Framework:
interpretation of
Section 4B - the Lamb, beasts, Babylon
Overview
The interpretation in this section focuses on the relationship between the Lamb, Babylon and satan’s beasts (4B.a), John’s visionary vantage point (4B.b), the eschaton and the Day of God’s Wrath (4B.c) and relative time-scales (4B.d). In this section, the Lamb appears on Mt Zion with the 144,000 ‘redeemed’ followers (the ‘first fruits’, or choicest representatives of the faithful, 14:1-5), Babylon falls and the meaning of the Babylon and beasts’ symbols is explained to John by one of the bowl angels (17:1-18). The fall of Babylon is recognisable in every cosmic space (14:8, 16:14-17:18, 18:1-3, 19:1-4). The two separate earthly dimensions (physical-spiritual and biblical) are endorsed because a major and unique event such as this cannot happen at two different times (14:8, 16:17-21) in a single space (earth). The contexts of both passages suggest it is unlikely that 14:8 is a ‘proleptic’ (anticipatory) announcement (contra Smalley, 2005: 363; see the previous Construction (4A.d). This is part of the single story from Creation to the New Order, told in two interlocking dramas (4:1-11:19 and 12:1-22:20a) that are made possible by four steps back in relative time in the narrative (at 4:2, 12:1, 12:13 and 15:1; see Towards … 4b).[1] Four time-parallels in this section (8b-11 in Figure 4) link the dramas together and these are different perceptions of the same story, but the one sequence does not recapitulate the other.
From John’s point of view, by this point in the story, he has heard the seventh trumpet blast and he has seen the open heavenly sanctuary (11:15-19). The fulfilment of God’s plans and the Day of God’s Wrath, expected by the mighty angel and the twenty four elders in heaven (10:7, 11:16-18), are imminent. However, instead of describing the Day or the Parousia (Christ’s appearance, or his ‘coming’ in Revelation), the story steps back in relative time (11:19/ 12:1) and John learns the reason why it has some very dark components – he witnesses the genesis of evil (chapter 12, Framework 1) and its ramifications (the appearances of satan’s beasts, 13:1-18; Framework 3). Richard Bauckham describes chapters 12-14 as the ‘messianic war’ from the Incarnation (12:5) and beasts’ warfare, to the Parousia and Lamb’s triumph (12:1-14:20, Bauckham, 1993a: 94). This study proposes that 12:5 refers to Creation and the Messiah’s birth in the heavenly realms, not to the Incarnation, but the principle is the same despite our different interpretations of 12:5 (see Framework 1B.d). John sees the Lamb appear on Mt Zion (14:1-5) and he hears an announcement about the fall of Babylon (14:8). The story steps back in relative time again at 14:20/ 15:1, and this enables him to witness three other references to her fall (16:14-17:18, 18:1-3, 19:1-4; time-parallel 10, Figure 4).
In the earlier Construction (4A.a), it is suggested that the Day of God’s wrath is underway when the Lamb appears on the biblical earth while the fifth bowl full of God’s wrath is emptying on the physical-spiritual earth.[2] There is darkness on the throne of the beast and people curse God because of their pains and sores from the first bowls, but they still refuse to repent of their sins (16:9-11). Thus, there is a separation of the bowl torments into two parts: bowls 1-4 (Figure 3, time-parallel 8a) and bowls 5-7 (Figure 4, time-parallel 8b), because everything changes when the Lamb appears. Christ’s parousia as the Lamb during the bowl traumas is both predictable (foretold in Scripture, see Framework 5 and Towards … 6) and unexpected (in the middle, not at the ‘end’ of the story); Christ’s appearance on Mt Zion interrupts the flow of history.[3] The Parousia as the appearance of Christ on the cloud (14:14) and the Rider (19:11-16) are investigated in Framework 5.
Figure numbers in every section follow the Macrostructure Model, so they do not restart in each section. In each figure, the x axis is location and the y axis is relative time. The light dashed arrows show the narrative path and the dotted arrows show the literary spiral. This section’s interpretation uses the proposed macrostructure to discuss the relationships between the Lamb, Babylon and satan’s beasts, and the literary spiral and John’s visionary vantage points. More details are given in 4C (the beasts) and 4D (Babylon) and Framework 5 (the Gospels and the eschaton, i.e. ‘last days’).
[1] The two dramas describe events and characters: on the physical-spiritual earth, these are tangible, like the torments associated with the seals, trumpets and bowls; on the biblical earth, these are more abstract and allegorical, like the Lamb, the dragon and his evil beasts. On the biblical earth, the characters are immaterial concepts (Messiah, satan) within a biblical version of earth’s history and stories of satan and his beasts ‘behind’ or influencing earthly activities and wars (see Framework 1B.d).
[2] John is told that Christ will come at an unknown time ‘like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake’ (16:15a) so it is entirely possible, in the proposed macrostructure and in reality, that Christ will come after the bowls, but time-parallels 1-9 and 12-18 are otherwise unchanged in this scenario.
[3] John’s relationship to history and the surrounding culture is ambiguous. ‘History’ is used in a modern sense here; how Jews in the first century A.D. understood history is uncertain but Halbwachs distinguished it from collective memory, which is how the first Christians outside Palestine would have remembered Jerusalem and the temple and its traditions (rituals etc.), Halbwachs, 1992: 222).
4) The Lamb, imminent war and fall of Babylon (14:1-11, 16:10-19:6; time-parallels 8b to 11)
4B.a) The Lamb, Babylon and satan's beasts
After Christ the Lamb appears on Mt Zion (14:1-5), John sees three angels flying in mid-heaven (i.e. the sky, 14:6-11) and their announcements on the biblical earth act as the framework in this section for corresponding events on the physical-spiritual earth, in heaven and at the earth/ below-the-earth boundary (time-parallels 8b-11, Figure 4). The Gospel is proclaimed and judgement is imminent (14:6-7, angel one); Babylon falls (14:8, angel two); there will be judgement on satan’s followers (the ‘marked’; 14:11, angel three). After Babylon falls, one of the bowl angels takes John to see Babylon the harlot on one of satan’s beasts and the relationship between the harlot, the beast and humanity is explained to John (17:1-18, see Framework 4C).
In the proposed macrostructure, the Lamb appears during time-parallel 8b and war preparations begin in time-parallel 9 (Figure 4) but it is uncertain whether the war preparations are made because the abyss beast inspires the ten kings to make war against the Lamb (17:11-14), or because the beast plans to attack Babylon because he hates the harlot and will bring her to ruin (17:16). Demons arise from below-the-earth through the mouths of the dragon and his beasts (16:13) and they go to ‘the kings of the whole world’ because the demonic forces anticipated ‘battle on the great day of God the Almighty’ (16:14). The kings are now under the authority of the abyss beast (17:13) they will make war against the Lamb when he appears (17:14). Armies have already gathered at Armageddon (16:16) when Babylon is destroyed by a severe earthquake and a great storm (16:18-21). This is after the Lamb appears, as announced by the second of the three angels (14:8, time-parallel 10). In other words, Babylon is under threat because the beasts hate her and will bring her to ruin, but the armies gather to attack the Lamb when he appears, not to directly attack Babylon. The corruption and hedonism of society (i.e. Babylon) anticipated at the time of Christ’s appearance is described in the Gospels – it will be like in the times of Noah (Lk. 17:26-27, Mt. 24:37-39) or Lot (Lk. 17:28-33) (see Framework 5).
Some scholars argue Babylon, not the Lamb (Messiah), is primarily the focus for the gathering at Armageddon (Jauhiainen, 2005: 382, 387-388), but if Babylon was the target of the evil forces gathering at 16:12-16, there would be no need for re-grouping after her fall (19:17-19, Figure 5). Babylon and her satellite cities are destroyed by earthquake and hail (16:17-21, time-parallel 10) and she is ruined by famine, disease and fire (18:8-19, time-parallel 11). This suggests the ruin may be opportunistic destruction of Babylon’s trade and financial power by the beast and the kings after parts of her physical networks are destroyed. This interpretation connects 16:12-16 with 19:17-19 and it confirms underlying prophecies (Isa. 13-14, Jer. 50-51) that it appears as if Babylon is destroyed by foreign armies and many kings (so Jauhiainen, 2005: 388). Babylon may be Rome and/or any city/cities whose destruction would cause international chaos (so Osborne, 2002: 433, 598). Grant Osborne suggests that Babylon’s destruction may possibly be the result of a ‘God-directed civil war’ when the beasts turn on her (17:16) (Osborne, 2002: 625, 669). The beasts and Babylon are enemies, not allies, so a civil war within Babylon’s territories may be fermented by the beasts; evil does not necessariy love evil. Further details about the identity of the beasts and Babylon are considered in Framework 4C and 4D, respectively.
14:1-20 is the framework for the structure of this section and the next one. In 14:1-11, the third of the three angels warns that judgement is near for the ‘marked’ (14:9-11), i.e. judgement upon those who worship the abyss beast and its image, and receives its mark – no one can buy or sell unless they have the mark (13:16-17), and worship may be a choice but non-compliance means death (13:15). In the cosmos-wide picture, every cosmic space is now focussed on Babylon, from the war preparations in the shorter term (16:12-16, which are actually focussed on the Lamb), to the celebration because of her fall in heaven (19:1-4) and the longer term consequences of her fall (time-parallels 9-11, Figure 4). The bowl angel explains the situation to John (17:1-18) – that Babylon has fallen (16:17-21) because she has become so vile that she has corrupted the kings of the earth (17:2).
As the war preparations (16:12-13, time-parallel 9) proceed onto the gathering of the armies (16:14-16, time-parallel 10), John has Christ beside him, or he hears Christ’s voice from heaven, who warns John that he (Christ) will be coming unexpectedly, so be prepared (16:15). The demons gather the armies for battle at a place called Armageddon (16:16). Then, ‘a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying ‘It is done!’’ (16:17), the seventh bowl empties and Babylon falls. The battle that the demons were expecting (16:14) does not happen at this time. This may be because the heavenly armies (perhaps the 144,000 of 14:1-5) do not fight or because of the destruction of Babylon (14:8, 16:18-21; time-parallel 10). The text indicates that Christ is the focus of the demons and the beasts’ armies but it is not a coincidence that Babylon falls straight after the Lamb appears on Mt Zion (14:1-8), because the beast hates them both (17:14-16) and corrupt Babylon is doomed (18:1-24). Uncertainty about the location of Armageddon is considered in Framework 4D.g.
The gathered evil armies of the kings and demons may disperse but they re-group, probably for a world-wide battle (19:17-19), when Christ the Rider appears with the ‘armies of heaven’ (19:11-16; time-parallels 14-15 in the next section).(19:11-21; time-parallels 14-15 in the next section).
4B.b) John’s visionary vantage points, the literary spiral and Babylon
It is suggested in Framework 3B.c that after John meets the mighty angel with the little scroll (10:1) and he (John) measures the temple (11:2), John moves to a vantage point in or near to Jerusalem. John remains there when he sees the two witnesses in the Great City, where ‘their Lord was crucified’ (Jerusalem), and the partial destruction of that city (11:3-13). He hears the seventh trumpet sound and heaven’s rejoicing (11:15-18), and he sees the open heavenly sanctuary for the first time and its earthly consequences (earthquake and storm) (11:19). There is no indication in the text that John moves from this vantage point when he witnesses the events described in chapters 12 and 13 (Frameworks 1 and 3), or when the Lamb appears on Mt Zion with the 144,000 ‘redeemed’ (14:1-5). David Aune’s description of the scene in chapter 14 as ‘oscillating’ between earth (14:1), heaven (14:2-3) and earth again (14:4-5) confirms the proposal in this study that John was witnessing the scene from a vantage point (so Aune, 1998: 803); but Aune’s suggestion that the vantage point changes between heaven and earth is not supported here. It seems more likely that transparent boundaries between the cosmic spaces in the vision enabled John (from his visionary vantage points on earth) to see events unfold throughout the cosmos.
The transparency of the boundaries between the different spatial dimensions is confirmed by the way in which John describes all the events surrounding the fall of Babylon (time-parallels 9 to 11). When the armies gather, John watches the contiguous events of 16:12-21:9 unfold across the cosmic spaces and he describes each event in a few consecutive verses. The literary spiral which this creates is like a surface eddy in the chronologically linear flow of the vision (see Figures 4-5, Macrostructure Model). The spiral pattern suggests the narrative path follows the path of John’s eyes, rather than reflecting his movement between the cosmic spaces. After Babylon falls, John is carried in the spirit by one of the bowl angels to another earthly vantage point, in a wilderness (17:1-3), and the relationship between Babylon and satan’s beasts is explained to John (17:4-18, see Framework 4C).
After Babylon falls, John is carried in the spirit by one of the bowl angels to another earthly vantage point, in a wilderness (17:1-3), and the relationship between Babylon and satan’s beasts is explained to John (17:4-18, see Framework 4C). Babylon’s inter-dimensional fall endorses the proposals made in this study that Revelation’s spaces reflect John’s interpretation of the cosmos, and cross-boundary events occur simultaneously in each space. If these events were not simultaneous, the time-parallels would be more difficult to identify. The Babylon time-parallels (9 to 11, Figure 4) illustrate how, at the same relative time in the story, useful information may be gleaned by interpreting events in one time-line through the lens of its companion texts. The fall of Babylon, the Cross (the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ; time-parallel 1) and the Final Judgement (time-parallel 18) are the most structurally important time-parallels in the proposed macrostructure.
John’s visionary vantage points, the literary spiral and Babylon are considered again in Framework 4D. John’s descriptions of events and actions within Revelation’s story are described as if they were seen from earthly vantage points, and this indicates he may have experienced a single waking vision; this is discussed in Framework 5B.
4B.c) The eschaton and the Day of God’s Wrath
The Day of God’s Wrath represents the time of God’s final judgement on humanity. When the sixth seal opened (6:12-17), the great earthquake and cosmic upheaval is so catastrophic that everyone, including kings and generals, thinks the Day of God’s Wrath has come (6:16-17), but it has not. This study proposes that the 6:12-17 catastrophe may represent the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (Framework 2B.a) and it is part of the ‘great tribulation’ (7:14, Framework 2B.c). The twenty four elders in heaven anticipate the Day when the seventh trumpet sounds and the heavenly sanctuary opens (11:16-18, Framework 3) and creatures in below-the-earth rise up to gather the kings for battle at Armageddon, anticipating the ‘great day of God the Almighty’ (16:13-14, Figure 4). The proposed macrostructure illustrates events surrounding the anticipation by the elders and the creatures of the Day and, in that context, it is imminent.
The Day will be part of the eschaton, but the two periods are not synonymous. This study suggests that the eschaton may begin when an angel throws the golden censer to earth (8:3-5, Framework 2). The censer contains incense, the prayers of all God’s people and fire from the heavenly altar. When it is emptied onto earth, there are storms and an earthquake (8:5), and then the trumpets sound and their torments begin (8:7). The censer is perhaps an allusion to Isaiah’s vision of the burning coal from the altar touching Isaiah’s mouth so that his guilt and sin may be atoned (Is. 6:1-13). People faithful to God are part of society but affluence breeds corruption and sin, so protection of the faithful and society’s purification is required in both Isaiah’s vision and in Revelation. In Isaiah’s time, Israel must follow Isaiah’s example of confession of sin and cleansing to avoid God’s judgement (Webb, 1996: 58). In Revelation, inhabitants of corrupt Babylon must repent of their sins because judgement is imminent (14:6-11, 18:4-5, 19:2). In both Isaiah and Revelation, the tool of God’s punishment for sin is invasion by foreign armies. The invasion may pre-figure the Day (as in Isaiah’s time, Is. 5:24-30) or be part of the Day in Revelation. The gathering of the kings from the east at Armageddon, ready for battle (16:12-16), is a foreign invasion. It is suggested earlier (in 4B.a), that the evil armies gather to attack the Lamb after he appears on Mt Zion with the 144,000 ‘redeemed’ (14:1-5, time-parallel 8b) but Babylon’s physical destruction precludes the battle (time-parallels 10 and 11). The abyss beast inspires the ten kings to make war against the Lamb (17:11-14) and they (the abyss beast and the kings) also hate Babylon and will bring her to ruin (17:16). The ‘great battle’ between the beasts and the divine forces does not occur until Christ the Rider appears with the heavenly armies (time-parallel 14, Framework 5). After the battle, the nation(s) continue(s); in Isaiah, a tenth of the people will be preserved (Is. 6:13) and in Revelation the earth experiences the millennium (time-parallel 16, Framework 5).
The Day of God’s Wrath is heralded by the great sign in heaven of the seven angels carrying the ‘last plagues’ which are put into seven bowls that are filled ‘full of the wrath of God’ (15:1-8) – and the bowls are emptied onto earth. People suffer with festering sores (bowl 1), the water is contaminated (bowls 2 and 3) and the earth is scorched (bowl 4) (from 16:2). It is proposed earlier (in Framework 4A.a) that the Lamb appears on Mt Zion while the fifth bowl is emptying and darkness covers the throne of the beast (14:1-5/ 16:10-11, time-parallel 8b). Evil armies gather (bowl 6, time-parallel 9) but an earthquake and storm destroy Babylon and she is ruined (bowl 7, time-parallels 10 and 11). This illustrates Gospel references to a time of cosmic disturbance and hedonism before Christ appears (see Towards … 6). Evil forces were thwarted when Babylon fell and they re-group when the Rider (Christ) appears (19:11-19, time-parallel 14). The Day ends with the crushing of the evil armies in the Grape Harvest/ Great Battle (14:20/ 19:15-21, time-parallel 15, Framework 5). The Day is illustrated in the proposed macrostructure by time-parallels 8 to 15 in Figures 4 and 5 in the Macrostructure Model. This study proposes that the Day is defined by events on the biblical earth (as illustrated in the proposed macrostructure) and it includes the Lamb’s appearance, warnings, the fall of Babylon and the harvests (14:1-20).[1]
[1] 14:20/ 15:1 is the fourth and final step back in relative time in the story; the other steps back are at 4:2, 12:1, and 12:13 (see Towards … 4b).
4B.d) Relative time-scales
The proposed macrostructure illustrates an underlying, chronologically linear pattern that begins with Creation and ends with the New Order. The only fixed point in the story is the Cross and the chronology of all other events is relative, and sometimes their duration is ambiguous. However, events recorded in Revelation are consistent with the Gospels. ‘This generation’ witnessed the rejection and suffering of Christ in John’s ‘present age’ (Lk. 17:24-25) and another ‘this generation’ (Lk. 21:29-33, Mt. 24:32-36, Mk 13:28-32) in the age-to-come will ‘know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place’ (Lk. 21:31-32). The first generation witnessed the inception of the kingdom of God and they experienced the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., unless they fled as soon as the armies gathered (Lk. 21:20-21, Mt. 24:15-16, Mk. 13:14). Another single generation will witness the Parousia and see its fulfilment. They will experience the fall of Babylon, unless they leave/ reject her as soon as the armies gather (18:4). Gospel/ Revelation comparisons are described in more detail in Towards … 6.
This study proposes that the seven seals are post-Cross torments. The first six seals may have ended in 70 A.D. but the seventh seal (the heavenly silence, 8:1) may be part of the ‘times of the gentiles’, in which Jerusalem will be downtrodden (Lk. 21:24, see Framework 2B.b). It continues for over 2,000 years (to date).
Both the Gospels and Revelation indicate events in the age-to-come, once underway, move swiftly. In Revelation, everything changes when the censer is thrown to earth and the trumpets sound their warnings (8:2-7, Framework 2). The torments of the first four trumpets are quite generic and they could continue for very many years. Time-scales speed up when the fifth trumpet sounds and the abyss opens (9:1-12), because the associated torment (the first ‘woe’) lasts for ‘five months’ (9:10). The proposed macrostructure indicates that satan’s two beasts appear during the fifth and sixth trumpets. When the first (abyss) beast appears (13:1-10), his operational time is very short (forty-two months, 13:5) (time-parallel 2; Framework 3). This is the first ‘woe’. When the sixth trumpet sounds, two hundred million evil troops kill a third of humanity (9:13-21) and satan’s earth beast appears (13:11-15) (time-parallel 3). This is the second ‘woe’. At that time, the Seven Thunders will be heard and the Two Witnesses in Jerusalem will be killed, resurrected and ascend, before a tenth of the city is destroyed (10:4-11:14; time-parallels 4-6). ‘There will be no more delay’ and the ‘mystery of God will be fulfilled’ when the seventh trumpet sounds (10:6-7) and the third ‘woe’ is imminent (11:14). Once the beasts appear then it will not be long before the slain Lamb appears on Mt Zion (14:1-5) and the King appears on a cloud and the earth is harvested (14:14-21). Events will happen rapidly, like leaves appearing on a fig tree, and a single generation will witness these events (Lk. 21:29-33, Mt. 24:32-36, Mk 13:28-32).
After the seventh trumpet sounds and the sanctuary is seen to be open (11:15-19; time-parallel 7), the bowls (the third ‘woe’) are emptied. This is the beginning of the Day of God’s Wrath. Time is short because the torments associated with the first four bowls are still being felt when the fifth bowl empties (16:11) and the Lamb appears on Mt Zion (14:1-5; time-parallel 8), perhaps this is Matthew’s ‘sign’ (Mt.24:30a); the Three Angels follow (14:6-11). This is Part 1 of the Parousia. During the sixth bowl (16:12), the first angel proclaims the Gospel and warns that judgement is near (14:6-7) (time-parallel 9). During the seventh bowl, the second angel announces the fall of Babylon (14:8), armies gather and Babylon falls by earthquake and storm (16:14-21, 18:1-3) in an ‘hour’ (18:10, 18:17-19) and heaven celebrates (19:1-4; time-parallel 10). The third angel announces that judgement is near for the ‘marked’ (those who worship the beast, 14:9-11) and Babylon is ruined by plagues, famine and fire (18:4-24) in a single ‘day’ (18:8), i.e. a very short time. Heavenly celebrations move onto preparation for the wedding of the Lamb (19:5-6; time-parallel 11). The faithful must endure the torments (14:12-13), in preparation for being a worthy bride for the Lamb (19:7-8) (time-parallel 12; see Framework 5B.j). When Christ comes in the clouds (Part 2 of the Parousia), and the earth is harvested (14:14-20; time-parallels 12-15, Framework 5), it will be unexpected, world-wide and rapid (Lk. 17:24, Mt. 24:27).
The Day of God’s Wrath will end with the Great Battle (19:20-21), when the Grape Harvest is crushed (14:20) (time-parallel 15). This will not be the end of humanity. It will be followed by 1000 years of peace and the absence of evil (20:1-6; time-parallel 16), until evil (satan) returns (20:7-9; time parallel 17). The last event described in Revelation, before the New Order, is the Final Judgement (20:10-15, 21:7-8; time-parallel 18). John had Christ beside him, or he heard Christ’s voice from heaven, who warned John (and John’s audiences) that he (Christ) will be coming unexpectedly – so be prepared (16:15).
4B) Summary and conclusions
The interpretation of this section focuses on the appearance of the slain Lamb on Mt Zion, satan’s two main beasts and Babylon. This is the time of the eschaton, or ‘last days’ or ‘end times’. The appearance of the Lamb is the first part of Christ’s Parousia. He is our Saviour and this is a ‘sign’ (Mt. 24:30a) that heralds Christ’s imminent appearance as King and Defender of humanity (in Framework 5). Satan’s followers gather for war at Armageddon (16:16), probably for battle against the Lamb, and Babylon falls by earthquake and storm in an hour (16:14-21, 18:1-3) and she is ruined by plagues, famine and fire in a single day (18:8), i.e. a very short time. Hedonistic society (Babylon) is destroyed as the Day of God’s Wrath unfolds – but life continues.
John sees these events from a series of visionary vantage points and the fast-paced, cosmos-wide events surrounding the Lamb’s appearance and Babylon create a literary spiral (16:12) that continues until the New Order is established (21:9; Framework 5). The rapid speed of events associated with the Parousia (the second ‘this generation’) is compared with the seals (the first ‘this generation’, see 4B.d) and contrasted here with the long time-scale of intervening events.
In conclusion, the biblical time-line describes why events happen – the presence of the Lamb on Mt Zion (14:1-5) has replaced satan’s beasts as the controlling factor behind events on the earth in this section and the final section (Christ as the King, 14:14; and the Rider, 19:11-16; Framework 5). How the events unfold is described on the physical-spiritual earth – Babylon will fall but society is unprepared for Christ’s coming again. ‘There will be no more delay’ when the seventh trumpet sounds (10:6-7) and events will move very quickly once the bowls full of the wrath of God empty, but no one knows when this will happen. The faithful must be ready. After the Lamb appears on Mt Zion, when demons gather the evil forces together at Armageddon during the sixth bowl (time-parallel 9), Christ tells John: ‘See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and is clothed, not going about naked and exposed to shame’ (16:15).
Page updated 18 February 2025