To crown all–There shall be no estrangement from God there; no more darkness of spirit; no more clouds and gloom between our spirits and their Lord. This is blessedness indeed, because it is holiness! But for that very reason, it is not blessedness for all. The night-bird, if it is disturbed at noonday, is only blinded by the sunbeams. And the light of that world will be indeed insufferable to those who in this world have loved darkness rather than light. They have refused to come to the light because their deeds were evil. And now the light has come to them, and made their deeds manifest. They have had their choice. And their place henceforth is in the outer darkness, lighted only by the fire that never shall be quenched. (Dean Scott.)
They shall reign for ever and ever.
On the happiness of heaven as an everlasting kingdom
I. That you, who are the Lambs faithful servants now, shall reign when you come to heaven.
1. I give you some of the characters of those to whom heaven is promised as a kingdom.
2. Some Scriptural account of your reign in heaven.
(1) As to what it shall consist in. Your reign in heaven will consist in your sharing, and communion with Jesus Christ, in all His communicable glory, according to your capacity. Your reign in heaven will consist in your immediate subjection unto God and the Lamb. Your reign in heaven will consist in an equality with the angels of God in glory and happiness. Your reign in heaven will consist in a satisfying possession of all happiness in God.
(2) The qualities of your reign in heaven.
(a) You shall reign there gloriously.
(b) You shall reign in heaven jointly and severally with all the saints.
(c) Your reign in heaven will be quiet and peaceable, calm and undisturbed.
(d) You shall reign in heaven joyfully.
(e) Your reign in heaven shall be just and righteous.
(f) Your reign in heaven shall be very long, longer than the thousand years reign of the saints with Jesus Christ upon the earth. It will be for ever and ever.
3. Whence it is that you shall reign in heaven.
(1) The original cause of your future reign in heaven is the sovereign, rich, free love, and grace of God the Father.
(2) That you shall reign in heaven is owing to the mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord.
(3) That you shall reign in heaven will be owing to the effectual grace of the Holy Ghost. He calls you effectually to this kingdom and glory.
II. The happiness of heaven is for ever and ever.
1. Your reign and happiness in heaven will be immutable: if it admitted any change, it would not be for ever and ever.
2. Your reign and happiness in heaven will be everlasting and without all end. It is everlasting life, everlasting consolation, an eternal inheritance, an eternal weight of glory, eternal salvation, pleasures for evermore, a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
3. But if you now inquire what the eternity of heaven and the happiness of it is founded upon, I answer, It is founded upon the eternity and unchangeableness of God and His perfections, in covenant with His people through Jesus Christ.
(1) But, particularly, it is first founded upon the eternity and unchangeableness of the love, grace, mercy, and kindness of God to them.
(2) It is founded upon the will and pleasure of God; it is His express will and pleasure that it shall be so (Joh 6:40).
(3) It is also founded upon the power of God, that is not only almighty, but an eternal power; and the strength of this power will endure for ever, to make you happy for ever, and to lengthen out your immortality.
(4) It is founded upon the holiness of God.
(5) It is founded upon the justice and righteousness of God (2Ti 4:8; 2Th 1:6-7). Indeed, not justice to any merit in your own works, but justice to Christs merits and His own promise.
(6) It is founded upon the everlasting efficacy of the mediation of Jesus Christ. His kingdom and glory, into which you shall have an abundant entrance, is an everlasting kingdom and glory.
(7) It is founded upon your eternal union and communion with the Holy Ghost. He came into you, not to stay for a time, but for ever (Joh 14:16).
Infer:
1. Shall your reign and happiness be for ever and ever? Then hence see the inconceivable greatness of the hope and happiness laid up for you in heaven.
2. Then things are valuable and precious here in proportion to the influence they have in bringing us to the enjoyment of an eternity of happiness.
3. The love of God to you who are His people is incomprehensibly great, which hath designed for you a glory not only so great in itself, but also for ever.
4. Learn hence the wisdom and sagacity of the people of God, who renounce a present and temporary happiness, and choose an unseen and future blessedness because it is eternal.
5. Then let me prevail with you to seek after this eternal happiness first and most, with the utmost earnestness, industry, and self-denial.
6. Then let the servants of God and the Lamb comfort themselves and one another with the consideration of the eternity of their reign and happiness in heaven.
7. Let the consideration of the eternity of your happiness in heaven engage and excite you to the duties of holiness and obedience. (James Robe, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. There shall be no night there] See the 23d and 25th verses of the preceding chapter. Rev 21:23; Rev 21:25
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
See Poole on “Rev 21:23“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. thereso ANDREAS.But A, B, Vulgate, and Syriac read, “(there shallbe no night) any longer”; Greek, “eti,“for “ekei.”
they needA, Vulgate,and Coptic read the future, “they shall not haveneed.” B reads, “(and there shall be) no need.”
candleGreek,“lamp.” A, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic insert”light (of a candle, or lamp).” B Omits it.
of the sunso A. But Bomits it.
giveth . . .light“illumines.” So Vulgate and Syriac.But A reads, “shall give light.”
themso B and ANDREAS.But A reads, “upon them.”
reignwith a gloryprobably transcending that of their reign in heaven with Christ overthe millennial nations in the flesh described in Rev 20:4;Rev 20:6; that reign was but fora limited time, “a thousand years”; this final reign is”unto the ages of the ages.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And there shall be no night there,…. This is repeated from
Re 21:25 to express the certainty of it, and to observe, that the happiness of this state will greatly lie in the light thereof; it will be one everlasting day, , “day of eternity”, or eternal day, as in 2Pe 3:18
and they need no candle, nor the light of the sun; neither artificial nor natural light; neither the dimmer light of the ceremonial law, under the legal dispensation, which was like a candle lighted up in Judea; nor the more clear light of the Gospel and its ordinances, under the present dispensation, which now will be at an end:
for the Lord God giveth them light; immediately from himself, without the use of means and ordinances; and in his light the saints will see all things clearly; who will be always communicating it to them, and will be their everlasting light; [See comments on Re 21:23].
and they shall reign for ever and ever; they are made kings now, and in this state they shall reign with Christ for the space of a thousand years; and when they are ended, they shall not cease to reign; nor will Christ, when he delivers up the kingdom to the Father, for his and their kingdom is an everlasting one, Re 1:6 and here ends the account of this glorious state of things; what follows is the conclusion of the whole book.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Shall be night no more ( ). As in 21:25.
They need ( ). Present active indicative, “They have need,” though A has (shall have), future like . Here again there is repetition of part of 21:23, but for the purpose of showing the delightsomeness of the New Jerusalem with no need of lamp or sun (change to with instead of , “they have no light of sun”).
Shall give them light (). Future active of , while aorist in 21:23.
They shall reign (). Future active of . Reign eternally in contrast with the limited millennial reign of Rev 20:4; Rev 20:6. This glorious eternal reign with Christ occurs repeatedly in the book (Rev 1:6; Rev 3:21; Rev 5:10) as in Lu 22:30. Christ’s Kingdom is spiritual (Joh 18:36f.). “The visions of the Apocalypse are now ended; they have reached their climax in the New Jerusalem” (Swete). Now John gives the parting utterances of some of the speakers, and it is not always clear who is speaking.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
No night there [] . Substitute eti any more. Rev., there shall be night no more.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And there shall be no night there,” (kai nuks ouk estai eti) “And there shall be (exist) night no longer,” no more at all. Darkness will be absent from there forever, from the Holy City, New Jerusalem, Rev 21:23; Rev 21:25; Isa 60:19-20; Zec 14:7.
2) “And they shall need no candle,” (kai ouk echousin chreian photos luchnou) “They also shall have no need of a lamplight; No need will exist for light of nature, invention, or manufactured fighting, Rev 21:23.
3) “Neither light of the sun,” (kai photos heliou) “And (not even a need) of sun light; Psa 36:9; Psa 84:11; Rev 21:23. There will be no night of sorrow, physical, mental, or moral darkness, no dread or fear, no night of punishment, no night of ignorance, for the Light will be there, the true light, Joh 1:9; Joh 8:12.
4) “For the Lord God giveth them light,” (hoti kurios ho theos photisei ep’ autous) “Because the Lord God will shed light (shine) on them; The Lord God shall be their Divine Light and glory, Isa 60:19.
5) “And they shall reign,” (kai basileusousin) “And they will reign; they of the Holy City shall reign in victory and peace long promised, made possible by or through the Prince of Peace, Dan 7:18; Dan 7:27; Mat 19:28; Rom 5:17. Fairer than diamonds, Oh to be with him forever! Luk 1:33.
6) “For ever and ever,” (eis tous aionas ton aionon) “Into the ages of the ages,” into the eternity, time without end or without cessation of duration, Eph 3:21; 2Ti 2:12; Rev 3:21.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(5) And there shall be no night there . . .Rather, And night shall not be any more, and (they shall not have) need of the light of lamp, and of light of sun, because the Lord God shall give light upon them, and they shall reign unto the ages of ages. There shall be no night. Twice is it said (Rev. 21:25) that all darkness shall cease; the darkness in which the saints and sorrowing walked shall be dispelled, when God gives them light. No artificial light is needed, since He who is Light is their light. Those who were children of light now dwell in the light of Gods countenance; and they reign who were made kings and priests to God (Rev. 1:6). With this utterance the visions of the Apocalypse close. The saints of God have been seen in the bitterness and toilfulness of their struggle and pilgrimage towards the Holy City; but from point to point they have made progress. They have gone from strength to strength, unto the God of gods appeareth every one of them in Zion. The Lord God is their sun and shield. He has given grace; He now gives glory. No good thing has been withheld; light, life, and love are theirs. O Lord God of Hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee (Psa. 84:11-12).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. The seer reiterates the pleasing thought, no night there, Rev 21:25. No repose is needed by these immortal frames; no debility weighs down the limbs, no stupor closes the eyes.
For ever and ever The length of the reign of the saved is measured by the same terms as the length of the doom of the lost, Rev 20:10. And the Greek word for reign is the verb for the Greek word for king, they shall be kings for ever. Hence, in one sense at least, all the inhabitants of heaven are kings of the heavenly earth.
The book of this Revelation is here properly closed. But its genuineness and transcendent value and dignity are now to be attested by the principal personages through whom it is delivered to the Church and world.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And there will be night no more, and they need no light of lamp nor light of sun, for the Lord God will give them light and they will reign for ever and ever.’
He Who is the light of the world (Joh 8:12) gives them light, and this light has given them life. They need nothing more. Neither sun nor artificial light will be required. Darkness is gone. All is light. Indeed with God as their light that is all that they can possibly need. Their lives will be lived in the glory of His light.
‘And they will reign for ever and ever’. They share the eternal reign of Christ (Rev 11:15). This is an advance on their reign with Him while they were on earth (Rev 5:10; Rev 20:4; Rom 5:17). Now they stand supreme with Him (compare Dan 12:3).
The book has reached its ultimate. All has been restored to its pristine glory, and there is better far to come.
CONCLUSION.
We now have a series of statements summing up the main messages of the book. They are very similar to postscripts in letters, a little disjointed but each concerned to highlight something.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
5 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.
Ver. 5. And there shall be no night ] See the note on Rev 21:25 .
For the Lord God ] He that is , light essential.
And they shall reign ] Reign together with Christ, a part of whose joy it is that we shall be where he is, Joh 17:20 : he will not be long without us.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Philo ( de Jos 24 ) had already described heaven as , . Cf. En. vi. 6. Such teaching on heaven, though in a less religious form, seems to have been current among the Asiatic . Irenus (5:36, 1 2) quotes them as holding ( cf. above on Rev 2:7 ) that some of the blessed , , , . . .
The epilogue (Rev 22:6-21 ) is a series of loose ejaculations, which it is not easy to assign to the various speakers. It is moulded on the lines of the epilogue to the astronomical section of Enoch (lxxxi. f.), where Enoch is left for one year with his children “that thou mayest testify to them all. Let thy heart be strong, for the good will announce righteousness to the good, but the sinners will die with the sinners, and the apostates go down with the apostates”. Two characteristic motifs , however, dominate the entire passage: ( a ) the vital importance of this book as a valid and authentic revelation, and ( b ) the nearness of the end. The former is heard in the definite claim of inspiration (Rev 22:6 f., Rev 22:16 ) and prophetic origin (Rev 22:8-9 ) which guarantees its contents, in the beatitude of Rev 22:7 b (cf. Rev 22:17 ), and (cf. Rev 22:21 ) in the claim of canonical dignity (Rev 22:18-19 ). The latter is voiced thrice in a personal (Rev 22:7 ; Rev 22:12 ; Rev 22:20 ) and twice in an impersonal (Rev 22:6 ; Rev 22:10 ) form. Both are bound up together ( cf. Rev 22:20 and Rev 1:3 ). It is as a crucial revelation of the near future and a testimony to the authority and advent of the messiah (cf. Rev 22:20 ) that this apocalypse claims to be read, and honoured in the churches. This general standpoint is clear enough, but the details are rather intricate. It is characteristic of the Apocalyse, as of ep. Barnabas, that the writer often leaves it indefinite whether God or Christ or an angel is speaking. Sometimes the divine voice is recognised to be that of Christ ( cf. Rev 1:10 f., Rev 4:1 ), or may be inferred from the context to be that of an angel ( e.g. , Rev 17:15 ; Revelation cf.1 and Rev 19:9 ), perhaps as the divine spokesman (Rev 21:5-6 , cf. Rev 22:5 ; Rev 22:7 ). But frequently, even when the seer is addressed (Rev 10:4 , Rev 14:13 ), the voice or Bath-Qol is anonymous ( e.g. , Rev 11:12 , Rev 12:10 , Rev 14:2 , Rev 16:1 ; Revelation cf.17). In the epilogue, as it stands, it is impossible and irrelevant to determine whether Jesus (16) begins to speak at Rev 22:10 (so Spitta, Holtzm, Porter, Forbes) and resumes in Rev 22:18-20 a . But, while Rev 22:6-7 , and Rev 22:8-9 are both intended in a sense to round off the entire Apocalypse, and not merely the immediately preceding vision, 8 9 (a replica of Rev 19:9-10 ) stands closer to Rev 21:9 to Rev 22:5 than does Rev 22:6-7 . No in the last vision justify the reference in 6, whereas the specific . in 8 echoes the cicerone-function of the angel in Rev 21:9-10 , Rev 22:1 .Rev 22:6-7Rev 22:6-7 very probably lay originally between 9 and 10 (for the juxtaposition of and cf. Rev 17:7 ; Rev 17:15 ), where they definitely mark the beginning of the epilogue already anticipated in 8 ( cf. Rev 1:4 ; Rev 1:9 ) and in the broadened close of 9 (contrast Rev 19:10 above). It is not necessary (though perhaps a later scribe may have thought so) to account for John’s action in 8 9 by supposing that he mistook the angelus interpres for Christ. The of 6, when this order is adopted, acquire their natural sense (cf. Rev 22:10 ), and the three successive angel-utterances (Rev 22:8-9 ; Rev 22:6-7 ; Rev 22:10-11 ) have a proper sequence. It is needless, in view of Rev 16:15 ( cf. Rev 3:11 ) to omit Rev 22:7 a as an interpolation (Knnecke). But Rev 22:12-13 probably have been displaced from their original order (Rev 22:13 ; Rev 22:12 ) and position after Rev 22:16 (Knnecke), where Rev 22:17 echoes Rev 22:12 a , and Rev 22:14-15 carries on the thought of Rev 22:11 .Rev 22:18-19Rev 22:18-19 are plainly editorial, interrupting the connexion of Rev 22:17 and Rev 22:20 . In 11 Resch ( Agrapha , 113) attempts to prove that some logion of Jesus is quoted. On the “inconsistent optimism” of Rev 22:13 ; Rev 22:15 , cf. Abbott, p. 107.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
there. The texts read “longer”.
candle. App-130.
neither. Literally and.
light. App-130.
the. Omit.
shall reign, &c. Compare the reign of the saints with Messiah for 1,000 years and the reign here with God “for ever and ever”.
for ever and ever. App-151. a. The last of the twenty-one (App-10) Occurs in N.T. (fourteen in Rev.) of the full phrase.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rev 22:5. ) is omitted by many,[241] whom Wolf supports, especially comparing the passage, ch. Rev 21:23. But the places differ. The glory of God enlightens the city: the Lord God pours light upon the citizens. Thus it is said, , Gen 1:15. The antiquity of the witnesses defends the particle .
[241] So B Vulg. and Rec. Text; but Ah Iren. read .-E.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
no night: Rev 18:23, Rev 21:22-25, Psa 36:9, Psa 84:11, Pro 4:18, Pro 4:19, Isa 60:19, Isa 60:20
and they: Rev 3:21, Rev 11:15, Dan 7:18, Dan 7:27, Mat 25:34, Mat 25:46, Rom 5:17, 2Ti 2:12, 1Pe 1:3, 1Pe 1:4
Reciprocal: Exo 25:37 – give 1Sa 2:8 – set them Psa 16:11 – in thy Psa 27:1 – light Psa 97:11 – Light Psa 119:135 – Make Pro 15:30 – light Son 6:10 – clear Isa 10:17 – the light Isa 30:26 – the light of the moon Mic 4:8 – the first Mic 7:8 – the Lord Hab 3:4 – brightness Zec 14:7 – it shall be one day Luk 9:32 – they saw Luk 12:32 – the kingdom Act 9:3 – a light Rom 5:2 – the glory 1Co 13:10 – General 2Co 3:10 – had Col 1:12 – in 2Th 2:16 – everlasting 1Ti 6:16 – dwelling Jam 1:17 – from the 1Jo 1:5 – that God Rev 2:26 – to him will I give Rev 5:10 – kings Rev 7:15 – serve Rev 14:11 – for Rev 21:11 – the glory Rev 21:23 – the city Rev 21:25 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 22:5. Shall be no night there. (See the comments at Rev 21:25.) Need no candle neither light of the sun. This is one of the most significant symbols used in this series, because it includes the two extremes on the subject. A candle is an artEph 5:11-14 ht and the weakest that man has devised. The sun is God’s own direct work and is the strongest light in all the natural creation. In saying that neither will be needed in the celestial city, John is giving us the greatest possible picture of the strength of the light that will radiate from the throne of God; although he was to be the lawgiver, Moses was a natural man. And 1Ti 6:16 says God is “dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see.” They shall reign for ever and ever.
The word reign may raise a question in connection with the truth that even Jesus is said to reign only until death has been conquored (1Co 15:25-26). The explanation lies in the definitions of the original word. The Greek original is BASILEUO, which means “to reign,” but in our passage Thayer explains it to mean “to denote the supreme moral dignity, liberty, blessedness, which will be enjoyed by Christ’s redeemed ones.” Hence the word does not necessarily mean to rule as a king. It is a fDan 2:44 e term and denotes a situation where a certain condition prevails. It is like saying that “all difficulties were removed and peace again reigned.” We have the blessed assurance from the apostle that the condition of such a reign will continue for ever and ever.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 5.
(5) The reigning saints–Rev 22:5.
In repetition of previous statements in the context, verse five is a rephrasing of the words repeated: And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the LorMar 1:14-15 h them light. (See comments on Rev 21:3). The use of the word night has applicaMat 4:17 the darkness of the whole heathen world, as so used in other epistles (2Co 6:14-16), in contrast with the truth of the gospel (Act 26:18) sent to all dark nations concerning which Jesus said to Saul: “to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith in me.” The same Saul, after becoming the apostle of Christ to the world of heathen darkness, exhorted the Gentile church (Eph 5:11-14) to “have no fellowship with the unfruiJoh 18:36 s of darkness (heathenism), but rather reprove them . . . it is a shame to even speak of those things which are done in secret . . . for whatsoever doth make manifest is light . . . wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead (the state of darkness), and Christ shall give thee light.” So the words of the Seer in verse five of this chapter–for the Lord God giveth them light–had specific reference to the absolute absence of any element of heathen darkness in the new and renovated state of the Holy City, the bride of the Lamb.
The apocalypse proper endDan 7:13-14 s verse, as verse six was the beginning of the Seer’s own concluding comments on the vision which he had received. The apocalyptic descriptions were all completed, and the terse finale of the grand and majestic pageant was clothed in the crowning declaration: AND THEY SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER.
The prophet Daniel foretold in the interpretation of king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Dan 2:44) that in the days of the Roman kings the God of heaven would “set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed”; and he added in the words of the apocalypse that “it shall stand foreAct 1:8 he prophet envisioned in this interpretation the rise and fall of Babylonia, Media and Persia, and Macedonia or Grecia, and clearly indicated the reign of the Caesar’s of the Roman empire as the fourth monarchy in the succession of kings. It was in the days of these kings, in fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy, that Jesus made the announcement (Mar 1:14-15) “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.” In the record of Mat 4:17 it is stated that “from that time Jesus began to preach and to say: repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It was named the kingdom of God because “the God of heaven” set it up; but it was called the kingdom of heaven because of its spiritual character– it was from heaven. The people of that day understood the meaning of the word kingdom; they had lived Col 1:13-14 her form of government from the Babylonians to the Romans; but Jesus distinguished his kinEph 5:5 om all others in origin and in nature when hHeb 12:22-28 he kingdom of heaven. Before Pontius Pilate (Joh 18:36) he declared: Now is my kingdom not from hence. The phrase from hence meanRev 1:9 here; it is here but it is not from here–because it is the kingdom of heaven, and therefore from heaven. And the word now, the first word of the sentence–now is my kingdom not from hence– meant that it would be established then, at that time, for Jesus had announced that the time is fulfilled.
References to the kingdom which Jesus Christ came to establish all point either forward or backward to the Day of Pentecost, of Acts the second chapter, as the time of its establishment. The prophecy of Dan 7:13-14 connected its beginning with the ascension of Christ to heaven when it was given him “dominion, and glory, and a kingdom”: and in description of the same ascension scenes by the apostle of Hebrews (chapter 1:8) he declaMat 16:18-20 was done. The gospel of Mark (9:1) records the statement of Jesus2Pe 1:11 me standing in his presence should not “taste of death” (would not die) until this kingdom had come “with power–they would be the livinHeb 12:28 es to its establishment. After his ascension, in conversation with his future apostles, he made the explanation to them (Act 1:8) that the coming of the kingdom would accompany the descent of the Spirit and the power, and it is a matter of gospel record (Acts 2:1-47 :1-4) that the Spirit and the power were received on the Day of Pentecost. It follows therefore as an inescapable scriptural conclusion that the kingdom of God and Christ, otherwise designated the kingdom of heaven, came on that day of Acts the second chapter;; and that it was in fulfillment of the time prophecies of the Old Testament.
After PentecosJoh 11:26 erences to the existence and presence of the kingdom pointed back to the second chapter of Acts, to the Day of Pentecost. The preaching of the kingdom was the subjJoh 14:3 epeated references in the book of Acts; and in the epistles to the churches the members were told that they had been Php 1:21-23 into it (Col 1:13-14); and that the church tRom 6:7-9 hey belonged is itself the Col 3:1-4 f Christ and of God (Eph 5:5); and that this kingdom had been received (Heb 12:22-28) simultaneously with the church, and that it is the church.
Finally, the SHeb 11:13 velation made his signatory to the churches (Rev 1:9) iPhp 3:20-21 : “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.” Therefore, when the apocalypse of John was composed the kingdom of Christ was a present existing thing, and John the apostle was in it with his companions in tribulation.
The high note with which the apocalypse ended (chapter 22:5)–and they shall reign forever and ever–meant therefore– in the light oRev 22:6 xtual and contextual teaching, and precept upon precept from other portions of the Old and the New scriptures–that the victorious saints reigned with Christ in the kingdom which would stand forever here, and forever and ever hereafter. Entrance into it here is entrance into the church. (Mat 16:18-20); and there will be no exit from it for the faithful hereafter (2Pe 1:11), for the eternal state is but an abundant entrance into an everlasting kingdom already received and possessed, which cannot be moved (Heb 12:28); and of which heaven will be the final and abundant fruition of its glorified realm.
Here ended the vision of the New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb, the church of Christ. The remainder of the chapter is in the character of a conclusion to the apocalyptic disclosures. The complete symbolic picture of the fortunes of the church, standing on the threshold of the tribulation, had passed before John’s enraptured view, to the vindication of the cause for which they were soon to suffer. The ending of the vision demonstrated that the church cannot die, as the believer himself who lives in Jesus Christ never dies. (Joh 11:26) The New Testament concept of the believer’s life in Christ minimizes death and magnifies the transition to where he is: “That whereRev 22:6-11 e ye may be also” (Joh 14:3) and, “for me to live is Christ (to preach), but to die is gain . . . and to be with Christ; which is far better.” (Php 1:21-23) In this world death has no more dominion (Rom 6:7-9) over the risen believer (Col 3:1-4), whose affections have been set on the things above where Christ is enthroned with God; for he views this life asRev 1:1-5 mage and as a place of sojourning (Heb 11:13), knowing that his abiding citizenship is in heaven. (Php 3:20-21)
The New Jerusalem was envisioned as the home of the sRev 1:8 but iRev 22:8 t in heaven–it descended out of heaven from God; it was descriptive of the new surroundings of the church with Judaism removed and heathenism overcome.
The apocalypse completed, John proceeded to his concluding observations concerning things both retrospective and prospective which were related to this wonderful visional panorama
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 22:5. And there shall be night no more. We have already had a similar statement in chap. Rev 21:25, but it is now repeated in a different connection and with a different purpose. Then it was to indicate that the gates of the city shall be continually open, so that the redeemed may continually enter with their gifts in order to magnify its King. Now it is to show that, having entered, they shall suffer no interruption in their joyful service, and shall need no nightly rest to recruit the weary frame for the service of the following day. They shall be always strong and vigorous for the service of their Lord.
And they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun, for the Lord God shall give them light. Did they need light of lamp or sun, it would show that they were still amidst the changes of this fleeting scene, for the lamp wastes as it burns, and the sun hastens daily to his setting. But He who is without variableness or shadow cast by turning is now their light, and that light never fades. As their frame never wearies for service, so the conditions necessary for the accomplishment of that service never fail.
And they shall reign for ever and ever. The transition is sudden, almost startling, for we have been reading only of service. Yet it is eminently characteristic of St. John, who constantly delights at the close of a passage to return to his earlier steps, and to close as he had begun. He has reached the consummation of the happiness of the saints of God, and of what can it remind him but of his very earliest words, words too the echo of which has run through the whole of the Apocalypse, And he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father (chap. Rev 1:6)? It is true that the redeemed are priests, but they are more than priests. He with whom they are one is a priest after the order of Melchizedek, both priest and king. In like manner they are both priests and kings; they sit down with their Lord in His throne, even as He also overcame, and sat down with His Father in His throne (chap. Rev 3:21). They share the Divine authority over all things around them, and their authority is without interruption and without end. They reign for ever and ever.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
The final point John stressed was the great glory of God that will illuminate the whole new earth (Rev 21:23-25; cf. Zec 14:6-7; Zec 14:9). Previously he mentioned this to show how glorious the city will be, but now he did so to emphasize what delight this will result in for the city-dwellers (cf. Num 6:22-27). He added that His bond-servants will reign with Him forever, not just in the millennial kingdom (Rev 20:4; Rev 20:6). This is the fulfillment of God’s desire and command that man should rule over His creation (Gen 1:26). [Note: Beckwith, p. 767; Wall, pp. 257-58.] Evidently faithful believers will have more authority in the new creation than unfaithful believers, as will be true during the Millennium (cf. Mat 25:14-30; Luk 19:11-27). However, we should not think of a type of rule in which some people become the objects of oppression.
"Our faithfulness in life prepares us for higher service in heaven." [Note: Wiersbe, 2:624.]
"Who knows but what He will give to each saint a world or a solar system or a galactic system to operate. Remember that Adam was given dominion over the old creation on this earth." [Note: McGee, 5:1077.]
Thus the prophecy of things that shall take place after present things (Rev 1:19), which began in Rev 4:1, closes with another picture of God’s servants worshipping around His throne and ruling under His authority.
"As seen in the Book of Revelation, worship today should involve adoration of God’s being, declaration of the Lamb’s worthiness, a celebration of God’s presence, submission to His authority, and fearing and serving Him." [Note: Mazie Nakhro, "The Meaning of Worship according to the Book of Revelation," Bibliotheca Sacra 158:629 (January-March 2001):85.]
Many commentators believed that the New Jerusalem is the place to which Jesus referred when He told His disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them (Joh 14:2). However, He probably meant that His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension constituted His preparatory work rather than His special creation of the new heavens and earth.
Sometimes people speak of the new heavens and earth as the eternal state. This terminology has led some to conclude that time as we know it, which marks events in sequence, will end when God destroys the present heavens and earth. This view was popular with some pagan Greek philosophers, and Origen held it. Some non-Christian eastern religions teach this view, and some Christians hold it today. There is no indication in the text, however, that the new creation will introduce a timeless form of existence. In fact the term "forever and ever" (Rev 20:10; Rev 21:5) implies the continuation of time without end. Furthermore the reference to months (Rev 22:2) implies the sequence of events. The references to distances picture a creation in which there is not only time but space (cf. Rev 21:2-3; Rev 21:8; Rev 21:10; Rev 21:13-17; Rev 21:24-27; Rev 22:1-2).
"’Eternity’ to Old Testament people was not timelessness or absence of time. They knew no such realm. It was, rather, extension of time-as far back and as far forward as one could imagine-’time in its wholeness’ (JB), ’sense of time past and future’ (NEB)." [Note: David A. Hubbard, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, pp. 106-7. See also Leonard L. Thompson, The Book of Revelation, Apocalypse and Empire, p. 67; and Oscar Cullmann, Christ and Time.]
"We do well to return again and again to Revelation 21, 22, for it is the end of the pilgrim path. The more distinct the vision to the pilgrim of the beauty and glory of the city to which he journeys, the less the immediate environments of his journey attract him." [Note: Newell, p. 348.]
"This final vision of the book concerning these same five themes-new covenant, new temple, new Israel, new Jerusalem, and new creation-is also the climax and the expression of the main point of the Apocalypse thus far. But it is not the main point of the whole book. Why is this vision placed at the end of the book? It is here to underscore the ultimate basis for John’s final goal and purpose in writing: to exhort God’s people to remain faithful. . . .
"While the main goal of the book’s argument is to exhort God’s people to remain faithful so that they will inherit final salvation, this is not the most important theological idea in the book. The major theological theme of the book is the glory that God is to receive for accomplishing consummate salvation and final judgment . . ." [Note: Beale, pp. 1119-20. Italics omitted.]