In my prior video titled, “God the Mother,” I provided a response to the position of the
World Mission Society Church of God regarding this unique doctrine. Part of the World Mission
Society’s defense is based upon Revelation 22:17. Since producing that original video,
I have had the opportunity to discuss this doctrine with members of the World Mission
Society in person. In this video, I will be delving more specifically into the claims
the World Mission Society makes about this verse regarding, “God the Mother.”
As previous, the World Mission Society has a reputation for attempting to copyright claim
anyone who offers criticism of their teachings based on their
own materials – even though this falls under fair use laws. To save myself the headache
and to preserve the life of this video & the rest in this short series,
I won’t be using any screenshots or video clips from the World Mission Society’s website or
social media outlets. I will provide links to the respective pages in the description below.
On their webpage titled, “God the Mother,”
the World Mission Society’s website states regarding Revelation 22:17:
“In the last days, the Spirit, who is God the Father,
and the Bride are to appear together and call Their children to receive
the water of life—eternal life. According to Revelation, the Bride is Jerusalem our Mother.”
I have argued previously that the bride in this verse is not, “God the Mother,” rather it is the
Church. In my own personal dialogues with members of the World Mission Society Church of God,
though, they have asserted strongly that this cannot be the case in Revelation 22:17.
The World Mission Society asserts that, “the bride,” of Revelation 22:17 should be understood
as having the power to grant eternal life, based upon John’s equivocation of the bride’s
call with the call of the Holy Spirit to say, “Come.” They then draw attention to the
coming of the believer with the reception of the, “water of life.” They argue the bride’s call to,
“Come,” is her offering of the, “water of life,” (i.e. eternal life) to a believer. Thus, the bride
must have power in herself to grant eternal life, which is the divine power to save. This in turn
must mean that the bride is not the Church, but that she is the figure known as, “God the Mother.”
Before jumping to this conclusion though, we have to take note of another passage
written by the apostle John wherein he makes reference to the water of life.
In John 7:37-38, Jesus, speaking to a crowd of Pharisees, states:
“…If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me,
as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-38)
John presents Jesus’ closing words here as an Old Testament quotation. However,
this is not a quotation directly, rather it is a broad allusion to the theme of living water
as described across the Old Testament canon. The first place we encounter this is in Exodus 17:6:
“Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb;
and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink…”
This is the famous miracle of the water from the rock that provided nourishment for the Hebrews
while they were wandering in the desert. The rock in-and-of-itself did not contain any water;
it was the Lord Who filled the rock with water for the people to receive when Moses struck it.
This understanding is affirmed in Psalm 114:7-8, which speaks of God as He,
“Who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of water.”
The prophets pick up this theme of watering as a
demonstration of God’s saving power and sustenance. Isaiah records in 44:3-5:
“I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants...This one
will say, ‘I am the LORD’S’...and another will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to the LORD,’...”
Isaiah continues in 55:1-3:
“Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost...Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
according to the faithful mercies shown to David.”
As well, he records in 58:11:
“…the LORD will continually guide you,
and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones;
and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”
The context of this last verse is the righteous and selfless living of God’s people,
as described in verses 6-10. Isaiah is saying here that God will sustain His people
in living a lifestyle that is consistent with His character,
even though the world will dry them up like a desert. The chief end of this is that people
would, “come,” to know the Lord as the loving, compassionate and merciful redeemer of mankind.
Joel echoes this sentiment in 3:17-18:
“…you will know that I am the LORD your God...in that day...all the brooks of Judah will flow with
water; and a spring will go out from the house of the LORD to water the valley of Shittim.”
Ezekiel describes running water flowing from the foundation of his temple vision in chapter
47 (v.1-12). This passage specifically has a few noteworthy parallels elsewhere in scripture.
First, the river described here is analogous to the river that flowed out of the Garden of Eden
(the dwelling place of God on earth), which divided into the 4 other rivers that fed the
nations of the Biblical world: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates (Gen. 2:10-14). Second,
verse 12 is referenced by John in Revelation 22:1-2. Where Ezekiel describes the river as
flowing from the foundation of his temple vision, John describes this same river as flowing from
the throne of God and the Lamb. This scene is set in the heavenly Jerusalem in which there
is no temple, “for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple,” (Rev. 21:22).
The point of all of these passages of scripture is that God is the source of true life;
wherever God is, there is life to be found in Him and that proceeds out into the world around Him.
In Genesis, this was in the Garden. In Exodus, this was in the wandering. In the prophets,
this is in the eschaton – the last days.
Lastly, verse 10 describes the presence of fishermen along the banks of the river who catch
fish, “according to their kinds, like the fish of the great sea.” Consider here the words of Jesus:
“…Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17; Luke 5:10)
Ezekiel is not talking about a literal river with literal fish. He is using the river as
a euphemism for the life giving sustenance of God – the Gospel – to people of all nations.
This eschatological vision is being fulfilled in Christ’s call to all of His followers to be,
“fishers of men” – to evangelize the world with the good news about Him.
God is the source of the river of life and we, like fishermen,
retrieve a catch when we tell others about the life God has for any who would, “come,” to Him.
With this in mind, we can now return to John 7. What does Jesus mean when He says,
“He who believes in Me…From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water?”
These, “rivers of living water,” are equivocal to the eschatological rivers, streams and fountains
described in the Old Testament prophets as the type for the preaching of the gospel. Jesus is
saying here that those who believe in Him will have the ability to preach the message of eternal
life – to share the good news. He is talking here about evangelism. But, not an evangelism
that is rooted only in mere words. Rather, like Isaiah describes in chapter 58, a visible
demonstration of God’s power & love through the living of a righteous and selfless life.
Those who believe in Christ are able to do this because they, “…are God’s temple (i.e.
His dwelling place), and that God's Spirit dwells in (them),” (1 Cor. 3:16). God’s original dwelling
was in the Garden, from which flowed the great rivers of the world. His next dwelling was in
the cloud & fire, and later, the tabernacle with the Israelites in the desert, sustaining them
through drought and famine. The tabernacle became the temple, within which He dwelled by His Spirit
among the nation and sustained them against their enemies. In the incarnation, He tabernacled bodily
in the person of Christ (Jn. 2:18-21), who gave His life as a ransom for many. Finally,
He dwells among us in Christ’s new body, His Church, both individually and corporately.
We, Christ’s Church (His bride) today are God’s dwelling place and it is His power of
salvation and sustenance that lives within us by His Spirit. We, as fishers of men,
say, “Come…take of the water of life without cost.”
None of us are divine. Like the rock at Horeb, none of us have, “water,” in-and-of-ourselves.
We have the water because God has tabernacled in us and empowered us with His life-giving message.
The bride of Revelation 22:17 is not, “God the Mother.” She is the Church;
the spotless bride who invites everyone to her wedding feast. The call of this verse
is the evangelistic call of all believers to unbelievers. John is talking about the created
means by which God saves someone, not the divine power He exercises in bringing a person to faith.
For a further response to the World Mission Society’s doctrine of, “God the Mother,”
please refer to my previous video on the subject.
If you are a member of the World Mission Society Church of God,
please read the Bible for yourself and examine its clear, consistent teaching of Who God really is.