The Bride's Final Invitation

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. 

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.
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 22:17-21

Surely I Come Quickly

The Spirit (the breath) refers to the spirit of Jehovah.   Christ said, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things. John 14:26.  God's method of communicating with us is by His "breath".  It does not take a rich imagination to go from "breath" to "words".  We use our breath to speak words.  Jehovah's breath spoke Jehovah's words to the writers of The Apocalypse.

In this reference it is the spirit of Jehovah that is saying to non-Christians, Come. Pay attention, I have warned you, flee from the wrath to come. Luke 3:7. Repent of your sins, accept Christ as your slave master and worship Me!

The bride, namely, the born again believers also say to the non-Christians; come. Come and take the water of life freely.

Let each one who hears them say the same, Come. The Living Bible.

Come!  Some Bible teachers say that this is the Church's prayer for Christ to come for His Church.  I think that it is not, because of the way this paragraph blends into one unit, and that unit is, come take of the water of life freely.

This is not a prayer for Christ to return.  This is an invitation, by the spirit of God and by Christians for all to come to Christ; to repent; to have their robes washed in the blood of Christ, and to be prepared to enter into the holy city.

When one reads, let him take of the water of life freely, one tends to think of this word, freely, as meaning to enjoy a superabundance of the water of life. Even though that meaning is possible for the Christian, the more accurate meaning of this phrase is given by Wuest#, Vine+++ and The Living Bible as, without charge or gratis.  The same idea is expressed by Isaiah, Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Isa. 55:1. The New Living Translation

   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.  Instead of the Book of Life, some translations have the tree of life.

Christ continues speaking and gives a solemn warning about changing the book by adding to or deleting from the words of this prophecy.   We need to remember that Christ was always more interested in the meaning of the word than in the actual words.  As we recall, being ritualistic and paying too much attention to technical detail was one of the problems Christ had with his human peers.

In studying The Apocalypse, the spirit of love, humility, and worship is much more important than exactly describing the shapes and activities of the strange creatures, the geographical locations and the timing of the events.   Christ would much rather have us invite sinners to the living water than to have us haggle about the technicalities found in The Revelation.   Anyway, how do any of us know for sure that our ideas are closer to right than another persons are?

In 22:20, Christ again encourages his despairing, hurting, weary church.   He says, surely, I come quickly.  The Greek word quickly, as it is used here, can also mean "soon".  Most translations use the word "quickly" and not the word "soon". 

Then the church responds with the last prayer of the Bible, Even so, come, Lord Jesus.  We are waiting for the seventh trumpet blast, the last one, because we have made our robes white.   And the seventh angel sounded. And there were great voices in Heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ. And He will reign forever and ever.Rev. 11:15

Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!  Amen to all that the Lord has promised; Amen to the thought of sin and sorrow banished, of wounded hearts healed, of tears of affliction wiped away, of the sting taken from death and victory from the grave, of darkness dissipated forever, of the light of the eternal day. EBC

For now, in anticipation, we say with Paul, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day.  We repeat, Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
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# An Expanded Translation, K.W. Wuest.

+++ An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, W.E. Vine

A word of farewell.

Thank you for all the +1's, comments and for re-sharing.  These acts were always really encouraging.

Thank you for following me in this long study.  As I wrote in the introduction to this study: According to the common consensus, The Revelation is the hardest book in the Bible to explain, and yet there are more commentaries on The Revelation than on any other book of the Bible.

At places I have written very definitively as if only I knew the right answers.   At places I have expressed opinions as facts even though they may not yet be settled in my mind.  Anyone who has studied The Apocalypse must realize that in many cases there are a variety of ways of interpreting those cases and that it is narrow-minded to be dogmatic about any interpretation.  My hope was that if I express other, than normal, views you will take it upon yourself to do your own studying.

To those whom I have offended I send my most sincere apologies.

Remember the words of Christ, surely, I come quickly.

May the Lord bless you and keep you!