Carefully. Many read with a
pre-determined mindset and make Revelation what they want it to be.
There are four main interpretive approaches to the book of Revelation:
1) Preterist which sees all or most of the events in Revelation as
having occurred by the end of the 1st century.
2) Historicist which sees Revelation as a survey of church history
from apostolic times to the present.
3) Idealist which sees Revelation as a depiction of the struggle
between good and evil and applicable at any time.
4) Futurist which sees Revelation as prophecy of events to come,
starting in Chapter 4.
The best way to read Revelation, and all books of the Bible, is to ask
these questions:
What was happening when Revelation was written? Rome was persecuting Christians. A group of churches in Asia Minor were
experiencing problems both internally and externally. The believers needed instruction and comfort.
When was Revelation written? John wrote
it on the island of Patmos. Some believe
since there is a reference to the temple in 11:1-2, the temple was still
active, dating it late 60s. Those who
believe the tradition that John was sent to Patmos by Emperor Domitian favor 95
AD. This conflict has created the division
between Preterist and Futurist. Many
times John uses the word "soon" about the coming of the Lord (another
way to say judgment). What
"soon" means to you will answer when you think Revelation was
written.
What type of writing is Revelation? It is
apocalyptic, meaning it uses fantastic imagery and symbolism to make its
point. It's written in the same style,
and borrows heavily from, the prophets of the Old Testament (Ezekiel,
Zechariah, Joel and others). What were
those books trying to do? Warn Israel of
the destruction of the temple and judgment on Israel. Could John be doing the same thing?
Do we take Revelation literally? We don’t
take everything literally in the Bible.
Jesus told us to be born again.
Literally? He said we must eat
his flesh and drink his blood. He said
the Pharisees were blind and that dead people were asleep. Literally?
Other books like Ezekiel and the prophets were not be taken literally,
but communicated, using imagery, events in the near future. The lamb with seven eyes means something
symbolically as does the beast, the dragon and the lamb.
By answering these questions, you can read Revelation soberly and
accurately, without forcing it to say something it wasn't meant to say.