Revelation

I don't understand the book of Revelation.
I do think that its presence in the Bible suggests that it indeed has bearing on our lives and indeed should be able to be understood to a point. Where that point is drawn or what precisely it is I do not claim to know. In fact bold as it may sound - I am weary of anyone who claims to have a complete understanding of Revelation. I just don't think it is a text that can be mastered.
Calvin pretty much refused to comment on the book.
Luther thought the Whore of Babylon - one of the books central characters - was the Pope.
The Eastern Orthodox church pretty much threw it from the Canon.
Thus, the thought of one person mastering it and claiming to do so is a bit bold.
I think the Holy Spirit does come to reveal and guide into truth. I hope He will give insight on this book specifically - but at the end of the day I think it is still quite allright if we don't understand the book entirely.
I am quite certain Tim Lahaye hasn't mastered it - he may climb the NY Times bestseller lists but that was never a plumb line for proper hermeneutics.

With that being said lately I have been drawn to the book of Revelation.
I enjoy sci-fi and fantasy literature and such and while Revelation is certainly not fiction it reads like sci-fi or a fantasy epic - in fact it is probably feesible that in some ways it and other Apocalyptic literature laid the original groundwork for modern fantasy language and story telling.
The imagery and vivid language throughout the text are simply jaw-dropping. It is hard to make it through a single chapter without getting chills or putting the book down and staring off into the distance.
Or both.
I think regardless of whatever the text was originally supposed to convey (which I would love to know don't get me wrong) one thing that is apparent is the way it lays out the majestic holiness of God. Revelation may be an end-times intenerary. It may be a blueprint for the future. Then again it may have been simply a fantastical letter to some Asian churches.
Maybe its all of the above.
But one thing that is plain is that it speaks of the God who is incomprehensibly majestic and holy. The God so tremendously infinite and glorious that human language breaks down miserably in relating an iota of his splendor.
John fumbles for words that are adequate like we fumble to pick up a wet watermelon off of the floor. He says the word "like" ("I saw something LIKE...") more than a 10th grade girl who wears a shell necklace...simply because he cannot put words to the outrageous magnitude of his vision.
All of this is to say that I am going to continue my reading of this most marvelous and yet most confusingly controversial of books. I am not going to crack a commentary (yet), nor unfold a chart, nor buy any best-selling novels that feature an eastern european anti-christ who sports a three-piece suit (and dispensationalists claim to be strict literalists?). I am simply reading through the book devotionally and with admiration for its beauty. What I am going to do is simply make a few comments regarding some of the jaw-dropping, distance staring, chill-giving and ultimately inspired images that arise along the way and that will shape some of my upcoming blogs.