Book of Revelation: Supplemental Commentary Footnotes

To read more of this free commentary on the book of Revelation, click Table of Contents. 

Footnotes are provided below to the subchapter titled, "Book of Revelation in Correct Order: Detailed, Structural, Chronological Outline".

Footnotes

1) I have placed Revelation 7:1-8 chronologically before 6:12-17. The verses in 6:12-17 summarize the time from the beginning of judgements on the earth (6:12) till those with the mark of the beast see the Father and the Son face to face (6:16), and realize that the point of no return has come... judgement (6:17). So, 6:12-17 begins with affliction on the earth. Revelation 7:1-8 is about the sealing of the 144,000, which 7:3 states will happen before the earth is harmed. Because of that, I have placed the passage about the sealing of the 144,000 chronologically before the end time summary of 6:12-17, since the end time summary begins with damage to the earth, the earthquake (6:12). 

By the way, the end time summary of 6:12-17 also mentions afflictions on the sun, moon and stars (6:12-13) mountains and islands (6:14). The sun is afflicted in the fourth bowl (16:8) and fourth trumpet (8:12). The moon and stars are afflicted in the fourth trumpet (8:12). The mountains and islands are afflicted in the seventh bowl (16:20). So, the end time summary of 6:12-17 mentions a variety of future events interspersed among the seven trumpet, bowl pairs.

2) Revelation 8:7 and 16:2

The first trumpet and bowl pair afflict the earth and also the trees. According to 7:1-3, this can not begin until the 144,000 have been sealed. See below:

• "After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. 2 I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, "Don't harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads!"

7:3 states "Don't harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads!" 

That is why the first trumpet and bowl pair are shown below (chronologically after) the sealing of the 144,000 in the sixth seal. The sea is afflicted in the 2nd Trumpet Bowl Pair. So, by placing the sealing of the 144,000 above (before) the affliction on the earth in the first and second TB Pair, the chronology remains consistent with the express provisions of 7:3.

Summary:  The sixth seal occurs before first trumpet and bowl pairs. This is natural since the seventh seal is the seven trumpets, the seventh of which contains the seven bowls. In other words, the sixth seal occurs before the seventh seal (trumpets and bowls). The reason from the scriptures is as follows:

The sealing of the 144,000 occurs in the six seal. Revelation 7:3 states that the earth, sea and trees cannot be harmed until the sealing of the 144,000. Since the earth and trees are harmed in the first trumpet bowl pair, the sealing of the 144,000, and therefore the sixth seal, occur before the first trumpet bowl pair.

The scriptural basis for the general chronological method and devices used in this commentary are explained in the subchapter titled, "Chronology and Organizational Structure in the Book of Revelation".

3) 666 appears 13:1,17:18; 666 kills saints in 13:5,7,15,16,18 

Both saints and those with the mark of the beast appear to be present in the first bowl (16:1-2). Saints appear to not be present in the third bowl (16:4-7, especially 6). But saints appear to be present in the fifth trumpet (9:1-12, especially 4). With saints present in the first TB Pair, absent in the third, but present in the fifth TB Pair... and with the saints being "given" to the beast and that the beast "make war with them" and "overcome them" and "kill" them (13:7,15), it appears that all the saints on the earth are killed in the second TB Pair, in the second trumpet bowl pair. "Make war with them, overcome them" appears to mean "kill them" (See 11:7). Saints reappear in the fifth TB Pair (fifth trumpet), so conversions must be occurring in the fifth and possibly the fourth TB Pair. In the sixth TB Pair, the kings of the world gather at armageddon, the two prophets are killed.  The first 3.5 years are the years of the two prophets (11:3). 

4) When a certain number of martyrs have died, the 1st trumpet will blow! 6:10-11

See what the voice of the fifth trumpet spoke:

• "They cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" ¹¹ A long white robe was given to each of them. They were told that they should rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers who would also be killed even as they were, should complete their course" (Revelation 6:10-11).

When that number is reached, the judgement will begin... as it is summarized in the sixth seal... and more specifically described in the judgements of the seventh seal... it will begin with the first trumpet... it will crescendo in the seventh trumpet.