The Book of Revelation by Design

Welcome to this special exhibit of the book of Revelation! Here, you'll find two collections of interactive presentations. These put the profound character of the book on open display.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

Proverbs 25:2

It has been observed that the biblical text is highly ordered, with symmetrical patterns weaving throughout. Those who have become familiar with this special feature discuss it using terms like Discourse Analysis, Parallelism and Chiasmus, or, Chiasm. When a thorough and comprehensive approach to the linguistic structure of the Book of Revelation is taken, it reveals the entire text as a complex matrix. Layers upon layers of relationships appear in more and less local contexts to form distinct and concise units of structure, all woven together as a majestic tapestry. The reality of the highly ordered text engages and confronts the reader with a demonstration that this workmanship bears the signature of a divine Author.

While the study of this feature is technical by nature, it reveals the Author's design in an artful aesthetic. By design, the intentionally woven patterns invite us to explore our Creator's Word to discover the treasures that lie buried within our reach. It may be seen that the Bible consists of balanced sets of expressions where each compares to an equation. As such, one side shines its light upon the other to guide us, together with the holy spirit, into a greater understanding!

The book of Revelation is unique in that certain promises are attached to it.

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Revelation 1:3

18) I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19) and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

Revelation 22:18-19

With the promise of a blessing for reading and heeding these words and severe consequences for the addition or subtraction of the words of the prophecy of the book, it is wise to give them altogether our special attention.

With so many fine commentaries on offer, and a number of valuable scholarly considerations of the structure of the book, what might I add with these collections of interactive presentations? In a word, access. Greater access to the meaning that the Author has embedded within. How? Experience it for yourself by beginning to explore one of presentations linked below.

Note: This work isn't intended to answer questions directly but rather to provide a reliable framework for deeper inquiry into the meaning.

The Book of Revelation: Weaving Through Chapter By Chapter

The divine narrative that is the book of Revelation is presented herein (Version: NASB 95) as expressing through 1534 organized lines of text.

Revelation 1
Revelation 2-3
Revelation 4-5
Revelation 6
Revelation 7
Revelation 8-9
Revelation 10-11
Revelation 12-13
Revelation 14
Revelation 15:1-16:1
Revelation 16:2-21
Revelation 17
Revelation 18
Revelation 19
Revelation 20
Revelation 21
Revelation 22

The Book of Revelation: Stepping Out and Back Through the Woven Rings

The studies in this collection illustrate how the entire book of Revelation folds back on itself. To put it another way, what is written in Revelation 1:1 through 12:9 is repeated in 12:10 through 22:21 in reverse order, step-by-step.

My study of the linear progression through the book informed my identification of the forty-two concise units that align sequentially as the narrative steps out and back.

This grand chiasmus presents as twenty-one "woven rings," a number that is resonant with the triples of sevens prominently featured in the prophetic narrative.

Ring One: 1:1-3 X 22:16-21
Ring Two: 1:4-8 X 22:6-15
Ring Three: 1:9-20 X 22:1-5
Ring Four:2:1-7 X 21:22-27
Ring Five: 2:8-3:13 X 21:11b-21
Ring Six: 3:14-22 X 21:1-11a
Ring Seven: Chapters 4-5 X Chapter 20

Ring Eight: Chapter 6 X Chapter 19
Ring Nine: 7:1-8 X Chapter 18
Ring Ten: 7:9-12 X 17:10-18
Ring Eleven: 7:13-17 X 17:3b-9
Rings Twelve and Thirteen: 8:1-9:21 X 16:2-17:3a
Ring Fourteen: 10:1-7 X 15:1-16:1

Ring Fifteen: 10:8 - 11:6 X 14:13-20
Ring Sixteen: 11:7-14 X 14:6-12
Ring Seventeen: 11:15-19 X 14:1-5
Ring Eighteen: 12:1-4a X 13:1b-18
Rings Nineteen, Twenty, and Twenty-One: 12:4b-9 X 12:10-13:1a

Tips on how to explore the interactive presentations

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.

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 together with the lines spanned to the height of 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 orientation, leveraging all that vertical real estate can be very helpful.

The interactive presentations were generated by the Chiasmatron 2000. The ability to generate interactive presentations is an essential feature. Yet, I believe the greater benefit is in how this software utility facilitates the analysis of the patterns that weave throughout the biblical text. The satisfactory version of the ambitious project featured above was developed as I pressed the Author for insight and used the software tool He had led me to develop. Perhaps you possess the intellect and capacity to remember and process complex ideas to explore multiple layers of the Author's design without such a tool. I personally do not. I'm extremely grateful for the tool and the skill to use it for its intended purpose. (Bob Schlenker - 2026)