The book of Revelation is very strange book in the bible, it is full of metaphors, and parables, it is very hard to understand, and can be interpreted in many different ways. Much of the imagery in Revelation conveys a strong sense of God's infinite power and glory, and that may be its most important message of all. The first view of interpretation to be had on Revelation is the Idealist Interpretation, or some might call it the spiritual view. This view uses the symbolic way in which Revelation was written to interpret how we can understand it. The symbolic point of view of Revelation was established by ancient church father Origen and was made well known by St. Augustine. This interpretation states that the events of Revelation are not tied to specific historical events but point towards ongoing themes throughout the history of the church, and that the representation of the the book symbolically represents the continuing conflict throughout the years between God and the Devil, good against evil. And in this ongoing conflict, the believers in Christ are persecuted and martyred by the forces of evil, but one day the faithful ones will be delivered from their struggles and God will reign victorious over all, and his righteousness is shown throughout the ages. The Idealists believe that the battles that occurred in Revelation are meant to represent spiritual warfare. .
When the Idealists look at the book of Revelation and the symbolic way in which it was written, they see the symbols and metaphors in a very literal way. For instance they see "the beast from the land" as a pagan, or a corrupt religion, and all the disasters in the book represent God's frustration and disappointed with the sinful man.
The second view is the Preterist (Past) Interpretation. The Past Interpretation is the idea that the the book of Revelation is aimed towards the problems and the persecutions of the Christians and Jews that were happening around the time the book was being written.
