There is a natural assumption that the events of the seven seals take place in the order they are listed.  In other words, the Second Seal follows the First, the Third follows the Second and so forth. 

On the other hand, there remains some debate whether these seals fall before the 3 ½ years of Great Tribulation, overlap it, or is completely contained within it. 

In chapters 19 – 26, a case has been made for a new order of the seals relative to themselves as well as the Great Tribulation.  In summary:

 

1)  The first four seals, that is, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, encompass the entire period of the Great Tribulation from beginning to end.  Although the opening of the first seal may occur somewhat before the Great Tribulation, the final seal with its rider Death, ends the tribulation.   Although this is not intuitive (the Fourth Seal ending the tribulation) this conclusion is based on a careful analysis of Old Testament prophecies.

2)  The Fifth Seal begins the period of Great Tribulation and the Little Season encompasses it.

3)  The Sixth Seal occurs near the end of the Great Tribulation and corresponds to “The Day of the Lord.” 

Assuming that seals one through four are consecutive and seals five through seven are also consecutive, the new model for the Seven Seals can be arranged as follows in what I call the “split series” model.  In this model, the Fifth through Seventh Seals chronologically overlap, or recapitulate, the First through Fourth Seals.

 Although not intuitive, this pattern of “splitting the series” can be found throughout the book of Revelation.  In the next chapter, we will cover several examples of this pattern.

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