[Darris McNeely] Viewers of Beyond Today and our Daily's recognize that there's a great deal in the Book of Revelation, and also that there are what is called by commentators, seven beatitudes, seven statements that are made throughout the Book of Revelation that indicate the blessing of those who read, hear, and understand, and do certain things according to the teachings out of the Book of Revelation.

I've been thinking about those again, as I teach the Book of Revelation at Ambassador Bible College a lot every time I go through that in my work, but I'd like to revisit the first one. And think about that in regards to something that, kind of, popped out this year to me as I was teaching the Book of Revelation. You know, it's summertime where I am. And in the summer, we like to get out and play golf. We like to work outdoors. I like to swim in the outdoor pool at my local YMCA. But, you know, when we're outdoors in the summer, and a lightning storm comes up, and we begin to hear thunder and dark clouds begin to roll across the sky, we begin to take shelter because we know that the power of thunder, the power of lightning can create problems. You're on the golf course, you wanna get off the golf course when lightning starts to strike or out of your backyard. When I'm in the swimming pool to YMCA, either indoor or outdoor throughout the year, and there's thunder and lightning, they pull us out of the pool because water can attract that lightning, it can travel in, and we got problems if that takes place. And so, we respect that.

In the Book of Revelation, there are thunderings, there are lightnings, there are loud voices. In fact, there are a lot of them. As John sees the throne of God, as he hears voices from heaven, that utter various of the plagues and the prophecies in the events of the Book of Revelation. In Chapter 1 beginning in verse 3 is this first of the seven beatitudes. Let's look at it from that perspective here. It says, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near." Blessed is he who reads and hears the words of this prophecy here.

There's a blessing for hearing, as hearing certainly means that we should be taking note. We should hear what is said throughout the Word of God and take action upon it. But think about it in regard to what the rest of the Book of Revelation shows us with loud voices, thunderings, lightnings, the power of God manifested by these natural phenomena, and the reaction that you and I receive in our lives when we see it out in nature and we take action to protect ourselves, to protect our family. We don't wanna get struck by lightning. We don't wanna even get wet necessarily. We take action. Translate that to what God says regarding the Book of Revelation, in particular, certainly the Bible as a whole as well, that when we hear and we hear that sound, we have the same type of response that that sound gives. And that sound is loud very often. It's powerful. It represents God, His word, His law, and its impact upon life, and our minds and our hearts.

Our response must be as equal to the power as we can possibly be, that we're seeing manifest in the heavens. Blessed is he who reads and hears the words of this prophecy, John says. There is a blessing for that. And our response, as much as we can humanly summon, with the help of God should be as loud, should be as distinct, should be as powerful and clear as the natural phenomena of lightning and thundering and a loud voice that draws our attention to God. Our attention should be there and focused upon that. And there will be a blessing as a result, something to think about.

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