#103 - How to Read Revelation {Reflections}

Revelation might be the most misinterpreted book in the Bible. Far from being a cryptic code predicting modern events or a Rubik's cube of end-times prophecy, this mysterious text reveals something far more powerful: a vision of hope for believers facing persecution.

Ryan unpacks how Revelation functioned as apocalyptic literature—not predicting distant futures but "unveiling" present realities from a divine perspective. Written to first-century Christians struggling under Roman oppression, the book showed believers who felt crushed by imperial demands that the Lamb of God, not Caesar, truly sat on the cosmic throne. Those vivid, sometimes frightening symbols weren't puzzles for 21st-century Christians to decode, but representations of powers these early believers encountered daily.

The beast? Roman emperors demanding worship. Babylon? An empire built on exploitation and greed. That infamous "mark of the beast"? Historical evidence reveals citizens in cities like Hierapolis had to receive actual marks after emperor worship to buy and sell in marketplaces. These symbols speak just as powerfully today when we recognize modern "beasts" and "Babylons" demanding our allegiance.

This fresh perspective transforms Revelation from a source of confusion or fear into a profound reminder that even when it seems like chaos reigns, Jesus remains seated on the throne. What empire, ideology, or system threatens to pull your allegiance away from Christ today? Whose mark do you bear? When we see above the fray, we find courage to remain faithful even in our most challenging circumstances. The Lamb who was slain still reigns—and that changes everything.

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