The Revelation

No you are not alone and many have compared it to a story written while on a good acid trip. Personally I agree with some scholars that believe it was written in code to for warn and give hope of the falling of Rome and it really had little to do with the coming of the end of the world, but the end of the Roman seige they were under.

The book of revelations is about the past, not the future. If you read the book and then read the history of the Roman empire, it's pretty easy to beleive that it is a reference to Rome and not a prophecy of things to come.

I'm just the opposite! Even as a new christian 30+ years ago, I understood it's basic message (man's empires will fall; and all untruth can only crash). I recently self published a short book I wrote on it (link in my profile) with many things in it that I don't think anyone else at all sees! For instance how Revelation 12, alone, is a complete story. And everybody misses it! And I just can't see how! There's some fancy footwork in the hooves of the four notorious horsemen of the apocalypse which keep most of Revelation/Apocalypse hidden. That's mostly where the "left behind" books have missed the mark.. quite widely, I'm afraid.. And His sheep "will not listen to the voice of a stranger". - I'm actually quite passionate about the little book called "revelation" - One of the things I've discovered is the tribulation, they call "the great tribulation" lasts 10 days (not seven years!) And there are definite signs before it, so one at that time will be able to count days to it, and take precautions for those ten days! I can prove this! I'm hoping everyone in those critical days, especially my grandkids (about 30 years from now?) will fully understand this. - Well, I don't want to bore you!:) later..

I think that Revelation is an account of a mystical visionary experience that doesn't have a whole lot of meaning to anyone except the guy who originally had the vision. Personally I agree with the post that said it was like an acid trip. Who knows whether it will prove to have any truth in it, whether it will be a message direct from God or, well, just some guy's bad hallucination. I guess we won't find out until the world ends, lol. I think a lot of people love it because it is so open to interpretation and speculating about. Also the imagery and stuff is a lot more exciting than most of the New Testament. I think they basically put it in to liven things up a bit and because they wanted to cover the end of the world. After all the Bible opens with the beginning of the world so it makes sense to finish it with a story about the end!

The Revelation shows you the fight that has come from the beginning of time to when Christ arrives and takes HIS own to dwell in heaven with HIM. It can be classed sort of like an allegory. The stars being cast down are the devil and his angels being cast down from heaven. The woman being pursued, represents the persecution of the church throughout the ages by Satan (the dragon) and her giving birth is the Christ being born to Mary on earth, and her being driven into the desert, represents the church's persecution by Satan after Jesus is taken into heaven. The two thirds of the water turning to blood, etc. the three horsemen,and that shows the disasters that happen during the age of the earth, such as famine, disease, etc. Babylon represents the worldly religion, the beast represents worldly power, etc. You have to take it not as a series of events coming one after another, such as in 21-- there will be a great famine, or in 2200 two thirds of the water will be poisoned, but that during the whole of the age of the age, two thirds of people will die by shipwrecks, drownings, etc. It is a big war between the world, flesh, devil, and God with God coming out victorious.

I think Revelation is a wonderful book, it says there is a special blessing for them who read it. Though I nor anybody else understands the mysteries of this wonderful book, it does not mean that we do not understand anything. If you read the rest of the bible there would certainly be things that I and you would not understand totally now, because bible is God's word and we need God's wisdom to understand it. The more of God's wisdom we have the better we understand the mysteries hidden in his word.