Revelation is a challenging message direct from God Himself. Some essential genre-context exegetic factors crucial in proper Heaven-intended interpretation:

*Revelation is for all people all places all times. It is Perennial – helping believers of Bible times, throughout history, today and in the future.

*It was revealed by God the Father to Jesus as The Angel of the Lord. He is ultimate messenger from heaven with the ultimate message.

*Jesus taught parables, earthly stories with heavenly meaning. Revelation is Jesus teaching parable-vision-heavenly stories with earthly application.

*Revelation has lots of symbols, figurative language and special effects imagery like CGI in the movies. Taking them over-literally misses the message and Jesus’ main points.

*1,000 years = 10 x 10 x 10 triple completeness of God’s purposes on earth. 10 is symbol for fullness like 10 commandments or 10 fingers. 10-cubed means God will fulfill his complete purpose on earth through His Kingdom people under Jesus’ Reign as King of Kings in our hearts in the church from Jesus’ First Coming to Second Coming (1,000 years). Perennium, not literal millennium.

*The expression “is, was, is to come” is repeated to show Revelation covers past, present and future in a cyclical repetition of visions and images like waves coming ashore constantly different sizes, intensity, shapes, basically repeating over and over to reinforce God’s mighty works among men on earth until the End.

*Revelation is the last piece of the Bible jigsaw puzzle. Need to study and know the first 65 books before Revelation snaps properly into place, not forced to fit manmade theories.

*Jesus taught in parables that Good and Evil will live side by side until Judgment Day. So, Revelation cannot have believers removed from earth leaving only bad guys alone, or taking away bad people leaving only good guys. Revelation is a promise of hope to believers and a warning to repent or else to unbelievers from Bible times to Judgment Day.

*The key verse is 1:5-6 “To Him (Jesus the Lamb) who loves us, freed us from our sins by His blood and made us  to be a kingdom priests to serve God our Father, to Him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen!”

*Some people think Revelation is ALL FUTURE after Chapter 4, hasn’t happened yet and doesn’t affect us now, we’re not in the Kingdom End Times. But verse 22:18 warns people that if we mess with the prophecy and God’s revealing by adding or subtracting stuff, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. How can God add FUTURE ONLY plagues to people since Bible times who read Revelation and tamper with its message or meaning? The plagues must be happening past, present, and future. They are mostly spiritual afflictions and punishments like deception, delusion, evil philosophy, false teachers, bad thinking, devil world views and also include judgment and spiritual hardening from God for rejecting him – economic, political, evil rights = civil rights, societal disturbance, wars, terrorism, fear, divisiveness, Christian-hating, etc.

*Revelation does not give us the Jesus we want or prefer or are comfortable with. It discloses the real full-on whole true Jesus who actually is. Like C.S. Lewis’ lion Aslan of Narnia, he is not a plush toy or domesticated circus animal or harmless stuffed display model. Jesus the Lion of Judah/Lamb of God is NOT safe, but he is GOOD.

*Revelation is a Book of Hope. No matter how bad things may look or get, Jesus is our Savior, Friend, Partner, King, and Helper. He will deliver us from evil like the Lord’s Prayer promises.

Growing in the Grace and Knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, being right and tight with the Lord.