And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads (Rev 22:3-4).
In the OT, to see the face of the king refers to having access to the king [see BDAG, p. 178 meaning #1 for blepō]. A prime example is Absalom. After Absalom returned from exile, his father, King David, would not meet with him: “And the king said, ‘Let him return to his own house, but do not let him see my face.’ So Absalom returned to his own house, but did not see the king’s face” (2 Sam 14:24). See also Esth 1:14 and 2 Kgs 25:19.
On the new earth Christ’s servants shall serve Him and shall see His face. This might refer to all believers, since all will serve Christ in the kingdom. However, it also could refer specifically to overcomers, to those who will rule with Him (Rev 2:26; 21:7; 22:14). Possibly, Rev 22:4 means that the overcomers will have special access to the Lord Jesus. While all will see His face from a distance, maybe only the overcomers will see Him up close.
