Question: If I divided Revelations into three major sections and wanted to see a mental picture of the mood of each section, how would I picture - chapters 1-4, chapters 5-20, chapters 21-22? What truths are highlighted by repeated emphasis and what truths are emphasized by contrast, rather than repetition?
Response: The book of Revelation is, roughly speaking, chronological, and has approximately the following organization by chapters:
1: the vision of Christ
2-3: trends of the Church age
4: the scene in heaven
5-7: the seal overview of the Tribulation
8-11: the Tribulation begins (trumpet warning judgments: first 3.5
years)
12-14: the Great Tribulation (second 3.5 years)
15-16: the bowl judgments (precursor warnings of the second advent)
17-18: the judgment upon Babylon (the destruction of the satanic system)
19: the second advent
20: the Millennium; the Gog-Magog rebellion; the Great White Throne
judgment
21-22: the Eternal State (new Jerusalem)
This organizational scheme is scheduled is covered in detail in the *Coming Tribulation series, a compendious treatment of the history of the apocalypse organized around a verse by verse exegesis of the Book of Revelation. Please see also the following links:
The Book of Revelation: Some Questions.
The dragon of Revelation 12 and the talking idol of Revelation 13.
Christ knocking at the door in Revelation 3:20
Sin, Baptism, and the Book of Revelation
The "Seven Thunders" of Revelation 10:3-4
What does it mean to "overcome" in Revelation chapters 2 and 3?
Yours in the love of Jesus Christ,
Bob Luginbill