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The next paragraph presents “ New Jerusalem ” to the book’s audience and concludes its third literary division. Having witnessed the destruction of “ Babylon ,” the “ False Prophet ,” the “ Beast from the Sea ,” and the “ Dragon ,” John receives a vision of what awaits the faithful, a portraited of the holy city, “ New Jerusalem, descending from heaven to the earth .”

The first four bowls target the economic infrastructure necessary for commerce and the economic health of the  World Empire . Since the “ Beast from the sea ” caused the followers of the “ Lamb ” economic deprivation, so, now, the “ Beast ” and the “ inhabitants of the earth ” suffer economic loss.

The fifteenth chapter introduces the seven angels who empty the contents of the “ seven bowls of wrath .” But first, the “ overcoming ” saints are found standing on the “ sea of glass mingled with fire ” where they “ sing the song of Moses and the Lamb .” They have overcome the “ Beast, its image, mark, and number .”

The inhabitants of the earth represent the men and women who are omitted from the Book of Life because they submit to the Beast . This group is unrelenting in its hostility to the “ Lamb ” and those who follow him “ wherever he goes ,” even rejoicing in the violent deaths of his “ Two Witnesses .” Unlike the “ nations ” and the “ kings of the earth ,” they are beyond redemption, and their names are excluded from the “ Book of Life. ”

The second trumpet harms much of the commerce on which human society, the “inhabitants of the earth,” rely  – Revelation 8:8-9.  The second trumpet blast upsets the sea, and thereby disrupts a third of all seaborne commerce. In  Revelation , the “ sea ” is vital to the commerce on which “ Babylon ” depends, and it is the place from which the “ beast ” ascends. This explains why, at the end of the book, no “ sea ” is found in “ New Jerusalem .” In the symbolic world, it is linked to the “ Dragon ” and the “ beast .”

The saints must be “sealed” before the onslaught of the “four winds of the earth”  –  Revelation 7:1-3 .  Before the first four seals and their “ riders ” are unleashed, the “ servants of God ” must be prepared to persevere through the coming trials represented by the first six seal openings. And their “ sealing ” will enable them to “ stand ” before the “ Lamb ” and the “ throne ” on the coming “ day of the wrath of the Lamb ” when the “ sixth seal ” is opened.

The image of the Throne presents the reader with God reigning over all things at the center of the Cosmos  –  Revelation 4:1-11 .  The vision of the “ throne ” is the theological center of the book and sets the stage for all that follows. In chapter 4, John sees the divine “ throne ” and the “ One Who Sits on it ” reigning from the center of the Creation, and in chapter 5, he sees the “ slain Lamb ” take the “ sealed scroll ” from the “ throne ” and all creation declare him “ worthy ” to break its seals and open it.

In the 13th chapter of Revelation, the single “ Beast from the Sea ” displays the same animal characteristics of the four creatures that Daniel saw ascending from the sea. John’s “ beast ” is from the same lineage, but it is also something more. It certainly is not identical to the “ fourth beast ” with the “ little horn ,” though it incorporates many of its attributes.

The Dragon begins his war on the seed of the woman by summoning his seed, the beast from the sea  – Revelation 13:1-5.  In chapter 12, the “ Dragon ” is poised to attack the “ seed of the woman ” as he stands on the seashore while summoning his “ seed ”; first, the “ beast from the sea ,” then, the “ beast from the earth .” Having failed to destroy the “ son ” and the “ woman ,” he sets out to annihilate her “ seed ,” the men and women who have the “ testimony of Jesus. ”

Next, John sees the scroll again, only now it is unsealed and open, signifying the time for his call to prophesy once more to peoples and kings  – Revelation 10:1-11.  The first six trumpet plagues  failed to cause the “ inhabitants of the earth ” to repent. Instead, they only hardened their hearts even more.  Something more is needed to complete “ the mystery of God .” The narrative now takes a new direction. Rather than another plague, John sees the scroll unsealed, then he is commissioned to prophesy to “ nations and kings .”

Daniel saw four creatures with animalistic features ascending from a wind-tossed sea, representing four successive kingdoms .  In a dream, Daniel sees “ four beasts ascending ” from a chaotic sea. Each corresponds to one of the four parts of the “ great image ” that  Nebuchadnezzar  saw in his dream with the head of gold, a torso of silver, brass thighs, and its legs of iron and clay. Daniel’s vision of four creatures utilizes that same fourfold structure.