The Design of Revelation
Revelation’s Symbols are Sequential
On Intervals
The Design Of Revelation
This archive displays the most recently added endnotes first. Click the first post, The Design of Revelation Endnotes, to access each endnote in its order encountered in the text.
On Intervals
In each series of seven, there is an interval between the sixth and seventh judgment (The Design of Revelation, pg. 6).
“The judgments on the world are complete in six: after the sixth seal and the sixth trumpet, there is a pause. When seven comes, ‘there comes the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ.'”
Jamieson, Faussett and Brown’s Commentary, “Introduction to Revelation.”
“The intervals of all three predicatory schemes (Seals, Trumpets, Bowls) predict historical events which are altogether religious in nature affecting the course of human events.”
Fred P. Miller, Revelation: A Panorama of the Gospel Age, Ch. 9, “The Seven Last Plagues.”
Revelation’s Symbols Are Sequential
The events predicted in Revelation take place in a series: a series of sevens repeats three times. This ingenious design communicates a clear message: as each new series cannot begin until the previous series is completed, for each new series is contained within the final event of the previous series, we are given an unmistakable picture of sequential progression (The Design of Revelation, pg. 5).
“The three groups of symbols (Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls) are to be interpreted sequentially. That is, they are to follow from the first to the last one after the other in time. The design of the book confirms this.”
Fred Miller, Revelation: A Panorama of the Gospel Age, Ch. 1, “The Plan and Design of Revelation.”
The Design of Revelation
There have been various schemes put forward over the centuries to explain the design of the book of Revelation.
Albert Barnes outlined the book by seven major themes:
- Introduction, Rev 1
- Epistles to the seven churches, Rev 2-3
- Preparatory vision, Rev 4
- The external history of the world, Rev 5-11:18
- The internal history of the church (the antichrist), Rev 11:19-20:15
- The final triumph of the church, Rev 21-22:5
- Epilogue, Rev 22:6-21
Notes on the New Testament, Explanatory and Practical: Revelation, pp. lv-lxii.
Philip Schaff summarized the various schemes for the outline of Revelation throughout the centuries from the church fathers.
History of the Christian Church, Vol. 1, pp. 841-852.
LeRoy Froom saw the prophecy of Jesus in Mat 24 as encompassing the entire scope of world and church history from the destruction of the Temple to His return, only greatly summarized, and John’s vision following the same scope from his own day (as the Temple had already been destroyed prior to his vision), fleshing in many details.
The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol. 1, pp. 141-144, 155-156.
In Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown’s Commentary, “Introduction to Revelation,” more schemes are introduced.