http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/apr2013/davidh420-2.htm

 

That is a very good explanation of how Revelations was drawn like a painting, not necessarily chronologicaly

Another example some one gave me is of how a good movie is laid out.

A good story keeps your attention by how it is laid out

That is why the flashbacks during the movie happen

There is a proper way to lay them out so you understand why certain things happen so you can understand the big picture

 

part of what David wrote here

 

When I was asked How Revelation was revealed to John the Apostle, I had Long ago given up on the notion that the whole book was a sequential ordering of events. For example Most timelines have the seals followed by the trumpets and by the Bowls. The rest being thrown in for good measure wherever it fits. The contradictions and confusion from this line of thinking are astounding if you are honest with your reasoning. For example Babylon is written about in chapter 14, and chapter 18. So does it fall twice, hence the "fallen, fallen" double wording? Or after the sixth trumpet, the rest of Mankind did not repent, Yet after the two witnesses, "the rest of the people who were not killed in Jerusalem Gave glory to God", thus showing repentence? Also this line of thinking does not explain why there is an "interlude" between the sixth and seventh seal, and the sixth and seventh trumpet, which both have "rapture language". Not to mention the endless debates on when the rapture occurs, Pre trib, sixth seal, Post trib, Pre wrath. How then do the characters fit into the order Revelation 12-13? I could go on here, and many have wonderful ways to explain these positions/ contradictions which Make sense. This not the point of this post.

But I am proposing another way of looking At the Book of Revelation. As a Painting being painted in front of John by the "Great Artist" and Creator. This Epic battle painting is titled "The Day of the Lord". It has an element of time to It, much like the bas reliefs found in ancient ruins depicting battle scenes. It tells a story, just like the Cistine chapel ceiling paintings do. It has a Background, a foreground, a horizon line, a "clock", Characters both protagonist and antagonist, Victory, and the ensuing celebration, and setting. If you have ever watched a painter create a landscape, he will first paint the entire background. Then He will determine the horizon line and lighting, and then will insert the foreground, the character and then the finer details and highlights, and then declare that painting complete. Thus John witnessed all the seals being placed into the painting first, Then all the trumpets, But that does not mean that all the trumpets occur after the seventh seal in linear time.

Throughout the Old Testament the coming Day of the Lord, and his Presence with his People are described in the imagery of a tempest. In Exodus we see the Lord appearing to Moses on Mount Sinai for the first time in the prescence of the Israelites. " And the Lord said to Moses, 'Behold I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak to you, and may also believe you forever'" (Exodus 19:9) Then they are told to consecrate themselves for three days, and not touch the mountain until the sound of the Long trumpet blast. "On the Morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, So that all the people in the camp trembled." (exodus 19:16)

Hannah in her prayer wrote: "The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them He will thunder in heaven. The Lord will Judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his annointed." (1 Samuel 2:10)

When the Lord Answered Job, He asked him the question, "Have you seen the storehouses of hail, which I have reserved for a time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?" (Job 38:23-24)

David in Psalm 18 describes The Lord's prescence as "The Lord also thundred in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, Hailstones and coals of fire."

In Ezekial 38: 22-23 we see the imagery of hailstones and fire coming down in a tempest to destroy the Armies of Gog. "With Pestilence and bloodshed, I will enter into Judgement with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many people who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfer."

In the Book of Revelation, This imagery is prevalent. Thunder, thunders, thunderings appear nine times (4:5, 6:1, 8:5, 10:3,4, 11:19, 14:2, 16:18, 19:6) Hail/Hailstones are mentioned Three times (8:7, 11:19, 16:21). In addition to this, we Have the imagery of the winepress of God's wrath found three times ( 14:19,20, and 19:15).

If there is any Imagery that describes the Day of the Lord, these are the ones. Out of these 15 verses, 6:1, 8:7 can be eliminated as describing the day of the Lord due to their association with the first seal, and the first trumpet (I will come back to these later). 10:3,4 and 14:19,20 can be combined into one, while 11:19, has both thunder and hail mentioned in the same passage. You can also combine 16:18, and 16:21 as they are both referring to the same event, and 19:6, and 19:15 as they are both describing the rider on the white horse. At this point, what we are left with are eight distinct passages as listed below describing the day of the Lord.