SEVEN BLESSINGS IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION
(with an Apologetics Takeaway)
The living, loving God delights in blessing His people by placing His favor upon them. In the book of Revelation—the last book of the Bible—God pronounces seven mega blessings for those who are true believers in Jesus Christ. God also reveals His big-picture plan for the end of this world, after which He will create a new heaven and a new earth!
God gave this prophetic messsage to Jesus Christ, who then presented it via an angel to his servant John—when he was exiled on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea in AD 95 or 96.
Three amazing aspects of this prophetic book are: (1) It centers around various visions and symbols of the resurrected Christ, no longer the one who walked the earth in human form. (2) Jesus is revealed in His full identity with infinite love, power, and justice. As the Conquering King, He will judge the earth, remake it, and rule it in righteousness. (3) And it describes what we can expect in the future, such as the splendor of God’s eternal kingdom awaiting all believers. It will be glorious!1
THE SEVEN BLESSINGS:
If you are a believer in Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of the world, consider closely the seven upcoming blessings listed below. Share them with friends, family, and others so they can be prepared for what’s coming. Believers will be stirred to live for Christ like never before. Unbelievers will be inspired to believe and receive Christ so they won’t be separated from God for all eternity.
BLESSING #1 – Rev. 1:3
“Blessed is he [or she] 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” (Rev. 1:3). There is a blessing for all those who “read and hear the words” of God in the book of Revelation. They will also be blessed when they “keep those things” by taking them to heart.2 Of course anytime we meditate on God’s Word (or follow it, read it, or hear it) we can be blessed. When John the apostle tells his readers “the time is near,” he is urging them to be prepared for the Revelation events to unfold.
BLESSING #2 – Rev. 14:13
“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. … They may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” Those who “die in the Lord” by becoming believers in the midst of the Tribulation period3 will be delivered from that world of suffering. They will “rest from their labors” and their works will “follow them” for a reward. So their work for Jesus and His kingdom will go with them into heaven with significance. And they will go to the most blessed place imaginable—in the Lord’s presence.4 (This also applies to people who “die in the Lord” as believers today.)
BLESSING #3 – Rev. 16:15
“Behold, I am coming [unexpectedly] as a thief. Blessed is he [or she] who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his [or her] shame.” Believers who watch for Jesus by staying awake and alert will be blessed. If they keep their garments by wearing their “robes of readiness,”5 they will not “walk naked” and be shamefully exposed. The believers who are awake and watching for Jesus’s return are those who remain devoted to Him, by serving Him faithfully and by praying and reading God’s Word regularly.
BLESSING #4 – Rev. 19:9
“Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb! … These are the true sayings of God.” (A rendition of this banquet is pictured here from an album by Darren Winfield.) This grand “marriage supper of the Lamb”will be hosted by Jesus (the Bridegroom) and attended by all believers throughout history (the Bride of Christ). Dressed in white fine linen, they will celebrate the Lord and His kingdom. This event will occur after the Rapture,6 either in heaven or on earth at the start of the Millennium.7 “Those who are called” are those who will respond “Yes!” to Jesus’s invitation to everyone—to receive Him as their personal Lord and Savior—instead of tossing their invitations away.
BLESSING #5 – Rev. 20:6
“Blessed and holy is he [or she] who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” Two distinct resurrections are coming.8 The first resurrection is for believers. They will be welcomed into eternal life filled with immense joy and peace, and they will experience fellowship with God. The second resurrection is for unbelievers, which results in a second death.9 “The second death” will have no power over believers, since they will pass from death into life. During the Millennium, believers will be “priests of God” and will “reign with [Christ].”
BLESSING #6 – Rev. 22:7
“Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he [or she] who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” Jesus is coming “quickly [suddenly].” Here Jesus repeats the blessing of Rev. 1:3 upon the person “who keeps” (actually follows) the words in this prophetic book. The book of Revelation is “not to merely satisfy the curiosity of the natural man but to live and act upon.”10 Some people think, Instead of following Jesus, I’d rather do my own thing in life and have fun. But the opposite is true. By not following Jesus, they will miss true fulfillment in this life as well as endless blessings to come. The more that people disobey God, the more misery they bring into their lives.11
BLESSING #7 – Rev. 22:14
“Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” This blessing identifies some of the wondrous benefits believers will receive by their obedience to God’s words (which the Holy Spirit can enable them to do). Since believers are accounted as righteous by their faith in Christ, they will “have the right to [partake of] the tree of life” located in the eternal holy city called the New Jersalem. This tree will bear twelve types of fruit, and its leaves will be for the healing of the nations.12 Believers may enter “the gates into the city” of the New Jerusalem. That means blessings forevermore!
CONCLUSION
God wants all people to experience His favor upon our lives, to be filled with a joy that transcends our circumstances. God’s biggest blessing to us is that He sent His beloved Son, Jesus, to earth to redeem us. Out of deep love, He sacrificed Himself by willingly dying on a Roman cross 2,000 years ago to pay the penalty for all our sins—so someday we could live in heaven with holy God instead of perishing.13 Our Creator doesn’t want people to reject Jesus and thereby miss out on heaven. He wants everyone to believe in His Son and be blessed for all eternity.
AN APOLOGETIC TAKEAWAY
The fascinating “Tree of Life” (referred to in the seventh blessing of this blog) provides an example of the Bible’s miraculous unity and harmony—which is a powerful apologetic for the truth of the Bible. For all Scripture fits together as one divine masterpiece. This is truly amazing because the Bible contains: 66 individual books, written over 1,500 years, on 3 different continents, in 3 different languages, on hundreds of subjects, and by 40 authors from different walks of life.
The Tree of Life fits into the Bible’s mega theme: “God’s plan of redemption for humanity through Jesus Christ.” In the first book of the Bible (Genesis), this tree was planted in the center of the garden of Eden. It was “good for food” (Genesis 3:6) and offered Adam and Eve the promise of everlasting life and fellowship with God. However, God’s first two created humans forfeited their right to the Tree of Life. For they disobeyed God by eating fruit from the only tree in the garden from which God had forbidden them to eat (verse 3).
Their rebellious act led to the fall of humanity and creation (see Genesis 3) bringing into the world sin, sickness, and death. So God sent Adam and Eve out from the garden, and He placed mighty angels with a flaming sword (which turned in all directions) to guard them from eating from the Tree of Life. This merciful act of God prevented sinful humanity from living forever in a fallen state.
In the book of Revelation, the Tree of Life reappears in the eternal holy city. Here we see a full circle of unity and harmony in the Bible. Access to this flourishing tree will be reinstated, bearing twelve kinds of fruit. All people who become sons and daughters of the King—trusting in Jesus (Yeshua) as their Savior—will no longer be in a fallen state. They will not only be resurrected to see and partake of this fruitful Tree of Life but will enjoy eternal satisfaction and perfect communion with our God. Hallelujah!
_______________________________
All Scripture is taken from the New King James Version® 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
FOOTNOTES: 1Brian Brodersen, “The Seven Blessings in the Book of Revelation,” KWVE Radio 107.9, Santa Ana, CA, March 11, 2026. 2Got Questions Ministries, “What Are the Seven Blessings of Revelation?,” https://www.gotquestions.org/seven-blessings.html. 3The Tribulation is a 7-year period of increasing human suffering on earth when righteous God will judge a Christ-rejecting, sinful world (Rev. 6–18). 4See Brodersen, footnote 1. 5The Life Application Bible: The Living Bible (Tyndale House Pub., 1988) 1994. 6The Rapture is a split-second event when Jesus translates His entire Church into heaven (see 1 Thess. 4:16–18). Got Questions Ministries, “What Is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb?,” https://www.gotquestions.org/marriage-supper-Lamb.html. 7The Millen-nium is the 1,000-year kingdom on earth when Jesus will rule in righteousness. 8See Got Questions, footnote 2. 9The second resurrection is for the unbelievers (Dan. 12:2; Luke 14:14; Acts 24:15), resulting in the second death (Rev. 13–15). 10J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible, vol. 5 (Thomas Nelson, 1983), 1077. 11See Brodersen, footnote 1. 12See Rev. 2:7; 22:1–2; Eze. 47:12. 12John 3:16; 14:6; 1 Cor. 15:1–4.
