End-time disasters: The Book of Revelation and doomsday predictions

Devotional Jan 25, 2026 0 9 Add to Reading List

This is the timeline of the entire book of Revelation. This final book of the Bible was written by a man named John who was given a series of strange visions, strange creatures, and terrifying prophecies about what would happen towards the end of the world. Let's follow John on his journey through the apocalypse and see if we can put each of these end-time events in our timeline to know exactly what the future holds for our world as we know it. But first, we need to start with Chapter 1. John was stranded on an island called Patmos when suddenly he heard a loud noise behind him. John turned to see who was speaking and saw something that frightened him so much that the Bible says he fell prostrate as if he were dead. He saw a figure that had eyes like flaming fire, legs like fine copper, and a sharp double-edged sword coming out of its mouth. This supernatural man identified himself as the Risen Jesus. At this point, you may be wondering why Jesus looks so different from what we are used to seeing in paintings. Were these features just symbols, or did Jesus really have a literal sword hanging from his mouth? I'll answer this in a moment, but stay with me. After Jesus gave John some personal messages for the seven churches located in the land that is now modern Turkey, he revealed to John some visions of events that would occur near the end of the world. It begins with John's extraordinary vision written in Chapter 4. John's First vision was something he could hardly express with human words. John saw a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. The only way John describes this creature is by comparing it to the stone of sardis and the stone of jasper. The throne is surrounded by a rainbow that looks like an emerald. Seven golden lamps surround this throne. But here's what's getting weirder. John saw four angels around the throne. But they are not the little baby angel figurines from your grandmother's House. John tells us that they were each full of eyes, had six wings, and looked like a lion, a calf, a man, and an eagle. This heavenly creature never sleeps, but praises the Lord day and night, singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, Almighty God, who is, who was, and who is to come."But these creatures are not the only ones who praise God in his throne room. There were also 24 human elders who cast their crowns before God. Oh, yeah. And hundreds of thousands of Angels also praised God. Everything seemed to be in perfect harmony until John's attention turned to this. A scroll sealed with seven wax seals in the right hand of the Lord. The Lord asked, "Who is worthy to open this scroll?"But no one answered. This is a very important scroll because it is the one that brings the first seven divine punishments on Earth, which we will place on our timeline in a few moments. But what exactly are these rolls? And why should someone be worth opening it? Sealed scrolls in the time of John were often used in property transactions. When someone wants to buy land, they will seal the land deed with a wax seal for the new owner to redeem it as per their choice. Many Bible scholars believe that this sealed scroll is a deed of land for the whole earth. Up to this point, the Bible tells us that Satan is the ruler of this world and the God of this age. Perhaps this is why John began to cry so profusely when it seemed that no one could open it. He thought, if no one opens this scroll, Satan will rule this world forever. But John's tears dried when he was told that the lion of the tribe of Judah could open the scroll. John quickly turned his head, but instead of seeing a mighty lion, he saw a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes that looked like it had been slaughtered. This lamb that was slain is Jesus Christ who was handed over for our sins. Okay, I know what you're thinking. Why did Jesus have eyes of fire and a sword out of his mouth in Chapter 1, but then looked like a lamb slaughtered in Chapter 5? And why do so many creatures in heaven have more than two eyes? That was really scary. This is the reason why The Book of Revelation is full of very strange images. God allowed John to see things that were not made for human eyes. Spirit realm. If you peered into the spirit realm, it would be completely inexplicable. That is why God allowed John to see pictures from the spiritual world. This is why John sees Jesus in two different forms at this point. Jesus cannot be limited to one image. Both images give us an idea of who Jesus was. God of the world and savior of the world. I used to say my mother had eyes in the back of her head. But what I really mean is that I can't do anything without him knowing it. In the same way, God allowed John to see certain creatures having many eyes. This is God's way of saying nothing is missing from them. As we continue our timeline, I won't have time to explain every symbol, but I will try to explain the big ones. So Jesus unsealed the first of the Seven Seals, and a man on a white horse was released to rule the world. Many believe this is Jesus again, but as we will see in the next chapter, this figure is actually very evil. Seal number two is opened and this time a man on a fiery red horse is released to spark violent conflicts around the world. The third seal is opened and a man on a black horse appears and creates hunger on Earth. And finally, the last rider of the Four Horsemen appeared after the Fourth Seal was opened. This man rode a pale horse and was given the power to take the life of 1/4 of the Earth's population with hunger and sword. Before heading to the remaining three SEALs, you might wonder what these first four punishments on Earth actually looked like. Many believe this is a picture of World War II. First, one single government tried to control the world, which eventually led to a World War, which then led to world hunger, and eventually a quarter of the Earth's population died. We get more details about this tyrannical government later in the book. But now, let's move on to the remaining seals. When seal number five was opened, the souls of those killed for their faith in Jesus during this terrible time of judgment were given white robes symbolizing the righteousness of God. But seal number six is worse than all five previous seals combined. But before I tell you what these terrible seals are doing to the earth, I want to share something pretty cool that the eartoear team and I have been working on for weeks. We've put the entire timeline of this video on a poster. I must admit that when I started reading the Bible, it was not easy for me, especially the Book of Revelation. As a visual learner, I just need something I can see to help me connect with what I'm reading. That's why we created these videos and posters to give Christians more confidence to learn God's life-changing word. If you'd like to be a part of that mission and help us fund future content, you can order your own book of Revelation timeline using the link below. When seal number six was opened, a great earthquake shook the entire Earth. The sun turned black, the moon turned into blood, the Stars fell from the sky, destroying every part of the planet. What John describes sounds a lot like a nuclear war or a cosmic meteor shower. In any case, this will be very bad. Seal number seven is very different from all the other seals, but it is not opened until Chapter 8. But first, we have to look at Chapter 7. Here, John saw a large group of 144,000 people on Earth. We are told that they were people from the 12 tribes of Israel who were protected by God. But we are not told why they are mentioned until Chapter 14. The Bible is full of cliffhangers. But at least now we will find out what happens when the 7th seal is opened. In the midst of all the praise of thousands of people in God's throne room, heaven fell silent for 30 minutes. I like to compare this silence to the receding sea water before a huge tsunami is about to sweep over the coast. Except this time, God's wrath will scorch the earth with seven new punishments. These seven SEAL punishments were nothing compared to the next seven punishments, especially the fifth, which was extremely sinister. Seven Angels were given SEVEN TRUMPETS to break the silence with seven new disasters on Earth. Wait a minute, Jonathan. Why are there so many sevens in this book? Seven is a number that represents completion in the Bible, which is why God created the Earth in seven days, for example. The Book of Revelation describes the final completion of God's plan for the Earth, which is why the number seven is used so often. When the first angel blew his trumpet, hail and fire were thrown upon the Earth, resulting in a third of all trees and all grass being burned to the ground. A second trumpet was blown and a huge volcano was thrown into the sea, resulting in a third of the ocean being polluted. The third trumpet was blown and a great star fell from heaven and a third of all the fresh water on Earth was polluted. When the fourth trumpet is blown, a third of the sun, moon, and stars are darkened. Now, as I said, trumpet number five is the most sinister of all the punishments in Revelation. But can you imagine what it's like to live through these disasters? I do not know about you, but when I read about the first four sentences of this trumpet, they sounded very much like a global nuclear holocaust. John tried his best to describe what he saw happening to the Earth. Hail and Fire fit the description of a nuclear explosion full of fire and ice. And the volcano and the falling star sounded like a nuclear fireball hitting the Earth. This kind of nuclear exchange could inevitably lead to the destruction of a third of the Earth's vegetation, the pollution of a third of the Earth's water and the destruction of a large part of our atmosphere, resulting in what appears to be the darkening of the cosmos. Okay, now for the creepiest punishment of all, trumpet number five. When the fifth angel blew the trumpet, another angel fell from heaven and was given the key to what the Bible calls a deep abyss. It's not just a very deep abyss. This is the abyss where the Demons are punished. But that's not even the craziest part. The Bible tells us that the angel used this key to open that abyss and release the creepiest looking demons you have ever seen. Not that you've ever seen a demon before. At least I hope so. These demons are depicted as locusts that have a body like a horse, a crown that looks like gold, a face that looks like a human face, hair like a woman's hair, teeth like a lion's teeth, breastplates like iron, hard wings, and worst of all, tails like scorpions that are used to torture humanity. Yes, I know they probably won't look like this, but you can't say I didn't try. The Bible says that people will want to die during this terrible plague, but cannot. And if that wasn't already terrible enough, when the sixth trumpet was blown, four Fallen Angels bound at the bottom of the Euphrates River were released to kill the third of the remaining population on Earth. They did this by mobilizing a huge army of 200 million people. John describes this army as riding on a horse that has a head like a lion. Out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. Some believe this may be John trying to describe modern warfare that could not be explained in John's day. But the Bible leaves us with another cliffhanger because the seventh last trumpet is only blown at the end of Chapter 11. This book really keeps you on the edge of your seat. In Chapter 10, John is told to eat a small scroll, which gives him the knowledge to continue the prophecy. In Chapter 11, we are introduced to two witnesses of the Lord who preached in Jerusalem and had the power to perform great miracles. But their preaching lasted only 3 and a half years when they were suddenly killed by Satan. This passage about the two witnesses was once one of the most disputed passages in the Book of Revelation because of what happened next. Then the people of the nations, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies for 3 and a half days. This would have seemed impossible 100 years ago, but today with televisions and smart phones, it is quite possible that the whole world is watching a live broadcast of the death of these two witnesses. But the Bible says the whole world will be terrified when the next event occurs. After 3 and a half days of Death, God will raise these two witnesses back to life and lift them to heaven while the city of Jerusalem suffers a great earthquake. Finally, the Seventh Trumpet is blown and we are taken back to God's throne room. Voices from heaven are making predictions about something that will be a part of every Christian someday. They said, " the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever."We will be shown exactly what this looks like in the last chapters of The Book of Revelation. But from this point on, everything moved very quickly. Chapters 12 through 13 are probably the most interesting chapters in the entire book. The Bible says John saw a great sign in heaven about a woman. This immediately tells us that this is not a literal woman but a sign that symbolizes something else. This woman wore the sun with the moon under her feet and on her head a wreath of 12 stars. And she was about to give birth when a huge dragon with seven heads, ten horns and seven crowns on its head came and stood in front of her waiting to eat the newborn child. The Bible says that the woman gave birth to a boy who was transported to heaven just before the Dragon had a chance to eat him. Okay, I think this is the strangest vision of John, but what does it mean? Well, we are told in this chapter that the dragon symbolizes the devil and that the newborn boy will rule the nations with an iron rod, which experts agree it is a clear reference to Jesus Christ. So, this leaves us with the woman. Many believe that the 12 stars on his head and the sun and Moon are references to Joseph's dreams. Joseph in the colorful robe in Genesis, was not the earthly father of Jesus. If you remember, Joseph dreamed that the moon symbolized his mother, the sun symbolized his father Jacob, and the stars symbolized his brothers, whose families became the 12 tribes of Israel. So, it is safe to assume that the woman in this vision is a symbol of the nation of Israel. The dragon was then expelled from heaven by Michael the Archangel, which made him very angry, he began to persecute the woman, Israel, but failed because God saved him. But this did not stop the Dragon, Satan. As you will see, he will recruit some key people to help him with his evil plan to dominate the world. It is this vision in Chapter 13 that acts like the glue that connects all the previous visions we have just seen, as well as the remaining ones. Do you remember the first punishment that happened on Earth? A man riding a white horse is released to rule the world. Many believe this is another picture of Jesus because revelation does say that Jesus will ride a white horse when he comes to Earth. This is wrong for one very simple reason. This man on a white horse came at the beginning of God's judgment, but Jesus came at the end of God's judgment. I believe that the wild beast we will see in Revelation 13 is the same as the rider on the White Horse from Chapter 6. The Bible says that an animal came out of the sea. This beast had seven heads with ten horns and ten crowns. The Bible tells us that the seven heads symbolize the Seven Mountains, which is a clear reference to the Roman Empire in John's day