3 Natural Divisions -
19 "Write,
therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.
Rev. 1:1-2 The Things you have seen… The Vision of Christ,
Rev 1:12-18 (NIV)
12 I turned around to see
the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden
lampstands,
13 and among the lampstands
was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to
his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.
14 His head and hair were
white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.
15 His feet were like
bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing
waters.
16 In his right hand he
held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His
face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell
at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not
be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
18 I am the
Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the
keys of death and Hades.
2:1-3:22 what is now … The Vision of the 7 churches.
15 Likewise you also
have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. (Nicolaitan =Victor over people)
16 Repent therefore!
Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against
them with the sword of my mouth.
Thyatira: 20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman
Jezebel, (Un-chaste, Baal is Husband to or Baal Exalts) who calls herself
a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual
immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.
2 Wake up!
Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds
complete in the sight of my God.
3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey
it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you
will not know at what time I will come to you.
10 Since you have
kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour
of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on
the earth.
16 So,
because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of
my mouth.
17 You
say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do
not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
18 I
counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich;
and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve
to put on your eyes, so you can see.
4:1-22:21 what will take place later… The events yet to take place.
4:1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door
standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a
trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place
after this."
2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a
throne in heaven with someone sitting on it….
6 Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear
as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and
they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.
7 The first living creature was like a
lion, the second was like an
ox, the third had a face like a
man, the
fourth was like a flying eagle.
8 Each of the
four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around,
even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy,
holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."
Chapter 5: Who is Worthy?
1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the
throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.
2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice,
"Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?"
3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth
could open the scroll or even look inside it.
4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was
worthy to open the scroll or look inside.
5 Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep!
See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is
able to open the scroll and its seven seals."
The
Seven Seals:
Seal
One: 1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first
of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living (Lion) creatures say in a voice like
thunder, "Come!" 2 I looked, and there before me was a
white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown,
and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
Seal two: 3 When the Lamb opened the second seal,
I heard the second living creature say, (Ox) "Come!"
4 Then another horse came out, a fiery
red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to
make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.
Seal Three: 5 When the Lamb opened the third seal,
I heard the third living creature say, (Man) "Come!" I looked,
and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a
pair of scales in his hand.
Seal Four: 7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living
creature say, (Eagle) "Come!"8 I looked, and there before me was a
pale (chloros = green) horse! Its rider
was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given
power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by
the wild beasts of the earth.
Seal Five: 9 When
he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who
had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had
maintained.
10 They
called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true,
until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"
Seal Six: 12 I watched as he opened the sixth
seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like
sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,
13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as
late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.
14 The sky receded like a scroll,
rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes,
the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in
caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
16 They called to the mountains and the
rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne
and from the wrath of the Lamb!
17 For the great day of their/His wrath has come, and who can
stand?"
Seal Seven: 1 When he opened the seventh seal, there
was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand
before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
The
Seven Trumpets:
Trumpet One: 7 The first angel
sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and
it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a
third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
Trumpet two: 8 The second angel
sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was
thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood,
9 a third of the living creatures in the
sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
Trumpet Three:10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and
a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers
and on the springs of water-- 11 the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and
many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
Trumpet Four: 12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and
a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars,
so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and
also a third of the night.
13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was
flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because
of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"