style="font-size:15px;"> Seals One through Four: The Four Horsemen (6:1–8)
The Fifth Seal: The Martyrs (6:9–11)
The Sixth Seal: The Great Earthquake (6:12–17)
An Interlude in Two Parts (Revelation 7)
The Number of Those Sealed (7:1–8)
The Great Multitude in White Robes (7:9–17)
The Blowing of the Seven Trumpets (Revelation 8–11)
The Seventh Seal: Prelude to the Seven Trumpets (8:1–5)
The First Four Trumpets and the First Eagle (8:6–13)
The Fifth Trumpet [= the First Woe] (9:1–12)
The Sixth Trumpet [= the Second Woe] (9:13–21)
Interlude 1: The Angel and the Little Scroll (10:1–11)
Interlude 2: The Temple and the Two Witnesses (11:1–14)
The Seventh Trumpet: Conclusion to the Introductory Visions (11:15–19)
The Holy War Is Engaged (Revelation 12:1—14:13)
The Sun-Clothed Woman and the Dragon (12:1–6)
The Defeat of the Dragon in Heaven (12:7–12)
The Dragon Pursues God’s People on Earth (12:13–17)
The Two Beasts (13:1–18)
The Beast out of the Sea (13:1–10)
The Beast out of the Land (13:11–18)
Two Interlude Visions (14:1–13)
The Lamb and the 144,000 (14:1–5)
The Messages of the Three Angels, plus a Warning and a Beatitude (14:6–13)
Prelude to the (Original) Tale of Two Cities (Revelation 14:14–20)
The Grain Harvest (14:14–16)
The Trampling of the Grapes (14:17–20)
The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath (Revelation 15–16)
Prelude: The Seven Angels with the Last Seven Plagues (15:1–18)
The Seven Bowls Are Poured Out (16:1–21)
The First Four Bowls (16:1–9)
The Fifth and Sixth Bowls plus the Interlude (16:10–16)
The Seventh Bowl (16:17–21)
The (Original) Tale of Two Cities, Part 1:
The Demise of Rome (17:1—19:10)
Rome as a Seductive Harlot (17:1–18)
The Introduction as Invitation (17:1–2)
The Description of the Harlot (17:3–6)
The Interpretation of the Vision (17:7–18)
The Interpretation of the Beast (17:7–8)
The Interpretation of the Beast (17:9–11)
The Interpretation of the Ten Horns (17:12–14)
The Coming Uprising against the Prostitute (17:15–18)
The Fall of Babylon the Great (18:1—19:10)
A Lament over Fallen Babylon (18:1–3)
Warning to Escape Babylon’s Judgment (18:4–8)
Threefold Woe over Babylon’s Fall (18:9–20)
The First Woe: The Kings of the Earth (18:9–10)
The Second Woe: The Merchants of the Earth (18:11–17a)
The Third Woe: The Merchant Marine (18:17b–19)
The Johannine Response (18:20–24)
Threefold Hallelujah over Babylon’s Fall (19:1–8)
Beatitude and Admonition (19:9–10)
The Last Battle and the End of Evil (Revelation 19:11—20:15)
The Last Battle, Part 1: The Battle Itself (19:11–21)
The Last Battle: An Interlude—The Binding of Satan and the Reign
of the Martyrs (20:1–6)
The Last Battle, Part 2: The Judgment of Satan (20:7–10)
Conclusion of the Last Battle: The Raising of the Dead for Judgment (20:11–15)
The (Original) Tale of Two Cities, Part 2:
God Makes All Things New (Revelation 21:1—22:5)
Introduction: A New Heaven and a New Earth (21:1–8)
A New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb (21:9–27)
The Physical Description of the City, Part 1a (21:9–14)
The Physical Description of the City, Part 1b (21:15–21)
The Character of the City (21:22–27)
A New Earth: Eden Restored (22:1–5)
The Wrap-Up (or Epilogue) (Revelation 22:6–21)
Epilogue Part 1: John and the Angel (22:6–11)
Epilogue Part 2: The Last Words of Christ (22:12–16)
Epilogue Part 3: Invitation and Warning (22:17–21)
Preface
Stepping into the Revelation from the rest of the New Testament is to enter into a strange, bizarre new world; and this is true even in the days of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Instead of narratives, arguments, or plain statements of fact, the Revelation is full of angels, trumpets, and earthquakes; of strange beasts, dragons, and bottomless pits. Most believers, therefore, take one of two extremes: some simply avoid it in despair; others take an exaggerated interest in it, thinking to find here all the keys to the end of the world.
Both of these positions, I would argue, are simply wrong. On the one hand, in the providence of God it is Holy Scripture, a part of the twenty-seven-document canon of the New Testament. Indeed, it serves as the ultimate—and marvelous—conclusion to the whole of Scripture. On the other hand, a great deal of what has been written about it, especially at the popular level, tends to obscure its meaning rather than to help the reader understand it. In fact many years ago, when I was teaching
