The book of Revelation is hard to decipher, but understanding the sequence of events depends mostly on figuring out how the seals, the trumpets and the bowls take place.
Because there are seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls, it is easy to assume that the first seal goes before the second seal and so on. We could assume the same for the trumpets and the bowls.
But here we will figure out how the seals the trumpets and the bowls relate to each other. In other words, we will put them into chronological order.
This order cannot contradict any passages in the Bible that relate to the end times, such as the book of Daniel, Issaiah, Matthew, John, and many others.
All passages in the Bible about the end times have to support each other so that the word of GOD is not of private interpretation.
If you find a contradictory statement please post a comment or send an email to gfiglioperez@student.cccs.edu
Even though it will be shown the sequence of events, it is impossible to predict how much time it takes from the opening of one seal to the next. The same goes for the trumpets and the bowls.
To properly understand the seals, the trumpets and the bowls, we have to notice many things that happen around them, even those things that seem not to be related.
Let’s start from chapter 4. (Revelation 4:1-2), “1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.” KJV.
As john goes up to heaven in the spirit, his body remains on patmos island, he will have to come back to it to write to the seven churches. In chapters 4 and 5 he describes what is happening in the throne room and who is there. All this happens right before the beginning of the tribulation that starts with the opening of the first seal. John never mentions the devil as being in the throne room. This is very important to remember for what happens in (Revelation 12:10), ” And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” KJV.
From this verse we see that the devil who accused us before GOD continually has been cast down, he is no longer allowed in heaven, and from chapters 4 and 5 we know the devil was not there for he had to be cast down from before the opening of the first seal.
In consequence, we know that what john describes in chapters 4 and 5 is not just the beginning of the tribulation but also that it happens after the passage of (Rev 12:10).
Now, there seems to be a contradiction with (Luke 10:17-18), “17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” KJV. For from here, the fall of satan seem to have happened before JESUS pronounced those words.
What happens here is that JESUS is remembering something HE witnessed while in heaven, as an eternal being, free from the constraints of time.
But when HE said it, HIS human condition was constrained by time, HE was borne and lived upto that day when HE said those words, for that reason that memory of an eternal being is in HIS past, before becoming a mortal.
This is very similar to what Jeremiah hears from the LORD in (Jeremiah 1:4-5), “4 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
Jeremiah’s spirit was known and sanctified by GOD, once that spirit went into his body, that, what was done in eternity, became his past.
Other very important characters appear on chapter 4, the 24 elders, please read the page mystery of the 24 elders for the rapture is described in there.
We will return to chapters 4 and 5 a few times more for what is described in those chapters is very important.
The four horsemen
The four horsemen appear in (Revelation 6:1-8), “[1] And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. [2] And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” KJV.
At the opening of the first seal the spirit of the antichrist is released into the earth. He will take control of the earth, and he will use deception to achieve it. The clue here is given by the bow he carries. The bow is his mouth and his lies the arrows, as it is explained in (Jeremiah 9:8), ” Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.” KJV.
And this is confirmed by (Revelation 13:5), ” And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” KJV. The antichrist who is part of the beast that rises out of the sea (Rev 13:1) is given the antichrist spirit of (Rev 6:2) to deceive the world. It must be understood that even though the antichrist receives the antichrist spirit at the beginning of the tribulation, he receives the power for forty two months at the midst of it.
(Revelation 6:3-4) describes the second horseman, “[3] And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. [4] And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.” KJV.
This is the spirit of war that will come over humanity to make them fight against each other. This is confirmed in (Matthew 24:7), ” For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” KJV. This is how the tribulation will start.
The third horseman appears in (Revelation 6:5-6), “ [5] And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. [6] And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
This horseman is the spirit of the false prophet, he is described in (Revelation 13:11-17), ” [11] And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon… [16] And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: [17] And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” KJV.
The false prophet will be in control of all the world’s economic activity, he will be a very materialistic and covetous person.
The fourth horseman appears in (Revelation 6:7-8), “ [7] And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. [8] And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.” KJV.
It is pretty clear the fourth horseman is death, and the four of them will kill one fourth of earth’s population. That is just the begining of the tribulation.
These four seals have to be opened one right after the other, for the beginning of the tribulation to be as bad as possible, which is exactly how it is described in (Matthew 24:21), ” For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” KJV.
This description of the four horsemen matches perfectly the vision of the night “The wrong tree”, please read that vision to get additional insights about the horsemen.
The tribulation saints
The opening of the fifth seal is the saddest of them all to me. It describes the sacrifice the left behind church had to go through to be accepted by the LORD.
(Revelation 6:9-11), “[9] And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: [10] And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? [11] And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” KJV.
It is sad because all these Christians were not watching, and the tribulation started and they were not ready and were left behind.
If you find youself in the tribulation, you missed the rapture. If so, the only chance you will have to clean your garments with the blood of the LAMB is by believing in your heart that JESUS is the son of GOD, but this time your faith will lead you to death. As this is your last chance, make sure you truly believe. Remember, you were left behind for a reason.
The new world order will establish the noahide laws as the moral laws of humanity all over the world. Actually those laws are almost set in the UN right now 2020. Many countries in America and Europe have them already as part of their legal system, hidden behind educational laws.
Please read the Seven noahide laws post to get additional insight on their intentions.
If you still doubt that the noahide laws could be the tool used for the Christian extermination you must keep reading because there are many passages that can be fulfilled only if the noahide laws and the babylonian pharisaic ideology is in legal control of religious unification.
Verse 11 brings a very somber message, all left behind Christians will have to die the same way, decapitated; for confessing that JESUS is the son of GOD. This is confirmed in (Revelation 20:4), “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” KJV.
If you don’t die this way by the time the tribulation reaches its middle point, you won’t be forgiven, you will end up in eternal damnation.
We will clarify this point further so you understand that missing the rapture (for not being ready watching and keeping the words of this book) is the worse mistake you can make.
When the fifth seal is open, the tribulation has been running for a while already. Christians are being executed not because of the opening of the fifth seal but because of the four horsemen.
The fifth seal only produces the handing of the white robes over the executed saints, and that only happens in heaven. But it is also a remainder of the promise of GOD to avenge them over the whore of babylon. So the fifth seal is definitely a judgment over the whore.
The sixth seal
The sixth seal is the most important information we have to determine a connection among the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls.
It is described in (Revelation 6:12-17), “[12] And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;…”
This great earthquake seems to be mentioned also in the 6th trumpet, (Rev 11:13-14), and in the 7th bowl, (Rev 16:17-20). And I say this because if the islands and mountains were moved out of their place by this great earthquake, and then another earthquake comes and moves them again, and then another one does the same, what would be the case of calling only one of those earquakes as something that has never happened before? Because if you do that then the other two earthquakes are just earthquakes and not great, and you make the bible a liar, and that can not be. The three earthquakes must be great and if one is called as something that has never happened before, then the three of them must be the same earthquake for the word of GOD is always true.
The great earthquake mentioned in those three passages has to be the one and the same, and with that you have a convergence point for the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls.
For the moment we will focus on the convergence of the sixth seal and the sixth trumpet. The seventh bowl will be left for a later post.
But is that the only convergence?, if something similar happens with some of the other seals and trumpets then there will be no doubt, we will know the seals and the trumpets are parallel events. But there could be convergence also with events not explicitly related to the seals or trumpets. Finding these events will make it much easier to determine the whole timeline.
Verse 13 records, “[13] And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind...”
This passage describes what happens in (Rev 12:4,9). The stars falling from heaven are the angels of satan, for according to (Rev 1:20) the stars are angels. So we have another convergence point between the sixth seal and (Rev 12) that is enough to set this event precisely in the timeline.
The timeline of the tribulation is starting to be revealed.
The rest of chapter 6 is, “[14] And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. [15] And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; [16] And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: [17] For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” KJV.
The people that survived until this seal and went underground to hide from the meteor rain, thought the day of the LORD had come, for the earthquake was so great they felt the world was coming to an end. All these people were evil people, for believers would not hide from the LORD but try to go to HIM. All this people have just realized they missed the sign of jonah provided by the two witnesses, and the day of the LORD came to them as a thief in the night.
In conclusion, the great earthquake of the sixth seal and the sixth trumpet is the same event, which implies that the sixth seal and the sixth trumpet are parallel events.
We will use this convergence point to put the most important events into a time line in part two of this post.
