Since I am up drinking coffee in the wee hours with nothing else to do I will sip and post the proper Chronology of John's book of Revelation as I see it.
I understand brother iamlamad thinks is a linear chronology, but I think the proof is in the pudding.
A.) We all know the seven churches are the first three chapters, some think they are examples of periods of tome during the Church Age, could be, but its not relevant to the chronology of Revelation.
B.) I think John being called up in Revelation 4:1 when he "heard" a trumpet talking to him is a foreshadowing of the Rapture at the end of the Church Age and Jesus calling us to heaven. The 24 elders are there at the throne room also and all praise God saying Holt, holy, holy. This is of course all happening while men on earth are in the "Peace/Security Agreement" years on earth. (70th Week)
C.) Then in chapter five we see Jesus about to open the "Seven Seals" as he is the only one worthy enough to open them, and the Church in heaven sing Worthy is the Lamb. We know this is the Church by what is stated in verse 9, to go along with the 24 elders and John being there. And John will be there in actuality. Jesus redeemed who? The Church of course !!
See below:
Rev. 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain,
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
We are now at the most important time-frame of the book of Revelation so I will add a little here. This is the Midway point of the 70th Week. This is when Dan. 9:27 says the Anti-Christ reneges on his Agreements (Covenants) and this is when 2 Thessalonians 2 says the Man of Sin is revealed. Jesus opens the first Seal and releases the Anti-Christ to go forth as a Conqueror (White Horse).
D.) Rev. ch 6 of course is the opening of the "Seven Seals" and the "Four Horses" are just a way to explain the Anti-Christ going forth at the Midway point of the 70th Week in four different stages. He Conquers (White Horse), he takes away the Peace he feigned (Red Horse), his actions brings famine and starvation via judgment (Black Horse), and finally the Pale Green Horse represents Death and the Grave, whereas 1/4 of all mankind dies at this time. Many via war, many via famine but most in my opinion because this is the only perfect time to strike while the iron is hot, this Anti-Christ will see do destroy all Religions at this point in time, why wait until later? That would be a dreadful mistake !! He will wipe out Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and all religions at this Midway point in time. Of course that is what he does with Judaism/Christianity also isn't it? He chases Israel into the Wilderness, the Christians ones heed Jesus' words and flee, those who still follow Judaism no doubt will be murdered, the heed not Jesus' voice. The Remnant Church of Rev. 17:12 will also be killed, all who refuse the Mark of the Beast will be Martyrs. Israelis who flee will be protected for how long? 1260 Days, meaning this is the Midway point of the 70th Week. This shows the Seals being opened but does not go into some details in depth, that comes in other chapters, Rev. 12 is Israel's FLIGHT..........Rev. 13 is the Beast arising from the Sea or the Anti-Christ Conquering Jerusalem (First Seal being opened). He goes forth to Conquer !! The Kings in league with the Beast kill of the Harlot at this point in time, (Rev. 17:16) by destroying all False Religions save the Beasts final false Religion, which God/Jesus will judge at Vial #7. This is the most important chapter in all of Revelation. Everything else is is built around to this chapter.
Of course Jesus opens the 5th Seal and its a testimony against the Beast and his evil minions, these Beheaded are told they must wait until their fellow brothers, the one not Raptured but who died for Christ or will die for Christ have been Martyred as the were. These Beheaded are seen in Rev. 20:4, they reign with Christ on earth 1000 years. The Sixth Seal is opened, only now do the minions on earth understand they are in the Day of the Lord (Gods Wrath/Lambs Wrath) because of certain celestial events and a great earthquake. But they have been in the Day of the Lord since the First Seal was opened, its Gods Wrath, and Jesus is opening the Seals.
E.) In Rev. ch. 7 we see the 144,000 "virgins" are new Jewish Converts via the two-witnesses who show up 75 days before the Anti-Christ is released to conquer Jerusalem and becomes the Beast. God commands the Angel to SEAL them in the forehead before the Plagues/Curses are allowed to come upon the earth, meaning they are to wait until they are in their protected wilderness zone before the Angels release the flurry of plagues upon the nations. Thus in Rev. 18 when we hear "Come out of her my people" this is God calling Israel out of Babylon (World) lest they receive of her plagues. So Rev. ch. 18 is the World (Babylon) receiving the Seal, Trumpet and Vial Judgments from ch. 6 through chapter 16. The 144,000 is 12 x 12 x 12 or ALL ISRAEL as a whole. For All Israel will be saved, not every Jew, but Israel as a nation will be preserved.
Then in Rev. 7:9 we again see the Church and at this time they have already married the Lamb because they have White Robes on. We are told they came out of the 2000 year Church Age (GREAT TRIBULATION = 2000 Year Church Age Tribulation) and they came out of every nation, peoples, tongue and kindred (Church). Chapters 4 and 5 happen the Seals are opened, the Beast comes forth, Israel Flees, the 144,000 are protected, and we then FLASH BACK unto the Church in Heaven who have by this time Married the Lamb.
(We are shown the Marriage in Rev. 19, but its already happened here by this time !!)
F.) Rev. ch. 8 is a flash back to earth. The 7th Seal is opened, it is all Seven Trumpets rolled up into one, and the Seventh Trumpet is all Seven Vials rolled into one, so you could say Jesus opens or releases all of the Seals, Trumpets and Vials on mankind. Back to Rev. ch. 8, it says in verse 3 the prayers of the Saints bring forth these plagues, I imagine that is the two-witnesses also. God always gives warnings like He did Nineveh, here we see the plagues come with the severity of a 1/3 of the vengeance of what will come next when the Vials are poured out. 1/3 of the tress are burnt up,
1/3 of the ships are destroyed, 1/3 of the sea is turned to blood, 1/3 of the sea creatures are killed (commerce all), 1/3 of the drinking waters are poisoned. Here it gets worse than Seal #6, a 1/3 of the Sun doesn't give her light, 1/3 of the moon and 1/3 of the Stars. Now comes the Woes !!
G.) Of course the three Woes are ahead. The 5th, 6th and 7th Trumpet are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Woes. The first Woe is a demonic force released on Mankind, their leader is named Apollyon, he is the 8th Beast of Rev. ch. 17. He is the Destroyer (over Israel fro m its birth) and is over the Seven Beasts, even he is the 8th Beast. These demons can harm men for 5 months but can not kill them.
The 2nd Woe is, IMHO, and Angelic Army of God, they have on Breastplates that match to a tee the High Priests Breastplates as per color etc. etc. These are ANGELS not Demons thus say the scriptures.....
.Rev. 9:14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet,
Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. So these Angels are not bound in the Euphrates River, they are BOUND to an APPOINTED TIME at this place the Euphrates River basin. They are going to slay 1/3 of all mankind here. These are PLAGUES killing men, so says the scriptures.......
Rev. 9:20 And the
rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
(Thus the 2nd Woe is finished, its a judgment brought by an Angelic Army of God.)
H.) Now we move to Rev. ch 16 of we are to keep the order of events !! The 3rd Woe is the Seven Vials of Gods Wrath. So if we want the true order of Revelation from chapter one until the end we have to move from the 2nd Woe to the 3rd Woe which is the Seven Vials and the end right? We can then, and only then understand that chapter 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and even 17 and 18 are Visions that fill in different things that were going on during the Seals, Trumpets and Vials happenings, sometimes from Israel's perspective and sometimes from the Anti-Christ or Beast and his Minions perspectives. Sometimes its from the Two-Witnesses perspective. Sometimes its God filling us in on details not told as it happened, like the Harlot (False Religion) being destroyed at the Midway point when the Anti-Christ made his mad maneuvers to become the Beast by Conquering Jerusalem, Israel and more than likely the whole Mediterranean Sea Region. The Sea in Rev. 13 is of course the Mediterranean Sea just like the other 6 Beasts were over that region also.
So the Seven Vials are poured out, the plagues are not in 1/3's now, they are full force, Gods Anger is running over by this point in time. All the sea creatures die, all the ocean turns to blood, all the drinking waters are poisoned, all the ships are destroyed (COMMERCE DESTROYED Rev. 18) the sun now scorches men, grievous sores come upon men and the kingdom goes pitch black. Then the 6th Vial is poured out and the Kings of the East (Not China IMHO) who I see as Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, etc. etc. all are seduced to coming against Israel, God at Armageddon along with ALL THE NATIONS via the three "Demon Frogs "Spirits". Thus in reality you have a "Combined Forces" so to speak of the European Union (10 Kings) led by the Beast, the Kings of the East, and the Nations of the World. Notice in verse 12 the Kings of the East come out of the Euphrates River basin area. And then the Nations of the Earth are brought forth via he Demon Spirits seduction in verse 13. So the E.U. and Beast, the Muslim hordes and the rest of the world all combine under the guise of BABYLON, and that is what God sees them as when the Holy Spirit destroys them, after Jesus lands on Mt. Zion.
Rev. 16:19 And the
great city(Jerusalem) was divided into
three parts(Earthquake), and the
cities of the nations fellBabylon FALLS) and
great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
So Babylon is Fallen, is fallen.
I.) Now we can go back and add in everything else, every other chapter in the book of Revelation fits into these chapters I have described above except 20-22. Even in Rev. 19, we see the Marriage of the Lamb, but in Rev. ch. 7 we see the Church already has White Robes. We see the Church and Jesus return to defeat the Beast and his minions, but we know that happened in Rev. ch. 16 where the Angel cries out,
IT IS DONE !! We are not told about the Marriage Supper but it happened, the Marriage Super is the Carnage of Death, weird but true, and we know there is DEATH in Rev. 16 at Armageddon. We understand that Rev. ch. 14 is the same event as Rev. ch. 16 also, the Horses have blood up to their mouths or bridles because of the Wine-press of Gods Wrath, which is just what
Rev. 16:19 says ABOVE IN BOLD !! Rev. ch. 18 is Babylon being hit with all 21 Judgments of Gods Wrath, its the Worlds Governments being Conquered/Destroyed. He destroys their Commerce with the Seals, Trumpets and Vials does he not? The Kings cry and lament Babylon burning, but the same kings rejoiced when the Harlot (False Religion) was killed off in Rev. ch 17, thus they re two different entities !!
We can go back to Rev.11, that chapters fills us in on the two-witnesses more than any other chapter. It tells us how long they preach/witness, when they die in juxtaposition to the Beast. Its only purpose is to give us greater details in the two-witnesses and their actions against mankind, the time line has already been given unto us as per the 70th Week. But this helps us understand that time-line and when the Two-witness die, thus when they must SHOW UP, since they die before the Beast they must show up before the Beast !! And that is just what Malachi 4:5-6 says. It also matches logical thinking, that Israel has to have repented before the Day of the Lord or they would not know they need to Flee Judea when they see the Abomination of Desolation.
In Rev. ch. 12 we are given a code telling us who the Woman is (Genesis 37:9) and thus we can understand the prophetic uttering in Rev. ch. 12, the Woman, who flees at the Midway point, flees to the safety of the Wilderness in Edom (Petra) where God protects her for 1260 Days, which just so happens to be the Midway point of a WHOLE WEEK doesn't it? Everything matches if we let it.
Rev. 13 as I have stated before is the Anti-Christ going forth to Conquer, as he takes Jerusalem he becomes the Seventh Beast Head of the Seven Headed Beast. Thus he becomes the last Beast. He is the Figurative Beast and thus his coming forth HEALS the Mortal Wound of the Figurative Beast. The False Prophet places an Image of the Beast in the Temple of God, IMHO, this False Prophet is an ANGRY RABBI, who detests Jesus (we know many like that), and when Israel comes to Christ as a whole he is seething with anger. He thus becomes a tool of Satan, of course. Hes the BEAST over the Religion, he has nothing to do with the Geo-political Beasts power, other than he is a faithful servant who the Geo-political Beast hearkens to, and agrees with, that HE IS NOW GOD !! And the ONLY GOD !! And that he alone should be Worshiped as such !! Thus with such admiration by this Jewish Man, he naturally gives this man ALL POWER over ALL RELIGIONS, this this man orders ALL RELIGIONS to be destroyed pronto !! That all happens in the Middle of the week of course. As soon as the Beast comes to power he does away with all Religions at the very moment.
Rev. 14 is the 144,000 being brought to battle with Jesus when he shows up, he of course brings the Saints with him, the Church Saints from Heaven, the 144,000 from the Wilderness. H probably raises the Tribulation Saints at this time (See Revelation 14:14) with the first cycle, then we come against the Beast and his minions, even though its really the Holy Spirit that takes hi out, and thus in Revelation 14:19-20 we see the CYCLE Thrust in again, and this time the Wine-press of Gods Wrath takes our the Wicked of the earth.
Rev. 15 is just a vision of the Sven Plagues being readied in Heaven. Its a little more, but its mostly just a testament to the coming final Judgments being readied by the Angels of God !!
Rev. 17, as I think I have made clear is the Harlot (All False Religion) being Judged by God and destroyed for her wickedness, of course God will judge the final False Prophet with HELL FIRE in Rev. 19:20 along with Anti-Christ/Beast/Little Horn.
Rev. 18 as I have stated is Babylon (World Governments) being JUDGED, with Fire and the 21 Plagues/Judgments of God. These Judgments destroys her commerce, destroy the sea creatures, burns the trees and grasses, poisons the waters, turns the sea to blood, destroys the ships and more than likely all transportation, these Judgments make the Merchants cry and weep !! Boo hoo hoo, serve the RIGHT GOD !!! Amen, I am stoked !! Lets do this Jesus !!!
Rev. ch. 19 is the Church in Heaven Marrying the Lamb then returning, its just a mire detailed chapter as to what is happening in Rev. chapters 4, 5 and 7, and in Rev, 7 we see them with White Robes thus they are already married by the Midway point, this just fills in the DETAILS, then shows the Church returning with Christ to Armageddon !!
Rev. 20-22 is after the Second Coming of course. I think I have covered the book of Revelation as per the time-line, hopefully it helps some people understand the order of things. O know it can be confusing but the Lord has been showing me these things in depth.