I was watching a video about The Book of Revelations last night, but wouldn't cha know it, I fell asleep before everything could be revealed! 😩 (My bad, God...) When I awoke in the middle of the night due to our baby, I was perplexed. Given that I haven't read Revelations since I was 10, and I always have a Bible on hand, I wanted to try and see things from an adult perspective now...
Here's the problem with Revelations: everybody takes it literally lol. Most people believe that it will begin with the Scroll of Seven Seals, where the Four Horsemen are first mentioned, or, as you may know it, the Apocalypse.
This is not the case; this has already happened.
We know this because "the great descendent of David" is Jesus; he has already opened the seals. Humanity has already suffered this tragedy. Also because the birth of Jesus is recorded after this vision. (The passage of The Woman and the Dragon has frequently been interpreted as Satan the dragon and the woman Israel).
The next part is undecided as to whether or not it has already occurred. You may be familiar with the mark of the beast.
Here is everything important I took from the passage:
"Then I saw a beast coming up from the sea... One of its heads seemed to have been killed, but the fatal wound had healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast. ... It was permitted to have authority for 42 months (3 and 1/2 years).
"Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. ... This second beast performed great miracles ... The beast forced all men ... to have a mark placed on their right hands and on their foreheads. No one could buy or sell unless he had this mark, the beast's name.
"The number stands for a man's name. Its number is six hundred and sixty-six."
So we have one man with a deep connection to the sea, who attempts to impersonate Jesus through the illusion of resurrection (he suffers a fatal sword wound, yet manages to heal from it). The Devil grants this man his powers to deceive people. This is where the term Anti-Christ originated from.
(None of these images are AI, not on my part, anyway! Thank you!)
The Anti-Christ shall be accompanied by his minion, who will also have powers to deceive others with "miracles." Together they shall convert as many people to malice as possible. There will be a mark on their right hands and foreheads, and from how others have interpreted this passage, the marks will come after a deliberate, conscious choice; people will know what they are accepting into their lives. Only those with the mark shall be able to buy and sell, thereby sustaining themselves. The mark is 666; some people have interpreted the number as "Nero."
After this, while the Anti-Christ is still active on earth, there will come another Seven Plagues, so to speak. Believers of the beast shall experience painful sores, water will turn to blood, living creatures will die, the sun will blister skin, darkness will fall over the land, until finally masses of water will dry up so that opposing armies may cross over land. There will be a huge earthquake, unlike one we have ever seen, and it will "destroy the cities of every country." All of the islands and mountains will vanish, and there will be great hail.
Here is the next major passage: the second Coming of Christ.
"Then I saw heaven open, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True ... The armies of heaven follow him."
"Then I saw the beast ... fight against the one who rides the horse. ... The beast was taken prisoner, together with the false prophet. ... They were both thrown into the lake of fire.
"Then I saw an angel ... holding in his hand the key of the abyss. He seized ... the Devil and tied him up for one thousand years. The angel threw him into the abyss and locked it, so that he could not deceive the nations until one thousand years were over."
We see that, even after the false idols have been executed, the story still hasn't ended. Satan will be locked in the abyss for 1,000 years. During this time, the people who had been persecuted for their faith shall rule the earth with Jesus; this is considered the first raising of the dead.
"After the thousand years are over, Satan will be set loose from his prison, and he will go out to deceive the nations scattered all over the world. ... He will bring them together for battle. ... Then the Devil ... was thrown into the lake of fire."
Next is the Final Judgement, and this passage absolutely astonished me. People believe we automatically go to heaven or hell immediately upon dying. Again -- nope! It still has yet to come.
"And I saw the dead ... standing before the throne. Books were opened ... the book of the living. The dead were judged according to what they had done. ... Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death.)"
My personal interpretation... There are some who believe that we have already experienced the Anti-Christ on earth. Some have even attributed Donald Trump to the Anti-Christ lolol.
Here's the problem with all of these assumptions: none of them fit the description. No, we cannot take everything in the passage literally, but we have yet to see a figure attempt to impersonate Christ, and most importantly vehemently rebuke God.
That is the key point in all of this. The whole point of the Devil is he wants to turn as many people away from God as possible. We have yet to see a resurrected idol appear.
(Just a sidenote: this is why I find the Trump accusation funny. Yes, he survived an assassination attempt... but he is an adamant believer of God and actively preaches his name lol. I guess it isn't just Bible thumpers who cherry pick! 🥴)
So my personal interpretation: no, we have not yet seen the Anti-Christ. And until he appears, there is no point in stressing and trying to sort out every detail of Revelations. I may not know who 666 is, or what the mark will be. The point is the signs have been given to me so I will know when he has arrived.