People tend to misunderstand what Apocalyptic literature means in the bible.
Most people think the apocalypse means the end of the world.
What apocalypse means is something completely different.
The word apocalypse means to uncover or reveal. If you received a true apocalyptic vision you would suddenly see the true nature of something that was hidden to you before.
So in that sense it is the end of the world AS YOU KNEW IT.
The book of revelation is full of symbolic literature. Some of the symbols are explained within the book. Just as
1:20 Stars and angels, lampstands are churches.
17:1 The great prostitute is Babylon.
We can't understand the book of Revelation unless we understand how the people at the time understood Apocalyptic literature.
We tend to take a very literal view which is not the way the people at the time understood it when writing or reading.
A simple example for today would be the saying it is raining cats and dogs.
We know that is not talking about literal cats and dogs. But 1000 years from now if someone were to dig something up that said it was raining cats and dogs what would they think?
I've completed many different studies of Revelations. The 7 year period of The Tribulation leads to Christ's second coming, then a 1,000 year reign with a new Earth and new Jerusalem, at which point Earth is done away with.
Many things in Revelations are symbolic for the purposes of avoiding governmental intervention, but the symbolism is not so far stretched as to take away from the meaning of, "Revelation." The book is written from the perspective of a man who was at a minimum seeing things 2,000 years ahead of his time, and as such some, "symbolism" isn't even symbolism as much as it his his best ability to describe what he saw. The book is absolutely literal in the sense that the events happen as they are told, and are in no possible way written merely as metaphors or similar BS.
It is very clearly, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" and the conclusion of Earth.
Just to be clear. Symbolism is not just some BS to try and excuse things.
The fact that you have studied the bible is awesome.
We may disagree on this but in the end that is not what really matters.
Daniel, the Book of Revelation, Psalms and other books have similar language. As I am sure you know The Book of Revelation borrows some language from those earlier books. While the bible is a collection of many books they all combined tell a unified story of Christ dying for the sins of the world and then rising again.
To try and show you where I am coming from I would just like to show you one example.
You can read in Samuel about how David hid from Saul. You can read about how he survived Saul's attempts on his life.
In Psalm 18:7-15 David writes this
The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High Uttered His voice, hailstones and coals of fire. He sent out His arrows and Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.
Then the channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were uncovered at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
That is Psalm 18: 7-15
God delivering David from his enemies and from Saul
If You read the book of Samuel you will see David hiding from Saul and what happened and how God delivered him. No where will you read what David wrote in Psalm 18 concerning those same events.
David was writing in a language pattern that the people at the time understood. They would read the psalm and not think that God sent lightnings in abundance, opening the sea, and the foundations of the world being uncovered.
That was language that touched something from within. It was an expressing for something that is not expressible.
You're arguing past yourself and misrepresenting your own position. Revelation is absolutely taken literally, and that doesn't take away from the symbolism that is present in it. Literal does not mean stupid, it means literal. As I said above, there is context which was used for various purposes, one of which being to prevent the government of the time from discarding the messages and preventing it's spread.
Nowhere did I say that symbolism isn't used in The Bible, or that some elements of Revelations aren't symbolic, but rather that the book as a whole isn't just some fantasy representing total mystery, confusion, and drama, which is what people mean when they say that Revelation is a book of symbolism. The Revelation of Jesus Christ is absolutely a book which can be deciphered and understood if one tries. No other book of The Bible comes with an explicit promise of blessing for it's study.
I agree 100% with... . The Revelation of Jesus Christ is absolutely a book which can be deciphered and understood if one tries.
We are given Free Will.
Our Free Will gives us two choices.
We can trust what God says about His love for us is true. Or we can trust self.
Trusting God is walking in the truth.
Trusting Self is being blinded to the truth.
Right now the world is controlled by people that trust in self. (self is anything that is not God)
I see the Book of Revelation pointing to a time when we are set free from the lie. A time when the control that evil has to hide the truth is gone.
It will be the Great revealing of the truth.
People tend to misunderstand what Apocalyptic literature means in the bible.
Most people think the apocalypse means the end of the world.
What apocalypse means is something completely different.
The word apocalypse means to uncover or reveal. If you received a true apocalyptic vision you would suddenly see the true nature of something that was hidden to you before.
So in that sense it is the end of the world AS YOU KNEW IT. The book of revelation is full of symbolic literature. Some of the symbols are explained within the book. Just as
1:20 Stars and angels, lampstands are churches. 17:1 The great prostitute is Babylon.
We can't understand the book of Revelation unless we understand how the people at the time understood Apocalyptic literature. We tend to take a very literal view which is not the way the people at the time understood it when writing or reading.
A simple example for today would be the saying it is raining cats and dogs. We know that is not talking about literal cats and dogs. But 1000 years from now if someone were to dig something up that said it was raining cats and dogs what would they think?
Check out this cute little 6 minute video that helps explain what Apocalyptic Literature really is. https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/apocalyptic-literature/
I've completed many different studies of Revelations. The 7 year period of The Tribulation leads to Christ's second coming, then a 1,000 year reign with a new Earth and new Jerusalem, at which point Earth is done away with.
Many things in Revelations are symbolic for the purposes of avoiding governmental intervention, but the symbolism is not so far stretched as to take away from the meaning of, "Revelation." The book is written from the perspective of a man who was at a minimum seeing things 2,000 years ahead of his time, and as such some, "symbolism" isn't even symbolism as much as it his his best ability to describe what he saw. The book is absolutely literal in the sense that the events happen as they are told, and are in no possible way written merely as metaphors or similar BS.
It is very clearly, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" and the conclusion of Earth.
Just to be clear. Symbolism is not just some BS to try and excuse things.
The fact that you have studied the bible is awesome.
We may disagree on this but in the end that is not what really matters.
Daniel, the Book of Revelation, Psalms and other books have similar language. As I am sure you know The Book of Revelation borrows some language from those earlier books. While the bible is a collection of many books they all combined tell a unified story of Christ dying for the sins of the world and then rising again.
To try and show you where I am coming from I would just like to show you one example. You can read in Samuel about how David hid from Saul. You can read about how he survived Saul's attempts on his life.
In Psalm 18:7-15 David writes this
The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High Uttered His voice, hailstones and coals of fire. He sent out His arrows and Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were uncovered at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
That is Psalm 18: 7-15 God delivering David from his enemies and from Saul
If You read the book of Samuel you will see David hiding from Saul and what happened and how God delivered him. No where will you read what David wrote in Psalm 18 concerning those same events. David was writing in a language pattern that the people at the time understood. They would read the psalm and not think that God sent lightnings in abundance, opening the sea, and the foundations of the world being uncovered. That was language that touched something from within. It was an expressing for something that is not expressible.
You're arguing past yourself and misrepresenting your own position. Revelation is absolutely taken literally, and that doesn't take away from the symbolism that is present in it. Literal does not mean stupid, it means literal. As I said above, there is context which was used for various purposes, one of which being to prevent the government of the time from discarding the messages and preventing it's spread.
Nowhere did I say that symbolism isn't used in The Bible, or that some elements of Revelations aren't symbolic, but rather that the book as a whole isn't just some fantasy representing total mystery, confusion, and drama, which is what people mean when they say that Revelation is a book of symbolism. The Revelation of Jesus Christ is absolutely a book which can be deciphered and understood if one tries. No other book of The Bible comes with an explicit promise of blessing for it's study.
Okay, maybe I did not explain myself well.
I agree 100% with... . The Revelation of Jesus Christ is absolutely a book which can be deciphered and understood if one tries.
We are given Free Will. Our Free Will gives us two choices. We can trust what God says about His love for us is true. Or we can trust self. Trusting God is walking in the truth. Trusting Self is being blinded to the truth.
Right now the world is controlled by people that trust in self. (self is anything that is not God)
I see the Book of Revelation pointing to a time when we are set free from the lie. A time when the control that evil has to hide the truth is gone. It will be the Great revealing of the truth.
It will be The Great Awakening.