Have you ever tried to read and understand the book of Revelation? Did you feel like you understood what was going on, or what the author was trying to tell us? If not, you are not alone, probably no one gets the message or understands what is going on just by reading it, without knowing certain keys to accurately interpreting the book. It is normal to make the assumption that everything revealed in the book is describing events and processes that happen sequentially, one after the other, in the order they appear in the book. But then you quickly realize that nothing makes much sense – you have the end of the world as we know it happening several times (chapter 6, 11, 14, 16) each time followed by major developments, such as the Antichrist (Beast) coming to power and persecuting followers of Jesus. That doesn’t seem to make much sense, and that is because it doesn’t make any sense.

Most, if not all Bible scholars who try to explain Revelation recognize the rather obvious fact that it is not a linear description of a series of events and developments that will happen sequentially (chronologically speaking) in the order they appear in the book. As in almost any book, whether a novel or an account of some actual happenings that are very involved, can’t be read and interpreted as describing everything sequentially. Usually there are several story lines with several characters with several different things (developments) happening at the same time or in parallel with respect to time (chronologically). One chapter will follow on course of events, or set of characters, then a following chapter will go back in time to follow another concurrent set of events or characters. That is because it is impossible to be describing at the same time all the events and processes that are going on at the same time – you have to take them one at a time. Even if it were possible to describe everything all at once, no reader could read or understand it. So we have patterns in literature (and for that matter in visual forms, such as movies or videos), with introductory passages, followed by passages (usually chapters) which progress the narrative (continue the story chronologically). Then a later passage or chapter goes back in time to follow another concurrent set of events or another set of characters, up to a point – they are chronologically regressive passages. Some of these may even be flashbacks, giving historical context, but not a progression chronologically with respect to the main story line – which may be referred to as “parenthetical” passages.

This is exactly what we see in Revelation. Some chapters, or parts of chapters (passages), are Introductory, which are then followed by Progressive passages, which may also be or be followed by Regressive or reiterative passages. And then throughout the book there are Parenthetical passages, which don’t progress the narrative, but primarily give relevant information, in some cases historical, or other background information. It becomes essential to accurately recognize this pattern of revelation in the book, to get a clear understanding of what is going on, to get the picture John is painting for us which makes sense.

This author’s application of this key with respect to the pattern in the book is as follows:

Introduction

• Chapters 1 thru 4

Introductory Passages

• The first six Seals of Chapters 5-6 – with respect to the Trumpets and Bowls
• The seven Trumpets of Chapters 8:2 thru 9 – with respect to the Bowls
• Christ’s return Chapter 14 – with respect to developments of chapters 17-19

Parenthetical

• 144,000 Jews and Raptured Saints of Chapter 7 (also progressive from 5-6)
• The seven Peals of Thunder and Little Book of Chapter 10
• The Woman and the Red Dragon of Chapter 12

Progressive – advances the narrative

• Chapters 7 thru 8:1 – with respect to the preceding 6 Seals
• Chapters 15-16 the seven Bowls – later stage of development of 7 trumpets and 6th Seal
• Christ coming in judgment and with rewards Chapter 11:15-19
• Second coming of Chapter 19 – with respect to preceding chapters 13 and 17
• The Millennium, of Chapter 20
• The eternal state of Chapters 21-22 – with respect to preceding

Reiterative Chronologically – regressive giving more detail

What this leads to is an understanding that much of what is interpreted by many scholars as separate sequential events or process, are actually more parallel and simultaneous than chronologically sequential. For example, many if not most futurists (including Pretribulation, Mid-tribulation and Pre-wrath Rapturists), see the first six Seals as all happening before the first six Trumpets, and  both running their course before the Bowls. Thus they fail to see that all the similarities between them are valuable clues to their interpretation, in terms of actual real world events that are predicted to happen. They also then come up with what logically are virtually impossible scenarios, realistically speaking, such as the destruction of the whole earth several times over – the sixth Seal, the seventh Trumpet, and the seventh Bowl.  Most will concede that the seventh Trumpet and the seventh Bowl are describing catastrophic events and processes occurring at the same time – the end of the whole period. But the others are interpreted as chronologically sequential and not connected, which is an inconsistent approach to interpretation.

The fact is that the stars falling from the sky of the sixth Seal, when we are  told the wrath of God is being poured out, will realistically be the end of everything as we know it. Furthermore, the “stars” (“aster” in the Greek, which includes comets, meteorites, and asteroids) falling from the sky, appear again in the first four trumpets, and the natural consequences of such events are described in the Bowls. The logical connections between them are rather apparent, giving us some very enlightening clues as to what John was seeing, in terms of actual real world happenings. Failure to see this pattern, and the logical connections, leads to very unrealistic and even impossible scenarios that just don’t make sense, if we are trying to relate them to real world potentialities. Of course one can always just say that God will make it all happen in ways we can’t really understand, and that is always a possibility. But if such is the case, why would He give us so much detail, which do lend themselves to logical, realistic interpretations. If they don’t have any real significance, then such detail really only confuses us or makes it seem so mysterious it is impossible for us to really figure it out, or get a coherent picture of what He is describing? I suggest all the details are pieces of the puzzle, which are there to give us the picture in terms we can figure out and understand. As Jesus wrote to the seven churches in chapters 2-3, “He that hath an ear let him hear…“