“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3).
“When shall these things be?” is a question that deals not only with the subject of dating the return of Christ, but with how those prophesied events will lay out in sequence, as well. What happens first, second, third, etc.?
If we gain a basic understanding of the sequence of events, many difficult passages become clear and lay out in their proper order. Sometimes a scripture passage will not deal specifically with a prophetic event, but will simply add highlights of otherwise hidden meaning through what we may call “implication.” Such is the case with Psalm 122.