Jar, I really need to point out something. If anything, we should lay the blame on the writing style of the past. In this day and age, we communicate with each other directly without beating around the bushes.
For example, if I have a premonition of an airplane crashing into a scyscrapper, I'm going to tell you that jar, I just had a premonition of an airplane crashing into a big tall building.
But if I am to communicate what I have seen in the old fashion way, I would say jar, while in my dream-like state, I saw a great beast hovering over a great city and bestowed great pain on the people in a great palace. I heard thundering noise and cries of great pain of which this beast hath brought down upon people.
I have no idea why people of the past (or even present day prophets) communicate in such obscure manner. The second way I could have told you about the premonition could be interpreted as a comet, meteor, missile, etc. Why not just say I saw a plane crashing into a building?
Beside, you have to understand that people of the past, when presented with images of the future, did not necessarily understand what they saw. Because of that, they couldn't tell us exactly what they saw in the manner that we could understand (credit cards, computers, ect.). They could only do the next best thing, write the most obscure poem they could possibly conjure up and let future generations take wild guesses to interpret their meanings.
AKA G.A.S.B.Y.
George Absolutely Stupid Bush the
Younger
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