And he showed me a RIVER of THE WATER of LIFE,
The tour guide angel, 'he' (Revelation 21:9 and Revelation 21:15) shows John a RIVER. This isn't just any river. It is THE WATER of LIFE that flows in it. Even though we now are in the new Jerusalem, during Jesus' earthly ministry, He talked about this LIVING WATER (John 4:7-26). It is clear that He was referring to eternal life. And that is what the residents of the new Jerusalem will have to be able to REIGN forever and ever (verse 5).
The last part of this verse makes a clear reference to God, the Father, and the Lamb, Jesus Christ the Son. We haven't seen much of the Holy Spirit since Their blazing descriptions in the beginning (Revelation 1:4 and Revelation 4:5). But the Holy Trinity remains in tact forever and ever too. Here we most likely see the Holy Spirit in the form of this RIVER of THE WATER of LIFE. This may seem strange at first, but John in another letter he wrote, says that there are three entities who bear witness: the Spirit, the Water, and the Blood (1 John 5:6-8-12). Previously we have indicated that water is the container of spirits. Good WATER like this WATER of LIFE contains good Spirit(s). Bad water contains evil spirit(s) (e.g. Revelation 9:13-14-21, Revelation 12:10-15-17, and Revelation 16:4-7,12-16).
Jesus makes a point about 'living WATER' flowing from the innermost being of the Holy Spirit in John 7:37-38-39-52. From Old Testament Levitical writings (Leviticus 17:10-16), we understand the relationship between blood and LIFE physically. In this verse, we find the blood not red, but rather
clear as crystal,
We are talking about a purity unknown here on this earth. This is true for both the physical arena with all our chemical pollutants, and the spiritual arena with all our sins. Even as Christ washes our bodies with pure water (Hebrews 10:19-22-25), we, in turn, must purify ourselves now if we expect to see Him as He is (in the new Jerusalem, too - 1 John 3:1-3-10).
coming from THE THRONE of GOD and of THE LAMB,
Here we see the source of this RIVER. We are not told to where this RIVER flows. We do know that there is no sea (Revelation 21:1). Thus we conclude this good water is all used up by the residents of the new Jerusalem and by the nations (Revelation 21:22-24-26-27) outside the gates. We don't even know whether there is gravity in the new earth. Perhaps this RIVER just emanates from the THRONE much like the lightning and sounds do in Revelation 4. Interestingly, this could be a reclamation of the original garden of Eden before sin messed up the earth (Genesis 2:4-6-14).
continued on next verse ->