“For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book“
John gives a final warning for those who might tamper with this prophecy.
22:18
For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book;
On the one hand, God promises a blessing to those who read this prophecy but on the other hand, to those who reject the revelation of this book, He gives a double warning. God gives a warning to those who would undermine the Word of God. He warns of special judgment to those who do so.
There will be a strong delusion in the future. We need God’s Word to know what we believe.
“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12).
22:19
and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
The first warning is a warning to those who take away the words of this prophecy. If they do this, God will take away their “part in the Book of Life, from the holy city and from the things which are written in this book.” To tamper with the Word of God is to reject God Himself. When someone rejects any part of the book of Revelation, God will take away his part from the Book of Life.
If we tamper with God’s book, He will tamper with our book! The word “book” is tree or wood in Greek. God will not give these people the opportunity to become Christians. The Word of God is our only source for understanding the nature of salvation. This is a terrible penalty. This passage does not teach that a Christian can become lost at some point. The issue here is that those who play with God’s Word as non-Christians cannot become Christians.
Principle:
God gives strong warnings against tampering with the Word of God.
Application:
God will weed out those who play with His Word. God gives strong warnings against tampering with the Word of God. We dare not add to or subtract from the Word of God. Both are grave issues with God. In Genesis 3, verse 3, Eve made the mistake of adding the phrase “nor touch it” to God’s warning about eating from the Tree of Knowledge. By making the commandment seem stricter than it really was, she betrayed her suspicions about God and His goodness. Insulting His majesty this way was the first step on her road away from God.
“You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you” Deuteronomy 4:2).
“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:32).
There is a great contrast between the lot of the lost and that of the believer.
“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3).
The first thing that I thought of when reading this was that Islam added to it.
Does this mean that this is the work of Satan (or his using of Mohammed)?
This particular warning with consequences refers SPECIFICALLY to the book of the Revelation.(The complete canon of scripture had not been compiled yet) Also,God would not remove a name from the book of life, if it was not already there. The wording “if ANY MAN adds or takes away from THIS BOOK tells us that WHOSOEVER means without exception.
James, you are right and I made that point: “The first warning is a warning to those who take away the words of this prophecy.” I operate on the principle: interpretation is one but application is many so the principle specifically in Revelation can also be true for the entire Word of God. That is why I used other passages to make the point from other Scriptures.
James, I take the “Book of Life” to be physical life.
I am not certain on second point that the point is “cannot become Christians.” The idea is probably if they remove revelation from their lives, they have no communication from God.
Linda, there are several reasons why verse 18 does not necessarily condemn the Quran. First, as James mentioned, John could only have been referring only to his own book, not to the entire Bible, since the Bible was a collection of books and would not be gathered as a single book for centuries afterward. Second, it condemns those who add to the *words* ie alterations. It is quite reasonable to add more books; consider the many scriptural commentaries etc that exist. Third, the curse is applied to any *man* who adds or takes away. It doesn’t forbid God from giving more revelation; it merely forbids men from passing off their own words as revelation.
The Quran is not necessarily true, but its existence is not forbidden by the Revelation of John.
So am I allowed to debate what a verse in Revelation is saying. What if I give my opinion the meaning of a verse and my opinion is accidently wrong.
This makes ne afraid to discuss the meaning/potential meaning of verses in Revelation.
Unibokk, no, the statement is about the Word of God, the book of Revelation, and not about our opinions or interpretations about it. The thought is to contradict the explicit statements of the book.
Grant, just a quick correction, in your application you stated “In Genesis 3, chapter 3”.
It’s should be “In Genesis 3, verse 3”. I knew that it meant verse but thought you should correct it any way.
Thank you for your wonderful work on this.
Graham, thank you. It is now fixed and much appreciated.
So I committed this sin when I was younger I texted someone a Bible verse and I copy and pasted it then edited it and it haunted me for years but I have now believed in Jesus and repented and confessed it and turned from it, so it’s not unforgivable Atleast I hope not… otherwise I’m believing in Jesus for no reason? It haunts me,,, but I trust he has forgiven me
Jordan, thanks for your post. Revelation 22:18-19 refers specifically to the book of Revelation, not to the entire Bible. Also, the purpose of what you did was not to rewrite Revelation or any other passage of the Bible, but was a personal reaction. In addition, every believer has two kinds of forgiveness from God: 1) positional, 2) experiential. Positional forgiveness occurred when you became a Christian, Christ paid for your past, present, and future sins forever, never to be held against you again (Eph 1:7). If we sin after we became a Christian, we confess that sin and acknowledge that Jesus paid for that particular sin on the cross, then God promises His forgiveness (1 Jn 1:9). 1 John deals with our daily fellowship with God, not our eternal destiny. I have done 5 studies on 1 Jn 1:9 beginning here: https://versebyversecommentary.com/2001/02/17/1-john-19/ Note this verse says that God not only forgives the sin we confessed but the sins we forgot as well. In any case, what you did years ago does not apply to the Revelation 28 passage. Note that I have four studies on positional forgiveness in my commentary on Ephesians 1:7 beginning here: https://versebyversecommentary.com/2015/04/01/ephesians-17/
Ok brother I appreciate your time. What got me was I done it out of anger and frustration. So it wasn’t ignorant it was willful but I will have to put it behind me it’s killing me… literally
Jordan, God’s view of forgiveness is that He frees us from culpability and punishment. When we claim His promise of forgiveness, this means that we will not punish ourselves for the sin that Jesus died for. He paid the price for that sin. If we pay for the price, then we are not accepting God’s promise of forgiveness. Thus, it is not right to carry one’s guilt if Jesus has already taken the guilt upon Himself.