When we study Bible prophecy, we always come to the problem of interpretation. Who has it right? After all, those biblical images of beasts with many heads, horns and other strange body parts are difficult to understand. 

The fact is, the subject of Bible prophecy is not easy. Without the right tools, some of those images in prophecy can be hard nuts to crack. Fortunately, with each one of those images, God has provided us with the right tool. Sometimes God gives us the interpretation Himself in a nearby passage. Other times He wants us to use the keys we have picked up along the way. 

This brings us to our first problem. We try to make Bible prophecy even more complicated than it is. Think about it. The Old Testament book of Daniel is where we find some of the most amazing prophecies in Scripture. Yet, in Daniel, we also find a favorite children’s story – Daniel in the lion’s den. 

My point is, God wants us to look at all those strange images He has given us in Bible prophecy just as a child would look at the pictures his Sunday School teacher puts up on a flannel-graph board. I believe one reason God gave us so much prophecy in picture form was so we would look at these images like a child and expect a simple meaning.