Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
The Words of the Prophecy
God tells John that whoever reads the prophecy that he is about to receive, will be blessed, and that whoever hears the prophecy will be blessed. The prophecy to which He refers is what He is about to reveal to John, what we call the Book of Revelation. This book was originally a letter written to specific churches. Copies were not made and distributed to all the members of the individual churches in those days. Instead, the original letter was read out loud to the church so all could hear what the letter said. The prophecy was to be read and heard by all of the members of the specific churches which clearly indicates that the prophecy is to be “opened”. At the end of the letter (Revelation 22:10) God instructs John not to seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Verse 3 of chapter 1 and verse 10 of chapter 22, serve as book-ends to say that the message contained in this book is directed toward the churches addressed and that what is being described is going to occur soon. In addition, the very wording, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear…” indicates that this prophecy was directed to the actual members of those seven congregations, not to generations in the distant future. In those days, as each church received the letter in turn, it would be read aloud by someone in the church (most likely an elder) to the rest of the congregation for all to hear. Copies were not made and distributed to each member of the congregation as it would be today. Today, and presumably into our future, each member of every congregation has a copy of the Holy Scriptures; therefore, the wording is somewhat out-of-place if it is directed to Christians in our future.
Approximately 600 years earlier, God gave the prophet Daniel a prophecy regarding the end of the age. He instructed Daniel to shut up the words and seal the book because what was described would not take place for many years. This instruction is in stark contrast to the instructions given to John. If the message given to Daniel referred to the same events in history to which the message given to John referred, there is continuity and logic in attributing the events referred to in each of these messages to the events that occurred in Jerusalem in 70AD. These events were in Daniel’s distant future but in John’s near future. Attributing the events described in the message given to Daniel and the message given to John, to events in our future creates a discontinuity and questionable logic. The timeframe between Daniel’s message and 70AD contrasted to the timeframe between John’s message and 70AD is stark; however, the timeframe between Daniel’s message and our future contrasted to the timeframe between John’s message and our future is not as great. For God to instruct Daniel to seal up a message given to him 2600+ years in advance and then to give John instructions to open a message given to him 2000+ years in advance, because it was to happen soon, creates, at very least, a tension that cannot be ignored.
The blessing to which God refers in verse 3 certainly pertains to blessing received by him who reads and hears the Word of God at any time, as described in Psalm 1 and Psalm 119. An even greater blessing that would pertain to the members of the specific churches to which this letter was originally addressed might be that after reading (and hearing) the letter, they would be much more equipped and ready for the terrible events of 70AD.
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