Revelation 22:7; The Sayings of this Book
Revelation 22:7 (KJV) Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Jesus continues by pronouncing a beatitude as He did in the parenthesis in Revelation 16:15 – blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Revelation 16:15 (KJV) Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
In substance this beatitude is very close to the one in Revelation 1:3, except here the singular replaces the plural of that earlier one.
Revelation 1:3 (KJV) Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
The parallel to Revelation 16:15 and the presence of the Lord beside the prophet as represented in chapter 1 make it preferable to have Christ as the speaker here, however.
John can now add the words of this book to what he wrote in the beatitude of Revelation 1:3, because he now has before him the all-but completed scroll that he has written in obedience to the commands to write in Revelation 1:11, 19 (Alford, Lee). John has represented himself as writing his impressions as his visions have transpired (cf. Revelation 10:4) (Swete).
Revelation 1:11 (KJV) Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
Revelation 1:19 (KJV) Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
Revelation 10:4 (KJV) And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
This confirms that methodology of compiling the work. Verses 10, 18, 19 of this chapter (cf. Revelation 1:3) also define the nature of the work as “prophecy”. The total expression – the sayings of the prophecy of this book occurs again in v 10, 18 with the expression of v19 reversing the positions of “of the prophecy” and “the book”. This beatitude reflects as well as anything the distinctly practical purpose of Revelation.
Revelation 22:10 (KJV) And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
Revelation 22:18 (KJV) For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Revelation 22:19 (KJV) And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Revelation 1:3 (KJV) Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody 1995, 498]