Week of September 21
Does Your Heart Long for Your Eternal Home?
Read: Ezekiel 42-44; Revelation 22
“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.”
Revelation 22:1-2, ESV
Introduction
“Christ is the desire of nations, the joy of angels, the delight of the Father. What solace then must that soul be filled with, that has the possession of Him to all eternity!” (John Bunyan). Solace and security do indeed come from one’s faith placed in Jesus. The Apostle John has reached the climax of his revelation, and he now returns to the description of the Holy City, but this time from the perspective of its inner life (EBC). Here the solace indwells the heart and becomes eternal surety, because the paradise which was once lost has been regained. Let’s find comfort in God’s word to our hearts today.
Interpreting the Bible Text
The powerful use of biblical imagery
The Apostle uses classical images from Genesis (1-3) and Ezekiel (40ff.; EBC). He begins by briefly explaining the Holy City as paradise in the opening verses. The river of life should bring to our minds the use of water throughout the Scripture. It refers to the salvation of God and the “life-imparting cleansing ministry” of the Holy Spirit (cf. Isaiah 44:3; John 3:5; 4:13-14; 7:37-39; 13:10; 19:34; Titus 3:5; EBC).
A message of hope
God with us. God is at the center of the city, and the water flows from His throne (22:1). We hear bad news every day in the media, and it very often dampens our spirits. However, when we read a passage like this one, and realize that life flows from God unceasingly through the new world, our hope is renewed. All the misery in this life will pass.
Paradise restored. The tree of life spreads all along the great street of the city (22:2). I recall some of the most beautiful tree-lined boulevards in cities and sites around the world: Mexico City, Tbilisi, the mall in Washington D.C., and along the walkway at the palace in Versailles. Notice that the trees in our focal passage point to the final restoration of what had been lost in Eden and denied to the following generations (Genesis 3:22-24; cf. also Ezekiel’s vision in 47:12). The tree is filled with so much vitality that it bears a crop of fruit each month!
Perpetual peace. We long for peace to spread throughout the world, yet our world is filled with so much hatred. In contrast, the trees in the Holy City produce healing for the nations. The imagery is plain. The abundant fruit and medicinal leaves are symbolic of the expansive reach of Christ’s death in the redeemed community in the Holy City. God’s salvation is so powerful that the effects of sin are overcome! We used to sing in camp, “I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me / it makes the lame to walk and blind to see / it opens prison doors and sets the captives free / I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me” (cf. Isaiah 61; Luke 4:17-19). This eternal life that God gives to the redeemed community will be “perpetually available, will sustain, and will cure eternally every former sin” (EBC).
Paradise restored. The tree of life spreads all along the great street of the city (22:2). I recall some of the most beautiful tree-lined boulevards in cities and sites around the world: Mexico City, Tbilisi, the mall in Washington D.C., and along the walkway at the palace in Versailles. Notice that the trees in our focal passage point to the final restoration of what had been lost in Eden and denied to the following generations (Genesis 3:22-24; cf. also Ezekiel’s vision in 47:12). The tree is filled with so much vitality that it bears a crop of fruit each month!
Perpetual peace. We long for peace to spread throughout the world, yet our world is filled with so much hatred. In contrast, the trees in the Holy City produce healing for the nations. The imagery is plain. The abundant fruit and medicinal leaves are symbolic of the expansive reach of Christ’s death in the redeemed community in the Holy City. God’s salvation is so powerful that the effects of sin are overcome! We used to sing in camp, “I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me / it makes the lame to walk and blind to see / it opens prison doors and sets the captives free / I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me” (cf. Isaiah 61; Luke 4:17-19). This eternal life that God gives to the redeemed community will be “perpetually available, will sustain, and will cure eternally every former sin” (EBC).
Applying the Text to Your Life
What past or present scenes prompt you to recall heavenly truths? Some of my most incredible childhood memories were spent in the “forest” that was my grandmother’s backyard. It looked like a timberland to my eyes because the great majority of her yard was covered by a canopy of branches and leaves from the towering oak trees growing back there. All seemed right with the world when I was in her yard. I often go back there in my mind, and I am almost able to smell even today the scent of those wonderful trees.
Biblical images that give us hope. Even though my grandmother’s yard holds a special place in my memory, it cannot begin to replace what Christ placed in my heart. I long to hear the rippling waters that flow from the throne of God and to walk the tree-lined boulevard in the Holy City. I long to experience this joyful existence with you who also follow the Savior.
Biblical images that give us hope. Even though my grandmother’s yard holds a special place in my memory, it cannot begin to replace what Christ placed in my heart. I long to hear the rippling waters that flow from the throne of God and to walk the tree-lined boulevard in the Holy City. I long to experience this joyful existence with you who also follow the Savior.
For Reflection and Action
1. Following my grandmother’s heavenly home-going, I found warm letters that various friends and family members had written to my grandmother inside her well-worn Bible. They expressed their love and appreciation for her life. I think it would be fitting today if we were to write a love and thank you letter to God for the new life we have received, and then place it in our Bibles. Take time to express your gratitude for His salvation.
2. The Holy City will be marked by a river of life that flows from the throne of God. So, our churches need to be piers all up and down that river! Capture the vision of the Holy City and the redemption that God provides for its residents and rally your church to get people to the river that brings new life.
3. For Families: Larry has given us a wonderful challenge, following today’s devotional. Our children might like to join in, too! On Saturday or Sunday evening, throw a “Love Letter” party at your house. Invite your children’s friends from their Sunday School class, and serve warm cookies and milk and popcorn. Fill the table with beautiful stationary, papers, envelopes, thank you cards, pens, pencils, and fine tip markers.
Share with your children about this devotional, and the beauty and wonders we will see in Heaven when we go there to live with God. Invite them to write love letters to God, or thank you letters to carry in their Bibles. They could even make one to drop into the offering plate on Sunday, if they would like.
Teaching our children about Heaven, God’s Home, will help them to be comforted in the thought of death. It will settle their lives squarely in the biblical teaching about Heaven and life with God, both here and after this life. It will help them to settle where their loved ones are who go to Heaven. It will assure them that Heaven is a real place, more splendid than our life here could ever be. It will help to develop in them a longing to see God, face to face. How precious it is to know that we will all be in Heaven together one day!
May your paths be straight,
Larry C. Ashlock
2. The Holy City will be marked by a river of life that flows from the throne of God. So, our churches need to be piers all up and down that river! Capture the vision of the Holy City and the redemption that God provides for its residents and rally your church to get people to the river that brings new life.
3. For Families: Larry has given us a wonderful challenge, following today’s devotional. Our children might like to join in, too! On Saturday or Sunday evening, throw a “Love Letter” party at your house. Invite your children’s friends from their Sunday School class, and serve warm cookies and milk and popcorn. Fill the table with beautiful stationary, papers, envelopes, thank you cards, pens, pencils, and fine tip markers.
Share with your children about this devotional, and the beauty and wonders we will see in Heaven when we go there to live with God. Invite them to write love letters to God, or thank you letters to carry in their Bibles. They could even make one to drop into the offering plate on Sunday, if they would like.
Teaching our children about Heaven, God’s Home, will help them to be comforted in the thought of death. It will settle their lives squarely in the biblical teaching about Heaven and life with God, both here and after this life. It will help them to settle where their loved ones are who go to Heaven. It will assure them that Heaven is a real place, more splendid than our life here could ever be. It will help to develop in them a longing to see God, face to face. How precious it is to know that we will all be in Heaven together one day!
May your paths be straight,
Larry C. Ashlock
Posted in Pathway Devotionals