Interpreting The Book of Revelation

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Thus says the Lord, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches/the assemblies." (Rev 2:7; 2:11; 2:17; 2:29; 3:6; 3:13; 3:22) If we cannot see this what can we see?

"Unto" does not mean "about".

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In all actuality, the book of Revelation is a "history" of the church of Christ past, present, and future -

What do Rev. 4 and 5 have to do with the history of the "church"?

What do the judgments of God against the people of the world have to do with the "church"?

Revelation 1: 19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

It was revealed unto John what was to be of the church in the future to come. 100 years after Jesus left the earth the church was already going into apostasy with the description of the seven churches of Asia. After describing what was in heaven and the seven seals, many churches did fall and eventually the church fled into the wilderness where it was in hiding during the dark ages because of all of the persecutions of man and false religion. A good chunk of Revelation from chapter 8-18 is speaking of what was going on during the "dark ages".

You are the one limiting yourself if this is how you read Rev. 2-18.

Prophecy is much more profound, has so many more levels, than this.

And I disagree with your interpretation.

Jesus was born out of - came into this world through - Israel, not the church. So how could the woman be the church?

Going onto chapter 20 we read about judgment day. Chapters 21 and 22 speak of being in heaven itself.

And that's all you see?

Like I said, you are the one who is limiting yourself.

Really, that's all you get out of reading Rev. 20-22?

It was said correctly that there is no "code" to the understanding of the book. Just keep in mind that it is a revelation of the church and what happened to it after Jesus left the earth.

And what is the purpose of having a revelation of the church? Are we to worship the church?

Revelation starts out by addressing seven churches in Asia Minor.

After Jesus is described.

It was a revelation of what was to occur from that time down the centuries to the end of the world.

You are limiting the revelation.

There are other churches mentioned in Revelation.

Where?

Revelation 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

This star was a church and it was believed to the the church at Smyrna where the Bishop Edmond was.

And your believe this . . . why?

**Can't find what you are talking about via internet search**

During that time the forgiveness of sins was taken from God as false religion was charging man for it. People were beaten, whipped, and killed if they did not conform. The bible was taken from the public and forced to believe in "church doctrine" as gospel. The French Revolution in April 1793 shut down every church for 3.5 years because they were tired of how corrupt the religion in their country was.

Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

During the "dark ages" the church was in hiding for almost 1,300 years because of these things.

There is a lot more detail, but I tried to give the short of it.

And some people interpret the 7 churches to represent 7 ages of the the church's history.

The Dark Ages begins with the Assembly (church) of Pyrgamos, mixing Scripture with heathenism in the 4th century. Etc.

Revelation 19:7-9 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Revelation IS about the history of Jesus and the church from the the time of the last Apostle till the end of time.

Revelation is a prophecy, not a history. History is written after the events take place.

But again, prophecy has much more depth than you are giving it credit for. There is more to Revelation than a timeline.

[sdktlk]

When John wrote the Revelation it was, for the most part, future events. Just as when Daniel wrote his Book it was, for the most part, future events. However, Daniel is now almost exclusively history. In Revelation it talks about things that ARE and things that are about to occur. (Rev 1:19) With that in mind I don't see how we could rule out that some, or a great part of Revelation may be history 2000 years later.

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The Hebrew understanding of time is not linear.

[sdktlk]

The Hebrew understanding of time is not linear.

Sister, I'm lost, is not a year a year, no matter what? Has it not been nearly 2000 years since the Lord ascended or am I in a time warp of some sort?

[nebula]

The Hebrew understanding of time is not linear.

Sister, I'm lost, is not a year a year, no matter what? Has it not been nearly 2000 years since the Lord ascended or am I in a time warp of some sort?

If you are interested in studying this for yourself, I recommend you read this web page: The Hebrew Mind vs. The Western Mind

Examples given of the differences between the two -

Western: Knowing

Hebrew: Doing

Western: Linear time divided into neat segments. Each event is new.

Hebrew: Cyclical or spiraling time. Similar events constantly reoccur.

Western: History is recording facts objectively and chronologically.

Hebrew: History is an attempt to preserve significant truths in meaningful or memorable ways whether or not details are objective facts.

Western: Oriented to the near future

Hebrew: Oriented to lessons of history

When reading and interpreting Scripture, including prophecy, one needs to read it through the lens of the Hebrew mindset

For more about the Hebrew concept of time, I encourage you to read here: Hebrew Time Concepts

[sdktlk]

The Hebrew understanding of time is not linear.

Sister, I'm lost, is not a year a year, no matter what? Has it not been nearly 2000 years since the Lord ascended or am I in a time warp of some sort?

If you are interested in studying this for yourself, I recommend you read this web page: The Hebrew Mind vs. The Western Mind

Examples given of the differences between the two -

Western: Knowing

Hebrew: Doing

Western: Linear time divided into neat segments. Each event is new.

Hebrew: Cyclical or spiraling time. Similar events constantly reoccur.

Western: History is recording facts objectively and chronologically.

Hebrew: History is an attempt to preserve significant truths in meaningful or memorable ways whether or not details are objective facts.

Western: Oriented to the near future

Hebrew: Oriented to lessons of history

When reading and interpreting Scripture, including prophecy, one needs to read it through the lens of the Hebrew mindset

For more about the Hebrew concept of time, I encourage you to read here: Hebrew Time Concepts

I guess I'm a little simple here but I've been relying on "the mind of Christ." (1Cor 2:16)

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That's what every cult leader says.

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Or maybe rather I should say -

You just showed the whole world that you are not someone who knows how to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

[sdktlk]

Or maybe rather I should say -

You just showed the whole world that you are not someone who knows how to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

Wow! you are something. Its not hard to know when the 70 weeks of Daniel began and ended without all that linear whatever you said. Its not hard to know when John the Baptist's ministry began through the Scriptures and history. All I was saying is that it isn't hard to search out things using the tools, that is the Bible and all the things that have been recorded historically. Times and dates are not nearly as difficult as you would make it sound.