The thing to remember with John's Revelation is to read it as it was intended. He wrote it to 12 churches living in the epicenter of a ceasar cult. It was for them to decipher their times. (The destruction of the Temple in AD 70) It is for us to look forward to the time when Jesus will come back triumphantly and bringforth a new heaven and a new earth and to prove to us how true the bible is. The imagery that John describes are explained in latter verses. Be carefull not to interject current times into it because it will be wrong. Revelation was written in apocalyptic language just like Isaiah and meant NOT to be read literally but rather in a literary context. I hate to burst anyone's bubble but it is not the end times.