Revelation Chapter 22 Verses 3-5

3 There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; 4 they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. 5 And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Verse 3 tells us there will be no more curse. Zechariah 8:13 says that Israel and Judah were once “a byword of cursing among the nations.” But God promised that he would make them a blessing instead of a curse, and Zechariah 14:11 says that “there shall be no more curse; Jerusalem shall dwell in security.” That is the same picture we have here. The church, too, would dwell in security.

Verse 3 also tells us that the throne of God and of the Lamb is in this city. God rules from his dwelling place — and God dwells in the church. Ezekiel 43:7 says that God’s throne is located where he dwells — in the midst of his people forever. Ephesians 2:22 describes the church as a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. The church is the eternal kingdom, and the eternal King dwells in his eternal kingdom.

Verse 4 tells us that those in the city shall see his face. Once again we have a beautiful description of the church here and now. The church is a royal priesthood, and as priests we have direct access to the throne. In fact, Hebrews 4:16 says that we may boldly approach the throne of grace. Every Christian has the same access to God as the High Priest had under the Old Covenant. In fact, we have more access — we may approach the throne boldly at any time whereas the High Priest could only enter the holy of holies once a year.

Verse 5 tells us that there will be no more night in this city. And what about the church? We are the light of the world. The church of Christ is the only source of light in a world of filled with darkness. There is no night in the church — how could there be with Jesus Christ as our light?

Verse 5 also tells us that the citizens of this city shall reign for ever and ever. Romans 5:17 says that we reign in life through Jesus Christ. Revelation 5:10 says that we are a kingdom of priests who reign on earth. 1 Peter 2:9 says that we are a royal priesthood. Notice the tense of those verbs. The church reigns with Christ now and forever.

What we are seeing in these verses is the triumphant, victorious church of Christ that reigns forever with Jesus on its side. The message to the first century church was not “Wait until the end of the world and you will enjoy these blessings.” The message to the first century church was that the church enjoys all of these spiritual blessings right here and right now. Isn’t that what Paul told us in Ephesians 1:3 — “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” That was the message of comfort they needed to hear, and that was the message they heard.

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