Come to the River: Daily Thoughts from Revelation (Revelation 22:1-5)

Rivers! They are amazing sources of prosperity. They have food, and, of course, water. They offer a way of transportation. They can be harnessed to turn a turbine or a mill. The control of rivers is often a basis for self defense or offense.

The psalmist speaks of a river whose streams make glad the city of God (Psalm 46:4). And here, in the eternal kingdom, that river features prominently in our future.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.  (Revelation 22:1-5 ESV)

Life comes from God, every bit of it, and so the river of the water of life flows from His throne to symbolize that.  Is this river for drinking, bathing, irrigating or all three?  It certainly enables the Tree of Life, which was last seen in the garden of Eden (fallen man was barred from eating it so he wouldn’t live forever) to grow and bear fruit every  single month.

The tree’s leaves are for the healing of the nations as it somehow straddles both sides of the river.  Are its leaves producing a chemical that can be used by all nations of the new earth to grow things or as food itself?  Do we need food in this eternal form of the kingdom?  Too many questions are unanswered.  But the message is that nothing is accursed any more.  The curse God put on the earth because of our sin is removed entirely, including especially, the curse of death.

Everyone in this kingdom will worship God and the Lamb.  The One whose face we were never able to see (John 1:18) we will now be able to see.  We will proudly bear his name on our foreheads and enjoy the everlasting day in His light.  We will reign with Him forever and ever.  He will share His rule with us over this new world He has made and His original intention for us and our world will be fulfilled.  Hallelujah!