Making Sense of the Book of Revelation

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Revelation is probably the most contentious book of the Bible, and certainly the one with the most varying interpretations made about it. All too often these derive from the theological presuppositions of the authors. Is there any way of approaching the text without bias?
It seems to me that determining the structure of the book is critical to correctly understanding it: even a cursory reading reveals a clear pattern in that the narrator's viewpoint shifts repeatedly between the heavenly realms and the Earth. We can thus divide the text into sections accordingly, with the earthly sections as follows:
12:1-3:22struggles of the seven churches
26:2-7:8effects of opening the seals; sealing of believers
38:7-11:14effects of the trumpets; scroll of prophecy; two witnesses
412:13-14:1anger of the dragon; the two beasts; Mt Zion
516:2-18:24effects of the plagues; woman on the beast; fall of Babylon
619:19-21defeat of beast and false prophet
720:8-9defeat of Satan
821:10-22:5new Jerusalem
Sections 6 and 7 prove to be two parts of a single section as they describe victory over evil by the combined defeat of both Satan (a heavenly power), and of the beast and the false prophet (his earthly stooges), leaving us with seven sections (surprise, surprise!).
In between each earthly section there is a section set in the heavenly realms. Analysing the thematic content of each of these sections shows that part refers to the previous earthly section, and part to the following earthly section. Whilst the division is more or less clear on thematic criteria alone, in every case the actual division is marked textually, e.g. by the use of the verb anoigo, for example "I saw heaven opened" at 19:11.
The final result of all this is to give us seven sections each consisting of a heavenly prologue, an earthly consequence, and a heavenly epilogue. But further structure is immediately apparent - the seven sections are arranged in a chiastic structure where each of the three outer pairs complement one another. This is summarised in the table below – a more detailed analysis with full explanation may be downloaded here.
AThe Believer's Experience Now
—Opener (1:12)["I turned round to see"]
—Heaven (1:12-20)Christ among the lampstands
—Earth (2:1-3:22)The experience of the seven churches
—Heaven (none)[the end of each letter reverts to 'heaven']
  BSuffering of Believers
—Opener (4:1)"And behold a door standing open in heaven"
—Heaven (4:1-14)The throne and the Lamb with the scroll
—Earth (6:1-7:8)1) The consequence of breaking the seals
2) The sealing of the redeemed
—Heaven (7:9-8:1)The redeemed before the throne
    CWarning of non-Believers
—Opener (8:1-2)"There was silence in heaven ... and I saw ..."
—Heaven (8:2-6)Prayers of the redeemed calling for action
—Earth (8:7-11:14)1) Warning sufferings for unbelievers
2) Warning prophesies from John and the two witnesses
—Heaven (11:15-18)Anticipation of final justice
      DThe Great Divide
—Opener (11:19)"And the temple of God in heaven was opened"
—Heaven (11:19-12:12)Enmity between the woman and the dragon
—Earth (12:13-14:1)1) The dragon and the two beasts and those worshipping them
2) The Lamb and the redeemed
—Heaven (14:2-15:4)1) The Lamb and the redeemed
2) "Worship God: the beasts are doomed and their worshippers will be punished"
3) The fate of unbelievers
4) Rejoicing at final justice
    C'Punishment of non-Believers
—Opener (15:5)"And the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened"
—Heaven (15:5-16:1)The angels with the seven last plagues
—Earth (16:2-18:24)1) The seven last plagues
2) The nature of the world system
3) The downfall of the world system
—Heaven (19:1-10)The victory of the redeemed
  B'Victory of Believers
—Opener (19:11)"And I saw heaven standing open"
—Heaven (19:11-18)Jesus the victorious king
—Earth (19:19-21 , 20:7-9)1) The last stand of the beasts
2) The last stand of Satan
—Heaven (20:1-6, 20:10-20:15)1) Destruction of the beasts
2) Temporary shackling of Satan - the millenium
3) Destruction of Satan
4) Judgment of unbelievers
A'The Believer's Experience Then
—Opener (21:1)"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth"
—Heaven (21:1-8)The new order
—Earth + Heaven (21:9-22:5)Heaven and earth merge in the new Jerusalem

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