REVELATION 1:3Included in this book of Revelation is a built-in blessing.
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand (Revelation 1:3).
The blessing is upon those that hear and those that read this book. It was addressed to the seven churches in Asia. It was actually intended to be read in the churches and, no doubt, a copy was made for each church.
In those days they did not have bookstores or racks in the supermarkets. Writing material was very scarce. The early writing material was papyrus from Egypt.
Then Egypt put a premium on it and began a papyrus embargo in order to raise prices and put the squeeze on the world. So, in Pergamos, they invented parchment as a writing material.
But it, too, was very scarce.
At the time of Christ there were great libraries but very few people had any books of their own. They did, however, have the materials to write personal letters. Each of the churches received a copy of the letter and it was to be read aloud in the church.
Much of the church service in those days was given to the reading of the various epistles and this book of Revelation. The blessings are to those that hear, to those that read the words of this prophecy, and to those that keep the things that are written in it.
Notice that John himself calls it a prophecy. Thus, when we read it we must look to the future.
It's speaking of things that shall happen.
Interpretations
There are various interpretations of the book of Revelation.
There's the preterist interpretation of the book of Revelation, which seeks to make all the events correspond to the church's struggle against imperial Rome. It sees the whole book transpiring during the period of Roman history when the church went through great persecution by various emperors.
It interprets the book as completed and fulfilled.
There is the historic interpretation which sees the book of Revelation as the history of the church's struggle against the world systems. This goes beyond the Roman period and follows through to the present time.
There is also the spiritual interpretation which confuses things so completely that nobody understands what is what. This interpretation spiritualizes everything so nothing means what it says. Everything is interpreted as a spiritual allegory.
When you spiritualize the Scriptures you remove any authority or teaching from them, because every man is free to interpret the spiritual allegory as he desires.
Then there is the futurist interpretation of the book of Revelation.
I personally feel that the futurist view is the correct view. With the futurist view you can read the book and believe that it meant what it said, and it said what it meant. You don't have to start twisting things to make them fit here and there, and changing them to fit some scheme.
The futurist view takes the Revelation just as it says, to be understood just as it is.
