The Revelation isn’t what many people try to make it out to be – a history of the future. Instead, it’s a series of visions which John saw – but we simply can’t assume that the events portrayed in those visions will in fact end up happening in the order in which he saw them.

And that shouldn’t come as a surprise to even the most casual student of the Old Testament. After all, Daniel is careful to record his visions according to the date on which they were revealed to him. But the prophecy of chapter 8 obviously goes over the same ground as part of the vision chapter 7 records, a vision he saw two years earlier.

And you can see the same thing in Revelation chapter 12. A vision of the birth and ascension of Christ (12:5) comes right before a vision of Satan being cast out of heaven to earth (12:9), which obviously happened before Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden. No, where it comes to prophetic visions, the order of the events seen simply cannot be assumed by the order in which the visions of those events are seen.

And there’s another problem with trying to tease out a timeline of the future when you look at the Revelation: it really does seem as though John saw the event of Jesus’ return to earth several times over the course of several different visions. When the seventh trumpet sounds in chapter 11, for example, the elders give thanks to the “Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast, because Thou hast taken Thy great power and hast begun to reign” (v. 17). This is in stark contrast to the way John describes Jesus in 1:4 as the One “who is and who was and who is to come.” In other words, it’s clear that the elders in 11:17 aren’t waiting for Jesus to come anymore. So why doesn’t the book end there?

Because John has to see the same thing several times in different ways. The coming of Christ is expressed visually in 11:19, which says that the temple of God was opened, revealing the ark of the covenant, and thus removing any distance remaining between God and men. And what are the signs accompanying this revelation? Thunder and lightning, an earthquake and a hailstorm. But we see quite similar imagery when the seventh seal was opened back in chapter 8, when fire from the heavenly altar comes to earth, accompanied by thunder and lightning and an earthquake (8:5). Likewise, when the seventh bowl of wrath is poured out upon the earth in chapter 16, God announces from the heavenly temple that “It is done.” And the completion of God’s judgment is accompanied once again by thunder, lightning, an earthquake and hail (16:17-18, 21).

And all of this similar imagery makes sense when we remember how God came down to earth to meet His people at the time of the Exodus. For when the Lord appeared on Mt. Sinai, it was with “thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound” (Exodus 19:16). Moreover, “Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently” (Exodus 19:18).

So, it is very likely that John saw the coming of Christ several times throughout the book. So, why the repetition? Probably because that’s the main point of the book, after all. The Revelation is not intended to be a puzzle for us to figure out so that we can predict exactly when Jesus will show up. No, it’s intended to reassure us over and over that Jesus is in fact coming, and that He will in fact render perfect justice to all those who deny Him and who persecute His people.

And on that day, all those who trust in Christ and look forward to His return will be able to join all the hosts of heaven, singing the words that Handel set in his marvelous “Hallelujah” chorus from “Messiah:” “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever” (11:15). Isn’t that good enough reason to give thanks, without trying to make the Revelation something that it’s not?

Revelation 11:15-19 (NASB)

15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”
16 And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God,
17 saying, “We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast, because Thou hast taken Thy great power and hast begun to reign.
18 “And the nations were enraged, and Thy wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to Thy bond-servants the prophets and to the saints and to those who fear Thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.