Let me remind you that the Apostle John was told that he must "prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings." That is exactly what we see him doing in chapter 12.
Revelation 12
1. Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.
2. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
John describes a sign that he witnesses in heaven. You will notice that he didn't simply say, this is what I saw...but rather a sign appeared. The fact that this is a “sign” distinguishes these events from literal occurrences.
Let’s look at this “great sign”:
A woman
· clothed with the sun
· the moon under her feet
· on her head a garland of twelve stars
To understand the identity of this woman we have to go back to the Old Testament to a dream that a young man named Joseph had which is recorded in the book of Genesis.
Genesis 37
9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, "Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me."
10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?"
This woman represents the nation of Israel. This woman does not represent the church because the church is not described as the Greek word here which is “wife or married woman”. The picture in the New Testament gives us the church as the virgin bride of Christ. Listen to what Paul wrote:
2 Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
The nation of Israel is not referred to that way:
Jeremiah 3:14 "Return, O backsliding children," says the LORD; "for I am married to you."
Isaiah 54:5 For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.
She is laboring to give birth. This account is not speaking of Mary giving birth to Jesus. Contrary to Roman Catholic teaching, that many of us endured, Mary is not the woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a garland of 12 stars, who is giving birth to Jesus. There is no way you can fit Mary into verse 6 which says:
6. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
There is one more reason this does not speak of the birth if Jesus. Revelation 1:19 "Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this."
This speaks of the nation of Israel in travail to bring forth a child. John sees another sign:
3. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
4. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
This next wonder gives us a description of the one who is trying to devour Israel's child as soon as it is born. Here is the description:
· Great fiery red dragon
Verse 9 tells us exactly who this is So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
We know that the one desiring to devour her child is Satan.
· Seven heads seven diadems
As we have mentioned before, seven is a number of completeness, so the seven heads could represent complete power and the diadems represent political authority.
Ten horns
We get some insight into the ten horns from the book of Daniel.
Daniel 7:24 The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; he shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings. This could be a reference to the 10 kings of the last days.
· Tail drew 1/3 of the stars
We draw from this that Satan took 1/3 of the angels with him in his rebellion against God. Jude refers to some angels: And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; (Jude 6)
· Ready to devour the child
Jesus described Satan this way:
John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
Peter gave us this warning:
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
The woman (nation of Israel) brings forth this man-child.
5. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.
6. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Let’s look at the facts presented in these two verses:
· Male child was born
The male child was described as the one who would rule all nations with a rod of iron. This is not strictly a reference to Jesus.
Revelation 2:26-27 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—'He shall rule them with a rod of iron;'
The male child that comes from Israel at this time would be the 144,000 who were sealed with the seal of God back in chapter 7.
· He was caught up into heaven
The next time we read about the 144,000 is in Revelation 14:
Revelation 14
1 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on MountZion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.
3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.
4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
This is before Jesus returns and they are with Him, so they have to be in heaven. That is exactly what we read here that they were caught up into heaven.
· Woman flees into the wilderness
It is prophesied that Israel will flee into the wilderness. Jesus spoke about this time in Matthew 24:15-22 “Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
· God has a placed prepared
Daniel 11:41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. (Edom is where the city of Petra is located)
· She will be sustained there
God will sustain the nation of Israel during this time.
7. And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
Michael is described in:
Daniel 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.
Daniel 12:1 At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
Jude 9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
This war going on is connected with Satan’s attempt to destroy the man-child and to finish off the woman. But there is good news!
8. but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
9. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Here is the outcome of the war…Satan was cast out of heaven and was cast to earth. His angels were cast out with him.
10. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
12. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time."
We know that right now Satan has access to heaven:
Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.
He is constantly accusing us before God. The good news here is that we can overcome him. Here is how:
Satan is overcome by
· the blood of the Lamb
· by the word of our testimony
· by not loving our lives to the death
File that away, because those are the weapons we can use to defeat his influence in our lives.
We are also told here:
· Satan is cast to the earth
· He has great wrath
· He knows his time is short
13. Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.
The description from the book of Daniel was:
Daniel 12:1 And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation
The nation of Israel and the people of Israel will go through a terrible time of persecution, because they are the last remnant of God on the earth and Satan is angry and knows he has a short time.
14. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
Israel is protected for 3 ½ years.
15. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.
16. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
17. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Satan sends out a flood to try to sweep her away. This probably refers to a large army.
If this is the time referred to in Zechariah, this will be an unbelievably terrible time:
Zechariah 13:8-9 And it shall come to pass in all the land," says the LORD, "That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one- third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'This is My people'; and each one will say, 'The LORD is my God.' "
That 2/3 could be the offspring that Satan makes war against.
Let me remind you one more time:
Satan is overcome by
· the blood of the Lamb
You are not saved because of what you have done, but because of what was done for you. 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
· by the word of our testimony
We boldly proclaim what the Lord has done for us!
Romans 10:9-10 if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
· by not loving our lives to the death
We are willing to give up anything except Jesus! Mark 8:36 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” -Jesus