Maybe you have never heard of historicist prophecy. That says that the book of Revelation is in the process of being fulfilled from the time of John all the way through to the (near) future, e.g., that the seals related to events of the downfall of the pagan Roman Empire, and then the trumpets as various invasions, etc.
The fifth trumpet is interpreted to be the Saracens, and the number of days matches the number of years of their power.
The sixth trumpet is when the Turks crossed the Euphrates, and the timeframe of a year, month, day and hour is the exact amount, when a day = a year, of time from the year they crossed Euphrates all the way to 1453 when they captured Constantinople.
And the vials relate to events concerning the French Revolution and beyond. So we are now in the sixth vial, waiting for the Euphrates (Turks/Islam/Russia/Gog and Magog) to come to their fall.
You can read these interpretations in commentaries such as Clarke, Gill, Calvin, or in books by Isaac Newton, Joseph Mede, etc. The historicist view was held by the Reformers and Puritans. The futurist view was popularised by the holiness movements.
Most present Futurists and Historicists "hate" each other. However, I am of the view that there is a harmony of both, because of the law of multiple interpretation of prophecy. Therefore, once the historicist prophecies are finished, the futurist one will begin with the translation of the saints.
The better futurists also recognise that when Gog and Magog come to Israel that this is before and different to Armageddon. Some put it before the seven years tribulation, and this is correct, and it also happen to match with the historicist view.
The (pre-mil, pre-trib rapture) futurist view has the tribulation beginning from Revelation 4, and has Revelation 1-3 dealing with the Church Age.
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