I’ve always wondered why God had John describe everything he saw using symbols so often instead of plain language that would’ve been easier to understand?
In Matt. 13:11 Jesus said in effect that the knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom has been given to believers but not to unbelievers. And in 1 Cor. 2:14 Paul said that because unbelievers don’t have the Spirit of God to help them, they can not understand things that come from Him. This has the dual effect of providing knowledge and understanding to the Lord’s followers while keeping unbelievers in the dark. It’s similar to the way military commanders put battle plans into a code that their troops can decipher but their enemy can not understand.
This is why Paul said that the End Times judgments will come while the unbelieving world does not expect them, but that believers should not be surprised to see them approaching (1 Thes 5:1-4). This dual purpose could not have been accomplished if the Lord had instructed John and the other writers to present all of end times prophecy in clear language.