Thank you for all you do with this site, it has helped immensely in my growth. I have read and heard two arguments on how Revelation should be understood – one is chronologically and the other is thematically. The second seems to boil down to the trumps and bowls happening really close together and the Day of Lord wrapping up in a day (or close too). After that New Jerusalem comes down to earth and we’re all good for a thousand years, then rebellion, then eternity. I am curious about your thoughts on this thematic business.
Especially where Revelation is concerned, a number of theories have been put forth that depart from a common sense interpretation of God’s word. I’m suspicious of all of them. Revelation was a letter from Jesus to the Church. I believe that like any other letter it’s meant to be read just as it was written, in chronological order.
That means in the first half of Daniel’s 70th Week the post rapture world will experience the Seal judgments followed by the Trumpet judgments. Then in the second half, also known as the Great Tribulation, the Bowl judgments will come.
When the seven years are over, The Lord will return to set up His Kingdom on Earth. The New Jerusalem will come down to the vicinity of Earth, and the 1,000 year Millennial kingdom will begin.
At the end of the Millennium there will be a final rebellion, then eternity.