David,
Brothers Tom and Pastor Roger are correct when they say, this is a very difficult subject and requires a great deal of study and prayer.
David, understanding of prophecy is not easy, but it takes alot of
prayers, and
patient time. I always pray before I open my Bible, that I understand what God is saying.
The reason Bible prophecies are not spelled out in plain terms is due to several factors. One being that they were written in a time when what the prophets saw in visions and dreams did not look familiar. Therefore they had to try and describe things unknown to them. More importantly the messages from Jesus about these times are for His servants and not meant for anyone else. They are especially not meant for Satan to understand. God purposefully hid the then future events in symbolic form and each generation would be able to interpret the meanings based on revelation through the Holy Spirit and historical and current event context.
Reading and understanding Bible prophecy can be very challenging. Referring to other sources for interpretation is helpful but be careful because I have noticed that many people who interpret Bible prophecy apply different methods of interpretation.
I like using Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Mine has Hebrew, and Greek Dictionaries, as well as Cross references.
1 Corinthians 2:14 "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
I'll let you in for a very important lesson. The method that God intended for us to interpret Bible scripture is with Bible scripture. If you search the scriptures you will find confirmation of their meanings by using other scriptures somewhere else in the Bible. It is helpful to use a Bible that lists the cross references for you under each scripture.
Be sure to get help with interpretation and meaning of scriptures is to listen to pod casts, watch videos and read material from Bible prophecy teachers. I have my favorites but I do not follow any one teacher as the sole expert and final word on prophecy.
Be careful!! There are a lot of questionable people out there who claim to be "experts".
The most important thing David is, to pray and read your own Bible daily.