The Seven Acts of Revelation 12-15

I think I'm starting to get my head around Revelation 12-15. Especially if we think of it like the seven seals and trumpets beforehand, and seven bowls to follow.

These four sections break into two groups, 6-11; 12-16, where each overlap with each other, as follows:

6-11
seven seals begin at 6:1 until 8:5, but the
seven trumpets interject at 8:2, and then continue from 8:6 until 11:19.

12-16
seven acts begin at 12:1 until 15:5, but the
seven bowls interject at 15:1, and then continue from 15:5 until 16:20

Once you've got your head around the interjection, often called interlocking, then this section starts to make a bit more sense structurally. Add to that the very similar progression, from destruction, through judgement, to praise, and the four groups tell much the same story, just from different angles and with different emphases.


The mother, child, and other offspring in chapter 12 remains a little confusing. In the picture above I just wrote "the church", but I read a fascinating article by William Riley in the Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association (18/1995) where he proposes the woman is Daughter Zion - or, as she's giving birth, Mother Zion. The twelve stars are thus the twelve tribes, and the child is Jesus - he is the king of the Jews after all. The other offspring (12:17) are all those who are the children of Israel and are attacked by the Roman state. This doesn't really change anything substantive, but it's a bit more nuanced than just "the church". Well worth checking out the article.