In the shell-structured chiastic arrangement of the Book of Revelation, first the trustworthiness of the Word is established; for the word of God is the only carrier of information we should base our entire trust on. The first chiastic ring encloses all other information revealed by the Lord Jesus in the last book of the Bible. After closing with the assurance of trustworthiness (Rev 1:3), the next chiastic element commences with verse 4, wherein John introduces himself and sends regards from the Father, the seven Spirits and Jesus. Let us look at how Jesus is introduced: Jesus is…

• the faithful witness,

• the first begotten of the dead, and

• the prince of the kings of the earth (Rev 1:5)

Notice something? Before it is remembered that He was the first to rise from the dead (“first” here less in the chronological order than more in terms of significance and rank) John tells us that Jesus is the faithful witness. Indeed, the word “faithful” according to the Oxford English Dictionary, means “True to one's word or stated belief; firm in adherence to a promise, undertaking,”

Question: What was the last promise you made to someone? Did you keep it? Promises are common. We make promises to others, and promises are made to us by others. "Yes, I promise I’ll do the dishes today." "We promise we'll give you a promotion in six months." "Just wait for me. I'll be there. I promise." How often have you heard promises like these? The way we deal with promises tells a lot about us and our self-respect¹:

It is impossible to follow through on every single [promise] you make in life, but how many you break and how you handle it when you do is key to understanding yourself. [..] A promise, as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is: ‘a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified; or a legally binding declaration that gives the person to whom it is made a right to expect or to claim the performance or forbearance of a specified act.’ When we don't keep a promise to someone, it communicates to that person that we don't value him or her. [..] Not keeping a promise is the same as disrespecting yourself. Ultimately it can harm our self-image, self-esteem, and our life. (Emphasis supplied)

Keeping promises is the basis for stable families and societies; not keeping our promises, on the other hand, is the same as disrespecting others and, eventually, ourselves. Keeping promises is also the basis for God’s relationship with us.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Heb 10:23

The reason we can have faith in the Lord Jesus is the faithfulness of Jesus.

Seven Promises by the Faithful Witness

As we examine the deeper meaning of the letters to the churches in Revelation Chapter 2 to Chapter 3:22, we traditionally focus on the churches themselves; how they conduct spiritually and how their conduct is assessed by Jesus. Typologically, we apply Jesus’ assessment to the history of the Christian dispensation yielding much valuable insight for the believer, especially as Laodicea is concerned. In this sense, we look for an answer to the question “What do we learn about the church? Let us now back up, reset our information filters of Biblical investigation and ask a slightly different question: “In Rev 2-3:22, what do we learn about Jesus?”

One notices a recurring pattern in those letters to the seven churches; in fact, all seven letters conclude with a similar statement: “to him that overcometh will I …” or "He that overcometh shall..”, which is followed by a reward or gift from Jesus Himself. We have here seven promises to believers that overcome. What promises are these? Let us take a closer look.

To him that overcometh/he that overcometh

(1) will I give to eat of the tree of life

(2) shall not be hurt of the second death

(3) will I give to eat of the hidden manna, a white stone, a new name

(4) to him will I give power over the nations

(5) I will not blot out his name out of the book of life

(6) will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God,

(7) will I grant to sit with me in my throne

We immediately realize that these are the seven ultimate promises that are closely related to the essence of the Christian faith. But there seems to be catch! The seven promises are not to everyone, but only to him/her who “overcometh”. What does it mean to overcome? Scripture explains Scripture, and so we find that the author of Revelation himself expounds on the very secret of overcoming in his first apostolic letter:

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:2-3, emphasis supplied)

The logic here emerges as follows:

(1) The believer is born of God through believing that Jesus is the Son of God

(2) The love of God is expressed in keeping the commandments

(3) The power to overcome the world comes from the synthesis of (1) and (2), or in simple terms:

Overcoming means keeping God’s commandments and having faith in Jesus

Faith in Jesus will be rewarded with the faithfulness of Jesus. Because Jesus is faithful, he will keep His promises.

Promise #1: (Revelation 2:7)

To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

The great controversy between good and evil started in the paradise of God. Back then in Eden, our parents Adam and Eve forfeited the access to the tree of life:

And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:22-24

Hence, promise #1 is about the restoration of the earth, it is about the new earth, about paradise, about living forever. Again, this promise is not given to all of man but to those who overcome.

Now, how does God give the assurance of a fulfilled promise prior to the actual event of fulfillment? In order to answer this important question, we go back to the testimony of the apostle Paul. We will notice something interesting. When writing his letters to Timothy and Titus, Paul prefaces his letters with the words:

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2 Timothy 1:1

and

Paul, a servant of God, [..] In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; Titus 1:1,2

Paul refers to the promise of eternal life, and it appears that he knew exactly what he was talking about, despite the fact that eternal life had not occurred to him as yet. Why? Paul knew with certainty and conviction because he was in the privileged situation of having witnessed eternal life and paradise already:

It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. 2 Corinthians 12:1-5

God had given Paul a foretaste of fulfillment of His promise in “visions and revelation”. We will now see that the same principle, i.e., fulfillment of a future promise revealed to a human in a vision, occurs in the last book of the Bible. The promise of restoration and access to the tree of life was made to the church in Revelation 2:7; the fulfillment of this promise, namely access to the tree of life, was shown to John in a vision. The content of this vision is set forth later in Revelation, towards the end of the book, at the beginning of Chapter 22:

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:1-2

Ellen White explains that the tree of life provided the “fuel” for eternal life, which is part of the fantastic science of immortality:

The tree of life possessed the power to perpetuate life, and as long as they ate of it, they could not die. The lives of the antediluvians were protracted because of the life-giving power of this tree, which was transmitted to them from Adam and Eve. 7BC 988.9

When the new earth is created, the curse “cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Gen 3:17”, will be repealed; the dead in Christ will be formed out of dust again and will so be able to physically enter the gates of paradise on the new earth. Perpetual life (or “healing”, Rev 22:2) will be sustained by the “superfuel” that comes from the fruit and leaves of the tree of life. Strange enough, the admission to this tree of life is reserved to “legalists”:

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14

First of all, it appears that the “constitution” of the new earth government will be God’s commandments, and for those who already keep them here there is good news, because they don’t have to change. Next, let’s look at the underlying word for “right" here, transliterated exousia from the Greek. It is used 103x in the NT, and the same word is translated as “power” (69x), “authority” (29x), “right” (2x), “liberty” (1x), “jurisdiction” (1x), “strength” (1x), so that we can deduce the following: Through the keeping of God’s law, the saints have “power”, “authority” and “jurisdiction” over the access to the tree of life; all legal terms, right?

Promise #2 holds that “He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.”

Why is the second death mentioned? After all, the saints already have access to the tree of life. Simple logic lets us conclude that there will be at least two groups of people: these who are saved from the second death and those that will experience the second death. The only source we can draw information from regarding the details of the second death is the Spirit of Prophecy:

Satan rushes into the midst of his followers and tries to stir up the multitude to action. But fire from God out of heaven is rained upon them, and the great men, and mighty men, the noble, the poor and miserable, are all consumed together. I saw that some were quickly destroyed, while others suffered longer. They were punished according to the deeds done in the body. Some were many days consuming, and just as long as there was a portion of them unconsumed, all the sense of suffering remained. Said the angel, “The worm of life shall not die; their fire shall not be quenched as long as there is the least particle for it to prey upon. {EW 294.1}

There will be no escape for evildoers, and there will be no distinction in rank, position and social status. There will be no way around the final annihilation of those who used their power to rebel against God, to oppress and hurt their fellow men. During their temporal life those mighty and noble may have been able to separate themselves out as elite to rule over others and exploit their resources. But at the time of the second death, all will be herded together just to be united in feeling the excruciating pain of a fire that is able to decompose their temporarily resurrected bodies and souls.

All those who did not respond to the Savior’s call to repent will be raised to life just to burn as bright torches with unquenchable fire; a fire that burns -fueled by the amount of their own accumulated sins- until they simply are no longer a part of God’s creation. There won’t be any eternal “hellfire”, but Ellen White states that the wicked will stay alive and suffer until the last molecule of their bodies has disintegrated. They will experience their flesh and their existence slowly eaten up by the flames that no firefighter will be able to put out. Despite the indescribable pain of a heat that no physicist is able to quantify –a heat that will break down both matter and spirits-, it will be the humiliation, loathing and perdition of getting resurrected only to find destruction in God’s grand refuse incinerator that constitutes the ultimate punishment of the wicked. Any aspect about the phenomenon of the second death is hard to understand for us, the ultimate fire annihilation of the wicked, while they remain fully conscious, is something the God of love has to do on behalf of His loved ones and His creation. It is God’s “strange work”:

For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Isaiah 28:21

Getting “hurt of the second death”, is a matter so horrible that the fear of this ultimate disgraceful removal from the universe has to be taken completely out of the relationship with God for those that overcome. It is also important to know for all who love God that there will be no future existence for the wicked or for Satan and his angels. They will be given opportunity to look at the New Jerusalem to see what they missed, and then the unquenchable fire will consume them. Finally, there will be justice and there will be perfect peace. The fulfillment of promise #2 was given to John in a vision –to the testimony of the church and individual believers; we find it in Rev 21:4 and verse 8. Similar to Paul, this is indeed what John experienced in an “audiovisual” appearance (“And I saw… and I saw… and I heard”, Rev. 21:1-3):

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Transforming Grace and Universal Power

Promise #3: “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” Rev 2:17

Hebrews 9:4 tells us that the hidden manna was located in the Ark of the Covenant. How was manna originally distributed to the Israelites in the desert and why was a portion of it kept in the Ark?

Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. Ex 16:4 (emphasis supplied)

We learn that manna was rationed in a specific way as a test of obedience. Jesus is the true, spiritual manna:

This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. John 6:58

It may surprise the reader that the “temporal” manna was also a test for the Israelites to keep the law. Jesus, the “spiritual” manna, is the fulfillment of the law. The interesting lesson thus taught was that manna, sweet as honey, was also a symbol of God’s sweet grace in Christ. But it was not a cheap grace; it was a precious, powerful grace that had a tangible effect on the behavior and character of people; it caused them to change: towards the end of the chapter, after they learned the “manna” lesson, Moses concludes:

See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. ³° So the people rested on the seventh day. (Ex 16:29, emphasis supplied)

Manna was a symbol or a type of grace that leads to obedience. Likewise, the antitypical grace in Jesus Christ is a transforming grace that leads to a natural obedience to God’s law and so to a Christ-like character.

We have an astonishing analogy here: due to the mechanism through which it was dispensed to God’s people during their pilgrimage in the desert, manna lifted up the law -just as Christ lifts up the law. Manna was preserved as a token of the perpetual blessing that comes from the adherence to God’s law and His statutes and through the transforming grace of Christ. Consequently, manna was placed into the Ark, side by side along with the tables of God’s law. God’s character is the law, and God’s power of love is the transforming grace. The power of Christ’s grace is manifest in that it transforms our character, so that we are able to come into the physical presence of the Holy God and yet live.

The fulfillment of the promised hidden manna, the white stone and new name is attained when we are finally transformed into His image as to be able to live in the presence of God:

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. [..] And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. Revelation 21:3.5

Joshua 5:12 mentions that manna ceased after they entered the Holy land. Likewise, the antitypical hidden manna will cease to be distributed to the saints as soon as they cross the border of the New Canaan where character building will be complete.

Promise #4 is for him “that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations” (Revelation 2:26). Jesus promised that the saints will have power over the nations. Ellen White writes that we are dealing here with a spiritual (rather that a temporal, political) power of the church in proclaiming the gospel:

Those who really love the Saviour cannot but hail with gladness the announcement founded upon the Word of God, that He in whom their hopes of eternal life are centered, is coming again, not to be insulted, despised, and rejected, as at His first advent, but in power and glory, to redeem His people. The gospel is to advance from conquest to conquest, from victory to victory. The greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, and they shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever and ever. {SD 366.3-4}

The result of this power is that nations and kings will be counted amongst the saved, and John could witness the fulfillment in his vision:

And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. Rev 21:24

More so; there is even a hint that the saints will participate in the government of the New Earth society, because they will receive enough light to be able to lead and reign:

And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22: 5)

This is the wonderful solace and encouragement to all who suffer under oppressive temporal kingdoms and under the emerging satanic one-world government of the beast and his image: the power will be taken away from Satan and given to the saints. Further mentioning we find in the book of Daniel:

These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. Daniel 7, 17.18

Records of Characters Stored in the Heavenly Temple

Promise #5 “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life” Revelation 3:5

There is an intriguing depth in this promise. Let us pause here and consider the significance of genealogies in the Hebrew culture. In Thomas Hartwell Horne’s² work “An introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures”, one can find -tucked away between seemingly more important historical minutiae- some detail on the handling of public records in the Hebrew civil system:

The Hebrews were very careful in preserving their Genealogies, or the history of the successions of families. [..] In proportion as the Hebrews increased in numbers during their residence in Egypt, it became an object of growing importance to preserve the genealogical tables of the whole nation [..] The charge of these genealogies was, most probably, confided [..] to the [..] scribes [..] at least in the time of the kings, we find that the scribes were generally taken from the tribe of Levi.[..] In later times the genealogical tables were kept in the temple. (emphasis supplied)

Typology leads us to conjecture that if the genealogy of the Hebrews was stored in the earthly temple, then the genealogy of the saints, the spiritually descendants of the Father, is kept in the heavenly temple. True spiritual descend in this context means inheritance of character, and it is not farfetched to assume that a blue print of the character of the saints is securely stored in the heavenly temple. For all genealogies stored in the heavenly temple, for all true descendants of the Father, for all that are written in the Lamb’s book of life, there is the assurance that they will be perfectly restored even if the mortal remains have long disintegrated into dust.

The fulfillment of Christ’s promise is for all that were transformed into His image:

And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. Revelation 21:27

Meaning that the saints who took the hidden manna of transforming grace will have their characters preserved in the book of life, which may be located in the public registers of the heavenly sanctuary. No matter how anxiously Satan and his followers will try to destroy and blot out God’s people from the face of the old earth, whether he is able to succeed in taking their temporal lives or not, all the details of the personalities and characters of each of God’s children is out of his reach –safely and securely stored in the archives of the heavenly sanctuary.

Promise #6 has again to do with the temple and the New Jerusalem:

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, Revelation 3:12

The fulfillment is here:

And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. Revelation 22:4

The Spirit of Prophecy mentions that no sinful being is able to see God’s face:

I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and the Son. I gazed on Jesus’ countenance and admired His lovely person. The Father’s person I could not behold, for a cloud of glorious light covered Him. I asked Jesus if His Father had a form like Himself. He said He had, but I could not behold it, for said He, “If you should once behold the glory of His person, you would cease to exist. Our Father Cares, pages 202,203.

The highest privilege in the universe is to be able to see the face of God the Father, and the Redeemed will have this privilege:

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8

Promise #7: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Revelation 3:21

In this last promise, Jesus puts Himself forth as an example; the true believer follows Jesus wherever he goes. Through the victory on the cross, Jesus is able to impart the strength that is needed to overcome. In the vision, John saw God dwelling among His children. There will thus be no more separation between God and man. The fulfillment of the promise:

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. [..] 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. Revelation 21:3.5.

He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. Revelation 21:7

God’s ultimate goal is the restoration of the broken connection between God and man. To summarize all seven promises: Jesus promises His church and His children that He will restore eternal life; eliminate sin though the second death; transform through His grace and give power to draw nations to God; preserve our beings, our characters and our lives in the book of life even if we suffer and die the temporal death. Jesus will further enable us to behold God’s face and make us heirs of everything that belongs to the Father. Jesus closes His testimony with:

I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. 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 22:16-17

Matthew Henry³ expounds:

He is the faithful witness; he was from eternity a witness to all the counsels of God (Jn. 1:18 ), and he was in time a faithful witness to the revealed will of God, who has now spoken to us by his Son; upon his testimony we may safely depend, for he is a faithful witness, cannot be deceived and cannot deceive us.

It is now apparent that the sections Revelation 1:4-3:22 and Rev 21:1-22:17 are closely related: in the former section we learn about the promises of the faithful witness, while the lower section shows the fulfillment of these promises to John in a vision as a testimony for the church and the individual believer. Faith of the believer meets the faithfulness of Jesus; promise meets fulfillment. This chiastic layer tells us more about Jesus; namely that Jesus is faithful (Fig.). We thus discovered the theme of the second chiastic ring: the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.

To be continued in part 3

Michael E Fassbender, Ph.D., is a nuclear scientist. Originally from Germany, he spent a three year stint in South Africa. He now works for the U.S. Government and lives with his wife and two daughters in New Mexico, USA. Michael and his wife are members of the Texico Conference of Seventh-Day-Adventists