Revelation is an instruction to His servants. That means any believer can benefit from the message of Revelation. God wants to give a blessing to His servants and the word He uses for “blessed” is makarios which means happy. We all want to have a happy life. God tells His servants three things they need to do to be blessed, or happy: 1) Read this letter, 2) Hear (or understand) this letter, and 3) Keep (or do) the things written in this letter.
Perhaps the biggest key to understanding that Revelation is a simple book with a simple message is the next word: keep. Would it make sense for God to give us a prophetic word for us to keep, or do, then not give us anything to do? If God gave us a prophetic word so that we could read, understand, and keep or do, then it must be readable, understandable, and doable.
Revelation has many predictions about the future, but we cannot do in the future. We can only do in the present. The main purpose of Revelation is not to give us a future-events puzzle to untangle. Rather, the primary purpose is to reveal to us what to do now, in the present.
The great blessing of happiness promised to God’s servants in Revelation is a great reward from Jesus that He has reserved for faithful servants. In other words, for followers who do what God asks us to do. Blessing or happiness comes from obedience.
The bottom line of Revelation is very simple: being a faithful servant, living in obedience, brings great happiness – real happiness, the kind that lasts forever and no one can take away. No matter the circumstances, God calls His servants to walk in faithful obedience so that they can receive a great blessing.
“The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”
– Revelation 1:1-3