Sequence-of-Events Analysis integrating the Major Linear Narratives around specific and unique events.
Revelation chapters 13-16 (inclusive)
Now let's look at the parallel account with Revelation of chapters 13-16 inclusive, which I call the Rise and Fall of the anti-Christ. I think the whole of the one 'seven' is detailed here to give us some added information which is missing from other accounts, mainly the seventh Trumpet, but also about the 144,000 and about the nature of the Day of the Lord and some things peculiar to the sixth Seal which lead to much confusion about the Wrath of God first mentioned in writing in Revelation chapter 6.
In outline form from the four chapters of Revelation 13 through 16 here are the “events:”
• The rise of the fourth terrible beast of a nation out of the “sea”
.....o Worship of the beast (rebellion against God)
• Authority given (by God) to the beast of a man for one-half of the one 'seven'
.....o He wages war against the Saints
.....o We are to endure patiently (remember Rev 3:10 and John 17:15)
• Rise of the false prophet with miracles and 'fire from the sky'
• Erection of the talking image of the anti-Christ: the midpoint abomination
• Two laws which make the Great Tribulation the worst time ever for the Church in terms of persecution
• 144,000 assembled on Mount Zion
• 3 Angels fulfill the Great Commission / Warn the wicked
• Son of Man coming on the clouds
• Harvest from the clouds
• Avenging Angels - Blood and Fire
• First Bowl - Sores on Man
• Second Bowl - All sea to blood
• Third Bowl - All water to blood
• Fourth Bowl - Seared by heat
• Fifth Bowl - Satan's kingdom in the dark
• Sixth Bowl - Way for the King of the East - Battle at Armageddon N/S/E
• Seventh Bowl - Earth changing earthquake
Working backwards at first, in sequencing this account to the previous compilation, the Bowl Judgments come last - it says so in the Harvest account in chapter 15. Previously the seventh Trumpet announcement was broken off in the previous Seal/Scroll chronology in Revelation chapter 10 when John is told not to write and only later summed up with no details of the desolations it ensues being revealed whatsoever. So now God shows to John what he didn't write about in the Seal/Scroll chronology: the desolations of the third Woe. They are all of the first "thirds" Trumpet Judgments but now - they're total. The depth of God’s Wrath is displayed in the third Woe.
Notice that the end comes with an earth-changing Great earthquake. This marries what chapter 11 had at its end and in addition, what concludes the sidebar account of Revelation 11:1-13. There are parallel accounts within the book of Revelation because there is so much action taking place, and one of the clues that these take place is repeated events. This is also the reason the book of Revelation is so hard to read when read like a novel; the action seems to go back and forth.
So the easiest sequencing of all is to preserve the finality of the Bowl Judgments. They complete the third Woe of the seventh Trumpet. The Bowl Judgments can be viewed as the revealed third Woe; they follow the seventh Trumpet.
• Seventh Trumpet
.....o First Bowl - Sores on Man
.....o Second Bowl - All sea to blood
.....o Third Bowl - All water to blood
.....o Fourth Bowl - Seared by heat
.....o Fifth Bowl - Satan's kingdom in the dark
.....o Sixth Bowl - Way for the King of the East - Battle at Armageddon N/S/E
.......... Two Witnesses die from Demon from Abyss.
.....o Seventh Bowl
Starting at the beginning of Revelation chapters 13 through 16 now, the beast of a nation rises before the beast of a man is given authority to rule for 42 months doing pretty much as he pleases without interference. This comes before the midpoint abomination now revealed as the erection of the talking image of the same anti-Christ by the false prophet who is introduced as being the source for “fire falling from the sky” which could be an apt description of a nuclear bomb explosion. That seminal event worthy of mention happens during the first half of the one ‘seven’ and before the midpoint abomination as well. The first four main bullet points precede the midpoint abomination and are put first. They explain the source for the midpoint abomination and the Great Tribulation and are a match.
Next, in response to the events of the antagonists, in Revelation chapters 14, the 144,000 are mustered before the Harvest. The assumption provided in the Seal/Scroll account combined with the Olivet Discourse is validated by the order given here. This is often the case; one account will allow alternate interpretations. Only when referenced against another account, whether multiple or parallel, is an additional fact provided which clears up the ambiguity.
In the sixth Seal, John only hears the number, here we see them and we are given additional information about the 144,000. One, the Lord is standing on Mount Zion. Two, the 144,000 are assembled on Mount Zion. Three, they never leave Jesus' side, so wherever Jesus goes, so goes His Army. These are crack troops, and they help tramp out the Wrath of God as portrayed in Joel on the Day of the Lord. (Jesus' Bride is safe at home in Heaven with the Father as all good Grooms would love and protect their Bride.)
The Pre-Trib and Post-Trib schools of eschatology insist that Jesus never touches down on the earth prior to gathering the Elect from the clouds. That reading from First and Second Thessalonians takes the vision of Christ coming on the clouds as a singular event. However, Paul can omit an event and not violate the overall sequence of events.
Jesus’ return was foretold at His Ascension and in Acts 1:11, we are told that He will return as He went up. Therefore, I expect Jesus will part the night sky with the scrolling of the sky to reveal the light of Heaven, and descending upon the clouds, will touch down on the Mount of Olives, splitting it in two as described in Zechariah 14:4. This causes the second earthquake of the sixth Seal (v.14) and the twin hills are the Mount Zion of Revelation chapter 14.
The 3 Angels come before the end, just like Jesus said in Mt 24:14; the Church cannot fulfill the Great Commission. Also too, their warning to the wicked that God is coming in Wrath has them hiding in the caves in the sixth Seal before Jesus actually comes to Harvest the Elect. This explains the first writing of “wrath” in the book of Revelation at 6:16 and why the wicked, who have no discernment of God’s Plan, so plainly know it is coming nevertheless: they’re told explicitly and they got the message.
The imagery of “one like the son of man” is the third time Jesus is depicted on the clouds of Heaven gathering the Elect in the Bible. First foretold in the Olivet Discourse, (and the second time some years later is included in Paul’s very first letter to the Churches: 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17) this third mention by John matches previous two bullet points showing Jesus coming on the clouds and gathering the Elect. Both accounts intersect and will be combined on this common event.
The final portion of chapter 14 has two avenging Angels. The first supplies the Blood present on the Day of the Lord Wrath. The second has charge of the fire. Fire is another component of Old Testament Day of the Lord Wrath and it is the first element of God’s Wrath from the Trumpets. As this Wrath is to only burn a “third” of the Earth, it is “managed.” The Angel supplying Blood literally fills the Land around the “City.”
Knowing there are two battles said to be fought on the Day of the Lord in the Old Testament, one around Jerusalem and the other in the Valley of Decision, which scholars link to the Valley of Jehoshaphat around Bethlehem to the south, the city would then translate to Jerusalem, and the Land would be Israel. As blood both defiles and redeems, (a paradox preserved in the dual meaning for a single verb in the Hebrew) God is literally wreaking desolation and in turn, washing the Holy Land of the sin that had been present.
The aspect having Redemption being immediately followed by Wrath in a reading of Revelation chapter 14 follows the example in the broad overview of the end in the previous Seal/Scroll chronology of chapters 4-11. There, the first Trumpet of God’s Wrath follows within an hour of the Great Multitude arriving in Heaven. This aspect of Rescue/Wrath which emerges in both accounts marries as well with the descriptive verse of this time from Jesus in the Olivet Discourse with the example of Noah and Lot who were both rescued and then immediately God’s Wrath rained down.
This distinction marks this eschatology as what is commonly called: Pre-Wrath.
The aspect of Rescue/Wrath both fall on the Day of the Lord. So, I'm going to indent those events which I think occur with the Day of the Lord starting with the Sun/moon/star event and call the whole series the "Day of the Lord." The two-fold nature of this day can be seen in prophecy with one of foreboding and clouds, while the other half is full of fire, smoke and blood. Those visions can be played out in literally two days just like Rosh ha-Shanah is a two-day Holy Day. Rosh ha-Shanah starts with the Last Trumpet, and begins a Festival of Trumpets. That figurative analogy is seen here literally.
So with that bit of logic, let's put the the sequence from Rev 13-16 together with the previously compiled sequence around their common points of specific and unique events:
• The rise of the fourth terrible beast of a nation out of the “sea.”
.....o Worship of the beast (rebellion against God)
• Covenant with many prevailed by the Roman ruler who will come.
• Authority given (by God) to the beast of a man for one-half of the one 'seven.'
.....o He wages war against the Saints.
.....o We are to endure patiently (remember Rev 3:10 and John 17:15)
.....o Rise of the false prophet with miracles and 'fire from the sky.'
• Armies surround Jerusalem.
• Midpoint Abomination Erection of the talking image of the anti-Christ
.....o Two laws which make the Great Tribulation the worst time ever for the Church in terms of persecution.
.....o Great Tribulation.
• Sun/moon/star event Day of the LORD.
.....o Scrolling of the sky = sign of the Son of Man
.....o Jesus touches down upon the earth.
.....o Mustering the 144,000 assembled on Mount Zion.
.....o 3 Angels fulfill the Great Commission / Warn the wicked
.....o Son of Man coming on the clouds.
.....o Harvest Redemption / Gathering Elect from the clouds.
.....o Great Multitude arrives in Heaven out of the Great Tribulation.
.....o Scroll opened with breaking of seventh Seal.
.....o First Trumpet fire and blood – 1/3rd of earth burned
.......... Avenging Angels – supplying Blood and managing the Fire.
• Second Trumpet - 1/3rd of sea to blood
• Third Trumpet - 1/3rd of water bitter
• Fourth Trumpet - 1/3rd of light struck
• Fifth Trumpet Abyss opened 5 months torment.
• Sixth Trumpet WWIII - 1/3rd of man killed
• Seventh Trumpet
.....o First Bowl - Sores on Man
.....o Second Bowl - All sea to blood
.....o Third Bowl - All water to blood
.....o Fourth Bowl - Seared by heat
.....o Fifth Bowl - Satan's kingdom in the dark
.....o Sixth Bowl - Way for the King of the East - Battle at Armageddon N/S/E
.......... Two Witnesses die from Demon from Abyss.
.....o Seventh Bowl –
.......... end with desolations poured out on the Roman desolator
.......... Earth changing earthquake.
Notice that every sequence order from each original list remains intact! No shuffling of facts is required. While students of other eschatologies might balk at how I define meaning for various words (confirm, midpoint abomination, Elect, etc.) deep interpretation is not required to blend Scripture –as it is worded– into this sequence of events. The fact that each individual account’s sequence remains intact, then verifies the ordering of the whole.