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Scripture Reading: Rev. 1:4; 2:7, 17; 3:20; 21:18-21; 22:1-2a, 14, 17; 2:14-15, 20, 24
In this chapter we have come to the last book of the Bible to see how the Bible ends. We want to see that the Bible consummates in the matter of eating and drinking. This shows the consistency of the whole Bible. The Bible shows us that at the beginning there were the tree of life for eating and the flowing river for watering (Gen. 2:9-10). At the end of the Bible there are also the tree of life and a river, the river of water of life (Rev. 22:1-2). The Bible ends in the same way it starts, and this shows us the consistency of God’s eternal purpose.
In the book of Revelation, we can see the consummation of eating and drinking the Lord, and this consummation is a building, a city, the New Jerusalem (21:2). This building is the outcome of God’s work through all the generations. The consummation of the sixty-six books of the Bible is a city built with gold, pearls, and precious stones (vv. 18-21), and this corresponds with the concept in the entire New Testament.
In Matthew 16:18 the Lord told Simon that he was a stone and that He, the Lord, would build His church upon Himself as the rock. Here we see the stone and the building. Then in the Gospel of John, again we see the stone (1:42), and the eating and the drinking of Jesus (6:57; 4:14; 7:37-39) that produces the building with the stone.
We have also seen this concept in the writings of Paul. In 1 Corinthians there are the feeding and the eating. From the eating is the growth, and from the growth is the transformation to produce the gold, silver, and precious stones for the building up of God’s temple (3:2-16). In Ephesians there is the perfecting by feeding to cause the growth. Then by the growth there are the functions, and by all the functioning members the Body is built together (4:11-16). Ephesians 2:21 and 22 speak of the universal building and the local building: “In whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.” You also refers to the local saints’ being built together in their locality into the habitation of God in their spirit.
Peter also had this organic concept. As we have seen, he told us that we have to feed the younger ones (1 Pet. 5:2; John 21:15) and that we all have to drink the milk of the word in order that we may grow to be the living stones for the building up of God’s spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:2, 5). Now we can see that the Lord Jesus plus the three great writers of the New Testament — Paul, Peter, and John — all had the same concept.
The last book of the Bible, written by John, ends in such a marvelous way. But what the Lord in these last days has shown us from this book is nearly altogether different from what the great teachers saw from it in the past centuries. They saw the beast with ten horns and seven heads coming out of the Mediterranean Sea (Rev. 13:1). They saw the four horses (6:1-8), the seven seals (v. 1), the seven trumpets (8:6), and the seven bowls (16:1). No doubt, there are these things in the book of Revelation, but these are not the vital things in this book. We may use our physical body as an illustration. We have hair, nails, fingers, and toes, but we also have a heart and a liver. If one of your toes is cut off, you will still live, but if your heart or liver is taken away, you will die. This is because they are vital organs. We need to see the vital things in the book of Revelation.
In these last days what the Lord has shown us is not the ten toes in Daniel 2:41-43, which are the ten horns in Revelation. I was taught these things many years ago, but today is a different age. The Lord has opened up something more vital, more strategic, more central, and more hidden to us. These things are like the kernel of a piece of fruit. Within the fruit is the seed, and within the seed is the kernel. If you sow the seed with the kernel into the earth, it will grow. The life is in the kernel. The life in the book of Revelation is not in the seven heads or in the ten horns.
Revelation 1:4 says that this book was written from the seven Spirits to the seven churches. Then at the beginning of this book there are three particular promises. First, the Lord said, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life” (2:7). This is the first promise. Then in 2:17 there is the second promise: “To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and to him I will give a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it.” This indicates that the eating of manna will transform you into a white stone, a stone justified and approved by the Lord. The stone is for the building.
The third promise is in Revelation 3:20, which says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.” Throughout the years there has been a big argument about what the door in Revelation 3:20 is. Many Christian preachers use this verse for gospel preaching. They say that the door is the door of the heart and that Jesus is standing and knocking at the door. But this door is not the door of the hearts of individuals but the door of the degraded church, the church in Laodicea. The church in Laodicea had put out Jesus. He was standing outside the degraded church, knocking at her door. Today the Lord Jesus is outside the door of the degraded church. Many Christians today are not with Jesus, because they are still in religion. Jesus is outside the door of religion.
The Lord promised to dine with the one who opens to Him. The door is the door of the church, but the door is opened by individual believers. The Lord is dealing with the whole church, but the acceptance of the Lord’s dealing must be a personal matter. When you open the door, Jesus will come to dine with you. To dine is to eat not merely one kind of food but the riches of a feast.
Thus, we can see that the three significant promises at the beginning of the book of Revelation are regarding the eating of the tree of life, the hidden manna, and the feast. These promises at the beginning of this book are related to eating.
In Revelation 2 and 3 there are seven epistles directly from the Lord Jesus to the churches. At the end of each epistle there is a promise. When we were young, we always considered that these promises were for the future. We thought that to eat the tree of life and of the hidden manna and to feast with the Lord Jesus were in the future. At that time we had been influenced by Christianity not to see anything related to eating Jesus. One day the Lord showed me that these promises are not only for the future but also for today. It is ridiculous to think that we need to eat only in the future and not today. Surely we will eat the tree of life in the future, because Revelation 22 tells us so, but we can also enjoy the tree of life today. The Bible has a principle that whatever will be there as the full taste, we have today as the foretaste. We can eat of the tree of life, the hidden manna, and the feast today.
In the Old Testament with the people of God, there were three stages of eating. The first stage was to eat the tree of life. Of course, because of the fall, the tree of life in Genesis 2 eventually became the lamb in Exodus 12. The tree of life was good only for nourishment, not for redemption. In Genesis 2 there was no sin on the part of man, so there was no need of redemption. The tree for nourishing was sufficient. But then man became fallen. He became involved with sin. Thus, at the end of Genesis man was put into a coffin and left in Egypt (50:26). Man needs an exodus to get out of this. This is why we have a book called Exodus. We who became involved with sin and death, who were put in a coffin and left in Egypt, needed an exodus. When we were saved by the Lord, we experienced an exodus out of death, out of the coffin, and out of Egypt, out of the world. The way we experienced this exodus was by striking the blood and eating the Lamb.
The lamb in Exodus 12 was the tree of life in Genesis 2. Revelation 22 puts the tree of life and the Lamb together. The Lamb is sitting on the throne, out of the throne proceeds a flowing river, and in the flowing river grows the tree of life (vv. 1-2). Thus, to eat the Lamb equals to eat the tree of life. This is the first stage of eating.
After the exodus, the children of Israel entered into the wilderness, into the second stage of eating. In the second stage of eating, they ate manna for forty years (Exo. 16:35).
Then they entered into the third stage of eating. That was the stage of eating all the rich produce of the rich land of Canaan (Josh. 5:12). All the time they ate the produce of the land as a feast.
Thus, the three stages of eating were the eating of the tree of life, the eating of manna, and the eating of a feast. This matches the Lord’s promises to the overcomers at the beginning of the book of Revelation. The Lord’s promises to the overcomers to eat of the tree of life, the hidden manna, and the feast correspond with the Old Testament type.
At the end of Revelation, there are a promise and a call. The promise is verse 14 of chapter 22: “Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have right to the tree of life.” This is the last promise of the whole Bible. The last call in the Bible is verse 17 of the same chapter. In this verse the Spirit and the bride say, “Let him who is thirsty come; let him who wills take the water of life freely.” Thus, the whole Bible ends with one promise and one call. The promise is to have the right to eat, and the call is to drink the water of life. These things are much better, much higher, and much more profound than the ten horns and seven heads in the book of Revelation. This is because we are speaking about the heart of the divine revelation.
It is very meaningful to see that in Revelation 2 and 3, on the positive side, the Lord Jesus promised again and again about eating. But on the negative side, in these chapters, He warned us again and again about teaching, or doctrine. In 2:14 the Lord said, “I have a few things against you, that you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam.” Then in verse 15 He said, “In the same way you also have some who hold in like manner the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” In verses 20 and 24 the Lord Jesus warned about the teaching of Jezebel. To teach is not to feed but to just pass on knowledge or doctrine. It is so good not to have the doctrines, because the Lord Jesus appreciates this. On the positive side, there is the eating. On the negative side, there is the doctrine. This shows that the Lord Jesus is just for eating. He is not for doctrines.
Some would say that the Lord hates these doctrines because they are the wrong ones. But my argument is this: How do you know that your doctrine is the right one? If you know that the doctrine you hold is wrong, surely you will not hold it. Let us take money as an illustration. Only the experts are able to detect counterfeit money. The best thing is to possess gold. Otherwise, you can be cheated. Likewise, the best way for you not to be cheated is not to take any doctrine. You really may not know the difference between the genuine doctrine and the wrong doctrine. But as long as it is doctrine, you should not take it. Instead, you should want the gold. The gold is the reality. I do not care for “currency.” I care for “gold.” I care only for Christ. I do not care for any doctrine.
In the last book of the Bible, the Lord Jesus would not care for any doctrine, any teaching. He cares only for eating, not the eating of doctrines but the eating of Himself as the tree of life, the hidden manna, and the feast. This is the last book, and the last book is the final word. The Bible is a long discourse from God that took over fifteen hundred years to complete. In any long talk, the final word is the most crucial. Revelation, as the final word of God’s long discourse, talks about the eating of Jesus, and it rejects and belittles all the doctrines. We need to forget about the doctrines and hold on to the eating of Jesus.
Do not forget that this word about eating was not spoken to any individuals. It was spoken to the churches. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). You need to be in the churches. Then you can hear what the Spirit says. Care only for the Spirit’s speaking. Do not care for doctrines. We need to eat the Lord today. We do not have the full taste yet, but the foretaste is here. Day by day we take the foretaste, and the foretaste is qualifying us for and will lead us to the full taste. In the full taste we again have the tree of life and the river of life. Again we have the eating and drinking of Jesus.
Out of the eating and drinking, you will become stones, and the stones are not scattered or piled up. All the stones are built up. The wall of the holy city is built with stones. These stones are produced from the eating and the drinking of Jesus.
Now you can see how consistent the entire Bible is with the matter of eating to produce the building. Even in Genesis 2 there is the revelation of eating the tree of life. There is also the flowing of the river, and the issue of the flow is the precious materials — gold, bdellium (pearl), and the onyx stone (vv. 9-12). That means that all the precious materials are produced out of the flow of the life river.
Now we all have to see that this is the Lord’s recovery. The Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the eating of Jesus for the building up of the church. This is not only for this age but also for eternity. “O Lord Jesus! Open our eyes that we all may see Your purpose today, Your recovery today, and the goal of Your recovery today.” We need to eat Jesus to grow, to be transformed, and to be built together. Then we will have the building of the church.
By this way the Lord is going to fulfill His prophecy regarding the building up of the church. This prophecy is fulfilled by eating Jesus. Never forget that eating unites. Eating keeps the oneness. Eating builds up. If you are divisive, that means you are wrong in the matter of eating. If you are right in the matter of eating, surely you will be united and even uniting. You will be the ones who are built and who are building others. When will the Lord build His church? Now! How will the Lord build His church? By our eating Jesus!
