ORIGINS OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION 
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 that can be understood by New Covenant disciples but not by people who practice Old/First Covenant religion.
        • There is nothing new under the sun.

All 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.

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 –not in human language. God’s words are not like human words and language or like anything we have ever heard.

The origins of the bible are Hebrew and Greek texts written by people who heard God’s voice in their hearts. The original Greek text is John’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.

Since God’s words are more like whispers of wind, thunder, a trumpet, dreams and visions, John’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.

What we read in bibles are imperfect translations of the original Hebrew and Greek texts recorded by the prophets and apostles — including John. We should not be surprised, therefore, that the book of Revelation is so difficult to understand.

Here is a brief summary of how what we read in the bible came to be:

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 misinterpretation of bible texts.

STUDY TIP: See this link for a more detailed discussion about how bibles are published.

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 — 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.

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’s intended meanings of the dreams and visions that he revealed to John and the authors of other bible texts.

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 God says that his people should listen to his voice themselves. Listening to God’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.