The book of Revelation begins with the statement,

The definition of the word hear conveys the meaning of understanding what is read, so it is clear from this statement that an understanding of Revelation is not limited to those in the Heavenly realms, but is also intended for His earthly "servants", i.e. those in a right relationship with the Lord. Therefore, it is restricted to His "servants", and is not intended for people in general.

It is certainly true that the symbolic nature of the book of Revelation presents formidable problems for interpretation. Furthermore, this difficulty seems confounded by the fact that much of the symbolism is depicted in dramatic terms, suggesting a level of violence never before witnessed on earth. Since we understand that the Revelation describes things that are to occur during the End Times, when the world faces the imminent wrath of God, it is reasonable to suppose that it is describing apocalyptic events unlike any that the world has ever experienced, and should therefore be interpreted literally. Still, such a literal interpretation of the Revelation must come to grips with several potentially conflicting facts:

• Israel has now been back in the Land since 1948, suggesting that the countdown leading up to the Lord's return must have already begun. 

• The Coming Glory portion of Olive Tree Studies shows that the State of Israel has been repeating a time pattern expected for the setting up of the Messianic Kingdom, and is now nearing its completion.

• A Jubilee Calendar also constructed in Coming Glory indicates that 1995 was a Jubilee year, of potential significance with respect to Daniel's 70th Week. 

• Israel's deteriorating situation in the Middle East prompts us to wonder just how long Israel can continue to exist before those End Time events described in the Revelation begin. 

• Major world events since 1988 have been timed according to a 360-day prophetic calendar, a time metric uniquely applicable for the End Times.

In light of these facts, The Prophets Speak offers a revised way of interpreting the Revelation. It supposes that this prophetic book is actually operating like a Biblical "portal" or "search engine". By this reasoning, the symbolisms and apocalyptic language in the Revelation are not intended for direct interpretation, but are rather for the purpose of linking the reader to Scriptures elsewhere in the Bible, which do provide direct literal meanings. In this way, the Revelation is a Biblical "directory", and its meaning can be facilitated through other Scriptures to which it is linked, primarily in the Old Testament. 

The implications of this approach, along with those linking Scriptures, are detailed in the Revelation section of The Prophets Speak. ("Begin your complete End Time study" to access this material.)

The organization of the Revelation may be learned by understanding the nature of the seven-sealed Scroll described in (Revelation 5.1-7). It bears the characteristics of a will, common in Roman law for that first-century period. The typical legal scroll used for that purpose bore seals on threads that secured the tablets or parchments, and it could not be executed until all the seals were loosed. One commentator explains its construction in the following way:

From this explanation, it is evident that the Scroll was constructed in such a way that required the Seals to be opened in order, one after the other. This being the case, it is logical to assume that the prophetic information provided in the Revelation Seals must likewise describe events that are sequential in time, thereby giving us a way to study these prophetic events through history as they actually occurred in time.

The Pretribulation theory of eschatology typically assumes this to be the case. This view is based on the fact that the Seven Churches are discussed in the first three chapters, but are never mentioned again in the remainder of the Revelation. It is argued that this follows from (Revelation 1.19), which is taken by some Bible expositors to define the overall organization of the Revelation. According to this reasoning, "the things which you have seen" is understood to be everything that John had already witnessed up to this verse; "the things which are" is taken to mean everything concerning the Seven Churches through chapter 3; and "the things which will take place after this" to comprehensively cover the remainder of the Revelation from chapter 4 on. It is seen that this organization will require that everything following chapter 3 must occur in a time frame following the Church Age, since the Church described in the first three chapters must continue until the Church Age is completed.

Alternatively, the wording of verse 19 allows for the possibility of another way of organizing the Revelation. The assumption that produces the above Pretribulation view is that everything pertinent to the Seven Churches is included in the phrase "the things which are". However, if we simply suppose the time reference was the first century when the Lord's communication to John actually took place, then it would follow that anything disclosed in those letters to the Seven Churches, pertinent to future times, must likewise be future to John, thereby requiring that "the things which will take place after this "must also relate to the Seven Churches. Since it can be shown that the Seven Churches are indeed prophetic, covering the entire Church Age, this is a valid alternative.

Though much ado can be made about the pros and cons of this issue, it is best not to hang-up on a study of the Revelation at this point, because it is shown convincingly in The Prophets Speak that recorded history can be correlated with the book of Revelation well beyond chapter 4. ("Begin your complete End Time study" to access this material.)

As a general rule, the Bible should be interpreted literally. Though some texts do contain underlying spiritual meanings, it is generally more correct to take the Bible at face value, without searching for some deep parabolic or hidden spiritual meaning in every Bible text. It is on this basis that some Bible expositors believe that the book of Revelation should also be interpreted literally, including those apocalyptic events that are described in physical terms in the latter chapters of the book. This rule of literality has been applied to such an extent that at least one expositor has interpreted the locusts in Woe 1 of chapter 9 of the Revelation, having the shape of horses and with faces of men, to be literal. However, such extreme applications of the general rule have prompted other expositors to compare those prophecies in Revelation with similar ones in the Old Testament, which have already been fulfilled. When this is done, it becomes possible to determine how such dramatic statements in Old Testament prophecy were actually fulfilled.

Nearly all of those extreme apocalyptic statements in the Revelation also appear in identical, or nearly identical, form in the Old Testament prophetic books, albeit in connection with events that have already occurred. For example, apocalyptic statements involving "earthquakes", "sun and moon darkened", "stars extinguished or falling to earth", and "sky receded or rolled up", routinely appear in the prophetic books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Joel. However, we now know that these prophecies were fulfilled long ago with various judgements enacted against the Old Testament empires and nations of Babylon, Edom, and Egypt. In fact, Joel uses such apocalyptic terminology to describe Israel's future opportunity for redemption at Pentecost, which Peter affirmed occurred on that first century Pentecostal date (Acts 2.16-21). Therefore, we have many examples of Old Testament apocalyptic prophecies, which were fulfilled in both the Old and New Testaments, that can move us to a view that apocalyptic language also contained in the Revelation need not be interpreted literally.

This subject is treated more thoroughly in the Revelation section of The Prophets Speak. ("Begin your complete End Time study" to access this material.)

A study of the chronology of the Revelation reveals that the sealing of the “144,000” must occur subsequent to the Great Tribulation.

While it cannot be stated for certain that the “144,000” are witnesses, as suggested by some Bible expositors, they are certainly chosen by God at this particular point in time for special protection. However, since these “144,000” are further described in (Revelation 14.1-5) at the time of their redemption, their spiritual character and intimate relationship with the “Lamb”, who is Jesus Christ, is established. Furthermore, a careful reading of those verses makes it clear that the “144,000” are to be redeemed from the earth, so that they will receive a Heavenly, not earthly, inheritance. This fact is also borne out by recognizing the unique equivalence between the number “144,000” and the dimensions of the New Jerusalem, that Heavenly city described in (Revelation 21).

Furthermore, a projection of the makeup of Millennial Israel, based on the Old Testament Tribes who received that promise, and based on the Millennial Tribes actually identified by the prophet Ezekiel, shows that the 12 Tribes associated with the “144,000” are different. Consequently, the “144,000” cannot be equated with Jews of biological descent who will remain on earth during the Millennium.

You may review these investigations, along with a basis for the specific identity of the 144,000, in the Revelation section of The Prophets Speak. ("Begin your complete End Time study" to access this material.)

The answer to this question obviously depends on how the book of Revelation is organized in time. 

1. The "Preterist" and "Amillennial" views of eschatology, although different in major respects, both hold that the Revelation Seals contain information describing events that have already occurred during the Church Age, so both of these views generally teach that all of the Revelation Seals have been opened, except for the Lord's final Apocalypse. 

2. The predominate dispensational view of the Revelation, i.e. "Pretribulation Rapture", takes the position that (Revelation 4.1) most probably refers to the occurrence of the Rapture, thereby requiring that everything following that verse still lies in the future, so this view teaches that none of the Revelation Seals have been opened.

3. A third intermediate view held by some Bible scholars places the occurrence of an apocalyptic event in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24.29; Mark 13.24; Luke 21.25) to be concordant with an event described similarly in (Revelation 6.12-17). Since this apocalyptic event is timed to occur immediately following the Times of the Gentiles (Compare Luke 21.24 with Luke 21.25), this view causes Seals 1-5 to fall within the Times of the Gentiles.

Numerous theological disputes over the centuries have been resolved on the basis of hard scientific and archaeological evidence brought to bear on the issue. Similarly, the subject of Bible eschatology should be amenable to the hard facts of history. Accordingly, if it is possible to identify specific historic events that can be correlated with specific texts within the Revelation Seals, those facts could be used to decisively answer this question.

The techniques proposed in the Coming Glory portion of Olive Tree Studies, using the Levitical, Jubilee, and 360-day prophetic Calendars, serve to identify recent historic events having prophetic End Time properties, and provide a potential way for resolving such a theological dispute .

The application of those techniques to the 20th and 21st centuries shows that the third intermediate view listed above allows for the positive correlation of recent historic events with the Revelation. The results, discussed in The Prophets Speak, show that some of the Revelation Seals have already been opened, and allow us to know where we presently stand with respect to that book. ("Begin your complete End Time study" to access this material.)

(Revelation 12.7-12) describes a time when Satan is cast out of Heaven, following a conflict with Michael and his angels. Michael appears as the defender of Israelites on several occasions, e.g. (Daniel 10.13, 21, 12.1; Jude 9), consistent with the understanding that this Revelation text also deals with Israel. The general time frame in which this occurs may be further inferred by (Revelation 12.6), which specifies a time of 1260 days. Although the text does not indicate when this 1260 days is to occur, it defines a period of precisely 3½ years, measured on the basis of a 360-day prophetic calendar. This was the same calendar used to define the length of the first 69 Weeks of Daniel, leading to Messiah's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and is the time metric used throughout the Revelation in connection with the End Times. Therefore, these associations point to Satan's final exit from Heaven to occur during the End Times, and specifically during the midweek time frame of Daniel's 70th Week.

This is discussed in detail in the Revelation section of The Prophets Speak. ("Begin your complete End Time study" to access this material.)

There are two sets of Scriptures that, when taken together, would seem to answer this question.

The Old Testament prophet Amos speaks generally concerning an event that will startle those who sense its imminence, indicating that nothing of such significance will ever occur without it first being revealed to His "servants the prophets". However, the Apostle Paul, when speaking about the "day of the Lord", indicates that some will have no forewarning of the event, that it will come upon them as a "thief in the night". 

Certainly, if the occurrence of the Revelation Seals, Trumpets, and Vials, were made obvious to the entire world, then Paul's statement could not be correct, for everyone would then understand that God's Judgement stands at the door. Conversely, the above two sets of Scriptures may be reconciled, if we understand that momentous events associated with the End Times will be understood and declared by a few, even though many will neither believe nor heed the warning, so for them it will arrive as a "thief in the night".

These two entities provide important links back to the Old Testament, and serve to give us a starting point from which to read and understand the book of Revelation, following the first three chapters.

After completing a study of the first three chapters of the Revelation, dealing with the Seven Churches, (Revelation 4.1) prompts a question. Should John's translation to Heaven be understood as the Rapture of the Body of Christ following the Church Age, or should it be understood simply as the occasion when John is to be told about other subjects, i.e. should it be considered as a time marker after the Church Age is complete, or as a subject marker, indicating a change from a discussion about the Church, to other subjects future to the first century when John lived? Clearly, an answer to this question is critical to an understanding of all that follows, for if it denotes the Rapture, then all that follows must still lie in our future, whereas, if it is simply a transition to other subjects following the time when John lived, then many of the Seals and Trumpets could already have been opened. An understanding of the identities of the 24 Elders and four Living Creatures can facilitate an answer to this question.

• The twenty-four “Elders", seen in chapter 4 when John was first caught up into Heavenly places, can be related to twenty-four generations of Gentiles who lived during Old Testament times, both before and during the Covenant of Law.

•  The four “Living Creatures" seen by John, are the same as the "Seraphim" of (Isaiah 6.2-3), with one major difference. The Seraphim faces were hidden from Isaiah but revealed to John in the Revelation. This is significant, because the one thing never revealed to the Old Testament prophets were the details of the Times of the Gentiles. When this is realized, it can be postulated that the Living Creatures, who later administer Seals 1-4, must preside over the Times of the Gentiles.

• Therefore, by this reasoning, Seals 5-7 would logically deal with the End Times, since the design of the seven-sealed Scroll requires that the Seals must be opened in chronological order. 

The Prophets Speak takes this approach, showing how the first four Seals not only define four major periods during the Times of the Gentiles, but also how the subsequent Seals can reveal where we presently stand in the End Times. 

This organization is discussed in detail in the Revelation section of The Prophets Speak. ("Begin your complete End Time study" to access this material.)