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Study the Prophecies of Revelation and Daniel

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16 August 2005

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Revelation 12: The Woman and the Dragon

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet , amd on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. Revelation 12:1-2

In a short 492 words Revelation 12 covers over 2,000 years of history.

The Woman

We see a woman who is clothed with the sun. Many believe this woman to represent Israel, but this woman is not Israel for she is the bride of Christ, His people, the church. A woman when used as a symbol in Revelation signifies a church. Just as the woman in Revelation 17 represents a church. The character of the WOMAN determines which church it represents. The woman in Revelation 17 is immoral, a harlot. She is the apostate church. In Revelation 12 she is pure, she is a virgin and she represents the bride of Christ.

Paul applied a virgin to the church.

For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. 2 Corinthians 11:2

In Matthew 25:1 "Then the kingdom of heaven (God's people) will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom.

John the Baptist was sent to announce the arrival of the groom.

"You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but, I have been sent before Him.' " He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. And so this joy of mine has been made full." John 3:28-29

Jesus was born of a virgin.

The wedding of the Messiah and Israel didn't happen. Israel turned to other gods even after God was merciful with her.

"Can a virgin forget her ornaments, Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number." Jeremiah 2:32

But the wedding is still going to happen. It will be fulfilled to spiritual Israel, all those through the ages who belong to Christ.

"Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." Revelation 19:7

You and I that belong to Christ will be a part of this wedding! The bride is all of God's people.

Clothed with the sun

I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; For he has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bride groom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels… Isaiah 61:10

But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. Malachi 4:2

And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the linen is the righteous act of the saints. Revelation 19:8

The saints will wear the righteousness of Christ. They wear fine linen as bright as the sun.

She stands on the moon

"My covenant I will not violate, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips." Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. His descendants shall endure forever, And his throne as the sun before Me. "It shall be established forever like the moon, And the witness in the sky is faithful." Psalm 89:34-37

The everlasting covenant changes.

He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. Revelation 21:7

She stands on the promise of marriage to the Lamb, Jesus. Notice the everlasting covenant with man, the "if" will no longer be a condition, for we will all belong to God after the wedding. The bride, (the church) stands by faith on His promise of marriage.

Crown of 12 stars

She is wearing a crown. It is the stephanos crown. It is the crown of victory in the Greek. She is wearing the crown of victory because she has not only been victorious through the ages but she is also victorious over the devil, his image and his number. The people of God have overcome everything through the power of Jesus.

And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had come off victorious from the beast and his image and from the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass holding harps of God. And they sang the song of Moses the bond-servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the nations. Revelation 15:2-3

The Twelve Stars

Stars in Revelation have symbolized angels or messengers in the messages to the seven churches. In the trumpets they have symbolized meteors and asteroids. If we follow the context in this verse we can see that these are messengers. We read in Daniel 12:3, And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

These stars are heavenly messengers, the 144,000 chosen from the 12 tribes of spiritual Israel. They will lead many during the tribulation to Christ. These are the first-fruits and they will follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

She is with child

And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. Revelation 12:3-5

There can be no doubt who this child is. This woman is a virgin and Jesus was born of a virgin. The church is likened to a virgin. He will rule with a rod of iron.

And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may site the nations; and he will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh he has a name written, "King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." Revelation 19:15-16

Jesus Christ is the male child who was caught up to God and His throne. Now the main point in what has been said is this; we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. . .Hebrews 8:1

King Herod is the agent that the devil tried to use to destroy the child. Praise God, he was not successful and today we have salvation in Jesus. This chapter in Revelation is all about the on going battle between satan and his hatred for Jesus. When he was unable to destroy Jesus he went after that which Jesus loves, His church, the woman.

And the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. Revelation 12:6

We know from Daniel 7 this period was from 538 AD until 1798, the period of the dark ages.

War in Heaven and the dragon identified.

And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels with him. Revelation 12: 7-9

The Bible clearly identifies the great red dragon; he is the devil himself.

This war did not happen before creation as taught in many cases. Notice when the dragon saw that he was thrown to the earth, he chases the woman who has already given birth to the child. Jesus was born in 4 BC so the devil was being thrown out of heaven after 4 BC. John is not talking about the first time satan was cast out of heaven.

In verse 10-11; And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.

12: For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time." The Greek word eis translated as to the means primarily into the earth.

Notice that the dragon is called the accuser of the brethren. If this is the first expulsion of the devil from heaven as some teach then why would the angels call the devil the accuser of the brethren before the world was created? There were no human beings when Lucifer was first cast out of heaven. So when did this take place? When was salvation actually paid for? The only answer could be with the resurrection of Jesus.

Until Calvary the devil and his angels could enter heaven, but not the Holy City. He would enter and dispute the salvation of sinners. (Job 1) This is why Jesus said to Mary, …stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. . . John 20:17 The devil and his angels could no longer enter heaven and argue the salvation of the saints for salvation was paid for, Christ paid the price in full. When the devil saw that he had been locked out of Heaven forever and he could no longer accuse men before God, he concentrated all of his anger on the woman.

13: And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman (church) who gave birth to the male child.

14: And the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, in order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.

A time = 1 year times = 2 years and a half time = 1/2 year. A day for a year principle is used here so the time is for 1,260 years. The devil was allowed to persecute the saints for 1,260 years during the dark ages by Rome. (Daniel 7:25) 538AD ending in 1798

15- 16 And the serpent poured water like a river out of this mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood ("war" Isa 8:6-8; Hosea 5:10; Jer47:1-4; Dan 9:26). And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river, which the dragon poured out of his mouth.

The flood water represents war. See Isa 8:6-8; Hosea 5:10; Jer 47:1-4; Dan 9:26

As the 1,260 years were coming to an end, the devil tried to destroy the woman with war during the French Revolution (1789-1799).

Just before the French Revolution began the earth helped the woman. Protestantism grew and God opened a new land to help the woman (church). The fall of the Papacy in 1798 and the Declaration of Independence (1776) were no accident. The land that helped the woman was the Untied States, the New World. The New World was a place of religious freedom. Our God has a perfect plan for everything. Those that had been persecuted for their faith could flee to the new land.

17: And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

When the devil was unable to destroy the woman he was even more enraged and went underground. He set out to destroy the final remnant of God. He has undermined the authority of the Bible and he has infiltrated the churches and will try to destroy all those who obey His Commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus that he can.

Our story in Revelation 12 began with the birth of Jesus in 4 BC. It is also not the end of the story as chapter 13 continues the story. Remember John didn't designate chapters and verses in the original writings.

There are many that claim to be Christians, but do not obey His Commandments. Do not let the devil deceive you in these final days. Be about the King's business and share your testimony and with as many as possible, for the time is near!

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16 August 2005

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