Revelation 1:3

Blessed is he that ___________, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and __________ __________ __________which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

It is not necessary to suppose that the meaning is that all that there is in the book was soon to happen. It may mean that the series of events which were to follow on in their proper order was soon to commence, though it might be that the sequel would be remote. The first in the series of events was soon to begin, and the others would follow on in their train, though a portion of them, in the regular order, might be in a remote futurity. If we suppose that there was such an order; that a series of transactions was about to commence involving a long train of momentous developments, and that the beginning of this was to occur soon, the language used by John would be that which would be naturally employed to express it. Thus, in case of a revolution in a government, when a reigning prince should be driven from his kingdom, to be succeeded by a new dynasty which would long occupy the throne, and involving as the consequence of the revolution important events extending far into the future, we would naturally say that these things were shortly to occur, or that the time was near.(Barnes' Notes on the New Testament)

(1) Blessed is he who reads and (2) those who hear the words of the (3) prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is (4) near.

1. Blessed…reads = This is the first of seven beatitudes in the Revelation (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14). John first indicates that the person who reads the book aloud is blessed. The seven churches would have used this format when they first received the letter from John. There would be one copy, which the synagogue leader would read. Scripture commands the public reading of the word of God (1 Tim 4:13).

Revelation 20:6

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in__________ __________ __________: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be _________of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

1 Timothy 4:13

Till I come, give _________ __________ __________, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Give attendance to reading. The word here used may refer either to public or to private reading. The more obvious interpretation here is to refer it to private reading, or to a careful perusal of those books which would qualify him for his public work. The then written portions of the sacred volume --the Old Testament--are doubtless specially intended here, but there is no reason to doubt that there were included also such other books as would be useful, to which Timothy might have access.

2. Those…hear…heed = Not only is the public reader blessed, but so is the hearer and doer. The original Greek indicates that one must be both a hearer and a doer in order to be blessed.

Because Jesus Christ comes as Judge of all the earth, those who hear and heed the message will be blessed. But those who do not hear and heed will suffer. The only exception is the one third part of Israel that suffers, but survives Daniel’s 70th Week and is then saved and goes into the millennial kingdom on earth (Dan. 9:24; Romans 11:25-26).

Daniel 9:24

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make __________ __________ __________, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and the city of thy sanctuary:That sin may be restrained, and transgressions have an end;That iniquity may be expiated, and an everlasting righteousness brought in;That visions and prophecies may be sealed up, and the Holy of holies anointed (Adam Clark Commentary)

3. Prophecy = While the Revelation is apocalyptic in nature, it is primarily prophetic. This is John’s designation for the Revelation by Jesus Christ—prophecy. The reader at this point must make a hermeneutical decision concerning the interpretation of God’s revelation of His Son. The apocalyptic nature of the book must not over shadow the fact that this is a prophecy. The highly figurative nature of the book does not mean that the literal referent cannot be known. Neither are we free to guess the literal referent. Daniel 7 provides the hermeneutical example for how the book is to be interpreted. We will look at this matter later.

4. Near = eggus (Greek adverb) It can describe time or space. The fact that eggus is used with kairos (time), a technical eschatological term that refers to that time when the kingdom will come, means John is using eggus in a spatial sense. John does not indicate that he has personal knowledge of the exact date of the arrival of the kingdom. Therefore, he could not state whether the kingdom was soon to come or not. Rather, the kingdom is the next event on the agenda of God for the faithful believer. How much time will elapse before the kingdom comes is not known? John uses the uncertainty to motivate his audience to hear and heed the prophecy.

Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost indicated that the coming of the Holy Spirit is a mark of the "last days." We are presently living in the "last days." Thus, the literal physical reign (kingdom) of God is the next event on the agenda of God. It is near.

1. According to Barnes it is completely necessary to suppose that the meaning is that all there is in the book was soon to happen. (True or False)

2. Those that read and hear will be blessed regardless of whether they take heed or not. (True or False)

3. Those who do not hear and take heed will suffer. (True or False)

4. Although the Book of Revelations is apocalytic in nature, it is primarily prophetic. (True or False)

5. The apocalytic nature of the book must not over shadow that this book is a prophecy. (True or False)

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