We have come to the penultimate lesson in the series on Revelation. It has been a challenging and interesting exercise for me and I’ve been blessed researching, studying, pondering over the many symbolisms in the book and sharing them with the folk on Sunday mornings. Through the sharing, I have learned much from the participants, a mature group of Christians who truly love the Lord and the Word.
The New Jerusalem is a City when viewed from the outside (Rev. 21: 1-27) but a Garden when viewed from inside (22: 1-5). This Garden City is Paradise Restored through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
“Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”
The symbolism of a river of life is seen in several parts of the Bible.
“river whose streams make glad the city of God” Psalm 46:4
Ezekiel living in exile saw the vision of the New Jerusalem – a river of water flowing from under the Temple which brought healing and life to the waters including the Dead Sea. Ezekiel 47: 1-12
Zechariah had a vision of the kingdom of God in which rivers of water from Jerusalem flowed both eastward and westward. Zechariah 14: 8
To the Samaritan woman Jesus spoke of the ‘living water” John 4: 10 & 14
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. John 7: 37-39
The fact that the river flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb speaks of the source of all life is God Almighty.
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