Roman Empire Under Hadrian

Chapters four and five provide an introduction to the balance of The Apocalypse. John’s attention was first directed to a symbolic description of the Kingdom in its glory, and this was followed by the visions of the seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials and so forth, that depict events leading to this con­summation. It may appear strange that the final pic­ture should be given first, but that is the Spirit’s method (e.g. Ch. 11:15,18) as adopted throughout Scripture. Yahweh would have us centre our atten­tion on the hope set before us, and by that means place all the events leading up to it in proper pers­pective (cp. 2 Corinthians 14:15-18). —HPM.