Sárospataki Füzetek 15. (2011)

2011 / 4. szám - TANULMÁNYOK

HOUWELINGEN, P. H. R. VAN

47:12 describes the river of living water that flows from the sanctuary (see also point 6, below): “Fruit trees of all kinds (LXX: näv %6Xov ßgcöoipov) will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear ... their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”

Inhabitants of such a city are truly blessed: “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:14).28 Free access to the new Jerusalem, by way of its gates, stands in contrast to the paradise story. There, cherubim — winged creatures with hands, feet and faces — stood guard over the way to the tree of life (Gen. 3:24). They blocked the way to paradise, with the aid of a flaming sword that flashed back and forth. This sword, symbol of God’s blazing anger, was a separate entity, independent of the cherubim.29 Paradise lost...

In contrast, at the gates of the new Jerusalem (open day and night, see point 3, above), not cherubim but angels stand guard. Twelve of them, three in each direction, one angel at each gate. Even though the city of God is not open to everyone (Rev. 21:27), their role seems to be to welcome people in, rather than to keep them out. They stand guard to regulate the stream of those who would come in to make their home in the new Jerusalem. Welcome to the paradise of God, where you may freely pick fruit from the tree of life!

6. A river of living water, with deposits of precious stones

The new Jerusalem is a town with its own water supply: “A river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. 22:1-2; cf. 21:6). And this while the memory of the earlier account of the disasters which came upon the earth, where water was turned into blood, is still fresh (Rev. 8:8, 16:3-4). There, the polluted water reeks of death; here, in the city of God, the water will be fresh and clear: life-giving water.

This motif - life-giving water — is found with the Old Testament prophets also. Ezekiel 47:4-7 describes the brook that flows from the temple; Joel 3:18 mentions a fountain that flows out of the Lord’s house. And Psalm 46 sings of a river whose many streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. All of these point forward to the supply of water in the new city.

The combination with the trees of life in Revelation 22 is clearly reminiscent of paradise. It is true that Genesis does not explicitly speak of ‘life-giving’ water. On the other hand, it is clear that its spring must have provided an enormous amount of water, for it is the headwaters of four streams. This was simply ‘water’, necessary for plant growth; it was not the life-giving water, protecting people from death, and providing eternal life.

Genesis tells us about the water supply of the garden of Eden. It ‘waters’ the garden, so to speak (Rev. 2:10-14). The water comes ‘from Eden’. Leaving Eden, the water flows past the paradise garden; from there it splits into the headwaters of four separate rivers, each with their own name: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates. In this way, the blessings of Eden — life and fertility — are distributed over the

28 This is the seventh and final beatitude in the book of Revelation. Stephen S. Smalley, The Tevelation to John. A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Apocalypse (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 573.

» See Isa. 34:5; Jer. 46:10; Ezek. 21:10, 14-22; Zeph. 2:12.

20 SÁROSPATAKI FÜZETEK 2011/4