Starting around Chapter 6, can anyone try to lay out Revelation in chronological order?
Good day crossnote,
First of all, the key to understanding the chronological time-line of Revelation is found in Rev.1:19 where John is told to write:
What you have seen = Everything written from Rev.1:1 thru 1:19
What is now = Represented by the letters to the seven church, which also represent the entire church period
What will take place later = Everything which will take place after the "What is now," i.e. what takes place after the church period
That said, we are currently still living in the "what is now" part of what John was told to write. In Rev.4.1 the voice that sounds like a trumpet (which is identified as Jesus in Rev.1:10) says, "come up here and I will show you what must take place after this" which is synonymous with the "what must take place later" and which ends the "what is now." Therefore, everything from Revelation chapter 4 onward is what will take place after the church is gathered which will end the "what is now."
As far as the chronological order of events, chapter 6 is pretty self explanatory, as the seals are opened in sequential order which is why they are listed one thru seven, which is followed by the trumpets and bowl judgments. These will all take place in chronological order.
Some have attempted to say that the seals do not necessarily have to be opened in the order that they are said to be opened in, which I disagree with and here is why: A seal would be an impression of wax which adheres to the parchment, with each seal adhering to the same parchment.
Try to imagine a scroll with each of its seven seals adhering to the same parchment. When the first seal is broken, it opens up until it gets to the second seal which is still adhering to the parchment. You can read everything that is written on the page of that first seal, however, the second seal is going to have to be broken in order to see what is written under its page. That said, if one was to try to open say.... the 4th seal first, then it would end up ripping the scroll in both directions because the other seals are still adhering to the parchment. Therefore, the seals with their resulting plagues of wrath, will be opened in the order that they are said to be opened, one thru seven.
Now regarding the seals, after the 6th seal there is what has been called a "parenthetic pause" which is not apart of the seals, but is other related information. For example after the 6th seal, we have in chapter 7 the sealing of the 144,000 out of Israel and the introduction of the saints who come out of the great tribulation. We also have these parenthetic pauses after the 6th trumpet which is the information regarding the angel and the little scroll and the information regarding the two witnesses. After that we then have the sounding of the 7th trumpet. Therefore, both the 6th seal and 6th trumpet are followed by these parenthetic pauses.
The 7th seal consists pretty much of the preparation for the sounding of the seven trumpets.
1st Seal/ Rider on the white horse - figuratively representing the revealing of the antichrist
2nd Seal/Rider red horse - Is given authority to take peace from the earth so that mankind kills one another
3rd Seal/Rider black horse - world-wide famine (an entire days wages will only buy a small amount of food)
4th Seal/Rider pale green horse - Death and Hades given power to kill a fourth of mankind (about 1.7 billion fatalities)
5th Seal - Souls under the altar in heaven (no immediate fatalities result from this seal)
6th Seal - Great earthquake, sun darkened, moon turned the color of blood, sky rolled back like a scroll so that the inhabitants can see God sitting on His throne, the announcement that God's wrath has come, which includes the previous seals and the wrath that is still yet to come which are the trumpets and bowl judgments.
(parenthetic pauses)
* The sealing of the 144,000 out of the twelve tribes of Israel - Rev.7:1-8
* The introduction of the saints who come out of the great tribulation - Rev.7:9-17
7th Seal - about a half hour of silence, seven angels are given their trumpets, much incense with the prayers of the saints presented before God, fire from the altar is hurled to the earth resulting in peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
If I might add, many don't understand the severity and magnitude of the seals, trumpets and bowl judgments, because they don't do a detailed study on them. They just read over the information not recognizing their full destruction. This is why Jesus said that "if those days had not been shortened no one would be saved." That is, if those days were allowed to go on any longer, there would be no one left alive on the earth. By the time Jesus returns to the earth to end the age, the majority of the earths population will have been decimated and all human government dismantled (See Daniel 2:31-45).
The trumpets are even worse. The seals, trumpets and bowl judgments along with the beasts reign represent the birth pains, which get closer and closer and more intense as they go.