Revelation 22:6,7

6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

The angel leaves no doubt that these things will happen. He says they will take place soon. In fact, the future events started happening when John sent his letter to the churches in Asia. This entire book is Jesus being unveiled in His creation over time. After Jesus removes His Church, we see Jesus cleansing the earth with judgment. Then He fulfills the promise of a Messiah to the nation of Israel. Finally, in this last chapter we see Jesus in His creation in eternity.

Jesus says He comes quickly and some have misunderstood this to mean that He will come back in the generation it was spoken.  The word in Greek actually means that He is coming suddenly. The angel was sent to show His servants (the Church) the things that must shortly be done. This prophecy actually started with the seven churches of John's time. It continues to be mostly about the Church age on earth until the Church is completed at the marriage in Heaven. Then the focus is in Israel.

Jesus also tells us here that those who keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book are blessed. Yet, there are many in the Church that have taught, and still continue to teach that this book cannot be understood by laymen. Some have even taught that this is a sealed book. There are many more who will not teach this book.

Notice also that the angel tells John that the book is a prophecy. Prophecies from God are truths that will happen.  All prophecies in the Bible that have already been fulfilled were fulfilled in a literal common sense way.  There is absolutely no reason to think otherwise here, just because some things written in this book are hard to understand or difficult for some to accept.

All scripture should be taken in a common literal reading unless the passage itself makes it clear that it is to be taken otherwise. This is also true with all intelligent communication in the world. If people allegorized and spiritualized what was to be taken as literal without good reason from the communicator, they would never get the message and they would be categorized as people that are out of touch with reality.

Some say that a literal common sense reading does not allow for symbolism and metaphors. That is never true; symbolism and metaphors are common sense tools of any language. However,  when an author uses these tools, it is clear that he also gives the reader the means to get the real message.

Revelation does use such literary tools but when used they are clearly defined from the author of all scripture. The meaning will be found in scripture and the meaning will be clear. Literary tools used in Revelation should not be defined through suppositions that theologians made using denominational theology as the key to understanding the text. Furthermore, a common sense literal reading uses literary devices but it never assumes the intent of the communication is not to be literally understood.

Those who say Revelation is all allegory do away with the clear prophecy and the author's intent.  These make John's words to be exercises in interpretation by theology and ideology that today allows most in Christianity to claim that the details in Revelation describe the spiritual battle between good and evil. John never ever implies such an idea! Any plain reading of the text would never produce such an idea!

All this supposition was passed down through theologians who never understood the unfulfilled prophetic scriptures. Because of their supercession theology with the belief that the church replaced Israel, their minds were so far removed from what the passages actually said, they had to make the passages mystical.

Many have taken the words of the prophecy of this book and have violated the intent of why God gave it. They should hear the words of Peter.

2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

Those who allegorize this prophetic book and other bible prophecies according to their theology, not only do not get the common message but they have prevented many others from ever getting it.