Bible Gem 2393 – Don’t Seal Up The Prophetic Words (Revelation 22:10-16)

¹⁰Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near. ¹¹Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.” ¹²“Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. ¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” ¹⁴Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. ¹⁵Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie. ¹⁶“I , Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.”

Revelation 22:10-16

This passage is quite remarkable in its structure and significance. It is a natural follow on for all that has gone before it. Of course it is part of the postscript or epilogue of John’s letter / book. That is why there are links to the preface in the book as I have explained before. This is all part of the whole of what John wrote. It is all very carefully structured. I personally am captivated by the way John has created this passage as part of his closing wrap. Just look at the way it is crafted; it’s brilliant. Look at the first verse of this portion.

Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near.

Revelation 22:10

It very clearly continues on from what went before it. “Then he instructed me . . . ” Who instructed John? The angel of course. Look at the following:

• Then the angel showed me a river . . . [22:1]
• Then the angel said to me . . . [22:6]
• But he said . . . [22:9]
• Then he instructed me . . . [22:10]

I have already taken you through this kind of exercise in Gem 2392 when I was looking to sort out which angel John was talking to. The same angel tells John not to seal up the prophetic words in this book or letter. What does that mean?

John has been told when to write [1:11, 1:19, 2:1, 2:8, 2:12, 2:18, 3:1, 3:7, 3:14, 14:13, 19:9 and 21:5] and when not to write 10:4! God told John in 3:12 He himself would write His name on those who are victorious at the end. Did you see there are seven times when God told John to write down specific words for each of the seven churches [2:1 to 3:14]? In the introduction John makes it clear that he was told to:-

 It said, “Write in a book everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

Revelation 1:11

“Write down what you have seen—both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen.

Revelation 1:19

Now let’s work our way through this well-structured statement to see what it holds for us to learn from. What does the statement, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book” actually mean? To understand that instruction we have to go back to Revelation 10:4 where the same verb was used in the positive sense – seal up σφράγισον [from σφραγίζω sphragizō)]. “Seal up what the seven thunders have said” which put another way means to keep the things the seven thunders said secret; “Don’t write down what they said.” Here in Revelation 22:10 John is told the opposite – “Don’t seal up the prophetic words in this book.” Once again in other words, the prophetic words in this book should not be kept secret. John should write down all he saw and heard and was permitted to tell, in this book and send it to all seven churches mentioned. (By extension, all churches everywhere.) John, write all the prophetic words down in your book / letter and make sure all are encouraged to read it. This book should be kept open for all to read; publish it far and wide. I will return to this point toward the end of this Gem.

The reason for this is simply because the time for the culmination of the prophetic words is near [ἐγγύς – ‘eggus‘] 22:10 and the time is [ταχύ – ‘tachus‘] found in Revelation 22:7 and 22:12. [eggus] carries the sense of ‘near’, ‘close at hand’, ‘approaching’, ‘at the door’, ‘nigh’, ‘ready’, ‘soon to happen’. [ταchu(s)] carries the sense of ‘quickly’, ‘shortly’, ‘swiftly’, ‘suddenly’, ‘without delay’, ‘at the ready’, ‘promptly’, ‘soon’, ‘speedily’. While predominantly the sense of tachu is soonness in time of the event coming, the word also bears the sense of the suddenness of the coming event which will catch everyone by surprise.

Now it is time to move to ponder the next verse [Revelation 22:11]:-

Let the one who is acting unrighteously continue to act unrighteously; let the one who is filthy continue to be filthy; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.

Revelation 22:11

This verse is expressed in very strong emphatic Greek, with each line expressed in a similar way resulting in a poetic quad-let:-

You can notice the repeated pattern I am sure where the noun matches the verb in each example with the adverb ‘still’ added each time at the end of each statement. This is very strong Greek to emphasise the fact the character or practice of the person ought to continue on still. Let each practitioner continue with what they are doing. On the positive side the sense is keep on keeping on practising righteousness and holiness. On the negative side you will be locked into the life style you have chosen with no hope now of changing; it is getting too close to the judgement day. They are scary words which match the point of Revelation 21:8 as I have already explained in Gem 2381. The same point is made also in Romans 1:24, 26 and 28 with Paul’s repetition of ‘God gave them over‘ to what they were already doing. The same point is being made in the following verses in Revelation.

But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! [Rev 9:20]

• Let the unrighteous one continue to be unrighteous; let the one who is practising filth continue to be filthy. [Rev 22:11a]
• Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie. [Rev 22:15]

• Let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy. Revelation 22:11b
• Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. Rev 22:14b

This section in John’s closing statements is carefully structured to contrast these two groups of people with a tendency to keep on doing what they are already doing. The one who refuses to change will be lost because they refused to change while the believers are encouraged to continue to remain in the righteousness and holiness God has granted them.

Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, and the forbearance and the long-suffering, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? Romans 2:4 [LITV]

Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Revelation 21:27

All of this carefully structured summary is found in John’s closing epilogue. This is coupled with the reminder that this summary actually comes from Jesus Himself. It is no longer the angel passing on the message to John. Now these words are coming from God and Christ Himself.

Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

Revelation 22:12-13 [after 22:11]

I , Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.

Revelation 22:16 [after 22:14+15]

I have just two more features of this passage to bring to your attention. Note each comment from Jesus above come with His accreditation. With the first Jesus’ statement (Rev 22:12-13) Jesus is called The Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. That is a threefold repetition saying the same thing. He is the Beginning and the End of Revelation and He is the beginning and the end of Time and Creation. This one who speaks has to Ultimate Authority to say what He is saying. With the second statement Jesus is called the Source of David, the Heir to the Throne and the Bright and Morning Star. Once again who can question Jesus’ authority related to what He has said? He is the One who created David, the epitome of Israel’s kings. In fact He is the Heir, the Messiah to whom all of Israel looked to bring in the Kingdom of God and He is the bright Morning Star who will usher in the Coming Kingdom and the Life of the Age to Come.

The second feature I need to bring to your attention is “what is meant by ‘the prophetic words in this book that are not to be sealed up’?” Surely what is meant is related to all that John has seen and heard. What is it that Jesus will reward for all who obey the words of prophecy written in this book [22:7, 9] or will repay all people according to their deeds [22:12]? Do you understand what I am asking? Most of the prophetic words of Revelation are not really instructions or commands for us to obey. The majority of the revelation are visions of what will take place in the future. The only elements we can obey or be credited for according to our deeds are:

• our response to the rebukes for the (seven) churches
• the exhortation to persevere until the end
• the injunction to listen to the voice of the Spirit
• our faithfulness to stand firm in our testimony for Christ
• and our willingness to be prepared to die a martyr’s death

Sobering isn’t it! I have realised for the first time these must be the prophetic elements we are called to obey and for which we will be rewarded according to our deeds.

If we have lost our light, we won’t find it by blowing out someone else’s candle. We’ll find it by remembering the grace we’ve been given and the promises of the Light of the World.

Brandon Lake

Revelation was not written to give us a time line for when things would happen but to prepare believers to stand firm in their trust in what they have been told.

Ian

Today we’re inundated with information, flooded with facts, & drowning in data while dying of thirst for true wisdom.

Rick Warren

We are living in the age of half-truth, false truth and fake news. Listen to the words of Jesus who is The Truth and you won’t go wrong, especially when it involves the future. After all He’s been there before us.

Ian