Lesson 47: The River of Life

Revelation 22:1-5
1 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
2 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.
3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him.
4 They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

We will use these verses about what our eternal home will be like to contrast with things we tend to want or believe to create our own version of heaven. Verse 1 describes a river of the water of life; we want something to drink that is more exciting than water – wine or liquor, something that makes us feel good for a little while. Our dream today would be unlimited amounts of such drink without consequences.

Verse 2 talks about the Tree of Life with fruit and leaves that are for healing and life. We want ever more exotic dishes and sauces to give us an unending variety of tastes to keep us entertained - healing.

Verse 3 talks about God and the Lamb and the servants who worship Him. Our idea for something “accursed” is servanthood, and we believe personal power is the way of victory!


Verse 4 tells us that His name is written on the foreheads of God’s servants and we believe that if a name has to be written on our heads it should be our own so everyone would know who we are. Better yet, we would not want a name on our forehead at all.

Verse 5 says there is no more night and no more need for the sun because God is going to be our light. Day and night are measurements of time, and time is a basic factor of defining our existence. Without time, we have no way of knowing how to express our identity or value.

When Jesus asks us to trust Him today, in things we can understand and define, He wants to teach us how to trust Him for eternity when all that we know now will no longer be true. We cannot plan for this “new heaven and new earth” in any way now other than learning how to trust Him for things we may know and definitely things we cannot handle ourselves. Everything He allows into our life here on earth is something He will use to teach us about eternity.

*What is most difficult for you today in which Jesus asks you to trust Him?