(5) The reigning saints--22:5. In repetition of previous statements in the context, verse five is a rephrasing of the words repeated: And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light. (See comments on chapter 21:3). The use of the word night has application to the darkness of the whole heathen world, as so used in other epistles (2 Corinthians 6:14-16), in contrast with the truth of the gospel (Acts 26:18) sent to all dark nations concerning which Jesus said to Saul: “ to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith in me.” The same Saul, after becoming the apostle of Christ to the world of heathen darkness, exhorted the Gentile church (Ephesians 5:11-14) to “ have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness (heathenism), but rather reprove them . . . it is a shame to even speak of those things which are done in secret . . . for whatsoever doth make manifest is light . . . wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead (the state of darkness), and Christ shall give thee light.” So the words of the Seer in verse five of this chapter--for the Lord God giveth them light--had specific reference to the absolute absence of any element of heathen darkness in the new and renovated state of the Holy City, the bride of the Lamb. The apocalypse proper ended with this verse, as verse six was the beginning of the Seer’ s own concluding comments on the vision which he had received. The apocalyptic descriptions were all completed, and the terse finale of the grand and majestic pageant was clothed in the crowning declaration: AND THEY SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER. The prophet Daniel foretold in the interpretation of king Nebuchadnezzar’ s dream (Daniel 2:44) that in the days of the Roman kings the God of heaven would “ set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed” ; and he added in the words of the apocalypse that “ it shall stand forever.” The prophet envisioned in this interpretation the rise and fall of Babylonia, Media and Persia, and Macedonia or Grecia, and clearly indicated the reign of the Caesar’ s of the Roman empire as the fourth monarchy in the succession of kings. It was in the days of these kings, in fulfillment of Daniel’ s prophecy, that Jesus made the announcement (Mark 1:14-15) “ the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.” In the record of Mat 4:17 it is stated that “ from that time Jesus began to preach and to say: repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It was named the kingdom of God because “ the God of heaven” set it up; but it was called the kingdom of heaven because of its spiritual character-- it was from heaven. The people of that day understood the meaning of the word kingdom; they had lived under no other form of government from the Babylonians to the Romans; but Jesus distinguished his kingdom from all others in origin and in nature when he named it the kingdom of heaven. Before Pontius Pilate (John 18:36) he declared: Now is my kingdom not from hence. The phrase from hence means from here; it is here but it is not from here--because it is the kingdom of heaven, and therefore from heaven. And the word now, the first word of the sentence--now is my kingdom not from hence-- meant that it would be established then, at that time, for Jesus had announced that the time is fulfilled. References to the kingdom which Jesus Christ came to establish all point either forward or backward to the Day of Pentecost, of Acts the second chapter, as the time of its establishment. The prophecy of Dan 7:13-14 connected its beginning with the ascension of Christ to heaven when it was given him “ dominion, and glory, and a kingdom” : and in description of the same ascension scenes by the apostle of Hebrews (chapter 1:8) he declared that it was done. The gospel of Mark (9:1) records the statement of Jesus that some standing in his presence should not “ taste of death” (would not die) until this kingdom had come “ with power--they would be the living witnesses to its establishment. After his ascension, in conversation with his future apostles, he made the explanation to them (Acts 1:8) that the coming of the kingdom would accompany the descent of the Spirit and the power, and it is a matter of gospel record (Acts 2:1-47 :1-4) that the Spirit and the power were received on the Day of Pentecost. It follows therefore as an inescapable scriptural conclusion that the kingdom of God and Christ, otherwise designated the kingdom of heaven, came on that day of Acts the second chapter;; and that it was in fulfillment of the time prophecies of the Old Testament. After Pentecost all references to the existence and presence of the kingdom pointed back to the second chapter of Acts, to the Day of Pentecost. The preaching of the kingdom was the subject of repeated references in the book of Acts; and in the epistles to the churches the members were told that they had been translated into it (Colossians 1:13-14); and that the church to which they belonged is itself the kingdom of Christ and of God (Ephesians 5:5); and that this kingdom had been received (Hebrews 12:22-28) simultaneously with the church, and that it is the church. Finally, the Seer of Revelation made his signatory to the churches (Revelation 1:9) in the words: “ I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.” Therefore, when the apocalypse of John was composed the kingdom of Christ was a present existing thing, and John the apostle was in it with his companions in tribulation. The high note with which the apocalypse ended (chapter 22:5)--and they shall reign forever and ever--meant therefore-- in the light of the textual and contextual teaching, and precept upon precept from other portions of the Old and the New scriptures--that the victorious saints reigned with Christ in the kingdom which would stand forever here, and forever and ever hereafter. Entrance into it here is entrance into the church. (Matthew 16:18-20); and there will be no exit from it for the faithful hereafter (2 Peter 1:11), for the eternal state is but an abundant entrance into an everlasting kingdom already received and possessed, which cannot be moved (Hebrews 12:28); and of which heaven will be the final and abundant fruition of its glorified realm. Here ended the vision of the New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb, the church of Christ. The remainder of the chapter is in the character of a conclusion to the apocalyptic disclosures. The complete symbolic picture of the fortunes of the church, standing on the threshold of the tribulation, had passed before John’ s enraptured view, to the vindication of the cause for which they were soon to suffer. The ending of the vision demonstrated that the church cannot die, as the believer himself who lives in Jesus Christ never dies. (John 11:26) The New Testament concept of the believer’ s life in Christ minimizes death and magnifies the transition to where he is: “ That where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3) and, “ for me to live is Christ (to preach), but to die is gain . . . and to be with Christ; which is far better.” (Philippians 1:21-23) In this world death has no more dominion (Romans 6:7-9) over the risen believer (Colossians 3:1-4), whose affections have been set on the things above where Christ is enthroned with God; for he views this life as a pilgrimage and as a place of sojourning (Hebrews 11:13), knowing that his abiding citizenship is in heaven. (Philippians 3:20-21) The New Jerusalem was envisioned as the home of the saints; but it was not in heaven--it descended out of heaven from God; it was descriptive of the new surroundings of the church with Judaism removed and heathenism overcome. The apocalypse completed, John proceeded to his concluding observations concerning things both retrospective and prospective which were related to this wonderful visional panorama.