From Revelation 6 to 22, the answer is yes.
The believers of John's day are not left out as you are insinuating.
They are totally left out.
I'm not insinuating anything.
It's just a fact.
I'm convinced John tells us how to read his book 4 times in the first chapter - and it's about and to his generation of Christians - and from there for all Christians moving forward through history.
1. "to show his servants what must soon take place" (Verse 1)
This is different to the normal 'Jesus is coming back soon' and 'Today is the day of salvation' call. This is specific. Soon TAKE PLACE. Particular things are about to happen, and John wants to write about them.
2. "blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it" (Verse 3)
That is, he wants them to meditate on it and obey it. How do you obey something written about and to people thousands of years later? Forget that - how do you even understand it? Imagine getting this message?
"On Mars most red in the year 4000 AD, the Zorg will Zazzle the Marines in Valles Marineris - and the smoke will rise to the heavens." Now obey this! See, if the command is not to you or about you - you cannot obey it. Period. There's nothing to take to heart, nothing to understand about you and your suffering. So how on earth do you obey this? You can barely even comprehend it - and even if you could - it's not to your and your situation or even about you. John's generation couldn't obey it. Not only that,
what good has it been for the church for the last 2000 years - it's not about or to them - so how do they benefit? If anything makes me reject futurist readings of Revelation it is that it would render the majority of Revelation as utterly useless to Christians across the last 2000 years - and do nothing except confuse us and make us argue. That's simply NOT in the mission statement of Scripture as we read it in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
3. "because the time is near." (Verse 3)
How many times does John have to say it in the one chapter for futurists to understand? I know it's exciting if Revelation is about us and our times. But surely there's a bit of narcissism in wanting it to be all about us? Surely there's a bit of a Messiah-complex we have as well, where WE want to be the ones that decode it FOR REAL THIS TIME (unlike the 10,000 other failed predictions and timelines out there). I think many of us want to be like Sarah Connor from the Terminator movies - full of certainty and dreadful purpose for the next few years. Fun movies - but give me a break! We are meant to be driven by Jesus' mission for the world - not endless arguing over our own navel gazing about what Revelation 'means to us'.
4. "I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus." ( ESV - Verse 9)
John is already in the tribulation. It's already started - and John wants them to understand what to do ('endure with patient endurance' - a catchphrase through out the book - HINT HINT!) and what it means that God's chosen children should suffer like this. He wants them to obey it for real - because he's right there with them.
The futurist objects: "But the world has NEVER seen the stuff described in Revelation!" But it has. They're just not reading the symbols correctly. Hebrew number symbolism starts right back in the Old Testament and includes such devices as a disaster hitting one third of something (the world, the trees, the people). It means that it took a great number, but in God's grace more were left untouched than were destroyed. That's all. Like *most* Jewish number symbolism, it's not literal or numeric. It's theological - it means something else. Apocalyptic literature was common 200BC to 200AD - and has many other recognisable Jewish number and animal and other symbols. It is clearly a letter of encouragement John wrote to God's people about to suffer under Roman persecution. But not only that, there are temptations to despair when nature is also in chaos, natural disasters happen, persecution from tyrants break out and yet the wealth and security of the State call you to trust in Rome / Babylon / America / Australia / North Korea.
The futurist objects: "But how can we obey it if it's not about us?" Yet they don't object like this about any gospel or epistle. Corinthians was written to a specific church in a specific place with particular issues. We learn how to do the hermeneutics, and learn what it meant to the first century Christians in Corinth and what the underlying principles are that apply today. We are meant to do the same for Revelation. In fact, persecuted Christians that have read it this way have been greatly encouraged for 2000 years. Indeed, I've heard how Christians suffering Muslim persecution LAUGH AT at the idea John would turn around to his generation and say "You think you've got it bad - wait till you see what happens in 2000 years!" That's just absurd - and again goes against 2 Timothy 3:16-17's principle of giving the church back then everything they need.
The futurist objects: "But doesn't it become boring if it isn't about us?"
Revelation has been an encouragement for suffering Christians for the last 2000 years and when understood correctly, the imagery is a powerful warning against offending our God. It's terrifying! It also shouldn't surprise us that we're in a time of Covid 19 and natural disasters and climate change.
The futurist objects: "But I WANT to know what's going to happen!"
Too bad. God doesn't tell us. That's what all those parables were about after Matthew 24 - the thief in the night, the Days of Noah, the master returning to the bad servant, the maidens tending to their lamps, the parable of the talents - all tell us to be busy with God's work, trusting in Jesus, not slackening off and losing our faith precisely because we DO NOT know and ARE NOT given any warning as to when Jesus will return.
Revelation is not a timetable of events. It's not a linear story. It's not a forward march. It's a waltz - going around and around various themes. One chapter will cover the suffering brought on by war, then finish with images reminding us to stay true to Jesus because he's coming back! This is Judgement Day in Chapter 6. And just to highlight how we cannot read it as a linear timeline, Judgement Day happens again in Chapters 19 and 20! Revelation shows the one magnificent event from 3 different camera angles, focussing on different theological emphasis. It's not a timeline - and never was meant to be. Indeed, how does one even obey a timetable? What is there in it to 'take to heart'? No wonder futurist's get themselves in a knot and can't agree on almost a single thing!
Reading it properly will free modern Christians from the endless fretting over which credit card or computer chip might be the 'mark of the beast'. It will stop them being distracted by endless speculation over geopolitical matters and how they fit into a 'Revelation timetable'. Instead they'll find that as their timetables for the 'Last Days' get smaller, the gospel itself gets bigger and bolder. They'll live for Christ's mission more, and their own navel-gazing less. They'll be less prone to every wind of the latest tinfoil hat conspiracy theory. They'll be more realistic about life, wiser in their planning, and encouraging to all.
To understand further, I recommend these 2 videos - 4 million views and rising.
To go deeper try Dr Paul Barnett - Phd in Ancient History, theologian and retired Sydney Anglican Bishop.
"Apocalypse Now and Then".
https://www.amazon.com/Apocalypse-now-then-reading-Revelation/dp/0949108421
