John and the Future of the Nations - Institute for Biblical Research

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268 Bulletin for Biblical Research 12.2 to all who overcome. Since the consummation of their redemption is not yet visible, John points his readers in the churches of Asia Minor to the significance of staying faithful to God and Jesus Christ. THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS (22:2) In his vision of the new creation (21:9-22:5) John depicts the New Jerusalem in which "the river of the water of life," "flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb" (22:1), is lined by trees 84 of life that are phenomenally fruitful. The leaves of the trees are "for the healing of the nations" (ei)j qerapei/an tw=n e)qnw=n, 22:2). Bauckham interprets this phrase as the climax and fulfillment of the theme of the conversion of the nations: the nations that will inhabit the New Jerusalem will be healed from their idolatry and other sins so that they will never again come under the curse of God's judgment (cf. 22:3a: "Nothing accursed will be found there any more"). 85 This interpretation is, again, not convincing. First, as in 21:3, the reference to the nations does not annul the qualification of eternal redemption in terms of God's people who persevered in being committed to God's will—that is, specifically the saints of 5:9 who have been "ransomed for God" by the sacrificial death of the Lamb, the great multitude of 7:9 that stood "before the throne and before the Lamb." 86 The "nations" of 22:2 are the believers "from every tribe and language and people and nation and language" (5:9; 7:9). 87 Second, the nations that are "healed" are explained in 22:3 in terms of those who have been liberated from the curse: "Nothing accursed will be found there any more" (kai_ pa=n kata/qema ou)k e!stai e!ti). This "unexpected phrase," 88 taken from Zech 14:11, which announces the fulfillment of Zecharaiah's prophecy in the New Jerusalem, whose inhabitants will be immune to the destructive curse that is God's punishment for the sins of mankind, may have been used deliberately by John in order to underscore two facts for his readers: 84. The singular cu/lon zwh=j in 22:2 is to be taken as a collective singular; cf. Ezek 47:12. Cf. Charles, Revelation II, 176, and most other commentators. Beale, Revelation, 1106, comments: The one tree of life in the first garden has become many trees of life in the escalated paradisal state of the second garden!' 85. Bauckham, Climax, 316-18. 86. Giesen, Offenbarung, 474; cf. Müller, Offenbarung, 363; and Beale, Revelation, 1107 who notes that 5:9 and 7:9 are the only clear references to the "nations" as God's people outside Rev 21-22. 87. The phrase tw=n e)qnw=n is thus not "simply mechanical," as Aune, Revelation, 1178, thinks (who adds, however, correctly, that "there is no real place in the eschatological scheme of Revelation for the 'healing of the nations' construed as their conversion"). 88. Aune, ibid., 1178.
SCHNABEL: John and the Future of the Nations 269 (1) regarding the church whose members come from all nations, God's curse fell on Christ, who suffered death on their behalf so that they would be released from the penalty of their sins (cf. 1:5; 5:9). This means that they never again will suffer God's curse in any form as paradise is restored; (2) regarding all other human beings from the nations whose names are not found written in the book of life, God's curse affected them as depicted in the judgment visions, and it fell on them once and for all as they were thrown into the lake of fire to suffer eternal punishment with the beast and the false prophet (19:20; 20:14-15). Third, the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem who eat from the "tree of life" (cu/lon zwh=j) that stands on the banks of "the river of the water of life" (potamo_n u#datoj zwh=j) that proceeds "from the throne of God and of the Lamb" (22:1-2) are clearly identical (1) with those who, according to 21:6, have gained access to "the spring of the water of life" (e)k th=j phgh=j tou= u#datoj th=j zwh=j) on the basis of God's grace (dwrea/n) and in "overcoming" (o( nikw=n, 21:7) the temptation to compromise with the world—that is (note the larger context of John's and his entire message to the churches of Asia Minor), with those who have abandoned their arrogance and hostility toward God, who have acknowledged their "thirst," who have come into fellowship with God as followers of the Lamb, and who have maintained their faith in the atoning death of the Lamb, and their witness to his redemptive work. 89 And they are identical (2) with those who, according to 22:17, receive the "water of life" (u#dwr zwh=j) as a result of the proclamation of the prophetic leaders of the church and of individual believers who are spiritually alert, on the basis of grace (dwrea/n)—that is, those who thirst for the spiritual fulfillment that God offers in the life and proclamation of the church and that only God and Jesus Christ can provide. 90 Fourth, perhaps the reference to the healing of the nations, also implies a figurative healing of the scars of those who have suffered on account of their faith in Jesus Christ: "In their undying bliss there shall be ample recompense for the hardships endured on earth." 91 Fifth, the "nations" that are "healed" by the leaves from the tree of life (cu/lon zwh=j) in 22:2 should be linked with the one previous reference in 2:7 to "the tree of life that is in the paradise of God" (tou= cu/lou th=j zwh=j, o# e)stin e)n tw|= paradei/sw| tou= qeou=). In 2:7 it is those who listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches and those who 89. Cf. Beale, Revelation, 1056. 90. On the options for interpreting 22:17, see now Aune, Revelation, 1227-28; Beale, Revelation, 1148-49. 91. Kiddie, Revelation, 443.
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John and the Future of the Nations - Institute for Biblical Research

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