Verse 7: “Behold I am coming quickly. Blessed are those who keep the words of this book of prophecy.”

Verse 8: “For I, John, I am the one who saw and heard. It came about when I heard and saw that I fell down at the feet of the angel, who had shown me these things, to worship him.”

First John says he saw and heard and then he changes the word order to heard and saw. This is a Hebrew idiom. It means that he saw these things (this revelation) very clearly and he heard it very clearly – so as to leave no doubt in his mind whatsoever. Obviously, it is not right to worship the angel but because the angel had been the source of revealing the Kingdom of God to John he instinctively wanted to worship it (see also 19v10).

Verse 9: “But the angel said to me: ‘See that you do not do this, for I am your fellow servant of your brethren the prophets. The one who keeps the words of this book worship God. ‘“

There is a connection between worship and prophecy. God created mankind to worship Him. Prophecy is a great tool to assist us in worshipping God.

Verse 10: “He said to me: ‘Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is near.’”

This is the exact opposite of what Daniel was told. Daniel was told to seal up the words because they weren’t for his time (Daniel 12v9). Revelation is the key to rightly interpret and understand the book of Daniel. When we read any of the prophets, we come away knowing that God is Judge.

Prophecy is intended to conform us to the will, the purposes, and the plans of God. Prophecy helps us to be ready and also to enable us to lead others to be ready for the establishment of the Kingdom of God.

Verse 11: “Let the unjust continue to be unjust, and the impure continue to be impure. And the righteous let him continue to be righteous, and the holy one let him continue to be holy.”

These are John’s final concluding remarks to the people reading this book. He is challenging us as to what we are going to do with the words of this prophecy. We have a choice on how we are going to live – unjustly or righteously. Are our lives going to be impacted by Revelation or not?

Verse 12: “Behold, I am coming quickly. And my reward is with me to pay/render to every man according to his deeds.”

Messiah Yeshua is coming back to judge. Judgement can be understood in two ways – condemnation or vindication. He will judge us based upon our works (not as a criteria for salvation, salvation is a free gift, but as an outcome of salvation). Will our works be acceptable to Him or rejected by Him? Will our lives be praiseworthy? Will we have something to lay at His feet?