The Song of The Lamb #2 Sevens

In the previous chapter we saw that the symbols in the book of Revelation are often “clashing”. Though they start in the same way, they develop in different directions until they are directly in opposition to each other.

Another feature of the book of Revelation is the seven fold structure of the book. This also follows examples elsewhere in the Bible.

Sevens in Revelation

7 churches
7 spirits
7 golden candlesticks
7 stars
7 lamps of fire
7 horns and 7 eyes on the Lamb
7 angels with 7 thunders
7 thunders
7 heads with 7 crowns on the Dragon
7 angels with 7 bowls containing 7 last plagues
7 mountains and 7 kings
7 blessings

The Jericho pattern: The heart of the message of Revelation there are three sequences of sevens, seven seals, seven trumpets and seven plagues. The seventh seal opens up into the seven trumpets; and the seventh trumpet sounds the start of the seven plagues. These great sequences of important events divide into three successive sections of the period of time between John receiving the message of Revelation and Jesus returning to earth to establish the kingdom.

Three main periods described in Revelation

Seals	1	2	3	4	5	6	7													Kingdom
Trumpets							1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Plagues													1	2	3	4	5	6	7

Each sevenfold sequence always looks forward to the completion of God’s purpose. This is emphasised by the fact that every section starts with a vision of the kingdom, and is completed when the kingdom is established. The kingdom visions are a very important focus of this book:

The sevenfold construction of Revelation

	Opening Vision	Chp	Development of God’s purpose	Chp
1	One like the Son of Man	1	Letters to the Seven Ecclesias in Asia	2, 3
2	Throne in Heaven	4, 5	Seven-sealed Scroll	6
3	Multitude no man can number	7	Seven trumpets	8, 9
4	Rainbowed Angel	10	Development of Apostasy	11-13, 17,18
5	Lamb on Mount Zion	14	Seven Last Plagues	16
6	God’s judgement	15	Seven Thunders	10: 3,4
7	Marriage of the Lamb	19	Establishment of the Kingdom	20,22

A direct comparison can be made with the siege of Jericho by the Hebrews at the time of Joshua.

Seven Kingdom Visions:

1	One like the Son of Man. A symbolic figure representing Jesus and his faithful disciples encourage John to write down everything he is shown in visions. Introduction to the letters to the seven groups of believers in Asia	1: 12-20
2	Throne in heaven – a vision of Jesus sitting on God’s throne in the kingdom. The nations are at peace and the saints surround Jesus. The vision explains how God foresees future events and they occur only at His will.Whatever happens – everything is moving towards the end of His purpose. As the seven seals are broken, some of these details are revealed.	4:1 – 5:14
3	Multitude no man can number. A great crowd of people from every nation stand before Jesus’ kingdom throne. They are clothed in white after coming through great tribulation and persecution. This is the introduction to the seven trumpet judgements – they reveal the troubles through which God’s faithful people are preserved for His kingdom.	7:9-17
4	Rainbowed angel. A mighty angel descends from heaven clothed in a cloud and a rainbow, and roaring like a lion – it is a vision of Jesus and the saints establishing peace on the earth. The urgency of the vision expresses Jesus’ reaction to the corruption of the Gospel, and the difficulties faced by true disciples. Introduces a section in Revelation where the development of and dangers of false religion are graphically described.	10:1-11
5	The Lamb in Mount Zion. Jesus and the saints stand on Mount Zion, and the saints sing for joy because they have been redeemed from the rest of mankind. This is the introduction to the seven last plagues, which occur before Jesus returns to set up his kingdom. Despite the fierceness of the plagues – God will ensure than none of Jesus’ true disciples are lost.	14:1-20
6	God’s judgements. The saints are singing – their song is the Song of Moses and of the Lamb, and they stand on the sea of nations, which has been stilled by the work of Jesus.The stilling of the nations and exactly how it will occur is only briefly mentioned in Revelation. It is a work symbolised by seven thunders, which John was told not to describe. (10;4)	15: 1-8
7	Marriage of the Lamb, the saints rejoice because Jesus is finally united with his disciples – the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready (19;7)Together, Jesus and the saints rule over the nations of the world, teaching them God’s ways and putting down all opposition, so that the kingdom can be handed back to God and He will be “all in all”.	19: 1-9

Steven Robinson

Preceding article: The Song of The Lamb #1 Visions, symbols and suggested meanings

Kingdom Visions of a Man, Throne and Great crowd
Kingdom Visions of Rainbowed angel, Lamb in Mount Zion
Kingdom Visions of God’s judgements and Marriage of the Lamb
The Song of The Lamb #3 Daniel and Revelation

Also of interest:

“Baruch Habah Bashem Adonai”
End Times also called The Last Days, The Beginning of Sorrows, Nation against Nation, Kingdom against Kingdom -Major world wide conflict that begin the End Times or Last Days: World War I & II (1914 ,1939) Matthew 24:7 Both World Wars had major Jewish implications, The Holocaust, & Zionist Movement, State of Israel is established in 1948. Israel is established as a secular nation in unbelief for a future judgment known as a Time of Jacob’s Trouble, The Bibles speaks of a great gathering of Gentile Armies against Jerusalem.
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The Second Coming is exactly seven years after the signing of the covenant with the Anti-Christ, but the rapture could happen at any moment.
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The Great Tribulation, Daniel’s 70th Seven, Seven Year Period Of Judgement And Wrath Of God, Signing of the Seven Year covenant with the Anti-Messiah Daniel 9:27 – Seventy Sevens

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Revelation 5: Worthy is the Lamb! (kingdomnewtestament.wordpress.com)
the Lion has become the Lamb. Let there be no mistake, the Lamb is powerful like a lion, but his work up until now has always been more like a lamb. One must be a lamb before they can be a lion.
Revelation 4-8 (westminsterreads.org)
Beginning in chapter 4, the author’s vision starts. The scene shifts from earth to heaven and we enter another world. John’s visions have been the subject of nearly endless discussion and speculation by readers.
Why the Modern View of the Book of Revelation may be Flawed. (adw.org)
the common modern and majority view is that the context of this book is the persecution against Christians by Domitian (Emperor from 81-96 AD) and the Roman Empire which he headed. John has been arrested and exiled to the Island of Patmos. Thus, the chief context for the majority view is the antagonism of the Roman Empire seeking to force Christians to emperor worship and apostasy from the Christian faith in the one true God. Further, the harlot city is defined in this point of view as Rome.
Revelation 13-15 (mybiblereadingplan.wordpress.com)
Sunday (December 2): “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” (shechina.wordpress.com)
The people of Jesus’ time expected that the coming of the Messiah would be accompanied by extraordinary signs and wonders. Jesus’ first coming was clouded in mystery and surprising wonderment: Even though he was the rightful heir to the throne of King David, he was born in obscurity in a cave at Bethlehem, near the place where David had watched over his father’s sheep some 1000 years before. A choir of mighty angels chose to announce the good news to a small band of lowly shepherds keeping their night watch nearby.