Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of Revelation Chapter 22
Metaphysically Interpreting Revelation 22:1-7
22:1And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, 22:2in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 22:3And there shall be no curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his servants shall serve him; 22:4and they shall see his face; and his name shall be on their foreheads. 22:5And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
22:6And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angels to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass.
22:7And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book.
March 28, 1920: Rev. 22:1-5
What is the “river of water”? It is the spiritual life, which is constantly flowing through the spiritual body.
What is the “tree of life”? In the body temple, the tree of life is the nervous system through which the water of life, clear as crystal, flows.
What are the fruits that grow on the tree of life? The fruits are the spiritual results obtained by complying with the Divine Law. The leaves on this wonderful tree, which are for “the healing of the nations,” represent the consciousness of wholeness and perfection to all the different thought planes.
December 28, 1948: Rev. 22:1-5
Why is Jesus called the Lamb of God? Because in His overcoming He restored to mankind the consciousness of the pure life and substance that is represented by the Lamb of God. The Lamb of God also symbolizes innocence, purity, and guilelessness spending themselves without taint of selfishness. Jesus thus spent Himself.
What does the "river of water of life" represent? It represents the pure life of God inflowing into man's consciousness through his mind and soul, when he is quickened by Spirit.
What is the "tree of life" and how does one eat its fruits? The inherent life of man is the tree of life. As we appropriate ideas of divine life, we eat of the fruits of the tree. The "twelve manner of fruits" borne by the tree represent the developed faculties of man.
"There shall be Slight no more." What is the full implication of this statement? It implies that our understanding will be complete, so that no problems will remain unsolved, no mysteries unrevealed. Man will be equal to his environment, will rule his own spirit and his world. “They shall reign for ever and ever”.
December 26, 1948: Rev. 22:1-5
Is the "river of ... life a symbol of life as we know it? It is a symbol of eternal life. We know life as a current of vital force, proceeding from divine life (God), and coursing through the entire consciousness, mind, soul, and body.
Is man's thirst for perfection destined to be satisfied? It is satisfied now in spiritual consciousness. Everyone who has entered into consciousness may "take the water of life freely."
Why does the new heaven need no material light? Because it is illumined by Divine Mind. The realm of mind is lighted by intelligence and understanding, and this light endures. Material light is not needed.
Metaphysically Interpreting Revelation 22:8-21
22:8And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that showed me these things. 22:9And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this book: worship God.
22:10And he saith unto me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand. 22:11He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still.
22:12Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to render to each man according as his work is. 22:13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. 22:14Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to come to the tree of life, and my enter in by the gates into the city.22:15Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and maketh a lie.
22:16I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star.
22:17And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.
And he that heareth, let him say, Come.
And he that is athirst, let him come:
he that will, let him take the water of life freely.
22:18I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book:22:19and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.
22:20He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly.
Amen: come, Lord Jesus.
22:21The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen.
June 18, 1905: Rev. 22:1-11
In Divine Mind there is but one idea of man, and that is a being perfect in mind and in all his manifestations. This is the Spiritual man abiding in the Mind of God. The scriptural name of this man is Christ, the "Only Begotten," or only thought of Man in God's Mind. As there is but one God, there is also but one man, the offspring of that God. All so-called men, seeming to have separate personalities, are members of the constitution and body of that one Man. Paul refers to this in I Cor. 6:15, "Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ?" Again in Eph. 5:30, "Because we are members of his body." With this understanding we may comprehend the symbology of Revelation 22, which is a continuation of chapter 21.
The New Jerusalem described in the preceding chapter is a mental picture of humanity regenerated, purified and rounded out as one perfect state of mind, or dwelling place, of which a city is the type. But this city is symbolical, as stated in verse 17, of "the measure of a man, that is, of an angel." An angel is the perfect thought of God. When we all accept Jesus Christ as the One Man in Spirit, and willingly take our respective places in his universal consciousness, the New Jerusalem will descend out of the heaven of harmonious mind and be established in the unchanging substance, or earth, of our inner soul. The "throne of God" is the spiritual center in man's soul; the "Lamb" is Divine Love. In the unregenerate state man lives upon the good he eats, but in the regenerate condition there is an influx of life from Universal Mind - "A river of water of life, bright as a crystal.”
The "tree of life" is the nervous system. The voluntary nerves, radiating like branches of a tree, are on one side, and the involuntary or sympathetic nervous system, on the other. The nervous system accumulates energy similar to a storage battery, and sets it free into the outer realms, or "nations", of the consciousness. In this manner the body is perpetually sustained, or healed, of its thoughts of depletion and exhaustion. All "curse" or condemnation, must be removed from the body. If you are now holding your body in imperfection, within or without, the "throne" (dominion) and "lamb" (God-substance) are obscured.
The forehead is the seat of conscious intelligence and it shall have the name, or character, of Christ. We should proclaim the presence of Jesus Christ with us today as an indwelling life-giving power, more potent for good than the personal Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth said that the Comforter would come so long as his personality was worshipped, so he went away. Mortality loves to bow down to mortality, and call it God. When it cannot fulfill its own ambition to dominate its fellowmen, it helps someone else to do it. This is all to be done away with in the New Jerusalem. All ignorance, "might," will disappear, and all artificial or external aids to understanding be done away with. The Lord God, or spiritual I Am, shall give necessary understanding, and there shall be no end to the condition.
Verse 11 implies that man’s idea of righteousness or unrighteousness cuts no figure in Divine Mind. Trusting in the regenerating power of the Christ, we are to do nothing in a mortal-will way. “Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to render to each man according as his works."
- UNITY magazine
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 10-23-2013
