Revelation of John 22:6
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Then the angel said to me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel to show His servants what must soon take place.”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
These sayings are true--thrice repeated (Rev 19:9; Rev 21:5). For we are slow to believe that God is as good as He is. The news seems to us, habituated as we are to the misery of this fallen world, too good to be true [NANGLE]. They are no dreams of a visionary, but the realities of God's sure word. holy--so ANDREAS. But A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic read, "(the Lord God of the) spirits (of the prophets)." The Lord God who with His Spirit inspired their spirits so as to be able to prophesy. There is but one Spirit, but individual prophets, according to the measure given them (Co1 12:4-11), had their own spirits [BENGEL] (Pe1 1:11; Pe2 1:21). be done--Greek, "come to pass."
Open source ↗We have here a solemn ratification of the contents of this book, and particularly of this last vision (though some think it may not only refer to the whole book, but to the whole New Testament, yea, to the whole Bible, completing and confirming the canon of scripture); and here, 1. This is confirmed by the name and nature of that God who gave out these discoveries: he is the Lord God, faithful and true, and so are all his sayings. 2. By the messengers he chose, to reveal these things to the world; the holy angels showed them to holy men of God; and God would not employ his saints and angels in deceiving the world. 3. They will soon be confirmed by their accomplishment: they are things that must shortly be done; Christ will make haste, he will come quickly, and put all things out of doubt; and then those will prove the wise and happy men who have believed and kept his words. 4. By the integrity of that angel who had been the apostle's guide and interpreter in these visions; this integrity was such that he not only refused to accept religious adoration from John, but once and again reproved him for it. He who was so tender of the honour of God, and so displeased with what was a wrong to God, would never come in his name to lead the people of God into mere dreams and delusions; and it is a still further confirmation of the sincerity of this apostle that he confesses his own sin and folly, into which he had now again relapsed, and he leaves this his failing on perpetual record: this shows he was a faithful and an impartial writer. 5. By the order given to leave the book of the prophecy open, to be perused by all, that they might labour to understand it, that they might make their objections against it, and compare the prophecy with the events. God here deals freely and open…
Open source ↗22:6-21 This epilogue to Revelation contains utterances by an angel (22:6, 8-11) and Christ (22:7, 12-19) followed by a concluding plea for Christ’s return (22:20) and a closing benediction (22:21). The epilogue has a number of direct verbal connections with the introduction to the book (1:1-11), and it sums up important themes such as encouraging faithful perseverance, warning evildoers, affirming the authenticity of the prophetic message, and restating the nearness of Christ’s return. 22:6 Everything that John records in Revelation is trustworthy and true because God, who has all authority (cp. Matt 28:18), has sent the messenger. But it does not mean these visions are easy to understand.
Open source ↗Cross-references
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This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,
And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.”
Then the angel told me to write, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,
as He spoke through His holy prophets, those of ages past,
For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer.
Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live?
Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.
by recalling what was foretold by the holy prophets and commanded by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.