Revelation as a Movie

This is about the general structure of Revelation. First of all, keeps this in mind that throughout John's entire vision, almost 100% of the imagery was borrowed from the Old Testament, but when they're pieced together, what he saw essentially was a worship service in the heavenly temple. Jesus was dressed in high priest's garment, and the angels were priests performing their liturgical duties. If you go back and read those weird bloody rituals in Leviticus, you can see that those were a drill practice of the real thing, the Tabernacle of Meeting was like a movie set, and all the ceremonies instructed for Aaron to do in there was a demonstration of what the angels are doing in heaven, but instead of offering animals, WE the church are the Lord's living sacrifice.

Revelation contains four clear heptads (set of seven): the seven letters, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls. Jesus as High Priest dictates the seven letters and opens the seven seals to unfold the blessings and curses from the Scroll, then the angels bring forth the judgement through the trumpets and bowls. However, there're also unspecified contents in John's own observation that also come in form of heptads. For a better understanding, they're summarized as seven signs and seven sights:

Seven Signs:

1) the woman clothed in the sun (12:1)

2) the dragon (12:3)

3) Michael and the cosmic war in heaven (12:7-8)

4) the beast from the sea (13:1)

5) the beast from the earth (13:11)

6) the Lamb and the 144,000 (14:1)

7) the three angels and two harvests (14:6-14)

Seven Sights:

1) "I saw" Jesus and "the armies of heaven" (19:11)

2) "I saw an angel standing in the sun" (19:17)

3) "I saw the beast and the kings... and their armies" (19:19)

4) "I saw an angel coming down out of heaven" (20:1)

5) "I saw thrones on which were seated..."/"I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded" (20:4)

6) "I saw a great white throne"/"I saw the dead" (20:11)

7) "I saw a new heaven and a new earth"/ "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem" (21:1)

And so here is the structure of the movie:

Introduction: 1:1-8
Apostle John‘s Exile in the Island of Patmos

Prologue: 1:9-20, 2-3
Vision of glorified Jesus, seven letters to seven churches - 2000 years of Church age

Opening: 4-5
Throne room in heaven, Jesus as the Lamb exalted and preparing to open the scroll

Act I: 6-11
Seven Seals and Seven Trumpets - **Three and a half years** of Tribulation from heavenly prospective; "Spiritual Sodom and Egypt" is exposed and judged;

Interlude: 12
Transition from heaven to earth: Satan cast out of heaven; Signs 1-3

Act II: 13-19:1-10
Signs 4-7 and Seven Bowls - **Three and a half years** of Tribulation from earthly prospective; "Great Babylon", which is possibly the same as "Spiritual Sodom and Egypt", is exposed and judged. Note: To those who believe in 7-year tribulation, all three mentions in 12-13 of "3.5 years" are the "second half", while the two mentions of "3.5 years" in 11, and possibly the "3.5 days" regarding the resurrection of the Two Witnesses in 11:11 are the "first half". I personally don't believe in that, I think all of those are the same 3.5 years of Great Tribulation, but nevertheless you decide for yourself.

Climax: 19:11-21
Sights 1-4: Seconind Coming and the Final Battle of Armageddon

Ending: 20
Sights 5-6: Millennial Kingdom established, Satan and his worshippers bound, white throne judgement

Epilogue: 21-22:1-5
Sight 7: New heaven and new earth, New Jerusalem

Credit Roll: 22:6-21
Testimony of Christ and farewell address to the Church.

Really interesting read thanks for sharing

“First of all, keeps this in mind that throughout John's entire vision, almost 100% of the imagery was borrowed from the Old Testament”

it isn’t exactly borrowed but what’s in the Old Testament was an earthly pattern of things in heaven. So we can see those patterns in the “ apocalypse of John “

We see the relation of those images quite clearly in every chapter and vision John has , and find meaning also for “revelation “ in those ot prophecies and dreams and visions

the book of Hebrews has a lot to help us understand the book of revelation. And how the earthly patterns in the ot were just that like a veiled vision of the real things

loved the read thanks again

I can see it now...sitting in the theater, not being able to hear it because everyone is arguing!

I watched a decent movie awhile back about John on Patmos and the revelation it was pretty cool I thought . I’m not saying it should be accepted as doctrine but it’s worth a watch if one likes biblical movies

Thanks...I think I will watch it. I love good bible movies...if they can remain non-sectarian. Which isn't easy to do. I love the old prophet movies.

Yep it's a four part mini series that tells all four camps view one at a time...

amen they are hard to find those that don’t turn out heretical this one I thought was pretty watchable and doesn’t insult my faith .

I love them Too I don’t watch many movies these days but love finding one that regards the scriotures . In the 50s sixties and seventies they just made movies that actually followed scripture

now they sensationalize and twist everything like that movie “
Noah” I couldn’t watch it very king it was so twisted and misrepresented everything

it’s when they are overlayed one upon another like transparencies that they make more sense

Like honeybee democracy where bees make good collective decisions that benefit the entire colony,,,no wait humans don't make good collective decisions like when their in a theater and there's smoke they stampede and pile up at the same same door...

Revelation is a PROPHECY first and foremost, so it must be futurist by default. Nonetheless, as long as it focuses on the revelation of Christ and not the Antichrist, it's a good interpretation. Keep in mind that a central theme of Revelation is Satan's counterfeit, at the endtimes he'll rise as a false Christ and deceive the whole world. I wrote this inexhaustive list of comparison between Christ and the Antichrist in Revelation:

https://communities.win/c/Christianity/p/141Yko8Tlw/revelation-of-christ--and-exposu/c

Time out. I'll go read it.

Hope the movie is as good as the book.

Bare in mind now I am not an preterist,,, but any way you see the positions in eschatology all contend it is future,,,yet they differ on it's date of writing.

No you're not, but preterism is one of the four camps you mentioned. Idealism has generally taken the premise of preterism as well.

There a bit more to this than was explained in the OP.

When John saw the lamb of God with 7 eyes etc, that's what he actually saw. He didn't see Jesus in his regular form as he did after the resurrection. It would be like watching a cartoon or movie with great CGI. Sometimes he saw things as they naturally are like angels and thrones etc, but sometimes he saw the metaphoric version of things like a great dragon with 7 heads and ten horns. That's what he really was shown. He wasn't shown what it actually would be, ten kingdoms within 7 mountains. He was given that explanation but when he saw it in Revelation 13, he saw it as he described. Just like a movie with some fantastic, strange creature.

John got the movie, we got the book. I think in this case the movie was better.

It was MORE than a movie - he interacted with angels and one elder! He ate the book and measured the temple!

Fine, he got an INTERACTIVE movie. We still got the book version.

Not if Hollyweird gets its way.