This book is full of symbolism. John describes what he sees through the eyes of a man of his time. He sees things he cannot fully comprehend or has never seen before; therefore, he cannot understand how to describe them in terms we (modern people) can understand. He uses the language of yesterday to put context to the images he sees. There also is the possibility that some images were intentionally blurred or their appearance altered so as not to give future societies the ability to foresee, and therefore prepare for, the Apocalypse. As Jesus said, “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come” (Matthew 24:42 KJV).
Shortly after the letters to the churches, John finds himself being taken up to heaven where he sees visions of events to come. He describes a throne room with its contents and talks with what appears to be one of the four beasts, which instruct him to come hither to see the lamb (Jesus Christ) open the first of seven seals. Once opened, each seal tells of specific “dooms” that befall humankind. After the seal openings, there are seven trumpet soundings.
After each trumpet, a new set of trials for repentance is given to humankind, but humans do not repent. After the seals and trumpet soundings, the last seven plaques of humankind are revealed by the opening of vials, or what some describe as emptying the contents of bowls of suffering upon humankind.
Revelation talks of three woes that befall humankind during seven years of tribulation. The first woe is a swarm of locusts released from the bottomless pit. Their sting shall torment people who do not have the mark or seal of God upon their foreheads for five months. Their sting shall be as death, but not. The first woe is revealed after the fifth trumpet.
The second woe begins after the sounding of the sixth trumpet. Four angels are released who were bound at the river Euphrates. These angels and their armies, numbering two hundred million, are released to kill a third of humankind.
The third and final woe is revealed after the seventh trumpet sounds. The third woe marks the finishing of God’s judgment on sin, when God establishes his kingdom on earth. Within this third woe are the seven vials or bowls of God’s wrath.
READ AN EXCERPT ORDER A COPY NOW