Discussion Notes on Revelation 22:19

Image: Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, December 2025.

From an X post:

Last week an RB pastor friend got in touch asking for info for a discussion that had come up on Revelation 22:19.

Here's a slightly edited version of my response:

Regarding your question about Rev 22:19 (assuming this has to do with the "book of life" [TR]/"tree of life" [Modern Critical Text] variant), here are a few preliminary comments: 1. The TR is NOT based on the modern reconstruction method but relies on providential preservation; "book of life" is the reading that prevailed in Protestant (and especially English) Bible translation tradition. 2. The TR often follows the majority text but this is a case where it prefers an extant minority reading. 3. The reading "book of life" is only lightly attested in extant Greek manuscripts, but witness to it is not non-existent. Hoskier pointed to ms 141 (now known as ms. 2049) as holding the reading. Schmid also suggests mss. 296, 1668, and 2136 as supportive of the TR in Rev. 22. 4. Revelation is notorious overall for having the least, latest, and most disjointed extant Greek witnesses. It is particularly difficult for those who rely on modern reconstruction. 5. One example of the difficulty: At Rev. 4:8 both major modern printed editions of the so-called Majority/Byzantine Text supply different readings, because no clear Majority text prevails. Farstad/Hodges has a nine-fold "holy" and Robinson/Pierpont a three-fold "holy" at Rev. 4:8.

6. The TR can hardly be attacked for preferring a lightly attested reading, since the modern critical text also frequently does the same. For example, at 2 Peter 3:10 the NA28 has a reading that is a conjecture supported by no extant Greek mss. The modern text has multiple verses that have sequential readings found in no extant Greek mss. See my article: "Verses with 'Zero-Support' in the Modern Critical Text of the Greek NT."

7. Examination of the internal evidence shows that both "book of life" and "tree of life" are used in Revelation. Some suggest a scribe might have altered 22:19 to read "tree of life" at an early stage in order to have the passage harmonize with "tree of life" in Rev. 22:2, 14.

8. There has been peculiar controversy over the last six verses of Revelation (22:16-21). Since the nineteenth century it has been frequently suggested that Erasmus "back-translated" these verses from a Latin source. I gave a lecture last year for the Reformation Bible Society challenging the reliability and veracity of this anecdote.

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9. It is interesting that the original printing of the KJV carried a note at Rev 22:19 (still printed in some Bibles) at the phrase "out of the book of life," which reads, "Or, from the tree of life." This indicates an openness to the possibility that "tree of life" is original, though the translators preferred "book of life." This type of distinction is sometimes (though rarely) made in KJV in recognition of variants by the old Protestant translators, but this is a far cry from the modern critical approach that jettisons large portions of the traditional text of Scripture (like Mark 16:9-20 or John 7:53--8:11) or suggests that the text is, in no way, stable.

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This friend also shared some notes given to him by another pastor (who uses the NKJV) providing another internal argument in favor of the "book of life" reading:

"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." •    Some of your translations may read “tree of life” here, but here we preach from the NKJV, which reads “Book of Life.” •    Now obviously we are not going to argue about certain manuscripts but we do indeed believe that the Lord has providentially preserved His Word and that it comes to us in what is called the Textus Receptus, or the Received Text •    But further than this, when we consider v. 19 in light of the flow and structure of the book of Revelation itself, the Book of Life makes deep and fitting sense •    When we hear of the Book of Life as it appears in this book, it is always associated with eternal judgment and salvation ◦    Revelation 3:5 "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels." ◦    Revelation 13:8: "All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." ◦    Revelation 20:15: "And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." •    To have one’s name removed from the Book of Life is to be shut out from eternal life and cast into judgment. •    The tree of life, on the other hand, is consistently portrayed as a reward for the righteous, never as something a false professor might lose. ◦    Revelation 2:7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ◦    Revelation 22:2 “In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” ◦    Revelation 22:14 “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” ◦    In each of these three texts, the tree of life is promised to the righteous, to the overcomers, and to those who belong to God in the eternal state. ◦    It is never used in a context of loss, warning, or judgment. ◦    It is always reward-oriented, never spoken of as something that a false believer might have a “part” in and then lose. •    And so the language here—of someone’s “part” or “portion” being taken away—corresponds naturally with the idea of a name written in a book, not with fruit from a tree. •    So even at the level of the text itself, “Book of Life” accords with the solemn warning being given and underscores just how serious it is to tamper with the Word of God.

Revelation 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."

JTR

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JTR

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JTR

The Vision (12.19.25): God meant it unto good

 

Image: December sunset, North Garden, Virginia, December 2025.

Note: Vision devotional article taken from last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 50.

But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive (Genesis 50:20).

When Joseph’s brothers fall on their faces before him, afraid he will take just vengeance upon them after the death of their father Jacob, Joseph makes this most amazing and insightful statement. Perhaps one of the most important and most meaningful and practical in all of Scripture. “Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good.”

This is the way the Lord operates. He allows the evil actions of men. But he takes that evil, and, in his sovereignty, he makes it into good.

The Lord allowed Joseph’s brothers to strip him of his special coat, to cast him into a waterless hole in the ground, and then to sell him into slavery. They thought evil against him. But had this not happened Joseph never would have gone to Egypt, and he never would have risen to the top and saved many nations, including his own family, from starvation and annihilation during seven years of grievous famine.

The NT equivalent to Genesis 50:20 is Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Joseph only learned this lesson through prayerful retrospection and reflection. We also should meditate on Joseph’s statement. The Puritan John Flavel wrote, “Sometimes providences, like Hebrew letters, must be read backwards.” Look back over your life and consider those times when others thought evil against you. God permitted it, but he always had a gracious purpose. He meant it for his glory and for your good.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

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JTR

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JTR

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JTR

The Vision (12.12.25): The scepter shall not depart from Judah

 

Image: Snow covered branches, North Garden, Virginia, December 2025.

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 49.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from beneath his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be (Genesis 49:10).

In Genesis 49 Jacob offers a prophetic blessing upon his sons who will form the twelve tribes of Israel. The blessing on Judah (vv. 8-12) is a prophecy of Christ.

Judah’s name means “praise.” From him would come the kingly line. Jacob says he will be at the neck of his enemies (v. 8b). His father’s children will bow down before him, just as they had bowed to Joseph (v. 8b).

His sign is a lion (v. 9). The ancient Hebrews also knew this animal as king of the beasts, the most powerful and fearsome.

Then Jacob prophesies that the scepter of rule shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from his feet (from his line of descent), until Shiloh come. Some suggest the name “Shiloh” means the peacemaker or Saviour (M. Poole). One commentator called it a “cryptogram” meaning “Messiah” (MacArthur Study Bible).

From Judah would come King David, and his descendants would rule in one form or another all the way up to the time when Herod the Idumean (Edomite) was made the King of the Jews by the Romans. And who was born then? The Lord Jesus Christ, Shiloh, the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. In John’s vision of heaven in Revelation 5:5 one of the elders says to him, “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” But when John looks he sees “a Lamb as it had been slain” (v. 6).

Jacob says, “and unto him shall the gathering of the people be” (v. 10b). This means all his elect people, Jew and Gentile.

In v. 11 it says he washed his garments in wine. This figure anticipates the shedding of his blood in his atoning death on the cross. We see this in Revelation 19 when John sees Christ as a victorious champion riding on a white horse in his second coming, “clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God” (v. 13).

In Genesis 49:12 it adds his eyes shall be red with wine. This does not mean bloodshot but that the pupil of his eye will be full and dark, a sign of extraordinary health and vigor. And his teeth white as milk, pure and strong.

This is the apex of Jacob’s prophetic blessing. It points us toward the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer! He came from the line of Judah through King David, in the fullness of time, born in Bethlehem.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

WM 355: KEACH on the DIVINE AUTHORITY of the Holy Scriptures: Part 7 of 17: PROPHECIES

 

JTR