I’ve started teaching through the book of Revelation in my men’s group, so I will be sharing some of that in the blog.
It’s a difficult book of the Bible, one that I have put off studying, to be honest. The imagery and the language of the book can seem mysterious and alarming. And, frankly, overwhelming.
But I have been comforted somewhat by what Tremper Longman III1 (what a name, right?) said in his commentary:
“The difficulty, though, is not because of the complexity of the book of Revelation, but rather because we modern readers are unfamiliar with imagery that would have been known to its first readers. These images, for the most part, were not created out of thin air, but have a background not only in first-century-AD Greco-Roman culture but also in the Old Testament, which itself has its background in ancient Near Eastern literature.”
I am also comforted by the fact that the book of Revelation comes with its own baked-in blessing, in Revelation 1:3 (NASB):
“Blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it; for the time is near.”
Who is blessed?
- The one who reads it
- The one who hears it
- The one who keeps it
Back in the day, when this letter went from town to town—originally to the seven churches listed in verse 11—there were not 100 paperback copies to pass out. There was one scroll, and one person read while the rest listened.
There is a blessing for the one who reads this book and for the one who hears it.
Notice what it does not say. There is no blessing listed for the one who understands it. That’s comforting too!
We know that even John, who wrote the book down, didn’t understand everything he was saying. See Revelation 7:13-14:
“Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, ‘These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?’ I said to him, ‘My lord, you know.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’”
So even the apostle John, the “one Jesus loves,” didn’t quite understand all he was seeing and conveying in this book. Why should I expect to understand it completely? Very comforting.
But—back to Revelation 1:3—the blessing is also for the one who keeps it.
I don’t have to understand every little symbol, but I do have to keep—to obey and apply—what I do understand.
And this is reinforced at the end of the book, in Revelation 22:7:
“[Jesus says:] And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
So this blessing bookends the book: I will be blessed if I keep what I find in Revelation.
And this reminds me of James 1:22-25:
“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an active doer, this person will be blessed in what he does.”
I want that blessing! And the only way to get it is to read, hear, and keep God’s Word. As Nike says, just do it!
1 Revelation Through Old Testament Eyes: A Background and Application Commentary by Tremper Longman III (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Academic, 2022)