It is very difficult to think non-linearly. For man, time flows in one direction and it is a stream we cannot escape. But this doesn't hold true in the case of apocalyptic literature. There is a beginning, a middle and an end but the book of Revelation is telling us a story from different perspectives, often times repeating itself.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://orthrosgnosis.wordpress.com/2021/10/24/the-book-of-revelation-chapters-21-and-22/