Revelation 22:3; The Throne of God and of the Lamb Shall Be In It

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Revelation 22:3 (KJV)  And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 

Repeated from v1 – Revelation 22:1 (KJV)  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 – “the throne of God and of the Lamb” emphasises the joint occupancy of the throne by the Father and the Lamb (cf. Revelation 21:22-23).

Revelation 21:22-23 (KJV)  And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 

The throne of Satan (Revelation 2:13) will no longer have a place in the world (Johnson).

Revelation 2:13 (KJV)  I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

Because of the presence of His throne, “His servants shall serve Him”. John does not shun using the word “servant” or “slave” “doulos” to describe the relationship of Christians to God any more than Paul did (Sweet). This is the broad usage of the term douloi to refer to all Christians as in its first occurrence of Revelation 1:1.

Revelation 1:1 (KJV)  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 

The future tense “shall serve” is linear in nature, they will keep on serving Him. The usage of “I serve” in itself does not necessitate a reference to priestly service, but broader contextual considerations require it to do so here (cf. Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:6) (Johnson).

Revelation 1:6 (KJV)  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 

Revelation 5:10 (KJV)  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. 

Revelation 20:6 (KJV)  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 

The destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 had dashed hopes of any further priestly ministry for many Jews (cf. Acts 26:7), but the future state will see a realisation of that hope for those who believe (Moffatt).

Acts 26:7 (KJV)  Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. 

The singular noun “Him” capitalises on the unity of the Father and the Son (cf. John 10:30) (Lee). It is difficult to see this priestly service rendered to one of the two persons to the exclusion of the other (cf. Revelation 11:15) (Beckwith, Beasley-Murray).

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 486-487]