Index to Articles on The Future

The seven seals give the big picture, covering the entire seven years of Daniel's seventieth week. The most notable feature of the seven seals is that they exactly parallel the Olivet Discourse. Jesus' description of the "beginning of sorrows," the "great tribulation," and His post-tribulation coming, complete with the cosmic sign, are fulfilled in the same sequence in Revelation 6. Many have seen this parallel. But unfortunately, few have seen its significance in determining the chronology of Revelation. The sixth seal is the most important, describing the celestial phenomenon, the darkening of the sun and moon. This event anchors the seals to two other definite events, the end of the tribulation [Matthew 24:29], and the beginning of the "Day of the Lord" [Joel 2:31].

First Seal
Rev. 6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. 2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

Olivet Discourse
Matt 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many....
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
 

Second Seal
6:3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

Olivet Discourse
Matt. 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: ...
 

Third Seal
6:5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Olivet Discourse
Matt 24:7 ... and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
 

Fourth Seal
6:7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Olivet Discourse
Matt 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
 

Fifth Seal
6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Olivet Discourse
Matt 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.... 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
 

Sixth Seal
6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.  15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Olivet Discourse
Matt 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:  30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
 

Seventh Seal
8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. [The Kingdom has come to earth]

Olivet Discourse
Luke 21:31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

The clear parallel between the seals and the Olivet Discourse carries great weight. In my opinion, the sixth seal is conclusive proof that Revelation contains more than one chronology. Therefore, the seven seals are a description of the entire tribulation, ending with Christ's Kingdom. The following comparison demonstrates that the sixth seal occurs in conjunction with the battle of Armageddon. Notice the many parallels of the sixth seal to other passages.

1. Great earthquake, every mountain and island moved out of their places, [Rev. 6:12,14].
a. At the seventh vial, "...there was a great earthquake, ... and every island fled away, and the mountains were not found." [Rev. 16:18,20]
b. Isa. 2:19,22, and Isa 13:13 describe this great earthquake when the "Day of the Lord" comes.

2. Sun and moon darkened, Rev. 6:12.
a. Jesus said this will occur "immediately after the tribulation." [Matt. 24:29].
b. Joel places this sign before the Day of the Lord, [Joel 2:31].
c. The sign occurs at the time of the battle of Armageddon, and Christ begins to reign immediately thereafter. [Joel 3:9-18]
d. Isaiah connects this sign with the coming of the Day of the Lord and the battle of Armageddon. [Isaiah 13:3-13].

3. There will be a meteor shower; "even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind."
a. Again this is a direct reference to the coming of the Day of the Lord in Isaiah 34:4 which says of the stars: "their host shall fall down, as a leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree."
b. Jesus also mentioned this in Matt. 24:29, "immediately after the tribulation...the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken."
c. At the seventh vial there is also this meteor shower, [Rev. 16:21].

4. "The heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled together;" [Rev. 6:14]. This is a direct quote from Isaiah 34:4, where the context clearly has the battle of Armageddon on the Day of the Lord in view.

5. The kings and mighty men hide in the caves and rocks, [Rev. 6:15,16]. This comes from Isaiah's description of the Day of the Lord.

Isaiah 2
10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty.
11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of man shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
12 For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud....
19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

6. "The great day of His wrath is come," [Rev. 6:17]. This is also a direct reference to Isaiah's description of the coming of the Day of the Lord, [Isaiah 13:9 & 34:8].

In my opinion, the accumulated evidence from the preceding parallel passages prove that the tribulation ends and the Day of the Lord begins at the sixth seal. The passages from Isaiah place the battle of Armageddon on the Day of the Lord. And, Joel three ties together the sun and moon sign, the battle of Armageddon, and the setting up of Christ's Kingdom. This being the case, the trumpets and vials must be a recapitulation of events during the seals.

The Order of the Book of Revelation

William Arnold III

Introduction

Attempt to understand the book of Revelation has given rise to a great deal of controversy. I think it is because of this controversy and the variety of opinions surrounding this book that so many ministers avoid it altogether. This is very sad because it is the only book in the Bible which gives a specific blessing to him "who reads and those who hear" its words (1:3), and it is an epistle written to the church (v. 4).

Various Opinions on the Order

The opinions range from a strict chronology to the idea that there is no sequence of events whatsoever. A strict chronology is impossible. For instance, Revelation 14:1 has Jesus standing on Mount Zion with the 144,000 Jews when the bowls are still yet to come in chapter 16 and his return in chapter 19. Revelation 11:15-19 states that Jesus has now received the kingdom and begun to reign, that the time for the dead to be judged has come, and that it is time to destroy those who destroy the earth. All of these are events which take place after the Tribulation. Revelation 7:15-17 seems to depict eternity (compare to 21:3-7). Revelation 10:7 states that with the seventh trumpet "the mystery of God is finished." In 13:1 John first sees the Beast coming out of the sea which would be very difficult to reconcile with what has been going on if this is when he first appears (especially chapter 12). Revelation 12:4 is best understood as taking place in eternity past with verse 5 as a reference to the birth and ascension of Christ (although some would understand it differently). Revelation 14:17-20 describes the harvest by the angels which Jesus said would take place at the "end of the age" (Matt. 13:39). Both 14:8 and 18:2 describe the fall of Babylon as if it has just taken place. Revelation 6:12-14 describes the great cosmic signs which Jesus said would take place "after the tribulation" (Matt. 24:29). And both 6:14 and 16:20 describe the disappearance of all mountains and islands.

Among those who fall between a strict chronology and the idea of no sequence whatsoever, there are two major schools of thought concerning how to understand the order of the book of Revelation. The first is the view which sees the seals, trumpets, and bowls as sequential with some of the events in between as being interruptions of this order. The second view sees the seals, trumpets, and vials as all leading up to the end. It sees this as the same story told from different points of view, similar to the different accounts in the gospels. Each time John describes events that lead up to the return of the Lord and the end of the age from a different perspective.

A Biblical Approach

Now the difference between these two views is significant. I will attempt to show that the second is to be preferred. This is based primarily on the similarity of events described towards the end of the seals, trumpets, and bowls as demonstrated in the following chart:

Although some of these are debatable there seems to me to be overwhelming evidence here linking these events. The most logical understanding is that these are describing the same events with some giving more details and some leaving out details. This is more plausible than the idea that all these things take place multiple times. We could look at several of these events, but I want to focus on one in particular: I grew up on an island. Imagine that every island on the planet disappears. Now imagine that every mountain is leveled. Think about it: THIS CANNOT HAPPEN TWICE! Mountains and islands do not "grow back" after five or six years. If nothing else, at least these must both describe the same event.

Not only do these events parallel each other, but they parallel other passages. For instance, the sixth seal parallels the description of the end by both Jesus and Joel:

Jesus plainly states that the great cosmic signs would take place "after the tribulation." John has them occurring at the sixth seal. We must therefore conclude that at least the sixth seal is after the Tribulation. Furthermore, the seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:15-19) clearly describes the end and is said to finish the mystery of God (10:7) as was already stated. [1] Also, as John is approaching the seventh trumpet he is told that he "must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings" (10:11). This leads me to believe that the sixth and seventh trumpets bring us to the end, and then John starts back over from a different perspective listing different events with the bowls. [2] Finally, it seems likely that this seventh trumpet parallels Paul’s last trumpet in 1 Corinthians 15:52 and Jesus’ trumpet in Matthew 24:31.

Literary Flow vs. Chronological Order

Although I do not see a strict chronology, I do see a literary flow of the book of Revelation (characters are usually introduced into the story before they are discussed, such as the 144,000 in chapter 7 and the great harlot in chapter 17). This type of structure may seem strange to us, but it is common in other parts of the Bible and fits very well with the Semitic style of the book. In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus describes the first 3½ years (beginning of sorrows) followed by the second 3½ years (Tribulation) and finishes with the coming of the end (Matt. 24:4-14). Then he returns to discuss the midpoint in verse 15 and the second 3½ year period again in verse 21. This is similar to the story of creation in Genesis 1 and 2. Moses tells the whole story and then returns to expound on the creation of man in more detail. This is how I understand the seals, trumpets, and vials. They are increasingly more telescopic of events leading up to the end.

Footnotes

1. Compare to Daniel 9:24, where the completion of the seventieth week is said to "seal up vision and prophecy."

2. Even Pentecost recognizes this point, cf. J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958), 187-188.

The Future

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