Messiah’s apocalyptic vision is a war manual, which is layered and coded with symbols, to hide the message from the enemy.
Many people say that Revelation is chronological, and they are right; but it has four chronological layers whose fulfillment spans from when it was written until Jesus returns. When you read the chapters of Revelation it’s difficult to get the whole picture, but when the four layers are all overlapped onto the timeline, they all fit together and explain the apocalyptic vision.
Here’s how the chapters of Revelation are layered.
In Revelation 12-13, Messiah gives sweeping overviews of three phases of the Roman beast kingdom (the pagan Roman Empire > that antichrist beast Popes of Rome > the false prophet Jesuit Superior General) that His followers have had to face from when John wrote the vision until He returns.
In Revelation 2-3, Messiah is speaking to seven church eras which have spanned from when John wrote the vision until Messiah returns.
The seven seals, the sealing of the 144,000, the seven trumpet judgments, the little book, the two witnesses, the seven bowl judgments, the battle of Armageddon, the New World Order, and Messiah returning in victory, overlay the historical timeline.
In Revelation 17-18, Messiah helps John see how Satan has reigned through seven phases (heads) of the pagan Roman Empire; how the antichrist beast Popes are the eighth head, who rose to power out of the fallen Roman Empire; the antichrist beast Popes harlot church, which teaches a false salvation message and has persecuted the saints; and how the Jesuits are using the Vatican to gather the world under their power.
To view the Revelation layers image in high-resolution, and to save and print it out, click on this link or the image: Revelation Timeline Decoded summary image.
Remember that John wrote the Revelation while the Roman Empire was in power, so he couldn’t just come out and point to them in the apocalyptic vision.
To hide the message from the Romans, and from undiscerning people, he used the layers and symbols, which are explained in the studies.
John understood Daniel’s prophecy visions, and he built on them to reveal the apocalyptic vision, so to understand Revelation, you need to understand the prophecies in Daniel.
Here’s a link to the Revelation Timeline Decoded Study List.
David Nikao Wilcoxson
Hi David,
On the YTube video: Revelation Timeline Decoded Prophecy Fulfillment Overview…You skipped right over Trumpet 7 and it does not appear on the one page graphic that summarizes the fulfillment of Revelation. Why?
Hi William, the 7th Trumpet doesn’t represent another army attacking Rome like the previous ones. It’s simply a transition to the seven bowl judgments. There’s a short video on this page. http://christianitybeliefs.org/revelation-timeline-decoded/the-7th-trumpet-of-revelation-11/
When He opened the sixth seal, there was a massive earthquake……. every island and every mountain was moved out of its place among a plethora of other natural disasters. Can you please explain if this took place as it was not in fulfilment timeline
Beverly, here’s the link to the Revelation 6 – 6th Seal Earthquake study. http://revelationtimelinedecoded.com/the-sixth-seal-of-revelation-6/
Well, David, I got into the video not realizing how long it was and had to take a break. So far so good though. You jumped around so fast you lost me several times and I kept having to stop and back it up. But I will keep at it.
Shalom Achi
Hey Patrick, the videos are recordings of a webinar with a small group of people who know some of these things, so that’s why it goes through it quickly. Some day I hope to redo the video with provide more explanation. The studies on the website give more explanation. Keep learning and growing. David
David
You just said in the beginning of the video that you are easily confused! Some speaking in the background and you ask to mute mike
Really?
How do we now trust a man that is easily confused?
Wouter, I was on a group conference call. I wanted them to be able to interact and ask questions, but before we started recording I had asked them to mute their microphone while I was talking.
When trying to explain the layers of Revelation, it helps to not have distracting noises in the background; so I joked that I’m easily confused. It’s called self-deprecating humor. If you think that’s a problem, then I’m not sure what to tell you; other than to lighten up and listen to the explanation.
Keep learning and growing in The Way!
David
David
Love your work. I have studied the 7 parallel cycles of Rev, but this is the first time I’ve seen a 4 parallel cycle proposed. Can you point me to anyone in history who has ascribed to this or how you came up with it?
Thanks Steve
Thank you Steve! Regarding the four chronological layers, other theologians point to the Roman beast kingdom which is described in Revelation 12-13. They point to the seven church eras of Revelation 2-3. People point to the seals, trumpet and bowls being fulfilled chronologically since it was written. And other’s point to Revelation 17 being a key to the vision, to show how the Popes and Roman church gained power over the Roman beast kingdom.
So when I put all four of the layers on a timeline, I saw how they interact.
What are the 7 parallel cycles of Revelation? And where did you learn that?
Thanks,
David
David
The best treatise on the 7 cycles of progressive parallelism is in a book written by William Hendriksen titled “More Than Conqueror’s”. Easy to find on Amazon. I was introduced to it over 20 years ago. The theory is each section spans the same time period from the first to the second coming of Christ with each period giving views from different aspects. Below is the basic outline each ending with Christ returning in either final judgment/reaping of the saints in lesser to greater degrees.
1. Revelation 1-3: The Seven Churches
2. Revelation 4-7: The Seven Seals
3. Revelation 8-11: The Seven Trumpets
4. Revelation 12-14: The Woman, Dragon, and Beasts
5. Revelation 15-16: The Seven Bowls of Wrath
6. Revelation 17-19: The Fall of Babylon & Beasts
7. Revelation 20-22: New Heaven & Earth
I have for the most part ascribed to this way of understanding Revelation as it seems to be the natural division the book itself presents. Unfortunately Hendriksen seems to over generalize and shy away from pin pointing the Papacy as the beast, which is disappointing. You and I are in agreement concerning the Papacy/Jesuits and almost everything I have read so far. I appreciate you separating yourself from the SDAs. I have a high respect for Walter Vieth, but am sadly confused to see them following after a false prophetess in much of there doctrine and interpretation of prophecy. The four layer approach to Rev is new to me and I look forward to studying it out. You have my email and I would love to continue a more in depth dialogue in private if your available.
Thanks Steve
Thank you for sharing this information Steve! I’m not seeing how all of those cycles span from Messiah’s first advent until His second.
That’s sad that he doesn’t point to the papacy, as that’s one of the primary subjects.
I like Walter Veith, but I just don’t see how he and others are getting some key prophecies wrong.
I’ll send you an email, so that you can reply.
David