Understanding God's Numbered Judgments

The 3 judgment series are literal events that must not be explained away symbolically or historically. Our method of interpretation is the plain, literal, common sense approach. All the events and numbers in the Book of Revelation are to be understood in their plain meaning unless they are specifically indicated as symbolic as in Rev. 1:20; 5:6; 11:8; 12:1, 3, 9; 17:7, 9.

The 3 judgment series are future. They have not yet occurred in history. The Preterists view wrongly sees much of Revelation as having been fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem and the fall of Rome (in the first three centuries after Jesus’ death). The Historicists view wrongly interprets Revelation as a progressive unfolding of Church history in seeing many of these prophecies as being already fulfilled in history. The Idealists view does not see a unique end-time application of the Book of Revelation, but wrongly interprets it merely as a symbolic picture of the spiritual conflict between good and evil that has occurred throughout history.

The 3 judgment series are numbered according to the chronological order in which they occur. For example, the first seal is followed by the second seal, which in turns leads to the third and so on. Because God’s judgments occur according to a numbered sequence, the Church will become greatly unified. Momentum will build as the Church sees them released according to their order.

The 3 judgment series are redemptive. They will create a global crisis that results in many crying out for salvation, while hindering the Antichrist’s persecution of the saints and destroying all the evil governments on earth. Revelation is not a doomsday prophecy about the world coming to an end. It is about God’s new beginning for the world. The birth of a baby is the end of a pregnancy, but it is mostly about the beginning of a new life. We are coming to the end of the dark night of Satan’s oppression of human history, to the dawning of a new day.

The 3 judgment series are progressive in that they increase in intensity as each series is released. The 7 seal judgments are surpassed in severity by the 7 trumpet judgments which are surpassed by the 7 bowl judgments. For example, 1/4 of the human race dies in the fourth seal (Rev. 6:8), yet at a later time this increases to 1/3 dying in the sixth trumpet (Rev. 9:15).

1. The seals alert us of something important to come. They are preparatory in being analogous to the wrapping on a gift that conceals the contents inside the package. The wrapping anticipates that which is mysterious. The nature of a seal is to keep private something that is anticipated. The contents inside of a scroll are always much more important than the seals that secure its privacy. The 7 seals around the scroll must be broken to open the scroll to release the mysterious contents inside (Jesus’ battle plan).

2. The trumpets warn us of something more severe to follow. They speak of impending disaster that requires extreme, desperate, emergency actions.

3. The bowls pour out in fullness without any delay or hindrance.