A few quick pointers concerning the book of Revelation.
There are repeated cycles.
The 7 churches, seals, trumpets, are historical narratives depicting different eras of human history from the time the vision was first given, to the second coming. Also referred to briefly later on is the culmination of all God's purposes at the end of the 1000 years when the earth and heaven are made new.
The churches, the seals and the trumpets deal with similar eras, but looking at those eras from different perspectives. The church part of Revelation 2,3 is obvious. They deal with the rise of Christianity, it's progress throughout the last 2000 years including it's good and bad times, including the time of apostasy in the dark ages. Of course there were churches worldwide, but these literal churches of Asia to whom the letters were written are types of the main stream church movements in history. While each era begin at different times, the last 3 or 4 churches have end time aspects to them, because they are still there at the end. For example, Thyatira represents the rise of the Papacy. We know the Papacy is still with us today, and will be there at the end, although in a much different form that which existed in previous times. Same with the final 3.
The seals are subtly different. Each seal is a parallel to the letters, but from a secular viewpoint, and the secular affect upon God's people.
The trumpets depict the military history of the same periods, and to a great extent reveal God's judgments against Pagan Rome for it's persecutions against God's people. The eras of course don't exactly match in comparison with the church and seals, there are some blurring of lines and crossovers, but that's the way the prophecy is written, some general descriptions with enough information to make some reasonable assertions as to who they represent. For example, the first 4 trumpets depict the 4 incursions of the barbarian tribes into the Roman empire up to the 5th century. The second trumpet for example is focused on the sea. The Vandal king Alaric mounted a naval campaign against Rome, using Carthage in north Africa as his headquarters. He destroyed much of the Roman fleet by setting fire to them. Those 4 trumpets saw the end of the western empire. The eastern empire based in Constantinople is dealt with in the next two trumpets, involving the rise of Islam and her war against the Byzantine empire and various wars and battles involving Turkey and Persia.
Revelation 3:14, the final church, Revelation 8:1, the final seal, and Revelation 10:7; 11:15, the final trumpet, all have a couple of things in common. They all deal with the exact same time period, the last days and events, and all depict a different aspect of the second coming.
So you have a repeat of history with those chapters, up to chapter 11. Chapter 12 however brings a different approach. 12 shows us a general depiction of the entire 2000 years since the birth of Christ, begging with His birth and resurrection, Satan's determination to kill Christ, the expulsion of Satan from having any access to heaven, his war against the church, the flight of the church into the wilderness to escape persecution, the Providence of God in supplying a refuge (America verse 16), and the final battle against the remnant yet to come.
Chapter 13 deals exclusively with two entities, described as beasts just as in Daniel. These are not individuals. Beasts in Bible prophecy are political powers... Nations, governments, empires. God is consistent with his symbolic applications so as not to confuse the issues that we may understand. The first beast in 13 is the Papacy. The second beast in 13 is apostate protestant America. The chapter principally deals with the infusion of church and state, in order to persecute God's people. First in the dark ages, then yet to come on a global scale after the second beast compels the world to honor Rome as the head of all global Christianity. The result is the threat of death to those who refuse the mark.
Chapter 14 is about his remnant church of the last days, of their message to the world incorporating 3 different shifts of the everlasting gospel, warning the world against siding with the coming union of church and state.
Babylon the Great is the final development of everything Satan has attempted to accomplish through human agencies and powers.
In the OT he used foreign pagan powers to destroy Israel, all with the intent to block and/or destroy the expected Messiah... And if unsuccessful with that, make Israel so loathsome in the sight of God that He would give up His quest in saving the world from Satan's grip, and force God to destroy Israel.
That having failed, and the Messiah having completed His initial goal, Satan's focus shifted to the church. Pagan Rome was his first weapon of choice, but persecution only grew the church. So Satan resorted to deception. He would destroy the church from within through false teachers and apostasy, then through a fallen church attack and destroy the true. This was all to be done with a union of church and state... Even pagan Rome was such a union, and even the Jews joined with Rome to kill Jesus.
We then saw this throughout the medieval Europe. The union of the Catholic Church with the kings and rulers of nations which they used to war against God's people, both before and after the reformation.
Today we witness the same thing happening in America. A union of church and state, being an image to the first papal beast, as the goal of evangelical Christianity, along with a much more favorable relationship with Rome which they will eventually submit to, leading the rest of the world to do the same.
There is, and will be a remnant who refuse to bow the knee to Baal. They "will be hated of all nations for Jesus sake", they will be the final focus and ultimate target of Satan in the final hours. Babylon the Great, is that final global union of the church riding the state power, holding the reigns and giving directions, but being supported by the states military and legislative powers.
In the end, Christ will come to rescue His final remnant people from the hand of their enemies, and everything upon the planet will be destroyed in the earthquakes and wars and plagues of the last events.
God's faithful and obedient remnant (Revelation 14:12) will be in heaven for 1000 years while the earth remains desolate... An abyss. No life on earth except for Satan and his angels. At the close of the 1000 years the New Jerusalem, along with all the resurrected saints from all ages, will descend and become the capital of the universe upon a new earth and in a new heaven. Basically, that's Revelation in a nutshell. The big picture.
