Intro to the End Times is a series walking through some of the key themes of the story of Jesus’ return from a historic premillennial perspective, with special focus on knowing the heart of Jesus as we partner with God through the most dramatic chapter of human history.
Revelation can be pretty overwhelming if you walk into it without a road map! Luckily, it’s not super complicated to get a basic overview of the flow of the book. In this series, we’ve already looked at the structural outline of Revelation, as well as a general timeline of the end times. You can also grab a downloadable outline and timeline to have before you at a glance.
In a brief nutshell, the structure of Revelation is fairly straightforward:
- Chapter 1 is an introduction and John’s vision of Jesus.
- Chapters 2-3 are letters to the seven churches.
- Chapters 4-5 are a vision of heaven, where God is worshipped and the Lamb is found worthy.
- Chapters 6-22 are the main storyline of the book, mostly revolving around three groups of seven judgments: seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. These form the main structure of Jesus’ battle plan to cleanse the earth and establish His kingdom.
Last post, we identified two lists of good guys and bad guys. Obviously Jesus is the chief good guy and Satan is the chief bad guy, and they each have a cast of characters that they use to accomplish their purposes. Now, let’s look at the drama that is unfolding around these characters.
Seven Seals
Revelation 6:1-16, 8:1-5
The tribulation officially begins as a seven-year period when the antichrist signs a seven-year peace treaty that brings a period of apparent peace and safety to the earth (Da. 9:27, 1Th. 5:3). It seems to be the answer to all the world’s problems, and the antichrist is celebrated as a brilliant leader; I imagine him winning the Nobel Peace Prize and appearing on the cover of every magazine in the world.
In the middle of this promised seven years of peace, the antichrist breaks his word, marches into the temple in Jerusalem, stops the sacrifices that have been occurring there, and declares himself to be God. This act, known as the “abomination of desolation,” (Da. 9:27, 11:31, 12:11; Mt. 24:15-22; 2Th. 2:3-4) kicks off three and a half years of the Great Tribulation… and this is when the seals start.
Revelation 5 shows a scroll in heaven with seven wax seals securing it closed. This scroll represents the title deed of the earth; in other words, it is authority to rule the world. All of heaven is searching for one who is worthy to open the scroll and claim this authority–and Jesus, the lamb who was slain, is the only one found worthy. Because He died on a cross as a sacrificial lamb, absolutely pure, He has proven that His heart is pure enough to bear this responsibility. This is the king we want. We know His love and mercy, and therefore we can fully trust Him to release whatever judgment God deems necessary.
So the lamb breaks the seals and in Revelation 6, the judgments begin.
- First seal: White horse
The antichrist is revealed riding on a white horse “conquering and to conquer.” This is when he breaks the treaty and declares his intention to conquer the earth. - Second seal: Red horse
The rider of the red horse is “permitted to take peace from the earth.” As a result of the antichrist’s new campaign, the earth is plunged into a world war. - Third seal: Black horse
As a result of the war, the world experiences economic upheaval as resources become expensive and scarce. - Fourth seal: Pale horse
One fourth of the population of the earth die as a result of war, famine, illness, and even wild beasts. - Fifth seal: Martyrs cry out
Many souls of martyrs cry out to God to avenge them, and He promises He will… but not yet, because more martyrs must be killed. (Martyrdom isn’t a judgment on the church; the antichrist is actually creating a bigger problem for himself by stirring up the zeal of both God and the church.) - Sixth seal: Signs in heaven and on earth
Dramatic signs appear in the sky and an earthquake shakes the earth. The sky rolls back like a scroll, and even the wicked recognize the wrath of God. The details of this seal parallel with Joel 2:28-32, showing the dramatic outpouring of the Spirit on the church.At this point, an angel is released to seal the servants of God to protect them at a certain level from the judgments that are coming. - Seventh seal: Fire thrown to earth
The prayers of the saints rise before God as incense, and fire from the heavenly altar is thrown to earth. This shows the impact of our prayers and an increase of divine authority granted to the church.
Seven Trumpets
Revelation 8:6-9:21, 11:15-19
Jesus compared the judgments of the end times to labor pains before a baby is born. The birth pains start with the signs of the times in the years before the tribulation, and contractions continue to increase, harder and closer together, as the earth gets closer to the “birth” of the next age. Therefore, the trumpets are more intense than the seals, and they happen in a shorter timeframe.
Most of the seals were fairly natural processes taking their course. A global conquerer arises, which leads to war, which leads to societal upheaval, which leads to famine and illness, and at the same time the antichrist is focusing his wrath especially on the church for getting in his way. By the sixth seal, it becomes very obvious that this isn’t just natural process but the hand of God, and that only intensifies into the trumpets.
- First trumpet: 1/3 of vegetation burned
Hail, fire, and blood are thrown to the earth, and a third of all vegetation is burned up. - Second trumpet: 1/3 of sea becomes blood
Something like a burning mountain is thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea becomes blood, killing a third of sea creatures and destroying ships. - Third trumpet: 1/3 of water poisoned
A star called Wormwood falls and poisons a third of earth’s rivers and springs, killing many who drink it. - Fourth trumpet: 1/3 of light darkened
A third of the sun, moon, and stars are struck so that a third of the day and night is dark.The final three trumpets are announced as the first, second, and third “woes.” - Fifth trumpet/first woe: Demonic locusts
Demonic locusts are released from the bottomless pit to sting anyone without the seal of God, and their sting causes intense pain but not death, and people will “seek death but will not find it”. - Sixth trumpet/second woe: 1/3 of mankind killed
Angels are released to kill a third of mankind with plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur. (Remember, one fourth of mankind was already killed in the fourth seal, leaving three fourths, and this trumpet kills one third of that, meaning that between these two judgments alone a full half of the earth’s population is killed.) - Seventh trumpet/third woe: Jesus returns
The seventh trumpet or “last trumpet” (Mt. 24:31, 1Co. 15:52, 1Th. 4:16) is the climactic moment of history when the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and He begins to reign on earth as King forever. This is the moment when the saints are resurrected and any saints left alive on earth are caught up to meet Jesus in the clouds, and all the saints receive new bodies. (I wrote an entire post on the resurrection here.)
Seven Bowls
Revelation 16:1-21
If the trumpets were doubled in intensity from the seals, the bowls are tripled from the trumpets. At this point, the timeframe is even more condensed, and Jesus is on the earth in person, riding on a white horse with an army of resurrected saints behind Him (19:11-16), setting captives free from the antichrist’s oppression and laying waste to his kingdom. He is making His way toward Jerusalem, where the antichrist will engage Him in a final climactic battle.
Notably, the trumpets and bowls both closely mirror the plagues on Egypt during the exodus. Up to now, the exodus has been one of the most supernatural series of events in history, with the flood being the only other event in the same category. God promised that the events of the end times would be similar to the flood and would far surpass the events of the exodus (Je. 23:7-8, Mi. 7:15-17, Mt. 24:37-41, 2Pe. 3:4-7).
- First bowl: Sores
Horrible sores are released on everyone with the mark of the beast. - Second bowl: Sea becomes blood
In the second trumpet, only 1/3 of the sea become blood. Here, the transformation is complete. Every sea creature dies. - Third bowl: Rivers become blood
Now, not only is the sea blood, but every river and spring, as a just response to the bloodshed of the antichrist’s kingdom. - Fourth bowl: Sun scorches
The sun burns people with fierce heat, and they respond by cursing God. - Fifth bowl: Darkness
The antichrist’s kingdom is plunged into darkness. People are still in pain from the rest of the bowls combined, and they continue to curse God. - Sixth bowl: Demons assemble the nations for battle
Demonic spirits sent by the antichrist gather the kings and their armies to Jerusalem for battle against Jesus. - Seventh bowl: Earthquake and hail
A great earthquake completely destroys the cities of the earth, and even mountains and islands. Hundred-pound hailstones also fall, along with lightening and thunder. People continue to curse God.
The Mercy in the Judgments
All of this is so intense! How are we to think about these judgements? Are they unfortunate embarrassments, a stain on the heart of the God of love? Of course not! As the saying goes, “God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good.” Even in His judgments, He is good.
A few perspectives to keep in mind:
- These judgments are against the antichrist and his kingdom, NOT against the people of God. We will be on the earth, but God has many ways to protect us, just like Israel was protected during the plagues of Egypt, and Noah was protected during the flood (2Pe. 2:4-9).
- The most intense judgments, the seven bowls, occur after Jesus returns at the seventh trumpet and gives us resurrected bodies. At that point, we will be absolutely invincible to any danger.
- The judgments start slow and increase gradually to give people time to repent and choose mercy. Mercy is always, always available, up until the moment people make the final choice of choosing the mark of the beast.
- Much as Israel saw the plagues of Egypt as God’s mercy toward them in rescuing them from slavery, the end time judgments will be God’s mercy toward His church. He is burning with zeal to defend and avenge her against persecution and martyrdom at the hands of the antichrist.
- At the same time as the judgments are happening, it’s also the most glorious time for the church as we are maturing into full-grown, white-hot, pure love as the Bride! The Spirit is being poured out in unprecedented ways and we are seeing revival and a great harvest of souls as God draws hearts to himself! (See my post on how the end times are “great and terrible” all at once.)
Still, these judgements are intense, and it’s tempting to want to pull back from them… but God has been reminding me lately of Jesus’ words in Isaiah 63:4: “For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come.” If this day is in His heart, I want it to be in mine too.
Let’s go on the journey of staring at these seals, trumpets, and bowls, talking to the Lord about them, and learning to see the beauty and mercy in His judgments.