Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Rightly understood, the Book of Revelation is Good News, not Bad. Don't let popular "interpreters" scare you with falsehood. Yes, we must be alert and aware of what is coming on the earth, but we must not allow "Babylon's" false doctrine to crowd out the joy the Holy Spirit has built into this last Book of the Bible. Reading it just as it is, all the way through, is hope-inspiring.
Its very first words tell you it is intended to make you happy, not sad: "Happy [Young's Literal Translation] is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things that are written in it " (1:3).
There are no less than seven such "blessings," happiness-giving pronouncements here. The "woes" and the "plagues" are the work of Satan, not God. Don't forget the Lord's promises in Psalm 91 to the one who "dwells in the secret place of the Most High": "No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling" (vss. 1, 10).
Revelation is what the name suggests--unveiling Christ in all of history from the time of the apostles on down to the end of time. There is a "revelation" in chapter 12--of what's going on behind the scenes--the great controversy between Satan and the Lamb, but the end is clear, the Lamb wins the war.
"Happy is he who watches [stays awake], and keeps he garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame" (16:15). Priceless advantage in time of trouble!
"Happy are those who are called [have been invited] to the marriage supper of the Lamb" (19:9).
"Happy and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power" (20:6).
"Happy is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book" (22:7; "keep" in the original means to cherish, to guard from loss).
"Happy are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city" (22:14).
All seven blessings are realized here and now, present tense--even that "right" to enter in through the gates. Believe, and you henceforth hold your head high.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 30, 2003.
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