He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
7. He that hath an ear ] A repetition, with a merely verbal alteration, of one of our Lord’s characteristic phrases in His teaching while on earth: St Mat 11:15, &c.
what the Spirit saith ] Speaking through the Risen Christ to John who was “in the Spirit.”
To him that overcometh ] A promise thus expressed, and an invitation to attention like that preceding it, are found at the end of each of these seven Epistles the invitation standing first in the three first, and the promise in the four last. From this change in the order, it appears that attention is invited, not to the final promise only, but to the whole Epistle to each Church, as the Spirit’s message.
the tree of life ] Cf. Gen 2:9, as well as Rev 22:2; Rev 22:14; Rev 22:19. The Tree of Life appears, though not under that name, in Enoch xxiv., where we are told that there shall be no power to touch it until the period of the great judgement.
in the midst of the paradise ] Read simply in the Paradise: the insertion is no doubt from Gen 2:9. “Paradise,” a Persian word adopted in both Greek and Hebrew, means simply a park or pleasure-ground, and hence is used in the LXX. ( not the Hebrew) of the garden of Eden: in 2Co 12:4; Luk 23:43, we have it used of a region of the spiritual world, inhabited by the blessed dead. Whether the Paradise of God, where the Tree of Life is now, is identical either with the earthly Paradise where it grew of old, or with the New Jerusalem where it shall grow in the new earth under the new heaven, it would be rash to speculate.
of God ] So “the garden of God” in Eze 28:13; Eze 31:8-9, and “the garden of the Lord” in Gen 13:10; Isa 51:3. Some read “of My God,” as in Rev 3:12, but on the whole the omission has more authority, and the exact O. T. phrase seems likelier.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He that hath an ear, let him hear … – This expression occurs at the close of each of the epistles addressed to the seven churches, and is substantially a mode of address often employed by the Saviour in his personal ministry, and quite characteristic of him. See Mat 11:15; Mar 4:23; Mar 7:16. It is a form of expression designed to arrest the attention, and to denote that what was said was of special importance.
What the Spirit saith unto the churches – Evidently what the Holy Spirit says – for he is regarded in the Scriptures as the Source of inspiration, and as appointed to disclose truth to man. The Spirit may be regarded either as speaking through the Saviour (compare Joh 3:34), or as imparted to John, through whom he addressed the churches. In either case it is the same Spirit of inspiration, and in either case there would be a claim that his voice should be heard. The language used here is of a general character – He that hath an ear; that is, what was spoken was worthy of the attention not only of the members of these churches, but of all others. The truths were of so general a character as to deserve the attention of mankind at large.
To him that overcometh – Greek, To him that gains the victory, or is a conqueror – to nikonti. This may refer to any victory of a moral character, and the expression used would be applicable to one who should triumph in any of these respects:
(a)Over his own easily-besetting sins;
(b)Over the world and its temptations;
(c)Over prevalent error;
(d)Over the ills and trials of life, so as, in all these respects, to show that his Christian principles are firm and unshaken.
Life, and the Christian life especially, may be regarded as a warfare. Thousands fall in the conflict with evil; but they who maintain a steady warfare, and who achieve a victory, shall be received as conquerors in the end.
Will I give to eat of the tree of life – As the reward of his victory. The meaning is, that he would admit him to heaven, represented as paradise, and permit him to enjoy its pleasures – represented by being permitted to partake of its fruits. The phrase the tree of life refers undoubtedly to the language used respecting the Garden of Eden, Gen 2:9; Gen 3:22 – where the tree of life is spoken of as what was adapted to make the life of man perpetual. Of the nature of that tree nothing is known, though it would seem probable that, like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it was a mere emblem of life – or a tree that was set before man in connection with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and that his destiny turned on the question whether he partook of the one or the other. That God should make the question of life or death depend on that, is no more absurd or improbable than that he should make it depend on what man does now – it being a matter of fact that life and death, happiness and misery, joy and sorrow, are often made to depend on things quite as arbitrary apparently, and quite as unimportant as an act of obedience or disobedience in partaking of the fruit of a designated tree.
Does it not appear probable that in Eden there were two trees designated to be of an emblematic character, of life and death, and that as man partook of the one or the other he would live or die? Of all the others he might freely partake without their affecting his condition; of one of these – the tree of life – he might have partaken before the fall, and lived forever. One was forbidden on pain of death. When the law forbidding that was violated, it was I still possible that he might partake of the other; but, since the sentence of death had been passed upon him, that would not now be proper, and he was driven from the garden, and the way was guarded by the flaming sword of the cherubim. The reference in the passage before us is to the celestial paradise – to heaven – spoken of under the beautiful image of a garden; meaning that the condition of man, in regard to life, will still be the same as if he had partaken of the tree of life in Eden. Compare the notes on Rev 22:2.
Which is in the midst of the paradise of God – Heaven, represented as paradise. To be permitted to eat of that tree, that is, of the fruit of that tree, is but another expression implying the promise of eternal life, and of being happy forever. The word paradise is of Oriental derivation, and is found in several of the Eastern languages. In the Sanskrit the word paradesha and paradisha is used to denote a land elevated and cultivated; in the Armenian the word pardes denotes a garden around the house planted with grass, herbs, trees for use and ornament; and in the Hebrew form pardec, and Greek paradeisos, it is applied to the pleasure gardens and parks, with wild animals, around the country residences of the Persian monarchs and princes, Neh 2:8. Compare Ecc 2:5; Ca. Ecc 4:13; Xen. Cyro. i. 3, 14 (Robinsons Lexicon). Here it is used to denote heaven – a world compared in beauty with a richly cultivated park or garden. Compare 2Co 12:4. The meaning of the Saviour is, that he would receive him that overcame to a world of happiness; that he would permit him to taste of the fruit that grows there, imparting immortal life, and to rest in an abode suited up in a manner that would contribute in every way to enjoyment. Man, when he fell, was not permitted to reach forth his hand and pluck of the fruit of the tree of life in the first Eden, as he might have done if he had not fallen; but he is now permitted to reach forth his hand and partake of the tree of life in the paradise above. He is thus restored to what he might have been if he had not transgressed by eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; and in the Paradise Regained, the blessings of the Paradise Lost will be more than recovered – for man may now live forever in a far higher and more blessed state than his would have been in Eden.
The Epistle to the Church at Smyrna
The contents of the epistle to the church at Smyrna are these:
(1) A statement, as in the address to the church at Ephesus, of some of the attributes of the Saviour, Rev 2:8. The attributes here referred to are, that he was the first and the last, that he had been dead, but was alive – attributes suited to impress the mind deeply with reverence for him who addressed them, and to comfort them in the trials which they endured.
(2) A statement Rev 2:9, as in the former epistle, that he well knew their works and all that pertained to them – their tribulation, their poverty, and the opposition which they met with from wicked people.
(3) An exhortation not to be afraid of any of those things that were to come upon them, for, although they were to be persecuted, and some of them were to be imprisoned, yet, if they were faithful, they should have a crown of life, Rev 2:10.
(4) A command to hear what the Spirit said to the churches, as containing matter of interest to all persons, with an assurance that any who would overcome in these trials would not be hurt by the second death, Rev 2:11. The language addressed to the church of Smyrna is throughout that of commiseration and comfort. There is no intimation that the Saviour disapproved of what they had done; there is no threat that he would remove the candle-stick out of its place. Smyrna was a celebrated commercial town of Ionia (Ptolem. v. 2), situated near the bottom of that gulf of the Aegean Sea which received its name from it (Mela, Rev 1:17, Rev 1:3), at the mouth of the small river Meles, 320 stadia, or about forty miles north of Ephesus (Strabo, 15, p. 632). It was a very ancient city; but having been destroyed by the Lydians, it lay waste four hundred years to the time of Alexander the Great, or, according to Strabo, to that of Antigonus. It was rebuilt at the distance of twenty stadia from the ancient city, and in the time of the first Roman emperor it was one of the most flourishing cities of Asia. It was destroyed by an earthquake, 177 a.d., but the emperor Marcus Aurelius caused it to be rebuilt with more than its former splendor.
It afterward, however, suffered greatly from earthquakes and conflagrations, and has declined from these causes, though, from its commercial advantages, it has always been a city of importance as the central emporium of the Levantine trade, and its relative rank among the cities of Asia Minor is probably greater than it formerly bore. The engraving in this vol. will give a representation of Smyrna. The Turks now call it Izmir. It is better built than Constantinople, and its population is computed at about 130,000, of which the Franks compose a greater proportion than in any other town in Turkey, and they are generally in good circumstances. Next to the Turks, the Greeks form the most numerous portion of the inhabitants, and they have a bishop and two churches. The unusually large portion of Christians in the city renders it especially unclean in the eyes of strict Moslems, and they call it Giaour Izmir, or the Infidel Smyrna. There are in it about 20,000 Greeks, 8,000 Armenians, 1,000 Europeans, and 9,000 Jews. It is now the seat of important missionary operations in the East, and much has been done there to spread the gospel in modern times.
Its history during the long tract of time since John wrote is not indeed minutely known, but there is no reason to suppose that the light of Christianity there has ever been wholly extinct. Polycarp suffered martyrdom there, and the place where he is supposed to have died is still shown. The Christians of Smyrna hold his memory in great veneration, and go annually on a visit to his supposed tomb, which is at a short distance from the place of his martyrdom. See the article Smyrna in Kittos Cyclopedia, and the authorities referred to there.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. He that hath an ear] Let every intelligent person, and every Christian man, attend carefully to what the Holy Spirit, in this and the following epistles, says to the Churches. See Clarke on Mt 11:15, where the same form of speech occurs.
To him that overcometh] To him who continues steadfast in the faith, and uncorrupt in his life; who faithfully confesses Jesus, and neither imbibes the doctrines nor is led away by the error of the wicked; will I give to eat of the tree of life. As he who conquered his enemies had, generally, not only great honour, but also a reward; so here a great reward is promised , to the conqueror: and as in the Grecian games, to which there may be an allusion, the conqueror was crowned with the leaves of some tree; here it is promised that they should eat of the fruit of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God; that is, that they should have a happy and glorious immortality. There is also here an allusion to Ge 2:9, where it is said, God made the tree of life to grow out of the midst of the garden; and it is very likely that by eating the fruit of this tree the immortality of Adam was secured, and on this it was made dependent. When Adam transgressed, he was expelled from this garden, and no more permitted to eat of the tree of life; hence he became necessarily mortal. This tree, in all its sacramental effects, is secured and restored to man by the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ. The tree of life is frequently spoken of by the rabbins; and by it they generally mean the immortality of the soul, and a final state of blessedness. See many examples in Schoettgen. They talk also of a celestial and terrestrial paradise. The former, they say, “is for the reception of the souls of the just perfect; and differs as much from the earthly paradise as light from darkness.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He that hath an ear, let him hear; to whom God hath given an ability and power to understand what I say. It is a form of speech which Christ often used, when he would quicken up peoples attention, Mat 11:15; 13:9,43; Mr 4:9,23; 7:16; we shall find it again in these two chapters six times; from which some would conclude, that in these epistles there is something mysterious, parabolical, and prophetical, it being a form of speech prefixed to many parables.
What the Spirit saith; the Holy Spirit of God, from whose inspiration all Scripture is.
Unto the churches; not only at Ephesus, but elsewhere in Asia, or any other part of the world.
To him that overcometh; that is, a conqueror in fighting the good fight of faith, against the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Will I give to eat of the tree of life; I will give him a share in my merits, and eternal life; which blessed enjoyments are set out unto us under the notion of eating, Luk 12:37; 22:28, &c.; Joh 10:28.
This is the promise that he hath promised us, 1Jo 2:25. Heaven is expressed to us under this notion, with reference to the tree of life, mentioned Gen 2:9, which was in the old Paradise; for it is added,
which is in the midst of the paradise of God; or, which is the same, Christ himself is here intended, who is the free of life, mentioned Rev 22:2; and the happiness of heaven is thus expressed, 1Th 4:17, We shall be ever with the Lord. This is the sum of the epistle to the first mentioned church, by which those that judge these epistles prophetical, understand all the primitive churches during the apostles age, or the most of their ages, for John himself lived under the second persecution.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. He that hath an earThisclause precedes the promise in the first three addresses, succeeds itin the last four. Thus the promises are enclosed on both sides withthe precept urging the deepest attention as to the most momentoustruths. Every man “hath an ear” naturally, but he alonewill be able to hear spiritually to whom God has given “thehearing ear”; whose “ear God hath wakened” and”opened.” Compare “Faith, the ears of the soul”[CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA].
the Spirit saithWhatChrist saith, the Spirit saith; so one are the Secondand Third Persons.
unto the churchesnotmerely to the particular, but to the universal Church.
overcomethIn John’sGospel (Joh 16:33) and FirstEpistle (1Jn 2:13; 1Jn 2:14;1Jn 5:4; 1Jn 5:5)an object follows, namely, “the world,” “the wickedone.” Here, where the final issue is spoken of, the conqueroris named absolutely. Paul uses a similar image (1Co 9:24;1Co 9:25; 2Ti 2:5;but not the same as John’s phrase, except Ro12:21).
will I giveas theJudge. The tree of life in Paradise, lost by the fall, is restored bythe Redeemer. Allusions to it occur in Pro 3:18;Pro 11:30; Pro 13:12;Pro 15:4, and prophetically,Rev 22:2; Rev 22:14;Eze 47:12; compare Joh6:51. It is interesting to note how closely these introductoryaddresses are linked to the body of Revelation. Thus, the tree oflife here, with Re 22:1;deliverance from the second death (Re2:11), with Rev 20:14;Rev 21:8; the new name (Re2:17), with Re 14:1; powerover the nations, with Re 20:4;the morning star (Re 2:28),with Re 22:16; the whiteraiment (Re 3:5), withRev 4:4; Rev 16:15;the name in the book of life (Re3:5), with Rev 13:8; Rev 20:15;the new Jerusalem and its citizenship (Re3:12), with Re 21:10.
give . . . tree of lifeThething promised corresponds to the kind of faithfulness manifested.They who refrain from Nicolaitane indulgences (Re2:6) and idol-meats (Rev 2:14;Rev 2:15), shall eat of meatinfinitely superior, namely, the fruit of the tree of life, and thehidden manna (Re 2:17).
in the midst of theparadiseThe oldest manuscripts omit “the midst of.”In Ge 2:9 these words areappropriate, for there were other trees in the garden, but notin the midst of it. Here the tree of life is simply inthe paradise, for no other tree is mentioned in it; in Re22:2 the tree of life is “in the midst of the streetof Jerusalem”; from this the clause was inserted here. Paradise(a Persian, or else Semitic word), originally used of any garden ofdelight; then specially of Eden; then the temporary abode of separatesouls in bliss; then “the Paradise of God,” thethird heaven, the immediate presence of God.
of God (Eze28:13). One oldest manuscript, with Vulgate, Syriac, andCoptic, and CYPRIAN,read, “MY God,”as in Re 3:12. So Christ callsGod, “My God and your God” (Joh20:17; compare Eph 1:17).God is our God, in virtue of being peculiarly Christ’sGod. The main bliss of Paradise is that it is the Paradise of God;God Himself dwelling there (Re21:3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He that hath an ear,…. Such who have new ears given them, as all have who are made new creatures; such who have their ears circumcised, and opened by the Spirit of God; who hear with understanding, affection, and faith; who try what they hear, and approve, embrace, and retain that which is good.
Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; let such hearken, and listen with attention to what is said by the Spirit, in what goes before, and follows after, in this epistle, designed for the use of all the churches; from whence it appears, that this epistle was endited by the Spirit of God, and is of divine inspiration; that it was not intended for the single use of the church at Ephesus, but of all the churches; and not of the seven churches only, though the Alexandrian copy reads, “to the seven churches”: but of all the churches in that period of time, which the Ephesine church represents; and which may also be useful to the churches of Christ in all other ages and periods of time. And moreover, it may be concluded from hence, that there are in this epistle, and so in all the rest, for the same words are subjoined to them all, some things which are parabolical and prophetic, and not obvious to everyone’s understanding and view; for a like expression is used by our Lord, when he had delivered anything in a parabolical way, or was obscure; see Mt 11:15.
To him that overcometh: the false apostles, false teachers, and their doctrines; coldness, lukewarmness, and remissness in love; the impure tenets and practices of the Nicolaitans:
will I give to eat of the tree of life; by which is meant Jesus Christ himself, in allusion to the tree of life in the garden of Eden; and is so called, because he is the author of life, natural, spiritual, and eternal; and because of his fruit, the blessings of life and grace, that are in him, of which believers may eat by faith, and which they find to be soul quickening, comforting, strengthening, and satisfying; and which are Christ’s gift to them, even both the food they eat, and the faith by which they eat, are his gifts. So Christ, under the name of Wisdom, is called the Tree of life, in Pr 3:18; and this is a name which is sometimes given by the Jews to the Messiah e:
which is in the midst of the paradise of God; as the tree of life was in the garden of Eden, Ge 2:9. The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions read, “the paradise of my God”; the God of Christ, as well as of his people; and by which may be meant, either the church on earth, which is as a paradise, So 4:12; in the midst of which Christ is, affording his gracious presence, and reaching forth his grace, and the benefits of it, to his people; or heaven,
[See comments on 2Co 12:4], said to be of God, because it is of his preparing, and where he dwells, and in the midst of which Christ, the Tree of life, is; and this shows, that he is to be come at by faith, and his fruit to be eaten, and lived upon; and he is to be beheld and enjoyed by all his saints, as he is now, and will be more perfectly hereafter.
e Zohar in Gen. fol. 33. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He that hath an ear ( ). An individualizing note calling on each of the hearers (1:3) to listen (Rev 2:7; Rev 2:11; Rev 2:17; Rev 2:28; Rev 3:3; Rev 3:6; Rev 3:13; Rev 3:22) and a reminiscence of the words of Jesus in the Synoptics (Matt 11:15; Matt 13:9; Matt 13:43; Mark 4:9; Mark 4:23; Luke 8:8; Luke 14:35), but not in John’s Gospel.
The spirit ( ). The Holy Spirit as in Rev 14:13; Rev 22:17. Both Christ and the Holy Spirit deliver this message. “The Spirit of Christ in the prophet is the interpreter of Christ’s voice” (Swete).
To him that overcometh ( ). Dative of the present (continuous victory) active articular participle of , a common Johannine verb (John 16:33; 1John 2:13; 1John 4:4; 1John 5:4; Rev 2:7; Rev 2:11; Rev 2:17; Rev 2:26; Rev 3:5; Rev 3:12; Rev 3:21; Rev 5:5; Rev 12:11; Rev 15:2; Rev 17:14; Rev 21:7). Faith is dominant in Paul, victory in John, faith is victory (1Jo 5:4). So in each promise to these churches.
I will give (). Future active of as in Rev 2:10; Rev 2:17; Rev 2:23; Rev 2:26; Rev 2:28; Rev 3:8; Rev 3:21; Rev 6:4; Rev 11:3; Rev 21:6.
To eat (). Second aorist active infinitive of .
Of the tree of life ( ). Note with the ablative with , like our “eat of” (from or part of). From Gen 2:9; Gen 3:22. Again in Rev 22:2; Rev 22:14 as here for immortality. This tree is now in the Garden of God. For the water of life see Rev 21:6; Rev 22:17 (Cf. John 4:10; John 4:13).
Which (). The (tree).
In the Paradise of God ( ). Persian word, for which see Luke 23:43; 2Cor 12:4. The abode of God and the home of the redeemed with Christ, not a mere intermediate state. It was originally a garden of delight and finally heaven itself (Trench), as here.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
He that hath an ear, etc. Compare Mt 11:15; Mr 4:9. The phrase is not found in John’s Gospel. It is used always of radical truths, great principles and promises.
To him that overcometh [ ] A formula common to all these Epistles. The verb is used absolutely without any object expressed. It is characteristic of John, occurring once in the Gospel, six times in the First Epistle, sixteen times in Revelation, and elsewhere only Luk 11:22; Rom 3:4; Rom 12:21.
Will I give. This phrase has a place in every one of these Epistles. The verb is John’s habitual word for the privileges and functions of the Son, whether as bestowed upon Him by the Father, or dispensed by Him. to His followers. See Joh 3:35; Joh 5:22, 27, 36; Joh 6:65; Joh 13:3; Joh 17:6. Compare Rev 2:23; Rev 3:8; Rev 6:4; Rev 11:3.
Of the tree [ ] . The preposition ejk out of occurs one hundred and twenty – seven times in Revelation, and its proper signification is almost universally out of; but this rendering in many of the passages would be so strange and unidiomatic, that the New Testament Revisers have felt themselves able to adopt it only forty – one times out of all that number, and employ of, from, by, with, on, at, because of, by reason of, from among. See, for instance, chapter Rev 2:7, 21, 22; Rev 6:4, 10; Rev 8:11; Rev 9:18; Rev 14:13; Rev 14:2; Rev 16:21. Compare Joh 3:31; Joh 4:13, Joh 6:13, 39, 51; Joh 8:23, 44; Joh 9:6; Joh 11:1; Joh 12:3, 27, 32; Joh 17:5.
Tree, lit., wood. See on Luk 23:31; 1Pe 3:24. Dean Plumptre notes the fact that, prominent as this symbol had been in the primeval history, it had remained unnoticed in the teaching where we should most have looked for its presence – in that of the Psalmist and Prophets of the Old Testament. Only in the Proverbs of Solomon had it been used, in a sense half allegorical and half mystical (Pro 3:18; Pro 13:12; Pro 11:30; Pro 14:4). The revival of the symbol in Apoc. is in accordance with the theme of the restitution of all things. “The tree which disappeared with the disappearance of the earthly Paradise, reappears with the reappearance of the heavenly.” To eat of the tree of life expresses participation in the life eternal. The figure of the tree of life appears in all mythologies from India to Scandinavia. The Rabbins and Mohammedans called the vine the probation tree. The Zend Avesta has its tree of life called the Death – Destroyer. It grows by the waters of life, and the drinking of its sap confers immortality. The Hindu tree of life is pictured as growing out of a great seed in the midst of an expanse of water. It has three branches, each crowned with a sun, denoting the three powers of creation, preservation, and renovation after destruction. In another representation Budha sits in meditation under a tree with three branches, each branch having three stems. One of the Babylonian cylinders discovered by Layard, represents three priestesses gathering the fruit of what seems to be a palm – tree with three branches on each side. Athor, the Venus of the Egyptians, appears half – concealed in the branches of the sacred peach – tree, giving to the departed soul the fruit, and the drink of heaven from a vial from which the streams of life descend upon the spirit, a figure at the foot of the tree, like a hawk, with a human head and with hands outstretched.
In the Norse mythology a prominent figure is Igdrasil, the Ash – tree of Existence; its roots in the kingdom of Eels or Death, its trunk reaching to heaven, and its boughs spread over the whole universe. At its foot, in the kingdom of Death, sit three Nornas or Fates, the Past, the Present, and the Future, watering its roots from the sacred well. Compare chapter Rev 22:2, 14, 19. Virgil, addressing Dante at the completion of the ascent of the Purgatorial Mount, says :
“That apple sweet, which through so many branches The care of mortals goeth in pursuit of, Today shall put in peace thy hungerings.” ” Purgatorio, ” 27, 115 – 117.
Paradise. See on Luk 23:43. Omit in the midst of. Paradeisov Paradise “passes through a series of meanings, each one higher than the last. From any garden of delight, which is its first meaning, it comes to be predominantly applied to the garden of Eden, then to the resting – place of separate souls in joy and felicity, and lastly to the very heaven itself; and we see eminently in it, what we see indeed in so many words, how revealed religion assumes them into her service, and makes them vehicles of far higher truth than any which they knew at first, transforming and transfiguring them, as in this case, from glory to glory” (Trench).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “He that hath an ear, let him hear,” (ho echon ous akousato) “The one having an ear, let him hear,” or give heed to; Even if a church (as an assembly) will not give heed to or obey God, individuals are charged to do so responsibly, Luk 14:35; Rom 14:11; Mat 11:15; Eph 5:17.
2) “What the Spirit saith unto the churches,” (ti to pneuma legei tais ekklesiais) “What the Spirit says to the churches,” the -congregations – For John was “in the Spirit,” and received The Spirit’s message from God thru Christ, Rev 1:4; Rev 1:11; Rev 22:16.
3) “To him that overcometh,” (to nikonti) “To the one overcoming or conquering,” to anyone or each one conquering or overcoming, as an individual, whether or not the church, as a body, overcomes; note emphasis upon personal responsibility.
4) “Will I give to eat of the tree of life,” (doso auto phagein ek tou ksulon tes zoes) “I will dole out to him to eat (always) out of the tree of life,” of spiritual blessings, satisfaction for every hunger or thirst of the soul; to that soul that lives in obedient love-service to Christ there exists an unceasing satisfaction of spiritual food from Jesus, the tree of life, Joh 6:51; Psa 107:9; Isa 55:2-3.
5) “Which is in the midst of the paradise of God,” (ho estin en to paradeiso tou theou) “Which is or exists in the paradise of God,” as transplanted from Eden, Gen 2:9; Preserved for eternity, for the redeemed of the Lord, Rev 22:2.
The second paradise is better than the first for it shall never pass away, Rev 21:22.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(7) He that hath an ear . . .Or. Let him that hath an ear, hear. These wordsan echo from the Gospelsrecur in all the seven epistles. In the first three, however, they are placed before the promise; in the remaining four they follow it. The heart which is hardened is the precursor of the ear that is deaf (Jer. 6:10, and Joh. 12:37-40). The spiritual truth needs a spiritual organ for its discernment. These are truths, then, only heard
When the soul seeks to hear; when all is hushed,
And the heart listens.Coleridge, Reflection.
To him that overcometh (or, conquereth) will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.The reference to conquering is a prominent feature of St. Johns other writings. The wordused but once in the three Gospels (Luk. 11:22), and but once by St. Paul (Rom. 12:21)is found in Joh. 16:33; 1Jn. 2:13-14; 1Jn. 5:4-5; and occurs in all these epistles to the churches. The promise of the tree of life is appropriate (1) to the virtue commended: those who had not indulged in the license of Nicolaitanes shall eat of the tree of life; (2) to the special weakness of the Ephesians: to those who had fallen, and lost the paradise of first loving communion and fellowship with God (comp. Gen. 3:8, and 1Jn. 1:3), is held out the promise of a restored paradise and participation in the tree of life. (Comp. Rev. 22:2; Rev. 22:14; Gen. 3:22.) This boon of immortality is the gift of ChristI will give. It is tasted in knowledge of God and of His Son (Joh. 17:3); it is enjoyed in their presence (Rev. 22:3-4).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Hath an ear This summons to every human ear to listen, preludes the glorious promise to the conqueror in the battle of faith through which Ephesus is struggling. Let every ear hear, for there can be no more thrilling announcement than this. It is seven times uttered; each utterance connected with the closing promise; the first thrice preceding the final promise, the other four times succeeding it, until in the last it gives a ringing close to the seven epistles.
The Spirit saith For the utterance of the Son is with the concurrent inspiration of the Spirit.
Unto the Churches For what he saith to one he saith for all; and what he saith for the Churches he saith for every individual ear in the Churches.
To him that overcometh The seven promises are each made to the conqueror in the struggle, suggested by the characterization preceding. The Christian life is a battle, and the crown awaits the victor. Wordsworth attempts, with little success, to show that the seven promises succeed each other in ascending degrees. They are: 1. To eat of the tree of life in paradise. 2. Exemption from second death. 3. The secret white stone with the secret name. 4. Rule with Christ over the nations. 5. The white raiment, the name unblotted from the book of life, and confessed before God and angels. 6. To be a pillar in the temple of my God. 7. To be co-assessor on the throne.
Will I give the privilege to eat of tree paradise This refers to Rev 22:2, which is not (as Wordsworth) in the spirit world, but in the paradise merged in the eternal heaven, and, therefore, is the highest final award. See notes on 1Th 4:17.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
The first phrase was a phrase used only by Jesus Christ. ‘Let the one who is willing to hear, listen and take note and respond’ (Mat 11:15; Mat 13:9; Mat 13:43). This was always what distinguished true followers from the false. The Spirit here is the Holy Spirit for He speaks to all the churches (the angels would only be seen as ‘speaking’ to the individual churches, although they do not actually speak to them as the message is communicated through the letters).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘To him who overcomes, to him will I give to eat the fruit of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’
Every Christian is to be an overcomer, overcoming sins, patiently enduring temptation and tribulation, serving Christ, loving Him, being faithful to Him. As Paul says, ‘we are more than overcomers through Him that loved us’ (Rom 8:37). They hear His voice and follow Him (Joh 10:27-28). Without these a person is not a Christian.
This arises from our oneness in Christ. In Joh 16:33 Jesus declared that His people need not fear tribulation as He has ‘overcome the world’. He has rejected its power and conquered it and therefore has final control over it. Thus it is powerless to hurt them more than He allows. He also declared that He had overcome Satan (Luk 11:22). Once we are united with Him we therefore also become ‘overcomers’ in Him. As John tells us in 1Jn 5:4, ‘whatever is begotten of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith’. For they ‘are of God — and have overcome them (false teachers with the spirit of antichrist)’ (1Jn 4:4). Those who are in Him overcome the world and overcome Satan through Him.
These are the ones who have ‘heard His voice’. It is noteworthy that overcoming is a theme of the whole of Revelation (e.g. Rev 11:7; Rev 12:11; Rev 13:7; Rev 21:7), something which directly connects these churches with the events that occur later on. And to those who are overcomers He ‘will give to eat of the tree of life’ (compare Rev 22:14). To eat of the tree of life was to live for ever (Gen 3:22). Thus the promise is that, whatever experiences they have to go through, they will enjoy eternal life and have their share in God’s glorious Heaven, the Paradise of God (2Co 12:4).
(It is often argued that many Christians cannot be described as ‘overcomers’ because of worldly lives, or because they even backslide and appear for a time to reject Him. But then they can hardly be described as ‘righteous’ either. Yet if they really are His they are ‘righteous in Him’ and are therefore overcomers in Him. It is not for us finally to determine who are Christians and who are not but there are plenty of warnings in the New Testament that such people should beware lest at the last their ‘faith’ (or lack of it) proves in vain. But in the end all is of grace. And if such are truly His, they are ever ‘righteous’ in Him and are therefore ‘overcomers’ in Him, and will reveal it in their lives. No one stresses more than John does that salvation is of faith, but no one is more severe in his requirement that it be revealed in their lives – 1Jn 2:1-5; 1Jn 2:9-11; 1Jn 2:19).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rev 2:7. He that hath an ear, &c. See on Mat 11:15. By him that overcometh, is here meant, him who lives in the spirit of holiness, who, through grace, conquers everyevil temper, and publicly confesses the name of Jesus Christbefore his enemies to the end, and even unto martyrdom, if called thereunto. The word which we render to give, implies, throughout this book, a power granted to act or do something very remarkable, which depended not before upon, and was not in the power of the receiver. The phrase , the word, or tree of life, is a Hebraism, to signify animmortal tree,and symbolically, immortality itself. So wisdom is said to be a tree of life,Pro 3:18 that is, bringing to man long life and immortality; and Pro 11:30 the fruit of the righteous is said to be a tree of life; that is, “Immortality is the reward or effect of his following wisdom.” See ch. Rev 22:2.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 2:7 . , . . . Formula for exciting attention. [1000] The singular by no means points, in distinction from the plural, [1001] to “the spiritual sense of understanding,” [1002] but designates with entire simplicity the organ of hearing without respect to its being double. In like manner, in Luk 11:34 . The reference made in the summons is altogether general; [1003] even to those who still are outside the churches, belongs what is said to the churches, because the entire book of Revelation, no less than the seven epistles which form an entire part thereof, proclaims the coming of the Lord as something final to the whole world. John himself, as a true prophet, makes prominent the universal reference of his prophecy. [1004]
is neither this “divine vision,” [1005] nor Christ who has the Spirit, [1006] but the Holy Ghost, [1007] who inspires John, and thus makes him a prophet. [1008] The revelation of Christ [1009] can therefore be designated also as an address of the Spirit, because the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, [1010] and speaks in Christ’s name. [1011] Yet this is conceivable only if we regard [1012] neither the seven epistles as merely a dictation of Christ, which John had only to write down, nor the entire book of Revelation as a mere report prepared by John of a series of pictures represented to him; but rather recognize the specific prophetic activity whereby he, as a man taught of Christ himself through his Spirit, thought and wrote not under a suppression, but a glorification, of his entire moral individuality.
The promise belongs, in its universality, to the victors; as the preceding summons to hear, to every one who has an ear. The hearer is through the prophecy to learn to be victor, and thus to be saved. [1013] , [1014] as well as , [1015] is impossible. According to Rev 3:21 [1016] and Rev 12:11 , [1017] the at the close of all seven epistles [1018] designates nothing else than the faithful perseverance of believers, as maintained in the struggle with all godless and antichristian powers. So, also, the sacred reward of blessedness is promised the “victor,” who is represented in many forms, abiding faithful to him patiently and to the end, maintaining and adhering to the words and commands of the Lord, etc. Cf. especially the concluding promises of the epistles, with the descriptions in chs. 19, 21, 22
The with the inf. has a somewhat different meaning from when (as, e.g., Rev 2:17 ; Rev 2:28 ) a definite object follows: it means, “I will grant him to eat;” [1019] not, “I will give him to eat.”
The , . . ., is not the gospel whose fruit is blessedness, [1020] nor the Holy Ghost who assures of eternal life, [1021] nor Christ himself whose fruits are all spiritual blessings, [1022] and who in the holy supper gives his flesh to be eaten; [1023] but the antitype of the tree of life that was in the midst of the original earthly paradise, [1024] the tree of life which is to refresh the blessed citizens of the new Jerusalem. [1025] In accordance with Gen 2:3 , as also this passage, the place of blessedness where the tree of life is to be found is called paradise . [1026] The addition is not without meaning, since God is the Lord of paradise, the one from whom the new Jerusalem descends, who will dwell with men, from whose throne and that of the Lamb proceeds life, [1027] upon communion with whom, therefore, the future blessedness and glory of believers depend. Besides, the mediatorship of Christ is intimated by . . , since Christ who himself rewards the victor ( ), and himself sits with God upon the throne, in whom is the source of life, nevertheless speaks of his God and the God of believers; [1028] both being in accordance with the indivisible fundamental view of the entire N. T., that Christ through his obedience is exalted, through his conflict has conquered, and through his sufferings has entered into the glory which was his own from eternity, and whereof he now makes his believers partakers, since he as Priest, King, and Victor makes them priests, kings, and victors. [1029] As to the Apocalyptic statement of the thought, Rev 2:7 b , cf. the Book of Enoch, xxxi. 1 5, xxiv. 1 11; Text. XII. Patr., p. 586; Schttgen on this passage.
[1000] Grotius.
[1001] Cf. Rev 2:11 ; Rev 2:17 ; Rev 2:29 ; Rev 3:6 ; Rev 3:13 ; Rev 3:22 ; Rev 13:9 .
[1002] Hengstenb.
[1003] Cf. Rev 22:17 .
[1004] Cf. Rev 1:3 .
[1005] Grot.
[1006] Eichh. Cf. also Heinr.
[1007] Cf. Rev 1:4 .
[1008] Rev 1:10 , Rev 19:10 .
[1009] Rev 2:1-6 . Cf., likewise, .
[1010] Rom 8:9-10 .
[1011] Joh 16:13 sqq.
[1012] Cf. Intr., sec. 2.
[1013] Rev 1:3 , Rev 22:14 .
[1014] It should properly he explained, “He who gains his case in court.”
[1015] Eichh. Cf. also Heinr.
[1016] Where it is also absolutely said of Christ as the head of believers.
[1017] Where an object is mentioned, as in 1Jn 2:13 ; 1Jn 5:4-5 ; Joh 16:33 .
[1018] Cf. Rev 21:7 .
[1019] Cf. Rev 3:21 ; Joh 5:26 . De Wette.
[1020] Aret.
[1021] Grot.
[1022] Calov., Ebrard. Cf. Victorin, Beda, Lyra.
[1023] Joh 6:54 . Alcasar.
[1024] Cf. Gen 2:9 , where the LXX., as frequently elsewhere, render by .
[1025] Rev 22:2 ; Rev 22:14 ; Rev 22:19 . Beng., Ew., De Wette, Hengstenb.
[1026] Cf. Luk 23:43 ; 2Co 12:4 .
[1027] Cf. Rev 21:2-3 , Rev 22:1 .
[1028] Joh 20:17 .
[1029] Rev 1:6 , Rev 3:21 . Cf. Phi 2:6 sqq.; Joh 17:24 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 2483
EPISTLE TO EPHESUS
Rev 2:7. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
THOUGH all the seven Churches of Asia Minor are separately addressed in a way suited to their respective states, yet what is spoken to them may fitly be applied to all other Churches, so far as their states agree with those which are here portrayed. And we the rather say this, because at the close of every epistle the same admonition is repeated; He that hath ears to hear, let him hearnot what the Spirit saith unto this or that particular Church, but what the Spirit saith unto the Churches. And here you cannot but perceive, that, though the Lord Jesus is represented as dictating all the epistles, it is by his Holy Spirit that he dictates them: for, in every one of them you are called to receive what the Holy Spirit saith unto the Churches. Nor can you fail to notice, that, in every one of the epistles, the promises are made to those only who overcome. It will be proper, therefore, especially in this first epistle, that we distinctly consider,
I.
The character to whom the promise is made
The whole of the Christian life is a state of conflict
[This appears most strongly marked in this address to the Church of Ephesus. The very terms labour and patience clearly shew that they had had much to do, and much to suffer, and much to maintain in continued exercise. And who needs be told how great a labour it is to mortify the flesh with the affections and lusts, and to run with patience the race that is set before us? or, who needs to be informed, that persecution is hard to bear, even though we be not called to resist unto blood? The hatred and contempt of the world, and, above all, of our own friends and relatives, are far from pleasing to flesh and blood: and yet there is no child of God that can escape this minor sacrifice, even though he be not exposed to suffer loss in respect of his life or liberty. A person floating down the stream is unconscious of the rapidity of a current; but if he have to swim against the stream, he finds it no easy matter to proceed. So the persons who are content to move with the world, find little difficulty in their way; but those who will resist the world, and the flesh, and the devil, shall find that they have a continual conflict to maintain; and more especially when they attempt to keep themselves in the love of God [Note: Jude, ver. 21.]. One would think, that, considering what mercies we experience every day and hour at the Lords hands, it would be no difficult matter to preserve upon our souls a becoming sense of his love. But the heart is sadly prone to backslide from God. To avoid any thing grossly evil, and to persevere in the observance of outward duties, is comparatively easy: but to walk with God, to set ourselves as in his immediate presence, to preserve throughout the day habitual fellowship with him, to have our souls so filled with love to him as to regard nothing but his approbation, and to do nothing but for his glory, this is a state of mind which it is extremely difficult to maintain. But]
To those only who overcome in this conflict are the promises made
[To run well for a season only, will avail us nothing: on the contrary, if at any time we cease to press forward, our latter end will be worse than our beginning. The same occasion for conflict will exist as long as we continue in the body; and every victory should encourage our efforts for still further conquests. We must never be weary in welldoing: for then only shall we reap, if, during the season appointed for our labour, we faint not. We must endure unto the end, if ever we would be saved.]
Nor will this appear a hard condition, if we duly consider,
II.
The promise itself
From the tree of life in Paradise were our first parents, and all their posterity, shut out
[Our first parents were permitted to eat of the tree of life: and it was to them a pledge of eternal life, as long as they should retain their innocence, and live obedient to their God. But, when they had sinned, this was no longer a pledge of life to them: and they, in going to it any longer under that character, would only have deceived their own souls. Hence God drove them out of Paradise; and set cherubims, with a flaming sword, at the entrance of the garden, to prevent their return to it, and to keep them especially from the tree of life [Note: Gen 3:22-24.]. Not that God intended wholly and eternally to cut them off from all hopes of life. On the contrary, he revealed to them, that One should in due time spring from the woman, and effect, both for them and their posterity, a deliverance from the evils in which they were involved. He told them, that the Seed of the woman should enter the lists with their great adversary, and bruise the serpents head. True, indeed, he should himself die in the conflict; but through death he should destroy him who had the power of death, and deliver those whom that powerful adversary had enslaved.]
Through that adorable Saviour is there a way of access once more opened to the tree of life
[The tree of life now grows in the paradise that is above. It is a tree that bears twelve manner of fruits [Note: Rev 22:2.], suited to every appetite, and sufficient for us under every state and condition of life. Even the very leaves of it are effectual for the healing of all the nations of the world [Note: Rev 22:2.]. To that, even in this world, may every valiant soldier have access; and from it shall he derive all that support to his soul which it afforded to our first parents in their state of innocence: and every fruit that he gathers from it shall be to him a pledge that he shall eternally enjoy all the blessings of salvation: yes, even here shall it be to him an earnest of his everlasting inheritance. My dear brethren, this privilege is ours, if we fight a good fight; and when we have finally vanquished our spiritual enemies, we shall go and sit under the shadow of this tree to all eternity. O! who can conceive the exquisiteness of the flavour of its fruits, when we shall gather them in the immediate presence of our God? Who shall say what it is to see our God face to face; what, to hear and taste the expressions of his love; what, to behold and participate his glory? And who can conceive what a zest it will give to all our joys, to know that they are secured to us for ever; and that, when once we are in that paradise, we shall go no more out? Well: this, believer, is held forth to thee as the reward of victory: and it shall surely be accorded to thee, if thou hold out unto the end. Only be faithful unto death, and God will give thee the crown of life.]
Application
Let me, however, offer to thee a salutary caution:
1.
Learn to have just views of your reward
[The reward is held forth to those who overcome. But you must not overlook the terms in which the promise is made: To him that overcometh will I give. Eternal life is the gift of God, from first to last. Death is the wages of sin; but eternal life is the gift of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Our being called to maintain a conflict does not render it at all the less a free gift: our conflicts can never merit it; they can only prepare us for it, even as a medicinal process may prepare the body for the enjoyment of perfect health. When our Lord said, Labour for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life, he added, which the Son of man shall give unto you. The gift will not be the less free because we labour for it; but, by the imposing of that condition, a distinction is made which to all eternity will justify God in the bestowment of his gifts. Never, then, imagine that your conflicts, however arduous, will deserve life: they will only render you meet for the enjoyment of heaven; and evince, that, in the communication of his blessings, God does put a difference between the evil and the good. If it be said, that they who do Gods commandments are said to have a right to the tree of life [Note: Rev 22:14.], I grant it: but it is a right founded only on the promise of your God. Your merit, in your best estate, is found only in hell: it is the grace of God alone that exalts any soul of man to heaven.]
2.
Never relax your efforts for the obtaining of it
[Unhappily, many are but little aware what enemies they have to contend with. Men are extremely blind to their besetting sins. All of us discover this in others: but few are conscious of it in themselves. This, then, I would say to you: Learn, from the very weaknesses of others, to distrust yourselves: and beg of God to shew you what are those peculiar lusts which you are most concerned to discover and withstand in your own hearts. It is very painful to see how grievously persons, on the whole pious, often fail in some particular disposition or habit. We all take too partial a view of our duty: and not a few remain so much under the power of some unsubdued corruption, that we are constrained to doubt what their state will be in the eternal world. I must, therefore, entreat you all to search out your besetting sin; and to fight, as it were, neither with small nor great, but with the king of Israel. If you overcome your enemy on that point, there will be little doubt of your vanquishing him on every other. But remember, the conflict must be maintained even to the end; and then only must you put off your armour, when God calls you from this field of battle, to the full enjoyment of your reward.
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
VI
THE PROMISES TO THE FAITHFUL IN THE CHURCHES
Rev 2:7
Let us recall again that the Lord adapts his titles, exhortations, threats, and promises to the varied conditions of the churches. In no two cases are they alike.
This chapter is devoted to the promises. All these promises are connected with one word “overcometh” Greek “nikao.” The details of these promises are given in seven distinguishing series in the second and third chapters, and the sum of them expressed in Rev 21:7 , “He that overcometh shall inherit all things” or better, “These things” referring back to the things enumerated in Rev 21:1-6 .
Let us group into one sentence all the detailed and distinguishing promises of the seven series: “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God” and “He shall not be hurt of the second death” and I will give to him the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it” and “I will give him authority over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers; as I also have received of my Father: and I will give him the morning star” and “he shall be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father and of my God, and he shall go out thence no more; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and mine own new name” and “I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne” (see Rev 2:7 ; Rev 2:11 ; Rev 2:17 ; Rev 2:26-28 ; Rev 3:5 ; Rev 3:12 ; Rev 3:21 ).
GENERAL REMARKS ON THE PROMISES
1. They are all clothed in the most sublime imagery.
2. Their character, multitude, and magnitude are overwhelming, outshining any galaxy in the natural skies. The mind is dazzled by their blended brilliance. The hand of apprehension looses its grip in trying to grasp them and comprehension must wait for understanding until the realization of post-judgment experience.
3. Yet even now unstaggering faith receives them,, and hope lives in their radiance. They reverse gravitation because they draw upward; they pull toward heaven and uplift. They stimulate more than wine until one is intoxicated with the Spirit. They awaken desire, develop strength, and inspire zeal.
4. Laying aside all dogmatism, comparing scripture with scripture in exceeding humility, praying fervently for spiritual guidance, let us attempt an interpretation.
Inasmuch as all these promises are to him that “overcometh,” our first concern is to know the meaning and sweep of this word, and just what or whom must be overcome, and with what means we may overcome.
Evidently the word “overcometh” is not limited to one definite transaction, but has a continuous meaning, a sweep beyond a single event. What are its terminals? When does the overcoming commence and where does it end? It commences with justification and ends at the death of the body with complete sanctification of the soul. “He that endureth unto the end shall be saved” “Be thou faithful unto death, and thou shall receive a crown of life.” John elsewhere supplies the object of the verb. Twice he says: “Ye have overcome the wicked one” (1Jn 2:13-14 ). Three times he declares the world as the object to be overcome (1Jn 5:4-5 ). Only those “born of God overcome the world.”
The means of overcoming is “the blood of the Lamb”; the instrumentality is faith “and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith” (1Jn 5:4 ). Satan, his emissaries and the world that lieth in him, must be overcome. By faith the child of God goes on from victory to victory from grace to grace from strength to strength from glory to glory.
Let us now look separately at the promises themselves:
1. Access to the Tree of Life in the Paradise of God. Here, evidently, there is allusion to the Genesis story. The purpose of the tree of life in the original garden was to eliminate the mortality of the body. So that, in unfigurative terms, this promise is the glorification of the body to be experienced without death by all Christians living when our Lord comes, and by all Christians who have died, after their resurrection. We may count the glorification of the bodies of the two classes as practically simultaneous, since the righteous dead are raised before the righteous living are changed, and together they are caught up to the Lord (1Th 4:13-18 ).
The promise means everything set forth in Paul’s words (1Co 15:42-49 ; 1Co 15:51-58 ) : incorruption, glory, power, a spiritual body in the image of the Second Adam; or in his other words, “Who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be like the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself” (Phi 3:21 ). Or as John elsewhere puts it: “We know that if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him” (Joh 3:2 ). Hence the psalmist: “I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.” This title to access to the tree of life arises from cleansing by the blood of the Lamb, effected in us when in regeneration and sanctification the Spirit applies the blood. See later reference in this book (Rev 2:14 ; Rev 22:14 ). After Adam’s fall he was expelled from the garden lest he eat of this fruit and live forever in a body of sin (Gen 3:22 ), but a throne of grace and mercy was established at the east of the garden where the sword flame, or Shekinah, dwelt between the Cherubim to keep open the way to the tree of life through vicarious sacrifices (Gen 3:24 ; Gen 4:4 ; Heb 11:4 ).
2. “Shall not be hurt of the second death.” The meaning of the second death is the casting of both soul and risen body into the lake of fire (Rev 20:14-15 ). It is the final decision of our Lord at the general judgment, and fixes forever the status of the lost. The lake of fire is a metaphor, of course, but expresses a reality not less fearful than the figure. Into this torment the soul of a lost sinner goes immediately after the death of the body see the parable of Dives and Lazarus, Luk 16 . But from this disembodied state of torment the soul is called to the general judgment, where it is united to its risen body “Death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them” (Rev 20:13 ), i.e., the body came from the grave and the soul from its place in torment. Then on the sentence of the judge the lost man, soul and body, is cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death.
While both memory and conscience will afflict the lost forever, the lake of fire is punitive, and not the remorse of conscience, which is only consequential. That this final sentence is punitive appears from Mat 25:41 ; Mat 25:46 , and 2Th 1:7-9 . It is further described by our Lord as a destruction of soul and body in Gehenna, and directly contrasted with the first death, or the death of the body: “And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Greek Gehenna).
This promise was specially precious to the church at Smyrna, at that time undergoing persecution unto death. The devil, through his agents, might kill their bodies, the first death, but these martyrs should not be hurt of the second death.
3. “I will give to him the hidden manna.” The “hidden manna” is an allusion to the memorial pot of manna hidden in the ark of the covenant. This represented Christ as the bread of life, sent from heaven see the great discussion, Joh 6:27-59 . Whosoever by faith appropriates the body and blood of Christ has eaten food which nourishes unto eternal life. An eater of the manna in the desert did not escape death, but the believer in Jesus Christ, antitype of the memorial manna hidden in the ark of the covenant, shall never die.
This promise is on a line with the preceding one, and particularly appropriate to Pergamos, whose heretics were eating the meat offered to idols, following Balaam, which was a food unto death, but whose faithful ones are promised the bread of life.
4. “I will give him a white stone and on the stone a new name written which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it.” Observe that this is the second promise to the church at Pergamos. To the same person is given both “the hidden manna” and “the stone,” whose inscription is hidden to all but the recipient. There appears to be a connection of thought between the two promised which may be helpful toward an interpretation of the white stone. Let us follow up this clue.
Satan’s throne was at Pergamos. That is, he completely dominated the municipal government. This was a Greek city, subject to Greek method of judicial procedure. A test of loyalty to the government would be a participation in the idolatrous feasts. We know from Paul’s letter to the Greek city of Corinth that a Christian might not eat at both the Lord’s table and the devil’s table, nor drink of both the Lord’s cup and the cup of devils. So refraining from the heathen idol feasts was a test of loyalty to Christ. And so the same Satan who inspired Balaam to spring this test on the Israelites inspired the later Balaamites to compromise on this open communion between the two religions) and inspires the municipal government to demand like compromises of the other members of the church. Fear may have prompted the tempted to this compromise, and fear may have inspired the church to refrain from disciplining the heretical and immoral members, especially after their pastor, Antipas, was murdered for his fidelity.
A Greek city expressed judgment on persons arraigned by a kind of ballot, using shells as at Athens, or pebbles here whose significance declared for acquittal or condemnation white for acquittal or black for guilty. Following this line of thought the promise would mean: If the devil-prompted city condemns your loyalty to Christ by a ballot of black pebbles, he will acquit you by the white stone of justification. This view gathers force from the title of our Lord when addressing the church: “These things saith he that hath the sharp two-edged sword.” (Rev 2:12 ). In the vision, Rev 1:16 , this sword issues from his mouth, and hence represents his word of judgment. It is a judge symbol (Heb 4:12-13 ). Moreover, the inscription on the white stone can be made to harmonize with this interpretation. It is a “new name” unknown to the heathen judges, but well known to the recipient. If this be our Lord’s own new name as later revealed in the book (Rev 19:12-13 ; Rev 19:16 ) it is intensely significant in the connection: “Word of God,” “King of kings and Lord of lords,” i.e., the earthly judgment condemns, the divine judgment acquits, the condemnation is from earthly lords the justification from the Lord of lords. The expression “known only to him who receives it” means the assurance of divine acceptance, the witness of the Spirit, bearing witness with his own spirit, which, being entirely a matter of personal experience, cannot be known to any one except the recipient.
5. “And I will give him authority over nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter are broken into shivers.”
More than any one of the other promises does this one need careful exposition. Its misinterpretation has been productive of monstrous evils in the Christian centuries, and the end is not yet. It is quoted to support the Romanist pretension that all nations are under the absolute jurisdiction of the Papal hierarchy, in the exercise of which continents have been bestowed upon favorite monarchs, kings have been dethroned subjects absolved from allegiance, crusades preached, property confiscated, cruel persecutions waged, marriages annulled family ties dissolved. The record of these evils constitutes the bloodiest volumes in the annals of time. Nor has its misuse been limited to the Romanists. The evils are not less evil when flowing from Protestant or Greek Catholic misapplication. They have prevailed whenever and wherever religious sectaries of any name have usurped control over states. “The mad men of Munster,” the Cameronians of Scotland, the Fifth Monarchy men of Cromwell’s day, the Muggletonians and Mormons of this country, all belong to the same category
In order to correct interpretation we must first understand the terms employed and their biblical usage.
(a) First of all, the promise, whatever it means, is not to any religious denomination or ecclesiastical organization, but only to the individual Christian who overcomes: “To him that overcometh I will give” it is not a grant of power to any one of the seven churches, nor to all of them combined. This is a capital, fundamental, crucial, vital fact, essential to correct interpretation.
(b) The promise is not “power” Greek dunamis but “authority” Greek exousia .
(c) The verb “shall rule” is not basileuo , but poimaino , which means “to shepherd” “he shall shepherd them.”
(d) “The rod of iron,” Greek rabdos rod of correction is the shepherd’s rod, iron-tipped at one end, and with a crook at the other end. See the Septuagint for the Shepherd Psalm: “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” The shepherd does not carry two things, one a rod, and the other a staff, but the same thing is either rod or staff according to its use. See the author’s sermon on Psa 23:4 .
(e) The “breaking into shivers as a potter’s vessel,” is not necessarily for ultimate destruction, but may look to reconstruction (see Jer 18:4-10 ). It becomes destructive only when impenitence becomes incorrigible (Jer 19:1-11 ), and even then applies not to all the nation but only to its hostile elements. In other words, we miss the mark if we construe all this rule as punitive. The primary intent looks to correction and salvation; as the shepherd goads the wandering sheep with the iron-tipped end of his staff into a safer path, or draws him back from a precipice with the crook at the other end, or sets up the staff as an ensign for rallying the flock together in time of danger, or with it counts them each morning and evening as they, one by one, “pass under the rod” in leaving the fold for pasturage or returning to it for shelter, or in using it as a weapon of offence against the enemies of the flock.
(f) This rule, or shepherding, so far as exercised mediately in time by him that overcometh, is not executive, but instructive and declarative. When God, in time, “hews a nation by a prophet,” the prophet simply declares, but does not execute the divine threat. As Jonah was sent, not to overturn Nineveh, but merely to declare “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” And the case of Nineveh will show the merciful intent of Jeremiah’s illustration of the potter’s vessel: “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation or kingdom to pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy it, if that nation concerning which I have spoken turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them” (Jer 19:7-10 ).
The overcoming Christian, like the ancient prophet, is God’s mouthpiece to the nations: “Behold! I have put my words into thy mouth: see this day I have put thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy, and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jer 1:9-10 .)
Even in the prototype of our passage (Psa 2:8-12 ), where the nations are given to our ascended Lord for an inheritance, and where it is said: “Thou shalt break them with an iron rod, and shalt dash them into pieces as a potter’s vessel,” the verses which follow show the merciful and instructive intent of the threat. Which passage naturally leads to our last thought in this connection:
The authority promised is derivative and limited, and not inherent and absolute, and arises from the overcoming Christian’s unity with Christ and his representative function of acting mediately for Christ. This is evident from the modifying clause: “even as I have received from my Father.”
Here it is quite important to understand the meritorious ground of Christ’s own authority, how received and to what end, since what he received is that which he imparts and certainly to the same end, and which so imparted must be exercised as he himself used it. The authority in question does not rise from his Sonship in eternity, but from his Sonship in the flesh. It is expressly said to be derived from the voluntary humiliation and vicarious expiation of sin in the flesh. See particularly Phi 2:6-11 . Hence, historically, he was invested with universal sovereignty after his resurrection. The author insists that you carefully study this proof: Dan 7:13-14 ; Psa 2:1-12 ; Psa 110:1 ; Act 2:33-36 ; Act 4:25-27 ; Rev 5:12-14 . In times antecedent to his actual historical sacrifice for sin, when sin is remitted to a penitent believer or rule exercised over a nation, it is by anticipation of that sacrifice, God accepting his promise to die for man as if already it had been done, so that as this book later puts it: “A Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
In his exalted and glorified humanity he was made “head over all things to his church.” It is to this he refers as the predicate of his Great Commission: “All authority in heaven and on earth is given unto me. Go ye, therefore, disciple all the nations” (Mat 28:18 ). And from this passage we gather both the method and the end of “shepherding the nations.” The method is not a carnal one, by fire and sword, as rule is enforced by worldly kingdoms, but spiritual. The primary end is not destruction, but salvation. The exercise of this authority, whether by himself directly, or mediately through his people, is to promote the interest of his spiritual kingdom. Hence the proximate result of its exercise is expressed in Dan 2:44 ; Psa 72:5-17 ; Rev 11:15 , and its ultimate result in Rev 21:23-27 . The capital error of the Jews throughout the ages has been an expectation of a Messiah who would in a literal earthly sense occupy the throne of David in Jerusalem and dominate the world. This idea, which he repudiated so emphatically at his first advent, he will not adopt at his final advent. The premillennial contention to the contrary is the most notorious anticlimax in all the vagaries of interpretation.
6. “And I will give him the morning star.” This is the second promise to the faithful in Thyatira. The meaning of this symbolism is obvious. As the morning star is the herald of the coming day, so to the faithful our Lord will give a premonition of the final glorious triumph. This, of course, is the inward assurance by the Spirit realized in personal experience, just as the white stone symbol of acquittal bears an inscription equal to internal assurance, known only to the recipient. As Peter expresses it, we have the surer word of prophecy shining as a lamp in the night: “until the day star arise in your hearts.” Paul (1Th 5:3-4 ) declares that in the day of our Lord, which comes as a thief in the night, the destruction of the wicked is sudden, and adds by way of contrast: “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” There is no question that the final advent of our Lord to raise the dead and judge the world will be personal, visible, audible, palpable, and that this advent is the great event of the future, as his first advent was until his incarnation. Nor is it questioned that this book, as others of the New Testament, clearly discusses it. But it is equally clear, in this and other New Testament books, that signal time events, as the coming of the Spirit, and particularly great judgments as the destruction of Jerusalem, or the removal of a candlestick, or death to an individual, are called “a coming of the Lord.” In this sense he is always coming. He is only a tyro in biblical interpretation who insists that every scriptural reference to a coming of the Lord must be construed as an allusion to his final advent. The promise of the gift of the “morning star” applies as much to these time comings as to his final advent, e.g., he gave to his elect a premonitory sign which enabled them to escape the wrath of his coming in the destruction of Jerusalem.
7. “He shall be arrayed in white garments.” This is the first promise to the overcoming few in Sardis who “had not defiled their garments.” In order to a correct interpretation of this passage we must collate it with the following correlative passages: The “wedding garment” of Mat 22:12 ; the “white robe” conferred on the souls of the martyrs, Rev 7:9 ; Rev 7:13-14 ; the fine linen or wedding garment of the Bride at the marriage of the Lamb, Rev 19:7-8 ; and the “washed robes” that entitle to the tree of life, Rev 22:14 .
Once in my early ministry, before preaching a sermon on the “Wedding Garment” of Mat 22:12 , I read Dr. Broadus’ comment on the passage interpreting the wedding garment to mean righteousness in character and life, adding: “But to bring in the Pauline conception of imputed righteousness, and understand the parable to teach that, we must put on the wedding garment of Christ’s imputed righteousness, is altogether out of place.” Then, I read Dr. Gill’s comment, taking the opposite position, insisting that we must interpret the wedding garment to mean the imputed righteousness of Christ. Whereupon a lawyer of my congregation whispered to another lawyer: “When Broadus points one way and Gill another way this darky is swine to take to the woods.” The other replied: “Before taking to the woods, let’s hear the pastor.”
So I say now, before taking to the woods on this promise, hear the author, for there is a middle road agreeing in part, with both Broadus and Gill, and following neither altogether. Both are right in interpreting the wedding garment to mean righteousness, or holiness, rather, but this holiness is not limited, as Gill would have it, to justification, nor to character and life as Broadus has it. But Dr. Broadus is nearer right than Gill in this that the wedding garment righteousness refers not at all to the salvation done for us that is to say, in its legal aspects as accomplished by redemption, justification, and adoption but altogether to the salvation wrought in us by both regeneration and sanctification. Every redeemed, justified, and adopted man is at the same time internally cleansed from the defilement of sin by the Spirit’s application of Christ’s blood. This is the first and an essential part of regeneration. Regeneration consists of (1) cleansing from the defilement of sin by the Spirit’s application of the blood of Christ, and (2) of renewing. Both of these integral parts of regeneration come at justification. Then the work of internal cleansing, begun in regeneration, is carried on through sanctification, which is completed at the death of the body, so that of these disembodied saints we may say with Heb 12:23 , “The spirits of just men (justified) made perfect,” or with Rev 6:11 , “And there was given them to each one a white robe” i.e., to the soul of each martyr underneath the altar, as revealed at the opening of the fifth seal.
The cleansing part of regeneration was typified by the sprinkling with a bunch of hyssop, of the liquefied ashes of the red heifer, or water of purification (Eze 36:25 ; Heb 9:13-14 ). This is “the washing of regeneration” in Tit 3:5 , referred to also in 1Co 6:11 , “Such were some of you, but ye were washed.” And, if you are able to bear it, this is the “born of water” in Joh 3:5 , which Nicodemus, a teacher in Israel, was rebuked for not understanding, so clearly was it taught in the Old Testament.
In the same way was the cleansing of sanctification applied to the penitent backslider David (Psa 51:2 ; Psa 51:7 ), “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin; purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” And to the cleansing of both regeneration and sanctification does Paul refer in Eph 5:26-27 , “That he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of the water with the word, that he might present the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” The grace of this cleansing, whether in regeneration or sanctification, appears from its efficient cause, the blood of Christ: “And one of the elders answered saying unto me: These that are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and “whence come they? And I say unto him, My Lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they that come out of great tribulation, and they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” “Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to come to the tree of life and may enter in by the gates into the city.”
Now, this internal cleansing, this perfecting in personal holiness, is symbolized by-the white robe, or wedding garment: And it was given unto the Lamb’s wife that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.” Note the plural “righteousnesses,” which does not mean as the Revision puts it “the righteous acts of the saints.” This would flatly contradict the regeneration part of this righteousness (see Tit 3:5 ). And so it would contradict the many cleansings of sanctification “Christ being made unto us sanctifications,” every time as in David’s case, the Spirit applies the same cleansing blood.
It is true enough that the regenerated man, progressing in sanctification, acquires personal character, exhibited in life and good works. But this is not what is meant by the wedding garment of Matthew or the white robe of Revelation, which is the same thing. The white robe means holiness, as God is holy. The means of the cleansing is Christ’s atoning blood. This is applied by the Spirit and apprehended by faith. The whole of it is God’s work and is of grace from the first cleansing in regeneration to the last cleansing of sanctification. That it is not character on earth is evident from Rev 6:2 , where it is bestowed after death. So with the teaching of Rev 7:13-14 , and Rev 19:7 . The glorious result is expressed in Eph 5:27 “that he might present the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” It will also be forever true that the elect are immune from any law charge because wrapped in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us when by faith we are espoused to Christ. And also forever true that the white robe of the marriage is another thing, being personal holiness wrought in us by the Holy Spirit in regeneration and sanctification. It is therefore respectfully submitted that Dr. Gill is in error when he expounds the wedding garment to be Christ’s righteousness imputed to us, or anything done for us in the legal acts of redemption, justification, adoption, and equally so that Dr. Broadus is mistaken when he interprets it to mean our character or life as the embodiment of deeds done by us, no matter how much they may have been the fruits of grace. But it means personal holiness wrought in us by the Holy Spirit:
(1) By the cleansing of regeneration when the blood of Christ is applied by the Spirit. Eze 36:25 ; Heb 9:14 ; first clause of Heb 10:22 ; Tit 3:5 , first clause; 1Co 6:11 , first clause.
(2) By the continued cleansing of sanctification until holiness of spirit is perfected as in the cleansing of backslidden David (Psa 2:2 ; Psa 2:7 ); in the continual changes into Christ’s image (2Co 3:18 ).
That both the cleansing in regeneration and the subsequent cleansing of sanctification are meant is evident from that one supreme proof text, Eph 5:26 , compared with Rev 6:11 , first clause, and Rev 7:13-14 ; Rev 22:14 .
The plural “righteousnesses” in Rev 19:8 , refers therefore not to acts of the saints but to the Spirit’s acts in the saints.
8. “7 will in no wise blot out his name out of the book of life.” This is the second promise to the faithful at Sardis. Two questions are: (1) What is the book of life, and (2) the exact force of not blotting out the name?
What, then, is the book of life? By its very name it is a register of immortals. “He that believeth in me shall never die” shall never come into condemnation “but hath eternal life.” The nature of this book may be considered from one of two views:
(1) A list of all his elect as God saw them before the foundation of the world. This would be the list of the original divine purpose. This view has been supported largely by an interpretation of Rev 13:8 ; Rev 17:8 ; but this interpretation is very doubtful, since it makes the phrase “from the foundation of the world” modify “written in the book” rather than the “Lamb slain.” Your Standard Revision supports this view.
(2) A much safer view is that it is a register of judicial decisions, each name written when the owner is justified (Isa 4:3 ). It has this meaning in Rev 20:15 ; Rev 21:27 , and Dan 12:1 . And because this judicial decision is irrevocable, it explains the ground of joy in our Saviour’s words to the seventy (Luk 10:20 ), and the fact that no indictment can be drawn against God’s elect, since it is God that justifies (Rom 8:33 ). See also Phi 4:3 , and Heb 12:23 .
On the meaning of this book and its use at the judgment (Rev 20:15 ) is written this hymn: When thou, my righteous judge, shalt come To take thy ransomed people home, Shall I among them stand? Shall I, who sometimes am afraid to die, Be found at thy right hand? Oh, can I bear the piercing thought: What if my name shall be left out?
What then is the exact force of not blotting out the name? In all Greek cities, and later at Rome, there was an enrolment of citizens as distinguished from the general population who had no rights of citizenship. Citizenship could be forfeited during life by adjudged infidelity to the city, decided by a vote of the unaccused citizens, followed by erasure of the name. Some of the best citizens were thus, by prejudice, ostracized, as Greek history shows. A Christian citizen of Sardis might thus lose citizenship on account of loyalty to Christ. Of course, death ended this earthly citizenship. It is the object of the promise to contrast the enrolled citizenship in the heavenly Jerusalem with the enrolled citizenship in Sardis. The point of contrast lies between two citizenships, the two enrolments, and particularly in the fact that heavenly citizenship, after once being enrolled, was never forfeited: “I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life.” Many commentaries miss the point in supposing that the heavenly enrolment is a probationary list, subject to erasure, and that this implication inheres in the promise as well as in the threat of Rev 22:19 . Your author is fully persuaded that this position is untenable. He not only admits, but contends, that citizenship was forfeitable not only in Greek cities and in Rome, but also in the Jewish state, but utterly denies it of the heavenly citizenship, and that this very fact is the essence of the promise.
9. “I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name.”
Perhaps the most imposing, most ornamental, if not the most useful parts of a great edifice are its pillars. Only the wealth of a king could supply even one of the pillars of the temple of Diana at Ephesus. The surviving pillars in the ruins of ancient temples and cities yet challenge the admiration of the world as masterpieces of human skill and genius. It marked the prominence and importance of James, Cephas, and John to be “reputed as pillars” in the Jerusalem church (Gal 2:9 ), and glorified the church when called “the pillar of the truth” (1Ti 3:15 ). To be made, therefore, an everlasting pillar in the heavenly temple is an expression of the highest honor. This honor is enhanced by the inscriptions on it by the divine architect himself the name of God, the name of the new Jerusalem, the new name of the architect himself, to wit: “Faithful and True . . .
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev 19:11 ; Rev 19:13 ; Rev 19:16 ).
10. “I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father in his throne.” This is not the throne of ruling, expressed in a previous promise, but the throne of final judgment. On the last great day, earth’s supreme assize, the faithful ones are placed at the Lord’s right hand, i.e., on his judgment throne (Mat 25:31 ; Mat 25:33 ), and shall participate with him in passing judgment on wicked men and angels. Jesus had already promised to his apostles that in the world’s regeneration ( palingenesia , i.e.) the time of the restoration of all things), they should sit on the twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Mat 19:29 ). And Paul had said: “Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world? Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” (1Co 6:3 ). What a reversal of earth condition when the Sanhedrin that tried Peter and John shall be judged by them! When Gallic, Festus, Agrippa, and Nero shall stand before Paul’s tribunal. What poetic justice when Job and Peter shall judge the devil.
Note: The questions on this chapter consist of the meaning of each promise, or part of a promise.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Ver. 7. Let him hear ] Not with that gristle only that grows upon his head, but with the ear of his heart. Let him draw up the ear of his heart to the ear on his head, that one sound may pierce both. Or, Let him hear what, &c., that is, Let him hear for himself, hear and know that (each member for his own good) that was delivered to the whole Church.
To eat of the tree of life ] This tree is Christ. The devil also (as he loves to be God’s ape) hath prompted Mahomet to promise to such as die in war for the Mahometan faith, delicious fare in Paradise, pleasant walks, and other sensual delights eternally to be enjoyed, notwithstanding any former sins.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
7 .] Solemn conclusion of the Epistle . He that hath an ear (no fanciful distinction must be imagined between the singular, and the plural which is found in the Gospels (reff.): nor must we imagine with Hengst. that denotes the spiritual hearing or apprehension. We have precisely the same use of the sing. in Mat 10:27 , : where the distinction will hardly be maintained), let him hear what the Spirit ( , speaking in its fulness, through Him to whom it is given without measure, to John who was , in a state of spiritual ecstasy and receptivity: cf. Joh 16:13 ) saith to the churches (Ebrard well notices that not a colon, but a full stop must be put here, as indeed might be shewn from the way in which the proclamation is repeated in Rev 2:29 and in ch. Rev 3:6 ; Rev 3:13 ; Rev 3:22 . It directs attention, not to that which follows only, but to the whole contents of the seven Epistles). To him that conquereth (the verb is absolute, without any object expressed as in reff. John and 1 John. So of Christ Himself in ch. Rev 3:21 ), I will give to him (the personal pronoun is repeated both idiomatically and for emphasis) to eat (i. e. I will permit him to eat: not in the ordinary sense of giving to eat : see ch. Rev 3:21 , . of (the fruit of) the tree (see ref. Gen., from which the words come: and to suit which apparently the words have been substituted for ) of life, which is in the paradise of (my) God (the way to which tree was closed up after man’s sin, Gen 3:24 . The promise, and its expression, are in the closest connexion with our Lord’s discourse in Joh 6 , as will be seen by comparing Gen 3:22 , , , , , with Joh 6:51 , , . But we need not therefore say (as Ebrard: so also Calov.) that Christ is the tree of life here, nor confuse the figure by introducing one which in its character is distinct from it. Still less, as Grot., is the tree to be interpreted as being the Holy Spirit. See, for the imagery, ch. Rev 22:2 ; Rev 22:14 ; Rev 22:19 .
There is meaning in ( ) . The two former words as following , come from Eze 28:13 , and set forth the holiness and glory of that paradise as consisting in God’s dwelling and delighting in it: and the adjunct ( Joh 20:17 ), if read, connects this holiness and glory with Him who is ours, and who has every right to make the promise in virtue of his own peculiar part in God.
On the whole image and expression, see Schttgen, h. 1., who adduces many parallels from the rabbinical writings).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rev 2:7 . A stringent demand for attention ( , : Clem. Alex.) to the utterances of prophets who were inspired by the Spirit (of prophecy, cf. on Rev 19:10 ). These as usual are ejaculatory, positive and brief . scattered local communities, and not a Catholic organisation, being the conception of the Apocalypse, it is for use in their public worship that this book is written (Rev 1:3 ). It is a subordinate and literary question whether the seer means in such phrases as this to designate himself (Weinel, 84 f.) liturgically as the speaker, or whether (as the synoptic parallels suggest) they form an integral part of the whole menage. In any case the prophet represents himself simply as the medium for receiving and recording ( cf. Rev 1:19 ) these oracles of the Spirit ( cf. Rev 14:13 , Rev 19:9 , Rev 20:17). Unlike other writers such as Paul and the authors of Hebrew and 1 John, he occupies a passive rle, throwing his personal rebuke and counsels into the form Thus saith the Spirit : but this really denotes the confidence felt by the prophet in his own inspiration and authority. The Spirit here, though less definitely than in Hermas, is identified with Jesus speaking through his prophets: it represents sudden counsels and semi-oracular utterances ( cf. on Rev 1:10 ), not a continuous power in the normal moral life of the saints in general. The seven promises denote security of immortal life (positively as here and Rev 2:28 or negatively as Rev 2:11 ), privilege (personal, Rev 2:17 , or official, Rev 2:27 ), honour (Rev 3:5 ; Rev 3:21 ), or increased intimacy (Rev 3:12 ). As usual, ( cf. 1Co 2:9 f.), the higher Christian is connected with eschatology.
Observe the singling out for encouragement and praise of each soldier in the host of the loyal. The effect resembles that produced by Pericles in his panegyric over the Athenians who had fallen in the Peloponnesian war: “together they gave up their lives, yet individually they won this deathless praise” (Thuc. ii. 43, 2). (a quasi-perfect), in Herm. Mand. Rev 12:2 ; Rev 12:4 f., Rev 5:2 ; Rev 5:4 , Rev 6:2 ; Rev 6:4 (over sin and devil), might have its usual Johannine sense, the struggle being obedience in face of the seductions and hardships which beset people aiming to keep the divine commandments ( cf. on Joh 16:33 ). For a special application of the term, see Rev 15:2 . But behind the general usage lies the combination of “to be pure or just” and “to conquer or triumph” in the Hebrew de and the Syriac zedh . Furthermore, throughout is equivalent to the Egyptian eschatological term “victorious,” applied to those who passed successfully through life’s temptations and the judgment after death. Its generic sense is illustrated by 4 Ezra 7 :[128]: “here is the intent of the battle to be fought by man born upon earth: if he be overcome, he shall suffer as thou hast said; but if he conquer, he shall receive the thing of which I speak” ( i.e. , paradise and its glories). The Essenes according to Josephus ( Ant. xviii. 1, 5), held the soul was immortal, eternal life the reward of an untiring, unsoiled fight against evil. The imagery of the metaphor is drawn from Jewish eschatology which anticipated the reversal of the doom incurred in Eden; cf. Test. Levi , 18, , also En. xxiv. 1 11, 25., xxxi. 1 3, etc., and (for Egyptian ideas) below on Rev 3:21 . The garden-park of God ( . = a garden with fruit-trees, Wilcken’s Griech. Ostraka , i. 157) is one of the intermediate abodes, possibly (as in Slav. En. viii. 1, and Paul) the third heaven where the favoured saints live after death in seclusion and bliss, So Iren. ver 5. 1 (abode of translated) and ver 36, 1 2, where heaven is for the Christians of the hundredfold fruit, paradise for the sixty-fold, and the heavenly city for the thirty-fold (a very ancient Christian tradition). The tree of life blooms in most of the apocalypses ( cf. on Rev 22:2 ). Philo had already allegorised it into . But the allusion corresponds to the general eschatological principle (borrowed from Babylonia, where cosmological myths passed into eschatological) that the end was to be a transcendently fine renovation of the original state (Barn. vi. 8). a deliberate addition to the O.T. phrase; Christ’s relation to God guarantees his promise of such a privilege (Rev 3:12 ). God’s gift (Rom 6:23 ) is Christ’s gift. He is no fair promiser like Antigonus II., whom men dubbed for his large and unfulfilled undertakings (Plut. Coriol. xi.).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Revelation
I. – THE VICTOR’S LIFE-FOOD
Rev 2:7
The sevenfold promises which conclude the seven letters to the Asiatic Churches, of which this is the first, are in substance one. We may, indeed, say that the inmost moaning of them all is the gift of Christ Himself. But the diamond flashes variously coloured lights according to the angle at which it is held, and breaks into red and green and white. The one great thought may be looked at from different points of view, and sparkle into diversely splendid rays. The reality is single and simple, but so great that our best way of approximating to the apprehension of that which we shall never comprehend till we possess it is to blend various conceptions and metaphors drawn from different sources,
I have a strong conviction that the Christianity of this day suffers, intellectually and practically, from its comparative neglect of the teaching of the New Testament as to the future life. We hear and think a great deal less about it than was once the case and we are thereby deprived of a strong motive for action, and a sure comfort in sorrow. Some of us may, perhaps, be disposed to look with a little sense of lofty pity at the simple people who let the hope of heaven spur, or restrain, or console. But if there is a future life at all, and if the characteristic of it which most concerns us is that it is the reaping, in consequences, of the acts of the present, surely it cannot be such superior wisdom, as it sometimes pretends to be, to ignore it altogether; and perhaps the simplicity of the said people is more in accordance with the highest reason than is our attitude.
Be that as it may, believing, as I do, that the hope of immortality is meant to fill a very large place in the Christian life, and fearing, as I do, that it actually does fill but a very small one with many of us, I have thought that it might do us all good to turn to this wealth of linked promises and to consider them in succession, so as to bring our hearts for a little while into contact with the motive for brave fighting which does occupy so large a space in the New Testament, however it may fail to do so in our lives.
I. I ask you to look first at the Gift.
Now, of course, I need scarcely remind you that this first promise, in the last book of Scripture, goes back to the beginning, to the old story in Genesis about Paradise and the Tree of Life. We may distinguish between the substance of the promise and the highly metaphorical form into which it is here cast. The substance of the promise is the communication of life; the form is a poetic and imaginative and pregnant allusion to the story on the earliest pages of Revelation.
Let me deal first with the substance. Now it seems to me that if we are to pare down this word ‘ life ‘ to its merely physical sense of continuous existence, this is not a promise that a man’s heart leaps up at the hearing of. To anybody that will honestly think, and try to realize, in the imperfect fashion in which alone it is possible for us to realize it, that notion of an absolutely interminable continuance of being, its awfulness is far more than its blessedness, and it overwhelms a man. It seems to me that the ‘crown of life,’ if life only means conscious existence, would be a crown of thorns indeed.
No, brethren, what our hearts crave, and what Christ’s heart gives, is not the mere bare, bald, continuance of conscious being. It is something far deeper than that. That is the substratum, of course; but it is only the substratum, and not until we let in upon this word, which is one of the key-words of Scripture, the full flood of light that comes to it from John’s Gospel, and its use on the Master’s lips there, do we begin to understand the meaning of this great promise. Just as we say of men who are sunk in gross animalism, or whose lives are devoted to trivial and transient aims, that theirs is not worth calling life, so we say that the only thing that deserves, and that in Scripture gets, the august name of ‘life,’ is a condition of existence in conscious union with, and possession of, God, who is manifested and communicated to mortals through Jesus Christ His Son. ‘In Him was life, and the life was manifested.’ Was that bare existence? And the life was not only manifested but communicated, and the essence of it is fellowship with God through Jesus Christ. The possession of ‘ the Spirit of life which was in Christ,’ and which in heaven will be perfectly communicated, will make men ‘free,’ as they never can be upon earth whilst implicated in the bodily life of this material world, ‘from the law of sin and death.’ The gift that Christ bestows on him that ‘overcometh’ is not only conscious existence, but existence derived from, and, so to speak, embraided with the life of God Himself, and therefore blessed.
For such a life, in union with God in Christ, is the only condition in which all a man’s capacities find their fitting objects, and all his activity finds its appropriate sphere, and in which, therefore, to live is to be blessed, because the heart is united with the source and fountain of all blessedness. Here is the deepest depth of that promise of future blessedness. It is not mainly because of any changes, glorious as these must necessarily be, which follow upon the dropping away of flesh, and the transportation into the light that is above, that heaven is a place of blessedness, but it is because the saints that are there are joined to God, and into their recipient hearts there pours for ever the fullness of the Divine life. That makes the glory and the blessedness.
But let us remember that all which can come hereafter of that full and perfect life is but the continuance, the development, the increase, of that which already is possessed. Here it falls in drops; there in floods. Here it is filtered; there poured. Here, the plant, taken from its native climate and soil, puts forth some pale blossoms, and grows but to a stunted height; there, set in their deep native soil, and shone upon by a more fervent sun, and watered by more abundant warm rains and dews, ‘they that ‘on earth’ were planted in the house of the Lord shall, transplanted, ‘flourish in the courts of our God.’ The life of the Christian soul on earth and of the Christian soul in heaven is continuous, and though there is a break to our consciousness looking from this side the break of death the reality is that without interruption, and without a turn, the road runs on in the same direction. We begin to live the life of heaven here, and they who can say, ‘I was dead in trespasses and sins, but the life which I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,’ have already the germs of the furthest development in the heavens in their hearts.
Notice, for a moment, the form that this great promise assumes here. That is a very pregnant and significant reference to the Tree of Life in the paradise of God, The old story tells how the cherub with the flaming sword was set to guard the way to it. And that paradise upon earth faded and disappeared. But it reappears. ‘ Then comes a statelier Eden back to man,’ for Jesus Christ is the restorer of all lost blessings; and the Divine purpose and ideal has not faded away amidst the clouds of the stormy day of earth’s history, like the flush of morning from off the plains. Christ brings back the Eden, and quenches the flame of the fiery sword; and instead of the repellent cherub, there stands Himself with the merciful invitation upon His lips: ‘Come! Eat; and live for ever.’
There never was one lost good; what was shall live as before.
On the earth the broken arcs; in heaven the perfect round.’
Eden shall come back; and the paradise into which the victors go is richer and fuller, by all their conflict and their wounds, than ever could have been the simpler paradise of which souls innocent, because untried, could have been capable. So much for the gift of life.
II. Notice, secondly, the Giver.
This is a majestic utterance; worthy of coming from the majestic Figure portrayed in the first chapter of this book. In it Jesus Christ claims to be the Arbiter of men’s deserts and Giver of their rewards. That involves His judicial function, and therefore His Divine as well as human nature. I accept these words as truly His words. Of course, if you do not, my present remarks have no force for you; but if you do not, you ought to be very sure of your reasons for not doing so; and if you do, then I see not how any man who believes that Jesus Christ has said that He will give to all the multitude of faithful fighters, who have brought their shields out of the battle, and their swords undinted, the gift of life eternal, can be vindicated from the charge of taking too much upon him, except on the belief of His Divine nature.
But I observe, still further, that this great utterance of the Lord’s, paralleled in all the other six promises, in all of which He is represented as the bestower of the reward, whatever it may be, involves another thing, viz., the eternal continuance of Christ’s relation to men as the Revealer and Mediator of God. ‘I will give’ and that not only when the victor crosses the threshold and enters the Capitol of the heavens, but all through its ceaseless ages Christ is the Medium by which the Divine life passes into men. True, there is a sense in which He shall deliver up the kingdom to His Father, when the partial end of the present dispensation has come. But He is the Priest of mankind for ever; and for ever is His kingdom enduring. And through all the endless ages, which we have a right to hope we shall see, there will never come a point in which it will not remain as true as it is at this moment: ‘No man hath seen God at any time, nor can see Him; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.’ Christ is for ever the Giver of life in the heavens as on earth.
Another thing is involved which I think also is often lost sight of. The Bible does not know anything about what people call ‘natural immortality. ‘Life here is not given to the infant once for all, and then expended through the years, but it is continually being bestowed. My belief is that no worm that creeps, nor angel that soars, nor any of the beings between, is alive for one instant except for the continual communication from the fountain of life, of the life that they live. And still more certainly is it true about the. future, that there all the blessedness and the existence, which is the substratum and condition of the blessedness, are only ours because, wavelet by wavelet, throbbing out as from a central fountain, there flows into the Redeemed a life communicated by Christ Himself. If I might so say were that continual bestowment to cease, then heaven, like the vision of a fairy tale, would fade away; and there would be nothing left where the glory had shone. ‘I will give’ through eternity.
III. Lastly, note the Recipients.
‘To him that overcometh.’ Now I need not say, in more than a sentence, that it seems to me that the fair interpretation of this promise, as of all the other references in Scripture to the future life, is that the reward is immediately consequent upon the cessation of the struggle. ‘To depart ‘ is ‘to be with Christ,’ and to be with Christ, in regard of a spirit which has passed from the bodily environment, is to be conscious of His presence, and lapt in His robe, feeling the warmth and the pressure of His heart. So I believe that Scripture teaches us that at one moment there may be the clash of battle, and the whiz of the arrows round one’s head, and next moment there may be the laurel-crowned quiet of the victor.
But that does not enter so much into our consideration now. We have, rather, here to think of just this one thing, that the gift is given to the victor because only the victor is capable of receiving it; that future life, interpreted as I have ventured to interpret it in this sermon, is no arbitrary bestowment that could be dealt all round miscellaneously to everybody, if the Giver chose so to give. Here on earth many gifts are bestowed upon men, and are neglected by them, and wasted like water spilled upon the ground; but this elixir of life is not poured out so. It is only poured into vessels that can take it in and hold it.
Our present struggle is meant to make us capable of the heavenly life. And that is I was going to say the only, but at all events incomparably the chiefest, of the thoughts which make life not only worth living, but great and solemn. Go into a mill, and in a quiet room, often detached from the main building, you will find the engine working, and seeming to do nothing but go up and down. But there is a shaft which goes through the wall and takes the power to the looms.
We are working here, and we are making the cloth that we shall have to own and say, ‘Yes, it is my manufacture!’ when we get yonder. According to our life to-day will be our destiny in the great tomorrow. Life is given to the victor, because the victor only is capable of possessing it.
But the victor can only conquer in one way. ‘This,’ said John, when he was not an apocalyptic seer, but a Christian teacher to the Churches of Asia, ‘this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.’ If we trust in Christ we shall get His power into our hearts, and if we get His power into our hearts, then ‘we shall be more than conquerors through Him that loved us.’ Christ gives life eternal, gives it here in germ and yonder in fullness. In its fullness only those who overcome are capable of receiving it. Those only who fight the good fight by His help overcome. Those only who trust in Him fight the good fight by His help. He gives to eat of the Tree of Life; He gives it to faith, but faith must be militant. He gives it to the conqueror, but the conqueror must win by faith in Him who overcame the world for us, who will help us to overcome the world by Him.
Help us, O our God, we beseech Thee; ‘teach our hands to war, and our fingers to fight.’ Give us grace to hold fast by the life which is in Jesus Christ; and living by Him the lives which we live in the flesh, may we be capable, by the discipline of earth’s sorrows, of that rest and fuller ‘life which remaineth for the people of God.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
He, &c. A formula used by the Lord alone. See App-142.
Spirit App-101.
saith = is saying.
overcometh. See Joh 16:33. The verb nikao, to conquer or overcome, occurs seventeen times in Rev.
the tree, &c. the tree of the life. Promise fulfilled Rev 22:14, where also the articles differentiate from Eze 47:12.
tree. Literally wood. Greek. xulon, as used frequently in Septuagint, e.g. Exo 7:25.
life. App-170.
Paradise of God. See reference in App-173. Paradise is always used in Scripture for a definite place; is described in Gen 2; lost in Gen 3; its restoration spoken of by the Lord in Luk 23:43; seen in vision by Paul, 2Co 12:2, 2Co 12:4; promised here, Rev 2:7; restored, Rev 22:1-5, Rev 22:14-17.
God. App-98.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
7.] Solemn conclusion of the Epistle. He that hath an ear (no fanciful distinction must be imagined between the singular, and the plural which is found in the Gospels (reff.): nor must we imagine with Hengst. that denotes the spiritual hearing or apprehension. We have precisely the same use of the sing. in Mat 10:27, : where the distinction will hardly be maintained), let him hear what the Spirit ( , speaking in its fulness, through Him to whom it is given without measure, to John who was , in a state of spiritual ecstasy and receptivity: cf. Joh 16:13) saith to the churches (Ebrard well notices that not a colon, but a full stop must be put here, as indeed might be shewn from the way in which the proclamation is repeated in Rev 2:29 and in ch. Rev 3:6; Rev 3:13; Rev 3:22. It directs attention, not to that which follows only, but to the whole contents of the seven Epistles). To him that conquereth (the verb is absolute, without any object expressed as in reff. John and 1 John. So of Christ Himself in ch. Rev 3:21), I will give to him (the personal pronoun is repeated both idiomatically and for emphasis) to eat (i. e. I will permit him to eat: not in the ordinary sense of giving to eat: see ch. Rev 3:21, . of (the fruit of) the tree (see ref. Gen., from which the words come: and to suit which apparently the words have been substituted for ) of life, which is in the paradise of (my) God (the way to which tree was closed up after mans sin, Gen 3:24. The promise, and its expression, are in the closest connexion with our Lords discourse in John 6, as will be seen by comparing Gen 3:22, , , , ,-with Joh 6:51, , . But we need not therefore say (as Ebrard: so also Calov.) that Christ is the tree of life here, nor confuse the figure by introducing one which in its character is distinct from it. Still less, as Grot., is the tree to be interpreted as being the Holy Spirit. See, for the imagery, ch. Rev 22:2; Rev 22:14; Rev 22:19.
There is meaning in (). The two former words as following , come from Eze 28:13, and set forth the holiness and glory of that paradise as consisting in Gods dwelling and delighting in it: and the adjunct (Joh 20:17), if read, connects this holiness and glory with Him who is ours, and who has every right to make the promise in virtue of his own peculiar part in God.
On the whole image and expression, see Schttgen, h. 1., who adduces many parallels from the rabbinical writings).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rev 2:7. ) The singular is the more to be remarked, because the plural is more usual. , , says Clement of Alexandria, Stromb. v. at the beginning; although in the Hebrew the [singular] ear is often used.- ) The Ablative case: as ch. Rev 22:16 [saith to him by the churches: not as Engl. unto the churches]. In like manner there is said, , ch. Rev 8:3-4. Compare the passages which Heupel has collected in his Notes on Mar 5:2.- ) The seven promises have a variety of construction.
I. , …
II. , …
III. , …
IV. ,- , …
V. , , …
VI. , , …
VII. , , …
In the four latter, is marked with greater emphasis, as though it had the distinctive Hebrew accent: in the three former, there is a closer connection between (to which , without , in the second is equivalent) and the following verb.- , ) The Septuagint, Gen 2:9, has where comp. Gen 3:3. The is used with great propriety, because the rest of the trees were in the garden, but not in the midst of the garden. In this passage, according to the better copies,[30] the tree of life is simply said to be in the paradise of God: nor is mention made of any other tree, except the tree of life. The tree of life, indeed, is in the midst of the street of Jerusalem: ch. Rev 22:2. From that passage, or from Genesis, some have here written, .
[30] ABCh Vulg. Syr. Cypr. read : but Rec. Text, without good authority, .-E.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
The Tree of Life
To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.Rev 2:7.
The Church at Ephesus had an early history full of promise. St. Paul addressed to it a noble and eloquent Epistle; but in the end of it he gave emphatic warning of spiritual dangers, and charged the Ephesian Christians to put on the panoply of God that they might stand in the evil day. The same Apostle, in an address to the elders of the Church, warned them that grievous wolves would enter into the fold not sparing the flock. His exhortation to them to watch, and the subsequent admonitions of St. John, were not without good effect. Firm discipline was maintained; false apostles were detected and repudiated; a libertine sect tried to obtain a footing, but was deservedly scouted. And yet a temptation had made some way among the orthodox Christians of Ephesus. Their fault was a decay of spiritual affection; there was a waning of their first love. There were, it is true, work, labour, patience, intolerance of evil men, spiritual discrimination, unfainting perseverance. The Ephesians saw through the pretensions of those who falsely claimed apostleship; they resisted the wiles of the Nicolaitans, who would have sapped their very life through fleshly indulgences. But, with all that was good among them, they had left their first love. The process had not produced lukewarmness, as in Laodicea; nor was there, as in Sardis, the chill of death. But the cooling process had begun; the fervour of first love was gone. Whatever individual exceptions there might be, this was the condition of the church as a whole. The overcomer, in Ephesus, therefore, would be the man who rose above the tendencies to waning love, the man in whose heart love continued not merely to abide, but to deepen and intensify. Health and strength might fail, inducing physical languor; age might come stealing on, with its feebleness and loss of enjoyment; but even unto death would love continue, profounder, more ardent and more fit for service and sacrifice in the end than in the beginningable to take up the glorious challenge, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us. To this victor, loving on in spite of all deadening and benumbing influences, a very great promise is given: To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God. The Nicolaitans promised sensual enjoyment, as in an earthly paradise, in the gratification of the appetites of the flesh; the Christian victor shall inherit the paradise of God, and shall eat of the tree of life in the midst thereof.
I have a recollection of a book I read when a boy called Danesbury House. It was written in order to illustrate the value of temperance. Though it is forty years since I saw it, or read it, there is a scene in that book which has remained with me all my life. It describes one of the boys of the house who had become a victim of drink. By the grace of God he determined to break the habit and to overcome. The picture is given of the struggle in his room, of his turning to the Bible and opening at this text, To him that overcometh I will give to eat of the tree of life. And the picture is drawn of that young man, broken by indulgence, his will weakened by drink, falling on his face and covering the Bible with his tears as he prayed to overcome. And the end of it was he did overcome, and became completely reclaimed. That has haunted me all my life. It seems to me that to overcome temptation, even one temptation, is to taste of the tree of life. To overcome all temptations is to eat of the tree and dwell in the paradise of God.1 [Note: R. F. Horton.]
I
Access to the Tree of Life
The tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.
1. The word Paradise has a curious history. Originally it was a name given to certain royal pleasure parks in which the sovereigns of ancient Persia took delight; a vast tract of enclosed country abounding in natural forest, timber as well as cultivated fruit trees; a place half park, half orchard, with springs of clear water keeping cool the meadow-lands, as well as open glades for sport, with here and there a terraced garden gay with flowers. Such was the scene styled first a Paradise. The Hebrews learned the word through their captivity in the East, as the Greeks learned it a little later during the campaigns of Alexander; and when the Old Testament came to be translated into Greek it was by this borrowed name that scholars interpreted the ancient garden of God, which had been mans primeval seat in his golden age of innocence. Thus it became fairly naturalized among the Jews, and in our Lords time it had come to be transferred from Eden to the site of that Hades where the disembodied spirits livedthe region where all the Jews were believed to await Messiahs coming.
In the New Testament the word Paradise is to be found only three times. Its first occurrence is in the great word of our Lord addressed to the penitent malefactor on the cross To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise. What the rude outlaw understood by the gracious words of his great Fellow-Sufferer that day could be nothing but this, that when death should release them both from their agony they should be received together among the righteous deadhe, undeserving child of Abraham, received beneath the favouring of Israels martyred Christ and King. On each of the two other occasions in which the term Paradise occurs in the New Testament it is used in a new senseto describe the heaven of the Christian. The first time it recurs is where St. Paul is boasting of his rapture from earth to the immediate seat and vision of Godcaught up into Paradise he writes, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. The last time the word occurs, which is in this text in Revelation, it is again used as an equivalent for heaventhe final home of the beatified saints. Of this celestial Eden restored to men we have a description, very familiar to all of us, in the closing chapters of this same Apocalypsea description which has coloured all the imagery of Christendom and its sacred songs.
That Eden of earths sunrise cannot vie
With Paradise beyond her sunset sky
Hidden on high.
Four rivers watered Eden in her bliss,
But Paradise hath One which perfect is
In sweetnesses.
Eden had gold, but Paradise hath gold
Like unto glass of splendours manifold
Tongue hath not told.
Eden had sun and moon to make her bright;
But Paradise hath God and Lamb for light,
And hath no night.
Unspotted innocence was Edens best;
Great Paradise shows Gods fulfilled behest,
Triumph and rest.1 [Note: Christina G. Rossetti, Poetical Works, 162.]
The Paradise of God can no more be determined locally than the original Garden of Eden. It is no more invisible than visible. It belongs to a region of another kind of experience than that of the senses. A paradise of Godwe shall get the meaning of it by being of it. Let us repeat it to ourselves day and night for a week: The tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God. The meaning of it will begin to clear itself without effort. It is a state, a condition of experience which is closely connected with Jesus. It is not in a particular locality; it is in Him, or, rather, He is in it. It is a place where His thought has become the atmosphere and His life the life.2 [Note: R. F. Horton.]
2. It is touching to see, in the later Jewish literature, how conscious men were of that shut door which Adam had closed against himself and his posterity; and in their books a favourite image of the goodness of the end was that then the prohibition should be withdrawn, and men should come back to what they had lost. In the Book of Esdras we read, For you is Paradise opened and the tree of life planted; and in Enoch, No mortal is permitted to touch this tree of delicious fragrance till the Great Day of Judgment; but then it will be given to the righteous and the humble. In this Book of Revelation the image comes again and again: Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life. It had become a symbol of all that men had lost in their existence, which only God could restore. It was a symbol of great depth of meaning; for when men talked of the hope of Eden they confessed that what they lamented daily was not a fresh disaster or exclusion, but an old one, running back to Adam and the beginning.
In the first glimpse of the Garden that is given us in the Book of Beginnings we are shown a picture of the ideal home of innocence, of the soul of the untried child of humanity. But there falls a shadow upon the picture as we note the entrance of sin, which results in the loss of innocence and the expulsion from the Garden and the unsheathing of the flaming sword to guard the sacred Tree of Life.
But there is given us another picture of the Garden in that other Book of Beginnings, the revelation that was given to John of the new heaven and the new earth. Beautiful is the Garden now as when it first sprang fresh from its Makers hand. The gates are open to the four quarters of the wilderness. The flaming sword is in its sheath, and One like unto a Son of Man, clad in white robes and wearing a crown of victory, stands to welcome the returning exiles. As they come, they come by way of a Cross in the wilderness and along the banks of a glorious river, whose source they find to be in the Garden, where it waters the Tree of Life, of which they may now freely eat. One Garden is lost to uswe may not go back to Eden. But there is another Garden we may gainit is ours to go forward, and the way of the Cross will lead us to its gates.1 [Note: J. B. Maclean, The Secret of the Stream, 138.]
3. Men who have little thought of the sin of Adam have yet a haunting sorrow because of what they have lost in life. There is a real pathos in the common legend of a golden age coming first which Greeks and Romans cherished, when existence was sweet and fresh and right, and all men lived in peace. The Jews also thought of a blessed spring-tide of the world. Mans life began in a garden with flowers and streams, and God walked with him there, till by the one disobedience the charm was broken, and Adam must go out to a world with thistles instead of flowers, with labour and sickness and dying. They believed in God enough to believe that Eden was not lost, though no wandering horsemen ever came to encamp in it, or water their horses in its rivers, or caught sight of the flashing sword of Gods angel who kept the way of entrance. They believed that there was a way back, but they tried in vain to find it. To some the story of the earthly paradise, standing at the head of the Bible history of man, has seemed a mere fable or myth, with no more truth in it and of no more account than the dream of a golden age; to some it has seemed an allegorical method of setting forth, as for children, the sinlessness and happiness of mans original estate and the misery of departure from God, true only in the sense in which the Pilgrims Progress is true; to some the outward and literal have been all in all, and under the influence of a strong fascination they have even dreamed of discovering some lingering traces of the garden, or at least finding out where it lay. In vain: every trace of it has vanished as completely as the dew from last summers grass. The paradise of promise and hope is the paradise of God; no earthly garden, however fair, no restoration (through a cancelled forfeiture) of the paradise that has withered and died; in the paradise of God grows the tree called the tree of life.
The tree of life was as significant a symbol of life-giving Divine power to the Asian Greeks as to the Jews, though in a different way. Trees had been worshipped as the home of the Divine nature and power from time immemorial, and were still so worshipped in Asia Minor as in the ancient world generally. On some sacred tree the prosperity and safety of a family or tribe or city was often believed to depend. When the sacred olive-tree on the Acropolis of Athens put forth a new shoot after the city had been burned by the Persians, the people knew that the safety of the State was assured. The belief was widely entertained that the life of a man was connected with some tree, and returned into that tree when he died. The tree which grew on a grave was often thought to be penetrated with the spirit and life of the buried man. The tree of life in the Revelation was in the mind of the Ephesians a Christianization of the sacred tree in the pagan religion and folk-lore; it was a symbolic expression which was full of meaning to the Asian Christians, because to them the tree had always been the seat of Divine life and the intermediary between Divine and human nature. The problem which was constantly present to the ancient mind in thinking of the relation of man to God appears here: how can the gulf that divides human nature from the Divine nature be bridged over? how can God come into effective relation to man? In the holy tree the Divine life is bringing itself closer to man. He who can eat of the tree of life is feeding on the Divine power and nature, is strengthening himself with the body and the blood of Christ. The idea was full of power to the Asian readers.1 [Note: W. M. Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, 247.]
4. To him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God is the mystical expression of the great truth that Jesus can incorporate us in His own life, and make us sharers of His own joy. He is in paradise. If we are in Him, we are in paradise.
Why should a Divinely sustained and everlasting life be promised as the reward of victory, seeing it is the present possession of all believers? For thus runs the testimony of Scripture: He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting lifehath this life already; it is already kindled and shrined in his breast. This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life. Not only is all this true, but it is pre-supposed in the promise given in the text to the overcomer. For it is to be borne in mind that the earnest, enjoyed in this life, is of the same nature as the future felicity and glory. While the life eternal in its beginnings is a present possession of the believer in Jesus, yet in its glorious fulness, or what Jesus calls its abundance, it shall be also the future reward of him that overcometh. Hence St. Paul writes to Timothy, Lay hold on eternal life; and the Apostle John says, This is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
It will not meet us where the shadows fall
Beside the sea that bounds the Evening Land;
It will not greet us with its first clear call
When Death has borne us to the farther strand.
It is not something yet to be revealed
The everlasting lifetis here and now;
Passing unseen because our eyes are sealed
With blindness for the pride upon our brow.
It calls us mid the traffic of the street,
And calls in vain, because our ears are lent
To these poor babblements of praise that cheat
The soul of heavens truth, with earths content.
It dwells not in innumerable years;
It is the breath of God in timeless things
The strong, divine persistence that inheres
In loves red pulses and in faiths white wings.
It is the power whereby low lives aspire
Unto the doing of a selfless deed,
Unto the slaying of a soft desire,
In service of the high, unworldly creed.
It is the treasure that is ours to hold
Secure, while all things else are turned to dust;
That priceless and imperishable gold
Beyond the scathe of robber and of rust.
It is a clarion when the sun is high,
The touch of greatness in the toil for bread,
The nameless comfort of the Western sky,
The healing silence where we lay our dead.
And if we feel it not amid our strife,
In all our toiling and in all our pain
This rhythmic pulsing of immortal life
Then do we work and suffer here in vain.1 [Note: P. C. Ainsworth, Poems and Sonnets, 9.]
II
Access through Christ
To him will I give to eat of the tree of life.
1. Every word of the text might stand our scrutiny, and none calls for more careful examination than the word give, indicating that Christ is the bestower of the reward. He who overcomes might seem to have earned something, and the reward be his by right. But in the Kingdom of God there is no thought of meriting. All faithfulness in duty has its reward, and many Scriptures declare that the reward is in some way proportioned to the work, so that a man may actually reap the thing which he has sown. And yet has any man who has known God ever dared to think of Him as in his debt? At every stage of life such a man is apt to be impressed by his own extraordinary mercies; the element of grace in life, of things better than he has worked for, bulks largely in his view. And when he comes to the end, and the question of the wages due to him comes up for settlement, the thought of self-assertion is far away; for the least of Gods rewards has in it something that passes human expectation. A man might humbly ask only to be within the door, to have a sight, however distant, of that Face; but to be within the door includes the wholea far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. And those to whom that blessedness is given take it not as the deserved return for their poor services on earth, but as one last miracle of the grace of God, who gives men what they never could have earned; and they take it from the hands of Him who overcame the sharpness of death, and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. For it is Christ who says, I will give, Jesus Christ risen and enthroned, who has ascended on high, and has received gifts for men.
The result of our Lords varied teaching about life is to exhibit it as the ultimate and fundamental form of human good, the highest and the deepest blessing which man can in any wise attain; and that especially because it is what most closely links him to God, and may most truly be represented as issuing from Gods own being. But while the disciples were being led by this gradual and often indirect guidance to esteem rightly the preciousness of life, they were learning also in like manner that the life thus highly exalted was in some sense embodied in the person of their Lord. After the earlier days of intercourse had brought them to recognize Him as a trustworthy teacher concerning life and the way to attain it, nay as Himself a giver of it, they soon came to feel that when He was giving them life He was giving them of Himself, for they received it after a fashion which the externality of such terms as given and gift renders them incompetent to describe.1 [Note: F. J. A. Hort, The Way: the Truth: the Life, 109.]
2. In the text Jesus Christ claims to be the Arbiter of mens deserts and the Giver of their rewards. He has said that He will give to all the multitude of faithful fighters who have brought their shields out of the battle, and their swords undinted, the gift of life eternal. In Christ risen from the dead we have, says St. John, the assurance of things which the past never had. The tree of life is promised, which was denied to Adam. The Eden of earths sunrise had a beauty of its own, yet, fugitive and ill-secured, it was not fit to last; but the things which Christ brought in are not to be withdrawn. If He undid by His long warfare an old disaster, it is for ever; the salvation of Jesus is irreversible. The text at least implies that there is some power in Jesus Christ to give lost things back again; and those who know His work must have seen startling resurrections of old thingspurity returning to those whose life had been sullied, hope returning to some who had sinned their chances all away. I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, says God. All is not lost; and Christ holds the secret of how to give it back to men. Eden is not lost, it is with God; and through the grace of God we may see what life took from usthe wishes too great, the hopes too fair, the knowledge too wonderful. After all, it is a heathen fancy that the golden age is behind; it is the thought of those who erred, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God; and we should learn from Jesus Christ to trust Him to do better for us than the best the past has seen.
Of all the various ways in which the imagination has distorted truth none has worked so much harm as reverence for past ages. It is this which inspired poets with the notion of a Golden Age, in which the world was filled with peace, and crime was unknown. And it is this same principle which diffused a belief that in the olden time men were not only more virtuous and happy, but attained to a larger stature and lived to a greater age than is possible for their degenerate descendants.1 [Note: A. W. Momerie.]
The Golden Age is in the future, not in the past, whatever the poets may say. We look back with humiliation to one Garden, the defiled and deserted Paradise of Eden: we look forward with joy and hope to another Garden, the glorious and incorruptible Paradise of Heaven that shall never be destroyed.2 [Note: J. B. Maclean, The Secret of the Stream, 136.]
3. In the promise I will give there is involved the eternal continuance of Christs relation to men as the Revealer and Mediator of God. Not only when the victor crosses the threshold and enters the Capitol of the heavens, but all through the ages, Christ is the Medium by which the Divine life passes into men. True, there is a sense in which He shall deliver up the Kingdom to His Father, when the partial end of the present dispensation has come. But He is the Priest of mankind for ever; and for ever is His Kingdom enduring. And through all the endless ages which we have a right to hope we shall see, there will never come a point in which it will not remain as true as it is at this moment: No man hath seen God at any time, nor can see him; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Christ is for ever the Giver of life, in the heavens as on earth. There all the blessedness and the existence, which is the substratum and condition of the blessedness, are ours only because, wavelet by wavelet, throbbing out as from a central fountain, there flows into the redeemed a life communicated by Christ Himself.
The immortality which Christ proclaimed in His own Person and life had indeed been adumbrated in deeds of valour and lives of heroic self-sacrifice, but as a revelation of life, of the true and proper life of man, it was as new as it has ever since been unique. I am come that they might have life was the burden of all He taught and did and suffered: and but for that coming it is impossible to conceive of our eyes being opened to the measureless possibilities of our spiritual life. When St. Paul exclaimed in the simple rendering of Luther, Christ is my life, he defined what immortality really is. The triumph lies in the instinct to triumph; the extension of life in the quality of the life.1 [Note: T. J. Hardy, The Gospel of Pain.]
To be a Christian is to have a new life in the soul. Christ Himself lives in each one who believes in Him. St. Paul puts it very graphically when he says that he is dead, crucified with Christ, that is, as to his old life. Then he adds: Yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. These words reveal the secret of St. Pauls wonderful life. It was Christ living in him that made him the man he was. This is the secret of every transfigured life. There is no other way to get it. We must open our heart and let Christ enter into us and fill us. He is ever eager to do this, and will possess us just as far as we yield our life up to Him.2 [Note: J. R. Miller.]
III
Access for the Victor
To him that overcometh.
Whilst access to the tree of life is a gift, we cannot miss the fact that there is a conditionthe gift is only to him that overcometh. In all Gods greater gifts there is a certain condition of congruity. These noble things cannot be passed from hand to hand like sums of money; even Christ can give only to those who are in a condition to receive. If ye forgive not, He said, neither will your Father forgive you. Now, as to this condition of overcoming, it tells us how St. John conceived of the Christian life. To him it was a course of overcoming the world and ones self, and he found its earliest impulse in that great victory of the cross.
1. Here is life promised in all its range and detail; in all its clear meaning and wide power: life through all eternity. But how hard a promise it is: to him that overcometh will I give, leaving all with ourselves. Christ does not say hereI give thee life that thou mayest overcome; but, Overcome and the life will be thine. The responsibility, the start, the strain He leaves upon our own wills; even as His Apostle intends, where he says, not accept the faith, but fight the good fight of faith. Yes, it is stern; but how true to our experience. Did we ever pass through a temptation in which we did not feel: Here even God cannot go before us, nor stand instead of us. Otherwise it were not worth the name of temptation; it were not in any wise our temptation. For who is it that is to be tempted, tested, put to proof and trial? Is it God or Christ? It is ourselves. But precisely as the loneliness and rigour of such an experience come home to us, God has begun to fulfil His promise of life. For it is in the bare realization of ourselvesand all the more if it even come upon us for the moment without any religious mitigation of its solitude and its painit is in this very moment, of lonely responsibility and unmitigated strain, that life begins. It is the necessity and prerogative of our manhood that in its moral conflicts, God, who has assuredly called us and is ready to help us, must wait for a decision and victory which shall be our own. However clear His call,and all our salvation starts from that,however near His help, we have to decide, we have to overcome.
Bishop Welldon in one of his sermons to the boys at Harrow, of which famous public school he was for many years head-master, spoke of the many bright lads whom he had known as scholarspleasant, popular, courteous, and frankof whom every one spoke well, but who never dreamt of such a thing as self-discipline or self-denial, who made no effort, who would never do what was irksome or unpleasant. After these boys left the restraints of school, a subtle, surprising change came over them. Some from mere self-indulgence lapsed into open sin; others became simply do-nothings, amusing themselves in sport or luxury or worldly ways, doing little or nothing of good to any human being. They lacked any power of overcoming; and this it was which proved so dangerous or fatal to their lives. Since this is so, said Dr. Welldon preaching in the school chapel, I put to you the pointed questionto every one of youwhat have you overcome? Has there in your life been any battle, any victory? Are there any scars upon your breast, or any laurels on your brow? Is there any habit, any disposition, any desire of which you can say, I have fought and I have overcome it; it is beaten? Yes, I know you will be brave in the face of danger; but oh! that I could be sure you would be equally brave in the face of temptation. You will conquer others; but, my boys, will you conquer yourselves? What does God ask of youof every Church, of every person? It is one thingone thing only. It is not that he should be great or clever or adventurous. It is that he should overcome. To him that overcometh, to him who is patient and strong, to him alone is given the amaranthine crown.1 [Note: J. E. C. Welldon, Youth and Duty, 249.]
There was once on a door in Edinburgh a motto, and it ran: He that tholes overcomes, and a lad passing the house on his way to school read the motto, but did not understand it. He came home and asked: What is the meaning of that word thole? He was told by his parent it meant to bear with patiencehe that tholes overcomes. The boy, passing that motto day by day, formed the resolution that he would thole, that he would bear with patience. That boy eventually became the founder of the great Edinburgh firm of Chambers, and he attributed the extraordinary success of his life to realizing the meaning of that motto, He that tholes overcomes.1 [Note: R. F. Horton.]
2. But the question is, Can we overcome? Is it to be assumed the victory is easy? Is it easy to overcome the obstacles, the difficulties of life, to overcome the temptations in our own nature and in the world around us, to overcome ourselves and stand supreme over that lower self which is of the earth earthy? Is it possible to overcome? The prize is beautiful. The promise is a vision. But is it possible? We can overcome if there is an adequate power behind, and that adequate power is thereChrist, who is the reward of overcoming. It all turns upon that. The power by which we can overcome cannot be said to be ours. It would be a contradiction in terms to say it is. We have to overcome ourselves. What is the power to overcome the self? It must be another. It is Christ. This is the victory that overcometh the world. Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. He can enable every one to overcome. The victor can conquer only in one way. If we trust in Christ we shall get His power into our hearts, and if we get His power into our hearts, then we shall be more than conquerors through him that loved us. The power of sin is great, but His power is much greater. Temptation is dazzling and sometimes seductive; but He can give us the victory. Actual sin is overcome by an actual Saviour.
I saw some time ago a beautiful remark. Among the Irish labourers who come over every year to the harvest in England was one who was accustomed to come to the same place year after year. He was of a sullen, moody nature, but one year he came completely changedbright, joyful, ready to help, encouraging every one. They asked him what the cause was, and they twitted him, and made humorous suggestions about the change that had come over him. At last he turned to them all and said: You are quite right about the change, but you are wrong about the cause. The truth is, I found the greatest friend in the world, Jesus, and my heart is just full of joy. That was his answer. I cannot see how it could be better or truer. When you have found Jesus, you may be sad in a sense, and sick and weary in a sense, but your heart is full of joy. He has given you to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.2 [Note: Ibid.]
3. Let Christ Himself be our example, whose whole life on earth was a warfare with the powers of evil; who found its crises and its agonies in the hours when He was alone with the Father; who in the days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears was heard for his godly fear. Let us follow Him, who was tempted in all things like as we are, till by feeling our fellowship with Him in agony and the awful difficulty of doing the Fathers will, we shall also share His faith that we have this conflict to endure just because we can bear it, just because of our freedom, and just in order to realize that we are alive. As I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne. Our Lord Jesus conquered all opposed to Him. In their presence He never fainted, He never failed, He never suffered defeat. Calm, confident victory rests upon every page of the sacred story. As one reads the narrative of conquest, one is amazed at the prolific and abundant spiritual energy which everywhere confronts the powers of ill. Our Lord overcame the world; He never bowed to the enticements or the glitter; they would make Him a king of the worldly order, but He rejected the allurement and went away to pray. He overcame the flesh; His life is characterized by order and beauty; on the one hand there was no harsh asceticism, and on the other hand there was no unseemly excess. He overcame the devil; they met again and again; the prince of this world cometh; he was ever coming, but he came to no purpose, and he achieved no triumph. Our Lord was always victor over the antagonists which stand in our path to-day.
There is, perhaps, no one term whose significance is less truly understood than that of overcoming. When Jesus said, In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world, there was something meant quite different from its commonly received interpretation. Many persons have translated it to imply that in this worldthis present lifetribulation is the appointed lot of man; but that death will end this, and by that event we overcome the worldthat is, enter into joy and peace as inevitable conditions of the life beyond. But is there not undoubtedly a far deeper and nobler meaning than this? The world does not refer merely to life on this planetthe threescore years and ten allotted to man in this present state of existencebut rather it has reference to a condition. By the world is meant all that materiality which must be overcome before one can enter into that state of mind which is the kingdom of heaven, and which may be the condition of life here just as surely as hereafter. We overcome only as we rise to the spiritual plane. Be of good cheer, said Jesus: I have overcome the world. Where He has gone we may follow. If He overcame the world, so may we. It is not easy; it is possible. Not being easy to achieve, it is, when once attained, a condition so easy that it preserves itself and progresses by its own momentum. One who is succeeding in living to any perceptible degree the spiritual life rather than the material, realizes for himself the profound truth in the assertion of the Christ, that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. There is in it the peace which indeed passeth all understanding, and the joy that the world can neither give nor take away. Believe and loveall the duties of the world and all the privileges of heaven are condensed in those three words. Believe and love. Not only trust, but know, believe. Hold fast to the conviction that the forces of life are Divine. Come into harmony with them, and thus live above the plane on which discord is possible, thus overcome the world.1 [Note: Lilian Whiting, The World Beautiful, 161.]
4. After every temptation conquered, after every self-indulgence refused, after every duty accepted and patiently performed, we do feel, in a hundred fresh impulses of moral vigour and hopefulness, this life which those enjoy who overcome. He who conquers is a new manfresh, elastic, confident. The skies are bright above him, and his heart is clear within. There is given to him an enjoyment of Gods world denied to other men; and at the same time a power of patience with things that are evil, for he has already conquered these in himself, and knows that their day is determined. What a generous trust in others our victories over ourselves give us! What an eye for the good that is in them! What a power of encouraging that good! While about us is the atmosphere of peace which springs from the faith that God reigns.
When Philip Henry was thirty years old, he noted in his diary that so old and no older was Alexander when he conquered the great world; but I have not subdued the little world, myself.2 [Note: J. Moffatt, The Golden Book of John Owen, 159.]
A life of renunciation appeared to Francis as the goal of his efforts, but he felt that his spiritual novitiate was not yet ended. He suddenly experienced a bitter assurance of the fact. He was riding on horseback one day, his mind more than ever possessed with the desire to lead a life of absolute devotion, when at a turn of the road he found himself face to face with a leper. The frightful malady had always inspired in him an invincible repulsion. He could not control a movement of horror, and by instinct he turned his horse in another direction.
If the shock had been severe, the defeat was complete. He reproached himself bitterly. To cherish such fine projects and show himself so cowardly! Was the knight of Christ then going to give up his arms? He retraced his steps and springing from his horse he gave to the astounded sufferer all the money that he had; then kissed his hand as he would have done to a priest. This new victory, as he himself saw, marked an era in his spiritual life.
This victory of Francis had been so sudden that he desired to complete it; a few days later he went to the lazaretto. One can imagine the stupefaction of these wretches at the entrance of the brilliant cavalier. If in our days a visit to the sick in our hospitals is a real event awaited with feverish impatience, what must not have been the appearance of Francis among these poor recluses? One must have seen sufferers thus abandoned, to understand what joy may be given by an affectionate word, sometimes even a simple glance.
Moved and transported, Francis felt his whole being vibrate with unfamiliar sensations. For the first time he heard the unspeakable accents of a gratitude which cannot find words burning enough to express itself, which admires and adores the benefactor almost like an angel from heaven.1 [Note: Paul Sabatier, Life of St. Francis of Assisi, 26.]
The Tree of Life
Literature
Bickersteth (M. C), Unity and Holiness, 129.
Cox (J. C.), The Gardens of Scripture, 147.
Culross (J.), Thy First Love, 103.
Dean (J. T.), Visions and Revelations, 16.
Fraser (D.), Seven Promises Expounded, 1.
Gordon (A. J.), Yet Speaking, 131.
Lee (W.), From Dust to Jewels, 146.
Macgregor (W. M.), Some of Gods Ministries, 286.
Mackay (G. P.), Immortality on Gods Terms, 39.
Maclaren (A.), Expositions: Epistles of John to Revelation, 187.
Maclaren (A.), The Victors Crowns, 1.
Matheson (G.), Sidelights from Patmos, 17.
Momerie (A. W.), The Origin of Evil, 306.
Peck (G. C.), Old Sins in New Clothes, 57.
Ramsay (W. M.), The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, 246.
Scott (C. A.), Revelation (Century Bible), 139.
Smith (G. A.), The Forgiveness of Sins, 156.
Vaughan (C. J.), Lectures on The Revelation, 24.
Welldon (J. E. C.), Youth and Duty, 243.
Christian World Pulpit, xii. 206 (G. T. Coster); xxix. 248 (J. O. Dykes); lxxvi. 113 (R. F. Horton).
Dictionary of the Bible, iii. 671 (S. D. F. Salmond).
Examiner, Oct. 27, 1904 (J. H. Jowett).
Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible
that hath: Rev 2:11, Rev 2:17, Rev 2:29, Rev 3:6, Rev 3:13, Rev 3:22, Rev 13:9, Mat 11:15, Mat 13:9, Mat 13:43, Mar 7:16
let him: Rev 14:13, Rev 22:17, 1Co 2:10, 1Co 12:4-12
To him: Rev 2:11, Rev 2:17, Rev 2:26-28, Rev 3:5, Rev 3:12, Rev 3:21, Rev 12:10, Rev 12:11, Rev 15:2, Rev 21:7, Joh 16:33, 1Jo 5:4, 1Jo 5:5
the tree: Rev 22:2, Rev 22:14, Gen 2:9, Gen 3:22-24, Pro 3:18, Pro 11:30, Pro 13:12, Pro 15:4
the paradise: Luk 23:43, 2Co 12:4
Reciprocal: 1Sa 17:25 – the king 2Ch 15:2 – Hear ye me Psa 49:1 – Hear Pro 5:1 – attend Isa 28:23 – General Isa 34:1 – Come Jer 7:2 – Hear Eze 28:13 – in Eden Joe 1:2 – Hear Mic 1:2 – hearken Mat 10:22 – but Mar 4:3 – Hearken Mar 4:23 – General Luk 6:23 – your Luk 8:8 – He that Luk 14:35 – He Joh 6:53 – eat Act 1:2 – through Act 13:16 – give Gal 6:9 – if Col 3:4 – our 1Ti 4:1 – the Spirit 2Ti 1:10 – and hath Heb 1:9 – hated Heb 10:15 – General 1Jo 2:14 – ye have overcome Rev 2:23 – and all Rev 22:16 – General Rev 22:19 – and from
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 2:7. He that hath an ear does not imply that some people are without ears literally, but this is a solemn call upon all to give profound attention to what is being said to the churches. What the Spirit saith is the same as what the Lord says for He uses the Spirit to direct John in writing the letters. To the churches. There is no indication that the seven letters were to be circulated generally among the seven churches. Instead in each separate instance the instruction is to write a certain letter to a particular church. Therefore the phrase to the churches signifies that what the Spirit says to any certain church that may be named among the seven, the Lord intends to be for the instruction of the churches of Christ everywhere. This “call to attention” is made in connection with each of the seven letters and will not he commented upon after this one. But the promises that are made are different each time, hence that part of the letters will be commented upon as we come to them. Tree of life …paradise of God. The phrasing about the tree is based on the one that was in the’ garden of Eden. Man lost that tree by sinning, but it may be regained in a spiritual form by proper conduct, namely, by overcoming his sins while in this life. Paradise comes from a word that may mean any place of bliss or happiness. That is why it is used in reference to the abode of the righteous after death (Luk 23:43), and to the place where God dwells and will be the abode of the righteous after the judgment. Paul calls it both by “paradise” and “third heaven” in 2Co 12:2 2Co 12:4. John had a vision of the tree of life as he describes it in chapter 22:2. The reader may see a fuller description of the original word for paradise at Neh 2:8 in Volume 2 of Bible Commentary.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 7
9. “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches”–Rev 2:7.
Let him hear: As the eye is the organ of light to lighten the body (Mat 5:1-48), the ear is the organ of spiritual discernment.
What the Spirit saith: The Spirit is here identified with Christ, since the phrase these things saith he represents Christ as the speaker.
To the churches: What Jesus Christ said to each of the seven churches, he said in substance to all of the churches, and to every church of his own thereafter and now.
10. “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life”–Rev 2:7.
To him that overcometh: This condition attached to the promise that followed was a specific reference to the impending persecutions, thus adding evidence that the book belongs to the period of their own experiences; they were expected to be the overcomers of these persecutions and the conquerers of the persecutors.
To eat of the tree of life: The expression give to eat, had reference to distribution and reward, and it meant that the promise was as sure as the One who gave it was true. The phrase to eat meant to participate in the life that is the fruit of the tree of life. The tree of life is an allusion to the tree that disappeared in Eden, but did not perish; it is now in the paradise of God, instead of the paradise of man where it once was enjoyed by the first man and his mate; it consists, in this symbolic presentation, in the reward given to the overcomers of the persecutions, which comes only from above–from God.
The warnings to the Ephesian church surround the two elements–the false apostles and the Nicolaitanes. The first formed a parallel with the warning of Christ in Mat 24:1-51 concerning the false prophets that should arise to disturb the disciples after the establishment of the church and before and during the siege of Jerusalem; and the latter was parallel to the warnings of Paul against the parties of Judaism that would develop within the churches.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 2:7. A promise is to be added to the main body of the Epistle, but before it is given we have a general exhortation to men to listen. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. These words are found in all the seven Epistles, but with a different position in some of them as compared with others. In the first three they occur in the body of the letter, immediately before the promise to him that over-cometh: in the last four they are introduced at the end. No student of the Apocalypse will doubt that this difference is designed, and that although he may be unable to say what the design is. In the case of the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls, we meet the same division of seven into its constituent parts three and four, only that in each of these the line of demarcation is at the close of the first four, not, as in the present instance, at the close of the first three. Nor does it seem difficult to understand this division, for four is the number of the earth, and the judgments relating to it are thus naturally four. It is not so easy to see why in the seven Epistles the number three should take precedence. Perhaps it may be because three is the number or God; and because, by the arrangement adopted, the Divine aspect of the Church in her existence considered in itself is brought out with a force which would otherwise have been wanting (see closing remarks on chap. 3). Jewish feeling, so much appealed to by numbers and their arrangement, may have been alive to this in a manner mat we can hardly understand. Whether the above explanation be satisfactory or not, the fact itself is both interesting and important. It throws light upon the measure of artificiality which appears in the structure of the Apocalypse, and is thus a help in its interpretation.
To him that overcometh. The expression is a characteristic one with St. John. It occurs in each of the seven Epistles, as also in chap. Rev 21:7. In chap. Rev 3:21 it is used of Christ Himself (cp. also Rev 12:11; Joh 16:33; 1Jn 2:13; 1Jn 5:4-5).
I will give to him to eat out of the tree of fife, which is in the paradise of God. For the tree of life cp. chap. Rev 22:2; Rev 14:19. What victorious believers eat is out or the tree of life, not something that grows upon it, its branches, or leaves, or flowers, or fruit. The particular preposition used in the original carries us to the thought of what is most intimately connected with the tree, to the thought of its very heart and substance. For the idea of eating, op. Joh 6:51. The question is naturally asked, What are we to understand by this tree of life? and different answers have been given. By some it is supposed to be the Gospel, by others the Holy Spirit; while several of the later commentators on this book suppose it to be that eternal life, with all the means of sustaining it, which comes from Christ. The true answer seems to be that it is Christ Himself. Nor is it any reply to this to say that in chap. Rev 22:2 we have not one tree but many, for the tree of life there spoken of is really one; or that the Giver must be different from the gift, for the highest gift of the Lord is the Incarnate Lord Himself, in whom, says St. Paul, dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col 2:9); in whom, says St. John, is life, and out of whom His people have received their life and grace for grace (Joh 1:16). (Cp. on Rev 2:28.) At the same time this view is confirmed by the use of the preposition out of. Who but the Lord Jesus Christ is that fulness out of which all believers eat and live?
There may be a correspondence intended between the promise of eating and the victory over the Nicolaitans, one of whose characteristics was that they ate things sacrificed to idols (Rev 2:14). Those who cat of the table of devils cannot cat of the Lords table (1Co 10:21). They must share the exclusion from the tree of life of fallen Adam and his fallen seed. But the faithful who, like the Second Adam, and in His might, refuse the devils dainties (Psa 16:4; Mat 4:3), obtain in deepest truth the privilege from which our first parent was excluded (Gen 3:24).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
That is, “Let all that hear and read these words unto the churches, which the Holy Spirit has uttered, consider them, and set their hearts to regard them as matters of great importance, and which nearly concern them.”
Observe, That this form of speech, He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear, Christ often used at the end of his parables, when he would stir up the people to more than ordinary attention; and he uses it here in this and the next chapter, at the end of every one of these epistles to the several churches.
As if Christ had said, “Let all such as fall away from their holy profession for fear of persecution consider what they lose, even eternal life, which I only will give to such as persevere; for to him that overcometh trials and temptations, will I give a share of my merits, and thereby a title to eternal happiness, signified by the tree of life in paradise.”
Note here, 1. It is not said, to him that striveth or resisteth will I give the crown of Life, but to him that overcometh. Lazy wishes are so far from saving men, that endeavours, yea, striving against temptation, without conquering and overcoming, will not save. It is not enough that we resist, but we must conquer; not sufficient that we strive, but we must overcome: To him that overcometh.
Note, 2. From the promise that Christ makes of eternal life, I will give, a clear argument for Christ’s being God, essentially God; how is it else that he assumes to himself a power of dispensing eternal life? I will give to eat of the tree of life.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Rev 2:7. He that hath an ear, let him hear Every man, whoever can hear at all, ought carefully to hear this; what the Spirit saith In these great and awful threatenings, and in these encouraging and precious promises; to the churches And in them to all in a similar state, in every age and nation. To him that overcometh His spiritual enemies, visible and invisible, that resists the devil, overcomes the world, crucifies the flesh, and conquers every besetting sin, and the fear of death; that goes on from faith to faith, and by faith to full victory over all opposing power; will I give to eat of the tree of life This first thing promised in these letters is the last and highest in the accomplishment, Rev 22:2; Rev 22:14; Rev 22:19; which is in the midst of the paradise of God Namely, the paradise above, and the fruit of which tree gives immortality; so that he who resides within its reach, is possessed of such felicities and delights as are far superior to those which Adam enjoyed in an earthly paradise, though in a state of uncorrupted and perfect innocence. The tree of life and water of life go together, Rev 22:1-2, both implying the living with God eternally. In these seven letters twelve promises are contained, which are an extract of all the promises of God. Some of them are expressly mentioned again in this book, as the hidden manna, the inscription of the name of the New Jerusalem, the sitting upon the throne. Some resemble what is afterward mentioned, as the hidden name, (Rev 19:12,) the ruling the nations, (Rev 19:15,) the morning star, Rev 22:16. And some are expressly mentioned, as the tree of life, (Rev 22:2,) freedom from the second death, (Rev 20:6,) the name in the book of life, (Rev 20:12; Rev 21:27,) the remaining in the temple of God, (Rev 7:15,) the inscription of the name of God and of the Lamb, Rev 14:1; Rev 22:4. In these promises, sometimes the enjoyment of the highest good, sometimes deliverance from the greatest evils, is intended. And each implies the other, so that where either part is expressed, the whole is to be understood. That part is expressed which has most resemblance to the virtues or works of him that was spoken to in the letter preceding.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
7. Here is a divine invocation to hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. It sounds superfluous, because all have ears; but remember, the Bible is a spiritual book, and only apprehensible by spiritual people. The soul has eyes, ears, olfactories, tastes, and nerves. Though a dead man have all these senses, yet he can neither see, hear, smell, touch, nor feel, till the Holy Ghost raises him from the dead. The unregenerate world are spiritually dead, and utterly destitute of spiritual sensibility, till the resurrection power comes on them. You may read the Bible all your life, and die as ignorant as a Hottentot, if the Holy Ghost does not open your spiritual eyes. You may hear the most powerful preaching, and get nothing out of it, unless the Omnipotent Savior speaks the Ephthatha to your spiritual ears.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 7
The paradise of God; the garden of God,–heaven.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
2:7 {4} He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in {5} the midst of the {b} paradise of God.
(4) The conclusion containing a commandment of attention, and a promise of everlasting life, shown in a figure; Gen 2:9 .
(5) That is, in paradise after the manner of the Hebrew phrase.
(b) Thus Christ speaks as he is mediator.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
5. Promise 2:7
An invitation preceded the promise, as in all the letters to follow (cf. Rev 1:3). Jesus was the only person to issue this invitation in Scripture. The Gospels also record Him doing so seven times (Mat 11:15; Mat 13:9; Mat 13:43; Mar 4:9; Mar 4:23; Luk 8:8; Luk 14:35). This invitation always occurs where Jesus appealed to His hearers to make a significant change.
In addition to the implied promise of the whole church’s continuance if obedient (Rev 2:5), Jesus Christ gave a promise to the individuals in the church. "Him who overcomes" probably refers to all Christians (cf. Rev 2:2-3; Rev 2:10 c, 13, 19, 25; Rev 3:3; Rev 3:8; Rev 3:10; 1Jn 5:4-5). [Note: L. S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, 3:306; W. Robert Cook, The Theology of John, pp. 173-83; R. E. Manahan, "’Overcomes the World’-1 John 5:4" (M.Div. Thesis, Grace Theological Seminary, 1970), pp. 38-39; William Newell, pp. 42, 52, 339; James E. Rosscup, "The Overcomer of the Apocalypse," Grace Theological Journal 3:2 (Fall 1982:261-86; Ryrie, Revelation, pp. 22-23; Smith, p. 65; Stott, pp. 97-98, 118-25; Lehman Strauss, The Book of the Revelation, pp. 108; Walvoord, The Revelation . . ., pp. 59, 98-99; Ladd, pp. 41, 69; Thomas, Revelation 1-7, pp. 151-53; and Beale, pp. 234, 269-72.] The promises given to overcomers in all seven letters and in Rev 21:7 bear this interpretation out. Some interpreters who hold this view appeal to 1Jn 2:13; 1Jn 4:4; and 1Jn 5:4-5, where John referred to his readers as overcomers. However, in 1Jn 2:13; 1Jn 4:4 John said his readers had overcome the world, not that all Christians are overcomers. In 1Jn 5:4-5 he wrote that only believers in Christ can overcome the world, not that every believer in Christ does overcome the world. Some students of Revelation have concluded that the overcomers are not all Christians but only faithful Christians. [Note: E.g., Donald G. Barnhouse, Messages to the Seven Churches, pp. 38, 43-44, 47, 56-57, 74-75, 84, 94-95; J. Sidlow Baxter, Awake My Heart, p. 323; R. R. Benedict, "The Use of Nikao in the Letters to the Seven Churches of Revelation" (Th.M. Thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1966), p. 13; Harlan D. Betz, "The Nature of Rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ" (Th.M. Thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1974), pp. 36-45; Zane C. Hodges, Grace in Eclipse, pp. 107-11; Ralph D. Richardson, "The Johannine Doctrine of Victory" (Th.M. Thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1955), pp.20-29; William R. Ross Jr., "An Analysis of the Rewards and Judgments in Revelation 2, 3" (Th.M. Thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1971), p. 20; Mounce, pp. 90, 106, 256; Joseph C. Dillow, The Reign of the Servant Kings, pp. 37, 470, 474; Chitwood, p. 48; and J. William Fuller, "’I Will Not Erase His Name from the Book of Life’ (Revelation 3:5)," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 26 (1983):299.] The Lord held out a reminder of what would inevitably be the Ephesians’ in the future to motivate them to follow Him faithfully in the present. Similarly other New Testament writers wrote of our blessings in Christ to motivate us to live in harmony with our calling.
". . . the promises to the conquerors are fundamentally assurances to the faithful of the benefits of Christ’s redemption, expressed in the language of apocalyptic. In the nature of the case the promises afford inspiration for faith and fortitude in all who may be called to lay down their lives for Christ, and they are intended to do so." [Note: Beasley-Murray, p. 78.]
John prefaced the promise with a special exhortation to give attention.
"These promises pertain to Christians alone, and their realization awaits the future Messianic Era. The time when Christians will enter into these promises must follow the time set forth in chapter one-Christ appearing as Judge in the midst of the seven Churches. The Church must first be brought into judgment, and then overcoming Christians will realize that which has been promised." [Note: Chitwood, p. 45. Cf. Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. 153.]
The promise itself seems to be that those who remember, repent, and repeat the first works (Rev 2:5) will partake of the tree of life. There is a connection between the tree of life and man’s rule over the earth. Adam in his unfallen state had access to this tree, but when he fell God kept him from it (Gen 1:26-28; Gen 3:22). In the future, believers will have access to it again (cf. Rev 22:14).
"A number of other Jewish texts use the eating of the fruit of the tree of life as a metaphor for salvation (1 Enoch 25:5; 3 Enoch 23:18; T. Levi 18:11; Apoc. Mos. 28:4; Apoc. Elijah 5:6), and this metaphor continues to be used by Christian authors (T. Jacob 7:24). . . The tree of life is not simply a symbol for eternal life alone but also represents the cosmic center of reality where eternal life is present and available, and where God dwells. . .
"One tradition often used in apocalyptic literature originated in Gen 2:9; Gen 3:23-24 and involved eschatological access to the tree of life in the heavenly paradise, clearly a metaphor for the enjoyment of eternal life." [Note: Aune, p. 152.]
Paradise is a Persian loan word meaning a walling around, hence a walled park or garden (cf. Gen 2:8-10 in LXX; Rev 22:1-4; Rev 22:14).
"To eat of the Tree is to enjoy all that the life of the world to come has in store for redeemed humanity." [Note: Swete, p. 30.]
The tree of life appears four times in the Book of Proverbs and its use there helps us understand its presence in Genesis and Revelation. Solomon referred to wisdom (Pro 3:18), righteousness (Pro 11:30), satisfied hope (Pro 13:12), and controlled speech (Pro 15:4) as a tree of life. These are all the fruits that would have provided Adam and will provide the overcomers with what they will need to flourish in the millennial kingdom and beyond. The tree of life in Eden and the tree of life in the New Jerusalem (Rev 22:2; Rev 22:14; Rev 22:19) appear to be literal trees. [Note: See Daniel K. K. Wong, "The Tree of Life in Revelation 2:7," Bibliotheca Sacra 155:618 (April-June 1998):211-26.]
In church history, conditions described in this letter characterized the apostolic age especially.