If John was commissioned in Revelation 1:19 to write about past things, present things, and things "about to be hereafter", then this variation in timing can also be describing events included in the seals, trumpets, and vials as well.
There are even some very ancient past events described in Revelation's prophecies.
I'm a literalist, whenever possible. And I don't see any reason not to be literal, in this case. I need the definition of the words in the Bible, so I know what the Bible is talking about... literally.
Revelation 19:10 the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
propheteia = from prophetes("prophecy"); prediction (scriptural or other):--prophecy, prophesying. prophetes = from a compound of pro(before) and phemi(to show); a foreteller ("prophet")
marturia = from martus; evidence given (judicially or genitive case):--record, report, testimony, witness.
Please give me some idea (Chapter and Verse) for what you term "ancient past events described in Revelation"... thanks in advance.
If your perception is that prophecy is always predictive of the future, then you might be interested in 1 Chronicles 25:1-3 which describes some of King David's musicians who prophesied with harps, psalteries, and cymbals, specifically in order "to give thanks and to praise the Lord", and not to predict the future in this case. Meaning to "prophesy" is not always predicting the future.
1 Chronicles 25:1 And king David and the captains of the host appointed to their services the sons of Asaph and of Æman and of Idithun, prophesiers with harps and lutes and cymbals: and their number was according to their polls serving in their ministrations.LXX
Psalms for Asaph, 50 and 73-83; Psalms for Idithun, 39, 62, 77; Psalms for Æman, 88.
From the Septuagint:
Psalms 50, A Psalm for Asaph.
50:1 [3] God, our God, shall come manifestly, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall be kindled before Him, and round about Him there shall be a very great tempest. 4 He shall summon the heaven above and the earth, that He may judge His people.
Psalms 62, For the end, a Psalm of David for Idithun.
62:1 [11] God has spoken once, and I have heard these two things: that power is of God, 12 and mercy is Thine, O Lord, for Thou wilt recompense every one according to his works.
Psalms 75, For the end, Destroy not, a Psalm of a Song for Asaph.
75:1 [8] For there is a cup in the hand of the Lord, full of unmingled wine; and He has turned it from side to side but its dregs have not been wholly poured out, all the sinners of the earth shall drink them.
Psalms 77, For the end, for Idithun, a Psalm of Asaph.
77:1 [18] The voice of Thy thunder was abroad and around Thy lightnings appeared to the world, the earth trembled a quaked.
Psalms 78, A Psalm of instruction for Asaph.
78:1 Give heed, O My people, to My law: incline your ear to the words of My mouth. 2 I will open My mouth in parables: I will utter dark sayings which have been from the beginning. (Matthew 13:35)
Psalms 79, A Psalm for Asaph.
79:1 [9] Help us, O God our Saviour. For the glory of Thy name, O Lord, deliver us, and be merciful to our sins for Thy name’s sake. 10 Lest haply they should say among the heathen, Where is their God? and let the avenging of Thy servant’s blood that has been shed be known among the heathen before our eyes.
Psalms 82, A Psalm for Asaph.
82:1 [8] Arise, O God, judge the earth, for Thou shalt inherit all nations.
Psalms 83, A Song of a Psalm for Asaph.
83:1 2 For behold, Thine enemies have made a noise, and they that hate Thee have lifted up the head. 3 Against Thy people they have craftily imagined a device, and have taken counsel against Thy saints. 4 They have said, Come, and let us utterly destroy them out of the nation, and let the name of Israel be remembered no more at all.
I'll just list a few...
Revelation 13:18 - The 666-year-old history of the Sea Beast, as of the time John was writing Revelation. This Sea Beast according to Revelation 13:2 had the combined biographical features of Daniel's leopard empire (Greece), the bear empire (Medes and Persians), and the lion empire (Babylonian) . This Sea Beast had existed ever since 607 BC, (when the first Babylonian deportation of the Jews from Jerusalem took place), and it was still in existence in John's days under its then-current Roman phase.
Revelation 13:2 - Satan gave his seat (in the city of Pergamos according to Revelation 2:13) to the Sea Beast. This happened back in 133 BC when the dying king Attalus bequeathed to his ally, the Roman Republic, his entire Pergamos kingdom, including that famous Pergamos altar in the temple to Zeus, since he had no heir to whom he could pass the kingdom of Pergamos.
What you're calling a sea beast is no more than the waters upon which the woman sits, which are also called hills, and peoples. This would at least include the Meditteranean's shores... at most, it's world-wide.
And I'm doubting the features are biographical. They're just empires and the characteristics thereof. More and more, these things seem like oddities, to me.
Which is why I turned to Zacharias, and the four carpenters:
Egyptian captivity, Assyrian captivity, Babylonian captivity, Roman Captivity.
Rome's ancient ancestors were Greek; but with the empire, they became a bit of everything: spotted leopards--a mixture of races--implied and in fact. And Rome was all about captivity. At one point in time, they had a million Celtic slaves.
When the Book of Revelation was given to John, Asia was a Roman province, and Pergamos was it's seat... before Ephesus.
Revelation 20:4 - The millennium of Satan's binding for a literal thousand years was said to culminate with his release for a "short time" once that millennium had "expired". John warned the saints in Revelation 12:12 that Satan's "short time" had already begun back then with him being released on earth in great wrath. This meant that the literal thousand years had begun long before John was writing Revelation.
Revelation 6:10 - The souls under the altar pleading God's vengeance for their shed blood was the same as the "elect" pleading for God's vengeance back in Luke 18:7-8. Jesus said that when the Son of Man came, that these "elect" would be avenged "speedily", even though God had born their pleading for a long time before then. These included some martyrs from ancient times whose shed blood was to be avenged.
Some never seem to see that third woe staring them in the face in Revelation 12. Satan's still coming and going, before Michael's war in Heaven, from Daniel, is again, right there. And the woman in Revelation 12 is Isaiah's Heavenly Sion. And since Revelation 6:10 is from the hereafter verses... this can't be about long-ago saints... they're told to rest for a little season, they just got their robes, so they just got there.
Well... this was fun.