"However, if the images [in the book of Revelation] are not timeless symbols, but relate to the 'real' world, we need also to avoid the opposite mistake of taking them too literally as deive of the 'real' world and predicted events in the 'real' world. They are not just a system of codes waiting to be translated into matter-of-fact references to people and events. Once we begin to appreciate their sources and their rich symbolic associations, we realize that they cannot be read either as literal deions or as encoded literal deions, but must be read for their theological meaning and their power to evoke response."

- Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation


This is precisely where the "Left Behind" theology misses the boat on the book of Revelation.