{"id":11913,"date":"2023-06-16T16:15:26","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T21:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/?page_id=11913"},"modified":"2025-08-18T06:28:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T11:28:39","slug":"revelation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\/end-times-rapture-and-tribulation\/revelation","title":{"rendered":"Insights into the Book of Revelation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>ORIGINS OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nFive principles of bible study must be applied when interpreting bible prophecies:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\/2\">It is all about today.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/2-timothy\/passage\/?q=2+timothy+3:16-17\">All scripture has personal application.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-2\/3\">First the natural, then the spiritual principle<\/a><\/li>\n<li>The bible is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\">mystery<\/a> that can be understood by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/2#newcovenant\">New Covenant<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/#disciple\">disciples<\/a> but not by people who practice <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/2#oldcovenant\">Old\/First Covenant<\/a> religion.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=ecclesiastes+3:15;ecclesiastes+1:9-11\">There is nothing new under the sun<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u200e<br \/>\nAll of these principles are evident in the Book of Revelation. John of Patmos, also called John the Evangelist, the presumed author of Revelation, was a New Covenant disciple. He was, therefore, aware of these principles and applied them in his writing of Revelation.<\/p>\n<p>What we read in the Book of Revelation is not what John heard God say in words as we understand words. God speaks in dreams and visions to the heart &#8211;not in human language. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/how-to-hear-gods-spoken-voice#whatgodsvoiceisnotlike\">God&#8217;s words are not like human words and language or like anything we have ever heard.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The origins of the bible are Hebrew and Greek texts written by people who heard God&#8217;s voice in their hearts. The original Greek text is John&#8217;s interpretation of what heard in his heart when God spoke to him. He translated what he heard into Greek and recorded that in the book we call Revelation.<\/p>\n<p>Since <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice#whatgodsvoiceislike\">God&#8217;s words are more like whispers of wind, thunder, a trumpet, dreams and visions,<\/a> John&#8217;s job was to translate these ambiguous images and supernatural sensations into human language. Anyone who has tried to remember a dream and translate into human language knows how difficult this is to do.<\/p>\n<p>What we read in bibles are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/bible-history\/5\">imperfect translations of the original Hebrew and Greek texts recorded by the prophets and apostles &#8212; including John. <\/a>We should not be surprised, therefore, that the book of Revelation is so difficult to understand.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a brief summary of how what we read in the bible came to be:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 13.3846%;\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 86.6154%;\">\n<ol>\n<li>God spoke to bible authors (i.e. prophets and apostles) in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice#whatgodsvoiceislike\">God&#8217;s own, unique spiritual language<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Bible authors did their best to capture the spiritual words they heard in their hearts and convert the images of those spiritual words to Hebrew and Greek.<\/li>\n<li>Bible theologians and publishers studied the Hebrew and Greek texts and made personal decisions about how to translate those words into human languages.<\/li>\n<li>When bible publishers were unsure about how to translate Hebrew and Greek texts into human languages, they adopted interpretations that agreed with their personal religious beliefs.<\/li>\n<li>Religious people read bibles and try to make sense of what they read.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>When we look at this history of how bibles are written and think about how difficult it is to convert dreams to words, we can appreciate the effort John made to create the original Greek text of Revelation. And then, when we think about the many ways Hebrew and Greek words can be translated into our native languages, we can easily understand why there are so many different versions of the bible and why there is so much room for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/land-and-earth#commentaryonbiblemisinterpretation\">misinterpretation of bible texts.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">STUDY TIP: See<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/bible-history\"> this link<\/a> for a more detailed discussion about how bibles are published.<\/p>\n<p>The challenge to understand any part of the bible is further compounded by the fact that religious people are strongly inclined to interpret what they read literally &#8212; not symbolically. And when we consider that different religious teachers also add their personal interpretations of the literal texts, we should not be surprised that there is so much confusion and disagreement about the bible that leads to different religions and denominations within religions.<\/p>\n<p>When we consider the many variables that go into the process of publishing a bible, we can see why literal interpretations can lead to gross misinterpretations of God&#8217;s intended meanings of the dreams and visions that he revealed to John and the authors of other bible texts.<\/p>\n<p>We must always remember that God is well aware of the many ways his original words (i.e. dreams and visions) are misinterpreted and that these misinterpretations result in wrong understandings of him and his ways. The truth is that no one gets it right. In fact, God says all bible scribes are liars. Too many religious people with religious motives have had opportunities to shape the bible in ways that agree with their religious inclinations. That is why <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=exodus+15:22-26;+exodus+23:20-25;+exodus+19:1-5;+jeremiah+7:23-26;+numbers+12:5-6;+jeremiah+44:26;+isaiah+66:5;+deuteronomy+4:10;+psalm+141:6;+jeremiah+6:19;+jeremiah+11:10;+jeremiah+11:1-4;+matthew+4:1-4;+deuteronomy+8:1-3;+job+22:21-23;+psalm+119:9-13;+psalm+138:4;+isaiah+28:23;+jeremiah+11:1-7;+jeremiah+22:21;+psalm+106:25;+nehemiah+9:29;+jeremiah+13:11;+zechariah+7:11;+isaiah+46:12;+matthew+13:15;+genesis+22:18;+exodus+23:21-22;+numbers+7:89;+numbers+14:22;+deuteronomy+4:12;+deuteronomy+4:30;+deuteronomy+4:36;+deuteronomy+5:22-26;+deuteronomy+8:20;+deuteronomy+9:23;+deuteronomy+13:4;+deuteronomy+13:18;+deuteronomy+15:5;+deuteronomy+26:14;+deuteronomy+26:17;+deuteronomy+30:20;+joshua+5:6;+joshua+10:14;+joshua+22:2;+joshua+24:24;+psalm+81:11;+psalm+95:7;+jeremiah+3:13;+jeremiah+3:25;+jeremiah+7:23;+jeremiah+7:28;+jeremiah+9:13;+jeremiah+11:4;+jeremiah+11:7;+jeremiah+18:10;+jeremiah+22:20-21;+jeremiah+26:13;+jeremiah+32:23;+jeremiah+40:3;+jeremiah+42:6;+jeremiah+42:13-14;+jeremiah+43:1-7;+jeremiah+44:23;+isaiah+32:9;+isaiah+55:1-3;+daniel+9:9-11\">God says that his people should listen to his voice themselves.<\/a> Listening to God&#8217;s voice in our hearts is the only way to avoid the misinterpretations that result from all the human variables that go into the process of developing the bible.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>THE BOOK OF REVELATION IS UNIQUE<\/strong><br \/>\nWhile 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\/end-times-rapture-and-tribulation\" aria-haspopup=\"true\">End Times, Rapture and Tribulation<\/a> that lends itself to controversy and misinterpretation.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=2090&amp;action=edit\">true nature of prophecy<\/a>, however, we always see prophecy in terms of what God want us to apply to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/2-timothy\/passage\/?q=2+timothy+3:16-17\">personal lives<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\/2\">today.<\/a> 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<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/2-timothy\/passage\/?q=2+timothy+3:16-17\"> corrected and trained in righteousness<\/a>. And, we ignore the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=ecclesiastes+3:15;ecclesiastes+1:9-11\">&#8220;nothing new under the sun&#8221;<\/a> principle.<\/p>\n<p>John the Evangelist understood these principles. Like Jesus&#8217; other disciples, John was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/nations\/israel-jerusalem-jews-christians-and-gentiles\/3#jew\">religious Jew<\/a> before he followed Jesus. John&#8217;s personal transition from Old\/First Covenant religious <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/nations\/israel-jerusalem-jews-christians-and-gentiles\/3#jew\">Jew<\/a> to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/2#newcovenant\">New Covenant<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/#disciple\">disciples<\/a> is not discussed in scripture, but we know that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=john+15:18-21;luke+6:22;john+16:2;matthew+5:10-12;matthew+10:22-23;matthew+24:9;mark+13:9-13;luke+21:12;luke+21:16-17;john+15:18-20;matthew+5:44;john+16:33\">Jesus warned him and other disciples about the trouble (i.e. tribulation) that they would experience when they choose to follow him.<\/a> If we can trust <a href=\"https:\/\/overviewbible.com\/how-did-the-apostles-die\/\">historical reports of how the apostles died<\/a>, Jesus&#8217; warnings were accurate.<\/p>\n<p>John could see the dreams and visions that led to Revelation from this personal perspective. Because <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/2#oldcovenant\">Old\/First Covenant<\/a> religionists lack that perspective, understanding of Revelation does not come easy to them. They will need to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\">study<\/a> hard to gain understanding, and even if they do study hard, understanding will not come unless they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=exodus+15:22-26;+exodus+23:20-25;+exodus+19:1-5;+jeremiah+7:23-26;+numbers+12:5-6;+jeremiah+44:26;+isaiah+66:5;+deuteronomy+4:10;+psalm+141:6;+jeremiah+6:19;+jeremiah+11:10;+jeremiah+11:1-4;+matthew+4:1-4;+deuteronomy+8:1-3;+job+22:21-23;+psalm+119:9-13;+psalm+138:4;+isaiah+28:23;+jeremiah+11:1-7;+jeremiah+22:21;+psalm+106:25;+nehemiah+9:29;+jeremiah+13:11;+zechariah+7:11;+isaiah+46:12;+matthew+13:15;+genesis+22:18;+exodus+23:21-22;+numbers+7:89;+numbers+14:22;+deuteronomy+4:12;+deuteronomy+4:30;+deuteronomy+4:36;+deuteronomy+5:22-26;+deuteronomy+8:20;+deuteronomy+9:23;+deuteronomy+13:4;+deuteronomy+13:18;+deuteronomy+15:5;+deuteronomy+26:14;+deuteronomy+26:17;+deuteronomy+30:20;+joshua+5:6;+joshua+10:14;+joshua+22:2;+joshua+24:24;+psalm+81:11;+psalm+95:7;+jeremiah+3:13;+jeremiah+3:25;+jeremiah+7:23;+jeremiah+7:28;+jeremiah+9:13;+jeremiah+11:4;+jeremiah+11:7;+jeremiah+18:10;+jeremiah+22:20-21;+jeremiah+26:13;+jeremiah+32:23;+jeremiah+40:3;+jeremiah+42:6;+jeremiah+42:13-14;+jeremiah+43:1-7;+jeremiah+44:23;+isaiah+32:9;+isaiah+55:1-3;+daniel+9:9-11\">listen to God&#8217;s spoken voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The end times prophecies reported in Revelation give readers\u00a0 background on the tribulations that Old\/First Covenant religious people will experience when they make their personal transitions from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/5\">defiled religion to pure religion<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/#disciple\">.<\/a> It is basically the same story repeated with new images that conveys what happens when people choose to make that transition.<\/p>\n<p>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&#8217;t apply to them. They like the idea of being raptured, but they can&#8217;t imagine how the rest of the process\u00a0 would apply to them.<\/p>\n<p>The only people who can understand Revelation are New Covenant disciples. They have experienced <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\/end-times-rapture-and-tribulation\/3\">pre-rapture tribulation,<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\/end-times-rapture-and-tribulation\/4\">post-rapture tribulation<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\/end-times-rapture-and-tribulation\/2\">rapture<\/a>. They understand the imagery of beasts because they have been victims of their savagery. They understand why <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/god-is-calling-people-out-of-religion\">God calls people out of Babylon<\/a> because they have escaped from religious <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/religion-is-injustice-and-slavery\">injustice and oppression<\/a>. For them, the events of Revelation do not represent the future, they represent the past and present.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><b> DO IT YOURSELF INTEPRETATION OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION<\/b><br \/>\nIn previous pages, we reviewed the challenges of interpreting God&#8217;s spoken words to human language. In this page, readers will be challenged to create their own interpretations of chapters 1 through 3 from the original Greek texts and known bible symbolism of terms included in those chapters.<\/p>\n<p>For each chapter, verses of the New American Standard Version is given for reference. Also, the original text for each verse recorded by John is provided. To assist with the interpretation, there is a list below of bible terms\/words that are used symbolically to represent God&#8217;s intended meanings of dreams and visions he revealed to John. Adjacent to each term\/word that is used symbolically, there are links to the symbolic meanings of those terms\/words.<\/p>\n<p>With this information, readers who are willing to invest some time may create their own interpretations of chapters 1 through 3of the Book of Revelation.<\/p>\n<p>The Book of Revelation is widely regarded as one of the most difficult books of the bible to understand. The reason for the difficulty is the many symbolic terms that appear there. This symbolism are explained in part in the interpretations of the various chapters of the Book of Revelation which follow.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"children\">\n<li>Revelation 4 (incomplete)<\/li>\n<li>Chapters 5-16 have not been written yet<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\/end-times-rapture-and-tribulation\/13768-2\">Revelation 17 (incomplete)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Chapters 18-20 have not been written yet<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\/end-times-rapture-and-tribulation\/revelation-chapter-21\">Revelation 21 (incomplete)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u200e<\/p>\n<p>Even though chapters 4, 17 and 21 are incomplete,\u00a0 readers are encouraged to build on what has been written and use the principles in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\">STUDY<\/a> investigate the interpretations of the book of Revelation.<\/p>\n<p><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ORIGINS OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION\u00a0 Five principles of bible study must be applied when interpreting bible prophecies: It is all about today. All scripture has personal application. First the natural, then the spiritual principle The bible is a mystery <span class=\"excerpt-dots\">&hellip;<\/span> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\/end-times-rapture-and-tribulation\/revelation\"><span class=\"more-msg\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"parent":6754,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11913","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11913"}],"version-history":[{"count":239,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14169,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11913\/revisions\/14169"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}