Revelation 22:19 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

NIV: And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

NASB: and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

CSB: And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, which are written about in this book.

NLT: And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.

KJV: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

NKJV: and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

In the prior verse, God warned against "adding" to Revelation, presumably by either adding to the text or trying to force in meanings which the Holy Spirit did not intend. God's warning here extends to those who detract from the book of Revelation and presumably from all Scripture. As with the prior warning, this can be taken to mean editing the text, or trying to explain away or misinterpret those aspects of the message we don't like (1 Corinthians 4:6).

Those who take away from God's Word will not share in the tree of life or have access to the eternal city. Second Timothy 3:16–17 declares that "all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

Anyone who detracts from Scripture hurts not only others but also himself. We need the entire body of Scripture to believe right and to behave right. We dare not reject passages of Scripture because they convict us or contradict what we believe. We cannot choose to believe some passages are from God and others are not. We must never read Scripture as if we're prepared to use scissors to cut out what we don't like. A modern tendency is to consider a passage God's Word only if it speaks to us. Scripture is God's objective truth and not subject to human opinion.

Revelation 22:14–21 concludes the epilogue begun in verse 6. It contains promises, blessing, an invitation, a warning, and a benediction. The Old Testament closed with the promise that the sun of righteousness will arise with healing in its wings (Malachi 4:2). The New Testament closes with the promise that the ''bright and morning star'' will come. Just as the morning star appears before the sun arises, so Jesus will come for the church before He returns to restore Israel to Himself.

John sees additional images of New Jerusalem. The city's depiction stands in contrast to the ruin experienced during the tribulation, and evokes comparisons to the garden of Eden from the book of Genesis. After this, John relates several commands and messages from Jesus Christ. Among these are a dire warning not to manipulate the words of this message. Revelation, along with the canon of Scripture, ends with a benediction and prayer for Jesus to return.

This passage completes the description of New Jerusalem. Earlier chapters in Revelation described the final judgments against sin and death. Genesis chapter 3 described humanity's loss of paradise; Revelation 22 describes paradise regained. Concluding remarks by Jesus begin in verse 6 and continue through verse 20. Verse 21 records the apostle John's benediction, which marks the end of the New Testament canon.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''