In order to understand the book of Revelation you have to read it against the backdrop of the Old Testament, and you also have to understand the subject matter and the timing as to when these events were to take place. The book of Revelation isn’t describing events in the distant future, it’s describing events leading up to and including the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Declaring the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as fulfillment of Revelation 8 is nonsense.