THE BOOK OF REVELATION IS UNIQUE
While the general history of how bibles are published is true, there is more to be said about the book of Revelation in particular because its prophetic content about End Times, Rapture and Tribulation that lends itself to controversy and misinterpretation.
Revelation is not the only book in which this content appears but, because it contains more verses about the end times, and has vivid imagery, it is a hot topic for debate and worth a special effort to arrive at a reasonably accurate interpretation.
The main problem with interpretation of Revelation is the wrong understanding that prophecy always points to events in the unknown, distant future. When we understand the true nature of prophecy, however, we always see prophecy in terms of what God want us to apply to our personal lives today. Therefore, if we only interpret Revelation in terms of future events that probably will not affect us personally, we are not interpreting scripture correctly. We miss out on the opportunity to be corrected and trained in righteousness. And, we ignore the “nothing new under the sun” principle.
John the Evangelist understood these principles. Like Jesus’ other disciples, John was a religious Jew before he followed Jesus. John’s personal transition from Old/First Covenant religious Jew to New Covenant disciples is not discussed in scripture, but we know that Jesus warned him and other disciples about the trouble (i.e. tribulation) that they would experience when they choose to follow him. If we can trust historical reports of how the apostles died, Jesus’ warnings were accurate.
John could see the dreams and visions that led to Revelation from this personal perspective. Because Old/First Covenant religionists lack that perspective, understanding of Revelation does not come easy to them. They will need to study hard to gain understanding, and even if they do study hard, understanding will not come unless they listen to God’s spoken voice.
The end times prophecies reported in Revelation give readers background on the tribulations that Old/First Covenant religious people will experience when they make their personal transitions from defiled religion to pure religion. It is basically the same story repeated with new images that conveys what happens when people choose to make that transition.
The book of Revelation does not include imagery that attracts people to want to be a part of it. The idea of experiencing tribulation is not a pleasant thought but it is entertaining picture that invites religious people to discuss it. Maybe that is why religious people prefer to think that it describes future events that probably won’t apply to them. They like the idea of being raptured, but they can’t imagine how the rest of the process would apply to them.
The only people who can understand Revelation are New Covenant disciples. They have experienced pre-rapture tribulation, post-rapture tribulation and the rapture. They understand the imagery of beasts because they have been victims of their savagery. They understand why God calls people out of Babylon because they have escaped from religious injustice and oppression. For them, the events of Revelation do not represent the future, they represent the past and present.