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THE
CHRONOLOGY OF REVELATION
The assumption that there is no
chronological order to the book of Revelation has given some the
licence to "cut, paste and rearrange" the book according to their own
beliefs and theories. Some prophecy teachers, (such as Irvin Baxtor at
EndTime.com) have used this premise to rearrange the whole book
(placing a "trumpet" before a "seal".) This practise does not seem
logical, because it would mean that God inspired a writing so much out
of order that it can only be arranged according to human intellect or
what appears to be an event that fulfills the prophecy.
Clearly, there must be a divine
order to the book of Revelation. However, it is obvious to anyone who
has read the book that some events do appear to be out of sequence.
This phenomenon exists in the book because John's "vision" is not one
vision, it is a series of visions "strung together" that take place at
specific moments in time, which is revealed in the text.
The main vision, the vision of
the "Scroll of Judgment" (Chapters four through eleven,) takes place
both prior to and during the Great Tribulation. The visions that follow
occur in the final three and a half years prior to the coming of the
Lord (the final vision takes place beginning at the coming of the Lord
and continues throughout eternity.)
The book of Revelation must be
viewed as a puzzle. The second vision of John, of the "scroll of
Judgment," is the "puzzle board" where all the pieces fit. The pieces
of this puzzle are found in the Old Testament, other Jewish writings,
and the subsequent visions of Revelation.
A VISION OF A “GROUP OF VISIONS”
Each vision in the book of
Revelation is independently in strict chronological sequence. In the
Biblical text, God reveals when many of these visions take place. If we
place these subsequent visions in the "puzzle board" or the "Scroll of
Judgment" vision, we can arrange them according to the Word of God, not
our own theories.
Below is an explanation of each of the visions, and the
passages are given which indicate their timing.
VISION #1: “THE MESSAGE TO THE SEVEN
CHURCHES”
Revelation
1-3
This is the opening vision,
recorded in chapters 1-3. In it, the risen Lord explains John’s
mission, which was to write this scroll and send it to seven churches
in Asia. Christ is described similar to the Ancient of Days in Daniel,
and is called "the first and the last," both are an indication that He
is God in human flesh. This vision ends with Jesus saying, “He that
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”
(Revelation 3:22)
VISION #2: “THE SCROLL OF JUDGMENT”
Revelation
1-3
This is the longest of the
visions, covering the longest amount of time. As stated, the visions
that follow must be placed in the “timeline of this vision” as placing
pieces of a puzzle on a puzzle board.
This vision begins with John being taken into a heavenly
place:
Revelation 4:1
"After this I looked, and,
behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard
was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up
hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."
In the text, the phrase “after
this I looked” indicates that one vision has ended, and another one has
begun. In this second vision, John ascends into heaven. Some teach that
this is symbolic of the rapture, but this view ignores the fact that
many Old Testament prophets had a similar experience at the beginning
of their encounter with God.
In this heavenly place, John
witnesses a Lamb before the throne of God, symbolic of the Son of Man
who shed his blood. A scroll held by God is opened by the Lamb, who is
the only one worthy to open it.
THE SCROLL OF JUDGMENT IN JEWISH WORKS
The concept of a heavenly “Scroll of Judgment” is found
in the book of Ezekiel. A scroll was sent to Ezekiel by a heavenly hand:
Ezekiel
2:9-10
"And when I looked, behold, an
hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; And he
spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there
was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe."
In this instance, the “scroll of
Judgment” is against the house of Israel. A "scroll of judgment" upon
the whole world was witnessed in a vision by the prophet Zechariah:
Zechariah
5:1-4
"Then I turned, and lifted up
mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. And he said unto me,
What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length
thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. Then said
he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the
whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this
side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as
on that side according to it. I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of
hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the
house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in
the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof
and the stones thereof."
The “scroll of Judgment” in the
book of Revelation contains judgments pronounced upon the entire world.
This concept is also found in the “book of Dream Visions,” the fourth
book of “The book of Enoch.” In this writing, a man who ascends into
heaven (the Messiah) to God's throne after writing down punishments
against the “Seventy Shepherds,” which are symbolic of the nations of
the world (there are "seventy nations" according to Jewish Tradition.)
These seventy shephards are charged with keeping the sheep of Isreal,
which occurred during their exile into the entire world.
The man in 1 Enoch
is told to
open this book, as the Lamb opened the book. When this occurs, God
comes to the earth and smites it with the "staff of his wrath":
“And I saw that man, who wrote
the book according to the command of the Lord, till he opened that book
concerning the destruction which those twelve last shepherds had
wrought, and showed that they had destroyed much more than their
predecessors, before the Lord of the sheep. And I saw till the Lord of
the sheep came unto them and took in His hand the staff of his wrath,
and smote the earth, and the earth clave asunder, and smote the earth,
and the earth clave asunder…” (1 Enoch 90:17-18; Charles Translation)
In this writing, there is clearly
a transposition between the man who writes the “book of judgment” and
ascends into heaven, and “the Lord of the Sheep” descending from
heaven. This same transposition is found in the book of Daniel. The
“Son of Man” comes to the earth to rule, yet we find that the “Ancient
of Days” came and sat to rule on the earth (Daniel 7:9).Clearly, this
indicates that the early Jews believed that God would become the
Messiah, based upon Biblical prophecy (Isaiah 9;6, Zechariah 14:1-10 to
name a couple)
Since the “book of Dream Visions”
existed prior to John’s vision on Palmos, it must be considered that
the symbolic imagery in this writing was used by God to teach that
through the Son of Man, God will judge the world, symbolized in a
heavenly book of Judgment which is opened.
The seals on the scroll in
Revelation take place prior to the Great Tribulation (see: "The Four
Horsemen of the Apocalypse".) This can be deduced by the fact that
seals on a scroll hold the writing closed. If judgment begins when the
scroll is opened (as indicated in "The Book of Dream Visions) then the
events that coincide with the seals all occur before the opening of
this scroll.
In the book of Revelation,
immediately after the the Scroll of Judgment is opened, fire destroys
one third of the earth (Revelation 8.) This is most likely prophetic of
a limited nuclear strike between Russia and the United States (see: One
third of the world destroyed by fire). The first four trumpets are
grouped together (see the statement of Revelation 8:13,) and precisely
coincide with what is scientifically proven will occur in the event of
a global nuclear war.
The events that follow in the
remaining three “trumpets” of the “Scroll of Judgment” coincide with
other events that will occur throughout the Great Tribulation. The
final event of this vision is prophetic of the coming of the Lord:
Revelation
11:15
"And the seventh angel sounded;
and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this
world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he
shall reign for ever and ever."
The Seventh trumpet signals the
end of this vision, because the kingdoms of the world become the
kingdoms of the Lord only after he returns. coming of the Lord has
occurred. The majority of these vision follow this pattern: the vision
begin at a certain time (different in many cases,) and end with the
Lord’s return to the earth.
This factor is consistent with
the meaning of the book. The book is the “revelation” or “revealing” of
Jesus Christ. The purpose of the book is to list events that will take
place in the period of time prior to His coming. These events in
prophecy signal that the Messiah is about to be revealed in the heavens
with his saints and holy angels.
The vision of the “Scroll of
Judgment” begins at an undefined period prior to the coming of the
Lord, and concludes with the seventh trumpet, which is blown to
announce the Second Coming of the Lord to the earth.
VISION #3: “THE WOMAN AND THE DRAGON”
Revelation 12
This third vision appears to
intermingle historic events with future events of Biblical prophecy.
The Woman is Israel, and the Dragon is Satan dwelling in the
Antichrist. The vision begins with the statement: "and there appeared a
great wonder in heaven," which indicates another vision.
The timing of this prophecy is the final three and a half
years before the coming of the Lord:
Revelation
12:6 6
"And the woman fled into the
wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should
feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days."
Since this period of time in
Revelation 12 is the same amount of time Jerusalem will be occupied by
a multinational army (Revelation 11:1-2), it is apparent that this
prophecy in Revelation chapter 12 is speaking about the relocation of
Jews from the West Bank and the Golan Heights by the multinational army
of Zechariah 14:1-2 and Joel 3:1-2.
This vision ends with the coming of the Lord, as seen in
this passage:
Revelation
12:17
"And the dragon was wroth with
the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which
keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."
This "war" is the battle of
Armageddon. It will be against both unconverted Jews "the remnant of
her seed" and the 144,000 Jewish converts. Of course, during this time,
the Lord returns, which once again ends with the revealing or
revelation of Jesus Christ.
VISION #4: “THE BEASTS AND THE TWO
HARVESTS”
Revelation
13-14
This vision begins with John
observing a Beast rising from the Sea. He writes, "and I stood on the
sand of the sea and saw a Beast..." This phrase indicates that another
vision has begun. This Beast will continue for the same amount of time
that the woman flees to the wilderness— three and a half years:
Revelation
13:5
"And there was given unto him a
mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto
him to continue forty and two months."
Since this is the same amount of
time as the occupation of Jerusalem by multinational forces (Revelation
11:1-2), we can be certain that it is predictive of the same event.
This vision concludes by describing two harvest, which are the "sheep"
being divided from the "goats." The wicked harvest includes Armageddon,
and the good harvest is Israel (the Jewish converts,) not the rapture
of the church:
Revelation
14:19-20 19
"And the angel thrust in his
sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it
into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was
trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even
unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred
furlongs."
This vision ends with the battle
of Armageddon, which takes place after the Lord returns (first to
Jerusalem, then to Armageddon.) So another vision has ended, with the
Revelation or revealing of Jesus Christ. The second vision called it
the time when the “kingdoms of the world have become the kingdoms of
our Lord…”; The third vision calls it a war between the Dragon and the
Jewish converts; The fourth vision has the Jewish converts in Jerusalem
and the harvest of the earth is reaped. All of these visions end with a
retelling of the same event—the coming of the Lord—which is the purpose
of the book.
VISION #5: “THE VIALS OF WRATH”
Revelation
15-16
This vision begins close to the
coming of the Lord, when Babylon is destroyed. It begins by speaking of
martyers, those who had “gotten victory over the Beast.” It centers
upon the destruction which leads to the destruction of Babylon (the
“Seventh vial”) and the battle of Armageddon:
Revelation
16:17-21
"And the seventh angel poured out
his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple
of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices,
and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as
was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so
great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities
of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God,
to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there
fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight
of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail;
for the plague thereof was exceeding great"
The phrase "it is done" indicates
the end of God's judgment. While this judgment is focused on Babylon,
as opposed to Armageddon, it is clear that both occur during the same
war, or near the same time. It concludes with this facet of this war,
to introduce the vision that follows.
VISION #6: “THE JUDGEMENT OF THE HARLOT”
Revelation
17-18
This vision takes place during the last “vial of wrath”
as indicated by this passage from the previous vision:
Revelation
16:17-19
"And the seventh angel poured out
his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple
of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices,
and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as
was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so
great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities
of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God,
to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath."
So by this passage, we can deduce
that the vision of Babylon’s destruction occurs at the time of the
“seventh seal,” which takes place at the same time as the “seventh
trumpet,” which is near the coming of the Lord.
This vision of Babylon’s fate has
has two parts: chapter 17 explains how Babylon rose again, and chapter
18 describes how Babylon falls.
The fate of Babylon is sealed by
the nations of the world. We read that in the final days of the Great
Tribulation, the ten horns that were on the Beast, which the harlot
rode, will burn her with fire:
Revelation
17:16
"And the ten horns which thou
sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her
desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire."
In this final attack against
Babylon, the river Euphrates will be damned up, cutting off the water
supply to the country. The prophet Isaiah wrote about this attack in
chapter 13 of his book. According to the oldest text of Isaiah, found
in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Lord will come as the nations of the world
have surrounded Babylon:
“The oracle of Babylon which
Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. Raise a signal on a windswept mountain,
shout to them, wave your hand, for him to enter the gates of the
nobles. I have commanded my holy ones: I have called my warriors to
carry out my wrath, my proudly boasting ones. The roar of a mob on the
mountains, like a large army! The noise of kingdoms, nations gathered
together! The LORD of hosts is mustering an army for battle, coming
from a far country, from the end of the heavens, the LORD and the
instruments of his wrath, to destroy the whole earth. Wail, for the day
of the LORD is near, like destruction from the Almighty it comes.”
(Isaiah 13;1-6, The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible. Italicized words indicate
an earlier reading)
The sixth vision of Revelation is
a repeat of the Old Testament promise of Babylon’s destruction. The
kingdom of the “little horn” will become the new Babylonian empire in
the Middle East, to be destroyed by both God and the nations of the
world in the end time. After the “Beast” causes Babylon’s resurrection,
it will turn on her in the end. (I am about to release a book which
identifies the “little horn,” the “Dragon,” the “Beast” and the “Mother
of harlots.”)
VISION #7: “THE COMING OF THE LORD AND
ETERNITY"
Revelation 17-18
Unlike most of the previous
visions, the final vision of Revelation begins with the coming of the
Lord, and ends with eternity. The first and the last vision act as
“bookends” to the visions in between. The first vision introduces us to
where the message is going, and the final one looks forward to
eternity. Every vision in between records events that will occur during
the time of the revelation or “revealing” of Jesus Christ coming down
from the heaven of heavens.
CONCLUSION
The book of Revelation is a
series of visions. The events entailed in each vision are in strict
chronological order. The second vision is the longest, and is the
“puzzle board” that all the other visions must be placed into. The
remaining visions give clear indications in the text of their timing.
It is a mistake believe that this
book can be haphazardly “cut and pasted” according to our own theories
(i.e., a “trumpet” before a “seal”). God’s Word lays out a precise
chronological order. After the independent visions are identified, and
arranged according to their stated timing, then the proper
interpretation of Revelation can begin. The next step is to go back to
the Old Testament and other Jewish works and let the given definition
of the symbolism speak for itself.
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