Wow.
You're definitely digging into one of the heaviest books in the scriptures, of that there's no doubt.
So many great minds over the years have tried to deal with it over the centuries.
And so much of what we think we know about it has been muddied and muddled.
Some, by no doubt well meaning scholars, that tried to fit The Revelation into their personal experience of the time. Like those that have pointed to historical figures like Nero, Napoleon, and Hitler, and were absolutely certain that those men were the "Beast". (Even the great Sir Issac Newton, arguably the greatest mathematician of all time, felt that he had a handle on The Revelation. His prediction puts the "end times" at around 2020...)
Then with the emergence of the Pre-Tribulational Rapture theory that became popular in the early 1900's, along with the resurgence of that popularity in the late 60's-early 70's by people like Hal Lindsey, and the hundreds of authors that followed - everyone seemed to think that we had this book down pat. It was just a matter timing, but they say that
this time, the end is really, really close...
I guess that my biggest problem with all of that is that when it comes to prophecy, it's only seen clearly
after the fact.
I mean if you look at the prophecies concerning the Messiah's birth, we see them now and say to ourselves, "Sure! That's so easy to see. It's as plain as day!" And yet the best minds, and most holy men of Israel were flummoxed. Daniel's math predicted His birth down to the exact year
500 years before it happened, and it was still such a mystery to men that many are still waiting for it to happen...
Anyway, what were you asking again? Oh yeah, what are my thoughts on The Revelation?
Heavy.
Because of the fact that John wrote in what
appears to be symbolic terms in many instances, it can be a confusing book, to be sure.
I mean, John himself said in so many words, "Here's what I'm seeing. I don't understand it myself. I can only describe it using things I'm familiar with, but it really is bigger, stranger, scarier, and in many ways more wondrous than I've ever imagined. I even managed to confuse either an angel or a resurrected man with God, and was about to worship him when he told me that He wasn't God and would I please not do that! So even I don't understand what I saw. I'm just writing it down." (Elwin's Paraphrase

)
So, while I've studied it and continue to do so, I have to use extreme caution not to try fit it into a nice neat little package that fits into my very limited experience.
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect,
throughly furnished unto all good works." II Timothy 3:16, 17