Warning: Don't add and don't take away

We saw last time that those believers who hear Jesus properly are to make the invitation to non-believers to take the free gift of salvation:

Revelation 22:17
Both the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”  Let anyone who hears, say, “Come!”  Let the one who is thirsty come.  Let the one who desires take the water of life freely.

The next two verses also command the attention of those who have ears to hear:

Revelation 22:18-19
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, 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 will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, which are written about in this book.

Many commentaries will tell you that the warning John adds here at the end of Revelation is equivalent to a copyright in the ancient world, and that you’ll commonly find these types of warnings in other apocalyptic (prophetic) writings of the day.  While this is true, don’t think that this type of warning is something that John added just because everyone else was doing it.

This isn’t the first time that God gave a warning like this, and actually it was given at a similar situation – just on a slightly smaller scale.

Remember, we’ve been looking at eternal rewards that believers can inherit in Eternity Future.  When the Israelites were getting ready to inherit their reward of the Promised Land, this is what Moses told them:

Deuteronomy 4:1-2
Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter, and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.  You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you.

Sounds very similar, right?

Those that hear are the ones expected to do – just as the Lord prescribes.  Those that do are the ones who will inherit, or take possession of the land.  To further his point, Moses gives the following example:

Deuteronomy 4:3-4
Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed every one of you who followed Baal of Peor.  But you who have remained faithful to the Lord your God are all alive today.

This incident is recorded in Numbers 25.  Those that strayed from God’s commands – they either subtracted God out and worshipped Baal exclusively or thought they could add Baal worship to their worship of God – they were not able to inherit the Promised Land.  However, those that stayed true to God’s commands – they were the ones that may live, enter, and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

So God has previously made similar statements to what we read at the end of Revelation.  We’ll look more into the details of the warning next time, but there is an unmistakable quality in both passages that should not be missed:

Any believer that hears God’s commands is expected to take what God says very, very seriously.

Keep Pressing,
Ken