THE PAUSE

I have been studying the Revelation for over thirty years, and am still mystified by this complex book. There are so many layers and so many perspectives to this remarkable final book of the Lord’s Word. This singular book can be seen as historic and/or prophetic from our contemporary perspective. I encourage you to study the Revelation because there are two promises of blessing (Revelation 1:3, 22:7) for those who read and keep the words of prophecy in this book. And please note that in both of these verses the Lord says the Revelation is a book of prophecy. Some have been led to think otherwise.

A major part of the Revelation are the seven seals, trumpets and bowls of wrath. These events seem to run chronologically, and yet they seem to parallel each other. The complex mind of the Lord is evident here. There is a pattern to be found among the seals, trumpets and bowls.

After the sixth seal, there is a pause. Chapter seven of the Revelation describes the sealing of 144,000 Jews from the twelve tribes. The seventh seal is opened in the Revelation 8:1.

After the sixth trumpet, there is again a pause. Here is an almost two chapter insertion (chapters ten and most of eleven) dealing with the “little book” and the Two Witnesses. After the story of the Two Witnesses the seventh trumpet is sounded in the Revelation 11:15.

There are six bowls of wrath (vials - King James Version) poured out in chapter sixteen. After the sixth bowl the Apostle John sees three evil spirits coming from the mouths of the Dragon, the Beast and the False Prophet. These evil spirits go and gather the kings of the earth to Armageddon. (This is the only mention of this place in the entire Bible.) After the work of the three evil spirits, the seventh bowl is poured out.

This pattern of six events, a pause, and the seventh event fits a pattern. The Lord created our world in six days, and on the seventh He rested. First Century Church fathers and Jewish rabbis and sages believed that as the Lord said one day was as a thousand years, He would strive (work) with Satan and mankind for six thousand years, and then rest during the seventh. The seventh thousand year period is a picture of the Millennium described in Revelation 20:2-5 where Satan is bound for one thousand years, and the Lord can rest. The question is, “Are the events described in the Revelation the pause between the sixth and seventh millennium?”

This is just another example of the many, many patterns found in the Bible. Praise the Lord for His holy Word.