Hi,
8) If I posted some lessons to this board as a first-pass, would that interest you?
8) If I posted some lessons to this board as a first-pass, would that interest you?
Present an "OVERVIEW" and go from there, teach, allow discussion, debate, then form a consensus opinion and then move on. Be flexible, God is willing to teach those that have a heart to learn, being entrenched in positions is a hindrance.
The Book of Revelation is a giant codebook, and all the codes are found in the Old Testament.
Something like this is workable.
1.) Rev. 1, is Jesus is revealed in all his Glory ( The things which you have seen )
2.) Rev. 2 & 3 is the Church Age we are in now ( The things which are )
Everything after Rev. 4:1 {Raprure} is the ( HEREAFTER )
3.) Rev. 4 and 5 are the Church in Heaven before the Seals are opened.
4.) Rev. 6 is Jesus opening the Seals, prophesying what the Anti-Christ coming 42-month reign of terror will entail, via the first four horses, and the Martyrs in the 5th Seal. Te 6th Seal is about God's coming Wrath which starts with the 1st Trump {asteroid/DOTL) Event.
7.) Rev. 7 is, IMHO, the Jews Fleeing Judea before the 1260 Event {DOTL and the Jews get Conquered as Daniel 12 says} the 144,000 is a metaphor for ALL Israel, which Paul, quoting Isaiah spoke of. The number 12 represents fullness, thus 12 x 12,000 = All Israel. They need to get to the Petra/Bozrah area before the Trumps hit, the Angel even says this, hold up the Winds from the four corners and hurt not the Earth, Sea & Trees until the 144,000 are sealed in the head {protected}. The Trumpets do what? Hurt the Earth, Sea, and Trees. The Raptured Church is seen one last time in Heaven AFTER the Seals are opened.
8.) Rev. 8, The Trumps bring forth the Day of the Lord {DOTL} and its an incoming asteroid, the fire comes first, Trump one, the Mountain {rock} hits next in Trump two. The STAR {Burning rock} is described, and finally, the sun, moon, and stars go dim because of all the smoke, debris, etc. from the impact. The waters in 1/3 of the world are poisoned etc. The last three Trumps are the THREE WOES.
9. In Rev. 9 Woe 1 and 2 are pretty straight forward. Apollyon and his Demonic hordes are released from the pit and torture mankind for 5 months, then IMHO, the 200 million are an Angelic Army slaying wicked men who have taken the Mark of the Beast. Not human.
HERE........is where it gets interesting if you want to finish off the natural order of the BoR you need to study Rev. 15&16 here like its one chapter that finishes of the Judgments of God. rev. 8, 9, and 15&16 are the Judgment Chapters of God or the coming DOTL chapters.
10.) Rev. 15&16 is the Angels preparing the final Judgments of God, the 7 Vials, which are the Last Woe {3rd Woe}. When this Woe comes to pass, Jesus takes over, IT IS DONE says the Angel. Jesus defeats Babylon {Satan's Dark Kingdom on earth}.
Everything else, besides Rev. 20, 21, and 22 are Parenthetical Chapters that showcase other events that were happening parallel to the Judgment chapters of Rev. 8, 9, and 15&16.
11.) Rev. 10 is a FLASH FORWARD to the very end when the time will be no more after the Seven Thunders Sound.
12.) Rev. 11 is the Two-witnesses Ministry of 1260 days, showcased for all to see. John is even told what their mission is in the first three verses. Measure the Temple and those they pray therein {Jews} but Measure not the Outer court {Gentile Court}. So, the Two-witnesses parameters are to call the Jews only to repentance. They start this before the DOTL{1260}, that is why the Jews know to flee when they see the AoD which happens at the 1290, 30 days before the 1260. The Two-witnesses show up at the 1335, 75 days before the DOTL {1260} event, they are THE BLESSING in Daniel 12. Malachi 4:5 tells us Elijah will be sent back BEFORE the Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord., to turn Israel back unto God. They show up before the Beast {1260} and thus they must die before the Beast, because both have 1260 day "OFFICES" on earth as described by God. They die at the 2nd Woe in Rev. 11, the Beast dies at the 7th Vial.
13.) Rev. 12 is Israel fleeing into the Wilderness, they have to be protected for 1260 days, thus this starts at the same time as Rev. 8:1
14.) Rev. 13 is the 7 Headed Beast arising from the Sea where it has been in hiatus for nigh 2000 years. The Anti-Christ becomes THE BEAST by defeating Israel and the whole Mediterranean Sea Region. (Both Rev. 12 and 13 begin at the FIRST TRUMP in Rev. 8)
15.) Rev. 14 is the Harvest Chapter. We see the Three Harvests here. The Wheat {Israel} grows together with the Tares {Wicked World} until the very end. The lord gathers them in verse 11, whilst the Wicked are destroyed/bound up in verses 18-20. Meanwhile, in verse 14 we see a sorta soliloquy, where Jesus SNATCHES his Church up to Heaven, thus this chapter covers 7 full years.
16.) Rev. 17 is the Harlot Chapter, in short, this chapter and Rev. 18 are kinda CO-MINGLED, the Harlot RIDES the Beast. False Religion RIDES the Gov. Beast and down through history they have always been CO-MINGLED. Rome had Jupiter and other false gods, as did Egypt and Greece, but Babylon was noted for her false gods. Thus the hin we are given cites Babylon as one of her three clues. The Headband/tattoo on the Harlot read MYSTERY: 1. Babylon the Great 2. Mother of Harlots 3. Abominations of all the Earth. These three are designating who the Harlot is. They are Descriptors, she is assoc. with Babylon, the Mother of Harlots was Semiramis and of course God sees the worshiping of any god but Him as an Abomination, because He is a jealous God and says so. The difference is in this end-time coalition, Gov. the Harlot gets JUDGED all because her partner {Anti-Christ/Beast} desires to be worshiped as the ONLY GOD, thus he and the 10 Kings kill her off, meaning he will kill off Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Martyr the Christian Remnant and try to kill Jews. So just as Rev. 17:16 says, the Harlot is thus Judged, All False Religion of ALL-TIME = The Harlot. (This chapter starts at the First Trump)
17.) Rev. 18 is the reverse side of the two-sided coin, its the Government Beast side getting judged by God via the DOTL over a coming 42-month period of time. In verse 2, when it says Babylon {the World} has become a habitation of devils, well, of course, it has, Satan and his minions have been cast out of Heaven and Apollyon has been released from the Bottomless Pit. In verse 4 where it says come out of her my people, that is God calling Israel to flee unto Petra before the Plagues start falling on Babylon {World}. The overall crux of this chapter is Metaphorically showing us what will happen to men who TRUSTED is their loving world which gave them their riches, in other words, we are shown how the Merchants cry and wail at the Judgments of God on mankind and the whole world. The word Babylon means the whole wicked world being judged. The Anti-Christ slays a 1/4 of mankind and the 200 Angelic Army slays 1/3 of mankind, so let's say 2.5 to 3 billion combined, deaths are bad for business. Then you have all the grasses bring and a 1/3 of the trees burning and a 1/3 of the sea creatures dying, 1/3 of the seas turning to blood, 1/3 of the fresh waters being poisoned, and that is before the Three Woes even hit, these are BAD fo business. The Merchants CRYING and WAILING are a metaphor for God's Judgments falling on mankind. God says in verse 10 that Judgment comes in ONE DAY, well the Day of the Lord lasts 3.5 years or 42 months. Then in verse 10 the bible says the judgment will come in ONE HOUR, we Rev. 17:12 says the 10 Kings rule ONE HOUR with the Beast who we know rules for 42-months or 3.5 years !! (Thus, this chapter also starts in Rev. 8 with the First Trump, at the 1260 Event).
18.) Rev. 19 is the Church seen in Heaven BEFORE we Marry the Lamb, so we are seen there before Rev. 4 and 5 where we already have White Raiment/Robes on, and then after we Marry the Lamb we return on White Horses with Jesus who defeats the Beast by the Sword of his moth, in other words just like Daniel ch. 2 and ch. 8 says, WITHOUT HAND. Jesus Speaks Victory, just like he created the universe, by speaking it into existence. Amen. (Rev. 19, like Rev. 14 thus covers the full 7 years of the 70th week)
19.) Rev. 20 is the Judgment Seat chapter.
20.) REV. 21 & 22 is the Everafter and the New Jerusalem.
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Now, of course, you can use your own overview, this is just a demonstration, but you need to at least try to figure out the Chronological Order of the Book of Revelation to start with, else its going to be hard not to get off-tracked. Then you can go from there, my overview of teaching the BoR is the above layout pretty much. I get into more detail once the teaching starts of course.