The Book of Revelation Outlined

The Book of Revelation

“Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.” -Revelation 1:19, NKJV

Revelation 1: The things which John has seen; introduction and outline of the book.

Revelation 2-3: The things which are; the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches in existence at the time of the writing.

Revelation 4-22: The things which will take place after this.

-Chapters 2-3: The Church on the earth.

-Verse 4:1: John (representing the Church) called up to heaven.

-Chapters 4-5: The Church in heaven (represented by the 24 Elders; “And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,” 5:9; “And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” 5:10). The Church no longer seen on the earth by John after this until the return of Christ.

-Chapters 6-11: The 70th Week of Daniel; the Time of Jacob’s Trouble; the Tribulation (of which the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord are part).

-Chapter 12: The great war in heaven; the cosmic battle of the ages; the inter-dimensional story of YHWH God’s plan fulfilled for Messiah from Israel and His defeat of Lucifer the Enemy.

-Chapters 13-18: The 70th Week of Daniel; the Time of Jacob’s Trouble; the Tribulation (of which the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord are part).

-Chapter 19: The return of Christ to earth (the Second Coming/Advent). The Church in heaven (verse 4) worshiping Him before His return.

-Chapter 20: The temporary imprisonment of Satan for 1,000 years (the Millennial Kingdom), the final rebellion after the 1,000 years, the judgment of Satan, and then the Great White Throne Judgment (final judgment of the wicked/unredeemed of all ages).

-Chapters 21-22: The New Heaven and New Earth (eternity).

The structure of Revelation suggests to me (although this suggestion is not proof in itself) that the Church will be removed (the “Rapture” event) prior to the start of the 70th Week of Daniel (the Tribulation period). We know from other passages that Israel (or at least a remnant from each of the tribes) will be preserved through that period. This process of removal and preservation is also paralleled in the removal (sudden taking away without dying) of Enoch prior to the Flood and the preservation of Noah and his family (another remnant) through the Flood.

Exciting to consider. More to come. Grace and peace.

7 Letters to 7 Churches

I just finished reading through the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches (Revelation 2 and 3) in my regular reading through Scripture. There is always so much depth in them, and now I’m inspired again to want to continue my written study through the Book of Revelation (started years ago, and only covered the first 6 verses so far).

In short, there are at least 4 layers of understanding and application in the Seven Letters: written specifically to 7 literal churches in existence in the late first century, written generally to all churches of all time, written generally to all individual Christians of all time, and the one I’m always fascinated by, written correspondingly (prophetically at the time and historically/prophetically now) with Church history from the time of writing until now and even beyond.

The portrayals of Jesus that are specific to each of the 7 literal churches (and 7 periods of Church history) are a fascinating study alone. The admonitions and encouragements to each are likewise fascinating. There is so much personal insight and application that can be gleaned from these letters. And some of the prophetic implications are very exciting.

If you’re not familiar with the Seven Letters, I encourage you to: 1. Read them. 2. Study them. The more historical background you can integrate, the better. You will be blessed!

Now, if I can just get my act together, I will continue my written study on Revelation starting with 1:7, and continuing to the Seven Letters in chapters 2 and 3, and beyond!