REVELATION 12
When I read this chapter the first time, I assumed the woman who bore the male child was Mary, the mother of Jesus. However, when was Mary clothed with the sun, crowned with twelve stars, with the moon under her feet? Mary and Joseph did flee to Egypt with the baby Jesus, but we don't know for how long. It might well have been for 42 months, but we really don't know.
It is generally accepted that the woman here is Israel. For one thing, Genesis 37:9-11 tells us about a dream Joseph had, in which the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowed down to him. The sun, the moon and the stars in this dream were Jacob, Rachel and Joseph's brothers. Isaiah 66:7-9 also speak of Zion as giving birth to a male son. Furthermore, Jesus speaks in Matthew 24:15-22 about a time when people will need to flee from Israel. Some may say this was fulfilled in a.d. 70, but Jews were scattered for nearly 2,000 years at that time. Also, though pagan practices were common in the Roman empire, I'm not aware of anything which could be described as "the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel". My view is that the prophecy in this chapter has only been partially fulfilled.
The second sign John sees here is a large red dragon. Later we will see the dragon give his power and authority to the first beast in chapter 13. The imagery here is somewhat confusing. On the one hand, the dragon described here has seven heads and it wears seven crowns, symbolic of kings, and it has ten horns, which symbolize nations. Thus, the dragon would not seem to be Satan himself, but a political power Satan has given his authority to. However, verse 9 indicates the dragon is Satan himself, and it is Satan who has been cast out of heaven. In chapter 13, the dragon gives his authority to the first beast, which has seven heads, ten horns and ten crowns upon its horns. The ancient serpent, the dragon and the first beast of Revelation 13 do not seem to be entirely interchangeable, but this is sort of a meaningless distinction, because the dragon and both of the beasts described in chapter 13 always attempt to carry out Satan's will.
When Israel, figuratively speaking, gave birth to Christ, Satan tried to destroy him, from the time Herod had all the male children under two years old murdered until the crucifixion. He appeared to have finally been successful, until Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven.
This chapter could be subtitled "Satan's many failures", because it is really about his rebellion against God and how his defiance always fails. The dragon sweeps a third of the stars out of the sky and hurls them down to earth. This apparently means that a third of the angels join Satan in his rebellion, and these demons become active on earth, as they are today. But verses 7-9 make it clear that they are not on earth by choice, they are here because they have been driven out of heaven, as a result of the redemptive work of Christ. We may look around on earth and feel that Satan is wildly successful with mankind, but it is instructive to compare Job 1:6-12 and Job 2:1-7 with Luke 10:18. In Job, the Lord and Satan converse as if they were heads of opposing political parties. In Luke, Jesus says, "I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven." Satan and his demons no longer have a place in heaven and Revelation 12:10-12 states that Satan cannot accuse us in the presence of God day and night, as he did in the time of Job. His activity on earth is precisely due to his failure in heaven, and the kingdom, power and authority of Jesus is fully manifest in heaven.
John 16:33 (NKJV) says "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Revelation 12:11 says God's elect will overcome the world by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, their proclamation of their faith in Christ. This verse also indicates that they loved not their own lives, even unto death. The necessity of being faithful to Christ, even in the face of martyrdom, is one of the arguments against a pre-tribulation rapture, though there are many other factors to consider in that regard.
Having failed to destroy Jesus, Satan next attacks those on the earth, specifically pursuing the woman who gave birth to Jesus. This prophecy may have had a partial fulfillment with Mary, the mother of Jesus, because Luke 2:35 says "a sword will pierce your soul also". That may refer to her seeing Jesus crucified or to other struggles she had during her lifetime. But a better interpretation would be that Satan has come to attack both the physical and the spiritual descendants of Abraham. The 42 months when the woman is protected from the dragon probably only applies to those in Israel who are willing to heed the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:15-22, and it would appear to correspond to the time of the witnessing of the two prophets in chapter 11, as well as to the 42 months in Revelation 13:5 when the beast is allowed to exercise authority on earth. I don't have even a theory about where the place of refuge during this time might be, nor do I know what is meant by the water which comes from the dragon's mouth or how the earth swallows it up. It is possible, though far from certain, that a nation, an army, or an alliance of nations and armies invade the holy land at this time, and the armies are destroyed by an act of God, rather than by human intervention. But my main point here is that I have two reasons for believing verses 13-17 do not just apply to the spiritual Israel Paul speaks of in Galatians 6. First of all, whenever Michael the archangel is mentioned (in Daniel chapters 10-12, in Jude and in this chapter), it always appears he is responsible for the people of Israel (see Daniel 10:21). More importantly, after Satan fails to destroy the woman, he goes off to attack her offspring, those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus.
All of this is introductory material to chapter 13, where the beast is allowed to make war against the saints and to conquer them for a brief period of time until Christ returns.
It is generally accepted that the woman here is Israel. For one thing, Genesis 37:9-11 tells us about a dream Joseph had, in which the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowed down to him. The sun, the moon and the stars in this dream were Jacob, Rachel and Joseph's brothers. Isaiah 66:7-9 also speak of Zion as giving birth to a male son. Furthermore, Jesus speaks in Matthew 24:15-22 about a time when people will need to flee from Israel. Some may say this was fulfilled in a.d. 70, but Jews were scattered for nearly 2,000 years at that time. Also, though pagan practices were common in the Roman empire, I'm not aware of anything which could be described as "the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel". My view is that the prophecy in this chapter has only been partially fulfilled.
The second sign John sees here is a large red dragon. Later we will see the dragon give his power and authority to the first beast in chapter 13. The imagery here is somewhat confusing. On the one hand, the dragon described here has seven heads and it wears seven crowns, symbolic of kings, and it has ten horns, which symbolize nations. Thus, the dragon would not seem to be Satan himself, but a political power Satan has given his authority to. However, verse 9 indicates the dragon is Satan himself, and it is Satan who has been cast out of heaven. In chapter 13, the dragon gives his authority to the first beast, which has seven heads, ten horns and ten crowns upon its horns. The ancient serpent, the dragon and the first beast of Revelation 13 do not seem to be entirely interchangeable, but this is sort of a meaningless distinction, because the dragon and both of the beasts described in chapter 13 always attempt to carry out Satan's will.
When Israel, figuratively speaking, gave birth to Christ, Satan tried to destroy him, from the time Herod had all the male children under two years old murdered until the crucifixion. He appeared to have finally been successful, until Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven.
This chapter could be subtitled "Satan's many failures", because it is really about his rebellion against God and how his defiance always fails. The dragon sweeps a third of the stars out of the sky and hurls them down to earth. This apparently means that a third of the angels join Satan in his rebellion, and these demons become active on earth, as they are today. But verses 7-9 make it clear that they are not on earth by choice, they are here because they have been driven out of heaven, as a result of the redemptive work of Christ. We may look around on earth and feel that Satan is wildly successful with mankind, but it is instructive to compare Job 1:6-12 and Job 2:1-7 with Luke 10:18. In Job, the Lord and Satan converse as if they were heads of opposing political parties. In Luke, Jesus says, "I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven." Satan and his demons no longer have a place in heaven and Revelation 12:10-12 states that Satan cannot accuse us in the presence of God day and night, as he did in the time of Job. His activity on earth is precisely due to his failure in heaven, and the kingdom, power and authority of Jesus is fully manifest in heaven.
John 16:33 (NKJV) says "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Revelation 12:11 says God's elect will overcome the world by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, their proclamation of their faith in Christ. This verse also indicates that they loved not their own lives, even unto death. The necessity of being faithful to Christ, even in the face of martyrdom, is one of the arguments against a pre-tribulation rapture, though there are many other factors to consider in that regard.
Having failed to destroy Jesus, Satan next attacks those on the earth, specifically pursuing the woman who gave birth to Jesus. This prophecy may have had a partial fulfillment with Mary, the mother of Jesus, because Luke 2:35 says "a sword will pierce your soul also". That may refer to her seeing Jesus crucified or to other struggles she had during her lifetime. But a better interpretation would be that Satan has come to attack both the physical and the spiritual descendants of Abraham. The 42 months when the woman is protected from the dragon probably only applies to those in Israel who are willing to heed the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:15-22, and it would appear to correspond to the time of the witnessing of the two prophets in chapter 11, as well as to the 42 months in Revelation 13:5 when the beast is allowed to exercise authority on earth. I don't have even a theory about where the place of refuge during this time might be, nor do I know what is meant by the water which comes from the dragon's mouth or how the earth swallows it up. It is possible, though far from certain, that a nation, an army, or an alliance of nations and armies invade the holy land at this time, and the armies are destroyed by an act of God, rather than by human intervention. But my main point here is that I have two reasons for believing verses 13-17 do not just apply to the spiritual Israel Paul speaks of in Galatians 6. First of all, whenever Michael the archangel is mentioned (in Daniel chapters 10-12, in Jude and in this chapter), it always appears he is responsible for the people of Israel (see Daniel 10:21). More importantly, after Satan fails to destroy the woman, he goes off to attack her offspring, those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus.
All of this is introductory material to chapter 13, where the beast is allowed to make war against the saints and to conquer them for a brief period of time until Christ returns.
posted by TAPIOCA at 11/23/2006 09:35:00 AM
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