APPENDIX . ANALOGIES BETWEEN THE CREATION STORY IN GENESIS AND PROPHECIES IN REVELATION
The Creation story provides the framework for the closely analogous seven-stage sequence of events used for prophetic purposes in the seven trumpets of Revelation 8:7-9:19, and for final judgement in the seven last plagues of Revelation 16. This can be seen by comparing Table NI with the analysis of Genesis 1 in the main document.
TABLE NI. Trumpets and bowls in Revelation 8-9 and 16 in relation to the creation story.
|
TRUMPETS |
BOWLS |
|
1 Earth (8:7 etc.) |
Earth (16:2) |
|
2 Sea (8:8) |
Sea (16:3) |
|
3 Rivers, fountains (8:10) |
Rivers, fountains (16:4) |
|
4 Sun, moon, stars (8:12) |
Sun (16:8) |
|
5 Abyss, king Abaddon, darkness (9:11) (The Jew often equated the sea and the abyss.) |
Throne of Beast, darkness (16:10). |
|
6 River Euphrates (9:14) |
River Euphrates (16:12) (This river originally flowed by the Garden of Eden.) |
|
7Voices, thunders etc., |
Voices, thunders etc. (16:17, 18) (9:15, 19) |
The passages in Genesis and Revelation are parallel. Genesis 1 describes the Creation, Revelation 8 and 9 a series of historical events and Revelation 16 the coming judgement. The final voices and thunders contrast with the post-Creation Sabbath calm. The end of the Bible story thus balances the beginning. Such symmetrical arrangement within the Bible argues that both are connected by a single mind. Since the historical and final events purport to be descriptions of real happenings, it would be illogical to believe that Genesis 1 does not.