• 1 introduction
• 2-3 letters to seven churches
• 4-5 John goes to Heaven
• 6-11 seals, trumpets, witnesses
• 12-14 woman and dragon, beast
• 15-16 bowls
• 17-19 woman on beast, Babylon
• 20-22 millennium, conclusion

• SEAL 1 - white horse takes control
• SEAL 2 - red horse makes war
• SEAL 3 - black horse causes economic disaster
• SEAL 4 - pale horse brings death
• SEAL 5 - souls in heaven wanting revenge
• SEAL 6 - earthquake, black sun, red moon, stars fall, sky recedes, no wind, 144,000 sealed, Tribulation martyrs in heaven
• SEAL 7 - half hour silence in heaven, 7 trumpets, gold censer, lightening and earthquake


• TRUMPET 1 - hail, fire, blood, 1/3 of earth and trees burned, all grass burned
• TRUMPET 2 - fire mountain to sea, 1/3 of sea life killed, 1/3 of ships destroyed
• TRUMPET 3 - blazing star (Wormwood) poisons 1/3 of rivers and springs
• TRUMPET 4 - 1/3 of sun/moon/stars dark, 1/3 of day/night without light, flying eagle says Woe, woe, woe
• TRUMPET 5 - Abyss opened, with smoke, locusts whose king is Abaddon, death eludes people, harm to sealed 144,000 forbidden
• TRUMPET 6 - four angels at Euphrates released to kill 1/3 of people, mighty angel & little scroll, measure city, two witnesses prophecy for 1260 days (3.5 years), then die/live, then earthquake destroys tenth of city and 7000 people
• TRUMPET 7 - sign in heaven of women giving birth, red dragon thwarted and thrown to earth, beast out of sea with "fatal" wound rules world, beast out of earth (false prophet?) requires mark, angel reaps earth, blood flows as high as horse’s bridle for 180 miles, 7 bowls ready


• BOWL 1 - poured on land, sores on people with beast’s mark
• BOWL 2 - poured on sea, sea became blood, all sea life dies
• BOWL 3 - poured on rivers & springs, which became blood
• BOWL 4 - poured on sun, scorches people
• BOWL 5 - poured on throne of beast, causing darkness
• BOWL 6 - poured on Euphrates, water dried up, prepare for Armageddon
• BOWL 7 - poured on air, lightning, earthquake splits city in 3, all cities collapse, no more islands or mountains, 100 lb. hailstones, Babylon identified and judged, God’s enemies destroyed, Satan bound for 1000 years

There is an endless variety of theories about the meaning of the apocalyptic writings. Many have some validity and scriptural support, but none seem to fit precisely. It is therefore unwise and presumptuous to dogmatically state that one has THE correct interpretation of the symbolism. Those who insist upon having this one correct view forget that such precision is not possible in a vision. One also cannot accuse those holding differing views of being deceitful, insincere, closeminded, or stupid. It is quite normal and acceptable for true believers to honestly disagree about the meanings of obscure and symbolic passages. So understand that the following commentary is my own opinion, and as such I do not try to pass it off as the only possible interpretation. We must all have good reasons for believing as we do, and I recognize the right and responsibility of other fallible humans to have good reasons for their beliefs too. Disagree if you must, but have good reasons for doing so!

Even though the bowls are contained in the 7th trumpet, and the trumpets are contained in the 7th seal, and the judgments keep increasing in intensity, the timing of events over the 7 years is hard to pin down. Consider the following difficulties:

Regarding the two witnesses (11:1-13), the fact that the whole world will see them suggests that global communications (satellites, internet) are still functioning, an unlikely prospect at the end of the Tribulation. Also, when the witnesses are killed after 3.5 years people send each other gifts, another unlikely scenario at the end of the Tribulation.

According to Daniel’s prophecy, the Antichrist will not claim to be God until the middle of the Tribulation, so statements regarding the worship of the beast would only apply after that time. But this is not mentioned in Rev. until Chap. 13, after the 7th trumpet sounds. This is when the beast enforces "the mark", and when believing Israel will flee to Petra for 3.5 years (12:6).

The "blood flowing" of 14:20 (trumpet 7) seems to describe the Battle of Armageddon, which doesn’t happen until the 6th bowl (16:16).

It’s quite possible that trumpet 7, being the end of the middle set of judgments, marks the middle of the Tribulation. This, then, would be the timing of events:

Immediately after the Rapture, when the seal judgments (war, disease, economic collapse, celestial disturbances) and trumpet judgments (natural disasters, 144,000 witnesses, locusts) begin, the Antichrist guarantees peace to Israel, using the world religion to consolidate his power. At the middle of the Tribulation, he throws off the religion and declares himself to be God. The world is given the mark, but believing Israel flees to the safety of Petra. Then the dreaded bowl judgments begin, signaling the end of the Antichrist and the beginning of the Millennium.

I know this scenario differs from most others, but I’ve never seen these difficulties dealt with in any way.

A note about interpretation:

Hermeneutics, as I mentioned in an earlier post, determines the "glasses" through which one sees the text. There are several varieties, but only one that's accurate and reasonable. The idea is to understand the meaning the writer intended to convey (author hermeneutic), NOT the meaning we want the text to say (reader hermeneutic). In order to find the author's intention, we must consider all the levels of context.

With that in mind, how should we approach Revelation? Most of it is a vision of the future, so first off we're dealing with the genre called apocalyptic. Even so, did John give any indication as to what the vision meant? The use of grammar and vocabulary is one clue, giving us the "I'm just reporting what I see" nature of the writings. Sometimes the angel escorting John gives interpretations, and they are very down-to-earth. There is no hint of some kind of "spiritual allegory" that can be applied to the whole thing, as some people do.

So by carefully observing the manner in which John describes what he sees, and allowing the text to speak to us instead of us superimposing our preconceived theories onto it, we can be confident of understanding as much as God intends us to understand before the events actually take place.