How does God intend the reader of Revelation to arrange the Seals, Trumpets and Bowls? I offer an alternative to the usual system which equates the order-of-mention with the order-of-occurrence. I share my reasons for my departure from traditional views.

1. XXX: TIMELINE
FOR REVELATION
f
tion o
c
Produ OG
A
the sk op
orksh
W
In which we sequence
Seals, Trumpets and Bowls

2. Narratively speaking, the story of
the Tribulation
doesn’t so much unfold as it tum
bles through
Chapters 5-13. Think: a set of tra
ilers for
“Tribulation: The Movie” when y
ou consider how
the events and characters of the T
ribulation appear
in these 9 chapters. There’s dram
a and tension
galore but a reader can get a head
ache trying to
securely put the images in story o
rder.
Easiest thing to do? Assume the O
RDER OF
TELLING is the same as the ORD
E R OF
OCCURRENCE.
Upon close inspection, I don’t thin
k that this makes
much sense for the Seals, Trump
ets and Bowls.

4. Basic Information
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5. ou.
that no one misleads y
ee to it
d and said to them, “S
ad
4. And Jesus answere
e Christ,’ and will misle
‘I am th
e in My name, saying,
re
5. “For many will com
f wars. See that you a
mors o
hearing of wars and ru
d. 7.
many. 6. “You will be
t that is not yet the en
ce, bu
se things must take pla
and in
not frightened, for tho
dom against kingdom,
nd king
l rise against nation, a
“For nation wil
ese
akes. 8. “But all th
rthqu
will be famines and ea
various places there
f birth pangs.
ly the beginning o
things are mere
Matthew 24:4-8
Jesus uses the meta
phor of birth pangs
to
describe the overal
l experience of the
70t h
Week. I take His ch
oice of metaphor as
inductive of the pac
e of Tribulational e
vents..

6. Birth pangs! One ‘pain’
after another, increasing in intensity
and in frequency as time goes on! Expect
to see this pattern in any proposed
sequence of Seals, Trumpets and Bowls
my attendant cooks up.
Note: No animals were harmed in the creation of this slide.
At least one was bemused if not somewhat annoyed.

7. I want to look at the characteristics of each of the
Seals, Trumpets and Bowls separately. Perhaps
these characteristics will recommend a sequence.
Perhaps, the characteristics will reinforce the
common belief that the ORDER OF TELLING
should represent the ORDER OF OCCURRENCE.
Perhaps another set of sequential relationships will
recommend itself for our consideration.

8. CHARACTERISTICS
OF THE JUDGMENTS

9. The Seals: Revelation
Ch
apter 6
Order of Mention:
1. Conquest and empire building (6:1)
2. War and social unrest (6:2)
3. Famine and inflated currencies (6:5)
4. Plague and pestilence (6:7)
5. Persecution of the Church, martyrdom (6:9)
6. Great earthquake, blackened heavens, sky split
apart and mountains and islands ‘flee’ at the
presence of the Lamb! (Odd phrase!) Great day of His
wrath has come! (6:12)
7. Silence in heaven for an hour (8:1)

10. Characteristics of the Seals
Familiar, historical human woes writ large by
the Hand and Will of God
1. Roots in the past-these miseries, in part, have always been our lot (but for
#6 + 7). Humans cause or exacerbate the first five Seals!
2. One may assume a near global deployment of these judgments (not #7!)
3. Seemingly persist throughout the entirety of the 70th Week as a set of
background conditions? Or are they merely preludes to Trumpet Judgments?
4. Represent catastrophic global consequences for familiar afflictions.
5. Highlight and declare man’s pivotal role in crafting his own misery!!!
6. Only Seals 6 + 7 have purely supernatural aspects, pointed durations and
climactic finality to them.
7. Seals progress from the general and naturally familiar to the specific and
spiritual/supernatural (Seals 1-4 ‘natural’; Seal 5 features the Church’s
experience while 6 +7 focus us on the Return of Christ and the final, awefilled reaction of Heaven to the completion of all these things.)

11. Trumpet Judgments:
Revelation Chapters 8-11
Trumpets in Succession:
1. 1/3 of earth burned up! (8:7)
2. 1/3 of sea turned to blood, 1/3 of its ships sunk and
1/3 sea life killed. (8:8)
3. 1/3 of fresh water turned bitter; many die. (8:10)
4. 1/3 of sun, moon and stars darkened (8:12)
5. Smoke from bottomless abyss darkens sun, pollutes
air (9:1-12)
6. 1/3 population killed (9:13-21)
7. Thunder, lightening, earthquake and hail attend the
God’s wrath, reign, reward and resurrection (9:15-19)

12. Characteristics of Trumpets
Supernatural, staccato and severe
1. Exceptional, unexpected and thoroughly supernatural in content
2. One may assume a near global deployment of these Trumpets
3. They deploy as discrete, abrupt blows with lasting effects
4. Catastrophic consequences beyond any historical parallel
5. Focus mankind on God’s power, wrath and judgment,
highlighting Satan’s impotence
6. Trumpet 5+6 have seemingly tight time frames
7. Trumpet 7 climactic and final in substance-God’s reign begins,
His judgment of the dead begins (implying a necessarily previous
resurrection)

13. The Bowls: Rev 16
The Bowls in Succession
1. Boils cover worshippers of the AntiChrist.
2. Entire sea turned to blood; rest of its life dies.
3. Rest of fresh water becomes blood.
4. Sun scorches men with fire.
5. Beast’s kingdom is darkened.
6. Euphrates dries up, preparing the way for invasion
of the Holy Land.
7. Thunder, lightening, earthquake and 100-pound
hailstones attend the final bowl’s outpouring. Every
island flees and mountains disappear! (Where have I seen
this phrase before? Hmmmm . . . .)

14. Characteristics of the Bowls
Climactic and supernatural throughout
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Exceptional, unexpected and thoroughly supernatural in content
Mixture of global and local effects (#’s 5+6 targeted to Middle East)
Often complete process of destruction begun earlier by Trumpet blasts
Catastrophic effects with severities beyond reckoning
Focus mankind on God’s power, wrath and judgment; spotlight AntiChrist’s
relative powerlessness
Appear as a series of exclamation marks to the earlier plagues of Revelation
Only time elements given are those necessary for the “kings of the
east” (16:12) to mobilize their attack and for the “unclean spirits like
frogs” (16:13) to do their work of gathering armies in response.
Bowl 7 climactic and final in substance-mirrors 6th Seal and 7th Trumpet’s
content: It is done! (16:17) The Lord Returneth!!
Bowls progress from finishing the work of the Trumpets on a global scale to
initiating the gathering of armies for Armageddon (16:12-16) and the
subsequent display of effects that everywhere are said to accompany the
Return of Christ the Lord! (See also Matthew 24:29-31)

15. SEQUENCE OF THE
JUDGMENTS

16. Sequence of Judgments: Option 1
lling = Order of Deployment
Order of Te
gment deploys in succession
Each jud
PRO:
then the
elation reads! First the Seals and
1. Well, that’s how the text of Rev
t.
h Chapter 19, the Return of Chris
it
Trumpets, then the Bowls and, w
worse
–after all, Trumpet woes sharper,
rved
2. ‘Birth Pangs’ metaphor well se
pet woes.
ues sharper and worse than Trum
than Seal’s sorrows; Bowl plag
hat
the Seventh Seal? (Rev 8:1+2) T
at
3. Doesn’t the first Trumpet blow
not to be
ion of succession so easily it’s hard
passage carries the implicat
influenced by it!
s,
y the as-written succession of Seal
pl
4. We easily and traditionally ap
ent:
e individual judgment’s deploym
of th
Trumpets and Bowls to the order
d so
starts . . . stops . . . Seal 3 starts an
Seal 1 starts . . . stops . . . Seal 2
h Bowl and the Return of Christ.
forth to the 7t

17. Sequence of Judgmentsptionion 1
Sequence of Seals: O: Opt 1
Order of Telling = Order of Deployment
Each judgment deploys in succession
CON:
1. Applying the logic of As-Written Option, the operation of Seal 1 must END
before Seal 2 BEGINS and so forth. Nobody thinks about THAT and when
they do, such a scheme suddenly feels awkward and unlikely.
2. Seals 6 + 7 naturally suggest events of shortened and limited duration; the
substances of Seals 1-5 have already infected human history
CONCURRENTLY and easily seem likely to continue that way through the
70th Week, only with heightened intensity and scope.
3. The logic of the As-Written Option further suggests that the deployment of
the Trumpets ENDS the operation of all the Seals. What? Suddenly there’s
an end to war, famine and martyrdom part way through the 70th Week? No
way!

18. Sequence of Judgments: Option 2
Sequential Starts; Simultaneous Operation
PRO:
in our
1. Allows order of telling a legitimate but not solitary role to play
understanding
later Seals
2. Allows Seals 1-5 a steady background influence upon which the
and Trumpets and Bowls display themselves to chilling effect
others
3. Fits the Birth Pangs metaphor–each new judgment piles onto the
adding its intensity to previous woes, not replacing them.
being
Avoids the picture one individual Seal, Trumpet or Bowl judgment
4.
replaced in lock step with the next and solitary judgment.
erstanding
5. Gives context and substance a legitimate role to play in our und
ls,
6. Suggests a logical and workable scheme for the succession of Sea
!
Trumpets and Bowls: sequential starts, joint and ongoing operation

19. Sequence of Seals: Option 2
CON:
Sequential Starts; Sim
ultaneous Operation
1. It’s not what I’ve be
en taught!
2. This scheme violate
s . . . well, it doesn’t se
em . . . IT’S NOT WH
TAUGHT AND IT TAK
AT I WAS
ES TOO MUCH THOU
GHT!!!

20. OK, so we get to make a
choice. What pithy observation
might tip the balance in favor of
one or the other?

22. A Compa
rison Ch
art:
I notice t
hat
the three
Judgmen
tal sets a
with com
ll end
mon the
mes/elem
Let me s
ents!
how you
what I m
ean.

23. 6th Seal
1. Divine
A. God’s wrath
appears
2. Celestial
A. Sun blackened
B. Moon like blood
C. Stars fall
D. Sky split
2. Terrestrial
A. Mountains move
B. Islands move
3. Political
A. Everybody hides
from God’s wrath
B. Pray for death
7th Trumpet
1. Divine
A. Mystery of God
Finished
B. God’s wrath has
come
C. God reigns
D. Time to judge
dead, reward
servants
2. Celestial
A. Temple Opened
B. Ark appears in
temple of heaven
3. Terrestrial
A. Thunder and
Lightening
B. Great hailstorm
C. Earthquake
4. Political
A. Nations enraged
B. Destroyers
destroyed
7th Bowl
1. Divine
A. “It is done”
declared from
throne of heaven
2. Celestial
3. Terrestrial
A. Thunder/
Lightening
B. 100# hail
C. Earthquake
D. Islands, mountains flee
4. Political
A. Babylon
destroyed
B. Men blaspheme
God
C. Cities of nations
fall

25. Items of Note
1. COMMONALITIES: Even in this listed format, the commonalities at the
end of the three judgmental series speak strongly to their being descriptions
of the same event: The Return of Christ
A. Each final event declares the time for God’s wrath to come/appear
B. “ItTh
is done” (16:17) matches with ‘The Mystery of God is
e commo
finished” (10:7)
nalities a
ud climactic display of common t the enupheavals depicted by
C.jFullgme
terrestrial d o
ntal serie
f tfleeing and
he three
each-hail, lightening, thunder, earthquakes, islands
s speak s
trongly t
mountains disappearing
end judg
o the r
menfatebethe rebellious announced theach
D. The final and judgmental ts of in
in ee
POWER
F
U L COM
of the sa
MONAL
ITIES:
g descrip
tions
me even
2. DISTINCTIVES: Each majors in areas that another lightly touches. Note
t:
how the 6th Seal majors in the celestial while the 7th Trumpet majors on
Th Bowl labors
the Divine. The 7th e Retu on the judgmental and retributive aspects
rn of Ch
of Christ’s Return.
rist.
3. Together, the three give a full orbed picture of the power and energy
involved in Christ’s Return!

27. POWER
F
U L COM
MONAL
ITIES
ACROSS
DISTAN
T PASSA
GE S
Each of t
he final t
hree jud
shares su
gmental
bstantive
series
common
Olivet D
alities w
iscourse
ith the
and Reve
lation 19
colorful
’s
descripti
on of
The Ret
urn of C
hrist.

28. Mark 13:24-27
1. Divine
2. Celestial
A. Sign of Son of
Man appears in
sky
B. Sun blackened
C. Moon darkened
D. Stars fall from
heaven
E. Powers of heavens
shaken
F. Great trumpet
blown (Matt 24:31)
G. Jesus returns
2. Terrestrial
3. Political
A. All tribes of earth
mourn
B. Elect gathered
from earth AND
heaven
Rev 19-20
1. Divine
A. God’s reign
declared (19:6)
B. Marriage Supper
of Lamb (19:7)
C. Armies of heaven
launched (19:11)
D. Thrones for
judgment set up
(20:4)
E. First resurrection
(20:1-5)
2. Celestial
A. Christ descends
with heavenly
armies (19:11-19)
B. Sun blackened,
sky splits, stars
fall, moon like
blood
3. Terrestrial
A. Armageddon
(19:11-19)
4. Political
A. Slaughter of
earthly armies
(19:17-19)
B. Everyone hides
from God’s wrath
Notice the many
points of similarity
between the elements
in these Return of
Christ passages and
the elements in the
final Seals-TrumpetsBowls listings.

29. Mark 13:24-27
M
Rev 19-20
e
1. D
ULTIPAivinod’s reign
LG COM
.E
MO
declared (19:6)
A. Slaughter of
earthly armies
(19:17-19)
B. Everyone hides
from God’s wrath
1. Divine
2. Celestial
A. Sign of Son of
B. Marriage Supper
of Lamb (19:7)
Man appears in
C. Armies of heaven
sky
launched (19:11)
B. Sun blackened
r
This tt D. Thrones foset up
n darkened pa
C. Moo
ern, alon ent
Notice the many
judgm
D. Stars fall from
)
(20:4g with the points of similarity
options l
heaven
ogical d.rFirst resurrection As-Writthen ements
E
awba)cks
between te el
s of heavens
E. Power
(20:1-5
see the S
, encoura these Return of
shaken
in ges
eals,2. Cu estial
el
TrA.mpisttdescends
mageso d
e t an
. Great trumpet
F
Chr e s an
C
stagg24:31)
d Bowls hrist pass
with heavenly
blown (Matt ered st
arts, b)mies (19:11-19)
e avi ents in
thhelemng a) the
ar con
G. Jesus returns
cur d,
B. Sun blackenerent rufinal Seals-Trumpets
ns and ngs.
2. Terrestrial
simultan splits, stars
sky eo
Bowls listi c)
3. Political
u n en
fall, moos like ds.
A. All tribes of earth
blood
rn A graph w
mou
Ter ld
3. ourestrial
look
ct gathered
B. Ele
A. Armageddonlike t
his:
from earth AND
(19:11-19)
heaven
4. Political
NALITIE
AT THE
END
S

30. 70th Week
6th Seal
Seals
Trumpets
7th Trumpet
Bowls
Overall Arrangement of Seals,
Trumpets and Bowls
7th Bowl

31. Items of Note
1. Thicker lines indicate general duration period for the deployment of some
item.
2. SEALS: Thin lines leading into the time of the Seals indicate prior operation
of that Seal’s content in our own historical times.
3. TRUMPETS: Thin line leading away from a Trumpet’s deployment line
indicates lingering effect of that Trumpet’s deployment.
4. Seal 6, Trumpet and Bowl 7 are all simultaneous, each in its way narratively
announcing the return of Christ, each in its way depicting an element of
that return. (See following slides for fuller explanation.)
5. Seal 7 hangs out past the 70th Week: All heaven stands in silent, slackjawed amazement at the scope and intensity of God’s judgmental wrath and
gracious provision. (Hab 2:13, Zech 2:20)
6. I placed the Trumpets generally after the mid-point of the 70th Week, that
crisis point that starts the Great Tribulation, to use Jesus’ phrasing in the
Olivet Discourse. Just a hunch.
7. The staggered start/simultaneous operation implications of this graph
represent the graph’s single true significance; do not get too focused on
details of a line’s duration or relative stopping point. (See #6 above as
example.)

32. 70th Week
Conclusion on Matters of Sequence
1. I trust I have made a clear (even if not quite convincing) case for
my arrangement of Revelation’s Seals, Trumpets and Bowls.
6th Seal
2.
Seals I maintain a faithfulness to the metaphor of the Birth Pangs from
the Olivet Discourse.
3. I make use of the seemingly identical content of the 6th Seal, 7th
Trumpet and 7th Bowl to place them with one another at the end of
the 70th Week, declaring them to be, in fact, different depictions of
Trumpets
the very same event, the Return of Christ.
7th Trumpet
4. I make faithful and full use of the content and context of the 21
events in configuring their interrelationships.
Bowls
Overall Arrangement of Seals,
Trumpets and Bowls
7th Bowl

33. OUR NEXT FOCUS . . .
s from the Pit lies the fount of all
l that flow
Satan. The Adversary. Behind al
e striking
does in the Revelation bears som
murder and hatred. What he
d in
method to what the Adversary di
d
parallels in terms of motivation an
face a
b and the Saints of the End Times
the time of Job, the Patriarch. Jo
es their faithfulness under duress
God mak
similar challenge. In both cases,
ped.
st of His worthiness to be worship
the te
in!
No wonder Satan thinks he can w
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Satan