Return to the LAUNCH PAGE for our study of Revelations
An OVERVIEW of the BOOK OF REVELATION |
| Chapter One includes the introduction, the salutations, and discusses the seven golden candlesticks. |
| Chapter Two and Chapter Three contain the messages to the "seven churches." |
The CHRONOLOGY of the BOOK OF REVELATION There are two factors that make any
chronology of the events in Revelation very hard to organize: i.e., the alternating back
and forth between the two halves of Daniel's 70th Week and the nature of the events.
Although the events seem to begin sequentially, we have no clue as to just how long
they each will continue; consequently, it seems that many of the things prophesied to
happen will run concurrently. |
From the fourth chapter on, this OVERVIEW shows how |
| The 1st 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week- Set 1. Rev. 4:1-5:14--The scene is in heaven where preparations are being made for the 1st 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week which will take place just before the installation of the Kingdom Age. |
The 2nd 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week- Rev. 6:1-2--The first seal is opened in heaven where preparations are being made for the 2nd 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week which will take place just after the Kingdom Age. |
| Set
2. Rev. 6:3-4 The Second Seal Is Opened. (?The livestock will be effected? Peace and stability will be taken from the earth--men will turn on one another.) |
Rev. 6:5-6 The Third Seal Is Opened (?The crops will be effected? When men are hungry, there can be no peace--an integral element of the times ahead.) |
| Set
3. Rev. 6:7-8 The Fourth Seal Is Opened. The time of this half of Daniel's 70th Week will be known by its carnage and destruction of human life. |
Rev. 6:9-11 The Fifth Seal Is Opened. Like the first 1/2 of this set, this portion of Daniel's 70th Week will also be known for its carnage and loss of life. |
| Set
4.Rev. 6:12-17 The Sixth Seal Is Opened This passage deals with the spiritual entities that will have an influence on or will be players in the first ½ of Daniel’s 70th Week—especially Israel which will lose many lives. It ends with the unbelievers trying to escape the wrath of God. |
Rev. 7:1-7:17 The Seventh Seal Is Opened This passage deals with the spiritual entities that either have an influence on or will be players in the second ½ of Daniel’s 70th Week—especially the 144,000 of Israel which will be sealed in preparation of the days ahead. It speaks of Christ receiving worship from His own and the blessed state of those who endured temptation for Christ’s sake. ?It ends with the opening of the seventh seal? |
| Set 5.Rev.
8:1-5 The angel with the golden censer. The language sounds as though the earth will be rocked by something powerful--perhaps, "A bombs" or something stronger. |
Rev. 8:6-7 The first trumpet is blown. Again, the language suggests that the earth will suffer the violence of some powerful force--perhaps something even stronger than our present weaponry. |
| Set 6.
Rev. 8:8-9 The second trumpet is sounded. Under the auspices of the second trumpet, 1/3 of the masses will be destroyed due to the influence of false / counterfeit religions. |
Rev. 8:10-11--The third trumpet is sounded. Again, 1/3 of the population will be destroyed because of Satan's influence upon the religions of the world. |
| Set 7.Rev.
8:12-13 The fourth trumpet is sounded. A third part of the "prophetic" celestial bodies (i.e., of the remnant of Israel) will be smitten--(killed). |
Rev. 9:1-12--The fifth trumpet is sounded. Another celestial body, the star Lucifer who brought down 1/3 of the stars / angels with him--cf. Rev. 12:4, will be given the key to the bottomless pit. He will loose his angels to afflict and torment the people so that they will want to die, but won't be able to. |
| Set
8. Rev. 9:13-21 The sixth trumpet is sounded. The language is Jewish, so this set probably applies to the remnant of Israel. If so, then as with the seventh set, we are seeing the prediction of the destruction of another 1/3 of the Jewish population. |
Rev. 10:1-7 The seventh trumpet is sounded. Again, the language is Jewish; but the particulars of this half of Daniel's 70th Week are "sealed." Probably, they will not be "opened" until needed at the end of the Kingdom Age.However, if the pattern established in the rest of the "sets" follow, then there will be a good portion of Israel "who are not of Israel" (cf. Ro. 9:6 ); and a righteous and just God will deal with them. |
| Set
9.Rev. 10:8-11:2 John must prophesy again; but this time, with emphasis on the Gentiles (the masses). Although there are some similarities between these two halves of set 9, of necessity, there must be differences. This half sets the stage for the installment of the Kingdom Age, the 2nd half for the end of the world. |
Rev. 11:3-14 The two witnesses prophesy. We're not told what they will prophesy, but we are told how the Gentiles will respond--and how God will respond to the Gentile's response. |
| Set 10.Rev. 11:15 The Victor: The returning Christ, His glorified Church, and His angels are declared victorious over the Beast. |
Rev. 11:16-19 The Victor: Though the nations are angry, Christ receives thanks and praise from the redeemed for taking over and reigning on the earth. |
-THE FIRST PARENTHESIS- |
| Set 11.Rev. 12:13-16 The dragon and the woman during the first 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week | Rev. 12:17 The dragon and the woman during the second 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week |
| Set 12.Rev. 13:1-10 The "blasphemy" of the reign of the "beast" of the first 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week. | Rev. 13:11-18 The "blasphemy" of the reign of the "beast"of the second 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week. |
-THE
SECOND PARENTHETICAL- |
| Set 13. Rev. 14:14 The Lord reaps those of this period that die for their faith--refusing to deny His name. | Rev. 14:15-16 The angel from the Lord gathers in all mortals who love the Lord at the end of the Kingdom Age. |
| Set 14.
Rev.14:17 The Harvesting Angel is in place. This angel with a "sharp sickle" foreshadows the angel who will reap the "vine of the earth" in the last half of this rendering. The particulars of this "reaping" will follow in the next few sets. |
Rev. 14:18-20 The Harvesting Angel
is in place. The angel from the altar tells the angel with the sharp sickle that he is to thrust in his sickle and harvest the vine of the earth. The next few sets will give particulars of that harvest. |
-THE THIRD
PARENTHETICAL- |
| Set 15. Rev. 16:2 The first vial is poured on those who worshipped the "beast"--finalizing their doom. | Rev. 16:3 The second vial is poured on the "sea"--i.e., those who have worshipped the beast. |
| Set 16. Rev. 16:4-7 The third vial is poured on the "rivers and fountains." Those who would destroy people with faith in God will in turn be destroyed. | Rev. 16:8-9 The fourth vial is poured on the sun. At this point, the LORD has already sealed and harvested those with a living faith. Consequently, those left on the earth subject to this judgment will be those who chose to be at enmity with God. |
| Set 17. Rev. 16:10-11 The fifth vial is poured on the "seat" of the "beast." As it was at the time of Israel's Exodus from Egypt, the "Gentiles" will come under judgment while the grumbling, worldly Israelites will go into the wilderness. | Rev. 16:12-16 The sixth vial is poured on the
river Euphrates. Again, the language points back to Israel's Exodus from Egypt--suggesting, perhaps, that a number of Jews--who were not Jews--will "die in the wilderness" while the rebellious Gentiles will be made to believe a lie. (Cf. II Thes.2:11.) |
| Set 18. Rev. 16:17-21 ...and great Babylon came in remembrance before God... i.e., God recounts her activities. The first half of this set is preparative for Babylon the Great's destruction at the end of our age. | Rev. 18:1-3 ...Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils... Again, God recounts the fallen state of Babylon the Great. This second half of this set is putting things in order for Babylon's fall at the end of the Kingdom Age. |
THE FOURTH PARENTHETICAL |
| Set 19. Rev. 18:4-10 The hour of Babylon's destruction has come and the kings of the earth will mourn. | Rev. 18:11-24 The hour of Babylon's destruction has come and the merchants and shipmasters of the earth will mourn. |
| Set 20. Rev. 19:1-2 The previous set (set nineteen) dealt with political and economical "Babylon the Great." This set will deal with the ecclesiastical aspects of "Babylon the Great" -- comparing the fate of the believer and the unbeliever at the time. | Rev. 19:3 Again, God will deal with the ecclesiastical aspects of "Babylon the Great"; and again, the language alludes to the differing fates of the believers and the unbelievers. |
| Set 21. Rev. 19:4-16 This half of this set gives more information about the believers: i.e., the wedding of the Lamb, their rejoicing over Satan's banishment, and their return to the earth for the wedding supper. It emphasizes the Lord's return, His smiting of the nations, and the establishment of His kingdom. | Rev. 19:17-21 In this half of this set, we see the final lot of the beast, the false prophet, and the unbelievers who followed them. It emphasizes the final great battle between the forces of light and darkness. |
| Set 22. Rev. 20:1-3a Although we have mentioned it often in our study, it is in this segment of this set that we learn about Satan's being bound and cast into hell for the duration of the Kingdom Age. | Rev. 20:3b In this segment, we learn that at the end of the Kingdom Age, Satan will be released from his 1,000 confinement in hell and put back on the face of the earth to once again deceive the nations. |
| Set 23. Rev. 20:4 The two halves of this set are in contrast. The first half is reserved to honor those who rejected the beast and who were martyred for Christ. | Rev. 20:5a This half refers to those of all the ages who rejected Christ and died in their sins. |
| Set 24. Rev. 20:5b-6 Although John begins the conclusion of his book in the next chapter, this set is a summation of what will happen to the "godly" and the "ungodly." This rendering of Daniel's 70th Week is set in contrast. The first half speaks of the advantages of being in the first resurrection. | Rev. 20:7-15 This half of this summation speaks of Satan's temporary release and his final judgment, as well as the disadvantages of being in the second resurrection. |