Given the way the WTBS pulls some of its most important doctrines and prophecies from the book of Revelation, I thought these quotes were good. They can (in my opinion) apply to a lot of other obscure passages, like the Book of Daniel. The first one was part of the outline for today's sermon at church, I found the second while doing some research.
"In the Louvre Museum in Paris some years ago, I stood at arm's length from a large impressionistic painting by Renoir. 'What in the world is that?' I wondered aloud. My wife, Ruth said 'stand back Bill, and you will see it.' I had been standing too close to the masterpiece and each individual detail, each patch of color, each brush stroke kept me from seeing the effect of the canvas as a whole. I was bogged down in the details. But when I stepped back across the hall, the mystery suddenly disapperaared and the beautiful image composed by the artist was clearly visible.
"For too long, I suspect, too many of us have examined the book of Revelation in the same manner. We have turned that great masterpiece into a series of images and brush strokes, and we have tried to outguess each other at the modern meaning of every star, dragon and number. As a result, we have lost the grand design of the prophet's mission, and we may also have missed the urgency of his warnings."
From the introduction to Revelation, NIV Study Bible: "Fortunately, the fundamental truths of Revelation do not depend on the adopting of a particular point of view. They are available to anyone who will read the book for its overall message and resist the temptation to become overly enamored with the details."