BIFIDS AND CHIASMS

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The following is essential toward understanding many areas of scripture. It is copied and pasted with permission from the Ellis Skolfield website and is available in a printer friendly PDF on the downloadable books page. Or go directly to the PDF.

Below is some of the technical data that went into the writing

of The False Prophet. It's a bit dry and lengthy so it was edited

out of the book. It is posted here for those who like their

Many of us recognize that Revelation is repetitive. But if it is,

how can we recognize what chapters are parallel to what other

chapters? Are these repeats organized in a systematic way

that we can prove? The answer is hidden in Hebrew poetry.

Hebrew poetry is parallel in nature. A Hebrew poet would say

something one way and then repeat the same idea later on in

different words. These repeats could be a sentence, a paragraph,

or even several chapters long. So how can we identify repetitive

prophecies when we see them? By recognizing the Hebrew poetic

The most elegant of the Old Testament poets was Isaiah. In his

book we spot one poetic style very quickly. Isaiah is divided into

two almost equal parts, and these two parts are repetitive.1 Isaiah

1 through 33 is parallel to Isaiah 34 through 66, not just in a

general sense, but in actual content. The last half of Isaiah

contains a different description of the same subjects that are

covered in the first half. Textual scholars call this type of

1 Liberal scholars see this division and claim that the last half of Isaiah was not

written by Isaiah at all. Disregard well-known Hebrew poetic forms they invent

a shadow author they call deuteo-Isaiah. There is no historic or textual basis for

their contention, and Rabbinical scholars have always attributed the whole book

2 Packer-Tenny-White, The Bible Almanac, 1980, p349.

This form is not unique to Isaiah. The apocalyptic books are

also bifidic and in Daniel the bifid is inescapable. Dan 2:4 through

Dan 7:28 is written in high Syriac. The rest of Daniel is written in

Hebrew. So why the two languages? Well, God is addressing two

different audiences. The first half of Daniel is to and about the

Gentiles who will rule the Holy Land into the distant future, while

the second half is to and about the future of the Jews during that

same time. Both halves of Daniel are about events that will take

place during the same time, so the book is bifidic.

In the Syriac half of Daniel, the chapters themselves form

another kind parallelism -- a poetic stepladder. The Hebrew half

does, too. These aren't more bifids but a different poetic style

altogether. Once again Isaiah has a simple example of this unique

Isa 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither

If we were to get those thoughts across in present-day English,

we might say something like: "Your ways and thoughts aren't

anything like my ways and thoughts." But in Hebrew poetry it's

That AB=BA stepladder is called a Chiasm,3 pronounced kee-ah-

zum. Chiasms appear throughout Scripture, from Genesis to

Revelation. What an author declares in the steps going up, he

repeats in the steps going down. Here are two more chiasms, one

two-step and one three-step: an ABC=CBA. They have been

shortened for clarity, but the full text is in your Bible:

So why are chiasms important? In the above two-step AB=BA

chiasm, there were not four concepts. There were two concepts

about the same subject. In the three-step ABC=CBA chiasm, there

were not six subjects, just three, repeated in different words. If

Daniel and Revelation are chiasmic, the various visions will be

repetitive and parallel in a systematic way. Daniel will contain

repeated visions about the time of Gentile control of the Holy

Land while Revelation will contain repeated visions about the

In Dan 12:4, the Lord commanded Daniel to seal his book; then

just five verses later, God states that the book was sealed (Dan

12:9). Now, Daniel was a godly man who did as he was

commanded. He couldn't change what the Lord had inspired him

to write, but nevertheless Daniel somehow sealed his prophecies

between the time those two verses were written. He couldn't

3 Packer-Tenny-White, The Bible Almanac, 1980, p364.

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modify the content of the visions, nor change the historic

Daniel scrambled his prophecies, putting them out of

chronological order. This is easy enough to prove because Daniel's

chapters can be dated. Now, let's see what that shuffling

accomplished. Look at the below graph. It shows the chapters in

the order they appear in the Bible. The chapters with the (*) are

Chapter 5 was actually written after 8, and Chapter 6 was written

after 9. Look at the subject column to the right. In the order the

subjects now appear, a three-step chiasm has been formed. Isn't

If Daniel had not put his book out of order, that ABC=CBA

chiasm would not have been formed. I'm not even sure he knew

what he was doing, but God knew. Something as complex as a

chiasm doesn't happen by accident, it was deliberate, but what

4 Both chs.6 and 9 were written in the 1st year of Darius. The dating of ch.9

before 6 can be determined by the formal introductory address Daniel used to tell

us of the new king. In ch.9 the correct introductory form is used, while it is

omitted in ch.6. Since Daniel was a master of court protocol, it is unlikely that he

would have made a mistake here. The dating of ch.5 after 8 is evident from within

the text itself. As an aside, the Lord has not permitted the author to fathom what

the book means when it is put back into its correct chronological order. However,

does it mean? Well, chiasms are repetitive, so it shows us that

Daniel's visions are repetitive. When we stand back and view the

1st chiasm in its entirety, its message appears to be:

During the time of the Gentiles there will be four major

empires and their descendants ruling the Holy Land. During

that time, God's people will suffer great persecution, but in the

end, God will judge those nations that have made His land a

The 1st chiasm was primarily to and about Gentile nations, while

the second is about the future of the Jews after the fall of the

Babylonian Empire. The second chiasm is a AB=BA, and its

After the Jews return from captivity, there will be two major

empires, and their descendants, who will rule the Holy Land

into the distant future. During that same time Messiah will

come to earth and be killed. The temple will be desolated, but

int the end, the destroyer will go to final judgment.

Now that we understand the pattern, let's go to Revelation. The

following summary is not intended as a full exegesis of the book,

but only as an outline and study guide. Chiasms are, however, a

foundational concept that will enable students of Scripture to

understand almost every verse in the book. Some of the figurative

language is still sealed. Maybe the Lord has left it for you to

In Rev 5:1, God the Father holds a scroll that is written on both

sides and sealed with seven seals. This was very unusual in the

time of John the prophet, 95-105AD. Most 1st Century scrolls

were written on one side only, but there is a reason for this two-

Rev 5:1 "And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the

throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed

Rev 5:5-6 (excerpts) " . . .In the midst of the throne . . . and

in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain,

And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him

Careful study shows this "little book" to be the book of Revelation

itself. It is a picture of the Christian Era and it was given to Jesus

after His ascension. Jesus now opens the Seven Seals, the Seven

Trumpets, and the Two Witnesses, which describes events that

will "shortly come to pass." But before the seventh trumpet blows,

the Lord tells us what He is going to do with the side of the book

He has not read. In the verse quoted above, the book was sealed,

Rev 10:1-2 "And I saw another mighty angel come down

from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon

his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as

pillars of fire (Jesus, see Rev1:15): And he had in his hand a

little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and

As used in Revelation, "angel" can refer to several different

kinds of beings. He can be one of God's angelic messengers, a

fallen angel, Satan, a human messenger, the Holy Spirit, or Jesus

Himself. Context is the key to his identity. A study of the

description of the Lord Jesus elsewhere shows the angel of Rev

10:1-2 to be Jesus. The Lord now gives this little book to John.

Rev 10:10-11 "And I took the little book out of the angel's

hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey:

and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he

said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many

Believe it or not, those verses explain it all. The little book is now

open because Jesus has read the seals and trumpets and shortly

the Two Witnesses. He then tells John, "you must prophesy

again!" In other words: "Listen here John, I have read one side of

this two-sided book, turn it over and read the other side. Repeat

in different words what I have told you through the Seven Seals,

The little book was written on both sides because the Lord was

to read one side, and John the other. "Out of the mouth of two or

three witnesses . . ." And what is John to prophesy about? The

above verses tell us: the 2nd chiasm, Rev 12 through 20, are about

"peoples, nations, tongues and kings." The Lord is telling John to

go back to square one, and tell the Church about the Christian Era

again. "You must prophesy again!" Revelation is bifidic!

If Revelation is like Daniel, it should also have chiasms in both

halves. It does, and here are the parallels: chs.2-3 are about

churches, and so is ch. 11. Ch. 6 is about Seven Seals, and chs.8-9

are about Seven Trumpets, both of which are symbolic pictures of

the Christian Era. The first half of ch.7 is about the Jewish saints,

the second half is about the Gentile saints. So again, we have a

Revelation is chiasmic by design and we can now know with

certainty which chapters are covering the same subjects in

different words! In my opinion, the conclusion is now inescapable.

Revelation also has a message hidden within the chiasm. The 1st

chiasm is about the invisible spiritual world as God the Father sees

it, while the second chiasm is primarily about what will take place

in our material world. The central message of the 1st chiasm is:

During the Christian Era there will be seven different church

periods and seven different kinds of churches. The Jews and the

Church will be God's Two Witnesses on Earth. Trials, plagues,

famines, tribulation and wars will take place. But the saints,

both Jew and Gentile, will be saved out of it, and in the

fulness of time, God will set up His eternal kingdom.

(A-A) The Seven Churches and the Two Witnesses: Rev 2-3, Rev

11. In the seven churches of Rev 2-3, the Lord tells us what the

Church will be like during the whole Christian Era. Sometimes

good, sometimes fair, and sometimes very bad. In Rev 11, we

learn that God has placed Two Witnesses on Earth to stand

against the enemy and make Him known. Why the two witnesses?

Because God honors His own word: "Out of the mouth of two or

three witnesses shall anything be established." Throughout our

era, the Church and the Jews Have been witnesses to the God of

heaven in a sinful world. Those witnesses would be in great

tribulation, but they would also be spiritually victorious.

And so it hnas turned out to be, though mighty empires have

fallen around it, the true Church of Jesus stands. At the end of the

Two Witnesses (1948AD), the Church and the Jews will lose their

spiritual power. There will always be a faithful remnant, but in the

last days Jesus will spit the lukewarm churches out of His mouth

and the enemy would spiritually destroy it. We see that happening

(B-B) The Seven Seals and the Seven Trumpets: Rev 6, Rev 8-9.

During the Christian Era, God will pour out His wrath upon

unbelievers. It didn't have to be that way and because of His Two

Witnesses the world is without excuse. To bring the unsaved to

repentance many terrible things will happen. Anarchy, wars,

famines, and natural disasters will abound (Rev 6:1-8). At the end

there will be a mighty spiritual battle with 200,000,000 horsemen5

fighting, Man will hide in the caves in the ground and under

mountains, but he will not repent of his rebellion and sorcery and

idolatry (Rev 9:20-21). That sounds like today, doesn't it?

(C-C) The 144,000 and the Great Multitude: Central in it all are

the redeemed of the Christian Era: they from this great tribulation

of this era whom the Lord Jesus has reconciled to God the Father.

Included are the physical seed of Israel (Rev 7:4-8) and the

Gentile church (Rev 7:9). The seal on the heads of the 144,000 is

the name of the Father (Rev 14:1). The fifth seal (Rev 6:9)

describes the brethren who have gone before us. They are clothed

in white robes (the righteousness of Christ) and stand beneath an

the altar in heaven (a symbol of the cross). They do not cease to

Rev 7:13-17 "And one of the elders answered, saying unto

me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and

whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest.

And he said to me, These are they which came out of great

tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them

white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before

the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his

temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among

them. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall

feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of

waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."

Now that we understand the chiasmic pattern, the last half of

Revelation is quite open. Most of these later visions can be related

to world history. It is not the author's intent to belabor the

chiasmic form, but it is one of the major tools proving Revelation

is repetitive in an organized way. Remember in Daniel, how half

of that book was to Gentile nations, while the other half was to

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5 Throughout Scripture, angelic hosts are depicted as horsemen (2Ki 2:11, 2Ki

6:15-18, 2Ki 7:6; Zec 1:8, Zec 6:2-6; Rev 6:2-8, Rev 9:16, Rev 19:14). Conse-

quently, a major portion of the 200,000,000 horsemen of Rev 9:16 may be unseen

spiritual forces. If that is correct, then we may not see vast human armies massed

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the Jews? Revelation is a little different. The audience is the same,

the Church, but the subjects are different. The 1st chiasm is God

the Father's spiritual view of this era, the 2nd chiasm is His view of

happenings in our material world. As a result, the central message

Seven satanic empires will seize control of the Holy Land

throughout history. Concurrent with those visible kingdoms,

God will have a spiritual kingdom on Earth composed of the

Jewish people and the Gentile church. In the fullness of time,

Jesus will return to reward the saints and judge the wicked.

This second chiasm is about kingdoms, both earthly and

spiritual. The Jews and the Church are the Lord's spiritual

kingdom on earth, while the beasts and Babylon are various

aspects of the enemy's satanic kingdom, both seen and unseen.

Babylon centers on the world socioeconomic system, while the

1. As the Scarlet beast, Satan is the embodiment of the sin in

the world. He finally goes forth to deceive the nations as an

2. Through Leopard-Bear-Lion beast, Satan displays his

control of the kingdoms of the Middle East where the seat of

Sometimes man's chapter breaks are in the wrong place, or

don't belong in the passage at all because they interfere with the

flow of Scripture. The last half of Revelation is an example.

This 2nd Chiasm shows us both godly and satanic kingdoms and

the final outcomes for both. The rejoicing of the saints is the

subject of Ch 15, while God's wrath on those who have rejected

His Son is the subject of Rev 16. This ABC=CBA structure is a

little complicated, and there are alternative views, but careful

(A-A) Israel and the Church: Rev 12, Rev 20. The Woman with

Twelve Stars, and the reign of Christ. Many take Rev 20, the so-

called millennium literally,6 because it appears to use literal

language. The fact that Revelation is figurative, as are all other

biblical visions, makes that view difficult to support.

More likely, this is the whole body of Christ, all the redeemed

both Jew and Gentile. From the time of Moses, Israel has been the

caretaker of the oracles of God (Rom 3:2). Israel was the line

through whom the Savior of the world would come. After Jesus

was glorified, Israel and the Church (the spiritual kingdom over

which the Lord now reigns, Rev 20:4), would be persecuted but

not destroyed. Satan would be bound so as not to deceive the

nations during the Christian Era (Rev 20:2, Mat 12:29, Joh 12:31).

At the end of the Christian Era, Satan would be released for a

little season (Rev 12:12-13 and 20:7). Jesus is the first and only

resurrection. There is no other resurrection in scripture. Blessed,

indeed, are those who have part in Him as born-again believers.

Over them the second death has no power (Rev 20:6). In the

6 The Greek P\84@4 (chilioi) Strong's No. G5507, is an indefinite plural form of

P484VH (chilias), the word for a single thousand. This indefinite chilioi is the only

word translated "thousand" in Rev 20, so it cannot be proven that the "thou-

be referring any number of thousands of years. As a result, Rev 20:1-6 can be a

pictorial representation of the whole Christian Era, regardless of length.

culmination of all things on this present Earth, there is a final

battle (Rev 12:17 and 20:7-9). Please notice how the account in

Rev 12 parallels Rev 20, and the many parallel verses indicate that

(B-B) The Beast with Seven Heads, and the Leopard, Bear, Lion:

Rev 13, Rev 17. Throughout history there have been only seven

major empires and their descendants ruling in the Earth. They

have been satanically empowered (Rev 17:3) because they are his

domain (Luk 4:6). Out of the Middle East we now have an empire

that is the combination of three ancient ones, Babylon, Medo-

Persia, and Greece. The whole Middle East is the home of the

Islamic world. Those nations are held together by a common

religion and have a satanically inspired hatred for the Church and

Israel. They will always be at war with the spiritual kingdom of

The 144,000, the Eternal Gospel and Babylon: Rev 14-15, Rev 17-

19. The servants of the Lord are compared with servants of the

enemy. Now in the Christian Era, the Old Testament saints sing

about Jesus.7 For them He is a new song (Rev 14:3). The eternal

gospel is preached to the Church (Rev 14:6). The trials of the

Christian Era are foretold, followed by the Lord coming in the

clouds to reap the Earth of the saints (Rev 14:14-16). In the

Grapes of Wrath, more is told about the final battle (Rev 14:17-

19). The battlefront will be 200 miles long, from Jerusalem north-

ward. Knowing that the prophecies in Revelation are parallel

makes this a lot easier. The various little pieces at the end of each

prophecy, about a great battle, appear to be about the same great

battle - at least partially spiritual - of Armageddon.

Mighty Babylon falls (Rev 18). She is the haunt for every evil

beast and bird and creeping thing. Who is she? Since every death

on Earth is attributed to her, from the prophets of the Old

Testament to the saints of the Church, Babylon is far broader than

one single empire or city, no matter how great and long-lasting.

Babylon is every unsaved rebellious person, land, and empire that

7 That the 144,000 are the Old Testament Israelites is provable by comparing

their identification as "first-fruits" (Rev 14:4) with Jer 2:3 and other Scriptures.

Rev 18:24 "And in her was found the blood of prophets,

and of saints, and of ALL that were slain upon the earth."

Babylon began when Cain murdered his brother Abel and

continues until the last Christian is impaled or beheaded in some

spiritually dark and human-snake infested concrete jungle.

Babylon means confusion. Satan is the author of confusion.

Babylon is Satan's world. We have been commanded throughout

Scripture to separate ourselves from her. We haven't listened very

Rev 18:4-5 "And I heard another voice from heaven,

saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not

partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her

plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God

Soon the light of the Word will be heard in her no more, nor the

voice of Jesus the bridegroom, nor the witness of the bride (the

Church is the bride of Christ), and Babylon will be no more...

Rev 18:23, 19:1 "And the light of a candle shall shine no

more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of

the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy

merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy

sorceries were all nations deceived . . . And after these

things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven,

saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and

(C-C) The Songs of Moses and the Lamb and the Return of the

King: Rev 19. In the return of Jesus and the song of the redeemed,

the Lord closes the doors on the great beasts of Revelation. For

the world it is all over. As is true in the rest of Revelation, a dual

address is made to distinguish between the Old Testament saints

and the Church. The song of Moses is sung by Israel, while glory

The Seven Bowls: Rev 16. The judgment of the bowls is a

terrible intensification of the seven trumpets. The plagues are

similar. The bowls are directed at one geographic area, the throne

of the beast. Spiritual in nature, these bowls tells us of the

spiritual darkness that now engulfs the Middle East and that

Rev 16:13-14 "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs

come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth

of the beast (notice there are three, the Leopord-Bear-Lion,

i.e., the Middle East), and out of the mouth of the false

prophet (Muhammad). For they are the spirits of devils,

working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the

earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle

The only threefold enemy the Lord mentions in Revelation is the

Leopard-Bear-Lion, so these three unclean spirits, like frogs, are

probably the satanic princes who spiritually control those lands,

Muhammad being the false prophet. These spirits have remained

in the Middle East throughout the Christian Era, but the poison of

Islam is now spreading all over the world. As is true of the other

prophecies which tell us of man's final rebellion, this one also ends

We can now see how the Lord had planned the Christian Era

all along. There have been Two Witnesses, the Jews and the

Gentile church. The Lord never forgot His chosen people, and

through the Gentile church untold numbers of Ephraim have

unknowingly returned to the Lord. Through bifids and chiasms we

can now understand that both Daniel and Revelation are repetitive

in an organized way. Since the time of the Gentiles was over in

Using the same bifidic and chiasmic style as Daniel, Revelation

continues where Daniel left off. With 12 parallel prophecies in two

chiasms, Revelation reviews the Old Testament Era and amplifies

what Daniel told us about the time of the Gentiles. Then it

expounds on the satanically controlled empires of the world and

identifies the final enemies of his Two Witnesses. Revelation

closes with a brief description of the eternal kingdom of God.

Daniel 8:17-19 declares that the last half of the vision of the

Ram and the He Goat is a vision of the time of the very end, so we

The angelic being speaking to Daniel was not battling some

mere mortal. Those were satanic princes, as Dan 10:20 points out!

At the end of time, out of the area controlled by those spiritual

princes, a little horn -- a wicked ruler -- will arise who will lead the

enemy's forces at the end of time, however, he will be brought to

"Finally," you say, "there is your Antichrist. We knew it all

along." Not at all. This will undoubtedly be a political or military

leader, but he will be coming from the Middle East. The "little

horn" of Dan 8 could be Ben Laden of Al Queda or one of those

deranged mullahs from Iran. He could also be someone acting

behind the scenes that we don't think very important, like Hassan

DAN 8:9-11 "And out of one of them came forth a little

horn9, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and

toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it

waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down

some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and

DAN 8:23-25 "And in the latter time of their kingdom,

when the transgressors come to the full, a king of fierce

countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall

stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his

own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall

prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the

holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause

craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself

in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall

also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be

This is indeed a vision of the end (Dan 8:17 and 19), and this

little horn does not come out of the Roman Empire, but out of the

8 Many try to identify the little horn of Dan 8:9-11 and 8:23-25 as Antiochus

Epiphanies, the Greek king who desecrated the temple in 168BC. The problem

with that interpretation is that 168BC was not "the ultimate time of the end"

v.17, or "the appointed time of the end" v.19. Scripture declares this to be an

end-time vision and we see it now being fulfilled in satanically inspired shadow

9 There is no reason to believe that we will be able to recognize the "little horn"

of Dan 8 when he appears, any more than we were able to recognize Adolf Hitler

as the "little horn" of Dan 7 until after Hitler was killed.

lands once ruled by Greece (Dan 8:21). The Grecian Empire of

Alexander the Great covered the whole Middle East. Notice that

this final ruler is going to use peace talks to put people off their

There is so much Scripture for the location and behavior of the

final enemy of the Jews and the Church that it is difficult to avoid

duplication. All end-time prophecy points to the Middle East. The

final enemy of God's people is the Islamic world. However, from

what we now know about Ten-Horns of the Scarlet Beast, the

Islamic states won't be in this war by themselves. They will be

supported by the rest of the world. Nevertheless, at the very end,

it won't be man's weaponry but the voice of the King of kings who

10 Included in the prophecy of the Ram and the He-Goat is a time period of 2300

evenings and mornings (Dan 8:14). From Scripture we know that evenings and

mornings are not days, and not times. The Lord gave us a day (a yom) for a year,

years. God did not give us evenings and mornings for years. The author confesses

that he is not sure what these evenings and mornings mean. Are they 2300 days, or

since an evening and morning appears in each day, are they 1150 days?

Impossible to tell, but these evening and mornings probably refer to the evening and

morning sacrifices offered by the priests on the alter of burnt offerings. .