Not only a Jewish problem
Many have come and led billions of people from God’s revelation. My best connections to these alternates are the Muslims and the Mormons. Both of these groups came after the words given to John. Each has claimed additional revelation invalidating pieces of the Scriptures that came to us through the God-given Jewish conduit. To sidestep the issue of a prior revelation, they claim the originals were corrupted. Once these alternative approaches start the teachings handed down from generation to generation appropriate to themselves a semblance of veracity.
As best I can tell the Biblical narrative is not corrupt. Even at its outset, Jesus saw that people would add to or remove from the scriptures. That is what people do. The problem is real consequences extend from errors in belief, and Jesus warned against those kinds of things here in Revelation 22. It is crucial that adherents of every religious system inspect what they have been taught. Some tincture of comparative religion should infuse our thoughts. Of course, faith has immense value, but faith should stand on some proportion of fact. In my inspection of other religious perspectives (reading their texts, their biographies…that is, not extensions of my Christian culture, but their’s) the claims and beginnings of these groups are too fractured right from their outset for me to rest my eternity upon them.
Twenty
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20–ESV)
See how the Spirit and the Bride work together here? Jesus repeats that he is coming soon and John as the representative of humanity echoes back a welcome. It was going to be coming soon. It is to be coming soon. Do we speak back to the Spirit when he calls? Do we say come?
Twenty-one
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. (Revelation 22:21–ESV)
John finally signs off with God’s call sign of grace. Grace will ever be needed until the end of all that God has given in this book. It needs to be with us as we have yet to enter into God’s rest.
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