Revelation is one of the most unique, interesting, and most misunderstood books of the Bible. It makes judgements, it declares the worst of times, it declares the new heavens. It comes with the ominous warnings in Revelation 22:18-20 “I warn everyone who hears the words of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes away from the scroll of prophecy, God will take away any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.” Earlier in Revelation 22:10, it is mentioned not to seal up the scrolls because the time is near. It sounds similar to the warning in Daniel 12, to seal up the scroll until the time of the end, which could imply Christ opened them and revealed it to John.
Given the nature discussed in the prior sections, the ultimate duality in the biblical narrative is good and evil, which essentially becomes a choice of loving God and everyone else or just yourself and your assets. This becomes a critical lens in a Christian interpretation, as the narrative would have to fit the procession in Revelation. It also helps weed out interpretations that seem biased or based on someone’s own antichrist (which is typically indicative of the sins that person struggles with).
The apocalyptic nature of the book has more interpretations than I have hairs on my head. People who anchor in the empires of Daniel 2 with a Christian frame of reference seem to focus on Rome, the Sunday laws, and/or a restored European empire. People who anchor in Old Testament prophecy tend to focus on Islam. People who bend into conspiracy think of the Illuminati or alien invasion, or something more implausible. Everything really jumps on assertions made on the patterns, which the next post will address. Depending on your eisegesis, because the patterns all require personal conjecture, depends on who the 144,000 are, whether there is a rapture, and many other items.
I’ll assert here that all interpretations identify the sins that the interpreter has, the conspiracy side lending most to lies and false perception. The End of Times has been known for a long time, the Book of Enoch, many pagan religions (Mayan, Shiva, etc.) wrote of it and it is a theme we run into a lot in movies (End of Days, 2012, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Endgame & Infinity War). I tend to think the end will be a mixture of many of the concepts globally since Jesus said if the time wasn’t cut short, no flesh would be saved.
In conclusion, the interpretation of Revelation often says more about the interpreter rather than what the book is actually stating. I’ll explain the various interpretations, where they likely stem, and where I think the procession is headed. I’ll explain the tie in to Old Testament Prophecy (including unfulfilled prophecy) and where the antichrist spirit (which is anything that denies Christ, posits works based salvation, that we all have Christ consciousness, or believes in the pursuit of self at all costs) seems headed. Looking at things holistically is necessary if all flesh is to be at risk and Christ did not come to bring peace but a sword (Matthew 10:34). Somewhere in interpreting Scripture, people seem to miss out on the larger clues that the Bible was indicating.
