Book of Revelation - Ch. 21, Vs. 1-Ch. 22., Vs. 21 (03/17/2019)

Technical Setup and Opening Prayer

No, it was in my truck. I just had to go back and get it. But I wanted to do that before I really needed it. Everybody's good today. As long as I can see my screen, I can get it adjusted either way. And I think I'm now closer to the phone, so it's going to work a little bit better.

Well, we are at an interesting time today in our study. We probably will get through with Revelation today. Now, I said that last week, and we didn't. I said it. Yeah, well, I did. I did. And I added some more stuff, so I might not get through again today.

But I think we're going to be okay. Before I really begin, though, I'd like to do two things. One, go to the Lord in prayer. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, and thank you for all our many blessings.

Thank you for protecting us. Thank you for giving us your Son to bear our sins so that we may see eternal life, and we may visit this heaven that we're going to look at today. Thank you for giving us your Holy Word.

Thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit to help guide us, protect us, and keep us, and keep us in your will. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Just to kind of get context, I'm going to do a quick look back at the last four chapters that we have ventured into.

The Millennial Kingdom and the New Heaven and New Earth

Chapter 19 described the Battle of Armageddon, which ended the Great Tribulation and ushered in the Millennial Kingdom. We're not going to go there. Chapter 20 dealt with several things, the Battle of Gog and Magog, which I always thought was interesting because when you see what happened, it was not a battle at all.

But that's how we describe it. It included the destruction of the old heaven and the old earth. In fact, in the chapter, the phrase is, and the heaven and the earth fled away. It marked the end of the Millennial Kingdom and the beginning of the judgment.

That judgment lasted however long it lasted. Then chapter 21 and 22 describe the new heaven and the new earth. The new heaven and new earth better in every way than the old heaven and the old earth or the almost perfect Millennial earth.

So we're going to start, and I'm going to start reading chapter 21 with verse one, looking at things that are different and better in this new heaven and new earth than in the old almost perfect kingdom.

The kingdom that the Jews looked forward to for thousands of years, the Millennial Kingdom ruled by Jesus himself in an almost perfect environment, but with some differences between what's going to happen next and what's happening now.

And so in verse 21, it says, and I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. That's the almost perfect Millennial heaven and Millennial earth. And there was no more sea.

And I highlighted that. That was number one thing. Remember we talked a couple of weeks ago about the project to divert Mediterranean seawater into the Dead Sea, layer the Mediterranean water on top of the Dead Sea water so that ocean fish could live there.

And it talked about the fishermen spreading their nets throughout the Dead Sea and harvesting. And then the line of trees that grew on each side that were possible by the desalination of the Mediterranean seawater.

All of that is function of the Millennial Kingdom. But here there was no more sea. There was not a Mediterranean Sea. There was not a Dead Sea. No sea. And we talked about the need for the sea. Why is the sea needed now?

Not for the fish that's in it, although that's good, but to keep the earth in balance. It is the, it cures, it's almost an antiseptic. Yes, sir. Yes. And this acid rain, this acid rain that we talked about and we had pictures of and we're worried about dissolving the statues and all of that kind of stuff.

That same acid rain goes into the ocean. That's where it goes. And then it goes over to throughout the ocean, spreads out and everywhere you find calcium carbonate or limestone, that calcium carbonate is dissolved.

And so the chalk cliffs of Dover shrink, as do the reefs. Well, when that happens, it changes the balance. And so the reverse reaction takes place. And so the carbon dioxide level is kept at a steady state.

That's what's called a buffered process. Any chemist knows about buffered solutions. And if you don't, you've taken an aspirin that's called buffering so that you, you don't get an acid upset stomach.

That's what it's doing. It's keeping the acid level constant. It's keep, so the carbon dioxide is buffered. You can't increase your, your carbon footprint doesn't really matter. Well, you know, if we, if we go here, we're going to not make it.

But it's, yes. And it's not, oh, and it's going to get out of whack at one point, isn't it? When the, when the, when the ruler of the universe says, now it's time for the new, for the heaven and the earth to flee away, it will be gone.

But that's when it'll happen. Not because of the greenhouse effect. Now that's now. We're looking forward to a better place. The millennial kingdom is better than now. In, in every way, the millennial kingdom is better than now.

It is almost perfect. But there's some, again, there's some differences between now and this new heaven and new earth, which John sees coming down out of the, I think, dimension where God lives into the dimension where we live.

And the first thing is there's no more sea and no more need for it. And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem. So we got a new Jerusalem now coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them. Now you know what the tabernacle of God is. That's the house where God lives. That's what the tabernacle is.

It's the house where God lives. Where's God living? The tabernacle is with us, with men, and God will live with us. It reminds me of the passage in Matthew talking about Emmanuel. God is with us. And they shall be his people.

And God himself shall be with them again. When was he with them the first time? While he was sure on the earth as Jesus, as the man Jesus. But in that period of time, it was God with us and will be their God.

And God shall wipe away all tears. Well, are there tears in the millennial kingdom? In the millennial kingdom, yes, but in heaven, no. There will still be things to be sad about in the millennial kingdom.

For example, there will still be death in the millennial kingdom. There will still be sorrow in the millennial kingdom. There will still be crying in the millennial kingdom, but not in this one. There will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.

For the former things are passed away. And when we went through this last time, we looked at a passage. I think it was in Isaiah. Did I say that right? Isaiah. Okay. I knew that. I knew that. I knew that.

I think I combined a couple of books. I think it was Isaiah. It said not to be remembered. And we commented not to be remembered by God, nor by man. That's why there's no sorrow in this new heaven and the new earth, because we don't remember the former things.

The former things are passed away and will no more come to mind, not to men and not to God. And so the people that are in hell, God, the worst part will not be that they're in hell suffering for eternity.

The worst part is they're in hell suffering for eternity and God doesn't even remember them. There's no hope for them. And that's a scary thing. 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. And he said unto me, it is done. I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. And I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

The same water that the woman in the well drunk or was offered, not the water that she drank, it's the water that she was offered. He that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son.

But the fearful and the unbelieving, 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.

So there'll be none of those in this new place. And there came unto me one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials full of the last seven plagues and talked with me and saying, come hither and I will show thee the bride, the lamb's wife.

And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain. And showed me that great sea, the holy Jerusalem descended out of heaven from God, having the glory of God and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone clear as crystal.

That's like a diamond. And he had a wall and it had a wall great and high and had 12 gates and at the gates 12 angels and the name written thereon, which were the name of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel.

And on the east three gates and on the north three gates and on the south three gates and on the west three gates and the wall of the city had 12 foundations and in them the name of the 12 apostles of the lamb.

And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city and the gates thereof and the wall thereof and the city lieth four square and the length is as large as the breadth and he measured the city with a reed 12 ,000 furlongs.

It's about 1500 miles. The length and the breadth and the height are equal and he measured the walls thereof 140 and four cubits according to the measure of man that is of an angel. And the building of the wall was of jasper and the city was pure gold like unto clear glass and the foundation of the wall were garnished with all matter of precious stones.

And I left out that next verse which just lists the precious stones which I can't pronounce the names of. Anyhow and went down to verse 21. That was 20, 21. And I had to stop here and the 12 gates were 12 pearls.

Every gate was one of one pearl. And the street. Let's stop there a minute. 12 pearls. Now all of these stones are very Jewish. Many of the stones were in the stones that the priest wore and the foundation was had the name of who?

The apostles and the apostles were all what? Jewish. They're all, I'm sorry, they're all Jewish. This is a very Jewish thing until we get right here. A pearl is not very Jewish. It's an irritation. It's an irritation of what?

Of an unclean organism. Oysters are unclean. And I thought, wow. I always, I got to this verse and every time I was here before I thought about a pearl big enough to be a gate to a city. And I was just enamored with that huge pearl.

I was so enamored with a huge pearl that I forgot to think about what it represented. I believe, and this is just me thinking, I believe that that great pearl is the same as the, in Matthew I believe it is, where they had the pearl of great price that the man sold all he had to buy that pearl.

It's not a very Jewish thing. That's a Gentile thing. I believe that that's telling us that this city is for Gentiles as well as Jews. That may be a stretch, but it is interesting to me, more interesting than the size of the pearl, which is really interesting, is the fact that it was unclean.

It's an unclean of all the things listed, this is the only unclean, at least from the point of view of the Leviticus. Okay. Anybody got anything to add or comment about that, or am I way off base? I feel like I can be off base and let you guys say, no, you're wrong, and I can straighten it up because this is a group that I know that I can't steer you too far astray.

Yes, sir. I feel like it pictures the inclusion of the Gentiles into this temple figure, or not temple figure, there's not a temple anymore, but in this new Jerusalem, that the Gentiles are part of this whole city.

There's a lot of reasons better than this one, more clear than this one, that talks about the inclusion of the Gentiles into God's chosen people. I wouldn't say that this is the definitive thing, but I just thought it was interesting.

Yes, and like he told Peter, don't call what I've made unclean. That was a better picture of the inclusion of the Gentiles than this one. And if you let your mind get carried away with that, and now you consider the immensity of that pearl.

I mean, it is something that once you let that get into your mind, it just keeps growing. Anyhow, okay, 21, and the 12 gates were 12 pearls, and every gate was of one pearl, not a bunch of pearls, one pearl.

And the streets of the city were pure gold as it were transparent glass, and we talked about that last time also. 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 for the sun. Now, it didn't say there was not a sun. It just said the city didn't need a sun, neither the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it. And the Lamb is the light thereof.

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 honor into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by the day, for there is no night there.

So that means they're not shut ever. And they shall bring glory and honor of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it anything which defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abominations, or maketh a lie.

But, and I introduced this word just to emphasize it's not in the text, but only they which are written in the book of life. What it reads is, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

But I just wanted to emphasize only they are there. Only those written in the book of life are there. And that's different than the Millennial Kingdom. In the Millennial Kingdom, there are many who are written in the book of life there.

But there are also many that are not written in the book of life that are there. And that ends chapter 21. And now we go on to chapter 22. And of course, there's no chapter divisions in the Bible. So, well, in the original form.

The River of Life, the Tree of Life, and the Final Invitation

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as a crystal. Now, this river is not like the river that we saw in Ezekiel. In the first case, this is a pure river. It's not Mediterranean seawater that can be desalinated.

It is pure water as clear as crystal proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And you might note that it says out of the throne, not out of the temple as in Ezekiel. That's how I got that word.

I combined Ezekiel and Isaiah because there's no temple in this place. But there is a throne. And in the midst of the street and on either side of it, a river, there was a tree of life, the tree of life, which bear 12 manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month.

And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it. And because there's no more curse, there's no more need for the sea because there's no impurities going into the water.

It's pure water that's flowing. And you wonder where it goes. I think it goes out from the throne of God into his people. And I think it's more than just a physical river. Although it's a physical river, it's also a representation of the life.

Remember he said he'd give her, the woman at the well, he'd give her water that she'd never need to drink again. This is the water of life. This is the water of life as well as physical pure water. 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, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their forehead. And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither the light of the sun. For the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.

And then he says, then he said unto me, these sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly.

Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And we spent about 30 minutes talking about what it means to keep. And one of the things it means to keep is to keep it in the state that it's in.

Don't try to make it say what you want it to say. Allow it to say what it says. And I, John, saw these things and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel, which showed me these things.

Then he saith unto me, see thou do it not. I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book. Worship God. He said, don't worship me. Worship God.

I am not to be worshipped. In fact, angels generally do what? They serve man. Man does not normally serve angels. So he's saying, you're trying to put your worship at the wrong place. You are all inspired by seeing what you see.

But I'm only an angel. I'm like you. I'm a servant. Who you worship is God. He reminded the apostle that he too was a created being. He declared, I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book.

Worship God. Far from being a legitimate object of worship for John, the angel was actually his created fellow servant. And not only his, but also of John's brethren the prophets, and of all believers defined as those who keep the sayings of this book.

John heard and kept the words of this prophecy. One of the things that he did is he faithfully recorded the words given to him. He didn't add anything. He didn't take anything away. He wrote down what the angel told him to write.

And as a result, John will receive the promised blessings. Verse 10, and he saith unto me, seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. This is in contrast to what the angel told Daniel when he received his vision.

I was just checking time to see if I'm going fast enough to get there, and I think I am. So I'm going to slow down. I'm going to actually read this, which I have, but I wasn't sure. Daniel 12, verse 1, and at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people.

He's talking to Daniel. He's talking to Israel. Daniel is the protector of Israel. He's the angel protecting Israel. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to the same time.

And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book. Even to the time of the end, many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Now, that's the commandment given to Daniel. Daniel was told, shut up the words, seal the book. There will come a time at the end when it will be time for the words to be revealed again. And I think we're getting close to that time if we're not there already.

I think that's one of the reasons that there's a great interest in Revelation. And you can just see it if you go out through the radio commentators, preachers, they're all doing Revelation now. That the specific words of Revelation are not to be sealed again stresses that there is no hidden secret meaning apart from the normal sense of the text.

In Revelation, what is written is what you understand. It's not sealed. There's nothing sealed, there's nothing hidden. If the truth is not clear in the words that are there, then this command is nonsense.

If the plain normal understanding of the words of Revelation does not convey the meaning that God intended its readers to grasp, then those words are sealed. If we can't understand it, it's sealed. When Daniel was around, they couldn't understand it all because the words were sealed.

Revelation said, don't seal it. And then it follows by saying, he that is unjust, let him be unjust still. He which is filthy, let him be filthy still. And he that is righteous, let him be righteous still.

And he that is holy, let him be holy still. And that really concerned me for a long time. But it occurs to me that this is in heaven. We're talking about time in heaven. Now who is in heaven? Only those written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Are any written in the Lamb's Book of Life not in heaven at this point? No, everyone that is written in the Lamb's Book of Life is in heaven. Is there anyone else in heaven? Is there anyone else in heaven except?

Well, I'm not counting angels and the Lord God himself. People, are there any other people in heaven other than those written in the Lamb's Book of Life? No. They're in a different place. So when he says, he that is unjust, let him be unjust still.

But they're not in heaven. Where are they? They're in hell. He that is filthy, let him be filthy still. Those are both in hell. He that is righteous, let him be righteous still. He that is holy, let him be holy still.

The time for change is over. Those who rejected God's warnings have fixed their eternal destiny in hell where they will retain their evil and filthy nature for all of eternity. And I struggle with that word fixed.

Not like they fixed themselves there, but they are fixed there. Those who responded to the warnings are those who are fixed in their eternal destiny in glory and will realize perfect righteousness and holiness in heaven.

So there's two groups of people, those in heaven and those in hell. Those that are in heaven will not ever be called on to change and fall back out of it. And those that are in hell will never have another opportunity.

The time for change is over. Verse 12. And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. So we come to this conundrum of salvation and works. It's always a problem.

Every time it comes up, it's a problem. But it's a problem for man. It's not a problem for God. God. Ephesians 2 .4 says this. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love for which he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.

By grace are you saved. He hath raised us together and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Jesus Christ, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ.

For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself. It's a gift of God. And we all go right there and draw our line and say, well, no, we go one more verse, don't we? Not of works, lest any man should boast.

And we always draw our line there. And we say, salvation is all of God. You have nothing to do with it. And in one sense, we're right when we say that. We have absolutely nothing to do with our salvation.

But the salvation process is more than just being justified. That's what we have no part of. We're viewed as just because God sees us as Jesus Christ. He sees us as just. But it's not all of it. We're also, we have other aspects of our salvation.

And one of them is, I forget the word that we use. I hate this when this happens. Justification. Raj, what's the other word? I'm sorry? Sanctification. Sanctification. That's the word I was looking for.

Sanctification. We do have something to do with that. We have something to do with that. That is doing the things that God set up for us to do. And he talks about it right here in this verse. And he always does.

I think Brother David pointed this out. And I haven't found an exception yet. When he talks about one, he always, or almost always, talks about the other. Brother David, I'm going to give you enough slack to say you and I may not have found it yet.

But when he talks of one, he talks of the other. Justification and the work of God. And sanctification, which we have something to do with. For we are his workmanship, created in Jesus Christ. And what are we created for?

Unto the good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Well, in some sense, we don't have a choice of that, do we? We don't have a choice of our good works. But, in 1 Corinthians, it gives us an idea that we can.

1 Corinthians 3 .11. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. That's how you begin. Now, if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble.

Every man's work shall be made manifest, made clear, made open. For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire. And the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. And if any man's work abide, that is to say, if it's gold, precious silver, and precious stones, and survives, which he hath built thereon, he shall receive a reward.

But if any man's work shall be burned, wood, hay, and stubble, he shall suffer loss. But he himself shall be saved, yet so is the fire. So, yes, we can earn or forfeit rewards by how closely we obey the commandments of God.

Works lead to rewards, not to salvation. When he comes, Jesus will bring his rewards with him to render every man according to what he has done. Believers' eternal rewards will be based upon their faithfulness in serving Christ in this life.

Their works will be tested, and only those with eternal value will survive. The gold, silver, and precious stone symbolized works will survive. The wood, hay, and stubble will be gone. It won't matter how large of a house you live in.

It won't matter the size of your bankroll. What might matter is what you do with your bankroll. What you do with your house. You can have assets, and the Lord has nothing bad about you having wealth or having material riches here on the earth.

But that won't matter in the long run. What will matter in the long run is how you use those things. Do you use it for your own self-aggrandization or to God's glory? And if you use it to God's glory, it will have some value to you in the next life.

But if you keep it all to yourself, then you don't. The reward believers enjoy in heaven will be capacities for serving God. And the greater their faithfulness in this life, the greater will be their opportunity to serve in heaven.

Knowing that, John exhorted believers, Watch yourselves that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you shall receive a full reward. That was 2 John 8. Verse 13. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible. He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. That was Colossians 1. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

Not that we receive salvation because we do His commandments, but we do His commandments because we have received salvation. For without are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers and adulterers, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Within and without, who are they? Heaven is exclusively for those who have been cleansed from their sin by faith in the blood of Christ, and whose names have been written from the foundation of the world in the Lamb's Book of Life.

In contrast, everyone else will remain forever outside the New Jerusalem in the Lake of Fire. Because nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Verse 16. I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. He is not only the root, the source, he is also the descendant of David.

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 of the water of life freely. And who will take of that water of life?

Everyone that is there. Because everyone that is not there is in the other place. Even so, come. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.

And if any man shall take away from the words of this book of prophecy, God shall take away his part from out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things written in this book. And that doesn't refer just to the book of Revelation.

It refers to the entire Bible. In Proverbs 30, this is not Revelation. In Proverbs 30 verse 5 it says, Every word of God is pure. He is a shield unto them that put their trust into him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

So in Proverbs it says don't add anything to the scripture. He that testifies these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Verse 21. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Amen. And that's the last verse in Revelation. And I've got enough time to read my postscript. I didn't write this. Peter did. Go to 2 Peter chapter 3 beginning with verse 11. He starts off by saying, Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved.

What things? The heavens and the earth that you know now. Even the heavens and the earth that you know in the millennial kingdom. All these things shall be dissolved. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye be in all holy conversation and godliness?

That doesn't just mean talking about it, which we think of conversation, but living it. Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.

Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, brethren, or beloved, wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless.

Wherefore, brethren, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless. There's something we need to do while we're here. We need to live our life as close to being the way God commanded us to be as we possibly can.

We need to obey the commandments of God as closely as we possibly can. We need to understand that when we misstep, the Lord will forgive us. He has promised us that. He will take upon himself the payment for the sins that we've committed.

But that doesn't mean we should commit a whole lot of them because that way he gets more glory. We should live the life the best we can, putting aside all things that are earthly, that are worldly, and taking upon us all things that pertain to this new and better life.

Let's pray. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for providing us a little glimpse as to what heaven is like. We understand that however we possibly can view all of the great and glorious things that we will see in heaven, when we get there we will realize that we're looking through a glass darkly, seeing only a touch of what is truly there.

And as great as we can imagine life in heaven to be, it will be even better. Protect us and keep us and go through the rest of the services today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, I didn't give you guys much of an opportunity to comment and we do have a little bit of time.

Anything anybody wants to add or say or correct me on? You say there's like one tree? I'm not sure exactly. We talked about that before. I'm not exactly sure what it means. There are several books. There's the Book of the Living.

There's the Book of Life. There's the Lamb's Book of Life. I don't think that anybody that's ever written in the Book of Life will ever be taken out. So if that's what it means, I totally don't understand it.

If it means we can take the life away from someone that's written because of what they've done, they could be written in the Book of Life and still be removed for God's own reasons. But that's the best I can do.