The book of revelation
Part 1 of the Two Witnesses Series
Whenever someone takes on the task of studying the book of Revelation there is a critical point that needs to be made. There is a special blessing reserved for those who read and hear the prophecies and heed the things written in it. The book declares this at the very beginning.
Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bondservants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Then at the very end of the book this same exhortation is repeated.
Rev 22:7 “And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.”
At the beginning of the book, it says blessed are those who read, hear, and heed the prophecies. At the end of the book, since we have already read and heard the prophecies, it repeats the most important part, those who heed the prophecies. We begin with reading and hearing. We end with heeding the word of the prophecies, a final exhortation to be a doer of the Word and not just a hearer of the Word.
Another important point to make concerning the last days and Bible prophecy comes from the very end of the book of Daniel. The book of Daniel is the foundation of all the prophecies in the book of Revelation. After Daniel has been shown all these visions, he doesn’t understand so he asks the Lord what the outcome of all these events will be.
Dan 12:8 As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?” 9 He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time.
The prophecies are sealed up until the end times! I have been reading end time prophecy books since the late sixties. Some were good and some not so good. We must realize that the prophecy teachers in the past were working with sealed up prophecies. They did the best they could with what they had, and we all learned a lot from them. For the most part it was a good foundation. However, they were incomplete or worse, misleading. I have learned to be flexible with my understanding of the last days.
Continuing with Daniel chapter 12 we are encouraged to be those who have insight into the prophecies.
Dan 12:10 Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.
The last day prophecies are given to us at the end of the age so that we will have insight and understanding for what is going on. We will be purged, purified and refined by the events of the last days. Because we have the prophecies that are now being revealed to us, we will have insight and understanding.
As I studied the prophecies that follow, they were revealed like never before. Some of these prophecies I had read thousands of times in the past with limited understanding. But now the Holy Spirit was beginning to give me insight. I was beginning to understand. Just like the verse above said.
I encourage you to read and study the prophecies as we enter the last days. For such a time as this!