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in other places water is figurative for words, or for people (in Revelation the "sea" a beast comes out of could be figurative for the mass of humanity)
the woman here is Israel - who gave birth to the child, Christ. so this is figurative of Satan persecuting Israel, and then frustrated because she is protected, turning on all those others she also gave 'birth' to - the believers in Christ, born spiritually through Christ, figuratively & spiritually Israelites.
the woman here is Israel - who gave birth to the child, Christ. so this is figurative of Satan persecuting Israel, and then frustrated because she is protected, turning on all those others she also gave 'birth' to - the believers in Christ, born spiritually through Christ, figuratively & spiritually Israelites.
K
Hi, welcome to CC. My understanding...
water- multitude of people/nations as in - Rev 17:15 And he said to me, "The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
the woman-is the bride of the Lamb/Messiah
Hope this helps.
edited to say, ph beat me to it.
water- multitude of people/nations as in - Rev 17:15 And he said to me, "The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
the woman-is the bride of the Lamb/Messiah
Hope this helps.
edited to say, ph beat me to it.
Last edited by a moderator:
Chapter Twelve
By oldhermit
By oldhermit
I. The Divisions of the Book of Revelation
A. The first series of visions in chapters 1-11
1. Chapters 1-3 centered around God's judgment of his people – the Church.
2. Chapter 4 portrays the majesty of Jesus on the throne of heaven. This is the place and position of judgment.
3. Chapters 5-11 center around the Jewish persecution of the saints and God's judgment of Israel represented in the destruction of the temple, the city, and the end of the Jewish state.
B. The second set of visions in chapters 12-18
1. Chapters 12-13 will represent a new series of symbols. Chapter 12 is the unfolding of the “Mystery of God.” This chapter is a microcosm of the entire redemptive plan of God from the nation of Israel to the victory of the saints. This chapter is really nothing that has not already been seen in Revelation. It is really nothing more than a condensed version of the entire book of Revelation. It is an overview of the same things set forth is new symbols.
2. Chapter 14 is the celebration of the saints over the destruction of their persecutor – Israel – “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.”
3. In chapters 15-16 the judgment of God is poured out on the nation of Rome who has emerged as the chief persecuting power.
4. Chapters 17-18 portray the sins of the nation of Israel in its alliance with Rome.
C. The third set of visions in chapters 19-22.
1. Chapter 19 envisions the victory of the Lamb over his enemies.
2. Chapter 20 depicts the victorious Church and the destruction of all her enemies.
3. Chapters 21-22 is a picture of the Glory of the Church.
II. The Microcosm of the “Mystery of God.”
A. The woman with child, 1-2 – Israel as an appointed nation.
1. “A great sign appeared in heaven : a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet,” This is the nation of Israel who has always been portrayed as the bride of Jehovah clothed in splendor. “Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,” declares the Lord GOD. Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,” declares the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 16:8-14.
2. “And on her head a crown of twelve stars ;” The nation was comprised of the 12 tribes represented here by 12 stars.
3. Israel's struggle to bring forth Messiah,“And she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.”
B. The attempt by Satan to destroy the child, 3-4
1. “Then another sign appeared in heaven : and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.” We are told in verse nine that the dragon is Satan but the seven heads and seven diadems are representative of the nation of Rome. So, it is through Rome that Satan exercised his power against the woman. This beast is the fourth beast mentioned in Daniel's vision in Daniel 7:7-8. “After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. “While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.” Daniel does not mention the seven heads but focuses rather on the ten horns which were ten kings.
a. Seven heads – “Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while,” 17:9-10.Thus the seven heads are the seven hills of Rome which had become the symbol of the imperial city. The woman is Jerusalem.
b. The ten horns – “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority AS kings with the beast for one hour. “These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast,” 17:12-13. (100 men serve as emperor of Rome from Augustus in 67BC to Maurice in 602AD so, why are only ten horns mentioned? Is it because the fulfillment of these events would be in the days of the tenth horn?)
* These ten horns are Roman tributary kings for none of them have received a kingdom and they derive their authority from the beast.
* The time of their power is limited as they receive authority “for one hour.” In other words, for a short period of time.
* These kings serve Rome for they “give their power and authority to the beast,”
2. “And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.” Their power has been taken away. This suggests the power of the Roman empire over the nations.
3. “And the dragon stood before the woman (Israel) who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.” Satanattempted to kill Jesus at his birth. This was a prophesied event. “Thus says the Lord, "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” Jeremiah 32:15. Matthew records in Matthew 2:16-18 that Jeremiah's words were fulfilled in the attempt to kill Jesus after his birth. “Then when Herod (one of the horns – a tributary king of Rome) saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and she refused to be comforted, because they were no more.” In Daniel 7:24 we are also told that these ten horns are ten kings of the sea beast. “As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.”
C. The birth of Messiah, 5-6
1. “And she gave birth to a son, a male child, (Not the Church which is always represented in the feminine) who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; This can only be Jesus. He is theone who was to rule with the nations with the rod of iron.
a. Psalms 2:9, “You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall shatter them like earthenware.”
b. Revelation 2:27, “And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father.”
c. Revelation 19:15, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down 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.”
2. “And her child was caught up to God and to His throne.” This is the resurrection and ascension of Jesus which was seen by Daniel 7:13-14, “I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.” Persecution was the method by which Satan attempted to destroy this kingdom.
3. “Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” The Christians fled to the mountains of Pela as the Lord had warned them to do during the persecution of Jewish Christians in the time of Israel's judgment, Matthew 24:16 and Luke 21:21.
D. The defeat of Satan, 7-12
1. “And there was war in heaven”
This is notnecessarily speaking of the unseen celestial world nor is this war necessarily one that was waged in the unseen world. As a symbol, heaven is used in Revelation to represent governments and authorities.
2. Two opposing forces of good and evil – Michael and his angels and the dragon and his angels.
a. Michael and Satan are historic enemies. Jude 9 tells us of the dispute between Michael and Satan over the body of Moses.
b. Michael is the defender of the saints while Satan is the power behind the enemies of Christianity. This war was the fulfillment of Daniel 12:1, "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.” Notice, Michale is the guardian of the people of God. He was to arise in the time of great distress to rescue the saints out of that time of distress.
3. The war
“Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war.” Angels represent confederate forces. The angels who where with Michael were the saints. The angels who were with the Dragon were the powers of Rome.
4. The power of the dragon is defeated. This is not talking about Satan's expulsion from heaven. This is talking about his defeat in his war against the saints. He could not overcome them.
“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 were thrown down with him. Then 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, he who accuses them before our God day and night.” The power of this government has collapsed. Hence the expression “thrown down to the earth.” This is the same imagery we saw in 9:1 with the star in heaven that had fallen to the earth representing a removal of authority or a fall of power. Not only is Satan a defeated power but his angels (the powers of Rome) are a defeated power. This does not necessarily suggest a destruction of the nation of Rome or its armies. This in not what the scene is about. This is revealing the fact that Satan and the persecuting powers of Rome have been defeated by the saints. The saints could not be overcome by the powers of persecution. Rather, they had over come the persecutors even in their deaths. "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 when faced with death (Victorious martyrs). "For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth (Israel) and the sea (Rome), because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time,”11-12. The antecedent of 'they' is Michael and his angels. They were able to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. Testimony – preaching of the gospel is their angelic function. They are the "messengers"- angels of the gospel. Their physical fate was their confrontation with death. The length of time allotted to the Devil is the 1260 days, the 42 months, the 3 and one half years.
E. The remnant is preserved from the judgment of Israel, 13-17.
The war against the nation of Israel is represented in two fronts; the war against unbelieving Israel and the war against the faithful remnant. “And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, (The destruction of Satan's power, Hebrews 2:14) he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child (Redeemed Israel). But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could 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. (Delivered from the destruction of Jerusalem). And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. (Flood of persecution by Rome). But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” (Christians)