Week 52 Revelation
Right at the very end of Revelation John slides in a final Bible-Reader’s Advisory: if anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. And if anyone removes any of the words of this prophetic book, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city.
The tone is pretty serious & threatening but I can get past its psychic weight without much trouble. I figure John’s giving me a stripped-down statement of potential outcomes. He’s trying to help me out.
I have two Not-To-Dos:
…don’t add anything to Revelation.
…don’t subtract anything from Revelation.
And John already gave me one To-Do: blessed are those who obey the prophecy written in the scroll.
So now I have three things. Don’t add to Revelation. Don’t subtract from it. Obey it.
In two days I’ll start reading Genesis. My Big Goal is reading-through in 2022. But after reading John’s advisory I’m penciling-in a couple of sub-goals:
A) Read-through
B1) Don’t add outside ideas
B2) Don’t take anything away
B3) Obey what I read.
When I sit here looking at the list I see that I’ve just made reading-through more complicated (in the case of B1 & B2 a bit more demanding; with B3 it’s quite a bit more). And even though I know John was specifically talking about Revelation I figure I’ll generalize it to all…stay on the safe-side.
Note: quotes from Revelation 22:18-19 & 22:7 (NLT).