‘for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” ‘Revelation 7:17

the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne
God the Son, Jesus Himself is in the midst of the throne of God.

will shepherd them
They will be led by the True Shepherd who was stricken on their behalf. A worthless shepherd is one who feeds himself on the sheep.

living fountains of waters
This is the living water which the same Shepherd, Jesus who promised the Samaritan woman in John 4:13 ‘Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”’

This water is available freely to all who thirst. Jesus said in Revelation 21:6 “It is done!I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”

It is the river of life which will ultimately be found flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, as in Revelation 22:1 “..a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

wipe away every tear
God will swallow up death forever and promised to wipe away every tear.

“He will swallow up death forever,

And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces;..” Isaiah 25:8a

and in their joy, their sorrow and sighing will flee away.

“…With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness,
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Isaiah 35:10b

Ultimately, in eternity in heaven, there will be no more pain and the former things have disappeared.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4

“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:9

Christ is the Door.

Jesus here lets us know what he meant by “the door” – the way by which every man must enter into life that findeth life, by which every soul that shall be saved MUST enter – into heaven.  He is a door open for our passage and communication with God. The clear direction of how to come into the fold – we must come in ‘through the door of salvation’ – the Door by faith in Jesus Christ, the great Mediator between God and man.

by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved—

We must enter through the right door, that is, through faith in Christ, the exercises of faith in going unto Christ – such will be saved – from sin, the dominion of it, the guilt and condemning power of it – and from the law, its curse and condemnation, and from wrath to come, and forever shall be in a safe state, of being in Christ, and in His hands, out of which none can pluck them.

and shall go in and out and find pasture—

‘in’, as to a place of safety, rest and tranquility;

‘out’, as to “green pastures and still waters” (Psalm 23:2) for nourishment and enlivening – and all this be transported to another realm and savoured in another manner, at the close of this earthly life’s scene.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

Many who hear the word of Christ, do not understand it, because they WILL not.

^” .. let it be known to you all…by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, .. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  Acts 4:10,12

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:6-9

“… And understand that I am He.

Before Me there was no God formed,

Nor shall there be after Me.

I, even I, am the Lord,

And besides Me there is no savior.” Isaiah 43:10-11

“… I am the First and the Last.  I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” Jesus said in Revelation 1:17-18

“Thus says the Lord, …
‘I am the First and I am the Last;
Besides Me there is no God.” Isaiah 44:6

Only God uses this term “I am the First and the Last”.  Jesus is the First and the Last. He is beyond death, for He holds the keys of death and Hades. He is ‘FROM everlasting,’ ‘TO everlasting;’ the same ‘today, and forever’, as He was ‘yesterday’. (“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” Hebrews 13:8). He is the Eternal One.

Jesus is beyond time – for He created time and is outside the dimension of time. Time comes into existence when the heavenly bodies were created –  by the way earthlings have a free trip around the sun in 31,536,000 seconds in every year (or 31,622,400 seconds in a leap year of 366 days). 

The Messiah is the great “I Am” – the giver of all life. His association with death is only transient and that for the purpose of overcoming death, and bringing life out of death. The risen Christ said “I am ALIVE for evermore, though I died once, yet I die no more, death has no more dominion over me, I LIVE forever!’  He showed Himself all that a sinner needs to give him boldness in his dealings with Him;  the Ever-Living One. He is with whom we have to deal, in these immense transactions of life and death.

The KEYS of Hades and Death – Jesus has power over soul and body – over those regions into which we pass when separated here on earth; and those who believe in Him shall come forth to resurrection-glory, to put on incorruption and strength and glory.!!! And He will yet bring forth His own in triumph.

“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36

Notes:

He who believes in the Son –  he whose object of faith and trust is in Christ Jesus, relies and commits himself to Him, expecting life and salvation from Him.

has everlasting life – has eternal life, living forever and ever without end.

he who does not believe the Son shall not see life – he who does not believe Jesus to be the Son of God (God incarnate or made flesh ), or the Messiah; or rejects him as the Saviour; will live and die in a state of impenitence and unbelief, neither enjoy true life or happiness here nor in the world to come. He shall never enter heaven.

but the wrath of God abides on him – the wrath, therefore, is not first initiated or developed by the refusal to believe, but is already there, and through that refusal; remains. On the refuser of Christ, the wrath of God instead of being removed from him by faith, abides through his unbelief and it will continue to remain on him for all eternity.

Further note:

As there is no way of escaping the wrath of God but by the Lord Jesus Christ, so those who will not believe must go to eternity “as they are” and bear alone the full consequence of the penalty of sin – joining the devil and his angels in hell**. Such is the wretched and terrifying condition of the sinner! Yet many choose to remain in this state, and to encounter all that is horrifying in the wrath of Almighty God, rather than come to Jesus, who has borne their sins in His own body on the cross, and who is willing to bless them with the peace and joy of immortal… never ending ….life.

** “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:” Jesus said in Matthew 25:41

“ ¹⁷For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

¹⁸ “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

²⁰ For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

²¹ But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” John 3:17 -21

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1