Based on the Revelation Overlay Theory of Dr. David Orlowski
Drew Berding, Editor
This paper will attempt to put the book of Revelation in chronological order according to the Revelation Overlay Theory of Dr. David Orlowski.
Most serious students of Revelation do fine until they get to chapter 12. Then they get totally confused. What they overlook is that John is told to prophesy again in Revelation 10:11. Up to that point, the book has been strictly chronological. However, from chapter 11 through the end of the book, he goes back and prophesies a second time. Therefore from chapter 11-16 he revisits material he has already covered and he adds information that amplifies and expands upon what he previously prophesied in those earlier chapters 8-11. Then John continues the chronological narrative from chapter 17 to the end of the book.
If the reader doesn’t realize that John is repeating himself (albeit with different details), he could easily get confused and not realize that the Trumpets and Bowls (for example) are really the same things (or concurrent), or that the three Woes are really the same as Trumpet/Bowls 5, 6 and 7.
Both the first and second prophesy are each chronological but they overlap somewhat. The simple figure on the next page shows diagrammatically how they overlay.
May God bless you with insight, discernment, awe and praise for Him as you carefully consider His Word.

The Revelation Time-Line—First Half of Tribulation
The Revelation Time-Line—Second Half of Tribulation
Event | First Prophecy | Overlay Prophesy |
Mid-point of Tribulation–Abomination of Desolation–Dan 9:27; Mt 24:15; Mk 13:14 | ||
The Temple Measured—Gentiles Possess Everything Else | 11:1-3 | |
The Two Witnesses Prophesy | 11:3-6 | |
The Woman—Spiritual Israel—The Visible Church | 12:1-2 | |
The Red Dragon to Devour the Child—Satan—False Father/God | 12:3-4 | |
The Male Child Caught Up—The Believers—The Invisible Church | 12:5-6 | |
War in Heaven—The Angel Michael—The Dragon Thrown Down to Earth | 12:7-12 | |
The Woman Pursued by the Dragon’s Flood | 12:13-17 | |
The Beast From the Sea—Antichrist—False Christ | 13:1-6 | |
The Antichrist Given Authority | 13:7-10 | |
The Beast From the Earth—False Prophet—False Holy Spirit | 13:11-18 | |
The Image of the Beast—The Mark of the Beast | 13:14-18 | |
The 144,000 in Heaven | 14:1-5 | |
Vision of the Three Angels: | 14:6 | |
The Angel Proclaiming the Gospel | 14:6-7 | |
The Angel Predicting Babylon’s Fall | 14:8 | |
The Angel Warning Against Taking the Mark of the Beast | 14:9-13 | |
Reaping the Earth | 14:14-16 | |
Reaping Israel—The Vine of the Earth—The Winepress | 14:17-20 | |
Seven Trumpets and Bowls: | 8:2-6 | 15:1-16:1 |
1stTrumpet/1stBowl—Meteorites and Malignant Sores | 8:7 | 16:2 |
2ndTrumpet/ 2ndBowl—An Asteroid Turns Sea to Blood | 8:8-9 | 16:3 |
3rdTrumpet/3rdBowl—Rivers and Springs Undrinkable | 8:10-11 | 16:4-7 |
4thTrumpet/4thBowl—The Sun Darkened and Extreme Heat | 8:12 | 16:8-9 |
The Three Woes: | 8:13 | |
5thTrumpet/5thBowl/ 1stWoe—Locusts and Scorpions From the Pit | 9:1-12 | 16:10-11 |
6thTrumpet/ 6thBowl/2ndWoe—200 Million Demons | 9:13-21 | 16:12-161 |
The Strong Angel with the Little Book | 10:1-7 | |
Instructions to Eat the Book | 10:8-10 | |
John Told to Prophesy Again | 10:11 | |
End of Daniel’s Second 1260 Days (3-1/2 years) | ||
The Two Witnesses are Killed by the Beast (False Christ) | 11:7-10 | |
The Two Witnesses are Resurrected | 11:11-14 |
7thTrumpet/7thBowl/ 3rdWoe—Lightening; Thunder; Hail; Great Earthquake | 11:15-19 | 16:17-21 |
The End of Daniel’s 1290 Days (Dan 12:11) | ||
Fall of the Harlot Prophesied—The False Church—The False Bride | 17:1-7 | |
Destruction of the Beast from the Abyss (False Christ) Prophesied | 17:8-13 | |
Victory of the Lamb Prophesied | 17:14-18 | |
Fall of Babylon Prophesied —the False New Jerusalem | 18:1-24 | |
The Fourfold Hallelujah | 19:1-6 | |
The Marriage Feast of the Lamb | 19:7-10 | |
Second Coming of Christ—Jesus Prepares to Wage War | 19:11-18 | |
Armageddon—Jesus Defeats the Two Beasts (False Christ; False Holy Spirit) | 19:19-21 | |
Satan Bound | 20:1-3 | |
The End of Daniel’s 1335 Days (Dan 12:12) | ||
The Millennium | 20:4-6 | |
Satan Let Loose for a Time—Judgment of Him and His followers | 20:7-10 | |
Great White Throne Judgment | 20:11-13 | |
Death & Hades—The Lake of Fire—The Second Death | 20:14-15 | |
New Heaven and New Earth | 21:1-9 | |
The New Jerusalem—The Bride of the Lamb | 21:10-27 | |
The River of Life and the Tree of Life | 22:1-9 | |
The Final Message | 22:10-21 |
Photo Attribution: Benjamin Rascoe – Unsplash.com