What does ‘whosoever will’ mean in Revelation 22v17

Question

Does ‘whosoever will’ simply mean ‘whosoever’ or does it mean ‘whosoever has a will to come' or of course something else, because I’m asking without knowing the answer myself.

Rev 22:17 - And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And the one hearing, let him say, "Come!" And the one thirsting let him come; the one desiring, let him take freely the water of life.

Answer 1

Someone who is unwilling to come to this free supply of living water to quench their thirst obviously will not be included in the "whosoever".

Someone who is thrilled at the invitation to "come" will respond by coming and receiving this free, living water.

The Greek words used in Revelation can help deal with whether the individual coming is exercising their will in order to drink, or whether an 'outside' will is influencing them. Can the word 'will' be correctly understood as 'shall' - or, what?

In Revelation 17:17 the word 'gnome' is used, a word that means 'mind, judgment, decision'. The context is how the destruction of the vile woman sitting on the beast is suddenly destroyed:

"For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, [literally, to do the mind of God] and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled." Revelation 17:17 K.J.V.

That word 'gnome' is not used in Revelation 22:17. It is 'thelo', which means 'to wish, to will, to mean'. (Young's Exhaustive Concordance used for both text instances.)

In the first text, God influences a desire in the heart of his enemies - to give their kingdom to the beast. Once that desire is roused in their hearts, then they make up their minds to do what their hearts now desire. Thereby, God's will [purpose] is carried out without them knowing their decision actually gets the mind of God carried out by their decision. Until it's too late, of course.

In the text in question, the desire of each individual to get their thirst quenched is already there. It is their heart-felt desire. And so their mind requires no influencing, or changing. Their mind is already in accord with the will of the Spirit and the Bride to accept their invitation. Thus, they willingly come.

Another way of putting this answer is to say that those whose hearts are in accord with the Spirit and the Bride do not need to have an outward influence on making their minds up to come. They will come, because their will is in harmony with the will of the Spirit and the Bride: they come freely, willingly!

Answer 2

The crucial matter is the thirst. If one is happy with the world, content in the religion of the world, undisturbed by the presence of sin 'within one's members', without a conscience of past transgressions and oblivious of the immense subject of the righteousness of God and its implications, then one will not be 'athirst'.

And one will not come.

The question is, How is this thirst generated ? By the individual ? Or by Divine Providence and by Divine ministration and by Divine influence ?

The willingness is because of thirst.

Thirst is not hunger. Hunger can stay with me for days, weeks, unsatisfied and I am not greatly the worse.

Thirst I must satisfy immediately, within a day, or at most two.

It is urgent. Absolutely crucial.

That is the kind of prompting that causes the willingness.

Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled [Matthew 5:6 KJV/TR]

Answer 3

Note the progression in the four parts/sentences of Rev 22:17 -

1. And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" - The INVITATION
2. And the one hearing, let him say, "Come!" - ie, accept the invitation
3. And the one thirsting let him come; - allow the Spirit implant the desire to come
4. the one desiring, let him take freely the water of life. That is, be saved eternally

The pivotal verb in Rev 22:17 is διψάω (dipsaó) = "I thirst", or, "I desire earnestly". This verb occurs 16 times in the NT and when it is NOT used literally, ie, when it is used metaphorically, it always means to thirst for eternal life or righteousness.

• Matt 5:6 - Blessed are those hungering and thirsting for righteousness, for they will be filled.
• John 4:14 - But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
• John 6:35 - Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; the one coming to Me never shall hunger, and the one believing in Me never shall thirst at any time.
• John 7:37 - Now in the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
• Rev 7:16 - they will not hunger any more, neither will they thirst anymore, nor shall the sun at all fall upon them, nor any scorching heat;
• Rev 21:6 - And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one thirsting I will give of the spring of the water of life freely.
• Rev 22:17 - The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.

Now, we should recall what Paul says in Rom 3:10-18 -

... “There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. ...

Or, to use the metaphor at hand, no one who is "thirsty" for righteousness. Salvation is the initiative of God and desires to know God come from God via the Spirit of God, John 16:8, 14:17, 15:26, Phil 2:13, John 6:44, Rom 2:4, 5:5-8 Eph 2:5, 1 John 4:19.

That is, "whoever will/desires" means two things:

• salvation is a free gift of God's grace
• the desire for salvation and the associated righteousness is implanted by God according as God the Father "draws him". John 6:44.

The ones to be lost resist this implanted desire to be with God. Acts 7:51, 1 Thess 5:19, Eph 4:30.