Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #5 of Revelation, chapter 22.  We are going to read Revelation 22:3-4:

And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

We saw in our last study that this earth has been cursed since the fall of mankind into sin and the curse has devoured the earth, according to Isaiah, chapter 24.  In the Day of Judgment it is the reason why the wrath of God is upon unsaved mankind and, ultimately, it is the reason for man’s destruction.  Therefore, the curse devours the earth.

But in the new heaven and new earth, God’s elect have received their new resurrected bodies and are in His very presence and there is no more curse, “but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.”  It says, “The throne of God and of the Lamb,” and we read something similar in Revelation 22:1 and I do not think we noticed it at that time.  It says in Revelation 22:1:

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

What I had not noticed is that God is speaking of His throne.  God is mentioned and also the Lamb.  They are one and the same.  God is one God, but He reveals Himself as three Persons and the Lamb is Christ, the Son of God.  Yet, God speaks of the throne and if we did not know any better, we might think He was referring to some sort of co-regency.  In the Bible, at times there were co-regencies.  For instance, King David reigned together with his son Solomon for about a four-year period.  Then David died and upon his death, Solomon was already king and he laid the foundation of the house of God.  David is a type of Christ and Solomon was a type of Christ as he laid the foundation, but we can see that there is one God upon the throne.  Here, it is not speaking of two different kings, but there is one God.  Jesus said that the Father and He are one.

Back in Revelation, chapter 3 we also read about the throne of God.  It said in Revelation 3:21:

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Here is why the Bible uses the language of “the throne of God and of the Lamb.”  It is because the Lamb “overcame” and it is a word that means “to be victorious.”  Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Christ overcame the world.  He was victorious over sin and Satan and over all the enemies of God and, therefore, He said He is “set down with my Father in his throne.”

Notice it says in Revelation 3:21: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne.”  So we have the Father and we have the Son, but Christ said it will also involve those that have overcome and it is the elect children of God that have overcome through the Lord Jesus.  He has granted them His victory of faith.  It says in 1John 5:4:

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Christ is our Faith.  Everyone God has saved has overcome the world and according to Revelation 3, verse 21, everyone “that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne.”  In the Bible, “to sit” means “to rule.”  Jesus is at the right hand of the Father and whenever He would save someone it was as if they had been lifted up and exalted into the heavens to be seated in Christ Jesus – they are seated in the throne with Him.  This is why we read in Matthew 19:28:

And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

This is just as it was stated in Revelation 3:21: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”  The language of the Son of man coming in His glory is found in Matthew 5, where Christ comes in His glory with all the holy angels with Him.  That would be the elect and they are sitting in thrones with Christ and then the separation of the sheep and goats takes place.  This is happening in the Day of Judgment, the time in which we are presently living.

But as far as this reference to “the throne of God and of the Lamb,” let us go to Revelation 7:9-10:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

Again, it is God and the Lamb upon the throne.  Then we learn of the great multitude that came of Great Tribulation in verse 14 and they are standing before the throne.  Then it says in Revelation 7:15:

Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

The “day and night” is a time reference which indicates this is taking place on this earth while there is still “time” and the sun, moon and stars (the time keepers) are still in place, so this applies to our present day because we have come out of Great Tribulation.  The Great Tribulation concluded on May 2, 2011, after 8,400 exact days or 23 exact years.  We are that great multitude and we are before the throne of God and the Lamb serving Him day and night in His temple, “and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.”  So God indwells each of the believers.  The spiritual house of the elect has been completed and God has entered into His temple, spiritually.  That “figure” will turn into reality when this present earth passes away and the new heaven and new earth is created.  Then God will dwell in a different sense with His people and we will see Him “face to face.”  We will take a look at that language a little later on.

Then it says in Revelation 7:17:

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

This is what is coming.  Spiritually, some things have been fulfilled but there are other things we read about in this chapter that will take place at the end of the world on the last day and the beginning of eternity future in the new heaven and new earth.

It says in Revelation 22:3:

… but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

In Revelation 7 we read that the great multitude serves him “day and night,” but notice there is no time reference here in Revelation 22, verse 3.  There is no reference to “day and night.”  If there were, we would think it was speaking of our time or some time on earth that takes places while the world continues, but this applies to eternity future.  God’s people had done service to God in this world.  We had certain tasks to perform in the day of salvation; we were to evangelize the earth and bring the Gospel to the lost sheep that they might hear and become saved.  In the Day of Judgment it is our task to publish these things and to feed sheep.  They are different tasks, but we are still serving God “day and night.”

But in eternity future, our task may be ruling over a city or five cities, or whatever.  Remember that God has been busy, actively creating in eternity past because He is a God that abhors idleness.  He wants people to work.  No one should be idle or a sluggard and not be involved in work.  When God works, we know that He creates.  God worked six days in the creation and then He rested the seventh day, which meant He did no work of creation.  Therefore, in all eternity past…and remember eternity has no beginning.  If you were able to seek out a beginning point for eternity past, it would just go on and on forever and deeper and deeper into the depths of eternity past with no beginning point.  That is because God had no beginning.  He has always been.  He is the Great I AM.  If we were to use a figure of time from this world, this gave God all the time in the world to create untold numbers of creations as His work.  When God works, He creates and He would have been busy creating other creations apart from our creation and another over here and another over there, but they are all under the dominion and control of God.  In that sense, they would be a kingdom of God and, yet, one creation cannot contact another creation.  But no other creation is like this creation or the creature “man” that was made in the image of God.  We do not read of that anywhere in the Bible. We have become “sons of God,” adopted into the family of God and we are “prophets, priests, and kings.”  God is King of kings and Lord of lords, but He has brought us into the royal family.  In the Bible, when a king ruled over many provinces, it was a custom to set up his sons to rule over his provinces because he would have trusted his sons.  A son would do a better job than some stranger.

God has brought perhaps as many as 200 million sons into His kingdom and He will give them tasks to perform.  One of those tasks may be to rule over all of His many creations, but all the creations are under the rule of God.  It is as if these creations are provinces and God is the ruler over all.  We could be doing something along those lines, but whatever it is we will serve Him.  We will do His bidding and we will do it perfectly with great joy in serving Him.

It goes on to say in Revelation 22:4:

And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

This is speaking of these blessed people that God has redeemed.  They are the redeemed of the Lord that God made a highway for and they travel that highway like the Israelites crossed the dry seabed to the other side or as Israel crossed over Jordan to the Promised Land.  God has made a “highway” out of this world into that new heaven and new earth and the “way” is Christ.  We are going to enter into His very presence and we will see Him “face to face.”  We will see His face and that is not a small thing.  Remember what God said to Moses in Exodus 33.  It could actually be a little confusing if we were just to read this passage without understanding some other things in the Bible.  For instance, it says in Exodus 33:11:

And JEHOVAH spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

Here, God says He spoke to Moses “face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend,” but look at what it says just a few verses later in Exodus 33:17-23:

And JEHOVAH said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of JEHOVAH before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And JEHOVAH said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

Do you see how some people can feel that the Bible has errors or contradictions?  After all, we just read in verse 11 that God spoke to Moses “face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend,” and the next thing we read is that God tells Moses that he cannot see His face and live.  It appears to be a contradiction until we understand that in the first instance when God says he spoke to Moses “face to face” (mouth to mouth) is a figure of speech God uses in the Bible to indicate that God is giving revelation.  Normally, God hides His revelation or hides His Word.  That is why Jesus spoke in parables.  The Bible says in Isaiah, “Verily thou art a God that hideth thyself.”  It is why God wrote a Book of Proverbs and it is why Sampson gave “riddles” and it is why the Book of Job says, “And Job continued his parable,” and so on.  There are many examples of this and it is why the Book of Revelation or the Book of Ezekiel are written with hyperbolic language or parables, but in God’s wisdom He determined that when He would give His Word in parables it would be a “barrier” to the unregenerate and they would not have any real understanding of God unless God opened the eyes of a sinner and granted them spiritual sight.  Jesus explained why this is so in Matthew 13, when the disciples asked Him why He spoke in parables.  He said, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.”  This is why God wrote His Book in a parabolic manner.  The entire Bible is a parable because God has hidden truth from the beginning to the end of the Bible in various ways and, yet, God reveals truth to His people.  When He does so, it is as if He is speaking “face to face” or plainly, as it says concerning Moses in Numbers 12:7-8:

My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of JEHOVAH shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

That is what God meant when He says in verse 11: “God spoke to Moses “face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend.”  He revealed much truth to Moses.  It does not mean that Moses actually saw the face of God and, especially, the fullness of God’s presence.  That was not the case.  Actually, the “face” identifies with “glory.”  Notice, again, what it says in Exodus 33:18: “I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.”  God then went about to speak of His face because the face of God identifies with the glory of God.  For instance, turn to 2Corinthians 3 and notice how “face” and “glory” are related in these verses.  It says in 2Corinthians 3:6-8:

Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

You see, when Moses went to receive the Ten Commandments and returned his face shone.  It reflected the “glory” of God and the Israelites could not look at the face of Moses.  That is basically what the Lord said to Moses in Exodus 23: “Thou canst not see my face.”  The Israelites could not even look upon the reflected glory in Moses’ face, so how could anyone look upon the actual face of God or see the fullness of His glory?  It says in 2Corinthians 4:6:

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The Bible connects God’s glory with His “face.”  That is what God is really saying to Moses: “You cannot see the fullness of my glory.  I will show you just the back part of my glory.” 

Let us go back to 2Corinthians, chapter 3 and look at the last verse.  It says in 2Corinthians 3:18:

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Here, it says, “With open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,” and it is speaking of God’s Word, the Bible.  God shows us a little of His glory as He opens up a truth to us in the Scripture and we stand in awe when this occurs: “Oh, look at this wonderful truth!”  And, yet, it is showing just a little bit of the “glory” of God.  We are privileged and blessed to live in a time when God is opening up a great deal of information in His Word and the more He does this, the more He is glorified.

But there is coming a day when we will behold Him “face to face.”  We will see His face in a way like we have never seen before.