Revelation Chapter 1,
Verse 3 (NASB) 
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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.
Blessed is he who READS and those who HEAR the words of the prophesy, and HEED the things which are written in it;
John clearly understood the way this, his prophesy ( = future events and present spiritual exhortations and warnings), was to be presented in the church. That is, one reads (and receives this special blessing) and the rest listen and understand what is being read. Jesus, talking about himself, said in Matthew 13:16-17 , that the hearers were privileged to listen to Him even as many prophets of old and future generations of righteous would not. The reading of the Revelation, thus, makes Jesus Christ come alive to the hearer just as though He Himself were speaking the words.
Comparing the first three verses of this chapter with the conclusion in Revelation 22:6-21 , one gets the feeling that this Revelation should be read to the congregation in its entirety in one sitting. Perhaps this is the only way that the full blessing promised in this verse can be realized.
This verse contains the first of seven "Beatitudes" in Revelation:| 1) |
Revelation 1:3 |
- |
for the present day |
| 2) |
Revelation
14:13 |
- |
related to the Great
Tribulation
period. |
| 3) |
Revelation
16:15 |
- |
related to the Great
Tribulation
period. |
| 4) |
Revelation
19:9 |
- |
deals with the invitation
to the
marriage supper of the Lamb. |
| 5) |
Revelation
20:6 |
- |
points to the Millennium. |
| 6) |
Revelation
22:7 |
- |
Celestial City |
| 7) |
Revelation
22:14 |
- |
Celestial City |
for the TIME IS NEAR.
Christ's return and the fulfillment of the Judgment as told in Revelation 11:15-18 always has been imminent. We always are to be looking for His return - John 21:20-23 and Acts 1:9-11 .
If the TIME is near, why don't we see it arriving now. Because Christ is patient with the world and its inhabitants, 2 Peter 3:8-9 , and the believers are still being transformed into their glorified forms - 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 .
Compared to eternity or forever, any time period is NEAR, whether it is one second or 2000 years. Thus all the apostles except for Peter (John 21:20-23 and 2 Peter 1:12-15) had the hope of seeing the "TIME" even as we do today. Now that we are almost 2000 years closer, we definitely must get on with the "reading" (our effort in putting this into computerized form), the "hearing" (your effort to study this exposition), and the "heeding" (your actions which show that you paid attention to) the Revelation of Jesus Christ.References to the Revelation of Jesus Christ are in bold italics. All other references are in bold only.