I believe, in reading the Book of Revelation, the chapters are not in order, at least in chronological Order. Its like St. John tells a bit of the story, then starts over. With each paragraph, we at times get a new beginning, not only to a new fold in the story, but maybe going back to the Beginning of time.
I will ask the Holy Spirit to guide me. I have not completed it yet, so come back. This is coming soon.
Thank you. God Bless you. Here it is…my comments will appear in BOLD
Revelation 12
The Woman and the Dragon [The Woman is Mary and The Dragon is Satan.]
1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”[a] And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” 13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
St. Thomas Aquinas theorized that In the Beginning, at the time of Eden, Satan was an obedient Angel, who did God’s work. Tempting people was a way to ascertain their value. Whether they choose to be good or evil. This is partially evidenced by The Book of Job which comes later in the Bible and God and Satan speak and wager on Job’s obedience. The theory is then that Lucifer becomes jealous and frustrated at God’s persistence in loving Humankind and upset that God constantly forgives them. Reading the above, you see Lucifer finds out about God sending His Son as the Savior. Lucifer rebels and tries to kill Jesus at birth, but Jesus and Mary are protected and escape. THEN war breaks out in heaven and Lucifer and the rebellious Angels war with Michael the Arch Angel and the obedient Angels, who prevail. Lucifer is cast down from Heaven along with one third of the Angels and “they lost their place in heaven.” Satan has been tempting humans since, but not as an obedient act for God but done as revenge to take away those God loves, so they are lost by temptation and dwell in sin which is opposite God. It is the greatest disobedience.
Revelation 6
1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. I believe the horsemen represent stages of human development. The First here holds a bow, one of the earlier weapons of mankind. ”Man” begins to conquer the World “bent on conquest.” The Lamb is always Jesus, who existed since the beginning of time with God and the Holy Spirit. But I believe they shall repeat, as everything in the Bible does. Again we shall see the Horseman. We see now the wars that grow, the UN is acting as the world police, pushing for control of the world.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword. I will spare everyone the historic terms for the Eras. But this represents the next stage of major development. Mankind begins to use swords and Peace is removed from the Earth. It repeats, as the wars spread, riots spread, civil wars spread.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds[a] of wheat for a day’s wages,[b] and six pounds[c] of barley for a day’s wages,[d] and do not damage the oil and the wine!” The next stage of history, when we expand the world and create bartering systems and oppression by hierarchies, tyrannies, empires and dictatorships. People work all day long just to have enough to live and feed their families. As war spreads, instability creates economic downturns, oil and gas rise, and with it everything, including Food. As war goes on, food will not be produced to satisfy the world, famine will be next.
7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. The last paragraph speaks for itself, we bring DEATH to ourselves. We have done sin and forced God out of society. Some push to remove “In God we Trust” from the Dollar and the Courts. With this Horse was Death and Hell followed. Death is spread to the Earth, the apocalypse comes, and the world as we know it ends with it. Final Judgment comes. But before it, we have all the plagues that tear down society, making people desperate, even desperate enough to follow the AntiChrist.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters,[e] were killed just as they had been. This begins the actual start of the Apocalypse.
12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. The Apocalypse continues.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us[f] from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their[g] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” This the end. Christ returns.
Completion coming soon. Check back.
Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair the whole moon turned blood red and the stars in the sky fell to earth as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.