The Structure of the Book of Revelation
Read Before
The book of Revelation seems very disorganized at first glance. There is one catastrophe after another and then it starts all over again. But when we look closer, we see an artistic structure and a deliberate work.
The Challenge
The book is full of symbols and references to the rest of the Bible and wants to remind us of our purpose as the church.
The book begins with what God has done and what He expects of the church: to be light and to depend on Him.
Then the churches are judged and the result is sobering: Only two of the churches are blameless, listed in very unimportant positions, two of them a plain disaster at the beginning and end of the epistles, and in the middle a church Simon troubles that Jesus will use it as a bad example for others.
The Answer
God gives the answers as an anchor in our lives: the place or eternal unchanging worship of the unchanging eternal God.
From this place will come all the seals, trumpets, and bowls, each ending with sequences of thunder, lightning, and earthquakes as they exist in the throne room. All three show different aspects of how God’s kingdom will be revealed.
Each of the three series has an interruption with a deepening (seals and trumpets) or an appendix that deepens a theme (trumpets and bowls). The appendix for the bowls extends to the final chapter of the New Jerusalem.
The Seals
The first series are the seals. They are an expression of what Jesus did on the cross and it’s consequences: exposing the devil and judging the world (regarding its alliance with the devil,) but also takes into account the prayers of the saints.
They are interrupted in chapter 7 by God gathering His army.
They end with the seventh seal which is also the introduction to the sounding of the trumpets.
The Trumpets
The trumpets are the answer to our prayers with a surprising twist. We would expect our prayers to bring comfort and peace, but the opposite is true. They take away provision and security, even life itself, so that everyone realizes that God is the source of provision and security.
But people don’t want to accept that. So John is called again to prophecy and be a witness. Before the seventh trumpet, the mystery of the temple and the appearance of the two witnesses are revealed.
After that, the story of Jesus’ victory over the devil as the true witness is shown .
The whole story is concluded with the presentation of God’s faithful army (we saw them in chapter 7 already) and their reward, and the judgment of all who are loyal to the devil and their “reward”.
The Bowls
The last part refers to God’s relentless passion for mankind to see His kingdom come. In the bowls we see the battle of God against every obstacle to save mankind. This ends with the destruction of the devil’s kingdom.
But the appendix here goes into much detail on this subject:
- Gods main target is the mysterious harlot named Babel.
- After the harlot is judged, the marriage of the Bride of Christ, the Church, can take place.
- The destruction of the devil’s kingdom is reported twice in chapters 19 and 20, surrounded by the millennial kingdom.
- Finally, as a counterpart to the harlot, the Bride is presented in full glory.
The book now closes with some final warnings to remind the reader how serious this subject is.
Further readings
- How to read Hebrew literature
- Ch 1: The challenge for the church
- Ch 2–3: The letters to the churches
- Ch 4: Worship in the throne
- Ch 5–6: The seals and the four horsemen
- Ch 7: The 144 000
- Ch 8–9: The trumpets
- Ch 10: The little scroll
- Ch 11: The two witnesses
- Ch 12: The story of Jesus
- Ch 13: The unholy trinity
- Ch 14: The seven angels
- Ch 16: The bowls
- Ch 17: The Harlot
- Ch 20: The 1000 year kingdom
- Ch 21: The New Jerusalem