Revelation 22

¹⁴ The expression under the earth refers to Hades, where the spirits of dead men and fallen angels wait for the final judgment (Philippians 2:10; Jude 6; Revelation 1:18; 5:13).

¹⁵ Jesse was the father of David.

¹⁶ In place of the word praise, some translations of the Bible say “blessing.”

¹⁷ One quart of wheat was enough to feed a man for a day, but it was not enough to feed his family also. Barley was a cheaper grain; three quarts a day would be enough for a family.

¹⁸ The Old Testament prophet Zechariah also had a similar vision, in which red, black, white, and dappled horses were pulling four chariots (Zechariah 6:1-6).

¹⁹ Sackcloth was made from the hair of black goats; it was worn in times of mourning.

²⁰ The number “seven” has the same special meaning (see Revelation 5:6).

²¹ The color “white” is a sign of purity and righteousness (see Revelation 3:4).

²² There is no night in heaven (Revelation 22:5).

²³ Ordinary locusts live for only about five months.

²⁴ The Euphrates River runs through the modern country of Iraq, and is 1600 miles long. In New Testament times, it served as the eastern boundary of the Roman Empire. It was also the eastern limit of the land that God had promised to give to Abraham’s descendants (Genesis 15:18).

²⁵ To worship an idol is the same as to worship a demon. Whenever one worships an idol, he is actually worshiping the demon or demons associated with that idol (see Deuteronomy 32:17; 1 Corinthians 10:14,19-20).

²⁶ Elijah “shut up the sky” for three and a half years (42 months), and no rain fell during that time (Luke 4:25; James 5:17).

²⁷ In the Greek language, the word devil means the “accuser,” or “slanderer.”

²⁸ Here a time means one year, times means two years, and half a time means half a year. These add up to three and a half years, which equals forty-two months, or 1,260 days.

²⁹ In John’s time, the Roman emperors gave themselves the names of gods; in fact, they considered themselves to be gods. To call oneself a god is blasphemy against the one true God.

³⁰ It is not known what John is referring to here when he mentions the wounded head that recovered.

³¹ During the time of the Roman Empire, people made many images of the different Roman emperors.

³² In the ancient Greek and Hebrew languages, there were no symbols for numbers. Instead, regular letters of the alphabet were used for numbers. Thus every man’s name also had its own “number,” made from the letters of the name.

³³ Both here and in Revelation 7:3-4, the number 144,000 stands for completeness, or fullness. It does not necessarily mean the exact number 144,000.

³⁴ Most Bible scholars believe that the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation Chapter 7 represent only the final generation of Christians who will be alive at the end of the world (see Revelation 7:2-4 and comment). However, other Bible scholars have a different opinion: they say that these two groups of 144,000 are the same—that is, both groups represent all Christians of all generations.

³⁵ In this verse, the word first fruits means sacrifice. In other verses, the meaning of “first fruits” is different (see Romans 8:23; James 1:18).

³⁶ In Bible times, in order to make wine, men put grapes into a large winepress and then trampled on them with their feet. The juice of the grapes then flowed down a little trough and was collected in a large container.

³⁷ One can regard these seven last plagues as one great plague—the seventh plague—announced by the seventh trumpet.

³⁸ This false prophet is the same as the second beast mentioned in Revelation 13:11-17.

³⁹ The city of Rome was built on seven hills. Modern Rome is located on those same seven hills.

⁴⁰ It is very difficult to interpret verses 7-11. Bible scholars have many different ideas about what they mean.

⁴¹ Some Christians believe that at the end of the world a single great and evil empire will rise up, which will be like the Roman Empire. This is possible, but no one can know this for sure. The one thing we can know, however, is that whatever empire or empires exist at that time, they will all fall—just as ancient Rome fell.

⁴²  As an example of such craving for luxury, one of the Roman emperors once ordered $100,000 worth of roses from Egypt for a single banquet. Another emperor spent $20,000,000 in one year for food for his family.

⁴³ In John’s time, the slave trade was very large. It has been estimated that there were up to sixty million slaves in the Roman Empire.

⁴⁴ We see here what happens when leaders of the church ally themselves too closely with political leaders. The church is compromised and becomes the servant of the government.

⁴⁵ Some Bible scholars interpret verse 4 differently. They believe that it is not only martyrs who will reign with Christ during that thousand years; they believe that all believers who have not worshiped the beast or received its mark will also reign with Christ during that time. These scholars say that two groups are mentioned in verse 4: first, the martyrs or beheaded ones; and second, other believers who have not been put to death but who have stood firm in the faith. In other words, these scholars say that all true Christians will take part in the thousand-year reign (see Revelation 2:26-27; 5:910).
    But according to Revelation 13:15, all believers who do not worship the beast will be put to death. Therefore, all believers who are alive at the time of the beast will become martyrs. Thus, whether we say “believers” or “martyrs,” in this context it is the same group. So it seems that in verse 4, John is only talking about one group: believers who have been put to death—that is, martyrs. For the martyrs, that thousand-year reign will be a great and blessed reward.

It would appear, then, that for all other believers who have died of natural causes before the coming of the beast, their resurrection will occur after the thousand-year reign is over.

⁴⁶ Believers who take part in the “second resurrection” (the general resurrection) will also not be touched by the second death. Only unbelievers will be condemned to the second death.

⁴⁷ The Christian martyrs had already been resurrected in the first resurrection (see verses 4-5 and comment); therefore, they were not among the dead at the last judgment.

⁴⁸ The lake of fire is the same as the fiery lake of burning sulfur mentioned in Revelation 19:20; 20:10.

⁴⁹ The word thick can also be translated “high.” It is not certain here whether John is talking about thickness or height.