“And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.”
My Notes
What Does Revelation 22:6 Mean?
The angel authenticates the entire book of Revelation with a divine guarantee: "These sayings are faithful and true." The same God who sent prophets throughout Israel's history—"the Lord God of the holy prophets"—sent this angel to show John what must happen. The Revelation isn't a different category of Scripture from Isaiah or Jeremiah. It comes from the same God who has always spoken through prophets.
The phrase "must shortly be done" (dei genesthai en tachei) creates interpretive tension: "must" indicates divine necessity, and "shortly" indicates imminence. The events aren't optional, and they're not distant. The divine plan is both inevitable and approaching. The word tachei (quickly, speedily) can mean either soon in time or swift in execution—once the events begin, they'll unfold rapidly.
The authentication—"faithful and true"—uses the same description applied to Christ Himself in Revelation 19:11 ("called Faithful and True"). The sayings share the character of the one who speaks them. If Christ is faithful and true, His words are faithful and true. The reliability of the message is grounded in the character of the messenger.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Do you treat Revelation's promises and warnings as 'faithful and true,' or as uncertain speculation?
- 2.If the events 'must shortly be done,' how does the certainty of fulfillment change how you live today?
- 3.The same God who spoke through Isaiah spoke through John. How does that continuity affect your trust in Revelation?
- 4.If these sayings are as reliable as the God who speaks them, which specific promise or warning needs your attention?
Devotional
"These sayings are faithful and true." The last book of the Bible ends by vouching for itself—not with human endorsement but with divine authentication. The same God who spoke through every prophet in Israel's history is the source of this Revelation. The visions aren't hallucinations. The prophecies aren't speculation. They're faithful and true because they come from the one who is faithful and true.
The phrase "must shortly be done" has produced centuries of debate about timing. But the theological point isn't a calendar prediction. It's certainty of fulfillment: these things must happen. They're not possibilities. They're inevitabilities. The divine plan doesn't have contingency plans. It has necessities. And those necessities are approaching.
The angel's authentication connects Revelation to the entire prophetic tradition: the same God who sent Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel sent this angel to John. Revelation isn't a departure from the prophetic heritage. It's the culmination of it. Every prophetic voice in Scripture was building toward this final revelation—the unveiling of how the story ends.
If you've wondered whether the promises and warnings of Revelation are reliable—whether the new heaven, the new earth, the final judgment, the eternal city are real or poetic—the angel gives you the answer: faithful and true. The character behind the words guarantees the words. The God who has kept every previous promise will keep these. The sayings are as reliable as the God who spoke them.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And he said unto me,.... That is, the angel that talked with him, and showed him the above things:
these sayings are…
And he said unto me - The angel-interpreter, who had showed John the vision of the New Jerusalem, Rev 21:9-10. As these…
These sayings are faithful and true - See the preceding chapter, Rev 21:5. From this verse to the end of the chapter is…
We have here a solemn ratification of the contents of this book, and particularly of this last vision (though some think…
The Confirmation of the Promise; the Error of the Seer, Rev 22:6-11
6. And he said unto me Who speaks? the angel of Rev…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture