This article is an in-depth look at Images of spiritual reality in Revelation.
Revelation 1:15:
… his voice was like the voice of many waters.
The voice like water is the Church preaching by the grace of the Holy Spirit received at baptism, according to what Jesus says:
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink who believes in me! As the Scripture says: Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” When he said this, he was speaking of the Holy Spirit that would be received by those who believed in him. Indeed, there could be no Spirit, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39 ©AELF)
The many waters indicate that the Word of God is preached by many peoples. Water is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, which pours forth like the inexhaustible river of God’s love. Alluding to his pierced side on the cross, Jesus recalls the words of the prophets, who proclaimed the gift of the Spirit as an inexhaustible spring of living water. The gospel specifies that Jesus had not yet been glorified, i.e. crucified, so his spirit, his love, had not yet been poured out on the peoples. Indeed, as his arrest approached, Jesus declared: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you: unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:23-24). To be glorified means that the Father will manifest all his glory in the love that his Son will show to the world on the cross. “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, shed for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28), says Jesus. By forgiving his enemies and the multitude, Jesus shows the infinite extent of God’s love for his creatures, and reveals God’s glory. It is also the destiny of every creature, of every child of God, to reveal the glory of the Father. Thus Jesus, referring to a blind man he had just healed and who was about to bear witness to him and risk his life, says: “It was so that the works of God might be made manifest in him” (John 9:3). In the same way, at the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer, he invites his disciples to say: “Hallowed be thy name”, that is to say, that each one by his life glorifies the Father by revealing to the world the Father’s Spirit of love, who dwells in his children, in his image and likeness. The image of this inexhaustible love is that of living water, of rivers that gush forth without end. This comparison of the Spirit of love with water is present throughout the Bible.
Here’s how Tyconius presents some of the biblical texts that speak of the gift of the divine Spirit, the Spirit of love, who brings forth eternal life in his children:
Tyconius, Commentaire de l’Apocalypse, Introduction, traduction et notes par Roger Gryson, Brépols, 2011, p.123-124, n.53, 56 and 207, n.32.
“They will never hunger or thirst again” (Rev 7:16), as the Lord says: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (John 6:35), and again: “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst again, but it will be in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14). […]
“And he will lead them to springs of living water” (Rev 7:17), i.e. to the pasture of the spiritual sacraments, as the Church herself says: “The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want; he has set me down to feed; he has raised me up beside restful water” (Psalm 22:1-2), and likewise through the mouth of Isaiah: “They shall be led forth to feed in every way, and in every path shall be their pasture; they shall not hunger nor thirst; neither heat nor sun shall overpower them, but he who has mercy on them shall comfort them, and lead them among gushing springs, and make every mountain a level road, and every way a pasture for them” (Isaiah 49, 9-11). […]
“To him who thirsts, I will give of the fountain of living water, freely” (Rev 21:6), i.e., to him who desires it, the remission of sins through the baptismal fountain.
Biblical texts on water (Liturgical Bible translation ©AELF)
Isaiah 44:3
For I will pour waters on the thirsty ground, and streams on the parched earth; I will pour out my spirit on your race, and my blessing on your offspring.
Isaiah 55:1
All you who are thirsty, come to the waters, even you who have no money! Come, buy and eat, come, buy wine and milk, without money, without paying anything!
Ezekiel 36, 23-28
I will sanctify my great name, profaned among the nations, my name which you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord – declares the Lord God – when through you I show my holiness in their eyes.
I will take you from among the nations, gather you from all lands, and lead you to your own land.
I will pour clean water on you, and you will be cleansed; from all your filthiness, from all your idols, I will cleanse you.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
I will put my spirit within you, and make you walk in my statutes, and keep my precepts, and be faithful to them.
You will dwell in the land I gave to your fathers: you will be my people, and I will be your God.
Ezekiel 47, 1-12
He led me back to the door of the house. And behold, water came out from under the threshold of the house on the east, for the face of the house was on the east; the water went down under the right side of the house, on the south of the altar. He led me by the way of the northern gate, and he led me around outside to the outside of the eastern gate. And behold, water flowed from the right side. And when the man went eastward, he had a line in his hand, and he measured a thousand cubits; and he led me through the water, and I had water up to my ankles.
Zechariah 14, 18
On that day, living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea, half to the western sea; it will be summer and winter.
Revelation 22:1
And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.