This is our final teaching in the book of Revelation. In this final section, John extends an invitation into the new city to all those who are thirsty. Who does John see inside this city? Who is left out? The gates remain open. This is the ultimate ending with a picture of universal restoration.

In the final chapter of Revelation, John takes us back to Genesis 3 with an image of the tree of life. People in the new city are recovering their original goodness. The leaves on this tree are for the healing of the nations. In this new city, John sees no more pain and hurt but healing of all the harms that have been done and received.

When John describes a new city of Jerusalem, it is important to remember that the old city of Jerusalem has been largely leveled and burned some years before. This vision he gives us is deeply personal and the details inside that city matter to him. One of those details is a city with no temple and bright lights. Revelation 22 today.

John moves from pulling back the curtain on the “Eternal City” of Rome and gives us an image of what could be with the “Holy City” of the New Jerusalem. This week we look at the images and words John uses to describe what could be.

At exactly the moment these first century Jesus followers were feeling utterly powerless to change their fate, John shows them a realm where wholeness, harmony, health, bliss, peace, joy, justice, healing, and universal flourishing become a reality. The old Eternal City of Rome has ended to give room to the new Holy City of Jerusalem that is emerging.

The image of a throne is explicitly political in Revelation. It reflects the Roman Imperial Court. The first century Jesus followers knew something about standing before this throne for not participating in emperor worship. John subverts the image and reverses the roles. He portrays a judgment without partiality. This time it is all about actions.

All Empires will come to an end. Rome is no exception. We come to the place where the Roman empire collapses. This collapse of the old way of arranging the world gives room for the rise of a new way of arranging the world. Something has to end for something new to begin.

This week we get all the way into the depths of the weird, gory, and violent wrath of God as John portrays it through the seven bowls of judgement. Is Armageddon coming? Is Jesus coming back on a white horse to kill all those who rejected him? Let's get into it.