Chiasm of Biblical Testimonies
also known as:
Chiasm of World History
or
Whole Bible Chiasm
God’s plans revealed in Jesus
Jesus is revealed throughout the Bible symbolically, in types and shadows. The whole life of Jesus appears many times from moments of birth, taking the form of ‘lived testimonies’, or birth - life - death and resurrection patterns. “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” — Revelation 19v10b. When large typological stories are arranged in chronological order Biblical history can be viewed as a pattern of mirroring testimonies, and the pattern is called a chiasm.
A chiasm has the following structure:
A - B - C - B’ - A’
The beginning mirrors the end, and parts in-between also mirror around a central focus — the Kingdom of Israel which represents the Kingdom of God. The chiasm is drawn in the colours of the rainbow because in John’s vision he saw a rainbow around the throne of God (Revelation 4v3).
This diagram below was created in January 2022, the first of several versions.
The chiasm is made up of thirteen testimonies, each one revealing the life of Jesus from birth. Twelve testimonies mirror each other, six before and six after the time of King David. The Kingdom of Israel is in the middle, at the focus of the chiasm, around the year 3000 AM (Anno Mundi - counting the years from creation). The year 3000 AM is also the middle of Biblical history.
John’s vision is, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Rev 1v1). The journey of salvation always resembles the life of Jesus. It begins with a moment of birth, the spiritual new birth, and continues life long until death and resurrection.
The Chiasm of Biblical Testimonies
The chart below is an updated version with better headings, and some rows are divided into two lines to show examples of ‘two witnesses’. (Note witness and testimony is the same word in Greek). In some cases patterns can repeat or echo each other. For example the story of Ishmael and Isaac is echoed by Esau and Jacob. I am inviting people to test the idea that the pattern of modern Israel will be repeated by a future final generation to give two witnesses, or two ‘lived testimonies’ that reveal Jesus symbolically.
Modern Israel and the Final Generation
Modern Israel was born out of World War Two when Hitler was the ‘King Herod’ figure, and the Holocaust was like the slaughter of the innocent. If I understand correctly we can expect the pattern of Modern Israel to reach an endpoint with World War Three. Then a greater biblical moment of birth should follow with a much more powerful ministry and the pattern of a ‘lived testimony’ for a future final generation.
Jewish and gentile believers alike are promised a great awakening, and world wide revival often called, ‘the latter rain’. Walls of hostility between various kinds of believers are broken down so that we may become ‘one new man’, united in Christ. The ‘lived testimony’ ahead will be the final symbolic or typological pattern that will reveal Jesus to the world.
For more information: Modern Israel and also The Daniel 11 Prophecy where I mention the vision that I had in which I saw Trump as the King Herod figure of our time. Nuclear war is expected in the latter part of 2024 or around that time as a slaughter of the innocent, so I’m calling on Christian leaders to be ready for action so that we may be able to care for each other, and as many people as possible. Our success will be a blessing to many people so that their hearts may be opened to receive the gospel of Jesus, the spiritual new birth, and the promise of eternal life.
Three step and Seven step Testimonies
The testimonies in the diagrams above have three steps: Birth & escape, Life & ministry, Death & resurrection. But as there are seven colours in the rainbow, we can also observe a seven step testimony if we fold the diagram in half like so:
Each of the thirteen testimonies are reduced to a single ‘block’ in the diagram below. Then we may observe the progression of themes in seven steps from creation up to the Kingdom of Israel, which mirrors the second half of the Bible from the Kingdom of Israel down to the end of time.
A good question that some people ask, (especially Sydney Anglican ministers who I greatly respect), is why does Jesus appear down the bottom corner of the diagram? They suggest he should be at the top of the diagram. The diagram simply reflects God’s design of biblical history, and Jesus appears towards the end of salvation history as Hebrews 1v2 says, “but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” A better answer is found in temple imagery as shown in the next diagram below.
To consider the significance of the mirroring effect:
STEP 1
World war three will be like original sin. Imagine the curse of nuclear fallout!.
STEP 2
Having fallen we look to Jesus for help. He washes us clean like Noah’s flood. God’s forgiveness is available to all people, the whole world.
STEP 3
Not everyone responds, but Abram and Ezra do. They both come out from Babylon to God’s land. They establish right relationship with God. It is a covenant making time. Marriage matters are important to both Ezra and Abram.
STEP 4
Having established the relationship God sends us back out to the world. We multiply greatly as Israel did in Egypt. They grew from seventy people to two million in Egypt. Their time in Babylon was similar (Jeremiah 29 - “Increase in number, do not decrease…”) This is the peak of our life and ministry.
STEP 5
We reach old age. In the wilderness Israel were waiting for the generation to pass away. On the other side of the chiasm the remnant who had survived the Assyrians were warned that judgement was coming. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the first temple. That represents death, because our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.
STEP 6
Kings and Judges represents death and resurrection. Jesus was crucified as “King of the Jews.”
“It is appointed for all men to die once, and after that comes judgement.” Hebrews 9v27.
Jesus will raise the dead.
STEP 7
We will enter the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.
— There is strong evidence that shows this interpretation is God’s design as found in the creation account presented following page: Creation Prophecy.
— This pattern of events may also be expected to manifest apocalyptically for the final generation (to be presented shortly).
— Towards the bottom of this page there is another more in depth analysis of the seven step testimony.
But how does this pattern relate to Jesus himself?
The Testimony of Jesus in Seven Steps
The purpose of prophecy is to reveal Jesus, so if we consider his life in relation to the temple of God (John 2v19-22), we can make the following observations:
— Jesus is the foundation of our faith as creator.
— Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith as we meet him when we are ‘born again’.
— Jesus shows us the way of salvation in the example of his own life. Now we journey with Christ in our earthly life and walk of faith.
— Jesus is the keystone, the stone that holds the whole temple together. His death and resurrection opens the way for us to enter the eternal kingdom of God.
— Jesus is the capstone. He is preparing a whole new creation to be revealed from heaven when he comes.
The Journey of Salvation
The Journey of salvation is revealed even from the creation account. There are some special connections to observe in the creation account of Genesis 1 that relate to each new chapter of Bible history according to the arrangement shown in the diagram below. This is important as it proves God’s intention for Scripture to be read with this structure and plan in mind. For further explanation there are links to a couple of videos below, but this colour scheme has since been improved upon. Some more recent work with an improved colour scheme is presented here: Creation Prophecy.
The Journey of the Final Generation
To consider the end times prophecy, the seven step testimony of Jesus is expected to reveal the journey of the final generation. Again, this pattern gives more detail than the simple three step birth - life - death and resurrection testimonies. Confirmation is found in the way that the Genesis 1 creation account connects with each new chapter of bible history. A more recent analysis is located on the page called, Creation Prophecy.
Video
The Seven Step Testimony of Jesus
The seven step testimony is revealed in both the creation account and the chiasm of Biblical history. It always relates to us spiritually, but sometimes - at God’s appointed times it can also relate apocalyptically. The following video explains the above diagram in more detail:
Three Step Testimonies in more detail
Each of the thirteen main testimonies above are presented in more detail in the pictures below. By studying each historical testimony we may learn about Jesus, the spiritual journey, and finally the final generation. Each picture below can be clicked on to access another page which discusses the testimony in further detail, but they were written a while ago and need a lot of improvement.
Moments of Birth
To display the chiastic structure it helps to list each story on one line, but this is too much for many smaller screens, so each story is broken into two parts. First the births are listed with links to articles for more information.
Birth is difficult, but there is a miraculous escape from calamity. The birth reveals sin and repentance, and begins the journey of faith.
Birth & escape — begins the Journey:
(A) Adam’s Fall — Outside Eden
(B) Noah’s Flood — Nimrod
(C) Isaac’ Chiasm — Canaan
(D) Joseph’s Famine — Egypt
(E) Israel, Mt Sinai — Desert
(F) Samson’s birth — Judges
(G) David & Goliath - Kingdom
(F’) Joash & Athaliah — Kings
(E’) Immanuel’s flood — Assyria
(D’) Daniel’s Exile — Babylon
(C’) Daniel 11 prophecy — Greece
(B’) Jesus & Herod — Rome
(A’) Final Generation, ww3 — Beast
The pattern above is greatly simplified so that it can be viewed on the screen of a smaller device. Item D’ links to the Daniel 11 prophecy which is the last Old Testament pattern, believed to be of key importance to us today, but the larger pattern in that era actually belongs to Ezra and his return from Babylon to the land of Israel.
All of the moments of birth listed above have corresponding end points. The miracle of new birth foreshadows a greater battle that comes later — next consider the crises of the cross.
Moments of the Cross
The journey of faith ends with death and resurrection. Jesus died for us and rose again victorious, opening the way for us to follow. “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgement.” — Hebrews 9v27. The greatest battle is fought at the end of the journey of life, where mortality gives way to immortality, and the most glorious victory is won.
Journey — to the Cross:
(A) Outside Eden — Death
(B) Nimrod — Scattering
(C) Canaan — Isaac Offered
(D) Egypt — Exodus
(E) Desert — Jordan Crossing
(F) Judges — A King Anointed
(G) The Kingdom — Division
(F’) Kings — Enemies grow
(E’) Assyria — Temple Destroyed
(D’) Babylon — Decree
(C’) Greece — Abomination
(B’) Rome — Crucifixion, Scattering
(A’) Beast — Tribulation
God’s people overcome and Cross2Victory!
At the cross Jesus paid the price for our sin so that we may go free. Now we need to follow him, and we know the outcome will be good. We still face death, but through faith in Jesus we will rise again and enter into glory.
Another place to read about some of the testimonies of Jesus in more detail is the page called, ‘God’s Plan’ which is written to explain how the birth of Jesus relates to the end times birth.
Echo Patterns / Two or Three Witnesses
The thirteen big stories in the Chiasm of World History each have a typological pattern that reveals Jesus, but many more stories can be found that also reveal the life of Jesus, or the journey of salvation usually on a smaller scale, found nestled within the larger patterns.
On the largest possible scale, the overall chiasm resembles Jesus and his twelve disciples, or the twelve tribes of Israel in which the priestly tribe of Levi could be counted as a thirteenth. Foundational patterns are based on 12 or 13, but on the next level we find more patterns. After the twelve apostles we could count the 72 who Jesus sent out two by two.
How do the 72 relate?
— If we add the 12 sons of Jacob to the 12 disciples of Jesus we have 24 elders like what is described in Revelation 4. There may be two or three witnesses (or testimonies). If we multiply it out, 24 x 3 = 72.
— Jesus sent out 72 two by two. If we double 72 we have 144 which is a symbolic number for all God’s people complete (Revelation 7). 12 x 12 = 144.
Patterns of two or three witnesses may relate to the process of multiplication and fruitfulness of the kingdom. The word witness means ‘testimony’. We can often find similar testimonies that appear as echos within larger stories.
Stories have Echos
The repeating patterns of birth, life, death and resurrection usually appear at least two or three times as echos. This relates to the two witnesses of Revelation 11. Elijah is followed by Elisha. Similarly John the Baptist is followed by Jesus.
Examples of two or three witnesses may be seen as ‘lived testimonies’ that echo each other all from within the same period of time. Consider the miraculous moments of birth during the early New Testament period:
John the Baptist’s birth foreshadowed Jesus. His birth was miraculous as his parents were very elderly.
Jesus’ birth involved a miraculous escape from King Herod, and later his baptism in the Jordan was also symbolic for new birth, or the birth of his ministry. It was followed by an escape from the power of Satan’s temptations in the wilderness.
The Church was born on Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out with miraculous signs and gifts. Their lives and ministries displayed all the power of Jesus’ own life and ministry.
Moments of the cross are also seen at the end of each of these testimonies. The cross of Christ is revealed each time, often symbolically or typologically. The theme of death and resurrection relates to scattering and gathering in some cases. Here are some corresponding echoes relating to the end of the testimony:
John the Baptist was killed,
Jesus was crucified and the disciples were momentarily scattered.
Stephen was stoned, and the early church suffered persecution. Later Israel was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD and the people were scattered.
Within the chiasm of Bible history we can find many other smaller patterns appear as echoes within the thirteen main testimonies. Perhaps the best example is in the life of Moses who revealed Jesus from within the larger Egypt story. Jesus would come as a prophet like Moses, (Deut 18v18).
Much more could be written about the ‘echo patterns’ that exist within the larger patterns.
The Chiastic Structure of the Bible
The Journey of Salvation in seven steps
The entire structure of the Bible mirrors in chiastic formation to reveal both Jesus, and our spiritual journey of salvation. It is believed that the journey of the final generation is revealed in the same way. Reading from creation to the Kingdom of Israel at the centre spans a progression of testimonies that are mirrored in the second half of the Bible, from Revelation back towards the Kingdom of Israel.
When the Chiasm of World History is folded in half at the middle an overall testimony is revealed as we journey through time towards the kingdom of Israel which at the focus of the chiasm represents the eternal kingdom of God. Fascinating themes come to light as we compare the earlier stories with later ones that mirror. There is a progression of themes as we move upwards toward the Kingdom as shown on the diagram below.
The first and last patterns mirror - RED
The first generation foreshadows the final generation of world history: Sin is revealed.
After creation, Adam sinned and fell. Child birth became difficult and the ground was cursed.
SPIRITUAL RELEVANCE: The first step: We discover ourselves to be sinners, fallen and cut off from God. We need help!
END TIMES RELEVANCE: The final generation is expected to experience a kind of fall, and will see great trouble in the world, especially war and rumours of war as “the beginning of birth pains” at the end of the age. Imagine how the pollution from a nuclear war would be like the curse of original sin in the dust of the earth.
The beginning literally mirrors the end, just as God said through the prophet Isaiah,
“I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come.” — Isaiah 46v10
The second and twelfth patterns mirror - ORANGE
Forgiveness and a New Beginning.
Noah’s Flood mirrors Jesus:
SPIRITUAL RELEVANCE: Having fallen we cry out for help and God reveals Jesus — the forgiveness of sin. The blood of Jesus is powerful enough to remove the sin of the whole world much like Noah’s flood, giving us a new beginning. We are born again. The spirit is “poured out” like the flood.
There are two aspects to birth, the blessings and the struggle, both of which relates to spiritual new birth. The struggle of birth relates to repentance. The flesh /spirit struggle is like war, and in Scripture flood imagery is often used to describe real war so spiritually we must struggle to overcome in the war of repentance.
END TIMES RELEVANCE: When prophecy is fulfilled the spiritual reality given a physical manifestation. Floods often relate to war in Scripture which can be symbolic for the struggle of repentance. Consider world war three.
Afterwards an outpouring of God’s Spirit is expected to bring revival, in the last days. The key word is “afterwards” in Joel 2v28. Many hope for a great awakening, like a Pentecost moment. It is sometimes called, ‘the latter rain.’ The scene is apocalyptic, involving ‘blood, fire and billows of smoke’… but we will celebrate as “all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts 2)
The third and eleventh patterns mirror — Yellow
The call to follow Jesus.
Abram responded to God’s call to leave Ur in Babylon and to go to the land of Cannan.
Ezra on the other side of the chiasm did the same. With King Cyrus’ decree many left Babylon and returned to the land of Israel.
SPIRITUAL RELEVANCE: Having received forgiveness of sin and a new beginning we respond to Jesus’ call to “Follow me.”
END TIMES RELEVANCE: Having escaped apocalyptic conflict the final generation will be strengthened in their faith as Abram was. The Abraham Prophecy presents a chiasm of birth pains. We will understand the flesh / spirit struggle as revealed in the struggle between Ishmael and Isaac, or Hagar and Sarah. We will walk in the Spirit knowing that like Abraham and Isaac, we are strangers and aliens in this world. We are sojourners trusting in God’s promise that we will eventually inherit the promised land: the new creation. It is not for Ishmael, because flesh, like this world is passing away. The promise comes through Isaac.
The fourth and tenth patterns mirror — Green
Being fruitful and multiplying while living as foreigners in this world.
After the famine Israel lived in Egypt for a long time and multiplied greatly.
Daniel on the other side of the chiasm lived in Babylon of seventy years. Israel were told to have children and to increase in number while serving the King of Babylon (Jeremiah 29).
SPIRITUAL RELEVANCE: We multiply as we share our faith and bring people to Christ. We also understand that we are in the world but not of the world. This place is not our eternal home. We are foreigners here with true citizenship in heaven.
END TIMES RELEVANCE: We will have a powerful ministry in the last days as we work to complete the great commission. The end times ministry will take place in this world and the book of Revelation describes a beast that will rule the world in the last days.
The fifth and nineth patterns mirror — Blue
The journey is difficult but God continues to provide.
Israel had manna from heaven and water from the rock. They journeyed in the wilderness was for 40 years until almost the whole generation had passed away.
The faithful remnant had curds and honey. They were cared for by God during times of prophecy.
SPIRITUAL RELEVANCE: When the journey is increasingly difficult we must remain faithful and obedient to God. Perhaps this is relevant to growing old. (In Egypt slavery increases towards the end.)
END TIMES RELEVANCE: The world will become much like a wilderness, but we will know God’s care and can be encouraged by Jesus’ promise that “This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” Mat 24v34.
The sixth and eighth patters mirror — Indigo
Kings and Judges
The sin cycle seems to accelerate.
SPIRITUAL RELEVANCE: As the final pair of mirroring testimonies we can anticipate entering the Kingdom of God, but perhaps Kings and Judges brings to mind the judgement to come.
END TIMES RELEVANCE: There will be a great apostasy in the last days, and then the end will come. We wait in eager expectation for the appearance of Jesus, our King and then comes the final judgement.
The seventh pattern — violet
The Kingdom
Israel received all that was promised. The times of King David and Solomon were the glory days of Israel.
SPIRITUAL RELEVANCE: The Kingdom is within us, by God’s Spirit. But we understand the tension between the now and not yet…
WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WHEN JESUS RETURNS
The Bible Prophecy Chiasm — Video
The video below was recorded on 21st April 2023. There I discuss the overall structure of the Bible, how testimonies of Jesus mirror, and how they relate. Progressive revelation produces a pair of overarching testimonies that span the entire history of the world with a focus on the Kingdom of Israel.
Then I also consider the question of whether Jesus will return pre or post tribulation. When we recognise that Jesus had two encounters with the dragon himself, (ie: Revelation 12 - at birth, and again at the cross), we see two moments of salvation: The first comes pre-tribulation (his escape from King Herod), the second is post-tribulation (the resurrection and ascension into glory. In this way the life of Jesus has chiastic structure in itself.
The encouraging application for us today as we consider a moment of birth in the form of world war three, we can expect divine help to make a pre-tribulation escape from the dragon of nuclear war. This will reqire real action. We must Prepare.
For a more recent study of the chiastic structure of the Bible and it’s connections to the creation account in Genesis 1, please see the Creation Prophecy.
