Proof Thru Prophecy

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GRADUAL UNWRAPPING OF REVELATION

USING ROADMAPS AND OTHER STUDY AIDS

We will begin our study of the roadmap to Revelation by answering a few commonly asked questions about Revelation. One thing that most don’t know about Revelation is that God said that those who study Revelation can expect a blessing when they study Revelation, Rev 1:3, 22:7. Now for the questions:

  1. WHO? Key characters, Jesus, Gabriel, John, the Father, Israel & Jews, saints in heaven, several of God’s angels, Satan and his angels, antichrist, false prophet, mystery Babylon, evil angels from the Abyss, etc.
  2. WHEN? About 97 AD. Also in the end times for 1007 + years leading to eternity in the new heaven and new earth.
  3. WHERE? Heaven, earth, both Patmos & Israel.
  4. WHAT? Principally a future 7 year period of great tribulation on earth described to John both in person and in visions.
  5. WHY? (1) For Jesus to collect his bride, (2) to force Israel to accept its Messiah, (3) to bring in the kingdom of God, with Jesus as King of kings, (4) to reward God’s people & (5) to judge the forces of evil.
  6. TO WHAT EXTENT? (1) All of heaven & earth will be involved, and (2) over ¾ of the people of earth will be killed.
  7. HOW will God accomplish this? Through his prophetic will, through Jesus, his angels and his supernatural power.
  8. HOW will we present this? By gradually unwrapping Revelation through a series of summaries, roadmaps, charts, commentaries & prophetic patterns.
  9. WHERE DOES REVELATION FIT INTO GOD’S PLAN FOR MANKIND? Turn to the end time charts and commentaries where this is covered.

 

 

UNWRAPPING REVELATION IN LAYERS:

A GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING REVELATION

INTRODUCTION

In this easy to understand beginning of our study of Revelation we are attempting to present material which will enable any seriously interested person to get a good grasp of the very challenging book of Revelation. It is quite challenging because it is an apocalyptic book which makes great use of symbolic language and it is not always presented in sequential order. Meeting our goal will require that we make a large amount of background material available to the serious reader. Not everyone wants to gain the same level of understanding so we will attempt to “unwrap” Revelation in layers. We will start with a very simple, high level summary or index of Revelation and then unwrap about 4 layers, with each succeeding layer getting into much more detail. We will not get into all of the detail in this study, but will go over each layer to the extent that the reader will be able to use the material to help them get to whatever level of knowledge and understanding that they desire.

The levels that we will present will include the following:

  1. A simple, very high level index of the topics covered in Revelation listed by chapter groups.
  2. A more detailed index of topics with a more extensive breakdown of topics by chapter.
  3. A very condensed list of the 49 scenes presented in the 22 chapters with the minimum information necessary to help the reader locate the scene in terms of time, place, context and topic.
  4. A much more detailed scene chart for Revelation that explains much more about the context and how the scene interrelates to the rest of Revelation. This is a unique and very valuable guide to getting a clear understanding of the message of Revelation.
  5. A model of Revelation which is presented in the Old Testament book of Joshua. This model will help the reader understand how the seal, trumpet and bowl judgments are meant to interrelate.

Each of the layers being presented is meant to be used while reading through the book of Revelation, especially the scene chart presentations. If there is a desire to get a much deeper understanding of Revelation, it is suggested that the reader peruse some of the many other study aids for Revelation included on this site. We will now begin unwrapping the layers of Revelation.

 

LAYER 1: A SIMPLE, HIGH LEVEL INDEX OF THE TOPICS COVERED IN REVELATIONS 22 CHAPTERS

     CHAPTER 1: Jesus’ personal presentation of the future end time scenario

     CHAPTERS 2-3: Jesus’ personal list of warnings, promises, strengths, faults to 7 real 1st century churches

     CHAPTERS 4-5: A scene in the throne room in heaven just before the future 7 year tribulation begins

     CHAPTERS 6-19: Details of the tribulation judgments

     CHAPTER 20: Summary of events between the 2nd coming and the new order, including the millennium

     CHAPTERS 21-22: Summary of the eternal new order and closing comments from Jesus

 

LAYER 2: A MORE DETAILED INDEX OF THE TOPICS COVERED IN REVELATIONS 22 CHAPTERS

     CHAPTER 1: Introduction to Revelation. Jesus is revealing what will happen in heaven and on earth in the last 1007 years on earth (Plus a few when Satan is released on earth after the millennium).

     CHAPTERS 2-3: Jesus gives a report cart to the 7 first century churches to which Revelation is addressed. He gives them instructions, warnings, and promises along with their strengths and weaknesses.

     CHAPTERS 4-5: The apostle John is taken to the throne room in heaven when he is shown all of the beings on and around the throne. He also describes the search for someone qualified to open the seven sealed scroll that will reveal the end time tribulation judgments. Only the Lamb who was slain, Jesus, is found worthy.

     CHAPTERS 6-19: A description of the judgments which God will impose on the earth in a seven year period just preceding the 1000 year millennium. The stated purpose is to force as many Jews as possible to freely accept Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. Israel and the Jewish people are the main objects in the seven year period. Another stated purpose of the tribulation is to test the people of earth to see who is worthy of going into the millennium and ultimately the new order. The whole book is difficult to understand because it is written in symbolic language and the events are often not presented in sequential order.

     CHAPTER 20: In chapter 20 we see a sequential timeline for the period between the Second Coming and the ultimate eternal new order. The total Revelation timeline for the end times seems to be as follows:

  • Rapture of the church at beginning of the tribulation, Rev 3:10.
  • The 7 year tribulation period of Rev 6-19.
  • The Second Coming of Jesus of Rev 19.
  • Satan is bound and thrown into the Abyss for 1000 years, Rev 20.
  • There is a judgment for rewards for the Saints killed in the millennium, Rev 20.
  • Jesus saints will reign with him on earth for 1000 years, Rev 20.
  • Satan will be released on earth for a short time after the 1000 years to deceive the nations, Rev 20.
  • The final judgments of all unbelievers and all forces of evil of all generations will take place shortly after the end of the 1000 years.

     CHAPTERS 21-22: The new order will be revealed; no more humans, no more evil, no more sorrow. We will live in paradise with God, with Jesus for eternity.

 

LAYER 3: A COMPACTED SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF THE 49 SCENES IN REVELATION

We have completed unwrapping our first two layers of Revelation, which were simply topical indexes. We will now go to our next layer of unwrapping Revelation so that we might be able to better understand the key things that God says he has in store for the whole world sometime in the “near” future.

Our next adventure of discovery involving unwrapping Revelation will involve getting a high level understanding of the way in which the 49 scenes in Revelation are laid out. To accomplish that we will present a chart of the 49 scenes depicted in Revelation’s 22 chapters. It will be a chart with the minimal information necessary to help the reader locate each scene in terms of time, place, context and topic.

We will follow that with a much more extensive scene chart that will enable us to get into much more depth in our understanding of Revelation and how it is organized and presented.

We will conclude with a study of a model of the Seal, Trumpet and Bowl judgments presented in Revelation. We will find this model hidden deeply in symbolic language within the first six chapters of Joshua, principally in chapter 6. It involves the famous Battle of Jericho. This will serve as an excellent witness to the validity of our conclusions about the nature of the Revelation judgments.

We will now go to our next level of unwrapping Revelation as we present a very short and simple scene chart for the book of Revelation. You will notice how these scenes jump around in time and from place to place and topic to topic. This is much like the way in which the scenes in a movie are presented.

Proof Thru Prophecy
Proof Thru Prophecy

LAYER 4: UNWRAPPING OF REVELATION: PRESENTING THE FULL ROADMAP TO REVELATION

Over my many years as a Bible teacher I have encountered numerous people who have expressed a great desire to study the book of Revelation. Many of these people had already attended multiple studies of Revelation but their curiosity had not been adequately satisfied. There could be many reasons for this but I suspect that the key reasons are likely that in their previous studies the symbolism used in Revelation was not adequately identified for them and the flow of the book seemed to be quite puzzling. This applies to many of us. However, our innate desire to know the future and how we might fit into that future keeps drawing us back to the one place where +we might find some of the answers that we could really rely on; if we could only understand them! We will attempt to solve those problems.

The book of Revelation is a serious challenge for even the best Bible scholars. There are several reasons for this including the following:

  1. It is an apocalyptic book that is full of symbolism. Many of the words and terms have a symbolic meaning that is defined either somewhere else in Revelation or somewhere else in the Bible. Identifying these is not easy.
  2. The book was written in about 97 AD, primarily about a seven year period that would take place thousands of years in the future. The three final chapters span the 1000 years immediately after the 7 year tribulation period and then take us into the eternal state that follows the 1000 years. Revelation includes some scenes that take place in 97 AD, others that jump around from place to place and from time to time within the future seven year period and finally to the post tribulation period spanning all of eternity future. Identifying where the scenes belong within the seven year period is a serious challenge as is also the case for those scenes in the post tribulation period.
  3. It is impossible to clearly understand much of Revelation without either a very good personal understanding of all of the other books in the Bible, Old and New Testaments, or access to commentaries on Revelation written by someone who has that knowledge. This includes a good knowledge of the history and context of pertinent events taking place in the period from creation through to the fall of Judea in 135 AD. A knowledge of all of the prophetic passages included in the Bible is also essential for an understanding of Revelation. The thing that makes all of this really difficult for the typical person wanting to study Revelation is knowing when you have found a commentary written by someone who has enough of this information within their knowledge base.

HOW CAN WE HELP YOU SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS IF YOU WANT TO STUDY AND UNDERSTAND REVELATION ON YOUR OWN?

  1. We have developed a symbology dictionary for Revelation. It is available for your use on this site as is a complete commentary, multiple charts, study aids and summaries for Revelation.
  2. We have provided a scene chart for your use that covers the complete book of Revelation. Anytime a movie is being made a scene chart must first be prepared. This chart must include several key pieces of information about each scene including the location of the scene, the timeframe of the scene, the characters included within the scene and a description of the scene itself. The script itself is separate. A full scene chart for Revelation is included below.

Revelation contains a promise at the very beginning and end of the book, Rev 1:3 and 22:7. That promise is a blessing for all of those who study the book. Be prepared for a special blessing as you study.

Proof Thru Prophecy
Proof Thru Prophecy
Proof Thru Prophecy
Proof Thru Prophecy
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Proof Thru Prophecy
Proof Thru Prophecy
Proof Thru Prophecy

LAYER 5 UNWRAPPING OF REVELATION:

MAPPING JOSHUA 6 ONTO THE REVELATION JUDGMENTS

Joshua 1-6, particularly chapter 6, is a model, pattern or template for the coming end-time tribulation period including the judgments of Revelation. Joshua 6 along with a few of the earlier passages in Joshua chapters 1-5 map beautifully onto Revelation. In this short study we will start with a review of Joshua 6 to refresh ourselves with some of the key details presented there. In context, we see one very significant similarity in the goals being strived for in Joshua and Revelation. In both cases the judgments and the events surrounding them lead the Israelites directly into their Promised Land.

In Joshua we see the Israelites going into the land that God had promised Abraham, Isaac Jacob and Moses for the very first time. There are 7 different people groups already occupying the land so the Israelites had to conquer all of them. Jericho is their first major obstacle after they cross over the Jordan River before they can occupy the land.

In Revelation we see something happening that follows the template being laid out in Joshua 1-6. Most importantly we see that there will again be a series of judgments taking place and followed in short order by the Jews again going into their long ago promised land. This time they will occupy the whole of the Promised Land for the first time, going all the way from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates River. This time there will be something quite different about the Promised Land. This time it will be during the millennial reign of Jesus on earth, as he will be King of kings and Lord of lords of the whole earth, Rev 11:15, 17:14, and 19:16.

God uses models or templates like the one in Joshua over and over in the Old Testament, dozens and dozens of times. He does so for several very good reasons. One thing that this template does for us is to help us understand the very complex content of the book of Revelation. You will likely see that as we go on into our comparative study.

We will now present a few of the details that we find in Joshua that will be of particular interest to us as we continue our study.

In verse 6:2 God promised that he would deliver the Promised Land to the Israelites. Chapter 6 parallels the seal, trumpet and bowl judgments of Revelation perfectly as follows;

1. The 7 seal judgments foretell many details of the actual judgments which will follow. They are God’s plan for the actual judgments which will follow.

In Joshua 6:2-5 God gives Joshua the plan for what the Israelites are to do and tells them what will happen. This plan is a model of the Seal judgments.

2. The 7 trumpet judgments are the actual judgments themselves. They are the playing out of the plan given in the 7 seal judgments.

In Joshua 6:6-10 we see in symbolic terms who is actually carrying out the judgments; the ark represents the Spirit, the 7 priests blowing the trumpets are the saints in heaven and the front and rear armies are God's armies of angels.

I in Joshua 6:6-14 we see the actual carrying out of the plan beginning as the first 6 trumpet judgments take place. Those carrying out the plan march around Jericho once a day for 6 days causing great fear and dread in Jericho.

3. The first 6 bowl judgments are essentially a repeat of the 1st 6 trumpet judgments followed by the trump of all trumps, the 7th trumpet judgment. None of the 7th judgments will be executed until the end of the 6th bowl judgment. The7th seal, trumpet and bowl judgments coincide at the very end as the 7th trip around the city, the final trump and the loud shout.

Joshua 6:15-16, 20-21 details the 7 trips around the city on the 7rh day with the last trump being sounded after the 7th trip, followed by the loud shout from the army. The walls then collapsed. This coincides with every city and nation on earth collapsing in the 7th bowl as described in Rev 6:19.

4. The walls collapsing represents the fall of the world, including Satan, his angels and those humans belonging to him. Joshua 6:21, 24 says every living thing in the city was killed except for those who had become believers. Rahab and her family were the only believers, Joshua 6:17, 22-25, 2:10-18. The city was then burned, Joshua 6:24, representing Satan and his followers, both angels and humans, being sent to the lake of fire. The only items saved from the city were those things which could be purified and devoted to worship of God, represented by gold, silver and bronze, Joshua 6: 18, 19, 24. After this event the Jews were allowed to enter their Promised Land.

Likewise, at the Second Coming at the end of the 7th trump, all unbelievers will be essentially destroyed, sent to Hades to await their final judgment after the millennium. This occurs at the sheep/goat judgment, Matt 25:31-46. After this, all Jews who become believers during the 7 years of tribulation will be allowed to finally enter their Promised Land and occupy all of the land that was promised to their ancestors.

5. The 2 spies sent to Jericho model some aspects of the 2 witnesses of Rev. They are sent into the world, they save many in the world, they are in great danger while in the world, both miraculously escape from the world, and both return to the world as it is being destroyed.

In Joshua 2, Rahab, the prostitute of Jericho, had heard the stories of how God had worked miracles (Red sea, etc.) for and had protected the Jews. She had become a true believer in God. She hid & saved the 2 spies. In turn she and her family were saved by tying a scarlet cord in the window thru which the 2 spies had escaped, verse 18. This represents being saved by becoming a believer in the God of the Israelites, who would shed his blood for them.

Vs 20 is a model showing that if believers continue to believe and do not betray God with lies they will he saved, and if otherwise they will be lost.

In the Joshua model, the following symbolic representations appear:

  • Miraculous crossing of Jordan River into Promised Land = model of the rapture
  • The Spirit parting the waters making the crossing possible = Jesus coming on clouds at the rapture and parting the divide between heaven and earth
  • Jericho representing the fall of all cities & nations of earth = the fall of all cities & nations at the 2nd Coming
  • Jesus meeting Joshua as he approached Jericho = Jesus future meeting with us in the clouds as he approaches earth
  • The Israelites were camped away from Jericho during the tribulation judgments = raptured saints being camped in heaven, away from earth, during the tribulation judgments
  • The plan Jesus gave Joshua for the judgments = seal judgments, the plan Jesus gave John for the end time tribulation judgments
  • The ensemble marching around Jericho once per day for 6 days = first 6 trumpet judgments spaced over the first 6 years of the tribulation, and possibly into the 7th year
  • The ensemble marching around Jericho the first 6 times on the 7th day = first 6 bowl judgments, which are actually a repeat of the first 6 trumpet judgments all compressed into a short time period in the 7th year
  • The ensemble marching around Jericho the 7th time on the 7th day = 7th seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments, all happening at the same time
  • The last trumpet and shout after the 7th trip on the 7th day = the last trump at the 2nd coming
Proof Thru Prophecy
Proof Thru Prophecy
Proof Thru Prophecy

NOTE: As we have seen, the Battle of Jericho described above gives us a clear picture of the way that the 21 judgments in Revelation will be administered further evidence of this same conclusion is presented in the Answering Difficult Questions Section of the Revelation Commentaries Section and also in the Plain Language Summaries of Revelation Section.

BIBLICAL EVIDENCE, IN FACT PROOF, THAT THE END TIME TRIBULATION OF REV WILL OCCUR

As we have shown in the roadmaps, the bulk of Revelation takes place in a seven year period of tribulation sometime in the future, just preceding the 1000 year millennium. The Bible makes it quite clear that this tribulation period is a certainty. It is clearly a part of God’s overall plan for mankind during which he will choose a bride for his Son, Jesus the Christ. Below are some of the Biblical evidences, apart from Revelation, that the tribulation is a certainty.

  1. The Bible says the tribulation is certain to happen: See my take on 3 key scriptures below:
    1. Habakkuk 2:2-4, says that there is a special revelation of the end times. It has an appointed time. It is certain to come and will not prove false or be delayed.
    2. Heb 10:35-39 says we are to persevere in doing God’s will and remain confident that we will receive our promised rich rewards when Jesus returns. He is coming in just a little while and will not delay. Meanwhile, the righteous must live by faith until it occurs.
    3. Isa 26:12-21, speaks of the end times when Judah will be fortified by belief in YHWH, the Rock of their salvation (Jesus): God will provide peace for Israel (in the millennium), destroy their enemies and enlarge the borders of their land. The distress of the tribulation will finally bring the Jews to salvation (Jesus in two waves; thru the two witnesses and at the 2nd coming) when they are almost too weak to pray (but still shout “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” Matt 23:39.) In spite of giving birth to the child (who would save the world), the Jews personally did not bring salvation to the world. They only gave birth to foul vapors which poisoned the world to the truth. In spite of this, many people in the world would become believers and belong to the Lord. In that day they will rise from the dead and receive new bodies. They will (be raptured to heaven and) spend the tribulation in their special rooms (prepared by Jesus), with the doors shut until the wrath is over (at the 2nd coming). The Lord is coming from heaven to punish the people of earth for their sins, (primarily rejection of Jesus).
  2. The 110 unique prophecies of Jesus’ first coming, with 330 total references, were all fulfilled with 100% accuracy. This complete 100% fulfillment will certainly also apply to second coming prophecies. Examples include prophecies that Jesus would be Messiah, Dan 9:25, be born in Bethlehem, Micah 5:2, come out of Egypt, Hosea 11:1, be from the tribe of Judah, Gen 49:10, be a humble king, Zech 9:9, be pierced for our transgressions, Isa 53:5, be the one whose wounds would give us healing, Isa 53:5, be pierced in his hands and his feet, Psalms 22:16, etc, etc.
  3. The 538 BC prophecy that the Anointed Messiah would be killed in Apr of 32 AD, Dan 9:24-27.
  4. The prophecy that Israel would be reborn in a day in Isa 66:8, and incredibly even the year that it would happen, in 1948, from Ezek 4-5 and Lev 26. Isa 66 also presents the tribulation.
  5. Through 100’s of other prophecies, models, patterns, etc. that are always fulfilled without failure.
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