Meh. The Name of God, if it has any meaning at all, has all the meaning in the universe. A few pixels on a computer screen doesn't carry or attempt to carry that.
I'd always thought that Revelation, anyway, was one thing to be taken fairly literally. Of course, I was raised in the Bible Belt where they take nearly everything in the Bible literally, but I see several prophetic resemblances to technologies that either currently exist or are known to be in development.
Well, many do, I think. Actually, it is of the New Testament the most figurative, and as much so as many of the Old Testament prophetic books. My father has never put all that much worth in it as a Biblical book, and most certainly does not consider it a prophetic book. If one looks hard enough, they can see whatever they wish to in that sort of writing: such is the downfall of that style, and likely the very reason soothsayers spoke in ambiguous terms.
Anyway, just look at the style of the language. It is quite certainly figurative and of imagery, with very little concrete in any of it. This, last of all books, should one take literally.
The bit about the burning mountain being thrown into the sea sounds like an asteroid strike, which leaves me wondering about the chances of that happening. Wormwood is much like a biological weapon in its reported functionality, and some of the armies that the author described look almost like armored exoskeletons of a military sort, most likely used by special forces teams.
Well, I think that the locusts were merely figurative for the intended meaning. I am not sure if it can ever be conclusively interpreted, but interestingly, there are explantions of many of the things using events of John's time, so I don't see the need to put modern events into them. Like the mark of the beast. Now, this I am sceptical of, but using the numerical values for the names given Domitian (the Emperor at the time) on his coinage, one yields that number. Moreover, the idea that no-one would be able to buy anything without bearing his mark is quite representative of not being able to buy things without money, bearing his mark. This, actually, is far more reasonable an explanation than any modern thing. Domitian was the first Emperor who persecuted Christianity on an empire-wide scale, and he wished to be called 'Dominus et Deus', 'Lord and God', a thing that would certainly be against what Christians believed. Again, this ties into the descriptions of the beast, and his blasphemy.
A lot of things sound like modern events, it is true, but it is likely just our minds trying to find connections. The fact of the matter is that Revelations was written for the people of the time, and the people of the time likely saw it far differently than we do now. This is one of the downfalls of the Bible being read by the masses: everyone has their own interpretation and, if they are not scholars, may have no idea of the original form and style, and that it was figurative. And translations don't help either: the word 'obey', as in Jesus telling people to obey his commands, is apparently a misleading word; 'keep' is quite a bit nearer it in meaning. Now, think about that difference: 'keep my commandments' to 'obey my commandments'; the latter is a command and a law, whereas the first is an admonishion to hold fast to faith.
But back to Revelations, it lies at the end of the Bible, making it shaky at best (along with books like James, which is rife with theological problems. 'Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness. So you see that it is through works that we are saved...', or something near that. It contradicts itself, see?) Those are questionable books, actually, for which Luther put them at the end - with the intent of removing them, as was done with the Apocrypha, for they either repeated what had been said, or were simply contrary to the main theme of the gospel. Yet they remained, and have caused no end of confusion.
About Revelations, though, I would have to ask my father about what is the likely interpretation and meaning in the old styles of Wormwood and such things.
The author, presumed to be known as John, also quotes a description of heaven that bears certain geometric similarities to both the old Temple and to a Borg cube, though with the cube's relatively midgety length of 3036 meters, compared to the cited length of over one thousand kilometers for what was quoted as being heaven, it's certain that the structural complexity of heaven is quite intricate, provided such a thing exists.
Well, I think all those dimensions are purely figurative of grandeur and splendour. There are a myriad of connections to the 12 tribes, and so on and so forth. I'll have to look at it, just a second....
Alrighty, here, for example. The 144,000 with God. Well..., what's 144,000? It is one thousand time twelve times twelve. Twice the tribes of Israel, coupled with a great multitude. That is the style of that writing.
And the city... 12 foundations, length of 12 thousand furlongs, a wall of 144 cubits... see a pattern? These aren't concrete numbers. This is imagry and example, where the meaning and purpose behind, and not in, is important. And this is just a guess, but I think it might be that the jems of the twelve foundations are the same as the 12 gems on the ephod of the priests, one gem for each tribe. And my favourite example: Armageddon. I wonder how many people know that this is not a day, nor a battle, but rather a place, and a real place at that? The plains of Megiddo, in the north of Israel. Armageddon, or Har Megiddo, means 'mount Megiddo'. Well, Megiddo is a place where many battles have been fought throughout world history - even in recently in WWI, when the British under Allenby attacked the Central powers in that area, in the valley of Jezreel, I think. It means no great monumental thing, it is no Ragnarok. It merely ties in a commonly known battlefield as a place where the armies of the world collide.
Anyway, end thing: it is tempting, but likely misguided, to see modern events in Revelations.
