Contents: [Intro, how we know Rev completes Canon] [Rev is a Quadrilogy re Four End Times, + FAKE Church as Cause] [Greek Drama Rules show how to read Rev] [Quadrilogy Outline]

[Play #A, NOW, Rev Chaps 1–3] [1, Rev 1:1, Τάχος HASTE Precedence] [2, Nested REAL Prophecy] [3, Rev 1:6–7, Church must first complete as Kingdom] [4, Rev 1:8–18, Christ and His Lampstand Body] [5, Rev 1:19’s Meta Tauta] [6, John is Narrator, Rev 1:19ff] [7, John Represents Church] [8, Rev Chaps 2–3, Church is Audience, not Actor] [9, Christ STOPS TALKING after Rev 4:1] [10, No Church post‑Rev 4:1’s RAPTURE “Door”] [11, Angels Play Chorus] [12, No Church “ear…hear” post Rev 4:1] [13, Church Never Speaks] [14, Church = Sea of Glass] [15, Last = First] [16, Lamb is OT term] [17, OT imagery post Rev 5] [18, Rev 6 as Epilogue to Church, Meaning of Seven Seals]

[Play #B, Official Trib, Rev Chaps 4–19] [19, Chap 6 as intro to Play B] [20, Trib Trends] [21, Trib commences, Rev 7 Sealing Parens] [22, Trib Action Begins, Rev 8] [23, Trumpet Judgments] [24, Rev 9’s 5th Trump] [25, Rev 10’s Interlude] [26, Rev 11, how Trib’s 1st half ends] [27, 5th & 6th Trump “causes”] [28, Rev 11:15’s 7th Trump begins last half Trib] [29, Preview Plot] [30, Rev 12’s Preview] [31, Rev 13’s preview] [32, Rev 14–15, God’s Plan for last half] [33, Preview over, Last half officially begins, Bowl Judgments] [34, Satan’s Reply to Bowl Judgments] [35, Rev 17’s Fake Church] [36, Harlotry = Religion] [37, Archetype Church Trib vs. official historical Trib] [38, Babylon Destroyed]

[Plays #C & #D, Millennium & Eternity, Rev Chaps 19–22:5] [Epilogue (what to learn NOW from the Play) Rev 22:6–21] [Why Rev “scholarship” stays bad]

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Click here for a one-page Excel Tribulation Chronology 'map'. You will find it useful. Click here for RevMap.doc. It is a comprehensive companion outline of Revelation, and of this webpage. RevMap's contents are updated versus this RevPlay.htm, as I'm still editing RevMap.doc.

Eventually, the contents of both the doc and this webpage, will fully mesh. Right now, you might find apparent or real inconsistencies, pending further edit of this webpage to 'match'. Meanwhile, you can read both, to get your brain around how Revelation is constructed and what it says. Be sure to breathe 1 John 1:9 often as you read, for above all Satan doesn't want us understanding the Book of Revelation. It's not important whether you and I agree on interpretation. Rather, the goal is to give your spiritual perspicacity a workout. You won't agree with your former ideas, a year from now. Neither do I agree with all of what I've written or said, in the past! Learning is a process of constant revisiting, and refining. We don't 'get it right', immediately. Takes re-examination, constant. So what follows is designed for brainstorming, and is not a sales pitch.

Synopsis: Revelation is a straightforward book which you interpret as a Greek Drama quadrilogy, a common format of communication at the time Revelation was written. Using well-known language mechanisms, John divides the times to show how the End of History occurs, and how Eternity begins. Thus Revelation is blatantly meant to be God's Last Word, and Canon is closed. There is nothing hidden, no secret codes, in its language. It uses well-known metaphors elsewhere in Bible and in Greek literature to communicate. Bluntly.

The webpage is structured in 40 numbered bullets, following the same verse order as the Book of Revelation, so you'll have to first be familiar with the outline of Revelation, on your own; so use the color-coded left column of RevMap.doc to help you follow this page. For, you'll need to be following along in Revelation, as you read. Else it will be frustrating to read the bulleted commentary below.

Answer: "Because the Bible itself says so." Today we moderns pick beginnings and endings with headings like "Introduction", and "Final Chapter" and "finis" and "End" (the latter two, for movies). But the ancients preferred other ways of communicating such demarcation. Wordplay was usually the sole form of entertainment in the ancient world which everyone, rich or poor, could 'own'. So it was popular. So wordplay using metaphors rich in multilayered nuances, was popular. You see an enormous amount of wordplay in the Bible spoken by poor people. In short, they knew language better than we do. We of the modern age demand soundbyte answers. Well, people in the ancient world, didn't like soundbyte answers, they preferred pithy language you could play with while you walked, spun flax or shoed horses. Economic life was labor-intensive, so people crowded together and were constantly talking in terms of their literature. Made the time spent, pleasant. So the Bible is written cleverly. So if you'll use 1 John 1:9 as you read Bible in the original language texts, you'll begin to see what the ancients saw, both rich and poor alike. 1 John 1:9 turns on the authorization for God to illuminate you — whether rich or poor. Human abilities do squat for learning Bible.

Genesis is the first book of the Bible, and it linguistically proves itself to be the first book, by the fact that all Bible Doctrines begin in it. All other Bible books quote from it, use its teachings, keywords, etc. Bible is very densely-knit together, as a result; and the primary tool of communication, is wordplay: Gotta think like a thesaurus. No translation, therefore, is but adjunctively useful. ["Literal" translations are helpful in that the error they always make, is to narrowly translate each word the same way. So you can more easily search on a literal translation, once you know how it translates the keyword you're researching. However, if you want to read for sense, then you need a more idiomatic translation. Problem with these, is they go overboard with their idiom, and forget that Bible writing style deliberately uses keywords in wordplay. Good example of the overboard-idiom is to screw up ὁ λόγος in 1 Corinthians 1:5 — it's wordplay on Christ's Title as Word, and if you don't know that, the whole book will remain a "mystery", heh. Same kind of mistake, for logikos in Romans 12:1.)

Like any legal document, Bible develops its own many keywords beginning in Genesis, so a later book which uses a keyword which is in Genesis, tells you how the other book's keyword, should be interpreted; and, at the same time, tells you more about how to interpret that keyword as Genesis uses it. Thus you know absolutely that God and God (Spirit) Alone, wrote This Book. So it becomes painstaking, though not conceptually difficult, to establish what's the right translation, interpretation, whether a verse was 'faked' or scribal error, etc. Easy example: water is metaphorically depicted for the word restoring you, in Genesis 1:2 onward; just as the Spirit restored the earth, so also He restores the believer. So, in Psalms 23, David talks about waters restoring his soul. So in Romans 5:5, the Spirit pours Love in us: so love=Word since word=Water. Of course, many other verses use these same metaphors. See how easy they are to track?

Another favorite is double-edged, the Word as Sword. Revelation 2:16 (in context) and the many Old Testament LXX passages it references, together constitute a set of metaphors which basically add up to, if you don't get the μάχαιρα (Hebrews 4:12, Roman double-edged 'knife' sword=Word) in you, the ῥομφαία (Gentile broadsword) will ekporeuomai adversely over you. That latter verb is usually mistranslated "proceed", but it's more accurately rendered "pour", or "flood": it refers often to a pouring of troops, a 'flood' of calamity, like in the LXX of Daniel 9:25-26. So when you see a refrain like His Voice is like the sound of many waters.. Yikes! Swim in the Word, or the flood will drown you! [No-extra-charge corollary: all those idiotic "proceed" debates among Protestants are based on a mistranslation, no one even bothering to look up the many uses of ekporeuomai in the original language texts! There must be two hundred uses of the verb in the LXX and New Testament. Fools obviously don't like the flooding connotation, and tried to make the verb more 'stately', by sometimes translating it "proceed", as if God would be undignified if He poured. But in the original language texts, no way can you mistake Bible meaning: Holy Spirit pours HIS power, 'flooding' you, so you can get the waters of Scripture. Or, you get God's punishment pouring over you, drink the cup of judgement. And why that metaphor? Because the Holy Spirit restored the earth from its own primordial flood (search "Pangea", on the internet), Genesis 1:2. See the visual pun?

See? God's Word is really really Him talking. Translations are a bad telephone line; like two cans bored at the bottom with string knotted between them. You can get a better connection, than that!

In the exactly same manner, Revelation is the Last Book of the Bible, and likewise proves itself to be Last, by tying up all prior books' concepts/ keywords, etc., to itself. The wording, metaphorical depictions, etc. In Revelation, are all defined elsewhere in Bible, and are used in Revelation for that reason. So know the definitions, and you know how to interpret Revelation. Its Greek is the best known kind — Drama Greek, with koine ("common", "in common"). Note well: drama was for common people. Not the hoity-toity thing you hear of about theatre, today. So Revelation is intentionally easy to understand. Just grab a study Bible or software program which has already cross-referenced verses elsewhere in Bible with the same keywords, and you should get a lot more out of Revelation.

That people mix 'high' (elegant) language with colloquialisms in their speech, is normal. These webpages are deliberately written in such a mixed-speech style. The Bible is thus written that way as well, since — duh — it talks to people in their own language. So, think: Attic Greek was considered upper-class, so people used it often to enliven their days. They'd all seen the (mandatory-attendance) Greek plays, so they used such concepts and Drama Wording in the marketplace, town square (place of debate), even (and especially) in the bedroom. You know how 'important' you sometimes feel when you can say something elegant, high, important? Well, they did, too. Every 'gentleman' in classical Greek society (and every Jew in the Old Testament) was respected to the extent he was skilled in "rhetoric" (or Bible and later Talmud, for Jews). We all like to feel important. So, we mix high and low speech.

It was part of their lives, much like movies are very much part of our cultures, now. Bible was used that way, as well: in the Old Testament, everything revolved around wordings in Bible, and in the Hebrew, you can tell from the etymology alone how intertwined Bible teaching was, in the very language. So anyone studying Revelation who calls himself a scholar or teacher, should look for Drama Greek in it. After all, this is the most dramatic of themes, and we've oodles of evidence about how Greek drama is structured. Revelation is a straightforward Greek play of the Ending of History. Very common theme, in Greek Drama. John uses stock formulas to make meaning clear. For of course what he's talking about, couldn't be more epic-dramatic!

In sum: it's not hard to get Revelation, right, but it does take time. Because we aren't in the first century and our native tongue is not Greek, it takes us time to chase down all the many references Revelation makes to the Old Testament; and, to think over what they mean, especially when John changes something compared to the Old Testament ref. Even so, you don't need to be a genius Bible Scholar, to "get" what Revelation, means. In fact, what you do need, is to breathe 1 John 1:9; without it, even a genius Bible scholar can't get it right. (Pink/flesh table at the end of this webpage will cover that problem in more detail.) So with a little thinking and a lot of 1 John 1:9, you can tell it's not secret code, wild-eyed visions, etc. Just good Greek Drama, with Hebraic roots! [This is not to deprecate the need for strict and rigorous academic discipline. You need both the academics, and the Holy Spirit's Brains to get Scripture. Omniscience is omnidirectional, every dot tied to every other dot of knowledge, and very precise. So you need both the discipline of academics (yes, those initials after the name are important), and the humility of recognizing that academics are not omniscience. But people tend toward one or the other, only academics or only using 1 John 1:9; so get neither understanding nor wisdom, from Scripture. God is the God of Authority, and if you want HIS Brains to work in you, you gotta study like an academe, under the Spirit.]

Part 4 explains in detail what kind of "end times" we are in. There are four types, not one.

1. AD Tribulation as a Historical Trend, not the specific events. The Jewish Tribulation was supposed to follow in 70 AD, but because the Jews rejected Christ, Church is to be formed. She had had 40 years (under the Jewish time-umbrella, running coterminous) to grow up so the Rapture could occur in 70 AD (August, just before the civil Jewish New Year began). But, she did not grow up, so time was extended. The characteristic of this time is precedented in the characteristic belonging to 70 AD et. Seq: tribulation. But not, the actual events. Of course, between 70 AD and 96 AD, no one really knew what to expect: that's why Revelation was penned, circa 96 AD (giving everyone a generation longer to either spin out into apostasy, or spin in to God's System, the latter being the theme of 1 John and his Gospel). So Revelation finishes the story of Time. [If you know when Bible books were written, you can see why Scripture was rolled out piecemeal: there was always some precipitating event. PopeMyth.htm has a list of New Testament Book-dates (from Scofield KJV). So for example, you'll realize Mark's Gospel and the Book of Hebrews were written just before the Temple was destroyed (also probably both of Peter's letters) but just after Paul was executed. So those books were to tide over folks, explaining what was going to happen, and what they needed to learn to prevent it. But, no one learned. So, allow those books to percolate for a generation (typical, it's like a 40-year grace/warning), then come John's writings. God always has important reasons for His Scripture Release Timings.]
2. Blessing Trend 'endings' every 490 years (covered in Mirroring.htm at length, and briefly in LvS4a.htm), which is a trend since Adam: the four horsemen. Blatant reminder that Daniel 9:26 is operating. Idea here is that the world can end at any time, due to disinterest in Word, and only continues because God grew at least one believer enough, to justify continuing Time Itself. GeneYrs.xls shows how that blessing-by-association works from Adam through 2008 (entries post-Cross are sparse, and constantly being added).
3. Completion of Tribulation. Revelation ties together all Old Testament prophecy here on the official seven-year Tribulation, elaborating on how Daniel 9:27 'plays', and how God wraps up the Angelic Trial.
4. Deus Exodus Machina, the tandem Millennium followed by Eternity, which Revelation also covers. Typical Greek drama, God comes down at the end of the play (here, of real history). The actual span is 1050 years, 1000 for the Millennium, plus the typical 50-year worldwide voting period, true since Adam, typified in the Mosaic Law as "Jubilee".

So you are to interpret Revelation as dual-meaninged (again, depicting the Hypostatic Purpose of History, the Revelation of Jesus the Christ). First, as trends (explained in threaded fashion throughout Part IV); second, as actual events occurring in the last seven years that 'belong' to Israel, Daniel 9:27 thus fulfilled. Because there are two sets of promises due to Israel's rejection of Messiah: the unconditional covenants long since promised to Abram and following, must yet be fulfilled, but also the Body of Christ must be first built (Hebrews 11:39-40 is a crescendo passage on this topic). Meanwhile, the 490's provably continue through today (1990 being the ending of the latest 490). [click here for a side trip-sketch of the historical characteristics. It's real significant, that the Book of Hebrews explained in advance how these twin promises' fulfillments were to function. But almost no one understands that book. I can't find anyone except my pastor, who does. He begins to cover that Book circa lesson 800 (et.seq., several hundred lessons following) of Series 376, 92 Spiritual Dynamics. The full exegesis of Book of Hebrews is best gone through after those lessons. His exegesis series is labelled "1972 Hebrews". When you see the Greek, you will get the meaning. Can't get it from translation. Very elegant, very deft Bible wording. People don't take Bible seriously, so always treat it shallowly. Big mistake, especially here. Billions of dollars are wasted on prophecy books and lectures which could be saved if someone would just Study Bible Itself, for a change!

So with but one exception, Tribulational identities of the "antichrist", etc. — you know, the nonsense Christians drool over when thinking about "the Rapture" — are not generally important. So the whole European Union blah-de-blah is irrelevant, and has been an ongoing trend since 96 AD, if you read your history books.

So the current antichrists are just the current ones; every generation has its antichrists, as Paul explained to the Thessalonians, and as John explained in 1 John. So when you analyze Revelation, you make identity assumptions, but you don't get too serious about them. For, the current 'crop' fitting the description, are helpful in seeing the structure. Whether those folks/entities actually become the identities in the Tribulation, no one can know — until the Tribulation actually begins.

Move on instead to what matters, which is why all this is to happen.

Every generation post-Cross can be the Rapture generation. Precedence: the Tribulation was always contingent on Christ's Death and Temple Destruction, Daniel 9:26. So now the Tribulation is contingent on Church's 'death', for Church is the Body of Christ; so you can't date the Rapture, which is the kick-off for the Tribulation's beginning, just as Christ's Death was supposed to be. So you can't say who will be "the" antichrists then. There are many, each generation (main theme in 1 John 2, 2 Timothy 2:26-3:7). Goal is to grow up spiritually, not drool over the current historical similarities to Revelation, since in each generation, those similarities will always exist.

Part IV of the Thinking series walks a reader through bible's doctrine explaining why the Rapture is real, why it kicks off the Tribulation, and why it's legally sourced in the Groom Being Rejected. However, a quick glance at Daniel 9:26 alone should settle all disputes. Of course, no one should base his interpretation on one Bible verse. But by seeing it, you see the interpretational key: Christ. And He, is the Key to Everything. This is how we got inserted, why Matthew 16:18 reads as it does. This is the Logistical Key, Daniel 9:26.

One Revelation identity needs to be stressed loudly: we Church are the anti-Christ harlot, too! It's not the European or other future union which brings about the damage, it's a fake church.

• This fake church began circa 98 AD with the so-called Apostolic Fathers, and morphed into Catholicism;
• Then, it morphed into the state churches;
• Then, it morphed into all the many apostate independent churches.
• Chief characteristic of the harlot is that she sells herself. Well, just turn on a Christian TV station, and watch the harlot parade.
• Harlot lies. So, a fake gospel is peedled (pee+peddle) by these folks. You know, all those added verbs except the only one that works, "believe". Believe in Christ, believe He paid for your sins. Hence the fake gospels forever substitute other verbs like repent, invite, accept, make-Christ-Lord, be-baptised-by-some-human — always mysteriously shunning Just Believe, which is what the bible says. So those believing the fake gospel, are not saved, because they 'do' the wrong verbs! So all those poor people become the "Lord, Lord" people in Matthew 7:21-22. Clever satanic ploy. Seriously: if someone can't tell you the Gospel correctly, that it's only believe in Christ to be forever saved, that person is both carnal and a spiritual baby.
• Harlot wants money. No elaboration needed!
• Harlot wants gifts — so work work work work.
• Harlot uses threats — oh, you can lose your salvation!
• Harlot wants political power. Just look at the prolife movement and the Federal Marriage Amendment nonsense, both completely and utterly anti-Biblical. Did Christ ever, crusade?

Your own television set will prove all this to you. On the "anti-Biblical" claim, you can even use your common sense without a Bible (no, God would be murderer if soul was ever in a womb, God doesn't need politics, the spiritual life can't be done with a corrupted body, so it must be what you think, etc). Folks have largely not had access to a Bible, in history. So they could use their common sense, too. Infinity can't be served by finity. Common sense. What a body does cannot ever be spiritual. Common sense. God is Infinite, I am not, so He must have devised a way to pay for my existence: common sense. So when John 3:16 is cited by a travelling friar, it makes sense. Immediately.

People who want the lie, hate the truth. So they have no common sense. Neither then, nor now. Nor, in the future Tribulation. So they are deceived, whether believers or not. This is true of all of us. Trick is, to keep asking GOD, using 1 John 1:9 — asking God to make clear the lie believed, so that the truth can replace it. Congenital defect in Adam, which only the Thinking of the Last Adam can solve, Romans 5:12-Romans 12:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:22.

So when you see all those many titillating books sold about Revelation or prophecy; so when you see all those TV programs sold which allegedly diagnose today's history as yes, we must be in the last days, brother! Just send in your love gift and we'll send you the latest book/tract/video so you will be prepared! Or when you see all those many oh-so-intellectual documentaries allegedly proving why Armageddon can't be fought, logistically (right, dummy — which tells you demons herd humans into doing what makes no sense!); that Revelation is allegorical, or symbolic of something else; or, that the Rapture is mid-Tribulation, post-Tribulation; that well John wrote in 70 AD (what a crock) — you're looking at the real cause of the Tribulation: believer apostasy. Evidenced by, bad scholarship, people asking the wrong questions of Bible. We want the gory details, not the why. So the poor folks in the Tribulation will have all this misinformation, and it will be venerable, then. And since they can't get any blessing except through Church's growing up beforehand (Part IV explains this fact in great detail) — titillated folk now are gonna be mighty regretful at the Bema.

Here's a brief on the nature of Greek plays. Following this section, Revelation itself is outlined to show its Greek-Play Structure, so you can see it for yourself. [If allowed, I'll later elaborate Revelation's keywords: they are fabulous choices, those keywords! Meanwhile, I'm sure the Holy Spirit will alert you to any errors of mine, if you're using 1 John 1:9 as you read.)] [If you are seriously interested in learning Revelation, I suggest that you get my pastor's 4-year daily exegesis of it on audiotape: titled, "1981 Revelation". Yes, four years, seven lessons per week. That's how long it should take, to really get how Bible fits Revelation together into one seamless whole. My pastor's site link is on my home page. That place never asks you for money, never mails you insipid letters, etc. Your anonymity remains protected, too. Oh: there's a limit on how many lessons per month you can get, depending on what format you want (MP3, audio, video). You'll have to find out what the current limit is.]

There's a lot of argument over the origin of drama. Folks seem agreed that it comes from religious rites, which makes sense: we like to look up, to feel part of something bigger, so we'd want to dramatise what we think the 'something bigger', is. Even today in the so-called primitive cultures you see a great deal of drama in the dances, hunting rituals, etc. Lots of storytelling. Every village in any epoch however primitive had a witchdoctor, shaman or other individual whose chief job was to tell the stories of the gods who protected his people.

Egypt, even as early as 1800 BC (some say 2300, but there's debate) was putting on plays. So Moses would have known of it. (Asian drama goes back farther, but I forget the details.) Allegedly Greek drama was founded by "Thespis" (from which we get "thespian"), who (allegedly, but I dispute it) drew his ideas from the Dionysus/Bacchus spring rites, and became the first producer/ writer/ actor in a play.

Originally there was only one actor saying all the lines of all the characters, supplemented with a chorus. (Which is a version of the Indian narrator/storyteller, so the origin of Greek drama may come from India via Persia, but I digress.) About 30 years later, changes were made, adding actors, changing the roles of the chorus, etc. So, although the techniques for Greek drama changed a lot over time, Greek drama remained every bit as important as the Olympics, or war. Major awards were given for best play. So, there were rules for competing: you had to write your play a certain way, to qualify to compete. For example, you had to begin the play with a background explanation, the setup/cause for the actual event the play would cover. For this, there was usually a chorus, or an actor with a monologue.

Also, the plot had to be epic-scale, very colorful, and exaggerated (by our modern standards). The language sounds like a soap opera, everyone woe-ing all over the place, or overjoying, taking ninety years to complete a sentence. But for the Greeks (and most others whose cultures aren't British-based, even today), this was respectable, for somewhere in the back of each play was an honoring-the-gods-and-State purpose. Can't use too many nice words to honor that theme! So, we get the word "hypocrite", for example, from the huge masks actors had to wear in the earlier dramas — which had exaggerated expressions on them — so folks sitting too far away could still "get" the plot (analogous to believers, today).

Thus, Greek drama always played on at least two levels, to be considered good: first, it had to deal with some historical or god-related event; second, it had to represent timeless truths on epic scale: the tragic flaw, the Hero, virtuous war, Divine Judgement/Opinion/Involvement, triumph over evil, etc. If it was a comedy , the plot could be fictitious, but the underlying meaning was some satyr→satire or commentary on: government; burning political issues of the day; or other persons well-known to the audience. (Attendance was compulsory, apparently. If you were too poor to pay the entrance fee, some charity gave it to you.)

Wordplay was vital, in Greek Drama. The more metaphors, and the more levels of meaning in a line of script, the better the script was deemed to be. This was especially important since one human actor played multiple roles. So the precision of language helped one separate the different dramatic characters portrayed by the same guy. In Greek drama there was little movement: no acting out of a fight, etc. People just stood on stage and talked loudly. So the wording itself, and the way words were used by the actors, constituted the entertainment genius of the play.

The hero got all the transitive verbs (verbs which take an object); the villain, got all the intransitive verbs (meaning that bad never accomplishes its purpose). There were genitive absolutes for the good guys ("absolute"=noun+participle in same case ending, the clause having "no grammatical relationship to the rest of the sentence"), split-screen, technically called "simultaneous action" — Luke does this two dozen times in Acts to spotlight Paul. (I haven't checked Revelation yet for genitive absolutes, but given the split-screen quality in it, some should be there?) On the other hand, Greek drama also uses the accusative absolute or the accusative used instead of the nominative, to stress the subject (Peter and Paul use this 'dramatic accusative' to designate Our Lord). Greek drama loves innumerable plays on word sounds and multiple meanings (use of "doulos" in Euripides' "Ion").

Moreover, dramatic narrative in Greek is in the present tense: most English Bibles caveat in their prefaces that they freely disregarded the Greek dramatic present, where English tends to use the past tense. Christians this often misconstrue sequences, not only in Revelation, but pan-Bible. [Example: in Bible, faith precedes regeneration, not the other way around, but if you don't know Greek tense pairings and shifts, you miss that. Another example: John talks of being sired in 1 John, a progressive tense in English, so "born of God" is misleading to the English reader.]

Principle: all these language devices, written in extremely dense metaphor — replete with every nickname of gods, people, past wars (Ida=Troy, for example) — were considered 'good script'. So you must track these devices when you read Revelation (and Bible). Else, you'll misunderstand what it says.

Sometimes, there was another big criterion, for winning drama awards: the action had to take place in "one day", which was impossible to do, given the requirement that a play be of epic proportions. So, competing playwrights had to use flash-forwards and flashbacks to stay within the one-day rule. Even without the one-day rule, the way the play unrolls, is as if all the front action was done in a day, the chorus or some messenger filling in the details of some battle, etc. Which takes place off stage.

Furthermore, there had to be a moral in the play. This moral would run throughout; finally there had to be a short Epilogue after the play ended, in which the moral is memorably summed up. For, Greek drama was designed to wring one out emotionally (κάθαρσις) and buck one up morally. (Augustus had Virgil write the Aeneid for a similar reason.)

Finally, Greek plays were usually submitted in 'fours': three tragedies (the term originated from goat-offerings), plus one comedy or farce (AKA 'satyr', from which we get the word "satire"). They didn't have to be 3-to-1; could be 2-and-2. But there was always at least one comedy, where the ending is happy.

In all events, these plays were deliberately interrelated, akin to what we would call a "mini-series" in today's movies. If you look at the way Revelation is divided, you'll see the 'four': our now, Tribulation, Mill, Eternal State. Because, there are The Four: Three Gods, plus One Human (the latter, of course, being God as well); thus, a bridge to another 'four': God, angels, man, eternity. Full-spectrum synergy forever. So, "Complete": totally filled up (πληρόω), totally fulfilled-to-the-finish (τελειόω). So, end (τέλειος, τέλος) of story, play, conflict, labor pains (see Romans 8:18-end). Eternity is finally born!

Deciding What's Scripture Key → Considering that '4' is the Biblical number-designator for 'completeness' everywhere in Scripture, note also that 1) John is the Last Apostle, 2) writes a book which shows the Lord Coming Back For All Time, 3) and then Closes History, 4) Ending with the Caveat Not To Add Or Subtract to the Canon ('this book'). All these bald statements are like a huge flashing neon sign: Finis Finis Finis Finis! End End End End! That Revelation is the Last Book of God's Script.

'Especially, if you know this four-thingy about Greek drama. So all those fancy hermits who wrote beautiful-but-non-canonical things the Greek Orthodox so praise; so the Talmud, so the Jewish pseudipigrapha, Apocrypha, Christian and gnostic apocrypha and pseudipigrapha; so also post-Revelation dreams, visions, etc. — all these are bogus, coming only from Satan & Co. They may contain insight, are maybe helpful, and should not be abhorred: but they are not God's Canon. To think otherwise is to incur all the curses, as the end of Revelation warns.

If you like pain, call some book "of God".. Which isn't. Frankly, it's not hard to tell the difference between what God writes and what demons or people claim He writes. For in the latter cases, God is always ridiculed. You don't have to be a Bible scholar to know what book comes from God, or not. So the liability is real. So the soul-scarring results, are real. Worst thing one can do, is to claim something Divine.. Which isn't.

The apostle John, ever the lover of marital "oneness", fellowship, home, and (perhaps consequently these themes in) Greek drama rhetoric, is cast in the classical role of a narrator in Revelation. Which, he really was: heh. Important: the narrator is always outside the play.

John writes out his God-given vision in the form of an epic Greek play within four smaller plays, centering around what in the Old Testament is often called the "Day of the Lord" (which is what the book's title really means, literal "The Revelation of Jesus Christ"), with flashbacks and flashforwards. From what I can tell, John must have been very familiar with Greek drama, because he sometimes uses techniques and devices outside the "classics" (Aeschylus, etc, 500-400 BC), e.g., moving tableaus. These date at least from Plato's time, and are really the base for a lot of the world's drama: for example Noh plays, and ancient Chinese drama (forget what it's called), are essentially moving tableaus. On the other hand, mime was extremely popular in John's day, especially given the 'action' and even quasi-sexual nature of the depictions; so Revelation displays a combination of tableau and mime. It's even more ironic, since pantomimes in that day were often about the uniting of god and human! (Hella S. Haase, Threshold of Fire is a great fictional novel on Emperor Honorius' Rome which centers on this topic; shows how enduring is drama mime/tableau.)

At the very time John wrote (Domitian's Rome), the most popular form of Roman play among the lower classes, were mimes burlesquing christians. So Revelation is a kind of 'reply' to those plays, as well.

Now that you know you should read Revelation like a Greek drama play, see how simple it is to "get" Revelation in what follows...

Play A for Apostasy, "Now". Church.

1. God wastes no time remind us to make haste growing up in His Son. Our friendly noun "τάχος" is in Revelation 1:1, and is usually mistranslated. It means suddenly, not "soon". What must take place next in sequence and suddenly, without warning. (Search on tach˙ in LvS4a.htm for more info.) So John gets a prophecy about what can suddenly happen, with No Set Beginning Date. He stresses that fact in 1:3 with the word ἐγγύς. Usually translated "near", it's pregnant with meaning of closeness, intimacy, and is a Temple-Slave-being-near-God-by-being-in-His-Temple concept. Paul uses this term to good effect in Ephesians 2.

So, let's look at one of them. What's next in sequence, is next to the thing it follows, right? So then...heh.. When Revelation 1:3 says "the time (age) is near", it first means an Age Of Nearness, get it? Spatial nearness is stressed, in the Greek. Since "time" is used as an epoch marker for a covenantal period (or other appointment period) in Bible, it is also 'near' in the sense that the next Time (Age) is the Tribulation. But that tells you nothing about the length of years between "now" and "later". Frankly, "near" is a wordplay term: if you want to be near God, get with the spiritual life, which will get you home faster, and get us all home faster, so we can all be near Him sooner because the Rapture will be Nearer In Time.

• Take time now to review the outline of the whole book. Note how the book is constructed in a nested manner, wholly dependent on the sequence of what went before. That's your big tipoff that a real set of events is being depicted. It's not allegorical, can't be allegorical, if the purpose is to Reveal The Real Person. Sheesh. All those sevenings are Oaths, Promised Things, so they are real, too. Else, just pitch the whole Bible, right now; for, "To seven" is the literal translation of the Hebrew word usually translated "swear" or "make an oath" or "promise". And the noun, is exactly the same: "seven". So these are real, k? A promise can be of a good thing or a bad thing, but it is a real thing, just the same. Sheesh.

Um, note that if a thing is Promised, or if Someone is Promised, the thing or Person will be Near Your Heart. Even, Next In Sequence! John's τάχος wordplay, rolling out!

That's why there are seven seals, and until the seventh one is opened, the seven trumpets can't begin; until the seventh trumpet sounds, the seven bowl ("vial", in KJV) judgements can't begin. All dependent on Church. Can't miss this. Until John goes up in Revelation 4:1 (the Rapture verse), the rest of the play, doesn't continue. Can't make it plainer.

In short, when Bible talks of sevens, it's talking of real things. Promises to be literally fulfilled. Not nice words, and definitely not some bleeping code, for crying out loud. Creeps me out how 'scholars' don't do their homework on what bible says are its own meanings.

• Now go back to Revelation 1. Notice the purpose of the book, Revealing Christ at Second Advent, v.7. So notice how Verse 6 precedes. We are made a kingdom, first: John here ties back to Hebrews 11:39-12:1, Daniel 7:13, 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Notice that in Daniel 7, the identity of who would accompany Him isn't stated. Why? Because it could have been, the Jews. But due to Jewish Rejection, the prophecy still is fulfilled — but via Church. Very pointed reference. Everyone who would get Revelation would know that, hence John makes it into a doxology. Next in sequence from our being made a kingdom, was His Being Revealed. So John, ever the lover of Drama (vv1-6 is Greek drama preamble), notches up the already dramatic fact that history is contingent on our completion, to .. His Being Revealed.

Wow. Pretty epic play, alright! What, His Being Revealed is contingent on something? And on what? Us puny Church? Well, yes — by Father's Design, we are Body of Christ, Ephesians 1, 1 Corinthians 6, etc. John presumes the audience is already familiar with that Scripture, so doesn't need to reiterate it.

Ooooohhh, τάχος wordplay again: contingency represents next-in-sequence! Cause and effect is nearness! He causes us so we are caused to cause Him, another circle like the subjective and objective genitive, 2 Corinthians 5! I love that verse in David, "Because you caused me"! (Hebrew, Bible translations are awful, think it's Psalms 139:14, niphal plural.) Oh, and body? What can be nearer, than that? In HIM? Well, you decide what that wordplay means...

• Verses 1:7-18 provide the fabulous opening scene. Look up each of the keywords in the Old Testament, so you can enjoy how the Lord upgrades their Zechariah 2 meaning, in v.20, due to the 'mystery' (Church moniker) of us, His Body. Lampstand and olive tree depict the Word in a believer Filled With The Spirit (the olive tree). Note the emphasis on Divine Pleasure and Protection the believer gets. Spend time on this, for it will show you the genius of using metaphors. So much incorporated info packed in a single word!

A lampstand usually represents some 'head' of a group of believers, but need not (Revelation 11's Two Witnesses are just two people, not two groups). Notice the stress on the individual, in the Old Testament. Notice how the Lord then even explains that the lampstands are the churches (plural, not singular). Each local church. No denominations, no monolith, no corporateness in that sense! It couldn't be plainer. Fits the Greek of Ephesians 4:11-16, exactly.

The "seven spirits of God" (Revelation 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, 5:6) means the Seven Kinds Of Spiritual Ability He Gives You, the implication being that if you aren't getting it from Him, you don't have it. See Isaiah 11:2, Zechariah 3:9, 4:2-10 for the definition. Isaiah 11 is a prophecy of Christ Himself (see context), so He's Filled with the Spirit, and thus has six abilities of the Spirit. So here in Revelation we see that we are extensions of Him, by use of "seven spirits". My pastor somewhere taught that a better translation would be "Sevenfold Spirit of God", by which we'd know categories of spiritual power/ability were being referenced. (You'll also find the term in Talmud, Mishnah, but I can't remember where right now, and I only have a paper copy.) Heh: seven ways to breathe properly, Promise! First, Him Himself, plus the six abilities He provides, as Isaiah 11:2 lists.

Ooohhhh, stress on ruach/ἔσχατος, breath, Wind, Spirit! And what is more sudden than that, when excited? Hebrew word for nostrils, also means anger/excitement, feh, feh, feh! What is nearer, than 'breathing' the Filling of the Spirit and the Word, "the Word is near your heart and and in your mouth", Deuteronomy 30:11ff. Ohhh, sevening promise, nearness, sequence, cause-and-effect, all τάχος... The sudden insight due to Filling and pondering a doctrine; the intimate knowledge of Scripture which is Promised... Oh, the τάχος wordplay never ends.

Revelation 1:8's Alpha and Omega and 1:17's First and Last both reference Christ as God-man. Alpha begins the Greek alphabet, Omega ends it. So He's the First and Last Word on Everything. Revelation 1:14's "white like wool" references His Payment on the Cross. My pastor always stressed that the shock of bearing our sins must have turned His hair white, so perhaps the reference is literal as well as symbolic of Him being the Lamb. Daniel 7:9 uses the same term. Revelation 1:15's "bronze" is used to denote tensile strength and brightness. Look up "bronze" in NIV to get a sense of how Bible uses the term, especially in Temple construction, since the Lord is the Person the Temple depicts. Then you'll see why John calls His Feet (walking, living), blazing bronze. See also Ezekiel 1:7, 40:3, Daniel 10:6, showing that angels of His Entourage had part of the 'uniform' also. "Many waters" depicts the Word as a flood. Probably as a play on Genesis 1:2's restoration of the earth, the Holy Spirit is said to "flood" you. Flooding also has a military invasion connotation, i.e., in Daniel 9:26, Isaiah 8:8, 10:22, 28:2, etc. Greek verb for this is often ekporeuomai, usually mistranslated "proceed" in English Bibles (i.e., John 15:26), causing centuries of Christian bloodshed and confusion to this day. You are flooded with understanding, or with judgment. So the sound of many waters means He's the Word, full of Divine Perspicacity. It's an Old Testament metaphor carried over into the New Testament, and is repeated thesaurally combined with that other Word of Word, "sword", in Revelation 1:16, 4:5, (negatively, of demons) 9:17-18 & 16:14, 11:5, 19:15, (which ties back to 1:16) and 22:1 (which ties back to 1:15). Thus Revelation demonstrates the span of negative and positive flooding/pouring/issuing forth. Revelation 1:16's sword and stars depict the Word, from His Mouth into ours. It would be better to translate ἄγγελος as "messengers", as the persons referenced are the seven pastors of the representative local churches which receive Review during Chapters 1-3. Which should be obvious: nowhere in Bible, does a human write to an angel, 🤣. See Revelation 1:20, which tells you that.

• Revelation 1:19's Greek verb mellw (literal, "to be about to be"), and the time-tracking "μετά ταῦτα" clauses (covered below), separate the "times" for you. Such terms wall off the time of one covenant from another, and that's their purpose, here.

• So notice: per Revelation 1:19, John's not in the Tribulation, he's only writing about it AKA narrating it. Greek drama separated narrator from play, commentators from the play. (So also notice how the angels' jobs, don't overlap: some are commentators, some are actors, but never both.) Anyone familiar with Greek drama would be alerted to this style: especially, in Revelation. Moreover, The Lord doesn't talk to him after Chapter 3, except via a rhetorical/ drama device called a dramatic 'interjection'. The use of 'interjection' is covered in the Epilogue, as it has the same function. The only use of interjection post Revelation 4:1 is in Revelation 16:15, covered below. That's another proof Church is not in the Tribulation.

Compare: in the Gospel of John, you'll see passim comments where John refers to himself in the third person, so he distinguishes himself as both an actor in the events he tells, as well as a narrator, since he also gives eyewitness testimony. He uses this same angle to open 1 John with dramatic flourish. But he doesn't do present himself that way in Revelation. He says he's on Patmos (Revelation 1:9): that's the last witness statement as an actor on Earth, that he makes. In short, he is not an eyewitness on earth to the Tribulation events. Again, this is yet another way to show Church is not in the Tribulation.

Hence John isn't in the play until Revelation 4:1, when he's told to "come up here" (see also Revelation 11, where the Two Witnesses are given the same command). John thus becomes an eyewitness from heaven, and is never an actor in the play taking place on earth. Hint Hint.

• John represents Church, which is why he's writing to Church. Church wouldn't need the information if it was already provided, so we know that the purpose of the letter is to inform Church. And it does need to know, because what Church does now impacts what happens then: those Tribulation martyrs are standing on the sea of glass (Church) in Revelation 15:2; they are not the glass, themselves. Part IVa explained this fact, and also why Church is stamped with Israel's historical trends as part of "times of the Gentiles", in order to rescue Israel.. Specifically, Daniel's 70th week (see Luke 21:24); so Revelation 1:9's "tribulation" is not Israel's own Tribulation: there are two times, not just one. Term "θλῖψις" has many uses, some generic, and some particulate. Trace the term in the Bible.

For those throwing away Revelation as allegorical, for preterists, and any Church-in-Tribulation people, Revelation 1:9 is probably a big 'justification' in their minds. So, they don't know they are misinterpreting its import. For, they forget the cardinal rule of any language as well as any prophecy, that there are multiple layers of meaning and application. So, you have to be careful and distinguish the various uses of the same word. For example, the "I stand at the door and knock" verse is inanely used to justify a claim you must invite Christ into your heart, to be saved. But Christ is the Door. So why is He here knocking at a door? Here in Revelation, "door" doesn't have the same meaning. Which we immediately know, because the verse is in a passage addressed to a Church, meaning believers, hello... So do your homework.

• As Revelation 2-3 prove, We Church are audience, not actors. Even now, we are in the world, but not of it. So we are audience. This entire Trial is about Satan & Co. Claiming they deserve something for their works, and so their kingdom — this earth — makes the same claim. When we believed in Christ we became Citizens of Heaven (πολίτευμα Philippians 3:20 +Ephesians 2:12), no longer of this Earth. We stay down here as high-ranking ambassadors, 2 Corinthians 5:20 (see whole context). Ambassadors are never supposed to try to influence politics in their host countries. So we aren't to do that, either. We get our instructions solely from Heaven, and are not actors on the world's stage.

So too, in the Tribulation, we're not even on the earth; the Ambassadors Have Been Recalled. We come to the stage in Heaven via that Door in Revelation 4:1, but.. We have no lines, there is no activity recorded of us, the only believers rostered in Revelation after Chapter 3 are Jews (the 144K plus the Two Witnesses). All else, is Fake Religion, war, lots of hurting people. No mention of Church. Sign of Jonah, silence. The Protagonist is silent toward a world which is silent towards Him. So too, His Bride. Even as it was, ever since He was First Seated.

• The Lord himself stops talking after Revelation 4:1. You don't see Him talk to anyone but Church (as represented by John) in the whole of Revelation. He plays a mime, else; after all, that's how He's being burlesqued in the Roman Empire, at the time of writing! He's taking on the role of an actor whose first speech was to indicate the setup/cause (namely, Hermes, in Euripides' "Ion"): and to whom is that first speech? Church. Else, He doesn't talk. This is conclusive. Were the Church down on earth at any time during the Tribulation, He'd be talking to it on earth. You just try to find any such 'talk'. T'aint there! Because, as He explains, we Church are setup, cause, prologue to: that's typical Greek drama. We are background, the prior, the raison d'etre for the play, Matthew 16:18 now fulfilled.

In Chapters 8-18, notice how both the stage and the only actors in "The Great Tribulation" are on earth. Angels are the chorus, and a chorus goes off-stage (to heaven), or onstage to explain (like those three angels flying at noon in Revelation 14) to the actors. This structure is kinda complex to our modern eyes, but not to Greek multilevel ironic drama, in which the audience was considered a participant and beneficiary. But of course, just as Colossians 1:16-18 notes, along with Psalms 110:1 and its repetitions, The Lord Is The Key To History. So He's at once the Chief Audience, Chief Beneficiary of the Play, the Purpose for the Play. It's all for Him, Psalms 110:1. So He's not on earth. So Church is not on earth, either. Couldn't be plainer.

Roman Custom of Haughty Silence: The Lord is silent toward everyone on earth; only angels talk as messengers! Roman concept of no one else is worth talking to. No Roman noble or royal would ever talk to you directly. The Lord Himself used such dismissive language (separate sheep from goats, slay him before me, etc.) to communicate this. Not talking directly to the recipient, but to an intermediary, within the recipient's hearing.

The actors get the silent treatment from Heaven, coupled with 'war': Divine Exodus-style disasters, for they won't hear God's Word. Reject the Μάχαιρα, you get the Ῥομφαία, is the theme of Revelation. (See Hebrews 4:12, Revelation 6:4, 13:10, 13:14, 1:16, 2:16, 6:8, 19:15, 19:21.) We hear the Word, so we get the Word about what all that disaster, means. They won't hear the Word, so they get the disaster; both μάχαιρα and ῥομφαία turn against them. Could God make it plainer?

So this is tantamount to saying the real stage is now, the 'play' is but a result of now, all future history hinges on how and if the Body of Christ completes. [Doesn't matter that we know in advance God will win, what about our team: our current generation? Do we want to be ashamed at the horror we inflicted on those of our generation and after, by not finishing the course?] Church is the End of the Play, and all else is but epilogue. Many startling verses tie in: 1 Corinthians 10:11 (bald Greek that we are the Completion of all ages); Ephesians 1:15-23, 3:15-19, coupled with Ephesians 1:10's "with reference to the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times"; 1 John 4:17, Hebrews 10:12-14, end of each Hebrews Chapters 10, 11, 12, Paul's Ephesians 3:21 lexeme "Age over the Ages", just to name a few climactic passages on our now. (BTW: chronos, καιρός, αἰών are Greek words used for "Age", though they have other meanings. Paul's lexeme in Ephesians 3:21 uses aiwnos in double genitive, since the first genitive goes with genea.)

Yet another interesting rhetorical device of aloofness: "a voice from Heaven". The voice is not identified. Yeah, those on earth don't know the One speaking. Remember the Lord saying "My sheep hear My Voice?" and that refrain, "he who has an ear", which suddenly disappears from Revelation after Chapter 3? It's only used one more time, in Revelation 13:9, and that in context of the intermission. "Churches" is conspicuously absent, though the term was only used with "churches" in Revelation, seven times in Chapters 2-3. Yeah, because Church is in Heaven during Revelation 13, and is at that point, bride.

• Revelation 4:1, "μετά ταῦτα", stated twice, at both beginning and ending of the verse! It's a key phrase Bible uses to divide time, as noted earlier. This is the only verse where the phrase is used twice, walling off what went before, and walling off what happens after. So Revelation 4:1, beginning of Tribulation at the time we go to Heaven, walling us off by our Going Up, and by our Arrival ('bookends' of μετά ταῦτα in 4:1); Revelation 7:1, beginning of Tribulation sequence on earth. See? Same moment. But Two Separate Stages, two separate occurrences. See the division? God is very precise!

• The angels play chorus after Chapter 3, talking either about Him, or about the people on earth, or those in heaven. But no one talks about Church, but only to Church (John), because we aren't Church anymore, but Bride. We got promoted, risen, higher, get it? In Greek drama, the chorus plays an adviser to a protagonist, or fills in homilies, comments; or, fills in descriptions of offstage activity, like some battle which is won. So think: if Church were in Tribulation, then the angels would be talking about Church. But they do not — they talk about the 144,000, those saved through their ministry, etc. And even these 144K folks don't have any lines to speak, until they themselves are in heaven.

• Note also how after the end of Revelation 3, no "ear..hear" refrain contains the tag line, "what the Spirit says to the Churches". The only Church keyword after Chapter 3 is "mystery", and it's used to designate a Fake Church: the harlot of Revelation 17 (SatSpin.htm has more detail). Again, because Church is no longer Church, but Bride. Important: the only Old Testament use of Greek μυστήριον is in Daniel, who is in Babylon, in exile! So when you see "mystery" and "Babylon" and "harlot" you are to immediately understand that Revelation 17's Church is fake!

For Revelation 10:7 tells John that the Mystery of God is completed with the seventh trumpet to fulfill what was said to the prophets — blatant statement that Church is not in the Tribulation See also Daniel 2, Ephesians 1, and Hebrews 1. Revelation 10:7 deliberately references those chapters with the "mystery of God" moniker, His Grand plan for the whole of human history. That's why Church is "mystery", not revealed in prophecy; why Satan Makes A Fake Church To Mask The Nature Of The Real One.

• Note: you never see the Church speak in Revelation. John is spoken to as representative, since he's to write the letter; but when John speaks, he is always speaking as himself individually — note that the content is all his reaction, what he sees; he records himself doing in heaven, what he is told. Or, he reacts, and is lightly rebuked for it. Not even once is he an actor, a decider, etc. Women-keep-silent-in-church. Betrothed is quiet, listening to Her Intended get what will be her inheritance as a result of marrying Him.

• Because, the Church is in heaven in the Revelation Chapters 4-5 scenes: entering Heaven in 4:1a ("door opened"); depicted as the "sea of glass" (tableau), reflecting Christ, Revelation 4:6; see also "glass" and "reflection" verses in Bible. Important: Revelation 4:6's Greek word "krustalloi" means rock salt crystal, and of course sea is salty. Sea is used as a metaphor for people/polities in Bible, and so it is, here — for believers, the "salt" people, the ones preserving the earth. So there is no doubt whatsoever that Church is in view, presented before Father. See verses on the Lord's warnings about how those who deny Him will not be presented before Father and the angels (Paul uses that phrase also).

Because We've Already Been Awarded Our Kingships, there's nothing to say. Bema has already occurred: see Revelation 5:10's "made..kings". 'Just as promised, the Ephesians 1:10 "summing up of all things". 1 John 4:17 and 1 Corinthians 3 are parallels. Greek theatre stage was called a bemata. Just read Revelation 4-5, notice how it's all a celebration of something which just happened. The only thing which could have just happened is the Bema, for the Lamb ceremony begins after a celebration, then the same celebration punctuates the Lamb-Worthy ceremony. These facts become clearer with each re-reading.

• Remember "the first shall be last and the last, first"? Remember Ephesians 1:15-23, and Ephesians 3? Remember Hebrews 11:39-40? We are the last, so we have to be completed first, for we are the Body of Christ. Then He is revealed: remember the sequence of Revelation 1:6-7. That's why the title-deed scene (who-is-worthy-to-open-the-scroll) can even happen. After all, we are all one in Christ! A Ὑπόστασις with the Ὑπόστασις, Hebrews 11:1's Greek! Just as He'd asked for, in John 17, the longest prayer in the Bible.

The folks in Israel during the First Advent were supposed to be the last series of generations alive. They would, had they voted for Messiah, have become the Bride instead of us. So they would have become "first" in importance, though "last" chronologically. But they rejected Messiah, so a new Bride had to be sought. While being formed, that Bride is called, Church — analogous to growing up in the Groom's house (analogy in Hebrews 3, Galatians 4, etc). But, once Finished (completed), then "last" chronologically, but "first" in importance. So what's first in importance, must complete first before what's of lower importance, can complete. Even as, Christ had to be completed for US to exist, so even we have to be completed for history after us to exist. It's that simple. Parts IVa and IVc will help, maybe.

Shorter way to get this point: see Revelation 6:11 in Greek. English always sticks in a number-of-bodies idea, which is not altogether wrong, but Greek really isn't saying that. There is a superceding criteria which is clearer in the Greek: Fullness, Πλήρωμα. It's a qualitative, not quantitative criterion. Every New Testament writer uses it, because "Fullness" is a moniker of Christ (i.e., "full of Grace and Truth"), we are His Body, so We Gotta Get Full, Too. In Revelation 6:11, it's the Old Testament believers who are talking, since they don't get their promises until the Second Advent, and this verse is technically about completing them. But it's the same criterion, of a Corporate Completion. Which, is qualitative. Like a house, there are a certain number of rooms to be built, but the Whole House depends on the Quality of the Building.

• "Lamb" title is an Old Testament term, and Revelation stresses it. The Lord Reverts To His Lamb Title From Revelation 4:2 onward. "Lamb", of course, is what He represented to Israel in the Mosaic Law's sacrifices. Lambs, of course, don't talk. So, you only see depictions of Him as you would a tableau or a mime, in John's day. Others do the talking. Quite a dramatic way to illustrate the fulfillment of the Isaiah prophecy about Him being silent (Isaiah 53:7)!

• Of course, Revelation's metaphors and images are exclusively Old Testament terminology, after Chapter 5, as any good study Bible will prove by its margined cross-references. You have a mix of Church terminology and Old Testament in Chapter 4 and 5 (because, duh, the Church is in the Throne Room); in Revelation 1-3, its awards are then-current-Roman (e.g., crowns, voting/citation pebbles, privileges), as well as new Equites terms. See, the metaphors divide the "times" for you. [Class Note: 92 SD L1455-56 has a neat summary list of "riches of His Glory" and τάξις-timeline groups' verses.]

• Chapter 6 Acts like an epilogue to mini-play A, the "now" play, the preparation phase of Operation Footstool; so, is a recitation of historical trends. In Greek drama, epilogues were designed to teach you the moral of the play, what you could take home with you and live on. For, Greek drama was always about virtue and morality (often weirdly defined, but hey). So, after the play closes, you are given the Message of it. That's one of the jobs Revelation 6 does, here.

Note First: because the Church has entered Heaven, completed, the lamb is thus ready to break open the seals. That's why the legal ceremony of His Opening the Scroll begins. So Chapter 6 is the opening-of-title-deed ceremony. "Seal" in ancient world was seal of ownership or entitlement or reward. Only the proper recipient could break the seal. Notice He doesn't open the seals, until we are in front of Him (place of honor, before the Throne).

These Seals are Criteria For The Completion Of History, and we are now informed of them via Revelation, since we are now in the world — clearly, since there is no other reason to tell us now. The Title Deed To Earth the Lamb holds in the ceremony, is not unencumbered until all seven seals, complete. So it's an overview of the criteria, since Israel became a nation. So we Church are part of the Encumbrance, now (fifth seal). Until we finish, the rest of the seals cannot be opened. So, for US, the first four seals (shown below), play, even as they have played, since Israel became a nation. For the first Bride was supposed to be, Israel. She is to be rescued now, via Church ("Daniel 9:26c" section of PartIVa).

The first four seals in Revelation 6, are of Jewish Origin: again, Israel's historical trends stamp Church, for Church is to make history, not prophecies, Part IVc. The four horsemen are taken from Zechariah (start reading in Chap1): notice the allusion to Esther.

Here we gotta pause and remember what the Book of Esther means. First, the name: "Esther" is Persian, "Hadassah" is the Hebrew, and English version of the name is "Myrtle", a name common among 19th century American women. Myrtle is an abundant and very hardy plant in Palestine; what's very unusual about it, is how it reacts to Water (Word!) — it grows into a tree if it gets enough water. Else, it remains a bush. Smells nice, has berries which are edible — many uses. The Book of Esther is about how Israel is protected during the Diaspora. Since Israel was supposed to be the First Bride, the Book of Esther has a larger meaning of how the Gentiles get blessed through the Jews, as well. And also, the darker side of that: jealousy against the Jews. Notice how it doesn't matter that Israel is unfaithful (which is the cause of Diaspora, and in the Book of Esther not even one word is said about God, so they aren't observing the Law, not even thinking of Him). Genesis 12 promise, nonetheless operates, as well as all those other promises by the prophets that God will punish Israel, but never fully abandon her. [Book of Esther needs a lot more attention than it gets, and the attention it gets, is usually stupid, like about women's role in society. We don't need to look so low! Start looking instead at the uppermost Truth level, God's...]

So when the Second Temple is to be rebuilt, Zerubby baby has some problems getting motivated, because everyone around the returning exiles is against them, they can't build the Temple to the old standards, etc. So in Haggai, the prophet conveys God's beautiful nagging To Rebuild My House. So in Zechariah, a contemporary, God sends a different message: I'm here protecting you, no one can stop the Building of My House. So, God uses temple words, like lampstand and olive tree (depicting how the Holy Spirit enlightens a person who eats the Bread of the Presence, His Word), calling Zerubabel those things, to show Protection. But note — among the myrtles is the Lord with the four horsemen. Meaning, among the exiles. so awesome, are God's Words!

But now, the Church upgrade: Israel played Vashti by refusing Her Groom at the First Advent, even though once she was Esther, and thus Returned to the Land. So, like the decree for the historical Esther, Christ orders riders out to the highways and byways to find a Replacement Bride Among The Gentiles (Matthew 21-24). For, notice Zechariah 1's theme: Return to Me, and I will Return you from exile; so the horsemen among the myrtles, are Protection — or, adminstrators of discipline, if the Lord is not wanted.

So that is why you see the same vision in Revelation 1, but upgraded to the Lord standing amidst the lampstands, not myrtles. And He alone standing, no horsemen with Him, for those belong to israel. Oh, how vastly superior and clearer the explanation, when you have changes in metaphors!

Look: the most important metaphors in the Jewish vision are concatenated in the Church one, Depicting The Completion Of The Hypostatic Union. Kinda like the root meaning of YHWH as hayah+hawah, the One Who Was, and Is, and Is to [be]Come. Yahweh: always was, hayah, God; will become (First Advent), hawah; now will come (Second Advent).. Because He became. Cool wordplay, in Revelation, to call Him by this "One Who Was.." title! Note the double-entendre and next-ness: He will come for US, Rapture; which justifies He will come, at Second Advent.

Notice how this doesn't go to the right nor too the left. It doesn't go to the left, because the interpretation isn't based on counting Bible as some dippy acrostic, like the Bible Codes nutcases do. It doesn't go to the right, glossing over the rather dense metaphorical and poetic words, as mere beauty. Bible words always have important meaning. Even and especially, the small words...

So, look: In the among-the-myrtles metaphor, the Lord is the most important. In the lampstand-and-olive-tree metaphor depicting the protection and Filling given Zerubabbel, the lampstand is most important. During His Incarnation, He became the Light of the World. So, in the Revelation 1 vision of Him, the Brightness of Him is stressed (folding in connotation of uncompromising Righteous Judgement), and so the lampstands are His Churches. Also, the term still stands for an individual Filled believer, remains, as in Revelation 11 and Old Testament — many allusions in New Testament to this idea. See "light" and "lamp" verses in New Testament. (NASB has the better term, "lampstand", but all three keywords are helpful. Matthew 6:22/Luke 11:34-36 state the principle: learning Him, not works, alone matters.)

So, what do we know? Well, via this vision in concatenated metaphor, we know a lot, but here's just an off-the-top sampling of basic stuff: 1) He's gonna use Church to deliver Israel, so clearly Church is not Israel herself. So the covenant to Israel is not operating during the time the lampstands are on earth, get it? Israel's lampstands had to be in the temple, but there is no Temple. So our bodies are temples (1 Corinthians 6,12), so we individually are temples, so our churches are lampstands. So if the time for the myrtle must resume, then.. The lampstands must first exit. 2) A lampstand is not a myrtle, but a lampstand can be used to Find And Protect A Myrtle (see Luke 15:8). So any myrtle now who believes in Christ, becomes a lampstand (see Romans 11). 3) Lampstands can be removed (like He warns the Ephesian church), but they don't become something else — can't lose your salvation. 4) Lampstands can be refueled (1 John 1:9) or extinguished (1 John 1:8,10).

So now, back to Revelation 6. Remember, we are in Heaven before the Throne, from Revelation 4:1 onward, so we are witnessing this ceremony in Heaven. The Bride has been collected. So: in Revelation 6, each of the four seraphim (from Revelation 4), who together represent the Lord in tableau of Heraldic Shield Quarters, order on the world, the very vision Zechariah got about the Lord protecting (then, the nation) Israel.

Now we gotta pause again, to see why these four seraphim do the ordering. Back in 1981+, my pastor spent so much time explaining the heraldric escutcheon meaning of Revelation 4 seraphim's outfits/appearances, I thought I would vomit. (Don't even ask how much God spanked me for being bored.) But, I did remember his Revelation 4 teaching, due to so much repetition! So that is why Part III of the Lord vs. Satan series, is largely expressed in terms of the Escutcheon (basis for all the reward).

So, 20 years after hearing all that heraldry stuff, and (now) doing the research for these sites, guess what? I stumbled across an amazing historical fact: about 98 AD, Caesar began or had just finished, changing the role of the "Equites" ("Knights"). They were his Personal Imperial Household, an honorable term meaning those who governed Caesar's private ownership of countries, goods, etc. Caesar owned most of what was called the Roman Empire, so this was an extremely sought-after goal, to become a member of His Imperial Household. So at that very time, Caesar's hiring criteria changed to wholly over to merit, not blue-bloodness or money (well, the money requirement was much reduced). As a result, all manner of what we today view as chivalric organizations, began. They distinguished themselves by badges, pennants, clothing, etc.

So God uses all that Equites heraldry, to Communicate His Own Imperial Policy With Respect To His Household. It's sheer genius. (We miss so much when we don't know the isagogics of Bible.) So, one at a time, each Heraldic Quarter (worn as a 'mantle' by each seraph, as my pastor described the scene), 'orders' a 'horse'; thus you know why those horsemen ride. Lion=conquer; Ox=war (when men treat each other like cattle); Man=grain/staples famine (because not feeding on the Bread of Life); Flying Eagle=Death, swooping down on everyone, not protecting them under His Pinions (Deuteronomy 32:11), but attacking. See how important, the use of specific metaphors? They Attest God's Talking; You Have In Writing From Him What Is Playing Out Live Before Your Very Eyes.

It just has to be the God of the Bible, when The Bible's Judgements Play As Written. Here, because the horsemen alike represent judgement, and the Escutcheon, because this Old Testament metaphor of Him being the Protector of israel is evoked, any Jew then alive should identify his "time". But of course, they and the goyim, largely won't. So why talk to the world, when the world won't read what is written and playing before their very eyes? Revelation is written now: it's tying to the Old Testament, and those 'seals' really play. We see them even now. But we don't read or listen, either. So they won't, then, even as we don't, now.

Of course, we don't recognize that since the Dome Of The Rock is in Jerusalem instead of the Temple, "Messiah" can only be Jesus Christ (see PartIVa's "Daniel 9:26c" section); so they won't hear God's obvious testimony, either. We learn from Bible that we learn nothing from Bible. No wonder God let it stay largely hidden until the mid 1800's. No wonder people got bored with its languages, as soon as He brought it out! [I'll never get over hearing my pastor explain that when he was in seminary in the 1930's, they chucked the requirement that students write their exam answers in Latin/Greek. For centuries every student learned those languages, because manuscripts were extant, and because a whole lot of non-Biblical material was in those languages. Bible manuscript books were in pieces; among them all you could cobble together a full set. So an effort was undertaken in the 1800's to collect, collate, and correct scribal errors in what manuscripts we could find. Well.. God had Tischendorf rescue an almost complete manuscripts, now known as (if I remember) Codex Aleph, Sinaiticus. Within a few years, Tregelles' prodigous collection efforts and memory would force the Vatican to release its long-secreted manuscripts, the Beth, AKA Codex Vaticanus.]

People who don't want to know the Bible in the original language texts GOD wrote are just snubbing their noses at God. No kind way to state that fact.

Fifth seal is the criterion of fullness. Πλήρωμα. It's one of the Lord's Titles in Bible, and all New Testament writers talk about us in terms of being filled up with Him, therefore (especially Paul). So "Πλήρωμα" is a pass-through title for believer heroes. It's the heroes who must be filled up.. At which point, the criterion is met. Note how the rank-and-file don't matter. For, they reject God. In heaven, sure, if believers. But if they didn't fulfill the First Commandment (see the warning to Ephesus, who was starting to slip, there), then they don't matter. If God matters to you, then you will learn His Son via His Book. If He doesn't matter to you, you don't matter in history. Your choice.

Sixth seal is spectacular disaster as 'wakeup call'. Idea to get people to recognize as Warning that this is coming from God. We can see they will recognize the Author, but .. Not change their minds. Notice the differences: first four seals are blatant advertisement of bible being of God, via the trends which are deliberately tied to Israel and post-Cross, to Church — but still bearing Israel's historical-trend stamp. By contrast, Seal #5 is the trend of people growing up to Πλήρωμα fullness, justifying the continuance of time, as has been true also since Adam. So those not learning from the first five 'seals' get Seal #6, spectacular disaster.

So the first six seals run from Adam onward. Who learns from them? Nearly no one. Till yet, most people barely know how to spell "God", let alone have any fluent understanding of Him. This world's preoccupations they know well; religion, they know well; works, they know well. But "God"? They don't know Him at all. Now you know why those seals are encumbrances: we are all tied up in them.

Seventh Seal 'opens' the Tribulation itself. So if we don't complete, they won't, the Earth's title deed stays encumbered, Christ will not be revealed, all the promises in the Old Testament will not be delivered. "Encumbrance" is a legal concept as old as Adam; idea that ownership claims over the same property encumber the property from delivery until the rightful owner can be proved, found, 'completed' (if there are conditions to delivery, as is true in the Trial).

Play B, "The Great Tribulation"

• Chapter 6 also begins a new play: "The Great Tribulation", the last (shortened) seven years before the Second Advent occurs. Technically, "the great tribulation" is the title for last 3.5 years (7th trumpet onward); but often plays are named after their climactic purpose. Here, that purpose is to deliver Israel from her labor pains so she becomes a child of God forever, and inherits all He's been saving up for her, since forever past. Metaphor within metaphor!

Greek drama themes were always stated at the beginning of the play, usually by someone not in the cast, especially if the play itself centered on the activities of the gods. (For example Hermes explains the theme of Euripedes' play, "Ion" at the opening.) So, what is the Epilogue of Play A, is also what opens Play B, because the opening of Play B depends on the closing of Play A. Again, Church must complete for history to continue, for Christ to be revealed.

So, the Seventh Seal Remains To Be Opened, when Chapter 7 begins; for, with the opening of the seventh seal, the Tribulation sequences trumpet out. Again, our friend "μετά τοῦτο" divides off what happens in 7:1 onward, from Play A. This key phrase thus ties right back to its sibling "μετά ταῦτα" which ended Revelation 4:1, so you know that 7:1 is happening at the same time as 4:1; but, on Earth. Like watching two cable channels at once. Of course, we humans have to read sequentially, so Chapter 4-6 are like an explanation behind the commencement of Play B, in Revelation 7:1. In short, a parenthesis. Just as the Church is a historical parenthesis, just as everyone treats Christ as but an asterisk of history, so also what happens in Heaven, is disconnected from Earth, uncared-about by earth, so unseen by earth. What a dramatic way to show the impact, of Church!

Next, why use the metaphor of Trumpets. Well, the Jewish Year is marked by Trumpets, which announce the times of certain festivals, etc. Jewish history's macro structure, is patterned on these Trumpets, as well. So also, special years like the Jubilee year. Trumpets sound peace, rest, war, royal processions. But in all cases, Trumpets mean Royal Command. So too, here. Hebrew word "moedth" is real important to investigate. (Greek LXX counterpart words vary depending on what meaning of "moedth" is used in the Hebrew.) The word "moedth", like all other Hebrew words, has a variety of connected meanings, and all of them depict Doctrine, especially due to the way these seemingly-disparate meanings, hook up. For, "moedth" means Meeting, Time-of-Meeting, Meeting Attendees, Appointment, Meeting Place (Tabernacle, in Moses' day, later the Temple). You always had an appointment with God. God would always "seven" — keep his Promise. "Seven" was always the Meeting/Appointment/Time word, then, for Assembly. I can't explain "moedth" better — research how it is used in Bible, i.e., in those famous Daniel passages on "time times, half a time". Real important, to do this...

• So, because these Trumpet Judgements are Official Appointments Ordered By The Supreme Court Of Heaven, we need some introduction, before they roll out, so we will know how to read them. So, too, because Greek drama precedes a play's action with upfront explanation, we now pause to get it. We already got Chapter 6. We are in the Sixth Seal: seventh hasn't yet been opened. We know from Chapter 6's themes, the "backwards" meaning for Church, though still rooted in Israel (myrtle vision in Zechariah). Ok, but now we look forwards and notice — hey — it's still the same vision. Underlying trends of Play B.

• So Revelation 7:1 breaks the line between the two plays, for it begins with the μετά τοῦτο time-divider. So, first the purpose of the Tribulation Play: Harvest of Tribulation, a honor-roster tableau, akin to Hebrews 11's. Notice again, how the Fifth Seal Criterion For Completion Of The Play, Is First In Importance. Before any further action is allowed, those who are to be Fullness, are determinative. [Fullness doesn't have the same meaning post-Rapture, but its root idea still obtains. Trace the difference in nomenclature here compared to what Church is called via the same πληρόω and τελειόω verbs and cognate concepts.] This sealing of the 144,000 is also first chronologically, because these folks will be alive in the first half of the Tribulation, and will immediately believe. Won't be too hard to believe, with the Two Witnesses keeping everyone away from the Holy of Holies (Chap11).

Notice the wordplay — don't open the seventh seal until you close the seal on these 144,000. 7:9 is a cool flash-forward (using μετά ταῦτα to divide time) on how these folks will turn out victorious, and due to their witness in the first half, many will be saved. Very tender, folds in a lot of Old Testament prophecy, especially Deuteronomy 32:11's concept. But! Note the difference in 7:15-17's Greek — He dwells on them — versus Church New Testament descriptions related to how He dwells in us (ἐπί in 7:15 versus "en" in the New Testament — can't see this distinction in English, can't see that New Testament writers use special Temple words like σκηνόω, καθαρίζω, etc. To make those distinctions).

• So Chapter 8 begins the Tribulation proper, by opening the seventh seal. All other activity is part of the seventh seal, and when its scheduled stuff ends, the Lord returns.

• So, 'within' the Seventh Seal, are the 7 trumpets. These Are Tribulation-Specific, not general trends like Chap6. And clearly, they haven't happened till yet. Trumpets 1-6 are 1st half of Tribulation; 6th trumpet is the midpoint, 7th Trumpet is what happens in the last half.

• 1st Trumpet, an Exodus-reminder plague (Exodus 9:23ff).
• 2nd Trumpet, kinda like in Leviticus 26 where the punishment intensifies each cycle, this 2nd Trumpet sounds a mix of plagues from Exodus, Jeremiah 51, Zechariah 13. All to communicate to anyone willing to read Bible, that God is behind them.
• 3rd trumpet is Satan's fall from heaven, and waters means doctrine. Double-entendre verse.
• 4th trumpet is again an Exodus-reminder, plus a whopping assemblage of selected prophecies from Old Testament prophets, playing out. Very obvious that God is doing it. So if you don't read Bible, you still know God did it... And if you do read Bible, it's extremely communicative.
• 5th Trumpet, 1st woe, beginning Revelation 9: Satan lets out the Abyss demons.
• 6th Trumpet, 2nd woe, still Revelation 9: the Abyss and Tigris demon assault armies, 200 million strong.
• 7th Trumpet is sounded in Revelation 11:15, but its playout doesn't begin until Revelation 16. Big parenthesis intervenes when the Trumpet is sounded. Again, an Explanatory Prologue is needed before the action of the play can be described. Let's see why...

• Revelation 9's Fifth Trumpet halts the play just before the Tribulation mid-point, to provide an intermission which lasts through Chapter 15. We know this, because the famous "μετά ταῦτα" phrase is in Revelation 9:12. So we are to understand that the 6th Trumpet is the Tribulation midpoint, and because of it, the 7th Trumpet will sound (Revelation 15:5's Seven Bowl Judgement ceremony begins with μετά ταῦτα). Must be pretty important, then, the whys...

Greek plays, like modern ones, needed intermissions so folks could use the restroom, get food, etc. So here we have an intermission, to see how the mission has gone thus far. To see why what will happen in the 2nd half of the Tribulation, is Ordained by Holy, Loving God. It's a question which alike answers now, all the bad stuff God allows to happen. For, man is disposed in Adam to blame: blame others, blame things, blame God. By the Tribulation midpoint, man is so in love with blaming, drastic action has to be taken to rescue him. So a huge explanatory pause, must precede.

All good drama builds up to a climax. So since the 2nd half of the Tribulation is the climactic Ending of the Play (the bowl judgements, kicked off by the 7th trumpet), Greek drama rules require this pause. (Remember, the entire Play is about the Day of the Lord, the Revelation of Jesus Christ.)

Due to the released demons, Tribulation pattern intensifies from here on out. So, there is a pause to a) review why, and b) unveil the plot themes of the 2nd half of Tribulation

• So, first Intermission topic, Revelation 10: Like Ezekiel did in Ezekiel 3, John takes a break, gets more prophecy to eat (believe, learn), is told to be quiet about some of it. The prophecy running from Ezekiel 3 forward is extremely gruesome: I used the BibleWorks version of latest NASB to read the prophecy, checking what words in the original texts I needed to verify. [NASB tends to translate the same original words the same way. Doesn't matter if the translation is wrong at times; you know what original words are being used, so review is faster.] Like most prophecies, it is a very dense explanation of the "riv" (Hebrews: court case) against the nation Israel (representing any era of believers, in the larger sense). Since only in Ezekiel is there another reference to eating a scroll, it is very clear what God means. The reader is directed to Ezekiel by this wording in Revelation 10.

Ezekiel is given prophecy to 'eat'. That means God just put the entire contents into his head, and it was up to him to believe it. Which he did. (Remember, Truth is Thought, because God Is Thought, the quintessential property of Aliveness. Thought replicates by many different means, and of course God can do anything, so He can transmit thought — Bible is an output result of such transmission, so it can happen to us, too. Holy Spirit alone runs the transmission, so if you don't use 1 John 1:9 you will get garbage, even if the words, knowledge, etc. Seem the same.)

As a result, Ezekiel is to go to the exiles (note parallel to situation of Jews in Revelation 10) and tell them the contents of the prophecy; plus, Ezekiel is to put himself in a very uncomfortable situation and during it stage a horrific (and humorous) mock siege, lasting 13 months (one per tribe, looks like) plus 40 days — in all, 430 days, the same number as were their years in Egypt (Genesis 12 prophecy to Abram, see also Exodus 12:40-41). [Nerd note: 400 of the 430 years were slavery. Joseph was still vizier when they arrived, so for the first 30 years, they were not enslaved. So the kant about Bible contradicting itself, is the insanity of the accuser, nothing more. Yes, 13 tribes. Joseph got a double portion. If you look at the Revelation 7 roster, you'll find that double portion listed as "Joseph" and "Manasseh", but Daniel is missing. Because, no one in Daniel will be among the Jewish evangelists. The antichrist prophet in the Tribulation will be from Daniel, too. It's true that in Mill only 12 foundation stones representing the tribes will be laid, so apparently one of the tribes is either assimilated under another (i.e., maybe one stone for Joseph's double portion), or some other explanation. It's kinda off-the-point, to be concerned about this, in my opinion. God has His Reasons.

Note that it is still "every tribe" of Israel per Revelation 7:4: every tribe which has responders, duh. See also Romans 9, 11. God never coerces volition, He just tells us in advance how volitions will respond to Him. Moreover, there aren't since who-knows-how-long, any 'pure' tribes remaining. Intermarriage among the tribes, and among the Gentiles, for centuries, probably means that most of humanity has some Jewish blood in them! After all, God did promise Abram he'd make him, AbraHAM. Look up the etymology of his new name (Genesis 17:5) in HALOT or Kittle or other lexicon which spends time on name origins. The wordplay is soo incredible! Words like amen (believer!), Ammon, Haman, roar, uproar, victory shout, so many words are related to "ham": multitude of Word, multitude of nations, no kidding!]

In short, there is no way Jews can miss the meaning, except by being negative to it. Same, for any other believer alive now or during the Tribulation. God is saying thus that what follows will be of the same character as Ezekiel prophesied; John will be writing added information about it. The overall meaning is plain: ceremony announcing completion — again, Fifth Seal Criterion is in view — of God's Plan for all humanity, and especially Israel. God Keeps His Promises. Promises to destroy, to regather, to rebuild. Amos 3:7 also ties in, which in the LXX uses pragma, meaning Trial Disclosure in that context. Prophecy is designed to warn and thus bless. If you don't heed it, then you get taught, blessed, the hard way.

At this point the unbeliever's soul is shrunken, with respect to God; so small, that all these horrible catastrophic events must ensue to awaken him. Particularly, for the Jew. These will be the worst 3.5 years of pogroms in the history of the world. Hence the Revelation 10 reference to Ezekiel.

• Revelation 11's Intermission Topic: why the three woes (5th-7th Trumpets): because people didn't listen during the first half of the Tribulation to the two Witnesses. Also, because the 144,000, are not heeded. Two Witnesses keep people away from the real Holy of Holies. They want in, and the pair keep them out. So when Abbadon is released from the Abyss, he gets to kill the Two Witnesses. God replies with the massive Korah-rebellion-style earthquake. That completes the Second Woe.

Notice well: the evil people are religious. They are being kept away from the Temple they built which God forbade. So they are happy when the Two Witnesses are killed. Religious types are always bloodthirsty, and even pride themselves on how holy they are, for it. So too here. Funny how mainstream Christianity treats the rebuilding of the Temple as a good thing. It's not. It's a satanic thing. Satan invented religion, so the religious think religious things are holy. So too, here.

Revelation 11:1 ties to Daniel 9:27, which is in stark contrast to Daniel 9:26, which says that the Temple will not be rebuilt. We already know from a bazillion promises in Old Testament that God and God Alone will regather Israel, restore the people, restore the land, and rebuild the Temple. So any regathering, etc. Attempts before Christ is Visibly Back at the Second Advent, are all satanic ploys. Look: everything in Ezekiel after Chapter 39 (the Second Advent) is wholly dedicated to Temple rebuilding. Parallel passage is in Isaiah 59:18ff. We all know and gag over the huge amount of detail given to this topic; for it takes a lot of work to figure out what all those measurements mean, the articles mean, etc. Notice God spends much time on Temple structure and building.

When you tie Daniel 7, 8, 9:27 and 12 to Revelation 11, a kind of chronology emerges. Rapture occurs, and these Two Witnesses appear. (It's not said that they are recussitated Moses and Elijah, but could be instead just two new Jewish believers.) These two start on the first day of the Tribulation and last until the 3.5-year midpoint. At the same time, someone in the West claims to be Christ, Daniel 9:27, and some Danite then in religio-political power in Israel, backs the claim. But these Two Witnesses are obstructing. At mid-'week', they are killed, and the claimant sets up a statue of himself in the Temple instead, looks like within 30 days of the death and rising of the Two Witnesses. Which seems to mean that the claim precedes the Tribulation, since the number of days from 1335 in Daniel 12:12 exceeds 3.5 years (the 1335th day is the Second Advent, so it's the ending period being depicted, as the context shows when compared to Daniel 9:27).

Of course, in every generation there's always someone claiming to be Christ. The current obsession over whether Christ had kids (i.e., that silly Da Vinci Code nonsense) is enough of an example to prove plausibility. So again, you can't predict Rapture from that — but you can see how historically valid, the Revelation chronology.

Of course, Satan's been trying to occupy us with Temple Rebuilding ever since it was destroyed in 70 AD, since we are not supposed to do that. Part IVa's "Stone Witnesses" link shows some of the historical attempts, all of them happening in years pivotal to some new 490-year time grant, completing. So the fact that he ultimately succeeds in getting the Temple rebuilt before the Tribulation begins, is here depicted. Plausible — again, given the history we have already.

So how strange, here in Revelation 11:1ff. Yeah, strange as in "strange fire", "strange god", foreign 'gods'! First, notice that although John is given a command to measure the Temple, he never does it. Compare to Chapter 10, where he's given a book to eat and then says he ate it (10:10), but there's no counterpart reply here. Nor is anything done. Nothing. Moreover, no matter what parallel Bible passage you look at (where the same command is given), the recipient is an angel — never, a human being. [Many angelic appearances are called "a man" or "men" but you can tell from the context that they are angels.] So the reader should go on red alert: God doesn't want the Temple Rebuilt. So, He must be sarcastic.

As if God is rebelling: like in Jeremiah 14:12, Isaiah 59:1-17, Isaiah 1:11. How apt: the Revelation 11:1-2 command itself is rebellion-like, truncated, compared to other Old Testament commands, and the Speaker isn't even identified; and what John's given to use, is a reed (meaning no faith, no strength) for a 'staff' (meaning, it won't work).. And, it has no measuring length specified. Why? Well the 'staff' is the same word for the rod of rebellion, get it (LXX, Rabdo, Numbers 17)? Because not until the Second Advent is there to be a Temple. See Ezekiel Chapters 39 and following, through the end of the book. The detail on the measuring rod and what is done with it, is huge. Similar pattern in all the other verses where this activity is enumerated.

But not, here in Revelation 11! Instead, you see a truncated, sarcastic command, making one think of Matthew 7:1-2, where the measure which you measure shall be measured back to you: God takes measure of who will really worship Him; but, principle of Isaiah 59:16a, finds no one, so HE solves the problem (Isaiah 59:16b). Here, sends the Two Witnesses. So Revelation 11:1-2 must be sanctified sarcasm about measuring: Come on, try to measure what shouldn't have been built; they tried to make a Temple here when I, even I told them I, even I would Alone regather them — by means of My prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and all My other bond-servants! Yet back then, when I, even I told them to build, and twice! They were always a rebellious people! So now John, measure by pen [wordplay on reed], what you ate in Chapter 10, the bitter faithlessness of this people. Oh? You are silent, John? Silent, because you cannot find a just defense for them? Very true! Then I'll measure it..

Notice how the sequence between Chapters 10 and 11, suddenly make more sense, given this sarcasm. Ezekiel's prophecy is seige. It's horrible, it's panoramic of Israel's history, and it's also specifically limited in time. The entire reason for it is laid out, bare and ugly. Ezekiel did a mime of the siege, and he had to lay on his side for 390 days, then on the other side for more 40 days, while he played with bricks and hair and iron to depict what was going to happen. Because, the people wouldn't hear his words. People who were in exile. Just as, the Jews are now, and at the time Revelation 11 actually takes place. Doesn't matter if they themselves assemble themselves and call themselves, Israel — God Didn't Regather Them, God Didn't Authorize This Temple. So, it will be besieged. God will protect the Rock, and that's it. Their vain sacrifices don't count, since Christ is risen (read Book of Hebrews); so they don't get to sprinkle blood on the Holy of Holies — the Witnesses will prevent that, and do whatever other plagues they are given by God, to make plain what's wrong. And, they will do this for the first 3.5 years of the Tribulation. So no one can pretend to not know.

We in modern times can readily understand how televised this will be. It's a big deal to rebuild the Temple, Satan wants that badly (on his timing, of course), so he can gather the Jews; so since he already knows what God will do about it, he's working history to get the best advantage out from this situation. So count on the Two Witnesses being promoted via every publicity device which then exists. Count on the Temple Rebuilding being promoted — even as it has been, since Constantine's Day. Promote and fight, to kill everyone on both sides. Then, when needed, make one side win (Islam, for example), to keep the fire-to-rebuild, alive. Then, when needed, 'give in' a little, like in Balfour Declaration (authorizing Jews to rebuild in the Land) — and then reinforce that sop with huge pogroms (i.e., WWI and WWII), so Jews will flock there in the name of protection. Ahhh, cornered now. Beseiged. Satan's not stupid!

Daniel 9:26 makes it clear that the Temple is not to be rebuilt until the end: detail is in PartIVa. Christ made it clear in Matthew 24 that as soon as you see the Abomination of Desolation (metaphor of Antiochus Epiphanes), Get Outta There, don't come back until I your Messiah bring you back. Who listened to Him? Prophecy reinforcing this don't-shub (return, big Jewish emotional word) is all over the place in Old Testament. Who listened? Do you realize, even Satan was so amazed at Jewish blindness, he raised up a "Surrender" (Arabic: "Islam") — to show the Jews they should surrender their goofy idea of return? Satan is always double-minded: he admires God and God's people, and despises both as well. So now a Permanent Abomination sits atop the Rock, even called, "The Dome of the Rock"? Who listens?

So Revelation 11:3 (corrected translation from the Greek), suddenly makes much more sense, fitting with all the other prophecy: "Then I shall give [the measuring task, the Word of Warning of what measure is about to be measured back to them] to My Two Witnesses; then they shall prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." If God wanted the Temple, they'd not be in sackcloth (what you wear when mourning a Temple destroyed). It's a fake temple, get it? See also Daniel 9:27's sacrifices-stopped, which is alike the Tribulation midpoint. Meaning, some kind of Temple will be there in which to sacrifice, in which sacrifices could be stopped. Which we know, from Revelation 11:1's sarcastic 'order' to measure the "Temple of God". The Real God, as opposed to the fake version of God being pandered since.. Well, even before the Tribulation. That's why the Two Witnesses, are there. Because a Temple is there, and God is not its Contractor, so the Witnesses warn everyone to stay away, Matthew 24. See, the abomination of desolation is first due to the wrong people having the Temple. The right people are the Jews, but God says only HE will do the rebuilding. So they are supposed to wait, not do it themselves. (See the wry way John reminds readers of this fact in Revelation 13:6 — the only Tabernacle is in Heaven, until the Second Advent. Greek σκηνόω is used of 'the' Temple, the Glory, in particular. Special word, which John loves using.)

So, vv4-6, God gives them certain authentication which He has historically done for all His real prophets (as distinct from the many false ones, even today): they can shut the sky, blow fire, etc. These two have all the powers of plagues — way more than even Moses was given. At will. So notice: the people blame the Two Witnesses for all the calamities, rather than wake up and realize God is 'behind' them. Or, realize God is 'behind' them, and hate Him for ordering these things. People hate God like that now, even when lesser calamities strike. Not too hard to imagine a deeper hatred, when the shallower one is so prevalent.

So it's no surprise that even before the Tribulation begins, two ongoing trends — that of someone claiming to be Christ and Temple Rebuilding — are 'bought' by the billions among the world's populace. So you can't use those indices to date the Rapture, either. All you know is, Satan succeeds in getting the world to buy the claims, by the time the Tribulation actually begins. [Side notes: 1) I can find no justification for the supposition that the Two Witnesses 'return' from the grave. Looks like they are new believers due to Tribulation, just like the 144,000 — and maybe, among that number. In short, their first death is at the hands of 'Abbadon' (11:7). 2) It's not clear whether 'Abbadon' is named after Satan, and was locked up with the other Ἄβυσσος demons; or whether 'Abbadon' is Satan (who was never locked up), given how his name/identity is expressed in Revelation 9:11, and other Old Testament passages which use that name (not always transliterated, which is a pity). Primarily because Satan's not one to get his 'hands' dirty; partly given the way Revelation 13 distinguishes between dragon (who is Satan, no doubt) and beast, yet the one enabling the beast to kill the witnesses came up from the Abyss (11:7, again); and a lot due to the description of the beast being possessed by the one who comes up from the abyss (Revelation 17:8+9+11), I bet 'Abbadon' is a separate person who was head of those locked up in Ἄβυσσος. Tribulation scenario in SatSpin.htm (link at pagetop) thus assumes that Abbadon has been trapped, waiting for his buddy Satan to get him out. This doesn't have to be a right answer for the rest of what is said to remain valid. It just makes more sense , right now.]

• So let's look at the connections between the Fifth Trumpet, the Two Witnesses, and 'God's Reply' of the Sixth Trumpet. We know Abbadon & Co. Are released as part of Fifth Trumpet. We know from Revelation 11 that 'Ἀβαδδών' kills the Two Witnesses (namely, 'the beast from the abyss', Revelation 11:7). Hence the earthquake and the ending of the 'second woe', AKA the Sixth Trumpet. Which means, before the Two Witnesses are killed, the Sixth Trumpet has sounded. Question is, why?

This link between the Fifth Trumpet, the Two Witnesses, and the reply of the Sixth Trumpet, tells a chilling tale. Let's review: Trumpets #1-#4 are Exodus-style Cecille B. DeMille displays by God, telling the pharaonic human race to let go of their disbelief; for, Bible has lots of verses post-Exodus on how these disasters are ordered for anyone who Acts like Pharaoh did. Moreover, these Revelation 8 Trumpets have "third" components, which Ezekiel's beseiging mime portrayed (i.e., Eze3ff). Other prophets use the same "third" language, so to see 1/3rd effects, will plainly point to these prophecies, and thus, to the Real God. So for sure we're not talking about natural phenomena, but someone deliberately doing it. Of course, during these Trumpets, the Two Witnesses are nice and handy to blame for everything. Especially, since while these things occur, they will be explaining them. Which also accounts for why they individually have all plague powers, so to show it is deliberate, is of the Same Source; applied at selected times on selected individual targets. So even if you know no prophecy, you can watch television...

So, people aren't responding to God by the appointed end of Trumpet #4 (assuming #1-#4 don't run co-terminous).. Why? Well, look at Trumpet #3; it emphasizes the bitterness of the water, to mimic both human negative attitude toward the Water of the Word, like the folks at Meribah; to mimic Satan's own bitterness and self-poison. Since Scripture is multilayer, the first meaning of Wormwood (a name for Satan) could be intended to convey he comes down, deus Exodus machina-like; especially since Greek word πίπτω is in the active voice (it's not happening to him); whether or not the other demons join him, I don't know. But clearly this is something he wants to do, is not forced (you can't tell that in the English). It's not the same thing as happens in Revelation 12, where he is then thrown down (Greek word is ballw, and he does get it done to him). In fact, this Third Trumpet is how we 'go from point A to point B'.. The sequence of how Revelation 12's angelic battle, can occur.

So maybe Satan clamors for the key in the Trial; so, at the Third Trumpet, and he thus deliberately 'falls' down in order to prove to God he should get that key. 'Rich idea, that; now he can get empathy from selected humans, lulling them into thinking he's less powerful than he is — same ploy he's made since veiling himself via the serpent, in Genesis 3. So between that time and the endpoint of the 4th Trumpet, he organizes the 10 horns, etc. (metaphors for political and religious federation, the 'beast' of Daniel and Revelation 13, 17). Because, another layer of meaning in the Third Trumpet, is that 1/3rd of the people accept him, so they get God's 'wormwood' reply of bitter water. That doesn't wake them up, so they got the Fourth Trumpet, the 1/3rd darkening, to show them they are darkened. But they still don't respond. Remember, all this time, since Day One of the Tribulation, the Two Witnesses have been protecting the Holy of Holies, and are publicly known...

Wouldn't take long for him, alone or not (though I bet not alone, but heading all non-imprisoned demons), to convince the 'right people' to side with him: he's gorgeous, powerful, and obviously is allowed to display himself to mankind. Satan is self-righteous, very high-minded. Very messianic. That's why he rebelled in the first place. Power-hungry people reflect his mindset, are often very moral and big-picture oriented. In the name of good, they will align with him. Don't mistake the attraction to Satan as a lascivious feely-thing: that's just a game played upon humans in movies like "Rosemary's Baby", so we will be decoyed from the real operation, do-goodism.

Look how easy his ploy could be, for his favored targets (unbelievers who think they are 'Christian', or Jews who as yet are unbelievers, but want Messiah): Psssst! I'm the real Messiah. [Powers demonstrated here, akin to those like Christ did during Incarnation, plus many He would not do.] See how horrible those Two at Our Beloved Temple! I'm seeking disciples to come with me to kill them [play on Second Advent mass arrival]. Father has allowed these His Enemies a certain time limit [no kidding, he reads Revelation 11!], but that's coming to an end; would you like to join me? Then comes the pitch about getting together politically, etc. This is how he got the Catholic Church started, how he has been massing Christians for the kill for centuries: why try something 'new'?

Look how easy his ploy could be, for other targets: Psssst! I'm the real Allah/Mohammed/God-of-the-Month, come back to collect My People. But first, I need a little show of faith. Those pesky Jews and Christians have caused you trouble all these millennia, and look — see how their "Witnesses" are really demons? That's why you have all these plagues! I let them do it because you weren't responding to the threat by gathering yourselves into a force and warring with them. So: show Me your faith, organize, and I will empower you to defeat them [display supernatural powers here]... See? There's a sucker born every minute.

Look how easy his ploy could be, for the two targets who'll head the whole thing up, the guy who'll be the topmost head of the 'beast', and his 'prophet': Lemme be honest with you. I need your help. All we need to win against God is for everyone to either die, or vote against Him. [Explanation, here — fast, supernatural demon-thought transference, works kinda like a vision — and oh, how good it feels! So the hearer aches to have that much power.] Will you help me? Matthew 4, baby, all the kingdoms of the world. Who can resist, that? Christianity hasn't...

Pause and think about America, today: how is it the entire country can be talking about a Federal Marriage Amendment, when in third grade you learn the Bill of Rights? And our President sponsors such a thing? Do you know how that got started? The pope made a comment in reply to questions about the many European homosexual marriages, that such marriages were wrong. Someone asked President Bush his opinion: I saw this on television, think he was in Camp David at the time, but maybe not. Somewhat abstractedly, the President replied he didn't think homosexual marriages were ok, and agreed with the Pope. The President clearly had other things on his mind, and was just answering a question put to him; in other words, he didn't have any plans of furthering some cause or amendment in America. Yet suddenly, within mere weeks, wham! There is this national movement to amend the Constitution? And how piously, how self-righteously, all the independent Christian churches join together on it! Even though, such an amendment violates the Bill of Rights and — even more importantly — states alone have the right to make marriage laws? So never be skeptical about demon influence being so fast and powerful, that all the world will "wonder after the beast". We can just turn on our televisions any day, and see the same thing happen even among believers. Satan loves manipulating believers who are so bored with Word they don't learn it. Easy to see how quickly and how satanic we Fake Church all are, whatever our demon nation...

So now Satan can justify getting the key to the Abyss, since man's votes are for him, even despite the 4th Trumpet. So he gets it, 5th Trumpet. Again, remember 9:12 is a "μετά ταῦτα" clause, so there is a gap in time between the Fifth and Sixth Trumpets. Which gap, is at least five months. For notice carefully the legal terms of 9:4: don't kill them, don't harm the growing things, but only those who are yet unbelievers, and don't kill them, either. For five months.

Notice the description of the Ἄβυσσος demons. Emphasis on attractiveness and power, eloquence. Also, on stealth, speed, and ravenousness: qualities of lion and scorpion. Both animals lie in wait. Both pounce when they are sure of a kill. So all that attractiveness is to ambush the victim.

As the above example of the fma depicts (or, Hitler's Germany, same phenomenon), demons use thoughts to mass everyone to an idea. It's very fast, we are puppets in their hands. Only Doctrine can defend you. Bible is very explicit about this, with innumerable illustrations — just use 1 John 1:9, ask Father in Son's Name to have the Holy Spirit help you find the illustration in Bible you'll need.

So possession, which can only occur in an unbeliever, is the lesser option. Takes more of the demon's time. So they are very selective about who they possess, and the actual possession is often invisible to outsiders (any visibility is to ridicule the object, which is not the usual purpose of possession, post-Cross). So the person thus possessed will be smart, attractive, able, etc. This, of course, affects the millions who see that person. Which seeing, all the demon thought-transference, marshalls then to even better effect. Again, just turn on your television, to see how easy it is, to marshal people around a few selected individuals or issues. Note how, if issues, they are stupid, not worth any time in discussion. But people slobber all over themselves, anyway. [Nerd note: never mind trying to figure out if those individuals are possessed, 🤣 — that's not the point. You won't be able to tell, and it's none of your business. Just learn the lesson God wants you to learn, not the lesson your demon-influenced hunger for titilation wants you to learn.]

So the same Pssst! Ploys can be used by each demon on many selected targets; or, a more heavy-handed tormenting approach, should the situation warrant. The goal is to get the humans negative, because this is all about votes. Bear in mind, torment comes just as much from too much pleasure, as from pain. The helplessness of it is eventually tormenting. Addict the person, then withhold — that's tormenting, too. Any number of combinations of tactics can be used. And this time, by millions of millions of the 'regular' (never-imprisoned) demons, plus those who come up from Ἄβυσσος. Good cop bad cop, one pretending to be the demon and the other an elect angel (kinda like how they fake healings and tongues). Many options!

God's Five-Month rule is a classic Grace clause: 'five' in Bible is the number of profit and recompense. So, for five months the unbelievers can be tormented. Gives them time to change their minds about Christ. They don't respond; since 9:12 reads as it does, it's not clear how much is the extra time, after the torment ends. But we know they don't respond, for God replies by releasing all those Ἄβυσσος demons and those under the four demon generals bound at the Euphrates, Sixth Trumpet (9:14), this time with a right to kill a third of mankind (9:15 — "with the result that" should be how Greek hina is translated — God isn't doing the killing). So presumably, the restriction on the Ἄβυσσος demons, ends as well.

What distinguishes the Fifth and Sixth Trumpets is that the demons are doing it. For, the unbelievers wouldn't listen to God, so.. Ok.. Demons get free reign. It's always been the rule in Bible, and here we see it writ frighteningly large. Yet notice: Revelation 9:20-21 shows that even all that ensuing supernatural destruction, didn't sway those who survived. Amazing: if I'd never seen such hardness in humans, if I didn't see how incredible the disbelief in Christ — Despite the Dome of the Rock being an obvious stand-in fulfillment of Matthew 24 and Daniel 9:26 — I'd be hard-pressed to believe Revelation 9:20-21. Man blames. Man blames everyone. Man blames everything. Man blames God. It's just not possible, is it — that people are so bad, they need this kind of wake-up call? Sheesh.

These are not human armies. Note the similarity of the description of the "armies" in the Fifth Trumpet, and those of the Sixth; understand that metaphors are used to depict the essential quality in common between the metaphor chosen, and what it really represents. So "locusts" in the Fifth Trumpet means a destructive swarming, which is what locusts do — eating up everything in their path. The long hair, my pastor reminded us, represented their beauty. Again, a metaphor used was chosen for what it meant at that time, so do your homework...

If my pastor told us once, he told us 10,000 times that the Greek text talks of demons, not humans. It's not hard to notice. So, "Three Demon Assault Armies" (my pastor's term), at least (or maybe six, since four demon generals +Ἄβυσσος demons, +Satan & Co. — well, depends on their to&E). So while it is true that well over 200 million people in China have gone through military training and are of military age, the armies of the "kings of the east" is not being depicted here, and its size is not stated in Scripture. ["Assault troops" is a better translation than horsemen, since that's what horsemen, did. John is describing what he sees, and what he sees, he calls horses, because that was the way assault armies moved quickly in his day; but what horse belches fire, smoke and sulfur? The region around the Dead Sea has deposits of flammable coal-like sulfur deposits. Fire of God, sorta. So unstable, it spontaneously ignites.]

Lots of famous Christian teachers/leaders interpret the 200 million as being the kings of the east. It's really hard to be in public life as a teacher/leader, and everything you say, you end up thinking you have to stick to, because of your position. That's how Catholicism got started, how any institution gets started, and it's a real pistol to admit a mistake. Because, we stupid underlings do lose our faith and do go on rampages of iconoclasm, forgetting that the leader is also human, and has no wiggleroom, for he is in a glass bowl. Cut them slack for being incorrect here?

What's painfully clear, is that many of the human rejectors, are Jews. All these signs and plagues have very special meaning in Judaism. Jews know better than anyone the story of the Exodus: they spend a great deal of effort recounting it at every Passover. That's why so many of the post-Exodus judgement verses, use the plague words like frogs, sea-becomes-blood, hail, etc. Any Jew would recognize a real plague of that kind, as coming from God. Every Jew knows that Moses and all the prophets had such powers given them. So to continue to be negative, and hate the Two Witnesses, depicts a soul hardened a bazillion times beyond Pharaoh's (see Romans 9 and 11, here).

If I didn't see for myself already the total negative volition among Jews because they can see the Dome of the Rock over the Holy Of Holies, I wouldn't believe they could remain so negative under the plagues of Trumpets #1-#4. Even Ezekiel 20:30-44 is plain in Tanakh translation, especially v.32! Kill me now, Father: I can't take knowing this, seeing the prophecy so blatantly fulfilled, and they don't see it? But then, some among the Jews do believe in Him, thank you Father! And others, think themselves, their own messiah, interpreting Isaiah 53 to mean Israel saves the world! Kill me now! [Search "Isaiah 53" references in dogpile or other search engine, see that weird Israel-is-its-own-Messiah interpretation, or you won't believe it either!]

Ouai! That's why the Fifth and Sixth Trumpets sound; why demons are allowed to torture and then, kill those who do not believe in Christ. See the demon ploy? It's the same today! Seduce and destroy, baby. Worked real well, to gather them in Israel, from the Balfour Declaration, forward; oh no, don't wait for God to do it, but go to Egypt, Caesar, whoever, you she-camel-in-heat Israel, Ezekiel 16-23!

So why should the demons change strategy, go to something 'new'? The tried-and-true is still the best! So, then — Seduce the negative who hate these Two Witnesses, who hate the 144,000, and hate them because the ceremonial aspects of the Law are refused by GOD (real important, to see the many Old Testament verses on this) — seduce them, by destroying the Two Witnesses. Then, destroy the seduced! Who, by the way, will be mostly Jews who love observing a Law God instead fulfilled in His Son Behind The Veil; who today! Love squinting at blue and white thread, rather than opening their eyes to see the Dome Satan put over Abraham's Rock! Makes you want to wail in sackcloth and ashes, to know this horrible fact. For if today's Jews can't read the Rock, they won't then read the plagues. Us, neither. We are all blind together!

• Hence Revelation 11:15, seventh trumpet sounds. Review on why: we know from the end of Revelation 9, that whoever survived, still didn't believe in Him. So using the guy who's to be worshipped by men as the head of the 'beast', to gain in popularity with humans, 'Abbadon' wars with and kills the Two Witnesses (which obviously God allowed), Revelation 11. So the stupid humans wildly celebrate, for crying out loud — despite being tormented and killed by all these demons. You gotta be very sick, to be so glad at the deaths of two people, you won't allow them to be buried (11:9-10). If you ever saw how the Taliban publicly killed people in the Kabul Stadium (Japanese satellite had it on cable, playing live in its US stations for a few days back just after 9/11); or, if you know anything about how the Jews were treated during WWII Germany, then you know how low humans can sink.

Rest of Chapter 11 thus focuses on the Ceremony of the Divine Pronouncement for the Seventh Trumpet. Notice the focus: on the ending of the 'wait'. Ceremony of worship. Verse 19's "ark" should be capitalized, see Hebrews 6-9, for it's christ, not a box! See also Jeremiah 3:16, 31:31-34.

• So time for the next round of Judgements to be ushered 'within' the Seventh Trumpet, the last 3.5 years of the Tribulation. So the Intermission topics switch in perspective: from backward, explaining why, to forward — showing thematically what will happen. Again, in typical Greek fashion, this mini-play within the Tribulation Play, must first explain the plan of the opposing sides. Especially, since this is a Trial, anyway (due diligence disclosure).

• Hence Revelation 12's Intermission Topics:

• First the underlying goal of both God and Satan — Israel. Full bio of Israel told in the tableau of the woman. Please notice that Church is not mentioned!
• Followed by, Satan's persecution throughout Israel's history. Again, notice that Church is not mentioned. We are spiritual 'children of Abraham' (see Romans 4 and 9), and in that sense are indirectly included, but.. Not Church as an entity. The entity, is Israel. So it's not even remotely possible that Church is in the Tribulation, since this is an all-time tableau, with its own Tribulation subsection (Revelation 12:6 being the most important point of it, her protection during the last half, since we are in an intermission explaining the last half). God is precise.
• Followed by, Satan & Co. Revolt against Heaven, due to man's joy over the Two Witnesses being killed — Satan claiming, see, all mankind hates you, Elohim, it's a mistrial!
• Note how at this mid-point, Satan already has all the demons with him, already has lined up the politico-religious power structure, at the time when he begins to war with heaven. We saw how this happened, beginning at the Third Trumpet, justifying all four remaining ones. Seventh Trumpet is God's Response to their choosing Satan and going against the Two Witnesses (etc), which we know because the 7th Trumpet sounds in Revelation 11:15, just after the 'earthquake' reaped 7,000 believers (v.13).

Note the extreme grace, the extreme value God places on belief in Christ — all that horrific activity with the demons was allowed to reap belief. We benefit, for crying out loud. God doesn't benefit from saving us. He obliges Himself to taking care of us in heaven forever, and worse — all those other humans for whom Christ died, become cannon fodder. For us. Doesn't matter it's not God's or our fault they didn't believe. They are horribly tortured. So that we could be spared. Because, until we saw the horrible torture, we ourselves did not believe...

• It's the elect angels who fight the demons; so obviously, Satan's claimed a Mistrial; God has refused to agree, so now it's between the elect and fallen angels, yet again — whether God is right. Notice all this is explained. That's a "chorus" function in Greek drama. Again notice how no humans are battling the demons. So much for the mid-Tribulationists who think they get that privilege.

• Chapter 13's tableau themes point forward to review Satan's plan for the 2nd half of Tribulation: pogrom and unparalleled religious world war. Old Testament passages on the imagery in Chapter 13 are so many, no elaboration is needed. The land-and-sea standing so typical in Scripture, denotes authority.

First, we already saw how this "beast..sea" arose, due to the human reaction from Third Trumpet onward. Now, we're getting explanation of the politico-religious structure which had resulted. "Sea" means a sea of people, since sea is salty and people are supposed to be also. Dead sea, bituminous-salt (AKA "brimstone") people, full of evil 'doctrine', now congregated into a confederacy. The head of the heads, will be the one to be worshipped, kinda like an Emperor (though who knows what nice name will be then used to disguise the fact, if any). Sponsoring him is a Jewish Danite who maybe pretends to be some past-prophet, returned (lamb with two horns). "The earth" is really ha eretz, the Promised Land. (LXX translates ha-eretz as "he ge"; it's a play on words even though the term is the exact equivalent of ha-eretz, since Israel was to eventually inherit the world through the Lamb of God/Messiah-to-Come.)

Now fold in Daniel 9:27, and a bunch of other prophecy. The 'beast' and the 'prophet' strike a deal. After all, 'the beast' has just been kind enough to rid the world of those Two Witnesses; shouldn't there be something in exchange? Not asking much — just a little respect, homage, statue in the Holy of Holies.. And oh, by the way, all commerce and activity has to be licensed. No one can eat without me getting my share of tribute, because I have all these troops to pay for that little campaign against those horrid Witnesses, and those who believe in them, right? Oh.. And to show that respect, the license is needed even once I end tribute. The license, of course, is free! You get it simply by calling me, god, since obviously that's who I am. I am who I am, so you just admit that, and eat all you like! Enjoy! I'm not getting the taxes, you know. Those are to show how much you want to fund the capture of those who foolishly believed in those demonic Witnesses. You do want them captured, right? So now the final-layer meaning of that multi-layer prophecy in Matthew 24, has its ultimate desolation. Just like Nebuchanezzar did in the time of Daniel (which is why Daniel got this prophecy). Whoa. We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.

• By contrast, Chapters 14-15 show God's Plan for the 2nd half. First, like in Revelation 7, a hall-of-fame ceremony: the 144,000 of Revelation 7 are all martyred by this point. So, just as the first half of the Tribulation began with a tableau about sealing them, the 2nd half begins with a tableau of them being rescued and with the Lamb forever (14:1-5). The rest of Chapters 14-15 constitute the Divine Pronouncements: witnessing (the three angels who will fly, Revelation 14:6ff), bloodbath (to give maximum pre-death warning, see also Isaiah 63), and alongside these, the seven bowl judgements. For, as always, the Supreme Court of Heaven must rule on what may or may not be done by the parties on the ground. And what the Supreme Court rules, is that the bowl judgements are to awaken, to harvest anyone who just might have a nanosecond's interest in the Lamb Who long ago, paid for him...

• Intermission ends, and the bowl judgements begin, Revelation 16:1. Our friend "μετά ταῦτα" announces the ending of the intermission, the time is Revelation 11:15, when Revelation 15:5 actually commences. From that point forward the ceremony in Heaven changes to the uniformed angels bringing out the bowls, etc.

Timewise, we are at Revelation 11:15, just after the 7th trumpet sounds, just after the earthquake, just after the war in heaven which finally locked all demons out of heaven; just after the beast and the prophet, still breathing hard with the rest of the world over the sudden events, have concluded their peace deal to usher in the god who delivered them. Celebration! Statue set up! Does the same things as those horrid Witnesses, but against any who oppose him! Yay! Oye, oye, all mankind come worship the real god, get your license here, nice fine lambs, can't buy or trade or work or breathe or watch tv without the license; nice fine lambs, come pay homage, free license if you admit him god, come buy eat without money and without price.. But, um.. Don't you want to pay tribute to help catch the evil ones who supported the Witnesses? Um, if you don't pay the tribute.. Then do you support them?

So now, God has to reply again: bowl judgements. The most gruesome of God's judgements have always used particular Old Testament language to denote them: drinking the wine of your own evil, down to the last drop. Hence, blood. Hence, in Revelation 14:6-11, the daily flying angels will be telling everyone that they will 'drink' God's wrath upon themselves if they don't wake up and smell the coffee. Hence, the Revelation 14:14ff ceremony about the outcome, a harvest of both believers and dead, with so much blood flowing in Ha-Eretz, people won't be able to live there for a long time after He even Returns.

The "bowl" is a specialized term, especially for drink offerings to the gods. So you'll find translations like the King James, use "vial". Oh, they're vile, alright. Just so you know, these are drinking bowls. See Revelation 16:1-7 on the meaning.

Beginning in the 2nd half, note how there are no human witnesses. So, instead, three indestructible angels start flying around where people can hear and see them: daily. They announce what's really going on (Revelation 14:6ff shows their appointment and what they'll do). Time to help people notice those angels are real, not flying machines.

• The first three of the bowl judgements (within 7th trumpet, AKA 3rd woe) are upgraded repeats of the Exodus plagues; sores, sea-turned-to-blood, freshwater turned to blood. Can't blame the plagues on the Witnesses, now!

• From there it gets far worse, and all of what happens is in the Old Testament — many verses about these particular plagues. Can't say that God is Allah, Buddha (who never even pretended to be a god, Siddartha), or.. Anyone but YHWH, the One Who always Was and Became, Christ! [Nice wordplay on the YHWH meaning in all the clauses about who was, is not, and is, etc. In Revelation.]

• Fourth bowl is searing sun and heat; don't try to figure out how God does this, just remember that as God, He can do whatever He likes. What protects us from the heat of the sun are a number of factors, and in a precise balance. Just change the balance a little among the constituent chemicals, and you have zero protection. God can make that change. Man and all the pollution, cannot.

• Fifth bowl is a reprise of the darkness Trumpet (and Exodus); note how only a particular portion of the earth is put in darkness, the portion belonging to the 'beast' and the 'prophet'. Reminds you of the time Goshen still had light but the rest of Egypt, no.

• Sixth, is drying up the Tigris/Euphrates, making it suddenly traversible for land armies (fulfilling Jeremiah 50:38, among other things). So, the demons organize them. Here plays on words between frogs and demons, since the former was a plague in Egypt. Note how axiomatically John writes: "to gather them together". Like cattle, for battle. At Har-Megiddo. Revelation 16:15 is an interjection, to warn of how awesome a thing is this demon conspiracy, spoken to Church. 16:16 changes who brings them together at Megiddo; in v. 14, the subject is plural, demons. But in v.16, it's singular. After all, they go there due to Christ, to fight against His People.. So why shouldn't He be considered the one who brought them together?

Church isn't listening to Him. We either get all excited and write books and movies, yes! To liven our dull drab lives (we don't get gladiators to watch). Or, if we are priding ourselves on our smarts, we treat this warning, this horror.. As allegorical. Or, we dilute the meaning down to well, it just means a big world war. Big mistake. The purpose of prophecy for Church is to realize how important is its role: that's why Christ interjects, here: demon conspiracy affects us, too. Sure shows, too: look at the Crusades, the institutional Revelation 17 harlot which at the time was Catholicism (since has morphed into the other denoms, too)...

True, at that point of the Tribulation there's a world war going on, but.. Satan has to kill the Jews to prevent Messiah's return. The prophecy of the bloodbath we saw back in Revelation 14:14ff (pronouncement), 19:15-19 (its fulfillment) and passages like Isaiah 63 and Ezekiel 39 are Second Advent passages which make it clear it's the land which gets the bloodbath. Well, the plain of Esdraelon is big enough to have enough bodies, just like Ezekiel 39 explains. See also Ezekiel 38. Treat 'Armageddon' as misspelled, but don't treat it as mistaken or allegorical, as so many scholars do. Just because stupid people get titillated, doesn't mean the thing they oooh over, is false.

When scholars are nervous about a topic, they hedge. It's understandable. To be an accepted scholar, you have to follow certain political rules, like.. Don't act confident, unless the whole discipline is united about a thing being true. Moreover, sex topics make everyone nervous, so you can't bluntly explain what Bible says, lalalala. Most nervewracking is the blatant fact God will execute this bloodbath personally upon all those armies, with gruesome details on how they die (i.e., those verses on their flesh rotting while they are yet standing and alive, Zechariah 14). These details don't comport with the sanitized version of God we have all been taught to pavlove. So we treat God like dog, and lick up whatever spittle is drooled out to us in His name.

So all this rot about Armageddon being not possible because Megiddo is a hill or something, because the armies depicted would be too large for the valley, or 'whatever'.. Is ridiculous. If people are under demon influence, what's sensible is not perceived. Just because they all go there, doesn't mean they should — in fact, we know they shouldn't, and even the common sense that, hey, if everyone went there, they'd be the ones trapped! Never occurs to these minds. But then, it never occurred to anyone in America during the Enron brouhaha, that trashing Arthur Andersen was wrong, either. So thousands upon thousands of jobs were lost. For awhile in the Chicago area, the sheer amount of furniture and equipment thus up for sale from that branch of Arthur Anderson, depressed prices so badly, you couldn't sell your own...

This paragraph is written in 2005, during an editing session. We in 2005 have more than ample evidence how crazy people get. Look at the Pope's funeral. Do ya get that emotional over someone you never met? Do ya travel thousands of miles when you do not have to (politicians had to), to stand in line for 24 hours, to get a five-second glimpse of a shrivelled body in a fishhat and pointy shoes? Of course, a Chicago underpass soon after had a flowing salt stain thousands considered an 'appearance' of the Virgin Mary. Would God authorize such insulting-to-Him things? God doesn't do pet tricks. God doesn't want US doing pet tricks. But the demons sure do: they gashed the guy among the tombs, they gash anyone in the human race stupid enough to want the touchy-feely harlotry they sell. So: pick any media event you like, dissect its 'sense', and you'll find there is none. We are emotional puppets, and Satan & Co. Know just how to pull our strings. While the Bible goes unread in every hotel room and bedroom, everywhere it exists...

• The seventh bowl finishes all the Judgements; looks like a nuclear holocaust, going by the symptoms, in Rome. But also an earthquake with an epicenter of Jerusalem, which is split in three parts (to help to save the believers left). Hailstones amidst it (another plague visited upon Pharaoh). Dunno if you noticed a world globe, lately, but if Jerusalem is an epicenter, a whole lot of damage results worldwide. There is an east-west faultline under the Mount of Olives. Uc Berkeley scientists discovered it, not too long ago. Ought to be something on the internet about it, somewhere...

At this point, what my pastor calls the Armageddon Campaign, is on. It is halted by the 2nd Coming, and as a result of Christ personally slaughtering everyone (outdoing his record with Sennacharib's army, way back in 701 BC), the blood does run high as a horse's bridle. What, each human has how much blood, a quart? Half gallon? If the depiction is more to illustrate bodies than actual blood flow, we've seen how those bodies were stacked in mass graves.. We've got gruesome pictures taken by the murderers at the concentration camps, at Nanking.. It's not beyond man's capacity to kill or be slaughtered in large numbers. How much more, then, should the Lord kill all in the most gruesome way, those who but for that manner of death are too hard-hearted, to believe in a God they can see coming from light-years away in space. For on that day, His Coming will be the only source of light (Zechariah 14, Ezekiel 39, Isaiah 63, Revelation 19, other passages).

Look at the Grace inside the Gruesomeness: if you can See Him Coming, You Have Time To Believe. If by the time He arrives you still do not believe, what else is left for Him to do? If you aren't motivated to believe, even to save your own skin, how much are you controlled by your own hatred? Survival is the strongest psychological instinct in mankind. That's why we have this urge to bear kids. That's why we are willing to go to war. That's why we sometimes do superhuman things, like lift cars when someone we love is trapped underneath them. That's why we do almost everything we do. That's why the Gospel is couched in save-yourself terms: Believe (simple), or burn (oh no, then I'll be hurting forever).

So how crazy must these people be, that when they see Him coming, they still do not believe? So what must He do? Give them a slow death. Their flesh rots on them (leprosy-of-mind, depicted). [See Revelation 19:11-19, Psalms 110:5 (note context from v.1), Joel 3:9, Jeremiah 16:4, Jeremiah 41:20, Zechariah 14:12, Ezekiel 39:18ff, Isaiah 34, Isaiah 63, Matthew 24:28, etc., many more passages.] So they still have time, while dying, to believe. Takes but a nanosecond to believe. They see Christ Personally. So if they refuse Him even while dying, they hate Him. And they would rather be tortured forever, than believe. So, they get what they want. Can't blame God. But, they will. But, we humans do. Hatred is like that. Satan is like that. We are like that. So here, we see our real nature, exposed: we are in darkness, and we love it.

So how much are we in unwarranted darkness, now? Granted, when it comes to prophecy there is much educated guesswork — Is it really a nuclear holocaust? Is it really a river of blood, or that high a level of stacked, rotted, dead bodies? Well, think: are these the right questions to ask? Sure, you have to plug in assumptions while vetting Bible data, but is the objective to be 'right' about whether it's Rome (i.e., due to Jeremiah 51:6-9, 25, compared to Revelation 17, 18:8ff), or Jerusalem (Revelation 11:8, Isaiah 13:19).. Or instead of musing over location, isn't it more important to be informed about what God means by all this information? [There's some kind of deliberate, double-entendre being made. I remember my pastor saying the nuclear explosion was in what we call "Rome", geographically. That makes sense, too. Babylon is Rome, and specifically a religion (whether RCC or not, who knows) based in Rome, given Revelation 17-18; but those other verses with their Old Testament cross-references make it look like Jerusalem, too. Which is true: all the nations of the earth, including all nations today, are stumbling over Israel. Israel is never out of the news, never out of conflict; every time in the past when Israel stopped being the center, Satan did something to get her back into the limelight. Satan, not God. Islam and the Zionist movement are his creations, and the poor folks in them have no clue how they are being used like cannon fodder. It's heartbreaking. When Jews bought land from the Turkish Sultan in the 1800's and following. To rebuild Israel, that was a Satan-sponsored thing. Which the poor buyers, of course didn't know. But then they weren't reading Scripture, and were violating the many many prophecies warning them not to regather themselves, like (the aforementioned) Ezekiel 20:30-44. Kill me now!]

Obviously, what God means is the more important. So you can plug in your assumptions, be wrong or right about identities, but... Learn the principle, not the petty stuff. So what does He mean by all this gruesome information? He means us to be wary of ourselves. We have an enemy who is just as interested in turning us now into a charnel house as they will succeed at doing, during the Tribulation. We should stop being so naive about people and ourselves. We can't stop, though, absent breathing 1 John 1:9 and sustained study under our right pastors. That's the message we need out from this horrific future which for years will be remembered with a shudder...

• Satan's 'reply' to the Bowl Judgements: Revelation 17, make it look like the Millennium has arrived. Here in the last half of the Tribulation, Satan's already succeeded in getting his 10-nation confederacy and pogrom going, but now needs a new twist: find as many believing Jews and Christians, as possible — and right now! Hence, there must be a pretence of Christ's Return. Stopping the sacrifices (Daniel 9:27b) is a great way to accomplish that. For, the believers will know the sacrifices are abominations, and won't come out of hiding. So, when the Two Witnesses are killed, those folks would expect the sacrifices to be resumed. But they are not resumed. Heh. Satan's not stupid. To the world, it looked like the 'beast' bested their longtime enemy. But now, that 'beast' has to look like Christ Himself, in order to lure out those real believers, especially Jews, from hiding.

Bible already showed us Satan got the Temple rebuilt, in Daniel 9:27 and Revelation 11:1. That had to have happened before the Tribulation took place. Because believers associate the temple rebuilding with the Tribulation but don't understand its import, they will flock by the millions to be near it, once it is rebuilt. Nice and handy for being slaughtered. Jews, of course, will be drawn like moths (muth, Hebrew=to die) to the flame. That's a true 'mothman prophecy' you can bank on. Satan sure is.

So expect the Temple to be rebuilt at any time. That's why Satan keeps making Israel the center of world history (in a negative way, of course). That's why he sponsors Islam, and that's why now he appears to be withdrawing his sponsorship of Islam. Then 'Christians' and Jews, who none of them read Matthew 24+Ezekiel 20:32 and understand, will triumph over the Moslems, and in their glee, will flock by the millions to live in Israel, boy oh boy — so they will be sitting targets whenever the real Tribulation begins. Part V explained this ploy and its eventual success, in more detail. The Appendix has a table on it as well to show how it can play now: the "mega Promote to mega Persecute" table.

So this is a constant goal. Satan has to time it, though. We can see his timings often try to match the 490's of God. (See Mirroring.htm re the nature of the 490's and their rollout from Noah to 70 AD.) The ending dates have been 560 AD, 1050, 1540, 1990; and we're in the fifth one since the Cross. Satan trotted out Islam just after he got Christendom to split and exhaust itself, since Julian did not rebuild the Temple (the goal didn't ever materialize).

• So, out trots Mohammed, and the weird idea that it was the older Ishmael God wanted sacrificed (what for, doesn't even make sense in the Koran, but hey). Here's the Koranic explanation pasted from the Yusif Ali translation of the Koran.
• So, by 685 the desired 'temple' was constructed, remaining there ever since.
• But people stopped paying attention to it, so Satan & Co. Sponsored the spread of Islam, which was on-and-off-again; wasn't until the Crusades that enough 'Christian' moxy to go to Jerusalem could be seriously mustered. Even then, not much happened, but that bought what, maybe four more centuries of attention on "the Land".
• So when that attention was exhausting, well! Just have Islam take over Byzantium/Constantinople (1453). So now the desire to go back, can be fueled again.
• But oh, attention waned again, as the Porte was civilized, easy to live with.
• So then the Jews themselves have to get all misty-eyed (so they can't read their Tanakh, of course), and buy the Land from the Porte.
• So now, Balfour and WWI and WWII can take place, which puts Israel right back in the limelight, where she (rightfully!) belongs.

Yeah, as sitting duck, ever since.

So now in the 2nd half of the Tribulation, what are people thinking? Oh, the Temple is cleansed of those horrible Witnesses, and we can worship the real god who killed them. But what a dilemma, for the believers are the targets Satan wants. He doesn't really care about unbelieving Jews, for they will not inherit the promise. But he needs to kill them before they believe, since he has no control over whether they believe. So he needs to cater to whatever version of god they will buy. We saw him do that the first half. But in the second half, he's got so much less time, he's got to concentrate now on believers, because their being believers mean their votes count. Only way he can get them out of hiding, is to pull a switcheroo, and make this 'beast', Messiah. Genuinely.

That, of course, will polarize all those who believed against the Witnesses and with the beast on the grounds he wasn't the Bible's God. So they will be mighty upset to 'learn' that now this same guy is claiming to be the Messiah. Hence the world's armies converging toward Megiddo, makes sudden sense. Hence the warring between the political and religious factions, with the former eventually winning (Rome and Jerusalem get torched) makes sudden sense. Dunno if you've noticed, but the Revelation 17 depiction of the warring, has already happened many, many times since the Cross. Europe bled itself white during its many religious wars, and what about all those Crusades? When you stop to think about it, Jerusalem has in effect been at the center of history, since Constantine's day...

Meanwhile, the switcheroo could easily be sold to believers. The "Satan's Spin" link at pagetop offers one such scenario; doesn't have to be the actual one, does have to show the plausibility and mindgames. Key to the switchover will, as always, be some kind of feel-good supernatural display. Just 'explain' that the angels flying daily are demons, just 'explain' that the continuing calamities are demonic, just 'explain' that Christ Himself bested the beast who killed the Witnesses, and is really back! At the Temple! People have believed sillier things.. Like God would be so sadistic as to put a soul in the womb — so they will believe this, as well. 'Sucker born every minute.

The Fifth Bowl Judgement will make this claim more plausible. Darkness over the kingdom, but then it becomes light. God doesn't do His Judgements without pauses. The pauses give the person time to reflect. If the person won't change (which each bowl judgement's verse notes), then the next judgement comes. So too, here. So the light coming back can be easily mistaken for a Christ returning. Just in time, too — for Armageddon.

• Hence the Bible pauses to show Revelation 17 to believers, now: to show how Satan makes his Revelation 12-13 goals, effective. And, relevant today, not just in some far-off future. Again, this cannot be overstressed: Satan needs a fake church/temple to gather believers and Jews. By gathering them, he can more effectively apostatize or kill them. Satan knows anything that polarizes, gathers people into 'camps'. So by dividing, he 'gathers'. So by 'uniting', he divides and conquers. Cute, huh? All or any of which strategies will work, but only if the political is married to religion, a time-tested reliable mechanism of power successful since Ziggurat of Babel. People like to feel they have the 'right god' but others do not. A marriage to politics gives them a greater sense of self-worth and Crusade. (Not sure why this motive is so strong in the human race; it never has made sense. If 'my' idea of god is more right than yours, or yours is more right than mine, it has zilch to do with how good either you or I, are.)

So, it's particularly important that Satan set up in advance certain structures before the Tribulation begins:

• Antisemitism, Revelation 12;
• A fake Church, Revelation 17;
• World government preference, or — better — world government itself (if he can get away with it) , Revelation 13; and
• A fake Temple on the Holy of Holies, Revelation 11.

So, while Revelation 11-13,17 depict what happens in Tribulation, for it to happen then, it must be built.. Now.

And, pretty much in that order of importance, since each one feeds to the next, more efficiently. Notice how it played out, when Catholicism got started — pretty much in that order, except that the 'fake Temple', wasn't yet needed, because the pogroms were going so very well. (Per Gibbon, the Emperor Julian tried to rebuild the Temple, but fortunately God stopped him.) Again, note the 'coincidence' of an Islam rising to claim ground on the Holy of Holies, just when the two halves of the thoroughly-apostate Roman Empire, had exhausted themselves (Short History of the Arab Peoples by Sir John Glubb, historical introduction.) Since Rome could no longer keep its claim on the grounds (the Roman temple there being in ruins, having been constructed under Hadrian, circa 140 AD), well.. Someone had to pick up the baton...

Satan now delays the Rapture, by means of these structures. That's why God gave us this prophecy, now. Alternatively, Satan can use Revelation 17's apostasy to bring about the Rapture, too early. PartIV exhaustively covers all the strategy here, because believers in Church really don't seem to recognize that the sole criterion for history, is how they grow up in Christ. Satan needs desperately to deflect that recognition, because then he delays his own incarceration. He already knows that the last seven years won't work — he does know the Bible rather well — so he's not stupid. He needs Revelation 17 to delay or abort God's Timing for the Rapture. Timing which is dependent on Believer Votes, even as it was depending on Christ's Voting to go to and through the Cross. Part IV has the details (especially IVa and IVb).

So, it's not surprising that historically you can see these very 'bullets' killing the human race, generation after generation. Revelation 17's fake-church harlot description began to come true only four years after Revelation was penned (rise of the so-called "Apostolic Fathers")! There's a whole lot of writing done by the founders of what became known as Catholicism, and it's worth reading, to trace the degradation of their doctrines into the same "traditions of men" that felled what became the Pharisees and modern Judaism. We learn from Bible that we learn nothing from Bible; so we learn from prophecy that we learn nothing from prophecy; so we learn from history that we learn nothing from history; we learn the hard way, that we didn't learn.

But you can search the internet: God has preserved a very healthy remnant of Jews who believe in Christ. They usually couch everything still in Judaic terms, and some still cling to the rituals, etc. — but they are saved! God has also preserved a not-so-healthy-right-now remnant of Christians. Remember, a "Christian" is someone who at least once 'obeyed' John 3:16 — and since no Christian channel ever gets the Gospel right from what I can tell, millions of folks who imagine themselves 'Christians', are not. That's frightening. Part V went through the problem. Such fake-believers, Jews and 'Christians' both, will be trapped by the twin ploys of fake-Church and fake-Temple. Just as they always have been, in the past.

• The term "harlotry" is a frequent Old Testament metaphor for substitute-religion, a form of spiritual fornication — see Hosea, Ezekiel 16-23, Jeremiah 16, etc. 'Babylon', of course, is always used as the moniker, since it was Babylon which Satan used to replace the Tower of Babel, and has been repeating in history ever since. In the second 3.5 years of the Tribulation, though, it will be the primary instrument of pogrom and world war, simply because people will mistake it as genuine. See why it is so important to know that the real Church is not in the Tribulation? Today's falsehoods will become the justification to those future generations, to falsely conclude Church-in-Tribulation, since by then, the paperwork will have been long-venerated. No wonder the fake paper trail began shortly after Revelation was penned...

The terms "harlot" and "Babylon" are such oft-used and multilayered Old Testament metaphors, no Jew should conclude but that the Christ has come and gone and that the New Testament is a true record about Him. It's positively appalling that the Dome of the Rock sits over the Πέτρα, an abomination of the Holy of Holies, and no Jew catches on? Talmud is chock-full of correct definitions of these terms. Yet itself, is quite blind. Awesome. So we Christians shouldn't be surprised that we too are just as blind, allowing all manner of false interpretations of Scripture, to be popular. Scary. Downright scary.

And helpful, to avoid misinterpretation. The beast and statue images are paradigmal repeats of what prompted the first Temple's destruction; prompted Daniel's capture and visions. All that meaning, so many hundreds of exact variables, are all conveyed via the simple word, "Babylon". Yet everyone guesses? There's no guesswork here. Legwork, not fanciful imaginations...

• So if you read through Revelation 6-18, you'll realize that not all the events depicted have yet happened, but the pattern of them began (as any encyclopedic review of Church history will prove) sometime around 100 AD — partly due to the excesses of Domitian; so at that point Christianity began to 'go political'. (See Gibbon on this — Amazon sells his tome on disk.) There were so many Christians, they began to realize their own clout. Just like activism, today. By 200 AD the Church was institutionalized, and people couldn't well read Biblical Greek, anymore: that's how low the Church had sunk. Of course, the stupid religious wars which began just after Commodus, and attained final legitimacy under Constantine are all-too-well-known.

• Revelation 18's destruction of Babylon, is accounted in a very common ancient Greek drama format, namely, the end of Euripides' "The Trojan Women". Because "Babylon" is the woman's name, we know Jerusalem is meant: Revelation 16:19, 17:5,18+Revelation 18, other passages. And it is true: everyone has eaten from her table, sampled her pleasures, Ezekiel 16-23 writ large. That's the history of the world, really. So no wonder the double-entendre with Rome, since Rome was built from the Jewish God, Who Became Human — built, not by His Hands. So, a 'Babylon', just like Israel. Playing the harlot. With the remnant safely in hiding. Hope they stay hidden...

Revelation 18:1 has a "μετά ταῦτα" clause, so we know this is the seventh bowl judgement of Revelation 16. All the woe woe woe language, of course, is common in Greek drama, as well as in Revelation. So, too, the sorta hyperbolic style of Revelation as a book — Greek drama is very melodramatic by our modern standards. In short — this is a deliberate writing style, not some secret code. Why, when it is obvious just by looking at Greek drama subject matter, don't scholars recognize that an actual event is deliberately depicted? Classical Greek dramas aren't ever about fiction, for crying out loud! Whatever allegory/fictional format is used, it's meant to display something real underneath; this, coupled with the very detailed Old Testament prophecies about the Tribulation and Mill should leave no sane person with any doubt that, hello — the Lord's Return is a real event, and this is a real timeline preceding it, according to the way the Age of Israel's covenant works. Oh well.

Truth to tell, the historical record amply supports the claim that all the world has depended on Jerusalem. A dusty city. Crazy to think such a small place, named "The Foundation of Prosperity" (Jeru+salem), should be so important. But look how true is that statement:

All of modern history is based on the Cross,
and the Cross, occurred IN Jerusalem.
Everyone either reacts or responds to it.
Islam is a reaction.
Modern Buddhism is a reaction.
Mormonism is a reaction.
"Evolution" is a reaction.
Do even atheists crusade against
the Bhagavad Gita?
The Koran?
Or, against the Bible?
Most any religion you want to name has tenets 'reacting' to Bible.
Of course, a good bit of the reaction is in the name of "the West".. like 9/11, for example...

So it sure looks like the One Lampstand/candelabra, the One Person Who Was Crucified In One City.. Stands before the World Which Reacts To It. Witnessed by Two Stone Structures which mutely testify to the Fulfillment of that One Person's Goal, just as foretold in Daniel 9:25-26, Matthew 24; just as forecast in Revelation 11:1ff. And all that, even if you didn't know all the provable fulfillments of Time Being Orchestrated Around Him in 490-year segments (see Mirroring.htm).

Of course the West only formed, due to the Cross. The very existence of later Rome, Europe, Russia, US, was a response to the Cross. And an apostatized reaction, too, pretending to be 'Christian'. The US was founded mostly by Reformed people of one stripe or another, who didn't quite agree with the sterility that Calvinism became. One of my natal parents was of that group, coming over here in the 1700's, very prolific. If you read a history of the US by some famous and thinking historian like a Thomas Bailey, or William Manchester, you'll get a good sense of how important faith was, in our founding. An independent faith. Again, the Reformed movement had a lot wrong with its doctrines and still does; but one of the several fundamentals it got right, was Faith Alone In Christ Alone, permanently saves you. Today, they are almost the only denomination in Christendom, who say the Gospel correctly (the Baptists and many other 'independent' churches, have long forgotten how to read John 3:16). So it's no small wonder that the US began to flourish, and especially in the 1800's, when all those manuscripts were found by Europeans. Europeans who likewise were experiencing a resurgence of interest in the real Bible. That's the only reason the West prospered. So, yes: Jerusalem indeed has been the foundation of prosperity for the world. We are all saved, because of her. And her thanks for that will be devastation. But then, restoration, shub at last! The proper Queen among Nations. Just as Her Rejected Husband, always promised...

So close Chapter 18. Bye, Bye, Babylon; hello, bride!

Plays #C and #D, "Footstool" and "Eternal State", now commence.

• Again, the four plays in a quadrilogy were often two tragedies followed by (or interspersed with) two comedies, showing how all ends well due to the gods' intervention. Thus John divides out the last two "times", Millennium and Eternal State, as happy endings. Even the deepest of Greek tragedies had some very funny comedy lines in them. Even the funniest of Greek farces had some solemn lines in them. Greeks fashioned their plays with this mix, because their philosophy was that everything was connected. So, grief with joy, and vice versa. So too, in these latter two mini-plays. So, instead of an unmixed tragedy coupled with an unmixed, happy-ending comedy, you have a mix. Part V covers the rollout in detail, so only a few comments will be made here.

1. So, Chapter 19, the real christ returns! Revelation 19:1 is a "μετά ταῦτα" clause, so it's after the Seventh Bowl. Time to end The Tribulation play with the usual deus Exodus machina, except it's the real GOD-man, this time! Chapter 19, the Second Advent arrives when all these armies are gathered in wars around the world, particularly in the Valley of Esdraelon. At the same time, Rome is a target of a major nuclear holocaust (seems like).
2. So, note this: when you finally see the Bride, 'she' is coming down with Christ, not going up, at the second advent. So, where was the 'Bride' all that intervening time, huh? If she was on earth, being as she is so important, don't you think John would have said something earlier? Honestly, do any brains turn on when reading Scripture? Look: if it were even remotely true that the Church was in the Tribulation, then Revelation would depict it doing something, right? But Revelation is silent on that topic, because the Church is no longer there, and is instead bride; because, Jews are the evangelists, namely, the 144,000, with tribes etc listed as a roster. That's not Church, but israel. Oh well.
3. Revelation 20 is the Millennium, so naturally it has a "μετά ταῦτα" clause to divide the time. Kinda humorously, though. In Revelation 20:3, in connection with the end of the Millennium; that "after these things [Mill]", Satan must be released again to have his last chance in the perfect environment he'd always tried to bring about. There's a brief on how that will turn out, and then — oddly — in Revelation 20:11 and following, no time divisions are given, but only the 'earth and heaven fled away' to introduce the Great White Throne Judgment. (Part V has more on the meaning of the Millennium and Eternal State, Hell, etc.)
4. So, the dramatic epilogue of Revelation 22:6-21 to the audience — the moral, since the play is now over — which affirms that Canon is closed with Revelation, ergo the two warnings: don't add/subtract from Canon, and 'beware, I come suddenly!' — which fit perfectly with the Greek patriotic style. Be careful to obey Written Instructions, keep sharp, for you have been forewarned!

• So now let's note in Epilogue, the dramatic technique called "interjection". The Lord used two interjectory phrases with regularity in the Gospels, and in Revelation they still have the same meaning — but with added force of attestation. Part IVa explains one of the interjectory keywords, tach˙. You might want to load that page and search on "tahk-ooh", if you forgot its meaning: Suddenly. Like a surprise military attack. Like a thief. So, "like a thief" was synonymal, and He used that too; for, in those days, suddenness, not stealth, was used to steal things. (Modern example: African shipments of rice are blatantly attacked in port, people grabbing whatever they can and running away.)

The First Advent Was Also Like A Thief. John's announcement in Matthew 3 is isagogically about the King Who Is On the Road, make the Road passable (level, so he can travel royally).. In advance! Imminency. The Lord Himself told many stories about this and parallelled it to His second Coming, like the parable where the king goes away and Suddenly returns to find his stewards, or the messengers Suddenly sent to the vinedressers, or the parable of the virgins Suddenly needing lamp oil. Since all prophecy is dual, one of the meanings was to say, "I am here as promised." The Second Meaning was, that He'd return. For, Both Advents were promised Israel. One poignant verse shows Him telling them that they are evil, seeking a sign: and yet have the biggest sign of all, His Being There. English masks the force with the translated word "visitation" in the passage — but in Greek it's a fearful thing: oh, the Emperor Has Suddenly Arrived On Surprise Inspection! For which of course, you could get executed if derelict.

In Mark's Gospel, practically every paragraph ends with another "suddenly" synonym, Greek word "εὐθύς". It's usually mistranslated "immediately", which is marginally okay — if you know the English "immediately" as right now. For, Mark's using that word to warn people that Temple Destruction was imminent, just as the Book of Hebrews (released at the same time) warned them. Flee Jerusalem, Get Out Right Now. Parallel to the imminency of the First Advent, so used in the Gospel. Parallel to the Rapture, so used in the Gospel. Parallel to the Second Advent, since parallel to the other two. For the Second Advent, while predictable kinda like the first one was, still suddenly descended. And no one was paying attention. Only a few will be paying attention when the sudden inspection arrives again (Rapture, Second Advent).

So the "suddenly" moniker is nothing new. The First Advent was imminent, until Daniel 9, as explained throughout Part IVa; and the Second 'becomes' imminent, because the Rapture triggers the countdown. Just as they couldn't know when His First Advent would be absent Word study, so also they can't know when His Second Advent will be, absent Word study about Church (meaning, the New Testament). It's not hidden, and you don't have to wait for the "sign" to occur. So you wade through the Word, then you know: which is why This Word Of Revelation, is given. Hence the epilogue is worded as it is. That's what they will do, in the Tribulation: read this Book. That's what we all should do, always...

The Lord was using a Drama technique of communication, too, to emphasise suddenness. For, in Greek and other drama, sometimes actors just talk directly to the audience, stopping the play for a comment or two. Or, leave the stage and go into the audience. Aristophanes plays often humorously begin with this device; he liked using it at least once in all of his plays. In Shakespeare's plays, this is often called an "aside". There were two flavors: i) an aside to the audience, like in the opening monologue of Richard the Third (get the version with Lawrence Olivier and Clare Bloom) and Othello (rent the version with Lawrence Fishburne); or, ii) an aside to another actor in the play itself. The long-running "Cats" play of recent Broadway fame used this technique, with the actors running into the audience. When James Farrentino played Peter in "Jesus of Nazareth", he suddenly uses this technique at the end of the movie, thus combining it with the purpose of an "epilogue": when he looks at the camera and says, "All of us."

In short, it's a well-known drama technique, so the Lord uses it several times in Revelation, making it clear that the Church is not on earth in the play, that the play is real and to orewarn; and He uses the same "suddenly" and "like a thief" catchphrases He used while still down here, to verify HE's the one talking. Akin to signing prophecies in the Old Testament with "thus says the Lord", "Ani, Adonai" (Hebrew) — except He's God-Man, now. (I think MoliËre's "The Invalid" had some of the same technique in it, unless the version I saw in Los Angeles was 'doctored'. If I remember rightly, Aristophanes in "The Frogs" had Dionysus criticise Aeschylus for using too-long interjections, so... Look up that play and re-visit Aeschyulus'.)

So, the Play ends. Question is, did you get its story? If you're like most of the human race, and particularly, the "experts", the answer, is Nope! Let's see why, because this is the postscript historical response to the Lord's epilogue in Revelation 22:6ff.

John rhetorically 'maps' the two "times" of the Gentiles, our Church 'Tribulation', then the official 'Jewish' Tribulation, then Millennium; and finally, Eternity. So there are two Tribulational 'legs'. Just notice who Is The Audience! People who misread salvation into non-salvation passages like Hebrews 5:11-6:6, Philippians 2:12-13, don't notice audience identity (believers). Same mistake is made with Revelation, misreading which audience and which stage is in a 'scene'. John is so clear, people can't understand him! For the book is mapped chronologically, as is any play, with flashbacks and flash-forwards. My pastor spent 4 years exegeting Revelation and all the associated Bible verses: suggest you get his 1981 Revelation exegesis lessons at rbthieme.org because I can't find such in-depth auditable coverage, anywhere else.

It's really very straightforward, and meant to be. Passover Week was about His First Coming and the denouement. So Tribulation, the mirror of Passover both in the Hebrew calendar and in design (reimbursing Passover AKA Passion week), will depict His Second Coming. After all, that's its purpose. So Satan will fake this 2nd Coming as happening seven years early. Thus the Rapture gets sidelined. Now you know why Matthew 24, reads as it does.

Outline of this Greek Drama Quadrilogy, by Play #:

1. Revelation 1-4:1, Church's 'time'. Revelation 1:9 makes it clear that Church is characterized by the 'tribulational' characteristics of Daniel 9:26. Revelation 4:1 is the Rapture event. Chapter 4-5 ceremony imagery ties to changes in the role of the Equites within the Roman Imperial Household (96-98 AD), hence the escutcheon-shaping by angels to depict the Lord's Third Royal Patent, Victory over Satan. Imagery is also rife in Old Testament.

2. Revelation 4-19 depict the official Seven-Year Tribulation, but in split-screen, with action scenes occurring in Heaven then down on Earth, with us Church watching the on-Earth 'scenes': Church, being represented by John's location in the vision.

a. As you'll see below, the seventh seal (Revelation 8:1) is the official opening sequence for the first 3.5 years of the Tribulation, which is next 'played' by trumpet. The key to this period is to know Satan's pulling a fake second advent. Since Satan knows the true chronology and has been very successful in masking Christian understanding of it, he can boldly pull off the Rapture as if it were a 2nd Coming. Think over all the information Revelation provides in context with the Old Testament verses, and you will likely be able to prove this interpretation quickly. Every other interpretation leaves out some of the prophetical facts, so far as I can tell; moreover, every other interpretation doesn't compare the 'fit' of the Tribulation to all of the Bible's historical wrapup (i.e., the fact that Passover Week is reimbursed by the Tribulation week).

b. So the One Slain and Alive again is a faked Messiah. Roman world at the time of Christ, then — which was its widest extent -- divided up into ten subpolities as His 'kingdom', makes sense — along with Jerusalem, of course. After all, isn't Church supposed to return and rule? So they (the demons) come 'down' to rule, first absent their compatriots in the Abyss and under Tigris/Euphrates, and finally with them (Revelation 9). All this, to mask the Rapture, whether it be flashy or not. Same ploy as today (skip over, rap the Rapture) — but then, pitched as realized.

c. So the pitch will then be, "Peace, Peace!" and everyone will be enjoined to jump on the fake Messiah's bandwagon — or be ostracised. 666. Bear in mind, this is the one scenario Christendom has never envisioned, someone claiming to be Christ Returned — so of course the world will quickly fall in line.

d. Gist: Satan knows this first half is marked by the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11, he knows that he'll succeed before the Rapture occurs in rebuilding a fake Temple, so he knows he can get the Jews to flock to Jerusalem in very large numbers, so as to kill them. That has been his strategy since 70 AD; he nearly succeeded, several times. So that's why he needs a Fake Messiah and a Fake Church, to mimic the Millennium's long promised 'peace in our time'; so the sacrifices begin again, everyone mistaking the period for the Millennium. Think of it as mimicking Isaiah 61.

e. But the Two Witnesses keep on testifying that it's all fake. At first the Witnesses can be 'spun' or 'packaged', for they are at the Temple, but Satan & Co. Via the humans, control the Kotel.

• • Everyone expects Elijah and Moses, but these Witnesses do not have the same characteristics.
  • Moses was never in sackcloth,
  • both were assigned to political Israel,
  • both appear with Christ at His 2nd Coming, etc.,
  • Christ said John the Baptist was the last herald, as did Malachi — for after all, Christ is the Last King.
  • Nor are the Witnesses enough like the Zechariah 4 description (which had one lampstand, not two); and
  • "lampstands" was already defined as a generic messenger role in Revelation 1-3.
  • So at first, people will not think these Witnesses are the Revelation 11 pair. Too much misinformation, precedes them.

f. However, the first six trumpets underscore their Witness. It looks like the Witnesses keep everyone away from the Holy of Holies, and the 'worship' goes on outside, as it would have done under the Old Testament. But the Witnesses become odious to the world, since the fake high priests can't enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. So whatever 'spin' had been done to obscure their message, eventually won't work, especially since the so-called 'Messiah' can't get rid of them.

g. The seventh trumpet opens the last 3.5 years, Revelation 11:15 is the midpoint — but then follows Heaven's dramatic (but not time) intermission with tableaus reviewing the first half, and providing a foretaste of the last half's themes, until Revelation 15:1. So Revelation 11:1-14, then the tableaus of Revelation Chapters 12-14, explain what went before, with Chapters 12-14 also characterizing the last 3.5 years. So then the sacrifices must be stopped at midpoint, for oh now the real Messiah really came, this time! Evidenced by killing the Witnesses, the talking statue, etc. -- now mimicking Isaiah 63. Hence the pogroms. (See if 'Messiah' is on earth, no more sacrifices are needed, theme in Book of Hebrews; so it will be easy to use that, to stop the sacrifices and justify killing the Jews who made them.)

h. The seven 'vial judgments' are thus 'played' during the last 3.5 years, beginning at Revelation 15:1 until 19:12, with explanatory tableau in Revelation 17 and Heavenly reaction in19:1-12.

3. Revelation 19:13 - Revelation 20:10 covers the Millennium. It actually spans 1050 years, the last 50 being the (i.e., Gog and MaGog) revolution of Revelation 20:7-9. You can't know that unless you know God's Orchestration of Time (explained at length and Bible-documented, in Mirroring.htm). The Great White Throne Judgment occurs at the end, Revelation 20:11-15.

4. Revelation 21:1 - Revelation 22:5 is Eternity, End of Time, end of the 'play' of history. Revelation 22:6-21 is the typical Greek Epilogue telling you the moral of the quadrilogy. To the current audience, which means us: Church.

So Revelation 'maps' as follows:

John's Revelation Tracking Terminology

Use the rhetoric below, to track Revelation's text. Bible writers use keywords to enable the reader to follow sequences, for parallelism is the main rhetorical style of the Bible. Weaving. God's Prophecy Message is always dual, so presented in parallels. First, the near-prophecy, then the far-prophecy parallel. No prophecy is ever a single event. Preterism forgets this, and that's why it mistakenly deems prophecy fulfilled. No, only one side has been fulfilled. The other side has yet to play.

God has John use His dual prophecy disclosure convention, to finish off its weaving, which began in Genesis. Hence Revelation is not hard to read; but rather, one tires from so much deftly-provided data. Ergo our 'Christian' ancestors tired; they didn't pass on these 1st-century-meanings. Shortly after 96 AD when Revelation was written, people stopped believing in the Rapture; for God didn't 'obey' the old Jewish schedule of Messiah's Return circa Rosh Hashanah, 94 AD.

So God instead had John write why the Rapture hadn't happened yet, and what the revised schedule was. For, as the New Testament kept on saying, Church Maturation was the new requirement for the completion of the Trial and the Lord's Return. But people became bored, waiting. So now, we must recover the Revelation imagery, by studying that time, and the Old Testament images which Revelation deliberately employs. Thankfully, the Greeks and Romans left prolific records and literature, so we can recover these meanings.

• 'Action Sequence' narrative shows stage action by actors, depending on what stage you're viewing. There are two stages: one in Heaven, and one on Earth. Think of it as watching split-screen TV, with the 'Heaven' stage at top, and the 'Earth' stage at bottom. In either case, the action sequences are literal, even if stylized with symbolic props or language. So throughout Revelation you see split-screen action on two stages: one in Heaven, one on Earth; and they alternate, since a narrator can't speak both sequences at the same time; so he must pick one at a time, to describe. Since John is in heaven from 4:1 until Revelation 19:14, you know Church is not on Earth during the official Tribulation.
• "After this" and "after these things", Greek preposition μετά +οὗτος (τοῦτο or ταῦτα in the text): this phrase divides the 'times' for you, in Revelation. (John does the same thing in 1 John and his Gospel, often truncated to "by this" in 1 John.) Track the phrase. Makes it real easy to know when John pulls a flash-forward to finish the parallels between something 'now' and something after 'now'. For example, you'll see two "μετά ταῦτα" clauses in Revelation 4:1, which is the event of the Rapture, depicted by John as Representative Church, leaving the Earth. Notice also Revelation 21:10, pattern of Ezekiel 40.

Revelation 1:19; Revelation 4:1 (twice); Revelation 7:1, Revelation 9; Revelation 9:12; Revelation 15:5; Revelation 18:1; Revelation 19:1; Revelation 20:3 are the time changes to track.

• Baldric and full-length Robe, Revelation 1:13. Royal Attire, fully-kitted out. It's not a "sash" but a baldric, which extends from the upper right shoulder down to the left hip, usually has many medals and jewels, engraved/emblazoned with titles. Also serves as a kind of holster for a weapon, like a sword. Ties to "tola" in Psalm 22, & Isaiah 52:13, 53:12.
• "Beast" metaphor is a threading term for kingdoms. So synonyms are the prophetical kings, heads, horns, depicted in the Old Testament. Every Old Testament book has references to them, not only Daniel. Daniel, by the way, is an update on Isaiah, so you'd better be familiar with Isaiah's prophecies. Ezekiel is between the two. Ezekiel's "living creatures" are in Revelation 4.

The 'beasts' in Revelation 4, are angels, maybe translated "living creature"; they rule kingdoms of other angels. That's why you see them cast down their crowns. So notice that the metaphorical range of "beast" still means "kingdom" or "polity", but doesn't always have a negative connotation. "King" is used to stress the headship, "head" is used to stress the seat of power, and "horn" is used to stress power, and particularly its glory, honor, fame. But all the terms are synonyms. So as you can see, every Old Testament book makes some reference to the prophetical kingdoms in the Tribulation, and there are many verses to analyse.

Here's a partial list of salient, synonymal verses which John incorporates by reference in Revelation. To make the list, I used English to capture parallel weavings. Many of the listed verses do not have direct bearing on Revelation; they serve rather as backdrop for how Bible uses the concepts behind the metaphorical keys. The list will be revised as I have time to go through the verses in greater depth. Generally speaking, the historical books use the terms literally or sometimes figuratively; but the poetic and prophetic books focus on symbolic, prophetic meaning, even when no specific prophecy is in view. Ergo you need many verses per term.

Bible Term	Relevant Old Testament Verses	Depicts
Arm or hand	Exodus 3:20; Exodus 6:1,6; Exodus 7:19; Exodus 8:5f,17; Exodus 9:22; Exodus 10:12,21f; Exodus 14:16,21,26f; Exodus 15:16; Exodus 32:11; Numbers 11:23; Numbers 20:11; Deuteronomy 3:18,24; Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 5:15; Deuteronomy 6:21; Deuteronomy 7:19; Deuteronomy 9:26,29; Deuteronomy 11:2; Deuteronomy 26:8; Deuteronomy 32:27; Deuteronomy 33:20,27; Deuteronomy 16:29; 1 Samuel 2:31; 2 Samuel 1:10; 2 Samuel 22:35; 2 Samuel 23:7,10; 1 Kings 8:42; 1 Kings 10:19; 1 Kings 13:4,6; 2 Kings 5:18; 2 Kings 7:2,17; 2 Kings 17:36; 2 Chronicles 6:32; 2 Chronicles 9:18; 2 Chronicles 32:8; Ezra 4:23; Job 15:25; Job 22:8; Job 26:2; Job 31:21f; Job 35:9; Job 36:19; Job 38:15; Job 40:9; Psalms 10:12,15; Psalms 17:7; Psalms 20:6; Psalms 44:3; Psalms 60:5; Psalms 64:5; Psalms 71:18; Psalms 77:15; Psalms 79:11; Psalms 83:8; Psalms 89:10,13,21; Psalms 98:1; Psalms 107:16; Psalms 108:6; Psalms 118:15f; Psalms 129:7; Psalms 136:12; Isaiah 5:25; Isaiah 8:9,11; Isaiah 9:11f,18,20f; Isaiah 10:4,13; Isaiah 13:7; Isaiah 14:26f; Isaiah 17:5; Isaiah 23:11; Isaiah 26:11; Isaiah 30:30,32; Isaiah 31:3; Isaiah 33:2; Isaiah 40:10f; Isaiah 44:5,12; Isaiah 45:5; Isaiah 48:14; Isaiah 49:2; Isaiah 50:2,11; Isaiah 51:5,9; Isaiah 52:10; Isaiah 53:1; Isaiah 59:1,16; Isaiah 60:4; Isaiah 62:8; Isaiah 63:5,12; Isaiah 66:12; Jeremiah 6:12; Jeremiah 17:5; Jeremiah 21:5; Jeremiah 27:5; Jeremiah 32:17,21; Jeremiah 48:25; Jeremiah 51:14; Ezekiel 4:7; Ezekiel 10:7; Ezekiel 13:18; Ezekiel 16:27; Ezekiel 17:9; Ezekiel 20:33f; Ezekiel 22:6; Ezekiel 29:18; Ezekiel 30:21f; Ezekiel 31:17; Daniel 11:6; Hosea 11:3; Zephaniah 1:4; Zephaniah 2:13; Zechariah 9:13; Zechariah 11:17; Malachi 2:3	Deployment skill and strength; and, of false reliance when not God's ‘arm’.
Bear	1 Samuel 17:34f; 2 Samuel 17:8; 2 Kings 2:24; Proverbs 17:12; Proverbs 28:15; Lamentations 3:10; Daniel 7:5; Hosea 13:8; Amos 5:19	Ferocity
Beast	Psalm 68:30; Daniel 7:5f	Polity, or ruler — positive or negative
Crown	Psalms 21:1; Isaiah 28:5; Isaiah 35:10; Isaiah 51:11; Isaiah 62:3; Lamentations 5:16; Ezekiel 16:12; Ezekiel 21:26; Zechariah 6:11,14; Zechariah 9:16	Regnal authority
Eagle	Deuteronomy 14:12; Deuteronomy 28:49; Deuteronomy 32:11; Job 39:27; Proverbs 23:5; Proverbs 30:19; Jeremiah 48:40; Jeremiah 49:22; Ezekiel 1:10; Ezekiel 10:14; Ezekiel 17:3,7; Daniel 4:33; Daniel 7:4; Hosea 8:1; Obadiah 1:4	Swift, protective
Head	Genesis 3:15; Genesis 11:4; Genesis 40:13f; Numbers 24:17f; Deuteronomy 28:13,23,35,44; Deuteronomy 33:16,20f; Joshua 11:10; Joshua 22:14; Joshua 13:5f; 1 Samuel 5:4; 1 Samuel 8:20; 1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Samuel 15:17; 1 Samuel 16:13; 2 Samuel 7:11,27; 2 Samuel 22:44; 2 Samuel 9:3; 1 Chronicles 17:10,25; Job 1:20; Job 2:7,12; Job 10:15f; Job 11:15; Job 15:26; Job 16:4f,12,15; Job 19:9; Job 20:6,16; Job 24:24; Job 29:3,25; Job 31:36; Job 32:6; Job 41:7,32; Psalms 3:3; Psalms 7:16; Psalms 10:5; Psalms 18:43; Psalms 21:3; Psalms 22:7; Psalms 23:5; Psalms 27:6; Psalms 31:11; Psalms 34:5; Psalms 35:13f; Psalms 38:4; Psalms 40:7,12; Psalms 44:14; Psalms 45:7; Psalms 49:14; Psalms 60:7; Psalms 64:8; Psalms 66:12; Psalms 68:7,21; Psalms 69:4,15; Psalms 71:18; Psalms 74:14; Psalms 80:2; Psalms 83:2; Psalms 89:20; Psalms 92:10; Psalms 108:8; Psalms 109:25; Psalms 110:6f; Psalms 118:22; Psalms 132:18; Psalms 133:2; Psalms 139:5; Psalms 140:7,9; Psalms 141:5; Proverbs 1:9,21; Proverbs 4:9; Proverbs 8:2; Proverbs 10:6,22; Proverbs 11:26; Proverbs 14:24; Proverbs 16:31; Proverbs 20:29; Proverbs 25:22; Proverbs 26:18; Proverbs 30:31; Ecclesiastes 2:14; Ecclesiastes 4:16; Ecclesiastes 9:8; Song of Solomon 2:6; Song of Solomon 3:11; Song of Solomon 4:3; Song of Solomon 5:2,11; Song of Solomon 6:7; Song of Solomon 7:5; Song of Solomon 8:3; Isaiah 1:5f; Isaiah 2:9; Isaiah 3:3,17,20,23f; Isaiah 5:15; Isaiah 7:8f,20; Isaiah 8:8; Isaiah 9:14f; Isaiah 13:14; Isaiah 15:2; Isaiah 19:7,15; Isaiah 22:12; Isaiah 28:1,4; Isaiah 35:10; Isaiah 37:22; Isaiah 51:11,20; Isaiah 52:12; Isaiah 58:5; Isaiah 59:17; Isaiah 60:11; Isaiah 61:7,10; Jeremiah 2:16,37; Jeremiah 7:29; Jeremiah 9:1; Jeremiah 13:18,21; Jeremiah 14:3f; Jeremiah 16:6; Jeremiah 18:16; Jeremiah 22:6; Jeremiah 23:19; Jeremiah 29:26; Jeremiah 30:23; Jeremiah 31:7; Jeremiah 47:5; Jeremiah 48:17,27,37,45; Jeremiah 50:8; Jeremiah 51:27; Jeremiah 52:24f,31; Lamentations 1:5; Lamentations 2:10,15,19; Lamentations 3:5,29,54; Lamentations 4:1; Lamentations 5:16; Ezekiel 1:22,25f; Ezekiel 5:1; Ezekiel 7:18; Ezekiel 8:2f; Ezekiel 9:10; Ezekiel 10:1,11; Ezekiel 11:21; Ezekiel 13:18; Ezekiel 16:10,12,25,31,37,43; Ezekiel 17:19; Ezekiel 18:13; Ezekiel 21:19,21; Ezekiel 22:31; Ezekiel 23:42; Ezekiel 24:17,23; Ezekiel 29:18; Ezekiel 33:4f; Ezekiel 42:9,12; Ezekiel 44:18,20; Daniel 1:10; Daniel 2:28,32,38f,48; Daniel 3:27; Daniel 4:5,10,13,36; Daniel 5:11; Daniel 7:1,9,15,20; Daniel 10:13,20f; Daniel 11:19,22; Daniel 12:1; Hosea 1:11; Hosea 8:7; Hosea 9:7; Joel 2:11; Joel 3:4,7; Amos 2:7; Amos 3:12; Amos 6:7; Amos 8:10; Amos 9:1; Obadiah 1:15; Jonah 2:5; Jonah 4:6,8; Micah 1:10,16; Micah 2:3,13; Micah 6:6; Nahum 3:10; Habakkuk 3:13f; Zechariah 1:21; Zechariah 3:5; Zechariah 4:7; Zechariah 6:11; Zechariah 12:4,8	Leader; first‑ness
Horn	Exodus 19:13,16,19; Exodus 27:2; Exodus 38:2; Leviticus 25:9; Numbers 10:7,9; Numbers 29:1; Joshua 6:4ff,20; Judges 3:27; Judges 6:34; Judges 7:16,18; 1 Samuel 2:1,10; 1 Samuel 13:3; 1 Samuel 16:1,13; 2 Samuel 2:28; 2 Samuel 6:15; 2 Samuel 15:10; 2 Samuel 18:16; 2 Samuel 20:1,22; 2 Samuel 22:3; 1 Kings 1:34,39,41,50f; 1 Kings 2:28; 2 Kings 9:13; 1 Chronicles 15:28; 1 Chronicles 25:5; 2 Chronicles 15:14; Nehemiah 4:18,20; Job 16:15; Job 39:24f; Job 42:14; Psalms 18:2; Psalms 44:5; Psalms 47:5; Psalms 75:4f; Psalms 81:3; Psalms 89:17,24; Psalms 92:10; Psalms 98:6; Psalms 112:9; Psalms 118:27; Psalms 132:17; Psalms 148:13f; Psalms 150:3; Isaiah 18:3; Isaiah 27:13; Isaiah 58:1; Jeremiah 4:5,19,21; Jeremiah 6:1,17; Jeremiah 42:14; Jeremiah 48:25; Jeremiah 50:11; Jeremiah 51:27; Lamentations 2:3,17; Ezekiel 7:14; Ezekiel 29:21; Ezekiel 32:2; Ezekiel 33:3ff; Ezekiel 43:15; Daniel 3:5,7,10,15; Daniel 7:8,11,20f; Daniel 8:5,8f,12,21f; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 8:1; Joel 2:1,15; Amos 2:2; Amos 3:6; Micah 1:11; Micah 4:13; Zephaniah 1:16; Zechariah 1:21; Zechariah 9:14	Public honor, military/enforcement power; sound denotes organization; or calling on God’s Power and Judgment.
Kingdom	Exodus 19:6; Numbers 21:18; Numbers 22:39; Numbers 24:7; Numbers 32:33; Deuteronomy 3:4,6,10,13; Deuteronomy 17:18,20; Joshua 12:2,5; Joshua 13:12,21,27,30f; 1 Samuel 10:16,25; 1 Samuel 11:14; 1 Samuel 13:13f; 1 Samuel 14:47; 1 Samuel 15:28; 1 Samuel 18:8; 1 Samuel 20:31; 1 Samuel 24:20; 1 Samuel 28:17; 2 Samuel 3:10,21,28; 2 Samuel 5:12; 2 Samuel 7:12f,16; 2 Samuel 8:6; 2 Samuel 14:9; 2 Samuel 16:3,8; 2 Samuel 19:9; 2 Samuel 24:3; 1 Kings 1:13,17,24,35,46f; 1 Kings 2:12,15,22,33,35,45f; 1 Kings 3:1; 1 Kings 8:20,25; 1 Kings 9:5; 1 Kings 10:9,20; 1 Kings 11:11ff,24,31,34f; 1 Kings 12:21,24,26; 1 Kings 13:8,34; 1 Kings 14:8; 1 Kings 16:11; 1 Kings 18:10; 1 Kings 21:7; 2 Kings 11:1; 2 Kings 14:5; 2 Kings 15:19; 2 Kings 17:21; 2 Kings 20:13; 2 Kings 25:25; 1 Chronicles 4:23; 1 Chronicles 10:14; 1 Chronicles 11:10; 1 Chronicles 12:23; 1 Chronicles 14:2; 1 Chronicles 16:20; 1 Chronicles 17:11,14; 1 Chronicles 18:6; 1 Chronicles 22:10; 1 Chronicles 28:1,5,7; 1 Chronicles 29:11,25; 2 Chronicles 1:1; 2 Chronicles 2:1,12; 2 Chronicles 6:10,16; 2 Chronicles 7:18; 2 Chronicles 8:6,9; 2 Chronicles 9:8,19; 2 Chronicles 11:1,17; 2 Chronicles 12:1,8; 2 Chronicles 13:5,8,21; 2 Chronicles 14:5; 2 Chronicles 15:19; 2 Chronicles 16:1; 2 Chronicles 17:4f; 2 Chronicles 20:30; 2 Chronicles 21:3ff; 2 Chronicles 22:9f; 2 Chronicles 23:20; 2 Chronicles 25:3; 2 Chronicles 26:21; 2 Chronicles 28:5; 2 Chronicles 29:3,21; 2 Chronicles 32:15; 2 Chronicles 33:13; 2 Chronicles 35:21; 2 Chronicles 36:3,20,22; Ezra 1:1; Ezra 2:1; Ezra 4:13,22; Ezra 7:13,23; Nehemiah 7:6; Nehemiah 9:35; Nehemiah 12:22; Esther 1:1ff,7,14,16,20,22; Esther 2:3,18; Esther 3:6,8,12ff; Esther 4:3,11,13f; Esther 5:3,6,11; Esther 6:1; Esther 7:2; Esther 8:5,9,11ff,17; Esther 9:2,4,12,16,20,28,30; Esther 10:1ff; Psalms 22:28; Psalms 45:6; Psalms 72:8; Psalms 89:4,14,29,36,44; Psalms 97:2; Psalms 103:19,22; Psalms 105:13; Psalms 114:2; Psalms 132:11f; Psalms 145:11ff; Psalms 148:13; Ecclesiastes 4:14; Isaiah 7:8f; Isaiah 9:7; Isaiah 10:10; Isaiah 17:3; Isaiah 19:2; Isaiah 34:12; Isaiah 37:16,20; Isaiah 39:2; Isaiah 47:5,8; Isaiah 60:12; Jeremiah 3:17; Jeremiah 10:7; Jeremiah 18:7,9; Jeremiah 22:30; Jeremiah 25:26; Jeremiah 27:8; Jeremiah 29:16; Jeremiah 33:17,21; Jeremiah 43:10; Lamentations 2:2; Ezekiel 16:13; Ezekiel 17:13f; Ezekiel 21:27; Ezekiel 29:14f; Daniel 1:3,20; Daniel 2:37,39ff,44; Daniel 3:30; Daniel 4:3,17f,25f,29ff,34,36; Daniel 5:7,11,16,18,20f,26,28f,31; Daniel 6:1,3f,7,26,28; Daniel 7:14,18,22ff,27; Daniel 8:21,23; Daniel 9:1; Daniel 10:13,20; Daniel 11:2ff,9,17,20f; Hosea 1:4; Amos 7:13; Amos 9:8,11; Obadiah 1:21; Micah 4:8; Haggai 2:22	Symbol of territorial authority
Lion	Genesis 49:9; Numbers 23:24; Numbers 24:9; Deuteronomy 33:20,22; Judges 14:5f,8f,18; 1 Samuel 17:34,36f; 2 Samuel 17:10; 2 Samuel 23:20; 1 Kings 10:19f; 1 Kings 13:24ff,28; 1 Kings 15:20; 1 Kings 20:36; 1 Chronicles 11:22; 1 Chronicles 12:8; 1 Chronicles 28:17; 2 Chronicles 9:18f; Esther 4:16f; Job 4:10f; Job 6:7; Job 10:16; Job 28:8; Job 38:39; Psalms 7:2; Psalms 10:8f; Psalms 17:12; Psalms 22:13,16,21; Psalms 38:8; Psalms 91:13; Proverbs 19:12; Proverbs 20:2; Proverbs 22:13; Proverbs 26:13; Proverbs 28:1,15; Proverbs 30:30; Ecclesiastes 9:4; Isaiah 5:29; Isaiah 11:6f; Isaiah 15:9; Isaiah 21:8; Isaiah 30:6; Isaiah 31:4; Isaiah 35:9; Isaiah 38:13; Isaiah 65:25; Jeremiah 2:30; Jeremiah 4:7; Jeremiah 5:6; Jeremiah 12:8; Jeremiah 25:30,38; Jeremiah 49:19; Jeremiah 50:44; Jeremiah 51:38; Lamentations 3:10; Ezekiel 1:10; Ezekiel 10:14; Ezekiel 19:2f,5f; Ezekiel 22:25; Ezekiel 32:2; Ezekiel 41:19; Daniel 6:16,19,24; Daniel 7:4; Hosea 5:14; Hosea 11:10; Hosea 13:7f; Joel 1:6; Amos 3:4,8,12; Amos 5:19; Micah 5:8; Nahum 2:11f	Best of beasts, king of beasts
Leopard	Isaiah 11:6; Jeremiah 5:6; Jeremiah 13:23; Daniel 7:6; Hosea 13:7	Stealth, swiftness, cunning
Power	List only covers poetic/prophetic books and only KJV: Job 1:12; Job 5:20; Job 21:7; Job 23:6; Job 24:22; Job 26:2,12,14; Job 36:22; Job 37:23; Job 41:12; Psalms 21:13; Psalms 22:20; Psalms 37:35; Psalms 49:15; Psalms 59:11,16; Psalms 62:11; Psalms 63:2; Psalms 65:6; Psalms 66:3,7; Psalms 68:35; Psalms 71:18; Psalms 78:26; Psalms 79:11; Psalms 90:11; Psalms 106:8; Psalms 110:3; Psalms 111:6; Psalms 145:11; Psalms 147:5; Psalms 150:1; Proverbs 3:27; Proverbs 18:21; Ecclesiastes 4:1; Ecclesiastes 5:19; Ecclesiastes 6:2; Ecclesiastes 8:4,8; Isaiah 37:27; Isaiah 40:26,29; Isaiah 43:17; Isaiah 47:14; Isaiah 50:2; Jeremiah 10:12; Jeremiah 27:5; Jeremiah 32:17; Jeremiah 51:15; Ezekiel 17:9; Ezekiel 22:6; Ezekiel 30:6; Daniel 2:37; Daniel 3:27; Daniel 4:30; Daniel 6:27; Daniel 8:6f,22,24; Daniel 11:6,25,43; Daniel 12:7; Hosea 12:3f; Hosea 13:14; Micah 2:1; Micah 3:8; Nahum 1:3; Nahum 2:1; Habakkuk 1:11; Habakkuk 2:9; Habakkuk 3:4; Zechariah 4:6; Zechariah 9:4	Compared to others of same ‘kind’
Sea	Psalms 8:8; Psalms 33:7; Psalms 46:2; Psalms 65:5; Psalms 66:6; Psalms 68:22; Psalms 72:8; Psalms 74:13; Psalms 77:19; Psalms 78:13,27,53; Psalms 80:11; Psalms 89:9,25; Psalms 93:4; Psalms 95:5; Psalms 96:11; Psalms 98:7; Psalms 104:25; Psalms 106:7,9,22; Psalms 107:23; Psalms 114:3,5; Psalms 136:13,15; Psalms 139:9; Psalms 146:6; Proverbs 8:29; Proverbs 23:34; Proverbs 30:19; Ecclesiastes 1:7; Isaiah 5:30; Isaiah 9:1; Isaiah 10:22,26; Isaiah 11:9,11,15; Isaiah 16:8; Isaiah 18:2; Isaiah 19:5; Isaiah 21:1; Isaiah 23:2,4,11; Isaiah 24:14f; Isaiah 27:1; Isaiah 42:10; Isaiah 43:16; Isaiah 48:18; Isaiah 50:2; Isaiah 51:10,15; Isaiah 57:20; Isaiah 60:5; Isaiah 63:11; Jeremiah 5:22; Jeremiah 6:23; Jeremiah 25:22; Jeremiah 27:19; Jeremiah 31:35; Jeremiah 33:22; Jeremiah 46:18; Jeremiah 47:7; Jeremiah 48:32; Jeremiah 49:21,23; Jeremiah 50:42; Jeremiah 51:36,42; Jeremiah 52:17,20; Lamentations 2:13; Lamentations 4:3; Ezekiel 25:16; Ezekiel 26:3,5,16ff; Ezekiel 27:3,9,29,32; Ezekiel 38:20; Ezekiel 39:11; Ezekiel 47:8,10,15,17ff; Ezekiel 48:28; Daniel 7:2f; Hosea 1:10; Hosea 4:3; Joel 2:20; Amos 5:8; Amos 8:12; Amos 9:3,6; Jonah 1:4f,9,11ff,15; Micah 7:12,19; Nahum 1:4; Nahum 3:8; Habakkuk 1:14; Habakkuk 2:14; Habakkuk 3:8,15; Zephaniah 1:3; Zephaniah 2:5f; Haggai 2:6; Zechariah 9:4,10; Zechariah 10:11; Zechariah 14:8	Populace, especially political
Waters	Here's a list only from the poetic/prophetic books: Job 3:24; Job 5:10; Job 11:16; Job 12:15; Job 14:11,19; Job 22:11; Job 24:18f; Job 26:5,8,10; Job 27:20; Job 28:4,25; Job 29:19; Job 30:14; Job 37:10; Job 38:25,30,34; Psalms 18:11,15f; Psalms 23:2; Psalms 29:3; Psalms 32:6; Psalms 33:7; Psalms 46:3; Psalms 58:7; Psalms 69:1f,14; Psalms 73:10; Psalms 74:13; Psalms 77:16,19; Psalms 78:13,16,20; Psalms 81:7; Psalms 93:4; Psalms 104:3,6; Psalms 105:29,41; Psalms 106:11,32; Psalms 107:23; Psalms 114:8; Psalms 119:136; Psalms 124:4f; Psalms 136:6; Psalms 144:7; Psalms 147:18; Psalms 148:4; Proverbs 5:15f; Proverbs 8:29; Proverbs 9:17; Proverbs 18:4; Proverbs 25:25; Proverbs 30:4; Ecclesiastes 11:1; Isaiah 8:6f; Isaiah 11:9; Isaiah 15:6,9; Isaiah 17:12f; Isaiah 18:2; Isaiah 19:5,8; Isaiah 22:9; Isaiah 23:3; Isaiah 28:2,17; Isaiah 30:25; Isaiah 32:20; Isaiah 33:16; Isaiah 35:6; Isaiah 36:16; Isaiah 40:12; Isaiah 43:2,16,20; Isaiah 48:1,21; Isaiah 51:10; Isaiah 54:9; Isaiah 55:1; Isaiah 57:20; Isaiah 58:11; Isaiah 64:2; Jeremiah 2:13,18; Jeremiah 6:7; Jeremiah 9:1,18; Jeremiah 10:13; Jeremiah 14:3; Jeremiah 15:18; Jeremiah 17:8,13; Jeremiah 18:14; Jeremiah 31:9; Jeremiah 41:12; Jeremiah 46:7f; Jeremiah 47:2; Jeremiah 48:34; Jeremiah 50:38; Jeremiah 51:13,16,55; Lamentations 3:54; Ezekiel 1:24; Ezekiel 17:5,8; Ezekiel 19:10; Ezekiel 26:19; Ezekiel 27:26,34; Ezekiel 31:4f,7,14f; Ezekiel 32:2,13f; Ezekiel 34:18; Ezekiel 43:2; Ezekiel 47:1ff,8f,12,19; Ezekiel 48:28; Daniel 12:6f; Joel 1:20; Joel 3:18; Amos 5:8,24; Amos 9:6; Jonah 2:5; Micah 1:4; Nahum 3:8,14; Habakkuk 2:14; Habakkuk 3:15; Zechariah 14:8	Dominions, polities, stressing people and wealth
Wings	Exodus 19:4; Exodus 25:20; Exodus 37:9; Leviticus 1:17; Deuteronomy 32:11; Ruth 2:12; 2 Samuel 22:11; 1 Kings 6:27; 1 Kings 8:6f; 1 Chronicles 28:18; 2 Chronicles 3:11,13; 2 Chronicles 5:7f; Job 39:13,26; Psalms 17:8; Psalms 18:10; Psalms 36:7; Psalms 55:6; Psalms 57:1; Psalms 61:4; Psalms 63:7; Psalms 68:13; Psalms 91:4; Psalms 104:3; Psalms 139:9; Proverbs 23:5; Ecclesiastes 10:20; Isaiah 6:2; Isaiah 8:8; Isaiah 18:1; Isaiah 40:31; Jeremiah 48:9,40; Jeremiah 49:22; Ezekiel 1:6,8f,11,23ff; Ezekiel 3:13; Ezekiel 10:5,8,12,16,19,21; Ezekiel 11:22; Ezekiel 17:3,7; Daniel 7:4,6; Hosea 4:19; Zechariah 5:9; Malachi 4:2	Swiftness, agility, keenness and coordination, especially military

• "Bronze" is metaphorically used to denote tensile strength and brightness. It was vital to the economy and to military use. Look up "bronze" in NIV to see how Bible uses the term, especially in Temple construction, since the Lord is the Person the Temple depicts. Then you'll see why John calls His Feet (walking, living), blazing bronze, in Revelation 1:15.
• "Clouds" or "Cloud" — used in Revelation 1:7, both plural and singular refer to believers. Isaiah 14:14, Daniel 7:13, Matthew 24:30, 26:64, Mark 14:62, (which quote Daniel 7:13 in LXX), Mark 13:26, 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Jude 12. Metaphor's origin is probably the cloud pillar by day, when God the Holy Spirit led the Israelites out from Egypt, see Isaiah 63:10-14, and Exodus.
• Epilogue. In every Greek play, there is a moral, something the audience is supposed to learn from the play, and apply to life. So when the play (or as here, the quadrilogy) ends, an Epilogue is given. Here, that Epilogue is in Revelation 22:6-21, and it's to Church.
• Pay close attention to the Key audience phrase "in Heaven" and "on Earth". Revelation is told from the viewpoint of John's location. For John is the narrator of the play, and thus represents Church, Revelation 1:9. He's on Patmos until Revelation 4:1, when ordered to Come Up To Heaven. Then he comes back down again, at the Millennium. You know all this, by the "in Heaven" and "on Earth" phrases he uses, and notice: when he says "on Earth", he himself is not on Earth again until Revelation 19:14 (see Revelation 5:10).
• Interjections. This is a dramatic device used when a narrator or actor stops the play in order to make a direct statement to the audience. Right after the statement, the play resumes. This is one way of knowing Church is not in the Tribulation. If you're audience, you're not an actor on stage.
• Old Testament terms "lampstand", "oil" reference the idea of God using designated humans to be the light of the world. Be sure to know what a lampstand represented, in the Temple, or the Revelation imagery will confuse you. Now, perhaps the wittiest of these lampstand references are in Zechariah, especially Zechariah 4, when tied to Haggai 2:18-23. The Light is always Messiah, so in Zechariah 4 the wit is, Light will be born from Zeru-Babel (=Seed of Babylon, 🤣), who is therefore the Foundation (get the pun) of the Temple, which represents the future Living Messiah. That's why Zerubbabel was used to build the Temple foundation — see the deft, witty, parallelism and threading? So are you surprised to see him called a "lampstand" in Zechariah 4? So are you surprised to see the Lord talk about lampstands in Revelation 1 (Church), and Revelation 11 (the Two Witnesses, who are likely Jews from the royal house of Judah and from Aaron's house in Levi, given the punning in Zechariah 4)? So trace those terms. Worth a goldmine!
• Seals begin at the official Tribulation, Revelation 4:1ff; but the first five recap what also applied during Church, ordering a continuation in that same Daniel 9:26 historical-trend theme. Revelation 4-6 constitutes an ordination ceremony of Christ as the Ruler of Earth, now that Church completes; each 'seal' is an encumbrance to the Ownership, depicted by the seals being on the Scroll, which represents the Inheritance of Christ . The seals don't open until the Tribulation, as Church had to first complete, Hebrews 11:39-40 tieback. Furthermore, the seal openings all occur in heaven. Where we are. So it's not even possible to posit Church in the official Tribulation.
• Seven spirits is a metaphor of complete perspicacity. Term is used exclusively in Revelation 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, 5:6. It wittily ties back to Isaiah 11:2, which is a prophecy of Christ Himself (see context), so He's Filled with the Spirit, and thus has six abilities of the Spirit. What's so unendingly witty about this is that the Spirit has Seven Ministries with respect to fallen believers (for we are all sinners), the first of which is to baptise us into Christ, theme of Romans 6. So obviously only six, for Him Who was baptised instead with our sins (ibid). Who ever said Bible was boring? See how John interweaves prior Divine Writ with such deft wit?
• Tableaus show what also characterized Church. Tableaus are symbolic. Example: tableau of the four horsemen are symbolic of literally four historical trends: a) conquering, b) warfare, c) famine/scarcity, and d) death. Tableaus and mime as drama experienced a revival in Domitian's day, played by small troupes of actors in patrician homes or in the streets. They were often lewd, and made fun of Christians. (My Encyclopedia Britannica of 1985 says so in its "Drama" article; I just found a similar statement from it online: Click Here, then search on "Domitian". ) Both John and Josephus were alive under Domitian, so compare the Greek and drama usage in both writers.

So now God replies in kind. Hence whenever you see a tableau in Revelation, know that it also depicts characteristics which pertain during church. Since Rapture can occur at any time, the Tribulational gambits are used by Satan pre-Tribulation, as he doesn't know when Rapture will occur, either. So he plays a pre-emptive game. In short, tableaus are also used to depict Satan's goals.

Every tableau depicts a parenthesis, explanation, or recap for the audience. In Revelation, they explain Daniel 9:26-27, and Revelation 1:9. So we needn't be confused by Satan's wiles, thinking we're in the Tribulation; so Tribulation folks needn't be confused by Satan's wiles, and think they are in the Millennium. Yet both we and they misread Revelation now, despite God's disclosure, Romans 3:4.

There are five principal tableaus, pre-Millennium. They are presented together with their Tribulational parallels, to show that during the Tribulation, Satan achieves his goals. During Church, Satan tries to achieve these same goals,

1) in order to get Church recalled to heaven at the wrong time (before maturation) and thus win a Mistrial; or,

2) failing that, to best position himself for when the Tribulation actually begins.

So the these tableaus are:

a. Revelation 6, Historical Trends (four horsemen);

b. Revelation 11, Fake Temple;

c. Revelation 12, Annihilate-the-Jews;

d. Revelation 13, World Government;

e. Revelation 17, Church-as-Harlot-Playing-Politics.

• "ταχύ" clauses. This is a major Rapture term, for the Rapture is precedented on the Exodus haste, and the haste of the Lord's seven trials during Passion Week. ταχύ occurs 44 times in Bible and is often mistranslated. It really means "suddenly", "next-in-sequence without prior warning", and is often a military term of surprise action or attack. It is usually mistranslated "quickly" or "soon", so an English reader wrongly surmises Rapture as near in time. Here are all the verses (searched in BibleWorks): Genesis 27:20; Exodus 32:8; Deuteronomy 9:12; Deuteronomy 11:17; Judges 2:17; Judges 9:54; 2 Samuel 17:16; Ezra 7:6; Psalms 36:2; Psalms 68:18; Psalms 78:8; Psalms 101:3; Psalms 137:3; Psalms 142:7; Proverbs 12:19; Proverbs 20:25; Proverbs 29:20; Ecclesiastes 8:11; Nahum 1:14; Zephaniah 1:14; Malachi 3:5; Isaiah 5:26; Isaiah 8:23; Isaiah 13:22; Isaiah 32:4; Isaiah 49:17; Isaiah 51:5; Isaiah 58:8; Jeremiah 30:13; Jeremiah 31:16; Matthew 5:25; Matthew 28:7f; Mark 9:39; Luke 15:22; John 11:29; James 1:19; Revelation 2:5,2:16; Revelation 3:11; Revelation 11:14; Revelation 22:7,12,20.

Related terms:

• • τάξις: meaning "ranks" (i.e., for battle).
    • Verses: Numbers 1:52; 1 Kings 7:23; Psalms 109:4; Proverbs 31:25; Job 16:3; Job 28:3; Job 36:28; Job 38:12; Habakkuk 3:11; Luke 1:8; 1 Corinthians 14:40; Colossians 2:5; Hebrews 5:6,10; Hebrews 6:20; Hebrews 7:11,17.
  • τάχος: meaning "haste".
    • Verses: Exodus 32:7; Numbers 17:11; Deuteronomy 7:4,22; Deuteronomy 9:12; Deuteronomy 28:20; Joshua 8:18f; Joshua 10:6; Judges 2:23; 1 Samuel 23:22; 1 Kings 22:9; 1 Chronicles 12:9; 2 Chronicles 18:8; Esther 8:12; Psalms 2:12; Psalms 6:11; Psalms 147:4; Isaiah 5:19; Ezekiel 29:5; Daniel 9:21; Luke 18:8; Acts 12:7; Acts 22:18; Acts 25:4; Romans 16:20; 1 Timothy 3:14; Revelation 1:1; Revelation 22:6.
  • ταχύνω: source verb, which means "to hasten", "hurry", and is pregnantly evocative of the Haste With Which Israel Left Egypt. Hebrew verb is maher. That's a precedence for Rapture; idea of sudden deliverance.
    • Verses: Genesis 18:7; 41:32; 45:13; Exodus 2:18; Judges 13:10; 1 Samuel 20:38; 2 Samuel 15:14; 19:17; Psalms 15:4; Psalms 30:3; Psalms 105:13; Ecclesiastes 5:1.
  • τάσσω: which means to station, mobilize, assemble in ranks. Verb also has an administrative 'mobilization' connotation.
    • Verses: Genesis 3:24; Exodus 8:5,8; Exodus 29:43; 1 Samuel 20:35; 1 Samuel 22:7; 2 Samuel 7:11; 2 Samuel 20:5; 2 Samuel 23:23; 1 Kings 2:5; 2 Kings 10:24,27; 2 Kings 12:18; 1 Chronicles 16:4,7; 1 Chronicles 17:10; 2 Chronicles 31:2; Esther 3:13; Esther 8:12; Song of Solomon 2:4; Song of Solomon 6:4,10; Job 14:13; Job 30:22; Job 31:24; Job 36:13; Hosea 2:5,16; Micah 4:14; Habakkuk 1:12; Habakkuk 2:9; Habakkuk 3:19; Zephaniah 1:14; Haggai 1:5; Zechariah 7:12,14; Zechariah 10:3f; Malachi 1:3; Isaiah 38:1; Jeremiah 2:15; Jeremiah 3:19; Jeremiah 5:22; Jeremiah 7:30; Jeremiah 10:22; Jeremiah 11:13; Jeremiah 18:16; Jeremiah 19:8; Lamentations 3:21; Ezekiel 4:2; Ezekiel 14:4,7; Ezekiel 16:14; Ezekiel 17:5; Ezekiel 19:5; Ezekiel 20:28; Ezekiel 24:7; Ezekiel 40:4; Ezekiel 44:5; Matthew 28:16; Luke 7:8; Acts 13:48; Acts 15:2; Acts 22:10; Acts 28:23; Romans 13:1; 1 Corinthians 16:15.
  • ἐγγύς: related term, which also means "next to, next in sequence, line, contiguity, proximity". So the actual timespan might be long or short.
    • Verses: Genesis 19:20; Genesis 45:10; Exodus 13:17; Deuteronomy 2:19; Deuteronomy 4:46; Deuteronomy 30:14; Deuteronomy 32:35; Deuteronomy 34:6; Judges 3:20; 1 Kings 8:46; 2 Chronicles 6:36; Esther 1:14; Esther 9:20; Psalms 21:12; Psalms 33:19; Psalms 84:10; Psalms 118:151; Psalms 144:18; Proverbs 27:10; Ecclesiastes 4:17; Job 13:18; Job 17:12; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1; Joel 4:14; Obadiah 1:15; Zephaniah 1:7,14; Isaiah 13:6; Isaiah 57:19; Jeremiah 12:2; Jeremiah 31:16,24; Jeremiah 32:26; Jeremiah 42:4; Ezekiel 6:12; Ezekiel 23:12; Ezekiel 30:3; Matthew 24:32f; Matthew 26:18; Mark 13:28f; Luke 19:11; Luke 21:30f; John 2:13; John 3:23; John 6:4,19,23; John 7:2; John 11:18,54f; John 19:20,42; Acts 1:12; Acts 9:38; Acts 27:8; Romans 10:8; Ephesians 2:13,17; Philippians 4:5; Hebrews 6:8; Hebrews 8:13; Revelation 1:3; Revelation 22:10.
  • εὐθύς: related term, like ἐγγύς, εὐθύς stresses next-in-line (of descent, of a moment in time), so comes to mean "immediately afterwards". So again, the actual timespan might be long or short.
    • Verses: Genesis 15:4; Genesis 24:45; Genesis 38:29; Job 3:11; Ezekiel 23:40; Matthew 3:16; Matthew 13:20f; Matthew 14:27; Matthew 21:2f; Mark 1:10,12,18,20f,23,28ff,42f; Mark 2:8,12; Mark 3:6; Mark 4:5,15ff,29; Mark 5:2,29f,42; Mark 6:25,27,45,50,54; Mark 7:25,35; Mark 8:10; Mark 9:15,20,24; Mark 10:52; Mark 11:2f; Mark 14:43,45,72; Mark 15:1; Luke 6:49; John 13:30,32; John 19:34; John 21:3; Acts 10:16.

• θλῖψις: translated as "tribulation", is used in two ways in the New Testament, with a generic, common meaning, both personal and macro; and, a specialized meaning. The specialized meaning is used for the seven-year official Tribulation, called the "great Tribulation". Here are the verses with the term:

Matthew 13:21; Matthew 24:9, Matthew 24:21, Matthew 24:29; Mark 4:17; Mark 13:19, Mark 13:24; John 16:21, John 16:33; Acts 7:10f; Acts 11:19; Acts 14:22; Acts 20:23; Romans 2:9; Romans 5:3; Romans 8:35; Romans 12:12; 1 Corinthians 7:28; 2 Corinthians 1:4, 2 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 2:4; 2 Corinthians 4:17; 2 Corinthians 6:4; 2 Corinthians 7:4; 2 Corinthians 8:2, 2 Corinthians 8:13; Ephesians 3:13; Philippians 1:17; Philippians 4:14; Colossians 1:24; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 3:3, 1 Thessalonians 3:7; 2 Thessalonians 1:4, 2 Thessalonians 1:6; Hebrews 10:33; James 1:27; Revelation 1:9; Revelation 2:9-10, Revelation 2:22; Revelation 7:14.

The pink references designate the official Tribulation. If only bolded, the term is double entendre for both Church 'tribulation' and the official Tribulation. Greek employs a doubled article to denote an "official" time period, as in Matthew 24:29, Revelation 7:14. The monadic use is in Mark 13:24.

• Trumpets 'call' the on-Earth side of the official Tribulation. The first six trumpets are the first 3.5 years of the Tribulation; seventh trumpet 'orders' the second 3.5 years to begin. Trumpets are always used to signal time in the Bible, Old Testament and New. Think of a trumpet as a bell: time for assembly at Temple, time for battle, time for retreat, time to go somewhere, time of day. Each trumpet is different from all the other ones, in Bible. So just ignore the false claim that 'last trump' in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 has anything to do with any other trumpet. It's not even blown by the same class of angel (i.e., no archangel in Revelation ever blows a trumpet).
• Vials / Goblets in Revelation 16 begin the last 3.5 years of the official Tribulation. They are seven judgments with the same characteristics as the Exodus plagues. Thus you know God is the God of the Bible.

Revelation's Outline, By Chapter and Verse:

Passage	Tracking Terms	Additional Comments
Revelation 1–3, Church Spiritual Trends	Action Sequence on Earth. Opening monologue: what spiritual trends happen during Church, plus its goal of spiritual maturation. Revelation 1:9 (“fellow partaker in the tribulation…”) summarizes the purpose for these chapters. John represents the Church; the churches depict trends among Church believers until the Rapture.	Blow‑by‑blow “live” wording, script; for now is the time John writes. These churches are real and prototypical for all churches until the Rapture. They co‑exist — no “seven ages of church” doctrine appears in Scripture. [1]
Revelation 2:1-7, Ephesus	Monologue. Love of God growing cold. Faith correct, not licentious; but love waned. His Titles Invoked: Holds Seven Stars (1:16), Walks among the Lampstands (1:12,20, Zechariah 1:11, Chap 4)	Notice that lost love for God jeopardizes them. Overcomer Rewards: Eat from Tree of Life Privilege. Why is it linked to regained love?
Revelation 2:8-11, Smyrna	Monologue. Poor but rich, Persecution. His Titles Invoked: First & Last (1:8,17), Dead & Alive again (1:8,18).	Overcomer Rewards: Crown of Life, not hurt by second death. For finishing the course, remaining faithful to the end? See also 2 Timothy 4:7-8, Hebrews 3:6, Hebrews 3:14, Hebrews 6:11, James 1:2, James 1:3, James 1:12.
Revelation 2:12-17, Pergamum	Monologue. Holding fast, Persecution, some too licentious. His Titles Invoked: Ῥομφαία (1:13, 16), repent or will use R.	Overcomer Rewards: hidden manna (parallel ref to what was inside the Ark, hidden Divine provision?), white (citation, award, entry-pass) stone with new title.
Revelation 2:18-29, Thyatira	Monologue. Faithful but too tolerant of the apostate Jezebel and her kind. His Titles Invoked: Eyes Fire (1:14), Feet Bronze (1:15), Searches Minds and Hearts (nickname for God, also refs 7 spirits).	Overcomer rewards: 2:25's echete kratesate, authority over Gentiles (1:6, 5:10, Psalms 2, Psalm 110), rule with rod (Psalms 2, 82 +Gospels, John 10:34-36, potter-clay verses), Morning Star (victory over Satan title, Isaiah 14).
Revelation 3:1-6, Sardis	Monologue. Wakeup call to Hypocrites. With exceptions. His Titles Invoked: Seven Spirits of God and seven stars (see also Ephesus).	Overcomer Rewards: walk in whites, no blotting of title, acknowledge before angels.
Revelation 3:7-13, Philadelphia	Monologue. The Self-Satisfied Lukewarm Church. His Titles Invoked: Amen, Faithful and True, Beginning of the Creation (see also Smyrna).	Stand Door Knock, spit out of mouth. Overcomer Rewards: sit on Throne.
Revelation 4:1, Rapture 'Door'	Action Sequence to Heaven, Rapture Occurs. The two μετά ταῦτα clauses open and close the verse. English translates as "after these things". Church isn't on earth again until Revelation 19.	Again, blow-by-blow 'live' wording. John goes up to Heaven, "Come up here". Sea of glass reflects Christ in Throne Room, ties to 1 Corinthians 13's "reflection" + James 1's "mirror".
Revelation 4:1-6:7, Church & Tribulation Historical Trends	Action Sequence In Heaven. See Ezekiel 1 to know the 'four living creatures' are seraphim angels (also known as weather angels). In Ezekiel, they each 'wear' the Lord's Escutcheon on four 'sides'. But in Revelation 4, they each 'wear' one side of His Escutcheon. My pastor spent a month explaining the Lord's Escutcheon, which these living creatures 'dress' to display, when he daily exegeted Revelation 4. See also Ezekiel 14:21. This is a Divine justice structure in which these four represent Him. I paid too little attention to prophecy in class, so must study anew — maybe these four are also the 4 horsemen in Zechariah & Revelation 6.	Revelation 4 shows Hebrews 11:39-40, got done. Investiture. First, Christ, and then (Hebrews 5:8-14) Church. Notice the seals depict trends via tableaus; but the trumpets to follow, depict live action in the Tribulation, on Earth; so the seventh seal begins the Tribulation. [2] Bema happens here. That's why you have Revelation 5:9-10, tying back to Revelation 1:6. For now we are being presented to Father and the angels, in the Throne Room, and are depicted as the "sea of glass". "Sea" metaphorically means "people"
Revelation 6's 'Four horsemen', Historical Trends	Tableau. We know from Daniel 9:26 that these seals characterize the official Jewish Tribulation; we thus know Church 'shares' the same trends. This fact is reinforced by use of a metaphorical tableau. Ties to Zechariah Chapters 1-2, 6 which are also on the Tribulation For in Zechariah's day, the 57-year period to end in "Tribulation", was depicted by Passover week, as the First Tribulation was Messiah's.	In Zechariah, Tribulation is paralleled to the ending of the 70 years from destruction of First Temple. So this Tribulation also depicts ending Israel's estrangement from God and the Land. So the parallel in Revelation, reminds the reader of both that, & the delayed fulfillment criterion due to the insertion of Church.
Revelation 6:8b, 4th Seal Death Decree	Decree in Heaven: Compare to Revelation 9, a third of the remainder are killed via the demons, Revelation 9:15ff. Same third phrases are in Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah. So most unnatural deaths occur in last half.	Horsemen as trend dates back to Old Testament, but the 25% world-wide death toll due to non-natural causes, is for Tribulation: it's a New Order to the 4th horseman, owing to seal opening.
Revelation 6:9-11, Fifth Seal, Martyr Prayer	Tableau. Old Testament martyrs in Heaven. Prayer invokes Old Testament "how long" phrase, which Church was never given. Verse 11 has two articles: for Gentile & Jewish Tribulation martyrs?	Tribulation legal purpose: ties to Daniel 9:24, Hebrews 11:39-40. "Lord" in Revelation 6:10 isn't κύριος, but despotes.
Revelation 6:12-17, Sixth Seal, Ultimate Disaster Outcome	Flash-forward: Action Sequence Decree on Earth. Trial Statement on how Tribulation ends. My pastor calls the Tribulation, "Satan's Rebuttal". Church was "God's Rebuttal." The end is told first since: a) the play is well-known already, and b) one learns 'today', from 'tomorrow'. Grace Warning, long told mankind. See also Hosea 10:8, Isaiah 2:10ff, Isaiah 13:10, Isaiah 24:17ff, Isaiah 34:4, Isaiah 50:3, Ezekiel 38:20, Joel 2:10, Joel 3:15, Matthew 11:21, Matthew 24:29, Mark 13:24-25, Luke 23:30.	Ties to Revelation 16:16-21 & Revelation 18 when nuclear disaster 'plays'. What's pitiable about this seal: even at the last moment, when people absolutely know He lives, they yet prefer rocks fall on them — versus, The Rock Who would shelter & save them. Compare Revelation 6:17 with Revelation 13:4, what people say of the beast. They only discern power, not love. So they can only measure God or the beast in terms of power. How sad!
Revelation 7, 144K Jewish Evangelists (martyred @ mid-point)	Action Sequence on Earth. We Church are already sealed by the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:30; "Day of Redemption" is a Rapture term. So you can't read "Church" into Revelation 7. They are sealed after we are, and by angels Tribe of Daniel is missing or subsumed: see Genesis 49:17, Deuteronomy 33:22, Jude 18:30ff, Jeremiah 8:16-17, maybe Amos 8:11ff & Isaiah 14:29ff (iffy). Joseph had 2 sons, Ephraim & Manasseh. Instead of "Ephraim", it's "Joseph". If that's how the tribes were known at the time of writing, John would have used the known terms, so it's not a mistake. Names used by people for the same group or place, change over time. But Daniel appears to be missing, unless assimilated at the time under "Ephraim" or "Joseph". I now wonder if Jewish antichrist is really Danite: that inference is too popular.	Revelation 7:1's switch to Tribulation is shown via μετά τοῦτο ("after this") +7th seal. Back to 'live action', and the actors on stage are not Church, as shown by the Tribe Names of Israel. Revelation 7:11 and following. Say they belong to the "Great Tribulation", which is yet another term for the official 7-year Tribulation See also Jeremiah 30:7, Daniel 12:1, Matthew 24:21, Mark 13:19. Sometimes, "Day of the Lord" is also a synonym for the period. Now, you can find "tribulation" in the LXX; there, "θλῖψις" is used over 100 times. At least 25 of them talk about "the" Tribulation. As you peruse the verses, you'll recognize why it's a keyword in the New Testament. Compare with flash-forward tableau of eternity in Revelation 7:9-10 (prefaced by μετά ταῦτα, when the 3rd play ends). Notice how 8:3 answers 6:9-11.
Revelation 8:1-6, Seventh Seal kicks off Tribulation	Action Sequence From Heaven. Tribulation Decree begins @breaking the 7th seal. Idea that God alone has the right to decree a thing. He Sovereignly chooses to Decree, in response to votes (AKA prayer, here). As seen in Revelation 4:1's two "μετά ταῦτα" clauses, & the same day "μετά τοῦτο" of Revelation 7:1, we know that Chapters 4-7 interludes all occur on the same day: the Rapture. 8:1 also happens on the same day.	Tribulation operation begins @First Trumpet. Greek drama is supposed to be centered on one day, with flashbacks and flashforwards to explain that Day. Due to poor exegesis, some claim an interlude between Rapture and date of Tribulation's beginning which can be longer than the same day. But this is split-screen narrative in John, he's showing what happens at the same time in heaven and on earth. Here in Revelation, the "Day" is always "The Day of the Lord" from the Old Testament, which is the Second Advent. Ties back to Genesis 3:15.
Revelation 8:7, First Trumpet, Fire from Heaven burns one third of the Earth & all grass.	Action Sequence On Earth. Hail and fire mixed with blood. Destroys all grass, but one third of trees, land. God uses what even unbelieving man knows, the one third. We distance ourselves from God, but judgment closes that distance. Hundreds of similar prophecies in the Old Testament. This means there's no fodder for animals, as well as fires — everywhere. So now you know why famine occurs. Depending on the world's stored food stocks, famine could become widespread in weeks. God 'replies' to Church In Heaven ('saints') prayers under the Spirit ("incense"), Revelation 6:9-11, Revelation 8:1-6. Free will & Sovereignty co-exist; Spirit makes our prayer 'offering', holy. So God approves it.	Notice the Exodus-like character. God picks what man will recognize from Bible. Hail +fire mean judgment in Old Testament, as in Exodus, when Elijah competed with Baal priests, or at Pentecost. Hail (cold), fire (hot), blood (thinking & judgment, Cross). Leviticus 26, writ loud & large. So to make clear which God is God, Rapture begins with a cataclysm. Society must be familiar with Bible & globally connected, to notice that 1/3rd. Well, we are. Just imagine the nightly news! God picks Old Testament stuff as a 'sign', not Church Rapture. Confer Exodus 9:23ff, Isaiah 28:2, Ezekiel 5:2ff, Zechariah 13:8ff (payback?), Zechariah 38:22, Joel 2:30.[3]
Revelation 8:8-9, Second Trumpet, one third of salt water becomes blood.	Action sequence On Earth. No doubt God does this. First time coulda been natural. But this second 'witness' of one third on water, sea life and shipping, only means Warning Judgment. See Zechariah 13:8 parallel. Look up both metaphors in the Old Testament. Again, the warning on 1/3rd, this time against the oceans.	Notice the Exodus-like character of a Fire Mountain Plague (asteroid collision?), very well known: water turned to blood, by God Who Turned Water Into Wine. In Exodus 7:17ff, this turning into blood only lasted 7 days. So if the time period is short, that too would underscore Supernatural God as the Source.
Revelation 8:10-11, Third Trumpet, one third of fresh water poisoned.	Action sequence On Earth. 2nd was a burning mountain (asteroid?), but now a star (maybe comet). No Water of Word, so thus drunk on poisoned thinking. Look up "absinthe": that's the Greek term translated "Wormwood". Everyone knows 1/3rd of angels rebelled. So God's advertising. See Jeremiah 8:14, 9:15, 23:15, Deuteronomy 29:18, Lamentations 3:19, Amos 5:7, 6:12, Exodus 15:23.	Note the format repeat, this time on fresh water. It's literal and also symbolic of Satan. Warning of his impending fall. Compare with Revelation 12:12's "earth and sea" reference. Does Satan fall here? No. Compare to 9:1-3. Revelation 9's Fifth Trumpet begins at Tribulation mid-point, when Satan falls and gets the key. Revelation 12:7-10ff is the tableau of that midpoint.
Revelation 8:12, 4th Trumpet, one third darkness.	Action sequence On Earth. Tie between Revelation 8:12 + Revelation 9:3. Again God picks a 'famous' judgment from Genesis 1:3 (Angelic conflict stressed), Exodus 10, the Cross. Again one third, visible worldwide.	Revelation's wording means it's an UNnatural darkness. See also Zechariah 14:6, Amos 8:9, Isaiah 24:23, Joel 2:10 & 31, Ezekiel 32:7, Acts 2:20, etc. Very common prophecy.
Revelation 8:13, Tribulation Mid-Point Warning	Action Sequence On Earth. Seraphim 'wearing' the Lord's "Eagle" Escutcheon for defeating Satan in the Trial, warns the earth. See Revelation 4. So an angel 'clothed' as Eagle warning humanity, makes sense, Revelation 4. His three compatriots warn in the second half, see Revelation 14.	This strengthens the idea that the 4 horsemen are played by the 4 seraphim in Revelation 4. For they are always where the Lord is, whether in Zechariah 2, Ezekiel 1, or Revelation. Here, people on Earth can see 'Eagle' warning them daily, at noon: for John switches to dramatic participles. See also 14:6-11: same Greek, three angels daily.
Tribulation Midpoint Revelation 9:1-12, Fifth Trumpet, 1st Woe, Year 3, Demon Army	Action Sequence On Earth. My pastor spent much time on this in his daily exegesis of Revelation (verse-by-verse); for Revelation 9 is routinely misconstrued as humans. John uses "μετά ταῦτα" in 9:12 to divide first 3.5 years from the last 3.5. He also does this in Revelation 12:6, vs. Last half in Revelation 12:14. Revelation 11 bridges them. That's why there's a 75-day hiatus in Daniel 12:11-12. Demon appearance metaphors depict beauty & power. All demons are cast out at mid-point, Revelation 12:7-10. So, here Satan gets the key. All free demons come down with him; so next in sequence, he gets to release his fellow demons in Trumpet #5, to make his final case before God. See Ἄβυσσος & Tartarus verses, +Jude 9. Some misread Revelation 9's fallen to be an elect angel. But in Bible, fallen signifies sin. Obviously if the angel were elect, he'd be sent, not fallen.	Since the first 'woe' begins at Trumpet #5, you know it occurs at the midpoint. Revelation 9:12 says the 1st woe departed — not, ended. So here you see Satan, for he's in charge of the angels in the Abyss, & he's nicknamed "Wormwood", a poison. Note parallel in Revelation 12's parenthetical tableau, when Satan actually falls from earth (directly preceding Revelation 9:1 & 13:1). See also Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28; this Revelation 9 passage shows how Ezekiel 28 gets fulfilled. Either this Abyss group or the one in #6 was imprisoned since the genetic infiltration caper in Genesis 6. God grants their release. "Apollyon" does not appear as a name, in Hebrew or Greek Old Testament. Abbadon is a poetic & never translated "Apollyon". So "Apollyon" is likely not Satan.
Revelation 9:13-21, Sixth Trumpet, 2nd Woe, 3rd Demon Army	Action sequence On Earth at Tribulation-Midpoint. Third army group, 4 demon 'generals' heading 200 million demons! No way to muster & maneuver in battle, 200 million human troops! Logistically impossible. Now they kill with fire+ smoke+ brimstone!	My pastor explained Revelation 9 is routinely misread as human troops. Why? The 200M come from under the Earth! Daniel 9:24ff isn't a human king's decree; so also, these armies aren't human. The death toll is a pan-2nd-half figure. You know that, because it's a summary statement of effect, through v.21.[4]
Intermission: Tribulation's Second Half, Previewed.
Revelation 10: John Gets New Script for Tribulation's 2nd Half.	Action sequence, God Votes In Heaven & On Earth. So angel tells John: not to repeat His Vote Contents, for Earth is not to know the 'mystery' until Seventh Trumpet sounds, to fulfill the prophets (Old Testament). So again, it's a Jewish Tribulation!	Revelation 8:1-7, God 'replies' to Revelation 7 prayer votes; here He waits for man's votes in wake of 5th-6th Trumpets. 9:20-21 says they vote "no". So an angel 'dressed' as the Lord (see Revelation 1) arrives, takes the Decree Pose (one foot on land, one on sea), says 2nd half of Tribulation begins. Chapters 10-15 show its themes.
Revelation 11:1-2b, New Script: Fake Temple AKA Abomination	Tableau. #1 Historical Trend of post-Cross History = Daniel 9:26c, peaks in Tribulation! Trend covers both 'times', ours & official Tribulation Revelation 11 ties to & explains Daniel 9:27's origin: Temple is rebuilt against God's order: Abomination. Sounds like Trumpet #1 gets the Jews to sacrifice again, thus fulfilling Daniel 9:27a, w/30 days later being the Daniel 11:31, 12:11 setup of Revelation 13:14-15. Satan's attempted a Rebuilding since 140 AD, but first via the Jews. Then, via the Christians. Then, when he couldn't get their support, he raised up Islam to build, so to get Jews excited enough to 'return' and take over. They didn't. So then he used pogroms for two millennia, to 'shub' them. To rebuild the Temple, all Satan need do is withdraw his support of Islam long enough to get the new Temple built. The world would jump on it. Then Muslims would seeth up for Har-Megiddo.	See Old Testament verses on Temple's Foundation. In Revelation 11, God sarcastically orders John use a reed (writing), not a rod. So notice: just because Temple sacrifices resume does not mean God authorized them to resume. So now you know how Daniel 9:27, happens. Then, as even now, religious people incorrectly assume that if there are sacrifices again, God authorized them; so they mistake the Revelation 11 Temple as valid. The Jews in particular will make this mistake. They will presume some victory over the Muslims is from God and therefore God authorizes Temple Rebuilding — completely ignoring Ezekiel 39 + Isaiah 61, in their excitement. So now you further know that Rebuilding occurs due to Church apostasy: for Christians routinely misread Ezekiel 38-40. Oh, they claim Ezra 38 fulfilled in 1948! No, a bad prophecy of Satan shubbing Israel was fulfilled, Revelation 11, Daniel 9:27! Warning, Matthew 24 & Luke 21! Don't return, Israel, till you see Me at night shining like day, Zechariah 14:7! [5]
Revelation 11:2-13, Two Witnesses from God, Killed!	Action Sequence On Earth. Recap of the Two Witnesses who annoyed everyone for the first 3.5 years; they are finally killed by "Abbadon" at this point. Ergo you don't hear about them until now. People cast their final 'vote' against God. [5]	Today, Wailing Wall & Temple Mount of Abominating Dome are mute Stone Witnesses, pending arrival of the human ones. And the human ones, complement GOD's witness of Revelation 8:13 +1st thru 4th Trumpets.
Revelation 11:14-19, Seventh Trumpet, Tribulation's last half Begins 3rd Woe!	Action Sequence In Heaven. God waits for humanity to vote due to invasion of the demon armies. He waits until Abbadon killed the Witnesses. He waits while people gloat over their dead bodies, then resurrects them in an 'Ascension'. He then waits AGAIN for response to the earthquake.	Notice how votes matter. Only when all votes are 'harvested', does the 7th angel sound, Revelation 11:15. Heaven's reaction parallels Revelation 4, completes it, in wake of harvesting both Witnesses and everyone who believed in them due to earthquake, etc.
Revelation 12 Script: Annihilate the Jews.	Tableau. #1 Historical Trend of post-Cross History=Daniel 9:26c, peaks in Tribulation! [6] Jews herd due to Fake Temple. So, are persecuted. Satan needs to kill them all: For If There Are Too Few Jews As Recipients, The Millennium Promises Cannot Be Delivered. Same issue as at First Advent.	Fake Temple in Revelation 11 motivates herding. Now you know why those Witnesses were in sackcloth. Revelation 12:5b is uses the Rapture verb harpazw, so references the Body of the "Child" being completed. Then follows the first 3.5 years, Revelation 12:6. Then the midpoint, 12:7-10. Revelation 12 thus doubles as a Greek prologue to set main theme of 2nd half of Tribulation.
Revelation 13, Fake Second Advent	Tableau. Satan 'comes' as if Christ. +Fake Temple & Fake Church=666. Thus you know the Tribulation is future. 2 personal antichrists, one Gentile ('king of the west') in Daniel 7 +a false Jewish messiah, fronting the Gentile. Daniel 7's fourth beast is a combo of empires: SPQR model w/10 nations allied, "little horn" in Daniel 8, 9:27 + compared to Revelation 13+17+18.[7] Historically, Rome 'inherited' the mantle due to Ptolemaic Egypt's invitation, which gave rise to Rome controlling the entire land bridge. So basically, it happens again — but at the invitation of a false messiah: this has never happened. Daniel 11:35's "moed" begins discourse on the false Jewish messiah, who brings in the 4th beast for protection. The angel thus ties back to Daniel 7 & 9:26, to show how Daniel 9:27's "prince" takes over. Daniel Chapters 11:36ff explain the other three kings' opposition to the false messiah to complete the picture.	Revelation 11 + Revelation 13 + Revelation 17 decimate preterism. For due to the Rapture, Satan must deploy in advance. Revelation 13, he succeeds. Ever since Satan won Earth via Adam's Fall, he's wanted World Government. 70 AD, Temple razed: 'Church' had no religious hierarchy. Revelation 11 + Revelation 13 haven't yet occurred. The Jewish fake prophet makes folks wear 666, Revelation 13:16. So he gets Fake Temple rolling. So God sends Two Witnesses, to warn everyone away during the 1st 3.5 years. So a unity of Fake Temple, Fake Church, presided over by a Fake Messiah, explains Revelation 17. Only a faked Messiah could pull off such a ruse and thus span the globe. Now, Satan can also make a fake Islamic 'christ', to get everyone to fight. Plausible way to 'frog' Armageddon. So maybe Revelation 17 is Islam? See 12-28-83 + p.1066 of 1-24-84 Revelation class notes. In the latter, my pastor wondered if the religion would be Islam, not the RCC.
Revelation 14:1-5, Tribulation Martyrs	Action Sequence In Heaven. 144K Tribulation Martyr Reward Ceremony.	Notice it occurs in Heaven, and with Church. No one in Revelation 7 was lost.
Revelation 14:6-13, Gospel Warning	Action Sequence On Earth. Three angels daily warning the world at noon: μεσουρανήματι.	John switches to dramatic participles in Revelation 14:6. So it's an ongoing warning.
Revelation 14:14-20 Tribulation's Decreed Outcome	Decree Outcome, Preview of Action Sequence on Earth. How the last 3.5 years will end at Second Advent. Decree-Type Parallel to Sixth Seal pronouncement of 6:12-17. Regarding verse 20: my pastor said the distance was from Daniel to Beersheba (all Israel). That says nothing about breadth. Greek doesn't say blood flowed, nor that it was high as a horse's bridle (about 4 feet) for all that length. Greek achri = 'up to', a limitation. "Horse's bridle" is an idiom with a history. So in what way is it literal? Stacked bodies? See Psalms 110:5ff.	Final war in valley of Jezreel, ties to Isaiah 63, Zechariah 12-14. Man votes, then God votes. Since Ezekiel 39:12ff says it takes seven months to bury the dead of just one valley, this has to mean a death toll in the millions. Isaiah 63, Zechariah 14:12ff (rotting) aren't necessarily the same event. Perhaps a prolonged thing over the 1st He Returns, beginning with Zechariah 14 (on His Return); then Isaiah 63, but that seems prolonged, as does Ezra 39:12ff.
Revelation 15:1-16:1, Decree for last 3.5 years	Action Sequence In Heaven. Decree for Vial Judgments. Revelation 10-15 themes for the last half of our Tribulation 'play', conclude.	Here ἐπί takes the accusative, note "c." entry alpha beta and gamma in Bauer, Danker.
Intermission Ends, Second Half of Tribulation 'play' Resumes.
Revelation 16:1-14, Seven Vial Judgments	Action Sequence on Earth. Notice the peremptory language: only 14 verses.	If Church was on Earth, such language would be more flowing, as in Revelation 15.
Revelation 16:2, 1st Vial, skin sores, boils	Action Sequence on Earth. Compare to Exodus 9. Again, God picks something He did before, so you know It's The Bible Stupid, &He's the God of it.	He picks something famous every unbeliever would know (and fault God for), so the unbeliever can believe in Christ.
Revelation 16:3, 2nd Vial, Seas made Blood.	Action Sequence on Earth. Every sea creature dies. Compare to Exodus 7. Notice here the difference of a DEAD HUMAN's blood. Aka, Christ. Aka, Pharaoh and his armies. So notice how blatantly God advertises Who He is.	The ancient Greeks coined "The Red Sea" title for what Exodus folks called "the Reed Sea", due to Pharaoh & his armies drowning in it. Name was in Greek lit., long before the LXX.
Revelation 16:4-7, 3rd Vial, fresh water turned to blood.	Action Sequence on Earth. Compare to Exodus 7, again. Notice the precise wording versus 2nd Vial. Doesn't say all, doesn't say anything about what dies, doesn't say it's blood of a dead person.	I can't prove it here, but from the Exodus account exceptions were made for the Hebrews, so presumably where believers were, exceptions would be made. That stresses God's 'message' via this miracle.
Revelation 16:8-9, 4th Vial, scorching heat.	Action Sequence on Earth. My pastor speculated that perhaps our atmosphere's protection is removed. Obviously heat without water & all that sea death, will also make the planet stink. Depicting, man's thinking.	See "sweet savor" verses in KJV to get the not-too-hidden analogy on smell being made via this 4th Vial Judgment.
Revelation 16:10-11, 5th Vial, Darkness	Action Sequence on Earth. Compare to Exodus 10 & Zech 14. The anti-Christ's kingdoms are singled out, akin to Pharaoh's vs. Goshen in Exodus.	They reject the Son, ergo the sun burns them; when they don't repent of their darkness, darkness is what they get. Genesis 6 demons locked up in it, see Jude 6.
Revelation 16:12-14,16, 6th Vial, Armaggedon	Action Sequence on Earth. See Exodus 8. My pastor did his thesis on this topic, and reminded us to read Aristophanes' play, "The Frogs". In the play, the frogs cleverly chant Bacchus into driving them where he doesn't want to go. So too, the demons act like 'frogs' and herd/'navigate' mankind into Armaggedon, which is a WORLD WAR, not just the battle in Har-Megiddo area. If you had half a brain, you'd never assemble a massive army in Israel. It's suited to smaller groups. Even in Jezreel, sheer suicide. No good exit! But they will pack like sardines, here!	Look: it takes a great deal of time, money, and effort to wage land war. To move an army to a location, not to mention the hassle of travelling on parallel lines so you can even GET to that location. You can't keep it secret. So by the time so many troops even GET there, they'd all know about "the other guy" who's also going there. Same stupidity as you saw during Passion Week with the Sanhedrin. Everyone running to and fro, violating common sense, like zombies. Just as in the Tribulation, DEMONS run the war, laughing their heads off.
Revelation 16:15, Dramatic Interjection to Church	Dramatic interjection, parallel to 3:3. In Greek and even modern drama, "interjection" means the actor talks directly to the audience, interrupting the 'play', to make a point about the scene just ended or just beginning. In Shakespearean drama, this is called an "aside". So the ignorant who are unaware of this rhetorical device, will misread Rev 16:15 as saying Church is present on earth then. Greek military term "tach·" means "suddenly, by surprise", next-in-sequence without warning, and is mistranslated "quickly" or "soon" in English Bibles. Every interjection uses this term or a synonym like "thief": for theft in the ancient world was by sudden noisy attack, not stealth.	This verse also proves Church is NOT on earth, for Interjection is ONLY used toward the audience WATCHING the play, never to actors IN the play. The Lord makes all Interjections in Revelation. He repeats the same phrases as in the Gospels: "I come suddenly", "like a thief", etc. He talks to NO ONE else but John aka Church throughout Rev. Roman custom of not talking to those beneath your dignity or rank. Positively chilling. So Church cannot be in the Tribulation. He doesn't even talk to the 144,000!
Revelation 16:17-21, 7th Vial, Nuclear Disaster and 2nd Advent RESCUE.	Action Sequence on Earth. My pastor spent a lot of time on this also. The earthquake predicted in Zechariah 14 which the Jews are to use to make their escape, is referenced here. So it's a mix of Divine action, and human war. Hail could be a natural result of the fallout effect from nuclear disaster. Or, is also another Divinely-sent Judgment, see Exodus 9. Given that God's always repeating Exodus judgments, the hail is probably a Divinely-sent judgment, rather than fallout from nuclear disaster. What is the "great city"? Well in Bible, the term is used for Nineveh and for Jerusalem: just search your Bible on "great city". It only becomes "Rome", because Rome took over the Babylon 'mantle', historically. This you know from Daniel 10 through 12. Given verse 20, the "great city" is not the only location for nuclear attack. Which makes sense, for if Satan can kill off humanity, then God's Promises won't have sufficient population for fulfillment.	Nineveh became part of Babylon, and of course sometimes "Babylon" is a term God uses for Jerusalem, as well. Revelation 11:8 identifies it as Jerusalem, but "Babylon the Great" is also in Daniel 4:30, referenced in Revelation 14:8, 16:19, 17:5, 18:2, 18:21. In Revelation 16:19+, apparently it's Rome AKA Babylon, not Jerusalem, which is hit. Now whether "Babylon" means the historical location or a like-attitude nation, I'm not yet sure. If historical, then it would be one of the candidates for the "beast" in Revelation 13, since Babylon is long dead, as is Rome. However in Bible, "Babylon" is often used for the attitude so might be another geographical location: maybe Rome, who knows. Again, it's not the only location, given verse 20. Looks like everyone set off their arsenals.
Revelation 17 Fake Church	Tableau. FAKE Church applies both in our 'time' and in Tribulation. Idea is to belie the nature of the Rapture for us, and the Tribulation for them, because Satan knows he'll be cast out; he wants to make sure WE don't know how to read that, so he can PRETEND he is the Messiah when he gets cast out. That's why he pre-emptively plans how to mask that fall as a 2nd Coming of Christ. To do this, he needs a Fake Church, and he has to begin making it immediately, since he doesn't know when the Rapture will occur, either. Notice the true '666' unholy trinity/ triumvirate: Fake Temple, Revelation 11; Fake Second Advent, Revelation 13; Fake Church, Revelation 17. These are the pillars of Satan's plan, in order to effect the annihilation of the Jews, Revelation 12. Rome had varying territory in the past. At one time it had Europe, northern Africa, Britain, Asia Minor (including the former Babylon), parts of the Middle East, and of course Italy and Greece. [8]	Notice that 'mystery' moniker for church is used, and 'harlot' is always used for religion in the Old Testament; so it's a fake Church which unites with political power. Hence Satan promotes preterism, theonomy, political activism, etc. So there will be a respectable paper trail in Tribulation, so Tribulation folks will believe it's the Second Coming! Notice also that even fake Church is mentioned here as a kind of post-script, after the Tribulation sequence ends. Only when the Second Advent comes & the harlot is to be judged, is she mentioned at all. Yet the combination of Fake Temple & Fake Second Advent used Fake Church throughout, as Revelation 17-18 explain. But she's mentioned last, Exodus-post-facto. What a snub. And the invective of Chap 18 — a whole chapter! shows what God really thinks of our stinky religiosity. Revelation 17 certainly means that a kingdom of the past seems revived; that christian religion unifies with it, to create a fake Second Advent.
Revelation 18:1-19:5, Destruction of the Harlot 'Babylon'	Action Sequence on Earth and in Heaven. Passage records reaction to the 'Babylon' destruction. Here you get the distinct impression that 'Babylon' is an archetype throughout history, a form of 'empire' which man always reveres; which is always evil; so 'Babylon' is a character nickname. Ties to Isaiah 47, since Isaiah had been predicting the destruction of the First Temple since Isaiah 13 (search on "Babylon" in Isaiah; Hebrew is "Babel").	General idea of worshipping power and largeness, commerce and all the human goodies we so crave, all vanished. So you can't restrict its meaning to religion, i.e., to the Catholic Church. It has a broader meaning than that. Political power-seeking is a type of religion, idea of man making himself god. Babel becomes Babylon.
Revelation 19:6-12, Second Advent	Action Sequence on Earth coming from Heaven. Church returns with Christ. Bride, Marriage Supper, Isaiah 63 and Zechariah 14, Ezekiel 38+ all unite here. Ezekiel 38+ is Second Advent, never before. Israel is only restored by GOD, Isaiah 61 (which Christ read when beginning His Ministry, see Luke 4), which is jubilee.	Always the last 50 years of history were to culminate in the Millennium, and the last seven of those 50 years, was to be the Tribulation, a fact always in the Mosaic Law. That's why Jubilee always was a resetting of property, etc.
Revelation 19:13-20:10, Millennium and final Rebellion		Satan's last attempt (as he's still convinced he won), as well as a handful of people who become disgruntled and persuaded by Satan's ideologies (as most people do agree with Satan's perspectives after all 🤢).
Revelation 20:11-15, Great White Throne Judgment	Action sequence at the beginning of Eternity. Basically, the unbeliever wants credit for his good deeds. Most Bibles mistranslate ἔργον to mask this fact. KJV actually gets that right, what a surprise. The Great White Throne Judgement and the blotting-out is a long topic. Basically, everyone who is BORN is in the Book of Life, but those who never once believe in Christ are "blotted out". Think of it as computer file deletion, so the file is "not found". Not found, because deleted. That's an distinction you'll need to best interpret Revelation 20:11-15.	Those who disbelieve (John 16:9) go to hell. It has zip to do with whether you were a good person, but everything to do with whether you EVER ONCE believed in Christ (ibid). See also Luke 16, to realize that people hate God even in hell, when they have FULL PROOF of Who He is. Nothing in the Bible supports the notion that you are forced to stay in hell. See LordvSatan5.htm for more on this topic.
Revelation 21:1-22:5, Eternal State	Tableau.

Notes

[1] Revelation 2-3 Note: Entries here are temporary and will be greatly revised. The task is to link the Titles the Lord invokes, the awards He mentions, with the plusses and minuses of the church mentioned. There is a reason why He selects certain of His Titles mentioned in Revelation 1, pairing them up with not only the local church in question — which church is also an archetype of the same kind throughout Church's "time — and then pairing up the awards. So there's a pairing between His Own Titles, the awards He mentions, and the kind of victory He says is needed for that particular church. If you think over the problems in each of the churches, you realize the same problems pervade every generation, hence the archetypal meaning. It's somewhat telling that no churches outside Asia Minor even get mention (i.e., Rome is conspicuously absent, as is Corinth, Galatia, Macedonia, Jerusalem).

• Ephesus was 'correct' but growing loveless toward God (problem that GOD was no longer their First Love, play on First Commandment). This archetype is easy to see in modern Christianity.
• Smyrna was in danger of caving into persecution by the Jewish legalists. So they'd have to undergo persecution.
• Pergamum by contrast, had problems with the licentious crowd.
• Thyatira was apparently split by similar problems and let the split remain.
• Sardis was full of hypocrites. Another easy modern type to spot.
• Philadelphia was a successful church despite the legalistic persecution like Smyrna, but still had to finish the course. They'd be spared persecution, so were farther ahead, but until the fat lady sings...
• Laodicea, like Sardis, was full of self-satisfied believers thinking that they had 'arrived'. Play on their famous emetic water, which was lukewarm. Easiest modern type to spot. God is just a designer label.

[2] Revelation 6 Note: Because the official Tribulation is characterized as in Daniel 9:26c, Revelation here ties back to Daniel 9. And because the Church is inserted by the time of Revelation, you are to understand that these seals' trends of the Tribulation, also characterize the 'time' of Church. This is where preterism gets some of its oomph. But notice that the reason for it being true is that the 'time' is first the actual Tribulation which is pre-Church in origin. So the preterists are reading it backwards. The future Tribulation is precedence, so our 'Church' has the same tribulational characteristics. Mid-Tribulationists and post-Tribulationists also err, because our 'last trump' is royal, so not the same as the seven trumpets in Revelation. Ours is from an archangel, 1 Thessalonians 4:16. By contrast, all the trumpets in Revelation are by regular angels, and are not preceded with any descent of the Lord. Still, in each case, a trumpet sounds the beginning of live action. So our 'trump' kicks off the Tribulation, live. It's 'last', for US, but first, for them. Honestly, only poor reading (lack of 1 John 1:9) accounts for any other 'interpretation.'

[3] Revelation 8 Note: Nothing in Bible ever says that our disappearance at Rapture causes cataclysm. That's a silly myth invented by people who want you to be titillated by prophecy, rather than taught by prophecy. For what prophecy teaches you, should produce awe and respect, not emotional thrill. So pitch any book or teaching which sells the thrill of the Rapture. The sellers are not from God, but think they are. Here you see proof of GOD's depiction of That Day. He uses old testament cataclysms, and for good reason: a) Church wasn't originally supposed to exist, and b) everyone on earth, however much he hates Bible, knows about the Exodus plagues. They became famous worldwide at the time, and so x thousands of years later, the story is well known even in the remotest locations. Thus everyone can have The Grace To See It's From God. So that's the loud story told, Old Testament style; not, the Rapture. When Christ rose, it wasn't a public spectacle. When we rise, it won't be one, either. So leave behind in the trash, those who would make the Rapture into a public spectacle. They can't read Bible.

If anything, the cataclysms depicted here in Revelation 8, would mask the disappearance of believers, because it would be easy to dismiss our probably-small-in-numbers disappearance, as part of the cataclysms themselves. What the world will see is the fire, etc., not our disappearance. So whatever the effect of our disappearance, it's not being advertised. It's a silence, which is the primary message in Revelation 4 and following., God's Silence Toward the Earth. Disapproval.

[4] Revelation 9:1-12, 13-21 Note: That really brings up the question of how many believers there are, in light of Deuteronomy 32:8. Not all the demons would be on Earth. They'd be fighting the elect angels too. Many on Earth would be deployed to fight the elect angels who are protecting humans. So while 200 million sounds huge, it's probably a small percentage or a minority percentage of all demons, and it seems that this 200 million is a separate demon army from the other two. My pastor taught it as three, also.

[5] Revelation 11 Note: Greek says "reed", not the measuring rod used of the Temple in the Old Testament for any of the three Temples, first, second, or Millennial; it's only like (ὅμοιος) a rod, which is not the same thing as being a rod. That's how you know God is sarcastic. Moreover, it was against the Mosaic Law for anyone to enter the Holy of Holies except the High Priest — on penalty of death — so God is again sarcastic to mention those who 'worship' in that area. Obviously they don't belong there, and they don't know or don't care about the Mosaic Law. Moreover, they built an altar, so God wasn't involved in it. Plus, the order to "measure" is for a foundation, which means the 'temple' is treated as if it's not there — because a foundation is laid prior to building.

Plus, God is asking John, who's not part of the Jewish covenant or time, to go measure it. John, not an angel, not an Old Testament or Millennial Jew. So that's why the Two Witnesses arrive, wear sackcloth, and warn everyone away. That's why they have the supernatural powers of fire and shutting down rain. That's why they are hated. If you don't know the sarcasm of Revelation 11, Daniel 9:27 makes no sense, and neither does the appearances of the Witnesses — who by the way, wouldn't be in sackcloth, if there were a bona fide, God-Authorized temple, standing. So the Jews then will hate these guys, as will the rest of the world. Now you know why they won't let them be buried, why "Apollyon" kills them. Wow, the Millennium has arrived, these guys are gone! See: humans just love hating God. With miracles, without miracles, signs or no signs.

BTW, Bible never says these Two Witnesses are resurrected Old Testament prophets. That's a common supposition without any real backup. Zechariah 4 depicts two olive trees then rephrases them as branches (House of Judah: both the House of David and the House of Aaron through Aaron's wife, were intermingled). However, there is only one lampstand in Zechariah 4. Two lampstands, in Revelation 11. From Revelation 1-3 we learn that a lampstand is a person or group who teaches God's Word. From Old Testament we also see that olive trees are said of David and Israel (just look up olive tree). So it's not necessarily the same olive trees and single lampstand in Zechariah 4, as in Revelation 11.

If anything, the reference to olive trees and lampstands in Revelation 11:4, invoking Zechariah 4:3-14, might indicate two then- living Jews, one from the House of David (compare Psalm 52:8) and one from the House of Aaron, as representatives of The Real Messiah. For the king and the priest were "anointed". Idea that, just as so often prophesied in the Old Testament, both houses would continue to remain alive (i.e., look up "House of David" in Zechariah 14, and also "Zadok" in Ezekiel Chapters 40ff). I mean, these guys will be on TV, plenty of time to check their origins.

Which would explain why they're such a political problem. Wouldn't be a political problem if they were nobodies. People would just ignore them. Wouldn't be a problem if they were resurrected Old Testament prophets, who would know what they looked like? So it's far more likely these are two well-known living Jews; one from David's dynasty, and one from Aaron. Jews keep records like that, so the records can be traced and vetted. Would be important politically to Israel, and would cause a huge problem. That would explain another reason why these guys even last for 3.5 years.

[6] Revelation 12 Note. The phrase "time times, and half a time" is repeated in Daniel 7:25, 12:7, and Revelation 12:14. It has routinely been interpreted as three and one-half years, but there's another interpretation which better fits Scripture: "age, ages, half an age". Substitute "epoch" if you like, but this latter interpretation better fits what the Lord Himself said in Luke 21:24, using the Greek equivalent of the Daniel (and later Revelation) terminology.

So it becomes a matter of interpreting how God divides the "ages" or "epoch". Look at how καιρός is used in the New Testament, and compare it to the LXX of the foregoing Daniel verses, to support the idea that "time, times, and half a time" isn't exclusively 3.5 years. So:

1. In Daniel's day, "time" could be rendered as the remaining period of the Jewish covenant. For, that period was well-known. It was supposed to terminate in what we would call 37 AD, and then upgrade to the Millennium New Covenant. That 37 AD terminus math is based on the 1000th anniversary of David's death per 1Kings 6:1 (which scholars misread), is the terminus given in Daniel 9:26, and is explained in Mirroring.htm .
2. Then "times" could refer to a sum of Christ with Church embedded in that "time" (Church not being stated because legally it might not have happened, but it was provided for).
3. Or, "times" as the sum of the two "times of the Gentiles". Aramaic "iddanin" isn't really "two", but a mere plural — again Church could be embedded there, since the Mosaic Law already forecast two times, the 7 years of Tribulation (reimbursing Passion week) plus the harvesting of the Gentiles, depicted by Jubilee. So, 57 years, two 'times' (now a lot longer, of course).
4. Or, both b and c.
5. And, if it also means 3.5 years, that's a double entendre, with the semantic range of iddan being fully addressed. In short, the addition of the "half" would give you the double entendre meaning, since the "age" of the Tribulation, is seven years! Clever, huh.

Prophecy's always rife with wit:
Here we see but sum of it.

Reminds me of the angel's wit in Luke 1:36 (compare to the doubled definite articles in Luke 1:26). So Mary gets the Annunciation in Adar, which was also Elizabeth's six month of pregnancy. See also Haggai 2:18-23 and Zechariah 4:6-7, lololol! Who said Bible was boring? ☺️

[7] Revelation 13 Note. Here's what we know about 'the beast'.

• Essentially, God has John pull together all the hanging 'Babylon beast' threads in Daniel 7, 8, 10-12, Isaiah, Joel, Zechariah, etc., to show the identity of this final, fourth beast, AKA "king of the west" in theology. (That term isn't in Bible, but it's properly descriptive of what Daniel is given.) Remember that Babylon was the kickoff for the 'beast' empire metaphor. Witty, since "Babel" is the Hebrew for "Babylon". Remember the Ziggurat of Babel, post-Flood, and in "Shinar" (another name for Babylon)? So the point is the continuity of this trend, and how it ends up. All one picture, one historical trend, serially depicted pan-Bible. When God gives someone new Scripture to write, all previous Divine Writ must be threaded through the new book to establish its Divine Authenticity. Here's a sample of how John does that, with respect to Revelation 13's "beast":
• Yet another possible layer — the seven mountains AKA seven kings of Revelation 17:9-10 as a total number of 'beasts' in the prophetic accounting from Genesis forward: Babylon, Media-Persia, Alexander's Greece, then the four that split up from his — eventually taken over by Rome. Notice that Rome ends up on net displacing three, due to taking over the fourth, meaning Egypt, as a result of Egypt's wanting Rome's help in the Ptolemaic-Seleucid warring. In this sense, Rome would be the seventh and 'slain' head that is revived, at the end (hence becomes the 8th in Revelation 17:11, but also an "8th" in chronological sequence historically).
• This accounting also balances to the composite in Revelation 13:2ff, paralleling Daniel 7's four beasts, as Rome ended up replacing all of them. So John is balancing to Daniel 7 in many ways, not just a few. The point of showing that the final beast is a composite, is to make clear where the beast comes from historically, geographically, culturally, etc. For obviously if it happens again, then it's prophecy fulfilled, rather than coincidence. We need some way to prove we're not hallucinating a connection. Ergo those metaphors are for accurate accounting, not titillation.
• Just as, God balances Time all the way back to Adam's Fall and all the way forward to the end of time in His (not a human king's) Decree of Daniel 9 (which repeats the same timeline as Isaiah 53's Hebrew meter). For, the accounting rule is συντελέω, the consummative verb in Daniel 9:24. This prophecy is a balance sheet, essentially.
• Now, the 10 nations which come from the fourth beast (Daniel 7:24 uses Hebrew birthing preposition min), with the "little horn" replacing three of them, leaving seven, also balances to the "8th" in Revelation 17:11. So it's not necessarily true that the five past kings are all Roman. Could be that only the current Roman Emperor then (either Domitian or Nerva) qualified as "one is" in Revelation 17:10's accounting.
• Following that same convention, 17:11's "is not" means a configuration which didn't exist at the time John gets the prophecy. Yeah, it wouldn't: Rome hadn't died yet, so there were no 10 kingdoms to be born from her.
• Notice this is yet another complementary layer atop the typical theological conclusion of a yet-future-after-Church 10-nation confederacy of some kind (usually posited as European). Again, mirroring, balancing. 10 in the past, relative to us, become again (the same?) 10 in the future, maybe.
• Daniel 8's dictator is double entendre, like all Bible prophecy. Near-term fulfillment was Antiochus IV Epiphanes, playing from 167-164 BC, resulting in Chanukah, which is the Lord's Birthday. 2300 days was the time of that ruler's control of the Land. (Since the Temple was still down at the time the vision was given Daniel, Chapter 8 prefaced the promise that the Temple would be rebuilt, which of course was already known per Jeremiah 25:11 and 29:10, which Daniel was reading in Daniel 9:2, maybe as a consequence of the vision in Daniel 8).
• So it's fully past, but the far-term fulfillment on the same model is yet future, Matthew 24. That of course, ties back to all the relevant sections in Daniel.
• In Daniel Chapters 11-12, you're presented with a sweeping panorama of kingdom wars until the end of time. The only kingdoms mentioned are those taking over the Promised Land, so forget putting the US in prophecy. The pattern is the Roman Empire, which got into the deal owing to the breakup of Alexander's empire. So that's how the westward-seat of kingship, morphed.

Always notice the audience. The audience is Daniel. His people. The Jews. So history connected with the Jews is what matters. So: if you read Daniel as a whole, you start with Babylon, and end with Rome, which becomes the King of the West, taking over from Greece, who replaced Persia. So then Rome defeats the king of the south, Egypt. All this we now know from history. What is left future, is the identity of the last beast, who apparently here in Daniel 9 (and in Zechariah) is a king of the west, patterned after Rome, in both mindset and geography. So there is some king. Does Satan indwell this guy and then use him to pretend he's the Messiah? But Messiah has to be Jewish. So maybe the Western king is separate.

• Of course Satan invents the beast, Revelation 13:1, at Tribulation mid-point or prior (13:5). Yeah, he's always trying to reinvent it. That's his counterfeit, a nice powerful world which needs no God. Satan is thus worshipped via this 'beast', Revelation 13:4.
• Which has to mean Satan pretends to be Christ, in Revelation 13. So the Revelation 13:1ff Tribulation mid-point, is when he stages a faked Second Coming, whether or not the fourth beast was built, prior.
• For the one head slain (Revelation 13:3) must be a claim of Resurrected Christ itself, given the amazement of the earth. They would not be amazed if some past empire reconstituted itself. They would be amazed if the centuries-old claim of Messiah's Return, seemed to come true. Christ was the Head of Israel, and was slain. So was Israel. Technically, Christ "was", and on earth "is not", and is "yet to come". Bible even uses the corrected version of this title of Himself in Revelation 1:4, 1:8, 1:18 (notice HE holds all the keys, not Peter), 4:8, 11:17. See also 5:6,9, 12. Verse 9 is most telling, would explain yet another reason why Satan needs a Fake Church.

So Revelation 13:3 and 17:11 advertise someone who is not Christ, pretending in the future to be Christ, so the nations which are subsumed in the composite will be like the landmass at the time Christ was here — so would be Rome's territories, including Israel. This we already know from Daniel.

So you have Fake Temple, Fake Christ, Fake Church all united in an unholy 666. Very easy to see this. It's just a question of what 7-8 nation composite and what 10-nation group of federated allies, you want to pick. SPQR had (depending on how you want to count it) up to maybe 52 territorial divisions, look up its maps on the web or in scholarly tomes.

All the end-times people would be suckers for a Fake Christ. Just look at the goofball preoccupation with the idea on Youtube. Satan has to kill all believers, too, so this is his best option. Believers by the millions today have no clue what Bible says, so they won't then, either. So they'll all flock to Jerusalem, get the Mark, etc., all thinking, "Oh, this isn't anything like Revelation 13, this is the Real Messiah, must have been a typographical error about 666!" Jews, too will flock. Think about it: there's nothing that can unite the planet of Jews and Christians except the Return of Messiah. Nothing that can so excite war, as that idea. Been true for centuries, will be true then. So that's the identity of the head slain but now alive again, huh.

[8] Revelation 17 Note. So if Satan claims to be Christ, then whether or not he indwells the Daniel Chapter 11-12 king, Revelation 17:8's language is wittily evocative of that claim of False Christ.

• For again Christ "was", but the beast is a pretense of Christ's kingdom, so "was" (as pretense).
• Therefore "is not" is true at the time the angel speaks to John, whether you treat that time as the historical prophecy in 96 AD (for Israel was in Diaspora), or if you say the 'time' represents the Tribulation itself. For prophecy is always meant to be witty, so you'll remember it. There's no mystery about it, but rather wordplay. So you have to ask what's the intended wordplay, here.
• So obviously, since the beast is fake, it's coming up out of the Abyss and is going to destruction. Clever wording.
• "Coming" is played on (Fake Second Coming, get it?); and
• "Abyss" of course means those Revelation 9+13 demons who foster the last World War.
• I mean, the only way you can pull off this kind of sham is to make it into a 2nd Coming. That way people will ignore or more likely reinterpret the messages from the three angels daily flying at noon. Lots of miracles from God, countered by lots of miracles by the demons, the false prophet, and of course Satan. The overload of obviously bible miracles requires it be pitched as a Second Coming. Else, people will believe in the Real Christ.
• Again, what about this seven kings, seven mountains, 10 kings business, 17:9-10 (see also Revelation 12:3)? Well, another layer of meaning is that they represent Political Rome at some point in its past, depending on how you divide up that territory. Clever play on the 'seven hills' moniker for Rome then famous — and, her territorial divisions — all with the same metaphor. Look: 1) Britain, 2) Europe, 3) Northern Africa, 4) Italy, 5) Greece, 6) Asia Minor and 7) portions of the Middle East.

During some of that time, Babylon was included. "Babylon" is the term stressed in Bible, i.e., Revelation 17:18's "great city". Isaiah 47 is referenced in Revelation 18's "widow" verse. Babylon, like Rome, was built on trade, polytheism, etc. Babylon being literally "Babel" in the Old Testament, is an archetype as well as a real place. Scholars routinely take Babylon to mean Rome for that reason. Truly, you can trace the cultural contiguity from ancient Babylon to Rome. Yeah, because Satan always plays to the same proclivities in man, which results in similar cultural constructions: paganism's emphasis on power, sex, politics, commerce — all to make man feel himself god. Nothing's changed, has it...

• Trajan took Babylon in 114+ AD, according to my Encyclopedia Britannica hardback set (volume 9, page 845, "Invasion of Trajan" section). Click here and scroll down for a Wikipedia map. So maybe Revelation17's use of Babylon to mean Rome, is also near-term prophetic. Surely those getting Revelation within the next generation after John's writing would have cause to remember, since to them Babylon was part of Rome. Moreover, both Rome and Parthia were at each other's throats for centuries, that land often changing hands until 630 AD.
• The conventionally-assigned meaning for the seven kings is to call them all Roman: five had ended, one existed, and the other was yet to come. Okay, but Rome had more than six kings when Revelation was written. Babylon also had more than six kings. Rome was still extant; Babylon, was not.

The preterists read Nero as the 5th 'king'; but by 70 AD, there were nine emperors. You had the Julio-Claudians, up through Nero; then, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian, who founded the Flavians.

Yet if as Suetonius does, we measure by house, you'd have five houses: Domitian belonged to the Flavian house. So the one who "is", might be Domitian. Yet he was the downfall of the Flavians in the same year as John writes. So, maybe Nerva is referenced, and Domitian is accounted gone, so the Flavian house is accounted as past. That accounting would fit five past "kings", better.

In my Revelation live class notes dated 1-24-84, my pastor identified the seven as those kingdoms who dominated Israel: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Graeco-Macedonia, SPQR, and finally the rre of the prophecy. So he's reading "Babylon" as an historical archetype, which indeed Bible has always depicted it, especially in Isaiah, with Daniel being an upgrade on Isaiah.

• There's a new trend in theology now to claim that Babylon itself will be revived in the original location of Babylon, as a new center of world power. Even if so, then the actual head of that power has to be Rome, for Rome will be the source of the prince who takes over Jerusalem in Daniel 9:27. Since "Babylon" is also used as a term of condemnation for other locations including Jerusalem, it's clear God is talking about the archetype of cultural humanism, ecumenical religion, etc. Whether that will also literally include the territory of Babylon during the Tribulation, is anyone's guess, but it must include the Archetype, for it to be true that "all the kings of the earth" have drunk and benefitted from her (Revelation 18:2ff).

In short, the new trend in theology is playing into Satan's hands, if it restricts the interpretation of Revelation 17 to the literal place of Babylon. Since these same people tend to argue that there is a 'gap' between Rapture and the beginning of the Tribulation — which is nowhere supported in Scripture, see how God carefully accounts time sequentially in Mirroring.htm — those arguing the gap also play into Satan's hands. Unwittingly, of course. So notice: if the Archetype is revived but the location is not, then people alive during the Tribulation will discount Revelation 17 as not being true. And will suffer, as a result.

• Finally, the 'harlot' deceives the entire world; "sits on many waters" means the extent of her dominion. So get this possible added layer of meaning: the 'seven mountains' might be the entire globe, for there are seven tectonic plates which 'hold' all the nations of the world (i.e., see the diagram in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Plates_tect2_en.svg ). In the ancient world, only three landmasses were severally accounted, however, and I can't prove whether "mountain" is used of "continent" in the Bible. It's certainly never translated that way. Still, "the whole inhabited world" as Scripture keeps saying, is literally that — even when you account it by the plates. So that too could be a witty parallel embedded (pun intended) in the "seven mountains" analogy.

At a later time I'll have to write up a webpage on the many specifics in Revelation 17, to demonstrate the identity of the harlot. You can see that it cannot be merely one place, but must first have the same characteristics as Babel which became Babylon which became Rome, all had — World Government Backed By Ecumenical Religion — this time, of 'Christian' flavor to create a fake 'second coming'. That's the one amalgamated characteristic every 'Babylon' has had from the initial one in Genesis 11, to Revelation 17. Greek "μυστήριον" is a witty way of saying Fake Church. Satan's unholy trinity of Fake 2nd Coming, so Fake Temple, so Fake Church all together blend, realizing his objective since he first tried it, in Genesis 11.

• As for the yet-future 10-nation aliance, pick among the clients of Rome. People accuse Bible of being vague, but that's really not true. Until the actuality occurs, you can't tell who the prophecy fits: prophecy is primarily intended as a teaching device for everyone but the generations to whom it applies.
• For those generations, they have enough info about identities — like, the group who saw Antiochus Epiphanes needed to know and did know to count to 2300 — to know how long to stay hidden. So too, in the future the Tribulation people will need to count to 1290 and 1335. Days, not years. Days that they need to count to survive. (It should be obvious that no one can count 1290 years during his lifetime. Bible wouldn't give you a specific number to live on that is greater than your own lifetime, duh. So these are days, not years.)

Of course, John balances that number of days in Revelation 12, where the life of the Jews, depends on it. 1260 days is the time they flee, first half; 1260, the time they fight, if still in Jerusalem the 2nd half (Zechariah 12-14). There's a 75-day overlap during which they can flee: 1260+30 is the deadline for the abomination to be set up, from the time the Tribulation begins. Hence I bet (so far) that the 1335 in Daniel 12, references those who get out at the beginning of the overlap. Just like God said, there would be earthquakes to protect them: at Tribulation mid-point, Revelation 11's end; and at the end of the Tribulation, Zechariah 14. So notice that hiatus is accounted for, in Daniel 12. Gotta take at least a month, to recover and rebuild from the Revelation 11 earthquake, we can see the problems in our own day, despite our technology. So God buys the Jews time.

• For us Church, it's a learning-lesson thing, this prophecy (Epilogue in 22:6-21, and the "thief" and "suddenly" dramatic interjections). Moreover, there's the added complication of the Rapture being unpredictable, so the trends toward these goals have to be stated as well. So we can avoid getting mixed up in them. Yet we prove that we can't read too well, for we mistake 1948 as being a good thing, and we'll probably help Israel rebuild that Temple which will be her death knell. But God will deliver her, just the same. Despite us.

So the seemingly vague terms in Daniel 7, 11, 12, and here in Revelation 13 + 17, allow for free will to operate. For in any generation of Church, these trends exist; so any combination can become the actuality. All it takes, is sufficient human negative volition plus demon action. Can happen overnight, no problem. If a whole Sanhedrin can be herded to do what it initially determined not to do — arrest the Lord on Passover — then anything can happen. If thousands of Muslims can suddenly appear in the streets to trash embassies over cartoons, then sure — demons can herd anyone. We've already seen it many times in history.