Chapter 14: John sees the 144,000, representing the whole Church, standing upon Mount Zion with Christ, a symbolic depiction that the Church will overcome the persecution of the Roman Empire and apostate Israel. John sees a “soul harvest” upon the earth by Christ, a symbolic representation of Christ’s divine protection of his followers during the wrath that God. Another “soul harvest” takes place, this time resulting in God’s wrath being poured out upon apostate Israel depicted as a “great winepress of the wrath of God”. John sees blood-wine flow out of the winepress, spreading for 1600 stadia. This is the approximate length of the Land of Israel; John is seeing a symbolic representation of God’s wrath being poured out upon the entire nation of apostate Israel. (67-70 AD)
Chapter 15: John’s visions start over. He sees seven bowls containing seven plagues, ready to be poured out upon apostate Israel.
Chapter 16: The seven plagues (summarizing the events of the Jewish-Roman War: 67-70 AD) are poured out, intentionally alluding to the ten plagues of Egypt. [Deuteronomy 28.27,60] Satan, the Roman Empire, and apostate Israel incite each other into war at “Armageddon”. The word literally means “Mountain of Megiddo”. This location does not literally exist, but is a symbolic representation of the Church’s salvation (the symbol of the “mountain”) being founded upon the destruction of God’s enemies (symbolized by Megiddo, which has a history of God’s enemies being destroyed there). [Luke 21.20,28,31] Jerusalem “the great city” is “split into three parts”, corresponding to the three factions of Zealots that took over the city in 67 AD, ultimately being the reason why the city was conquered by the Romans in 70 AD.
Chapter 17: John’s visions start over. He sees the harlot “Babylon the great”, which he is explicitly told is a symbolic representation of “the great city” Jerusalem. The harlot is “drunk with the blood of the saints”, showing Jerusalem’s guilt of persecuting the Church. The harlot is allied with the scarlet beast, showing apostate Israel’s alliance with the Roman Empire. John is told that the seven heads represent seven kings; these are the first seven emperors of the Roman Empire, beginning with Julius Caesar. This results in the sixth king being Nero Caesar, who was singled out by John’s prophecies in Revelation 13. The scarlet beast itself is the “eighth” king. The number 8 is the symbolic numeral of resurrection; hence the beast (the Roman Empire) is prophesied to die and resurrect, corresponding directly to the “mortal wound” that the beast receives and heals from in Revelation 13. (68-69 AD) The Roman Empire is described as attempting to destroy the Church, but failing (symbolically depicted as the beast warring upon the Lamb). (64-68 AD) In anger at failing to destroy the Church, the Roman Empire turns vengeance upon apostate Israel, the harlot, and destroys her. (67-70 AD)
Chapter 18: John records a lament by the world over Jerusalem’s death. He ends the lament with the statement that “in her was found the blood of … all who have been slain on earth”, directly linking to Christ’s statement that Jerusalem held the guilt for “all the righteous blood shed on earth”.
Chapter 19: The John sees the Marriage Supper of the Lamb begin as a direct result of the death of apostate Israel. In essence, Israel, God’s wife [Ezekiel 16.32] had committed apostasy, which was the same thing as “sexual immorality” [Ezekiel 16]. According to Christ, divorce could be issued on account of “sexual immorality”. [Matthew 5.31-32] Hence, God divorced his adulterous wife Israel by having her destroyed with fire, which was the Old Covenant death sentence for women who were “sexually immoral” (if they were related to priests, which Israel was). [Leviticus 21.9] God divorced apostate Israel in order to marry true Israel, which is the Church. The overarching theme of Revelation 16-19 perfectly fits Christ’s parable of the wedding feast [Matthew 22.1-15], right down to the burning of “their city” being immediately followed by the wedding feast. The second half of the book symbolically represents the victory of Christ’s victory over the world, including the Roman Empire and apostate Israel, where the two are cast into the lake of fire.
Chapter 15: John’s visions start over. He sees seven bowls containing seven plagues, ready to be poured out upon apostate Israel.
Chapter 16: The seven plagues (summarizing the events of the Jewish-Roman War: 67-70 AD) are poured out, intentionally alluding to the ten plagues of Egypt. [Deuteronomy 28.27,60] Satan, the Roman Empire, and apostate Israel incite each other into war at “Armageddon”. The word literally means “Mountain of Megiddo”. This location does not literally exist, but is a symbolic representation of the Church’s salvation (the symbol of the “mountain”) being founded upon the destruction of God’s enemies (symbolized by Megiddo, which has a history of God’s enemies being destroyed there). [Luke 21.20,28,31] Jerusalem “the great city” is “split into three parts”, corresponding to the three factions of Zealots that took over the city in 67 AD, ultimately being the reason why the city was conquered by the Romans in 70 AD.
Chapter 17: John’s visions start over. He sees the harlot “Babylon the great”, which he is explicitly told is a symbolic representation of “the great city” Jerusalem. The harlot is “drunk with the blood of the saints”, showing Jerusalem’s guilt of persecuting the Church. The harlot is allied with the scarlet beast, showing apostate Israel’s alliance with the Roman Empire. John is told that the seven heads represent seven kings; these are the first seven emperors of the Roman Empire, beginning with Julius Caesar. This results in the sixth king being Nero Caesar, who was singled out by John’s prophecies in Revelation 13. The scarlet beast itself is the “eighth” king. The number 8 is the symbolic numeral of resurrection; hence the beast (the Roman Empire) is prophesied to die and resurrect, corresponding directly to the “mortal wound” that the beast receives and heals from in Revelation 13. (68-69 AD) The Roman Empire is described as attempting to destroy the Church, but failing (symbolically depicted as the beast warring upon the Lamb). (64-68 AD) In anger at failing to destroy the Church, the Roman Empire turns vengeance upon apostate Israel, the harlot, and destroys her. (67-70 AD)
Chapter 18: John records a lament by the world over Jerusalem’s death. He ends the lament with the statement that “in her was found the blood of … all who have been slain on earth”, directly linking to Christ’s statement that Jerusalem held the guilt for “all the righteous blood shed on earth”.
Chapter 19: The John sees the Marriage Supper of the Lamb begin as a direct result of the death of apostate Israel. In essence, Israel, God’s wife [Ezekiel 16.32] had committed apostasy, which was the same thing as “sexual immorality” [Ezekiel 16]. According to Christ, divorce could be issued on account of “sexual immorality”. [Matthew 5.31-32] Hence, God divorced his adulterous wife Israel by having her destroyed with fire, which was the Old Covenant death sentence for women who were “sexually immoral” (if they were related to priests, which Israel was). [Leviticus 21.9] God divorced apostate Israel in order to marry true Israel, which is the Church. The overarching theme of Revelation 16-19 perfectly fits Christ’s parable of the wedding feast [Matthew 22.1-15], right down to the burning of “their city” being immediately followed by the wedding feast. The second half of the book symbolically represents the victory of Christ’s victory over the world, including the Roman Empire and apostate Israel, where the two are cast into the lake of fire.
