Dear Mrs. Smith,

I am glad that the study is proving helpful. Praise the Lord.

With respect to your question, although God has revealed future things in Revelation, they are best assessed in light of their fulfillments and after the fact, especially the prophecies concerning concerning "times and seasons". Some of this will become clearer when we get into the prophetic portion of the Book, but in the meantime, think of it as being like unto a man walking backwards. Looking over the trail already traveled, he can see quite clearly (things already fulfilled), but his peripheral vision is less clear (things present). However, what is yet behind him (future things) are still very much in the dark. This dawned on me the first time I read through Elliott's Horae: The further back in the past he was looking, the more persuasive his interpretation; he is less persuasive concerning things being fulfilled in his own time; he is not at all persuasive about things yet future to him (except in the most general way).

If this explanation is not particularly helpful, keep the question in mind; we will get into some of this in detail later, especially concerning the interpretation of the 1260 days, and when that period starts and ends.

--Dr. Dilday