Prophecy I
Revelation
12:1-6
“A great and
wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a
woman clothed with the sun, with the
moon under her feet and a crown of
twelve stars on her head. She was
pregnant and cried out in pain as she
was about to give birth.” (Revelation
12:1,2)
Comment:
This short prophecy is six verses
long. It consists of three
characters: A pregnant woman standing
on the moon, a great red dragon, and
a male child who does not remain on
Earth. If I could give this prophecy
a title, it would be,
“Lucifer’s Hatred for
Jesus.” Even though this
prophecy begins at the time of
Christ’s birth, the conflict
between Christ and Satan predates the
creation of Earth. For thousands of
years, the Godhead did everything
possible to resolve Lucifer’s
disaffection in Heaven, but Lucifer
and his followers would not
cooperate. Finally, Lucifer led a
third of the angels into open
rebellion and Jesus kicked them out
of Heaven. Because Jesus and His
angels triumphed over Lucifer and his
angels, Satan’s desire for
revenge has been insatiable ever
since. He loathes Jesus and this
hatred explains, in part, whey the
devil was prepared and determined to
kill Jesus “the moment He was
born.”
This prophecy has a
cosmic setting. God used objects from
the sky such as the sun, moon, and
stars to frame this story because the
elements in this story go beyond
events that have transpired on Earth.
This story covers thousands of years
and involves millions of angels and
human beings. John saw a pregnant
woman clothed with the sun, which was
also wearing a crown of twelve stars
and was standing on the moon. The
book of Revelation does not treat the
sun, moon, and stars as symbols in
this passage. This statement is
true because there are no relevant
texts defining the sun, moon, and
stars as symbols. God used a
cosmic setting for this troy because
He wants us to understand the
feelings, the actions, and the
loathing that Lucifer has for Christ.
Who else but God could explain
something so huge in eight sentences?
The woman standing on
the moon is not Virgin Mary. This
woman has been persecuted from the
beginning. This woman has existed
ever since sin began and she was
chased into the desert for 1,260
years. The woman represents the
people of God, His church, and a
group of people who are the bride of
Christ. (Revelation 19:7) Her
position, “standing on the
moon,” indicates that she is not
of this world. (John 18:36, 1 John
2:15-17) God’s church is not a
specific denomination nor does it
have building of brink and mortar.
God’s church consists of
honest-hearted people from all ages
and they are found in every religious
system. This woman is in love with
God and God loves her (His people).
She is pregnant with His Son. She
(the church) loves God with all her
(their) heart, mind, and soul and
(their) neighbor as herself
(themselves). Matthew 22:36-40;
Ephesians 5:23-27) Jesus came form a
long line of people who loved God
– people like Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, and David. This may sound
strange, but the Great Tribulation
will prove that there are far more
people in God’s church today
than all Christian denominations
combined!
Jesus used a woman to
symbolize His affection for His
people the very day that sin began.
Jesus told Lucifer, Adam and Eve, “And
I will put enmity [hatred,
conflict] between you [Lucifer]
and the woman [My people], and
between your offspring and hers; he [a
male child coming through her] will
crush your head [someday], and
you [Lucifer] will strike his
heel [so that He will die].”
Genesis 3:15, insertions mine)
The pregnant woman
wears a stephanos (a
winner’s crown) with twelve
stars in it. The twelve stars
represent the twelve tribes of
Israel. (Revelation 7:5-8) Her
brilliant shining garment represents
the wedding garment (Matthew
22:11,12) that is the righteousness
of Christ. (Romans 1:17) This garment
is freely given to every repentant
sinner. (Ephesians 2:8,9)
“Then another
sign appeared in heaven: an enormous
red dragon with seven heads and ten
horns and seven crowns on his heads.
His tail [pun: tale] swept a
third of the stars [angels]
out of the sky and flung them to the
earth. The dragon stood in front of
the woman who was about to give
birth, so that he might devour her
child the moment
it was born. She gave birth to a male
child, who will rule all the nations
with an iron scepter [indicating
His reign on the throne cannot be
broken], And her child was
snatched up to God and to his
throne.” (Revelation 12:3-5,
italics and insertions mine)
Comment:
We know that the red dragon is
the devil. (Revelation 12:9) We know
that Lucifer tried to kill Jesus
“the moment He was born.”
(Matthew 2:16) We know that Jesus was
taken to Heaven after His death on
the cross. (Acts 1:11) We know that
Jesus sits on God’s throne.
(Acts 7:55,56; Colossians 3:1) We
know that Jesus will eventually rule
all nations with an iron scepter. (An
iron scepter means that His rule
cannot be broken. Revelation 19:15)
When the devil saw that he could not
kill baby Jesus, when the devil saw
that he could not keep Jesus in the
tomb, and when the devil saw that
Jesus had returned to Heaven and was
out of reach, he directed his hatred
for God at the woman.
“The woman
fled into the desert to a place
prepared for her by God, where she
might be taken care of for 1,260
days.” (Revelation 12:6)
Comment:
It is ironic that the devil used
“the visible Church” to
persecute “the invisible
church.” This concept is
difficult to explain, but it must be
understood. When Jesus established
His church, you could say that a new
religious system was established even
though the woman already existed. The
new religious system was a visible
church. It became an organized
body of believers. The visible church
was defined by creeds and doctrine,
and human beings directed it as they
sought the guidance of the Holy
Spirit. (Matthew 16:19; Acts 15) The
visible church had members,
buildings, and programs. On the other
hand, the woman consists of born
again individuals, those who
supremely love God and their
neighbors and uphold God’s
advancing truth. These individuals
follow the leading of the Holy Spirit
– wherever He leads. The woman
only exists in God’s sight.
Individuals who make up the woman may
worship in a visible church, but the
woman and the visible church are two
distinct entities and this confuses a
lot of people. Mon looks on the outer
appearance, but God reads the heart.
Individuals who have a pure heart,
regardless of their religious
persuasion, are members of the woman,
God’s invisible church.
God’s people may be members of a
visible church, but membership in a
visible church does not mean anything
to God.
This visible/invisible
principle is explained in Romans 9.
Go over this carefully: “For
not all who are descended from Israel
[Jacob] are Israel [belong
to Jacob in God’s sight]. Nor
because they are his [biological]
descendants are they all
Abraham’s children [in terms
of salvation, biological heritage is
meaningless]. On the contrary, {God
rejected Abraham’s plea that
Ishmael, his first born son, should
be heir to the covenant. Genesis
17:15-22 God said, ‘No,’] ‘It
is through Isaac [the miracle
baby] that your offspring will be
reckoned.’ In other words, it is
not the natural children
[biological offspring] who are
God’s children, but it is the
children of the promise [those
who have experienced the miracle of
spiritual birth] who are regarded
as Abraham’s offspring.” (Romans
9:6-8)
After the first
century A.D., the visible church and
the invisible church drifted apart.
By the fifth century A.D., the
visible church in Rome had taken
control of doctrine and leadership,
and those who loved truth and
followed the Spirit were actually
regarded as her enemies. The devil
took control of the visible church
and used it to persecute the
invisible church. This warfare will
be repeated. During the Great
Tribulation a very visible Babylon
will make war against everyone
keeping God’s commandments and
holding to the testimony of Jesus.
(Revelation 12:17)
The woman fled to the
desert for survival. The desert
represents a desolate hiding place
and the 1,260 days defines her period
of persecution. The time, times, and
half a time mentioned in Daniel 7:25,
Revelation 12:14 and the 1,260 days
of Revelation 12:6 are the same time
period. (A.D. 538-1798) This can be
confusing, I know, but the prophecy
in Revelation 12 spans many
centuries. Beginning in A.D. 538 and
finishing in A.D. 1798, this prophecy
covers 1,260 years. The Jubilee
Calendar is in operation during this
period, therefore the 1,260 days must
be translated as 1,260 years (Rule
Four of Apocalyptic Prophecy).
Keeping the Identity
of the Dragon on Track
Many prophetic
expositors violate valid rules of
interpretation in Revelation 12
because they want to make the
enormous red dragon into something
other than the devil. History does
affirm that the devil worked through
the little horn in Daniel 7 (the
Roman Catholic Church to persecute
the saints for 1,260 years, but the
enormous red dragon in Revelation 12 is
not the papacy. If, in our rush
to understand apocalyptic prophecy,
we ignore or manipulate the
specifications that God has given, we
will never be able to arrive at the
intended meaning of prophecy. Follow
the logic: The enormous red dragon
tried to kill Jesus at birth through
Herod. Then, the great red dragon
used the Roman Catholic Church to
chase the woman into the desert for
1,260 years. The devil is a
determined demon. He is not Herod nor
is he the Roman Catholic Church. This
brings me to a second point, which is
also very important.
The leopard-like
beast is not the devil even though
the devil will control the beast!
(Revelation 13:2) When studying the
behavior of people or organizations,
it is difficult to determine the
extent of control the devil has
because generally speaking, adults
have the ability to exercise their
power of choice. Therefore, we have
to ask, “Does the devil really
influence people, and by extension,
organizations, to do things they
would otherwise not do?”
Consider these verses:
“Be
self-controlled and alert. Your enemy
the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him,
standing firm in the faith, because
you know that your brothers
throughout the world are undergoing
the same kind of sufferings.”
(1 Peter 5:8,9, italics mine)
“Submit
yourselves, then, to God. Resist
the devil, and he will
flee from you.” (James 4:7,
italics mine)
The Bible does
indicate that the devil and his
demons can and must be resisted or
they may take control of us. We know
that demon possession is possible
because Jesus cast demons out of many
people. See Matthew 8:28-33)
Summary:
We have examined Lucifer’s
hatred for Jesus in this first
prophecy. This loathing has not
changed. If it were possible, Lucifer
would kill Jesus right now. Jesus has
demonstrated God’s love for
mankind in ways that transcend human
comprehension. Jesus
did not have to go to the cross, but
infinite love caused Him to be
willing to give up His eternal life
so that we might have it. Could you
imagine killing the very person who
would volunteer to die in our place?
Lucifer’s hatred for Jesus shows
the malevolent and hideous nature of
sin. We have also learned that the
devil uses demon possessed people and
organizations to carry out his evil
desires. Lucifer, once the greatest
and highest created being, has become
a senseless beast, a raving
destroyer. His human instruments have
been diverse – from the
Pharisees, the Caesars, and the
Church of Rome, to rules like Herod,
Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Hussein.
After chasing the woman for 1,260
years, he has one final chance to
destroy her. He is waiting for the
leopard-like beast to rise.
