Until high school, I was brought up as a Catholic. Back then, Catholics were taught that we shouldn't bother reading "The Apocalypse" because we wouldn't understand it. So when I got into my 20's and decided to read it, I wasn't hindered by their interpretations of it - and from what I have seen on this site - Thank Goodness that I wasn't polluted by Protestant nonsense.
So whatever interpretations that I came up with, would be my own.
From the very beginning, my main question was this - " When you take away the symbolism and as much of the religion as you can, what does this mean"? In other words, secularly speaking, how does this apply to the modern world? This is what I came up with.
Simply put, the Book of Revelation is about the rise of a dictator and the world war that ensues.
My next question was - " With the entire Christian world looking for this man, how does this man become a dictator"? The Bible, including Jesus Christ said that MANY will be deceived". So my next question was - "How are these people deceived"? After seeing what Christians have been taught, I can now see. He will NOT be the "bad guy" that everyone is looking for. He will be a hero. He will be able to accomplish things that no one else will be able to do - like forge a peace treaty for the entire Middle East.
Many people have been deceived into believing that they will escape these bad times. When I first heard about the Rapture, I also thought that it was the answer to all of the problems but when I looked at the verses used to validate this doctrine, the more that I became convinced that this doctrine was wrong. Either the verses didn't say what these people thought that they said or their timing was off. In other words, they would be AFTER the return of Jesus Christ and NOT before - making them Post Trib.
The dictator's assassination and "resurrection", just like Jesus Christ, will be the impetus to proclaim himself to be God.
Then God will take His revenge on the planet. It will be God who puts it into the heads of a few leaders to break the peace treaties. In other words, God will be the "bad guy".
Then the next questions were - "What do all of the symbols mean"? and what does "The Day of the Lord" mean?
The more that I read it - secularly, the more that I became convinced that these symbols and "The Day of the Lord" were all about the same thing. These were John's 1st Century interpretations of the effects of a war using atomic weapons - the plagues, the seals, the bowls, the horsemen, etc.
If Jesus Christ would not return then "no flesh would be saved". What would cause the annihilation of the human race? - an all out war with today's weapons that could very easily rip a hole in the atmosphere. When the atmosphere, which protects our bodies from the harmful effects of the sun, is torn, our bodies will face numerous problems. Of course, in a war 50 or more years from now, the weapons will be even worse.
When Jesus Christ does return, the war will be over, Satan will be bound and the world will live in ultimate peace and harmony for, at least, 1000 years.
Because this post is already too long, I will stop it here. If I rambled incoherently, I'm Sorry. I tried to keep it as short as possible.
I KNOW that almost no one will agree with me. That is not my intention. My only goal was for you to read this - and that has been accomplished.