Revelation 22:18

Jesus continued to speak. The high degree of authority of this statement, which continues in the next verse, supports this conclusion. This warning contrasts with the invitation that the Lord just extended (cf. Deuteronomy 4:2; Deuteronomy 7:15; Deuteronomy 12:32; Deuteronomy 28:27; Deuteronomy 28:60; Proverbs 30:5-6; Jeremiah 26:2). "This book" refers to the Book of Revelation. The prophecy of it summarizes the contents of the book. Those who hear it are everyone in the seven churches and all subsequent hearers (cf. Revelation 1:3). This includes copyists, translators, and teachers of it.

"He is not concerned about possible mechanical errors in transmission or mistakes of judgment in interpreting his message, but in deliberate distortions and perversions of it." [Note: Ladd, p. 295. Cf. Swete, p. 313.]

Adding material to or deleting sections from the prophecies contained in this book will result in punishment from God. Specifically, God will visit the offender with the plagues written in this book. This seems to imply that anyone who does this will either lose his or her salvation or not be a believer in the first place. Another possibility is that Jesus was using hyperbole to stress the heinousness of this sin. The best solution seems to be that the plagues written in this book are severe judgments from God. What Jesus meant was that anyone who perverts the teaching of this book will experience judgment from God that is similar to the judgments that will come on the earth-dwellers during the Tribulation. Jesus warned of plagues, not loss of salvation. How important it is to understand and communicate God’s truth accurately, especially the truths God revealed in this book (cf. Galatians 1:6-7)! Thomas believed this verse announced the termination of the gift of prophecy and the cessation of revelation in the church. [Note: Robert Thomas, "The Spiritual Gift of Prophecy in Revelation 22:18," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 32:2 (June 1989):201-16.] However this seems to be going beyond what Jesus really said.