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Bible Study · Revelation
After every seal, every trumpet, every judgment, the very last thing Scripture says before it closes is an open door. Not a warning. An invitation, as wide as it could possibly be worded.
"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."Revelation 22:17 (KJV)
Part 1
Sixty-six books, thousands of years, and this is how it all ends, not with a threat, but with an open door.
Revelation is the most severe book in Scripture, seals broken, trumpets sounded, judgment poured out. Yet the very last words before the Bible closes are these: "the Spirit and the bride say, Come," and "whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Right before it, Jesus names Himself: "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star" (Revelation 22:16), both the source David came from and the descendant born of David's own line, God and man in one, the same riddle Jesus posed the Pharisees from Psalm 110:1 (Matthew 22:41-45), covered fully in our study on the Messiah in the Psalms. That same Christ, Lord and Son, root and offspring, is the one issuing the final invitation of the book.
Part 2
Read the verse slowly. The invitation doesn't come from one direction, it widens with every phrase.
"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come."Revelation 22:17 (KJV)
First, "the Spirit and the bride say, Come." God's own Spirit and His Church speak the same word together, the Spirit is not a separate person inviting alongside the Church as a second party, it is the one God's own Spirit moving in and through His people, calling with one voice. Second, "let him that heareth say, Come." Anyone who has already heard this invitation is handed the same words to pass along, the gospel travels by everyone who received it repeating it. Third, "let him that is athirst come." Whoever feels the need, the ache, the thirst, is already qualified to come, no other qualification required. Three voices, each one widening the circle, until the whole world is invited.
Part 3
Three words carry the whole weight of the gospel here: whosoever, freely, will.
"Whosoever" is not a small word. It's the same word John used to describe the scope of God's love, "whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16), and the same word Paul used for how salvation actually happens, "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). Not a nation. Not a class of people. Not a group who already qualifies. Whosoever. "Freely" means it cannot be earned, "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). And "will" means a real choice is actually required. This is not a door that opens itself for everyone automatically. It's a door held open, calling, to whoever will actually walk through it.
Part 4
What exactly is being offered? Scripture answers that question more than once, and always the same way.
Centuries earlier, Isaiah gave the same call in almost the same words: "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters... come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (Isaiah 55:1). Jesus offered the same thing to a woman at a well in Samaria, "whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14), and later cried out at the feast, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink" (John 7:37), which John explains directly: "this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive" (John 7:39). The water of life is not a symbol for something vague. It's the Holy Spirit Himself, the same Spirit that speaks the invitation in Revelation 22:17 is the very thing being offered in it. This exact promise already appeared once earlier in Revelation, "I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely" (Revelation 21:6), so the last chapter of the Bible closes by repeating the offer, in case anyone missed it the first time.
Part 5
Right after the widest invitation in Scripture comes one of its most solemn warnings.
"If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life."Revelation 22:18-19 (KJV)
This is why quoting Scripture carefully matters, on this site and everywhere. God's own closing words over the Bible guard both directions, adding to what He said, and taking away from it. The invitation in verse 17 is wide open. What it invites you into, the actual words of this book, is not something to be edited, softened, or added to. Freedom in how wide the door is offered does not mean freedom to change what is on the other side of it.
Part 6
The very last human words in the Bible are an echo of the very invitation this study is about.
"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."Revelation 22:20-21 (KJV)
Jesus says "Come" to us throughout the whole chapter. The very last thing anyone says back to Him is "come" right back, "even so, come, Lord Jesus." That longing for His actual, physical return is covered in full in our study on the catching away and our study on the end times. And after all of it, the whole Bible's very last word is not law, not judgment, but grace: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all."
Hide These in Your Heart
"And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
Revelation 22:17"Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
John 3:16"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Romans 10:13"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all."
Revelation 22:21Search Your Heart
The Next Step
No matter what you have done, God loves you and is calling you to Himself right now. Jesus didn't simply call people to learn, He called people to follow Him. Discover what the Bible teaches about repentance, baptism in Jesus' name, receiving the Holy Spirit, and walking in new life.
"Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 2:38 NKJV
Turn from sin and surrender your whole heart to God.
For the remission of sins -- every New Testament baptism was in His name.
The promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are far off (Acts 2:39).
Want to know what the Bible teaches about salvation?