Revelations 12 is a very brief overview of the history of God’s Church covering thousands of years. It starts way back near the beginning (of the Church), but after the flood and reflects Joseph’s dream where eleven stars bowed down to him. .{Genesis 37: 9-10} There were actually twelve stars because Joseph himself was one of those stars and the other eleven stars represented his brothers who happen to be the father’s of the twelve tribes of Israel including Joseph. Actually, Joseph’s name is not listed in the tribes of Israel in either Numbers 1 or Revelation 7, but is replaced by his two sons Manasseh and Benjamin. The number twelve represents the organization of God’s Church. First we had the twelve tribes of Israel and after Jesus Crusifiction we have the twelve Apostles. Is it any wonder that the 12th chapter of Revelations is depicting the Church?
A Woman Represents the Church in the Bible
Revelation 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
In Bible Prophesy a Woman Represents the Church. This topic will be discussed with the assumption that the woman represents the Chruch and Israel. If you are not familiar with the scriptures which reveal that a woman represents the church, then you can read about it here.
In Revelation 12:1 the word of God says that the woman was clothed in the Sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: As you will see in the next few quotes below the sun represents the Lord God {Psalm 84:11}. Light also represents the word of God {Psalm 119:105}. Jesus Christ is the Word of God {John 1:14}, He is the Light of the world {John 8:12} and Jesus is God {John 1:1}. So this woman or Church is clothed in the Word of God. She believes in the infallible Word of God, and she is covered and protected by God and the Word of God.
Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The Woman was Arrayed in Fine Linen
What is the fine Linen, clean and white, which the woman was arrayed in?
Revelation 19:7-8
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Once again here we have another scripture depicting the Church as a woman and she is arrayed with fine lined which is the righteousness of the saints. So that now leads us to ask what is the righteousness of the saints? Paul, the apostle, leads us towards our conclusion in the next quote:
Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Paul informs us that neither does he, nor likewise do we, have any righteousness or our own, but the righteousness which we have is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.
Jeremiah 23:5-6
5 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness.
Finally Jeremiah, speaking of Jesus, the Branch of David, clears it all up for us. He, Jeremiah, calls Jesus, The Lord Our Righteousness. So the fine linen which the saints are clothed in and is the righteousness of the saints {Rev 19:8}, is not their own righteousness, but it is the righteousness of Christ, The Lord Our Righteousness. So we have come full circle. Jesus Christ, the Word of God, The Lord Our Righteousness, whom is God {John 1:1} is the righteousness which the Church is to be clothed in. So the Church being clothed in the sun is a representation of being clothed in righteousness of Christ, who is God and who is the Word of God.
It is interesting that the moon us under the woman’s feet. The Word of God is a lamp unto our feet. Some would say that the moon is a lesser light or that it’s light reflects the light of the sun. The Bible calls the moon a lesser light {Genesis 1:16} It was the prophets who, through the Holy Spirit, brought to us the Word of God and they reflected the light of Jesus Christ. In regards to the Word of God, Ellen White called herself a lesser light, not superseding the Word of God, but to help people understand the Word of God. Some would even suggest that the moon which the woman is standing on represents the Spirit of Prophesy and that would seem to be a very reasonable postulation.
Notwithstanding Moses prediceted the coming of Jesus and stated that Jesus was a greater prophet than himself and instructed Israel to hear Him for Jesus is the light and the greatest light. {Acts 3:22} Moses was one of the original prophets in the line of human prophets and each succeeding prophet was a lesser prophet or lesser light. As Paul the apostle said in 1st Corinthians 14:32, “the spirit of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” This lesser light could even refer to Ellen White at the present time. From time to time she referred to herself as a lesser light and she certainly reflected Jesus and the light of His word. So this woman is standing on the Word of God which was brought to us through the prophets.
This woman we see in Revelations is the Church of God and she is clothed with the Word of God. She believes in the scriptures and that they are infallible. They believe in the Father, the Son Jesus Christ as their Savior and the Holy Spirit. And she is an organized Church as represented by the 12 stars.
Now Let’s get back to Revelation 12 and verse 2.
Revelation 12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Obviously, this child is Jesus Christ. We will see without a doubt that this child is Jesus Christ in verse 5 below. In addition, this woman represents Israel and therefore the child also represents the church. Jesus is the Head and the Church is the body.
Revelation 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
Notice that the dragon is red. In the Bible the color red represents sin. In {Isaiah 1:18} it says, “though your sins be as scarlet,” and we know that scarlet is just another word for red. It would also be reasonable to say that red also represents the blood of Jesus because it says that though they were red like crimson, they shall be as wool. We are covered with the blood of Jesus. Only the crimson blood of Jesus can wash us white as wool.
The Dragon is both the Devil and Rome
Revelation 12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Before we discuss the child, let’s take a look at the great red dragon who drew the third part of the stars of heaven with his tail, and did cast them to the earth. Many times in scripture, as it is in this verse, stars represent angels. {Revelation 1:20} To understand what the tail is, let’s look at Isaiah 9:15.
Isaiah 9:15 The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
Isaiah 9:5 tells us that the ancient and honourable is the head. Although it can apply to individual persons of the human family, the “head” ultimately refers to God. Then it says that the prophet that teacheth lies is the tail. The Spirit of Prophesy tells us that Lucifer argued in heaven that God’s law would not work out for the good of the heavenly community and that his (Satan’s) prerogative was for the benefit of heavenly beings. His suppositions were based on future results and his conclusions were based on things he was foretelling would come to pass in the future as the result of following God’s law. In other words it was a prophesy and Satan’s prophesy was a lie. Therefore, those words “the prophet that teacheth lies” testify to the fact that Satan drew a third of the angelic host with his prophetic lies, and because those angels gave credence to Satan’s lies they were cast down to earth along with Satan. God, Jesus and the Angels did everything they could to avoid the loss of the fallen angels. In the end it was not possible to retain peace, truth and justice in heaven so long as there were lies accusing God of injustice being perpetrated in heaven.
In verse 4 of Revelation 12 is depicted the event where Herod, the regent of Rome, attempted to have Jesus killed immediately at his birth as described in (Matthew 2:13-16}. Notice that in Revelation 12:9 (below) it says, “the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan,” and so it was indeed Satan who stood before the woman, for to devour the child through the agency of the Roman power.
Consider the word stood in verse 4 in the 12th chapter of Revelation. Many scriptures describe standing up as as the act of a king or government taking power. This can be seen in Daniel 11:2, 3, 4, 7, 16, 20 and 21.
Daniel 11:20-22
20 Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
22 And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.
Daniel 11:20 and 21 are specifically referring to the two individuals who “stood” up in the power of the Roman Caesar during the time that Jesus walked upon this earth as a man. Augustus was Caesar of Rome when Jesus was born, and Tiberius was Caesar of Rome when Jesus was crucified. During the time that Jesus walked upon this earth as a man Rome alone had the power to legally pronounce the sentence of death upon anyone within the nation of Judah. Therefore, through several witnesses the scripture shows us that the dragon “stood” before the woman. through the agency of the Roman power, to both devour the child Jesus at His birth and to crucify Him upon the cross near the end of His earthly ministry. Herod and Pilot were simply the regents of the Roman power which is the agency that Satan was working through.
In Daniel 11:22 it we see the words, “and shall be broken.” This is referring to the assassination of Tiberius Caesar. Immediately after that it says, “also the prince of the covenant.” This is alluding to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, which occurred during the reign of Tiberius. Tiberius began to reign jointly with his step father Augustine in August of 12 A.D.. Luke 3:1-3 informs us that John the Baptist began his ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius. So if the reign of Tiberius began in August of 12 A.D., that would place the 15th year of his reign beginning at August of 26 A.D.. We know that Jesus was born 6 months after John the baptist. The priestly ministry, according to the law of the priesthood, begins at the age of 30. If John began his ministry in the spring of 27 A.D., then Jesus’ priestly ministry began in Autumn of 27 A.D.. Therefore Jesus, three and a half years later, was crucified in the spring of 31 A.D.. Tiberius was assassinated in 37 A.D..
This reconning would also place the baptism of Christ in Autumn at the end of the 69th, or beginning of the 70th week, in 27 A.D. which is 483 years after the command to rebuild Jerusalem in 457 BC.
The Child in Revelations 12:2, 5 and 6 is Jesus
Revelation 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Clearly the child is Jesus, because even to this time Jesus alone sits with God upon His throne. It was Jesus who was to rule with a rod of Iron and sit on the throne of God as described in verse 5.
The 1260 Day Prophesy
Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Here John writes about the Twelve hundred and Sixty day prophesy. If you are not familiar with the 1260 day prophesy you can click on the following link: Time, Times and Half a Time, which explains that very prophesy in depth. This prophesy is represented in the Bible several times and the different prophets sometimes use different words to identify it. For instance, it is also known as the 42 months and it is also known as the “Times, Time and half a Time.” The place in the wilderness was the remote wilderness areas of Europe and also America, and within the United States of America more so than any other American territory.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
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