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Revelation 12
By Adam Bartlett
1: And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
I believe that the woman represents Israel and the twelve stars representing the twelve tribes that actually make up Israel.
The scriptural support for this view is in:
Genesis 37
9: And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
10: And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, what is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
This was Joseph's second dream and Jacob confirmed that the Sun referred to him and the moon to Joseph's mother. The stars referred to Joseph's eleven brothers and Joseph being the twelfth.
2: And she, being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
The child being referred to is Christ and Romans 9:4-5 verifies this. This birth should have been a joyous occasion but was not because the Jewish people refused to see that this was the way in which God had chosen to bring about their redemption. They were looking for a warrior that would free them from the Roman oppression. Therefore because of their spiritual blindness there would be much pain involved as there was throughout their history. They were continuously persecuted by the Romans and eventually many killed and many taken captive and the rest dispersed from their own land. Then throughout history as all know they have been persecuted wherever they are.
3: And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
The dragon is undoubtedly satan as vs. 9 confirms. The seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns will be discussed in chapter 13. Some believe that the color red is a symbolization of the blood that has been shed by his hand of all saints past to present. Unlike the blood of Christ that was shed for man, satan sheds mans blood for himself.
4: And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
This is probably the most hard to understand verses in the Bible aside from the scriptures that speak of Lucifer's fall. The reason for this is because it is incomprehensive how these angels that were created and lived in the presence of the Almighty could ever leave their present abode for Lucifer's empty offer. One third of the angels believed his lie and fell with him out of heaven. That alone should be a lesson to all of us to never underestimate the power of deception and persuasiveness of the enemy. We are never to exalt him but we should never underestimate him either.
Notice that it states that he threw them to earth which indicates that they were totally under his power once they turned their back on God to follow him.
The picture of him standing before the woman preparing to devour the child is evident in the fact that satan used Herod to try to kill all the children within the age of Jesus. Matthew 2: 16-18 which was also prophesied by Jeremiah 31: 15. I tend to believe that there were many other efforts to have Jesus killed at a young age that are not written in the scriptures.
5: And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
This verse also verifies that the child being spoken of is Jesus. Isaiah 9:6-7, Psalm 2:9, Revelation 2:27, 19:15. It is also obvious by the very fact that this child was later caught up unto God and His throne.
6: And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
This verse indicates that Israel and the Jewish people in general will be signaled out during the last part of the tribulation. We know that all nations will gather in the Valley of Megiddo, also known as Armageddon for the purpose of fighting against Christ and His army but also to finally totally destroy the Jewish race. (Isaiah 34:1-8; 63:1-6; Joel 2:1-11; 3:9-13; Zephaniah 1:14-18; 3:8; Zechariah 12:9-11; 14:1-3)
7: And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
There is a great parallel to the verses found in Daniel 12, most especially verse one to this verse. It is most certain that this is the same time frame spoken of in each scripture. I believe that both scriptures are dealing with the last half of the tribulation also known as "The Great Tribulation" because it is to be the most severe time of all history. It is clearly speaking of this time in Daniel and also here in Revelation.
8: And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9: And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10: And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
We know by the descriptions in Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-19 that satan was cast out of heaven, the thing we do not know is the timing of this event. I personally believe the following: Satan was cast out of heaven sometime before the creation of Adam and Eve and quite possibly before the creation events we see described in Genesis. I believe he had access to at least a part of heaven where he could speak to God at times as described in Job 1:6-12. In vs. 10 it states that he accused the brethren "before" our God day and night. I believe that this verse is speaking of a time at the middle of the tribulation when satan is confined to the earth and not allowed in the heavenly realms at all. At this time he is allowed to control the affairs on the earth for the first time since his existence. That is why the severe warning in vs. 12.
11: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
What a testimony, and we see this type of faith displayed throughout the New Testament writings and through many faithful saints during the Reformation era and other times when Christians were being sought out, persecuted and killed. I fear that there are very few that have this type of faith today. The church has lost the power, the brightness of it's light and the saltiness of it's salt. This is the time spoken of in 1 Timothy 4:1-2; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 4:3-4 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 and others.
12: Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
The rejoicing in heaven will be for two reasons; one, because they will now be free from the spiritual battles that ensued while satan was allowed access to the heavenlies since he and his hosts will be confined to the earth. Two, because they will know that the end will occur soon and Christ will rule forever. The reason for the dread for those on earth is because they are now facing the greatest persecution and tribulation that has happened from the beginning of time as described in Matthew 24: 15-22.
13: And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14: And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Where this place is in the wilderness is not known and scripture does not reveal it. There is a natural rock fortress south of Israel which was given the name "Petra" and whether or not this is the place is not known. We do know for a fact that this time is most likely the last half of the tribulation as we are told in this verse and in verse 6 that the time is 3 ½ years. We see the time frames explained in different ways but equaling the same amount in Daniel 4:25, 32, 7:25, Revelation 11:2-3, 12:6, 14, 13:5. The time frames in Daniel listed as "times" with each "time" equaling a year. As mentioned in vs. 6, we know that all nations will gather to destroy the Jewish people and apparently during this last three and a half years of the tribulation they will be even more sought after. God will protect them to an extent.
It is also interesting that Israel, or the Jewish people at this point are said to have been given two wings of a great eagle to rescue them. This image was used in the Old Testament several times when God delivered Israel from Egypt, (Exodus 19:4) and was said to care for the Jews in the wilderness as a mother eagle and her young (Deuteronomy 32:11-12). It is also used in their return from Babylon with the familiar verse in Isaiah (Isaiah 40:31).
15: And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
There are times in the Bible where persecution is pictured as a flood, Psalm 32:6, 69:2&15, and the familiar verse in Isaiah 59:19. Zechariah 13:8-9 says that at this time one third of Israel will be all that survives this great persecution and it also indicates in the previous chapter 12: 8-14 that this one third will turn to Him.
It could be that this "flood" that is pursuing the Jewish people at this time is represented as the armies that are gathering in the valley of Armageddon to try to eliminate them as a race. We know for a fact that satan has always wanted the Jewish race completely annihilated and at this limited time he will have control over the affairs of mankind and be able to use them to try to accomplish this purpose.
16: And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
It is not clear how this will occur but the consensus is that it is most likely an earthquake that God will cause to deliver His people once again. Could it be possible that this verse is describing the event that will take place in Rev. 16:18-21?
17: And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
At this point since satan's plan was thwarted in his attempt to completely wipe out the Jewish race he now turns his attention to anyone that acknowledges their loyalty to Christ. To those that believe all paths lead to heaven you will not find any place in this book or the Bible for that matter that shows the persecution of this magnitude toward anyone except the followers of Christ.
Looking at the churches today and the Christians today it is hard to imagine a large number of individuals that will be able to stand during this time. We have Christians that cannot even stand up against the false teachings and gimmicks that are in the churches today. How will they ever think to stand against the antichrist?
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