Trustworthy and True : Making sense of the Book of Revelation (Colour version)

Acknowledge it or not, we are hurtling towards the end times. The pre-conditions have never been more complete than today. More so in the past 80 years than in the previous 19 centuries. Cautious scepticism is healthy but we have a duty to understand the warnings about what's happening around us and what's coming, so we can prepare and warn others. Many prefer to shy away from any attempt to interpret the book of Revelation, viewing it as unfathomable and bizarre, full of symbolism, metaphors, and repetition of earthquakes, fire and hail from the skies, plagues and battles. Some interpret it is relevant to the first Century only, (A.D. 70), when the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation was cruelly crushed. However, given it was written around the same time it would not have been much of a 'revelation'. It would not have been read by Jewish people, who perceived Christianity as blasphemous. It would also not have been helpful to the early Christian church and the 'book' is clearly written to both the Christian church and the Jewish people. End-time scripture isn't so unfathomable when viewed through the lens of the people of Biblical times - their beliefs, practices, experiences and stories, and then superimposing understanding of things that are very familiar to us now but were alien to them. Some important insights also help interpretation - such as the fact that during Old Testament times a year was perceived as 360 days (and this was also adopted as the default for 'prophetic' years in the New Testament); Also, Jewish people often referred to themselves as people of the land and the gentiles as people of the sea. Many expect evil influences to present themselves in obvious ways no one can deny - but the best strategy of these is to convince us all that they do not exist. So, we should not expect to see them for who or what they are until very late on, when it might be too late for the uninformed. The USA, China, Russia and Europe are all referenced, if you inte