This is a caution for the new babe in Christ Jesus. Having just come to Christ a new babe may think our Lord's Book of Revelation will immediately be opened to their understanding. I've even heard sermons that just by reading it without actually understanding it one will be blessed (misinterpretation of the Rev.1:3 verse). There's a danger in that thinking, because understanding Revelation involves an understanding especially in God's Old Testament prophets, and basically, understanding in most all of God's Word. I think many who have been studying The Bible for years well know this by now. Our Lord Jesus said...
Mark 4:23-25
23 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
24 And He said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.
25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.
(KJV)
In the Luke 8:18 version of that, our Lord warned to "Take heed therefore how ye hear", like with what manner you hear. It's about who, and how, we listen to God's Word. Our Lord Jesus then compared that to how well we'll be able to produce good fruit in Him.
How we approach study of our Lord's Book of Revelation is like that too. There is a danger using man's approach of progressivism to study Revelation. What I mean by that is how we're used to learning a subject in public schools or universities. With secular education, the material usually flows in order, from one chapter to the next. The next chapter picks up in order where the previous chapter left off. That is not always HOW information in our Lord's Book of Revelation is presented though. It is different in that even some parts of a prophecy covered in detail in a later chapter can be first summarized or brushed upon in an earlier chapter. An example is Rev.1:6-7 about Christ having made us kings and priests, and His coming with clouds when every eye shall see Him. That has not happenned yet, and more detail of it is given in later Revelation chapters, along with other events that go with it.
So you sit down in earnest and open our Lord's Book of Revelation, asking The LORD to open your eyes, and then go about trying to apply man's method of study to understand it, thinking that each event written as you go through its chapters 'should' happen in consecutive or chronological order, one right after the other. That won't work. The reason why is simple. The timeline of written events often move backwards and forwards in time. If you try to apply the written events in a consecutive type order like you would with a subject like history, the order of events will be all jumbled up.
There IS one specific order of events in Revelation our Lord did put in consecutive order for us, and that's the last three trumpet - woe periods. We can depend on the order of the events given within those 3 woe - 3 trumpet periods. The 3 Woes begin at the end of Rev.8, and continue through the end of Rev.11. Do you think our Lord Jesus definitely wants us to understand that particular section of events? Yes, that's the idea it's pointing to.
Evidently, our Lord did not want to reveal the order of all the Revelation events to just anyone. Simply because He moved event timelines back and forth means we have to first become familiar with the written events. And most of the symbols and metaphors in Revelation were actually given in previous Books of His Word, especially in the Old Testament prophets. That points to His wanting us to become familiar with all of His Word of Truth.
It's customary to treat all the seven seals as happenning in order first, then the seven trumpets happen in order, and then in final the seven vials for the end. Afterall, that's pretty much how those events are layed out while going through the Revelation chapters. That's about assuming the order the events are written happen in chronological order. But when you start actually comparing the type of events in the seals, trumpets, and vials with each other, you should begin to see the order of the written layout is not always the order when all the events happen. Note the events of the 7th vial and the 7th trumpet.
Rev 16:17
17 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."
(KJV)
Rev 11:15
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.
(KJV)
Rev 10:7
7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets.
(KJV)
Those 7th vial and 7th trumpet events are time related. The time of God's wrath is given with the 7th trumpet in Rev.11, and also with the 6th-7th seals, and with the 7th vial in Rev.16. Is that pointing to an order of all 7 seals happen first, then all 7 trumpets happen next, and then all 7 vials happen? No. It is pointing to the 7th trumpet, 7th vial, and 6th-7th seal events all ending at the same time.
Mark 4:23-25
23 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
24 And He said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.
25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.
(KJV)
In the Luke 8:18 version of that, our Lord warned to "Take heed therefore how ye hear", like with what manner you hear. It's about who, and how, we listen to God's Word. Our Lord Jesus then compared that to how well we'll be able to produce good fruit in Him.
How we approach study of our Lord's Book of Revelation is like that too. There is a danger using man's approach of progressivism to study Revelation. What I mean by that is how we're used to learning a subject in public schools or universities. With secular education, the material usually flows in order, from one chapter to the next. The next chapter picks up in order where the previous chapter left off. That is not always HOW information in our Lord's Book of Revelation is presented though. It is different in that even some parts of a prophecy covered in detail in a later chapter can be first summarized or brushed upon in an earlier chapter. An example is Rev.1:6-7 about Christ having made us kings and priests, and His coming with clouds when every eye shall see Him. That has not happenned yet, and more detail of it is given in later Revelation chapters, along with other events that go with it.
So you sit down in earnest and open our Lord's Book of Revelation, asking The LORD to open your eyes, and then go about trying to apply man's method of study to understand it, thinking that each event written as you go through its chapters 'should' happen in consecutive or chronological order, one right after the other. That won't work. The reason why is simple. The timeline of written events often move backwards and forwards in time. If you try to apply the written events in a consecutive type order like you would with a subject like history, the order of events will be all jumbled up.
There IS one specific order of events in Revelation our Lord did put in consecutive order for us, and that's the last three trumpet - woe periods. We can depend on the order of the events given within those 3 woe - 3 trumpet periods. The 3 Woes begin at the end of Rev.8, and continue through the end of Rev.11. Do you think our Lord Jesus definitely wants us to understand that particular section of events? Yes, that's the idea it's pointing to.
Evidently, our Lord did not want to reveal the order of all the Revelation events to just anyone. Simply because He moved event timelines back and forth means we have to first become familiar with the written events. And most of the symbols and metaphors in Revelation were actually given in previous Books of His Word, especially in the Old Testament prophets. That points to His wanting us to become familiar with all of His Word of Truth.
It's customary to treat all the seven seals as happenning in order first, then the seven trumpets happen in order, and then in final the seven vials for the end. Afterall, that's pretty much how those events are layed out while going through the Revelation chapters. That's about assuming the order the events are written happen in chronological order. But when you start actually comparing the type of events in the seals, trumpets, and vials with each other, you should begin to see the order of the written layout is not always the order when all the events happen. Note the events of the 7th vial and the 7th trumpet.
Rev 16:17
17 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."
(KJV)
Rev 11:15
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.
(KJV)
Rev 10:7
7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets.
(KJV)
Those 7th vial and 7th trumpet events are time related. The time of God's wrath is given with the 7th trumpet in Rev.11, and also with the 6th-7th seals, and with the 7th vial in Rev.16. Is that pointing to an order of all 7 seals happen first, then all 7 trumpets happen next, and then all 7 vials happen? No. It is pointing to the 7th trumpet, 7th vial, and 6th-7th seal events all ending at the same time.