I want to let you all know I started a prophecy newsletter free for all to sign up for here http://www.EscapeAllTheseThings.com
Here's an outtake from the first one I just sent out:
Everyone knows that the Book of Revelation is a book of symbols representing something different from their literal meaning....or is it? The major problem with this paradigm is that there are potentially an infinite number of possible meanings one could match to the symbols if the interpretation can disregard the plain, first, basic meaning of the symbols. With this method of interpretation as the norm, is it any wonder why there are so many conflicting interpretations for the Book of Revelation and further so much confusion over what the Bible really says?
But as it turns out, the Book of Revelation is literal in more places than anyone ever imagined. As "knowledge has increased" according to the promise to Daniel, we've been able to see this in places where those before us could not. I'm convinced that this is part of how the prophetic books stayed sealed until the "end times" when "knowledge will be increased".
One of the most clear and amazing cases of this has to do with Revelation 12:1-2.
Revelation 12:1-2 (HCSB)
1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of 12 stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony to give birth.At first reading this passage seems to be just mere symbology relating the history of how the Messiah came forth out of Israel, represented by a virgin crowned by 12 stars with moon at her feet--similar to Joseph's dream of his family bowing down to him (Gen 37:9-10). But historian Ernest L. Martin consulted NASA lunar-phase tables and found the image of the heavens in Revelation 12 showed where the sun and the moon were, relative to Virgo, at the time Jesus was born, pin-pointing sunset of September 11th of 3 BC. It seems the moon moves so quickly it is "beneath the feet" of Virgo only a few hours every month. Moreover, the moon comes within two lunar diameters of Virgo's feet at the time of a new moon but once in 30 years. The only such occurance any time near the birth of Jesus was on September 11th, 3 BC.
Most previous attempts at determining the birth time were based upon astrology and dating the Star of Bethlehem. No one considered 3 BC because that year had erroneously been assumed to follow Herod's death. However, Dr. Martin has proven that Herod did not die in 4 BC, but in 1 BC. Scholars are now generally accepting the new chronology for Herod, and this in turn has allowed the confirmation of the New Testament date for the birth of Jesus.
The Book of Revelation indeed is full of symbolic descriptions. However, we should be very careful before we discount the literal fulfillment of those symbols, and choose to focus on a purely allegorical interpretation. This is the only way we can finally understand the Book of Revelation's secrets and have confidence we understand them correctly, as plainly written. Stay tuned for more secrets of Revelation, the book of unexpectedly literal prophecies!