Revelation 22:3

And there shall be no more curse
There shall be no more curse is πα῀ν κατανάθεμα οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι [pan katanathema ouk estai eti] : and every accursed thing not it will be still. “And every curse will no longer be.”¹ During the Millennial Kingdom , aspects of the curse remained. Sin and death continued and the serpent still ate dust (Isa. Isa. 65:20, Isa. 65:25). Now, every last curse is removed, including the curses from God at the Fall of mankind into sin (Gen. Gen. 3:15-19): death is no more (Rev. Rev. 21:4+). Many of the curses in the OT were in response to sin and served a corrective purpose (e.g., Deu. Deu. 27:15-26; Deu. 28:15-68). In the eternal state, there is no more sin and therefore no more need for correction by God. See Genesis and Revelation as Bookends.

This is the time when the “creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Rom. Rom. 8:19). At the cross, Christ had redeemed the faithful from the curse of the law, but now this becomes the real physical experience of all creation (Gal. Gal. 3:13).

None will ever age, nothing will ever be lost, all work will be productive and enduring. The entropy law, the so-called second law of thermodynamics, will be repealed. Information will nevermore become confused, ordered systems will not deteriorate into disorder, and no longer will energy have to be expended merely to overcome friction and dissipation into nonrecoverable heat. Entropy will from now on be conserved along with energy and mass and momentum. Though “time” will continue on forever, “time’s arrow” will no longer be directed downward.²

It is difficult for us to even consider what such an existence would be like. Our only experience and means of existence is the current order of things, which includes the curse, entropy, friction, and so on. When we begin to consider what removal of the curse in all its fulness might entail, we run into the near impossibility for our finite minds—so limited by our own experience—to even conceive of the ramifications of this pregnant phrase: there shall be no more curse!

Eternity is before us, and infinity surrounds us. We shall have an eternity of time to explore and discover the secrets of an infinitely varied and limitless cosmos.³

but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it
There is no more distinction between the throne of the Father and that of the Son (Rev. Rev. 3:21+). The Davidic throne of the Son merges with the throne of the Father in the eternal state. See commentary on Revelation 22:1 and Revelation 3:21.

As we pass from chapter 20 into chapter 21 of the Apocalypse, therefore, we stand at the junction point between two worlds and between two kingdoms. It is the end of the “first” or “natural” order of things, and the beginning of the final order of things. Here also the Mediatorial Kingdom of our Lord ends, not by abolition, but by its mergence into the Universal Kingdom of God. Thus it is perpetuated forever, no longer as a separate entity, but in indissoluble union with the original Kingdom of God from which it sprang. . . . This does not mean the end of our Lord’s regal activity, but rather that from here onward in the unity of the Godhead He reigns with the Father as the eternal Son. There are no longer two thrones: one His Messianic throne and the other the Father’s throne, as our Lord indicated in Revelation Rev. 3:21+. In the final Kingdom there is but one throne, and it is “the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. Rev. 22:3+).⁴

During the Millennial Kingdom, God had been in the midst of the earthly Jerusalem in the person of the Son Who ruled from the Davidic throne. During that time, Jerusalem was called “THE LORD IS THERE” (Eze. Eze. 48:35). Now, both Father and Son are permanently in the midst of the New Jerusalem. This is the fulfillment of the proclamation of the previous chapter, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them” (Rev. Rev. 21:3+). See commentary on Revelation 21:3.

Concerning Jesus as the Lamb, see commentary on Revelation 5:6.

His servants shall serve Him.
Shall serve is λατρεῦσουσιν [latreusousin] : “Carrying out religious duties in a spirit of worship.”⁵ The service will not be a burden, for it will be a form of worship. The service of God is a great reward! Prior to the Fall, in the Garden of Eden, Adam was given the task of tending and keeping the garden (Gen. Gen. 2:15). Thus, work is not a result of the curse, but part of God’s perfect design.⁶

It shows us most clearly that the heaven of the glorified saints is not one of idleness. They have something more to do than to sing, and worship, and enjoy. Indeed the perfection of worship is service, activity for God, the doing of the will of God. And this is to be one of the highest characteristics of the heaven of the saints. They are to do work, heavenly work, the highest kind of work.⁷

This service will not be toilsome because they shall behold the Lord and be in His presence:

One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple. (Ps. Ps. 27:4)

Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, of Your holy temple. (Ps. Ps. 65:4)

Those whom John saw coming out of the Great Tribulation were honored by serving before the throne of God day and night (Rev. Rev. 7:15+). Jesus promised that if any servant truly followed Him, then “where I am, there My servant will be also” (John John 12:26). This is the role of a bond-servant who willingly forgoes the freedom to leave and chooses to remain in the master’s household to serve forever (Ex. Ex. 21:3-6). The ultimate goal of the saints is to attain God’s presence and serve Him (Rev. Rev. 21:3+).

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Notes

¹ Jay P. Green, The Literal Translation of the Holy Bible (Lafayette, IN: Sovereign Grace Publishers, Inc., 2001), Rev. 22:3.

² Henry Morris, The Revelation Record (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1983), Rev. 22:3.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Alva J. McClain, The Greatness Of The Kingdom (Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 1959), 513.

⁵ Timothy Friberg, Barbara Friberg, and Neva F. Miller, Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 244.

⁶ With the curse came less productive working conditions (Gen. Gen. 3:18-19).

⁷ J. A. Seiss, The Apocalypse: Lectures on the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1966), 510.