On the Revelation of Yahshua Christ, Part 28: The Living Temple

On the Revelation of Yahshua Christ, Part 28: The Living Temple

Before we commence with our commentary for Revelation chapter 22, which is the final chapter of the Revelation of Yahshua Christ, there are a couple of peripheral discussions which are fitting, which we have chosen to include here. The first is the vision of Ezekiel’s temple, which is interpreted in various ways. For example, many Jews see the vision as a description of a future and actual temple building in Jerusalem, whereas many Christians interpret it as some sort of allegory for the future Church and the Body of Christ. Of course, while the Jews wrongly interpret Scripture and prophecy in nearly one hundred percent of their attempts, we would reject both of those interpretations.

The second discussion is a brief explanation of the synthesis between the prophecies of Zechariah and the Revelation. During the preparation for this commentary I had thought to do so incrementally and at relevant points, but in the end I decided not to expound on Zechariah at length, since it would have required a rewrite or reproduction of large portions of our Zechariah commentary here, and I was already planning to include large portions of Daniel, for whom we do not yet have a commentary. However the parallels of Zechariah with the Revelation are certainly worthwhile of at least a summary recognition.

The Ezekiel Temple

As it presents itself in Ezekiel chapter 40, some time around 473 BC, or the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians, Ezekiel had received a vision of a temple. But the temple he described, which has measurements somewhat larger than any of the three historical temples in Jerusalem, has not yet been built, and neither is it recorded that anyone is commanded to build it. Additionally, many of the significant fixtures of Solomon’s temple are not found in the temple described by Ezekiel, such as the ark of the covenant, the veil separating the Holy of Holies, the shewbread, the laver of brass in which the priests had washed, and the golden lampstand.

What many Christians do not understand about Zerubbabel’s temple and the Second Temple period, which I would properly reckon to be from 520 BC to the time of Herod the Edomite, but which is commonly extended to 70 AD, is that it never contained the ark of the covenant, which had not been seen since the Babylonian destruction of Solomon’s temple. Of course Herod’s temple, which was actually the third temple in Jerusalem, had never contained it either. Therefore, if one understands the law and the commandments concerning the day of atonement as it is commanded in Leviticus chapter 16, for the sins of the people the high priest was to sprinkle the blood of atonement on the mercy seat which sat between the cherubim atop the ark of the covenant. Paul also alluded to this practice in Hebrews 9:7. So during that entire period, there could be no proper atonement for sin in accordance with the law. Once this is understood, it magnifies the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who had opposed Christ, believing for themselves to have been without sin when there was no proper propitiation for sin.

Some commentators presume that Ezekiel’s temple is the temple which Zerubbabel was supposed to have built, but there is no Scriptural authority for that claim. It is also evident that Zerubbabel’s temple itself must not have been a marvel, as it was built in a very short time. It had taken two years to prepare the foundations, and then Zerubbabel was stalled by politics and opposition from neighboring tribes for many years. When building was finally resumed in 520 BC, the temple was completed by 516 BC, and the short amount of time and the scant resources indicate that this temple was much less magnificent than those of either Solomon or Herod. The details concerning the building of Zerubbabel’s temple are found in diverse places throughout the first six chapters of the book of Ezra, or the first seven chapters of 1 Esdras. This temple was once made desolate by the Greek rulers of Syria, and restored in the early years of Judaea’s short-lived independence, following the successful revolt of the Hasmonaeans, however there are no descriptions of any major structural expansion at that time.

After Herod the Edomite became king of Judaea, several decades before the birth of Christ, he endeavored to build a new temple, and Josephus informs us in Antiquities Book 15 that he even laid new foundations, where he wrote: “391 So Herod took away the old foundations, and laid others, and erected the temple upon them, being in length a hundred cubits, and in height twenty additional cubits, which [twenty], upon the sinking of their foundations fell down; and this part it was that we resolved to raise again in the days of Nero. 392 Now the temple was built of stones that were white and strong, and each of their length was twenty-five cubits, their height was eight, and their breadth about twelve; 393 and the whole structure, as also the structure of the royal cloister, was on each side much lower, but the middle was much higher, till they were visible to those who dwelt in the country for a great many miles, but chiefly to such as lived opposite them, and those who approached to them.” With that we also see that a portion of Herod’s temple had collapsed, and it was repaired in the days of Nero. There is no mention of the temple’s having been in disrepair in the New Testament.

However Herod’s temple, long before the repair, was said by the Pharisees to have taken forty-six years to build, where they challenged Christ, as it is recorded in John chapter 2, and they said “20 Therefore the Judaeans said: ‘Forty-six years to build this temple, and You shall raise it in three days?’” So Herod’s temple was not Zerubbabel’s temple, it must have been much grander than Zerubbabel’s temple, and when Herod built it, there must have been no remnant remaining of Zerubbabel’s temple unless some stones or other materials had been reused in the new construction. It is also apparent, that since it took 46 years to build, then Herod’s temple was not completed until some time after Herod’s death as he was only king for about 37 or 38 years, or a little less in some chronologies.

Yet with all of the grandeur of Herod’s temple as it was described by the apostles, and as it was also described by Josephus in that same book of his Antiquities and also to some degree in Book 5 of his Wars of the Judaeans, it did not quite approach the magnificence of the temple described in Ezekiel, if Ezekiel’s temple had been built. In Ezekiel chapter 42, the walls surrounding the temple of his vision are 500 reeds square. Ezekiel’s reed was six cubits, of a cubit and a hand’s breadth, called the great or royal cubit, which is six times approximately 21 inches. Five hundred such cubits are just thirty feet short of an English mile. There is no mountaintop in Jerusalem which could even accommodate such a temple with such a long, square outer wall. Yet as it is in his vision, Ezekiel was taken up to a high mountain in order to look down upon a city and a temple, which must have been situated in a broad valley or on a plain.

In Ezekiel chapters 47 and 48 there is a strange description of a division of the land of Palestine among the thirteen tribes of Israel which is not at all like the division of the land in the days of Joshua. Here the land is divided from Hamath in the north as far as Kadesh and the River Nile in the south. Within this enlarged plot, which is still not quite as large as the area promised to Abraham in Genesis chapter 15, each tribe is assigned a strip of land running a length of 25,000 reeds, or nearly 50 miles, from west to east. At the end of the description of the land, a city is described which is called Yahweh-shamah, which means “Yahweh is there”, and the name is commonly esteemed to be a symbolic name for Jerusalem. The city is 4,500 measures on each side, and since the same reed is apparently intended for the measure, each side would be about 9 miles long. One similarity with the City of God in the Revelation is that this city described by Ezekiel also has gates named for each of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, with the two sons of Joseph sharing a gate in common. But the City of God in the Revelation measures 12,000 Greek στάδιοι on each side. A στάδιος being 606.75 English feet, that amounts to nearly 1,400 miles, many more than a mere 9 miles.

Other commentators suggest that Ezekiel’s temple is a type for Yahshua Christ, or a prophecy fulfilled in Christ. Yet Ezekiel describes Levites ministering to the people with detailed explanations of burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, which are mentioned over a dozen times in the description of his temple vision. But these things have been explicitly done away with in Christ, as He is now our only valid sacrifice for sin. As Paul of Tarsus had explained in his epistle to the Hebrews, Christ is not a priest after the order of Levi, but rather, and according to prophecy, Christ is a priest after the order of Melchizedek, a priesthood which transcends that of Levi, and the Levitical priesthood has been abolished along with the Old Covenant on account of which it was created. Furthermore, Ezekiel chapters 40 through 42 describe many measurements of temple spaces and objects which would be completely unnecessary in relation to Christ. There is absolutely no mention of any such sacrifices or ritual offerings or altars in the visions of the City of God in the Revelation.

In Ezekiel chapter 43 we may perceive that the entire temple is indeed an allegory, where the prophet wrote and said: “1 Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: 2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. 3 And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. 4 And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. 5 So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house. 6 And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me. 7 And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places. 8 In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger. 9 Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever. 10 Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. 11 And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.”

So the plan of Ezekiel’s temple was made in order to shame the children of Israel for their sins, and it was presented as an opportunity for their repentance and a continued relationship with Yahweh under the Old Covenant, because the temple in Jerusalem had already been destroyed. So with that, the prophet proceeded with further detailed descriptions of an altar and the priests who would make sacrifices for sin offerings in order that Yahweh may once again accept the people. But since Ezekiel’s temple had never been built, it is evident that the opportunity to continue under the Old Covenant was lost, and that covenant was announced permanently and irrevocably broken, in Zechariah chapter 11, even as Zerubbabel’s temple was being built.

Then, since the people were ultimately forgiven their sins and offered a New Covenant in Christ, therefore we cannot expect, or even accept, that the Ezekiel temple should exist either now or in the future. It is an allegorical temple which demonstrates the failures of the people in the past, to live up to any aspect of the Old Covenant which they had agreed to at Sinai, and therefore it also exhibits the fact that they could never be justified by their own doings. They could never save themselves, and Ezekiel’s temple, because it had never been built, is a monument to that fact. Only Yahweh their God could save them, as He had already, by that time, previously declared on so many occasions in the earlier prophets. The promise in Christ is that of a living temple, not of a temple made of stone, in which each and every child of God is a living stone who serves Him by keeping His commandments and doing His will.

For these reasons and others, we did not mention the Ezekiel temple in our earlier 2011 commentary on the Revelation, but we thought to clarify the reasons for that here. Yahweh does not dwell in a temple made with hands, as the martyr Stephen had attested (Acts 7:48), but as we have seen in Revelation chapter 21, in verse 22, we have explained that the Greek of the passage may properly be read: “for Prince Yahweh almighty, her temple is also the Lamb.” For that, we read in the closing verses of Ezekiel chapter 37 that: “26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 And the [Nations] shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.” That tabernacle of Yahweh is Yahshua Christ, as it is revealed here in the Revelation.

Zechariah, a Prophet of the Revelation

Several years ago, in our 2016 commentary on the Book of Zechariah, we had explained why we had called him a Prophet of the Revelation, which was also the title for our commentary on Zechariah chapters 12 and 13. There we had explained the following, upon which I will now paraphrase and expand:

The prophecy of Zechariah foreshadows many, but certainly not all, of the prophecies which are found in the Revelation of Yahshua Christ. First there is the struggle between Yahshua Christ and Satan, which is the Edomite Jews, and the high priest Joshua stands as a type for Christ, in Zechariah chapter 3, where the ancient Canaanites had resisted him as the Judaeans were trying to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. This situation is a type for the struggle of Christ in the Gospel, and His adversaries were also descendants of the ancient Canaanites, as all of the Edomites are. But as the earlier Joshua sought to rebuild the temple, his situation also serves as a prophecy of the struggle which the early Christian church would have with those same Edomite Jews, who persecuted Christians for several centuries, seeking to prevent its building. The Edomites certainly are the “synagogue of Satan”, those who say they are Judaeans, and are not, as it was described in the messages to the seven churches of the Revelation, and again in the description of the war which the dragon makes against the seed of the woman in Revelation chapter 12.

Then the olive trees and the candlesticks of Zechariah chapter 4 parallel and also help to explain the prophecy of the two witnesses found in Revelation chapter 11. But more significantly, in Zechariah chapter 5 the “woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah” who is taken off into captivity and judgement to Babylon represents the children of Israel in the same way as the woman with the twelve stars who was taken into the wilderness to be nourished by angels in Revelation chapter 12. Now that same woman in the wilderness still awaits her release from Mystery Babylon.

At the end of Zechariah chapter 6, there is a prophesy of Christ, and Zechariah is told to address Joshua, the high priest of the time of the building of the second temple, where we read: “12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD [the Living Temple]: 13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” This servant called The BRANCH was also named in Zechariah chapter 3. Here in the Revelation, Yahshua Christ refers to Himself as the “root of David” on two occasions, in chapters 5 and 22.

Having called Himself by that phrase, Christ related Himself to this prophecy concerning The Branch, since it parallels a similar Messianic prophecy found in Isaiah chapter 11 which says: “1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots…” and then a little further on: “10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the [Nations] seek: and his rest shall be glorious.” Then later, in a similar prophecy in Jeremiah chapter 23, the Word of Yahweh says: “5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” This Branch is described once again in Jeremiah chapter 33. So the priest-king who builds the temple of Yahweh in Zechariah chapter 6 is Yahshua Christ, but His priesthood is not of Levi, and neither is that temple a house built with hands so it cannot be the temple of Ezekiel. The apostle Peter described the temple built by Christ, the chief cornerstone, as a metaphorical building in which each Christian is a stone, in chapter 2 of his first epistle. Paul made a similar analogy in Ephesians chapter 2. Doing so, both apostles were citing similar prophecies from the 118th Psalm and Isaiah chapter 28. Christ cited the same Psalm describing the stone which the builders rejected in reference to Himself, as it is recorded in each of the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

The last chapters of Zechariah correlate with the later chapters of the Revelation, as they describe the gathering of all of the other nations and races against the Camp of the Saints, and their ultimate destruction at the hands of the people of Yahweh. Jerusalem in prophecy does not describe the city in Palestine, but is rather an allegory for the chief seats of the people of God scattered abroad. This is found in Zechariah chapter 12, where Jerusalem, which there stands as an allegory for the Camp of the Saints itself, is described as being under siege by “all the people round about” and “all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” Later we also see that Israel is divided at this same time, as the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem are magnified against Judah. This certainly describes the differences between some of the prominent White Christian nations of modern history. The text of verses 9 and 10 establish that this prophecy shall be fulfilled with the return of Christ. Then in Zechariah 12:11 there is a mention of the valley of Megiddon, the place in Palestine from which we have the term Armageddon, and by that we can be assured that our interpretation is true.

One aspect of the valley of Megiddon which we have not ever mentioned is that it is also the place where Josiah king of Judah was killed by the Egyptians, around 608 BC (2 Kings 23:30). The name Josiah means “whom Yahweh heals”, and perhaps that is prophetically indicative of the fact that Yahweh has promised to heal His people. So we read in Malachi chapter 4: “2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” Once again, Yahshua Christ is that Sun, or Son, for which we read in Isaiah chapter 53 that “5 … he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Evidently, the beginning of that healing shall be at the culmination of the great battle of Armageddon, a prophecy in Revelation chapter 16 which actually parallels the Camp of the Saints prophecy found in Revelation chapter 20.

Finally, Zechariah chapter 13 ends with a warning of the punishments of Yahweh God executed upon the sheep of His pasture, who are the children of Israel scattered abroad, and the warning is continued into Zechariah chapter 14. But that final chapter of Zechariah culminates with the destruction of all of the nations which oppose the children of Israel, as we also find in Revelation chapter 20, and for that reason in our commentary on chapter 14 we called Zechariah a Prophet of the Holocaust, of an actual holocaust which Yahweh God has promised that He would execute upon His enemies. The book then ends with an ominous promise that “in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts”, and that is a reference to all of the Jews and Arabs and related peoples of today, as they all descend from the ancient Canaanites. We have witnessed another description of that same holocaust here in Revelation chapters 19 and 20. Therefore while many of these events are also described in the other books of the prophets, the plan of Zechariah foreshadows the greater panorama of history which is prophesied in the Revelation of the Christ much more closely than any of the others.

Now we shall return to our commentary on the Revelation.

Throughout this Commentary, we have endeavored to demonstrate that the Revelation presents a clear narrative which describes future history, from the time when John had recorded it, that spans a period of nearly two thousand years – although of course the last events which it describes have not yet come to pass. Then, as we also hope to have fully demonstrated, this history is entirely Eurocentric, centered on the people and nations of Christian Europe, with the exclusion of all others unless those others are seen as a curse and a plague by which the people of Christian Europe are made to suffer for their sins. So other races are as much a scourge upon the sinners of the Christian children of Israel as they were upon their early ancestors in the periods of the Judges and Kings of ancient Israel.

The Revelation is Eurocentric, and so are the epistles of the apostles, because Europeans are indeed the children of God. So James wrote in Greek to the “twelve tribes scattered abroad”, and Paul wrote in Greek “6 … for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: 7 Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come.” Peter had likewise written his two epistles for Europeans residing in the provinces of Anatolia in Greek, because like the other apostles, he expected them to be able to read Greek. In the first century, there were only a remnant of two tribes in Palestine, which is attested by the Judaean historian Flavius Josephus, and in the first century, no negro or chinaman or mestizo had ever understood Greek.

This leads me to remark, that it is offensive to me, and it should be offensive to all of us, that a jew, a chinaman, or a negro, or any other alien, could ever pick up a Bible and put himself into its pages as a protagonist, or as a recipient of the covenants and promises of God, imagining that he may reap any of the benefits of worshipping our God. This is tantamount to taking the bread from the children, even ripping it out of their fingers, and casting it to the dogs. Although Europeans themselves have assisted in this, and they continue to assist, this is the most severe form of so-called cultural appropriation in history. But then again, the satanic Jewish media and Jewish academics have insisted that White Europeans have no culture, so only other races can suffer from cultural appropriation. The truth is that in the end, as it is described here in the Revelation, there will be no Jews and no other races, as they are all destined for the Lake of Fire. So we must be comforted by the fact that they may think they have eternal life, but once again, as did the ancient Pharisees who had contended with Christ, they failed to understand the Scriptures.

Now, proceeding with our Commentary, the opening verses of this final chapter of the Revelation are actually a continued description of the City of God which began in chapter 21, and the chapter divisions are often unfortunate, or poorly placed, because they frequently interrupt the context of a subject. Chapter 21 began with the words “1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth departed, and the sea is no longer.” This new heaven and earth we interpret as a new organization of the children of God in a cleansed land, and the sea, being no longer, represents the greater mass of the people of the earth who, because they are goat nations and had not been found written in the Book of Life, are now in the Lake of Fire. The Holy City descending from heaven represents the body of the people of Israel, who having been born of God are born from above, as we may read in chapter 3 of the Gospel of John, and also in several places in John’s first epistle.

As we had also seen, the City of God is built upon the foundation of the apostles of Christ, and the stones in its walls correlate to the stones in the breastplate of the Levitical high priest, which, under the Old Covenant, had represented the twelve tribes of Israel. Yahshua Christ Himself is the temple of Yahweh, and He is also the lamp of the city. The ancient pagan kings of the Middle and Near East had believed for themselves to be the light of the world, the sun on earth, and that belief appears in Isaiah chapter 14 where Yahweh God mocks the king of Babylon by referring to him rather derisively as “Lucifer”, or in the Septuagint, ἑωσφόρος. Both words, from Latin and Greek, mean light-bearer. The Hebrew term is heylal, or הילל (1966), which in that context is properly shining one.

Yahweh God had announced His presence in the world in Genesis chapter 1 where the first words which He had uttered are “Let there be light”, however the sources of physical light which may be seen by men were not created until much later. So, as it is recorded in chapter 2 of the Gospel of John, John the Baptist had announced that Yahshua Christ is “9 The light [which was] was the truth, which coming into the Society enlightens every man.” Here in the Revelation, on several occasions Yahshua Christ Himself substantiates that assertion. So where Yahshua Christ is seen as the lamp which gives light in the City of God, He alone is the guiding light of the coming, post-apocalyptic society.

With that we shall commence with Revelation chapter 22.

XXII 1 And he showed to me a river of [the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia insert “pure” or “clean”] water of life, bright [or “clear”, λαμπρός] as crystal, coming out from the throne of Yahweh and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of her street and with the river on the one side and the other [literally “from here and from there”, the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia insert “from here and from here”] is the tree of life producing twelve fruits, yielding each [the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia insert “one”] of its fruits by month, and the leaves of the tree [א has “trees”] are for the service of the Nations.

The Nations here are those same nations mentioned in the penultimate verses of chapter 21, where we read “24 And the Nations shall walk by her light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their honor into her, 25 and her gates shall not be closed by day (for there shall not be night there), 26 and they shall bring the honor and the dignity of the Nations into her.” In that passage, we lean towards interpreting the nations as a reference to all of the Adamic nations, and the kings of the earth are those of the children of Israel who are destined to “rule over the earth”, as we read in Revelation chapter 5 (5:10).

Here we have the leaves of the tree as being for the service of the Nations, where the King James Version has for the healing of the nations. The Greek word is θεραπεία (2322), which, according to Liddell & Scott, is “a waiting on, service… of things, a fostering, tending, nurture, care… ” and then, among other things, “medical treatment, service done to the sick, tending…” So healing was esteemed to have too narrow a meaning in this context. Additionally, we capitalize the word Nations as it refers to certain nations, and not all nations, since only the sheep nations shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 25), and only the Adamic nations have any promise of resurrection and eternal life.

The imagery of the tree of life evokes the words of David in the 1st Psalm: “1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” The ungodly of the Psalm are the wicked or criminal, as the Hebrew word רשע, or rasha (7563), is commonly interpreted. But at this point, the word cannot any longer be used to refer to the children of Israel since Yahweh God has promised to cleanse them of all of their sins, and to redeem them all from sin and death, without exception (Isaiah 28:18, 45:17-25; Jeremiah 33:7-8; Ezekiel 37:23; Hosea 13:14; Micah 7:19).

The river described here proceeds from out of the throne of Yahweh, because Yahweh God Himself is the true river, or source, for all things which are pure and legitimate, and everything which He had created is good. While the bastards which result from the sins of men and angels may live temporarily in this world, they are not truly living in the eyes of God, since they did not proceed from Him. Therefore in his one brief epistle the apostle Jude had referred to certain people as “spots” in Christian feasts of charity and called them “twice dead”, since once they die in the flesh, neither shall their spirits live. Men cannot sin and make any legitimate claim that God is the author of the results of their sin.

In John chapter 4, in the encounter of Christ with a certain Samaritan woman, we read in part: ‘10 Yahshua replied and said to her: ‘If you knew the gift of Yahweh and who it is saying to you ‘Give Me to drink’, you would have asked Him and He would have given to you living water.’ 11 The woman says to Him: “Master, You do not even have a bucket and the well is deep, so from where do You have living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jakob, who gave us the well and had drank from it himself, with his sons and his cattle?’ 13 Yahshua responded and said to her: ‘Each who is drinking from this water shall thirst again. 14 But he who should drink from the water which I shall give to him shall not thirst for eternity, but the water which I shall give to him will become in him a well of water springing up into eternal life.’ 15 The woman says to Him ‘Master, give this water to me, that I shall not thirst nor pass by here to draw!’”

There Yahshua Christ had described Himself as a fountain of living water which supports eternal life. Later, once He was resurrected, the apostles understood the implications, and Thomas had declared for Him to be “My Lord and my God”, as it is described in John chapter 20 (20:28). There Christ did not deny Thomas, who proclaimed Him as God, but rather He had commended him for believing what he had proclaimed. Here in the Revelation, there are many indications that Christ is Yahweh God incarnate. But at the beginning of the book, before the events which it prophesies had taken place, the Lamb only stood “in the midst of” the throne of God, the living creatures and the elders. But now, at the end of the events of the Revelation, the throne of Yahweh and the Lamb are one and the same, because Yahweh and the Lamb are one and the same.

Here the twelve fruits growing from out of the Tree of Life must represent the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. As Christ had told His disciples, in John chapter 15: “5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” By abiding in Christ, men must keep His commandments, and their vine shall not be spoiled. But all bastards are cut off, as Christ Himself declared in Matthew chapter 15: “13 … Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted!”

3 And there shall no longer be any curse.

The serpent was cursed first in Scripture, in Genesis chapter 3, because he had seduced the woman and that had also caused Adam to sin. Then Cain was cursed, by which the ground would not yield to him. Later, Canaan was cursed by Noah, on account of the circumstances of his birth. Curses result from violations of the Laws of Yahweh, as it is attested in the blessings of obedience and curses of disobedience which are found in Deuteronomy chapters 27 and 28. Today all of the children of Israel are under those curses. These curses are not because our God torments us from heaven, but rather they are a natural result of our collective sins, so they are an inevitable product of cause and effect. There shall be no more curse, because there shall be no more violators, and all those who are themselves an offense – by the fact of their very creation (every plant which Yahweh did not plant) shall be removed and cast into the Lake of Fire (i.e. Matthew 13:41 and 15:13).

Continuing verse 3:

And the throne of Yahweh and of the Lamb shall be in her, and His servants shall serve Him 4 and shall see His face, and His Name is [א inserts “also”] upon their foreheads.

The servants of Yahweh are the children of Israel, as we read in Isaiah chapter 41: “8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. 9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.” The theme is repeated several times in Isaiah, all in reference to the children of Israel who were already in the Assyrian captivity. Then we read in Jeremiah chapter 46: “27 But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. 28 Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.” Even in their state of punishment, Yahweh affirms that the children of Israel are His servants. Then again, in Ezekiel chapter 37, where the house of Israel and the house of Judah are made into one stick as the dry bones of the ancient Israelites are revived and called forth from their graves: “25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.” There David is also a type for Christ. Jeremiah and Ezekiel, where they refer to all of the children of Israel in a context long after they had all been taken into captivity, demonstrate that Yahweh has never changed His purpose for them, and therefore they remain His servants.

So they must also be the servants referred to here in the Revelation, and where we read that His Name is upon their foreheads, the pronoun is a reference to His servants, the children of Israel. Previously, the name of “Mystery Babylon the Great, Mother of the Whores and the Abominations of the Earth” was written upon the forehead of the woman who had joined herself to the beast, as it is described in Revelation chapter 17, and she had represented the children of Israel in their state of sin. She still does represent them in that manner, since not yet has Babylon fallen, and until it does they remain the whore which is joined to the beast.

Then where we read that “His servants shall serve Him and shall see His face”, just as Yahshua Christ had explained, as it is recorded in John chapter 14: “9 … For so long a time I am with you and you do not know Me, Philippos? He who has seen Me has seen the Father! How do you say ‘show us the Father’?” Yahweh God is invisible, and for that reason Paul of Tarsus declared in Hebrews chapter 1 that Yahshua Christ is “the radiance of the honor and the express image of His substance”, and again in Colossians chapter 1 in reference to Yahshua Christ that He “15 … is the likeness of the invisible God, first born of all the creation. 16 Because by Him all things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, those visible and those invisible, whether thrones or dominions or realms or authorities, all things are created by Him and for Him; 17 and He is before all, and all things by Him endure; 18 and He is the head of the body: the assembly. He who is the beginning, first born from among the dead, that in all things He would be holding the first place.” Christ being the Head of the Body is the Branch who builds the temple of God in Zechariah chapter 6, and the Body is the Living Temple of His people. Being the express image of the substance of God, and the likeness of the substance of God, in chapter 2 of that same epistle to the Colossians Paul had further described Christ and said “9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Divinity bodily.” So here in the Revelation, in chapter 21, describing the City of God John had said in part: “22 … I saw no temple in her, for Prince Yahweh almighty, her temple is also the Lamb.”

The body of Yahshua Christ is the image of the substance, or person, of Yahweh God, and the temple made without hands in which Yahweh dwells. For that reason, we read, as it is recorded in John chapter 2: “18 Therefore the Judaeans responded and said to Him: ‘What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?’ 19 Yahshua replied and said to them: ‘You destroy this temple and in three days I shall raise it!’ 20 Therefore the Judaeans said: ‘Forty-six years to build this temple, and You shall raise it in three days?’ 21 (But He had spoken concerning the temple of His body. 22 Therefore when He had risen from the dead, His students remembered that He had said this, and they believed in the writing and in the word which Yahshua spoke.)”

Then the apostle Peter wrote in chapter 2 of his first epistle: “4 Coming forth to Him a living stone, indeed having been rejected as unfit by men but honored elect before Yahweh, 5 and yourselves as living stones are built a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Yahweh through Yahshua Christ. 6 Wherefore it is contained in the Scripture: ‘Behold, I place in Zion an honored elect corner stone, and he believing in Him shall by no means be ashamed.’ 7 Therefore the honor for you is for those who believe, but they who do not believe: ‘The stone which the builders have rejected, this has come to be for the head cornerstone’ 8 and ‘a stumbling stone and a rock of offense.’ They stumble disobeying the Word, for which also they have been ordained. 9 But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, so that you should proclaim the virtues for which from out of darkness you have been called into the wonder of His light…”

So the City of God, which consists of the twelve tribes of Israel, is also the living temple, the Body of Christ with Christ as its Head, and Christ is Himself the temple in which Yahweh God the Father dwells. Each and every child of God is a stone in that City. By that description Peter also showed his own humility, as Christ had also called him πέτρος, which is a stone. Understanding that, there shall never be any need for Ezekiel’s temple, which had never been built but which stands to shame the children of Israel for their sins.

5 And there shall no longer be night [the traditional MT manuscripts have “And there shall not be night”; the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia have “And there shall not be night there”; the text follows א and A] , and they have [A has “shall have”] not need for light [the MT wants “for light”; the text follows א and A] of a lamp and for light of a sun, because Prince Yahweh shall shine upon them, and they shall rule for the eternal ages.

Here night is a metaphor for darkness, as we read in John chapter 1, speaking of Christ as the Light which comes in to the Society, that “5 … the light shines in the darkness; yet the darkness comprehends it not.” In Genesis, we do not see that Yahweh created darkness, but only that it was already there, and when He said “Let there be light”, the light was then distinguished from the darkness. We have already cited Malachi chapter 4 in a similar context here: “2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” Only in English is there a wordplay between Sun and Son.

In this passage, the Greek phrase κύριος ὁ θεὸς, which is usually “Lord God” in the popular translations, and “Yahweh God” here, is purposely “Prince Yahweh” in an attempt to express a concept which the text itself is asserting: that Yahshua Christ is Yahweh God incarnate. So we read in chapter 21 that “23 … the city has not need of the sun nor of the moon that they would illuminate her, for the effulgence of Yahweh illuminates her, and her lamp is the Lamb.” The light coming out of the Lamb is the effulgence of Yahweh, so the Lamb becomes the guiding light of Society. Therefore this does not necessarily mean that there will be no physical sun or moon, but rather, as we have explained in our commentary on earlier chapters of the Revelation, the sun and moon are often symbols used as allegories for the governments of men. Here in the Revelation, at a point in the future all government and law will forever emanate directly from God.

In a promise of devilverance to the children of Israel in captivity, we read in Isaiah chapter 60, in part: “16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the [Nations], and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. 17 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. 19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 20 Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. 21 Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.” While one fulfillment of this may have come in the form of medieval Christian Europe, as we interpret the thousand-year period of Revelation chapter 20, it is nevertheless a type and a prophecy of the coming Kingdom of Yahweh, and for that reason and in several ways it also parallels the prophecy here in Revelation chapters 21 and 22.

This is the end of the description of the City of God, and now there is a more general explanation and warnings concerning the purpose of this book:

6 And he said to me: “These words are trustworthy and true, and Yahweh God of the spirits of the prophets [the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia have ‘Yahweh God of the holy prophets’] has sent [א inserts ‘me’] His messenger to show His servants the things which are necessary to happen shortly.

Here where Yahweh is called the “God of the spirits of the prophets”, the words of the Old Testament prophets are upheld, just as Christ had attested, as it recorded in Matthew chapter 5, “17 You should not believe that I have come to dismiss the law or the prophets. I have not come to dismiss but to fulfill.” The word for dismiss in that passage may also have been translated as abrogate or discard, as Liddell & Scott explain especially in the context of law. Therefore, as we have endeavored to do throughout this Commentary, the Revelation must also be interpreted in a manner which accords with all of the words of the Old Testament prophets, and not in a manner which discredits, contradicts or repudiates them. Of all the sects of Christianity, this is only achieved through what we know as Christian Identity. All other sects deny the words of the prophets, in many places, and therefore set at nought a good portion of the Word of God.

7 And [the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia want ‘and’] ‘Behold! I come quickly! Blessed is he keeping the words of the prophecy of this book!’”

Here quickly is a relative term. In the eyes of God a thousand years is as one day, as the apostle Peter explained in chapter 3 of his second epistle: “8 But you must not forget this one thing, beloved: that one day with the Prince is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” There are similar warnings in the messages to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3 of the Revelation, that Christ would come quickly. Yet while these things which are prophesied in the Revelation did indeed begin to happen quickly, it would take at least a couple of thousand years for them to unfold completely, and to this day they are still not quite completed.

Now once again we see a profession that the apostle John of Ephesus and Patmos is the recorder of this work:

8 And it is I, Iohannes, hearing and seeing [א and the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia have “seeing and hearing”] these things. And when I had heard and seen, I fell to worship before the feet of the messenger who shows these things to me. 9 And he says to me: “No, look! I am your fellow-servant and of your brethren the prophets and of those keeping the words of this book [the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia want “and of those”]! Worship Yahweh!”

The opening verses of the Revelation reveal that this John is indeed the same apostle who wrote the Gospel of John. There we read: “1 A revelation from Yahshua Christ which Yahweh had given to Him to show to His servants the things which are necessary to happen quickly, and He having sent explained through His messenger to His servant Iohannes, 2 who bore witness to the Word of Yahweh and the testimony of Yahshua Christ, as many things as he had seen. 3 Blessed is he reading and those hearing the words of the prophecy and keeping the things written in it, for the time is near.” In that same passage are two warnings, that these things would “happen quickly” and “the time is near”.

The apostle Peter had also taught that “the end of all things is at hand”, while he also held out the possibility that it may not be for some time to come, in chapter 3 of his second epistle where he wrote: “3:1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: 3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

The apostles taught that the return of Christ was imminent, regardless of how long it would actually be, because that is how Christ expected His disciples to live. Therefore He Himself had said, as it is recorded in Luke chapter 12: “37 Blessed are those servants, who the master coming shall find awake. Truly I say to you that he shall gird himself and have them recline and coming forth shall serve them! 38 Even if in the second and in the third watch he should come and find thusly, blessed are they. 39 But you must know this: that if the master of the house had known in which hour the thief comes, he would not have allowed his house to be dug through. 40 And you also must be ready, because in the hour which you do not expect comes the Son of Man.”

Here John had fallen to worship before an angel and he was corrected. Earlier, in chapter 19, there was a similar incident where we read of an angel who appeared to him: “10 And I fell before his feet to worship him. And he says to me: ‘No, look! I am your fellow-servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Yahshua! Worship Yahweh! For the testimony of Yahshua is the spirit of interpreting prophecy.’” Recording these things John is demonstrating to men that they should only bow before or venerate God, and never any element of His Creation, as Paul also explained, in Romans chapter 1, that Yahweh had given certain of the Romans themselves up to greater sins on account of their idolatry, whereby they “worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator”. Therefore if men should not venerate living angels, they certainly should not venerate the images of dead men or statues of so-called saints or other people.

10 And he says to me: “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for [the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia have “because”] the time is near! 11 He who is unjust must yet be unjust, and he who is filthy must yet be filthy [A wants ‘and he who is filthy must yet be filthy’], and he who is righteous must yet practice righteousness, and he who is holy must yet be holy.

Of course, these words are instructions to John, as the end of the words of the Revelation draws near, so they refer to the future from that time forward. Since Yahweh, being God, foresees the sins of men, these words also teach predestination similarly to Revelation chapter 13 where we read: “10 If one is for captivity, into captivity he goes. If one is to be slain by the sword, he is to be slain by the sword. Thus is the patience and the faith of the saints.” So it also with those who had been destined to be unjust and filthy, or righteous and holy. The word translated as filthy is not ἀκάθαρτος, which is commonly unclean, but a stronger synonym, ῥυπαρός, for which the King James Version also has filthy here, but as vile in James chapter 2 (2:2). The filthy and the unjust, the righteous and the holy, all of these things have been determined from the foundation of the world, just as Yahweh knew that Esau would forfeit his birthright even before the time that he was born.

The word holy here is from the Greek word ἅγιος, which in the Biblical context means separated and devoted to the purposes of God. This is the word translated as holy in the phrase Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word for “holy” in such contexts is קדש, or qodesh (6944), which primarily means apartness. We can see from comparing the passages in Exodus 19:5-6 and 1 Peter 2:9 that this mandate for Israel to be a separate people has never changed. In that passage of his first epistle, which was addressed to scattered descendants of the ancient Israelites, Peter was actually citing Exodus chapter 19 and Hosea chapter 1, passages which can only refer to Israel.

Many denominational pastors often confuse this passage where it says “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book” with a statement in the Book of Daniel, at Daniel 12:4, where Yahweh instructs that prophet to “shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end”. It is likely that they do so purposely, because this book is also a mystery to them. However the Revelation is not sealed, and its prophecies began to transpire as soon as it was written. It is hoped that this interpretation of the Revelation has elucidated the fact that with a knowledge of history and the Old Testament, all of the things written in this book may indeed be brought to light so that they may be understood by Christians.

“12 ‘Behold [the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia have “And behold”]! I come quickly! And My reward is with Me to render [א has ‘to be rendered’] to each as is [the MT has ‘as shall be’; the text follows א and A] his work! 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End [the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia invert the order of the final two clauses].

The parables of Christ as well as the interactions which He had with the people around Him have explained His rewards to the faithful, or the lack of reward for the faithless. A certain young and wealthy man was told that he would have great reward in the Kingdom of Heaven if he would abandon his earthly riches, and he could not bring himself to do so, as it is recorded in Luke chapter 18. But that is not the only path to reward. When men are hated on account of the Word of God and for the sake of Christ, their reward is great in Heaven, as it is in Luke chapter 6. In that same chapter we see that men may be rewarded for putting their brethren ahead of themselves, even when their brethren act as their enemies. The parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew chapter 25 should be compared to the words of Christ in Matthew chapter 10, where He is recorded as having said “40 He receiving you receives Me, and he receiving Me receives He who has sent Me. 41 He receiving a prophet in the name of a prophet gains reward of the prophet, and he receiving a righteous man in the name of a righteous man gains reward of the righteous man. 42 And he who would give one of these little ones a single cup of cold water to drink in the name of a student, truly I say to you, by no means should he lose his reward.” So for even the most basic kindness towards their brethren are the children of God rewarded. But there is one caveat for which the goats can never earn a reward and that is the fact that in the parable, they are not judged for how they treat other goats, but rather for how they had treated the sheep, among whom their very presence is a transgression.

This is the second of three warnings in this chapter, that Christ shall come quickly, and upon that we can no longer elaborate except to say that He could not even tell His apostles just when that would be. So when they had asked Him, as it is recorded in Acts chapter 1, “6 … Prince, then at this time shall You restore the Kingdom to Israel?”, He answered and said “7 … It is not yours to know the times or the seasons which the Father has placed in His own authority. 8 Rather you shall receive power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you and you shall be My witnesses in both Jerusalem and in all Judaea and Samareia, and unto the end of the earth.” To this day no man has that answer.

If we have seen that the first 17 chapters of the Revelation have indeed been fulfilled over the past two thousand years, approximately, then in that alone we have an assurance that these last chapters shall also be fulfilled. Only a fool would think otherwise. But only a fool would also believe that he – a mere man – may judge when Yahshua is to return, and only a fool would attempt to do it for Him, because He is not coming quickly enough for their patience. At Matthew 24:36 Yahshua Christ is recorded as having said: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” This same thing is also elucidated in several parables. Other commentators errantly look to certain historical events for the “coming of the Son of Man”, even claiming that it has already happened. However after the apostles had asked Christ about the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel, and Christ is ascending to Heaven, the opening chapter of the Book of Acts explicitly states that: “11 … Yahshua, who is taken up from you into the heaven, thusly shall He come in the manner which you have beheld Him going into the heaven.”

Then, in the meantime:

“‘14 Blessed are they washing their garments [the MT, and therefore also the King James Version, have ‘Blessed are they doing His commandments’; the text follows א and A], that it shall be their license to the tree of life and they may enter into the gates into the city.

The first Christians, among whom were the Israelites of the Exodus, were kept from the angel of death by the blood of a lamb during that first Passover. Now in this age, Christians must also keep themselves safe from the wrath of God, by the blood of The Lamb Yahshua Christ, and He demands an adherence to His words. So Christ had told His disciples, as it is recorded in John chapter 14, “21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” Therefore Paul of Tarsus wrote in Romans chapter 5: “6 Indeed when we were feeble, Christ at the appointed time died for the impious. 7 Though scarcely for the benefit of the upright will one die: for the benefit of the noble perhaps one then dares to die; 8 but Yahweh introduces His own love to us, because we, yet being sinners, Christ had died for our benefit. 9 Still more then, being deemed worthy now by His blood, will we be preserved by Him from wrath. 10 Therefore if we being odious were reconciled to Yahweh through the death of His Son, still more, being reconciled will we be preserved in His life.” In Revelation chapter 14, we read: “ 12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

Then, in Revelation chapter 3, the assembly at Sardis is commanded to repent lest they be punished, and we read: “4 But you have a few names in Sardeis which have not soiled their garments, and they shall walk with Me in white, because they are worthy.” Later, in Revelation chapter 16: “15 Behold! I come as a thief! Blessed is he being alert and keeping his garments, that he would not walk naked and they would see his shame!” Likewise, after Adam and Eve had transgressed, they realized that they were naked. The woman, who represents the children of Israel, by keeping the commandments of Christ washes her garments in the blood of the Lamb. So we read in Revelation chapter 12: “17 And the dragon was angered by the woman and went to make war with those remaining of her offspring who keep the commandments of Yahweh and have the testimony of Yahshua.”

Now there is yet another warning:

15 Outside are dogs and druggists [φάρμακος] and fornicators and murderers and idolaters and any who love and make [א has ‘make and love’] a lie.

Since all of the sins of the children of Israel are forgiven in Christ, as we see in Isaiah chapter 53, Micah chapter 7, Jeremiah chapter 33, Ezekiel chapter 37 and elsewhere, since all of their sins have been cleansed on the cross of Christ, then the dogs, druggists, fornicators, murderers, idolaters and liars mentioned here cannot be of the children of Israel. Therefore, since all of the enemies of Yahweh God have already been described as having been destroyed, the description of the sinners outside of the city may mean one of two things. It may simply indicate that these people have already been excluded, or it may indicate that unrepentant Adamic people other than the children of Israel remain outside of the presence of God. But neither are those interpretations correct.

The names of the other Adamic nations are not written on the gates in the first place, so apparently they must be among the nations which are outside the city, which are mentioned in verse 2 of this chapter, and in verses 24 and 25 of chapter 21. Then furthermore, it seems difficult to believe that facing Christ in the final judgement, there could even be such an unrepentant Adamic soul. And in fact, as Paul had explained in Romans chapter 5, sin is not imputed where there is no law, and the only law which the early members of the Adamic race were given was the commandment which Adam had first received, not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Then as Peter explained in his first epistle, Christ had preached the Gospel to the spirits in prison, those who had died in the flood of Noah who had sinned in that precise manner, and we see that they too were offered forgiveness and reconciliation to God.

However once it is realized that the context here is not that of the City of God, but of verse 10 where John was told “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book”, then we must admit that this warning is for John’s own time, to inform the Christians who would read this book in the future that these sinners must be excluded from the Kingdom of God. If any of them were themselves sinners, it is a call to repentance. Otherwise, it is a warning against the wicked who could never please God and who are naturally inclined to such sin.

As Christ told Nicodemus, in John chapter 3, “3 … Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man should be born from above, he is not able to see the Kingdom of Yahweh.” Then as He had told His adversaries, in John chapter 8, “23 … You are from of those below; I am from of those above…” Then as He told His disciples, in Matthew chapter 7: “15 Keep away from the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are rapacious wolves. 16 You shall know them from their fruits. Does anyone gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? 17 Thusly every good tree produces fine fruit, but the rotten tree produces evil fruit. 18 A good tree is not able to produce evil fruit, nor is a rotten tree to produce fine fruit. 19 Each tree not producing fine fruit is cut down and cast into the fire! 20 Indeed from their fruits you shall know them.”

So Christians were informed, and by that they should have known to exclude such sinners from their communities. As Paul of Tarsus wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 concerning a certain fornicator, that the assembly of Corinth should expel him from their community, John also wrote in his second epistle that “9 Each who going forth and not abiding in the teaching of Christ has not Yahweh. He abiding in the teaching, he also has the Father and the Son. 10 If one comes to you and does not bear this teaching, do not receive him into the house and do not speak to welcome him! 11 For he speaking to welcome him takes a share in his evil works.” Therefore likewise here also we have a similar warning, to keep such sinners outside.

“‘16 I Yahshua have sent My messenger to attest these things to you for [ἐπὶ is for. A has ‘in’. The manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia want any preposition, however in is implied in the Dative Case of the noun] the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David; [the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia insert ‘and’] the bright morning star!

Here we see these words belong to Yahshua Christ Himself, and calling Himself the “bright morning star” Christ professes for Himself to be the source of light. Then having called Himself “the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End”, as He had in verse 13 above, He professes to be Yahweh God, as only Yahweh God can be the first and the last. But now once again in this verse Yahshua indirectly proclaims that He is God, as that is also the only way that He could possibly be both the root and the offspring of David. We have already discussed the relevant Old Testament prophecies in this regard earlier in this presentation, in relation to Zechariah chapters 3 and 6. (See Revelation 5:5, Isaiah 4:2, 11:1, 10, Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15, Zechariah 3:8-9, 6:12-13.)

For this, Christ had challenged His adversaries, where we read in Matthew chapter 22: “41 Then upon the Pharisees’ gathering together, Yahshua questioned them, 42 saying: ‘What do you think concerning the Christ? Whose son is He?’ They say to Him ‘That of David!’ 43 He says to them: ‘Then how does David by the Spirit call Him ‘Master’, saying: 44 ‘Yahweh has said to my Master, sit at My right hand, until when I should place Your enemies beneath Your feet’? 45 So if David calls Him ‘Master’, how is He his son?’ 46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone venture from that day to question Him any longer.” Here Christ had referred to the 110th Psalm where it reads “1 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” There the first occurrence of Lord is Yahweh, and the second is the generic title adon (ﬡדון or ﬡדן). But a father, which is David in this case, should never have less respect than a son, whereby he should have to call his son master, which David had done, and therefore Yahshua Christ must be more than a mere son of David, but also the ultimate Father of David, Yahweh God incarnate, by which He is both the root and offspring of David: a son of David, but also his Lord.

“17 And the Spirit and the bride say ‘Come!’ And he hearing must say ‘Come!’ And he who thirsts must come, he desiring must receive the water of life freely!

Whether the children of Israel were represented by the woman in the wilderness, or the whore of Babylon, as they had merited both descriptions at diverse times, they are nevertheless the Bride of Yahweh, as we read the promise in Hosea chapter 2 where Yahweh had promised them: “19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. 20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.”

Yahshua Christ Himself is also the source of the Water of Life, which is His Word, as we read in John chapter 4, and also His spirit, as we read in John chapter 7 where He said: “38 He believing in Me, just as the writing says, rivers of living water shall flow from his belly!” Then John made a parenthetical remark and said: “39 (Now this He spoke concerning the spirit which those believing in Him were going to receive. For not yet was the spirit, because Yahshua had not as yet been magnified.)” But Yahshua came only “for the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, as He professed in Matthew chapter 15, and His covenant was promised to them exclusively, as we read in Jeremiah chapter 31 and Hebrews chapter 8. As we hope to have proven throughout our commentary on the Revelation, the scope of that original calling and those promises have never changed.

“18 I testify to each who hear the words of the prophecy of this book: if one should add to these things, upon him [A wants ‘upon him’; the text follows א and the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia; neither the NA27 nor the NA28 supply any reading for the traditional MT manuscripts] Yahweh shall add the [the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia have ‘seven’] plagues written in this book, 19 and if one should take away from the [א has ‘these’] words of the book of this prophecy, Yahweh shall take away his share of the things written in this book from the tree of life and from [A wants ‘from’] the holy city.

As the apostle James had professed in chapter 3 of his epistle, “1 You must not produce many teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive a greater judgment. 2 For we all fail often! If anyone does not fail in word, he is a perfect man able to guide with a bridle even the whole body.” Only Christ is perfect, and He can therefore bridle the entire body of His people. If a man claiming to be a teacher fails, it is he that should have known better, and who is therefore more accountable for his errors, even if he is actually ignorant.

In Deuteronomy chapter 4 there is a similar warning concerning the book of the law: “1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. 2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it [i.e. remove anything from it], that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” For this reason also, translating the Revelation, it is a necessity to be careful, examining the manuscripts and producing the best possible text of the book before even attempting to understand its meaning. It has already been added to or subtracted from in many manuscripts. Yet it is also evident, that no interpretation of the Revelation should conflict with the plain words of Christ in the Gospel, with the messages of His apostles, or with the oracles of God which were given through the Prophets.

“20 He testifying of these things says ‘Yeah, I come quickly!’ Truly! [א wants ‘Truly!’] Come, Prince Yahshua [the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia insert ‘Christ’]!”

This is both the third warning that He shall come quickly, and also a prayer beckoning Him to come quickly. All Christians today should still be making that prayer.

21 The favor of Prince Yahshua [the MT inserts ‘Christ’; the text follows א and A] is with the saints, truly!

The Codex Alexandrinus (A) has this last verse to read “The favor of Prince Yahshua is with all.” The Majority Text manuscripts have “The favor of Prince Yahshua is with all of the saints, truly!” The text follows the Codex Sinaiticus (א).

As far as the very last verse of Scripture, we see that the favor of Yahweh is with His saints, or His sanctified ones, which is the meaning of the word saint in such a context. But a man cannot sanctify himself in the eyes of God, since no flesh is justified in His sight. Only the children in the loins of Isaac were ever sanctified upon an altar to Yahweh at the command of Yahweh Himself. Only they can legitimately be His sanctified ones, and therefore, as Paul of Tarsus reassures his readers in Romans chapter 9, “in Isaac shall thy seed be called.” The European history which is revealed in the Revelation of Yahshua Christ, is the end of all proofs concerning the identity of the heirs of the heritage of ancient Israel.

This concludes our interpretation and commentary on the Revelation of Yahshua Christ.