This is a basic structural guide for reading the Book of Revelation as a series of sections describing reality in several layers. It’s based on the book Apocalypse by Jacques Ellul (among other resources) and is the basis of a sermon series I’m preaching at Gainesville Vineyard this summer (you can listen here, or subscribe here). I’m encouraging our folks to read through and listen to Revelation several times as we work through some of what the Spirit has for us in the last document of the New Testament. I’m posting this chart here (and as a downloadable PDF) as a quick help in that reading.
REVELATION: Structural Guide |
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Section |
Layer |
Image of Christ |
Promises |
7 Letters |
Church |
Omnipotent Lord |
Promises to Churches |
7 Seals |
History |
Living Slaughtered Lamb |
Promises to History |
7 Trumpets |
Incarnation |
—— |
—— |
7 Bowls |
Judgment |
Lamb/Son of Man |
Fulfillment of History Promises |
7 Visions |
New Creation |
Word of God/Omnipotent Lord |
Fulfillment of Church Promises |