Rings Four and Five (6-7 X 19) of The Woven Rings of Revelation

This is one study within the larger body of work introduced here: The Woven Rings of Revelation: Intro

Through the visual organization and interactive features of this presentation, it first highlights the structural relationships within the opening text of the ring(s), and separately, of the closing. The access provided to the Author's guidance is invaluable! There is further benefit on offer for those who are able to recognize the parallels that exist when comparing the opening with the closing texts of each ring.

This presentation showcases the fourth and fifth woven rings, but yet these could also be considered as together forming a single ring. I'll present both options herein and make a case for each version. If my interest was strictly in keeping things simple and concise, I would certainly have split this presentation into two separate studies. My interest, however, goes beyond that. My arguments are found within the interactive highlighting and commentary, and down below on this page.

Generated with the Chiasmatron 2000

Considering the Options: Two Rings or One?

At present, the evidence makes me lean toward identifying the Fourth Ring as opening with the entire 6th chapter and closing with verses 11-21 of chapter 19. The next ring (Fifth) then opens with the entire 7th chapter and closes with 19:1-10.

Arguments for accounting the Fourth Ring as 6 X 19:11-21

Rider on white horse conquering/warring
6:2: "behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it ... and he went out conquering and to conquer."
COMPARE
19:11: "a white horse, and He who sat on it... and in righteousness He judges and wages war."

6:15: "the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders "
COMPARE
19:19: "the kings of the earth and their armies"

Horses identified by color
6:2, 4, 5, 8 COMPARE 19:11, 14

Arguments for accounting the Fifth Ring as 7 X 19:1-10

7:11-12: "the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen"
COMPARE
19:4: "elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, Amen."

"a great multitude"
7:9 COMPARE 19:1, 6

"bond-servants"
7:3 COMPARE 19:2,5

A pursuasive argument for accounting these texts as two discreet rings is that, when I analyze structure, I have learned that the more compelling versions are presented in their most granular state. Meaning more lines/line breaks, or in this context, more rings.

Arguments for accounting the Fourth Ring as 6-7 X 19

All the previous observations factor in, plus the following that compare across the more narrowly defined rings.

6:10: "avenging our blood"
COMPARE
19:2: "avenged the blood"

The four living creatures
6:1,3,5,6,7 COMPARE 19:4

"who sits on the throne"
6:16 COMPARE 19:4

6:11, 7:9, 13, 14 "white robe"
COMPARE
19:8, 14 "fine linen, bright and clean"

"Lamb"
6:1,7,9,16 7:9,1014,17 COMPARE 19:7,9

Final observations

When considering the occurrences of "Lamb," the "2 ring" option finds some support.

I invite you to be thorough and rigorous in your exploration of the above interactive presentation. You'll find interactive highlighting that I added to illustrate some more nuanced comparisons. Explore the comments accessed by clicking/tapping on the colored bars.

When you put sufficient effort (with prayer!) into this exercise, you will see relationships appear that make the case for a single fourth ring pretty compelling. The reason why I'm not choosing this as my preferred version is because I'm aware that I have limited knowledge about the related context. If the two adjacent rings that begin with chapters 6 and then 7 have such compelling parallels that suggest merging them into one, what about similarly compelling parallels that might appear with other adjacent rings? I wonder if these wider relationships might be akin to second order harmonics, or third... This seems like a bigger query than I can realistically make at present, but in the ages to come, well...!

Explanation:

What you see above is an exhibit of the linguistic structure that appears throughout the Bible. The featured passage of scripture is straight from the Bible. Nothing has been added or removed or shifted out of sequence.

What's the point of studying this kind of symmetrical design? Firstly, be inspired by the awesome beauty and intricacy of the Author's Word. The structure also conveys meaning to those seeking knowledge and wisdom! In an elegant way, it suggests where the Author places emphasis. It presents context in a very refined manner that guides us to ask questions we would otherwise not be inclined to ask, subsequently leading us to profound insights we would not otherwise glean! How are the paired elements alike and how do they differ? In what specific ways do they compare? Why are they paired? Ask the questions prompted by the holy spirit as you're being informed by the structural comparisons.

Directions:

The interactive features will vividly illustrate the structural design. Pass your mouse cursor over the passage. Hovering over a vertical bar or a line of text will cause it to be highlighted together with its matching elements. If you see a bar or a line of text called out for special attention, click it to open a Commentary Window (which can be repositioned by dragging) and freeze the relevant background highlighting.

Tip: When a presentation is too big to fit on your device screen, you can make adjustments that will allow you to see the elements of interest together onscreen for easier comparison. Right clicking on a bar will collapse it to a single line - a very useful feature! Make your browser full screen - try F11. You can also adjust the zoom (ctrl- or ctrl+ to zoom out or in). If you have a monitor that rotates into a portrait display, leveraging that vertical real estate can be very useful.

For more explanation, see: About These Thematic Patterns

For more examples, see: Interactive Content