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In Revelation 5 we found that Jesus Christ was the only one worthy to take the scroll and reclaim ownership of the earth. Through the following chapters of Revelation we find several series of judgments against sinful and rebellious humankind; each of these judgments is detailed in the scroll and comes about as the seals are broken and the scroll is unrolled.

It seems that the best way to understand the sequence of these events is that all of these judgments “telescope” out from one another.

• The scroll is described as having seven seals.
• The seventh seal contains a series of seven trumpet judgments.
• The seventh trumpet judgment contains a series of seven bowl judgments.

All of the judgments are found within the scroll, detailed in the seven seals; these judgments form the main outline of the remainder of the book.

John Phillips summarizes this well:

“For two breathtaking, soul-inspiring chapters, we have been in heaven. The scroll has changed hands, and the right to judge and rule the world has been placed upon Jesus. Now we must come down fromt he mount and out of the ivory palaces. Down here, on the rebel planet of earth, the tempo is increasing, passions are rising. Evil men and seducers are waxing worse and worse. Disobedience to parents has grown up into brawling maturity, defying all authority. Men have become inventors of evil things, and their fearful inventions have become Frankenstein monsters, threatening to destroy the globe. The time has come for God to intervene in human affairs, so judgment is given to the Son. The seals on the scroll are to be broken.

There are three principal series of judgments in Revelation – the seal judgments, the trumpet judgments, and the vial [bowl] judgments. The action of the book is carried forward, for the most part, by these series. The rest of the book is mainly parenthetical, either anticipating or reviewing a phase of that action.” (110)

These judgments are hard to read. They describe conditions on this earth that are nearly unthinkable. Before we plunge into studying these judgments you must settle in your own mind the fact that our God is loving and gracious, but He is also holy and full of righteous wrath against man’s sin and rebellion.

I urge you to take some time to look through these two posts which dealt with this topic in the past.

• Is God Loving, or is He Angry? Can He Be Both?
• The Wrath of God and Extravagant Grace

The wrath and judgment of God in these coming chapters stand in stark contrast of the grace and forgiveness we have been offered through Jesus Christ. They stand as sobering reminders that we all deserve that judgment… the only dividing line is being covered by the righteousness of Christ and saved from God’s holy anger.