Useful Bible Studies > Revelation Commentary > chapter 22
The Book of Revelation includes a special blessing upon those people who read it.
A blessing is God’s declaration of the good things that he is doing in a person’s life. It is a statement of God’s opinion about that person. In the circumstances of their life, the person may have great difficulties, but God still considers that person truly content. Their problems are just for now; but God is doing something wonderful in their life, and that will never end.
We can compare this blessing to the similar blessings elsewhere in the Bible, for example Psalm 1:1; Psalm 119:1 and Matthew 5:3-12.
Here in Revelation 22:7, the blessing is for the person who ‘keeps’ the words of this prophecy (message from God). Here, the word ‘keeps’ is a word-picture. It means to guard something, as one guards a precious object. So, for this blessing, it is not enough just to read the book. We must read it with great care, and we must consider it precious. We must trust its message. From it, we must learn to trust God more and to serve him better.
If we do that, the message of hope in the Book of Revelation will make us stronger and better Christians. We will no longer care so much about our feelings or our situation in this world. Instead, we will remember that God is preparing a better world for us, his people. If we truly trust Christ, then we will be citizens of that perfect world.
Christ is coming soon. That simple message deals with all our struggles. It is the answer to all life’s troubles. In this world, we may have great troubles but with Christ, we shall overcome (John 16:33; Revelation 3:21; Revelation 12:11; Revelation 21:7).
Next part: John’s wonderful experience and his wrong reaction (Revelation 22:8-9)
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© 2016, Keith Simons.