Revelation Chapter 12
Our last study we covered chapter 11. We are now mid- point in this book and our study, and we also at the mid- point of this period called the Great Tribulation Period.
Tonight, we begin chapter 12. This is another amazing chapter, and it explains much.
As I have said at the beginning of this series of lessons, most if not all, of Revelation can be explained by other scriptures. We have seen how this book goes along with the discourse that Jesus gave His disciples in His “Olivet Discourse” of events leading up to His return. We have gotten away from that aspect, and perhaps we should not have, but this does still follow what Jesus revealed in chapter 24 of the book of Matthew.
I want to do this lesson tonight a little different. Usually I go verse by verse. But chapter 12 is laid out different. These verses do not follow in chronological order. We find that verses 1 and 2, where we are introduced to this woman, and verses 5 and 6 where we see her flight, and verses 13 thru 17 where we are shown this woman’s persecution and deliverance are all related.
Verses 3 and 4 we are introduced to the great red dragon and these two verses go with verses 7 thru 12, where it is revealed the expulsion of this dragon from heaven. Also, much of this chapter is related to this great red dragon. I believe it will help with our understanding of these two events by studying the related verses.
Chapter 12 begins with a wonder in heaven. The word wonder is the Greek word “semione” and it is the word used for a “sign.” This is not something that in and of itself is a spectacular display, but rather a sign of something to occur.
Verse 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:
To properly understand this wonder or sign in heaven, we need to go back to the book of Genesis 37:9 and 10. “And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?” They understood it as relating to their family. This had a near fulfillment in Genesis chapter 42:6.
Remember this is a sign signifying something. So, this sign in heaven signifies something about the nation of Israel.
Now let us jump down to verses 5 and 6 of Revelation 12, “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. 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.” (42 months or three and a half years).
Now let’s see what this verse means. We will look first at this man-child. This is of course Jesus. He was born to be the Messiah, His being caught up to God and unto His throne, is the death and resurrection of Jesus.
To understand the rest of this verse we need to realize that there has been 2,000 + years passed between the resurrection and the remainder of this verse. We are now back to the tribulation period. We know this because Jesus spoke of this as a future event.
Matthew 24:15-22. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day. 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor over shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
We know that this is told for the time of the Great Tribulation because Jesus quoted from the Book of Daniel 11:31 that speaks of the “abomination of desolation.” Jesus spoke of it as a future event and it would come in a time of “great tribulation that was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
Back to Revelation 12:2 “And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” This is not a picture of the virgin birth of Jesus by Mary alone, as some teach, nor is it a picture of the birth of the Church. We need to remember that Jesus gave birth to the church and not the church to Jesus. This pain to be delivered is showing how all down through Bible history, Satan has opposed the birth of Jesus. Here are just a few of these instances:
1. Upon the promised seed to crush the head of Satan, Satan eventually persuaded Cain to kill Abel. Satan thought that with both of Adams’ sons out of the picture, he had prevented this threat. But God raised up another son, Seth.
2. Before the flood, Satan tried to corrupt all of mankind by infecting the blood line with what some commentators believe with angelic forces taking on human bodies and giving birth to children. There are also those that teach that this portion of scripture is referring to the godly line of Seth and the ungodly line of Cain. This seems to be more plausible but is not the point of conversation. God saw the wickedness of that and decided to start all over again by showing grace to Noah and his family.
3. We also see that Satan used a horrible man named Haman to try to kill all the Jews, but God intervened, and they were spared by a man named Mordacai and his niece Esther who had become Queen and intervened with the king about this awful plot.
4. We find that after the birth of Jesus, King Herod sought to kill the child by ordering all the children under the age of two. But God had warned Joseph in a dream and they escaped to Egypt to live until the death of Herod.
5. We also find that Satan sought to have Jesus killed on numerous occasions but was thwarted time and again until it was in God’s timing. Satan persuaded the Jews leadership to have Jesus crucified, Satan probably thought he had won, but God raised him from the dead.
6. Just in our day we find a horrible man by the name of Adolph Hitler tried to exterminate all the Jews, but again God had them preserved. In this instance the nation of Israel was “pained to be delivered” or to be reborn as a nation, because shortly before the war, a man by the name of Theodore Hertzl envisioned a return of the Jews to their promised land of Israel. This was Satan’s attempt to prevent that from happening.
Verses 5 thru 6 These two verses must be taken together to rightfully understand them.
“And she (the woman, the wonder that appeared in heaven), 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. 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. (42 months, three and a half years, the second half of the tribulation period).
There is a gap between the birth of this man child and his being caught up to his throne, of about 33 yrs. There is also a gap between his being caught up to his throne, and his ruling with a rod of iron of all nations of 2,000 years and counting. This is the Church Age. The age of His ruling with a rod of iron is the Millennial Age. There is also a gap between this event of the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus and this verse 6. Which is this time in Revelation, the Great Tribulation. This woman of verse 1 which is the nation of Israel has need to flee into the wilderness. This is discussed and explained further in verses 13 thru 17.
But first let us look at the second wonder in heaven that John was privileged to see (verses 3 and 4) Verse 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.”
This is the first mention of this “great red dragon” in the book of Revelation. He is referred to in Genesis as the serpent. This is of course Satan. Other places he is named Lucifer, his angelic name.
It is best to take this verse-by- verse in order to get the entire picture of what is going on.
It says that he has “seven heads.” Again, we need to remember that the word “wonder” is the word for sign, there was another sign in heaven. This clues us to the fact that this sign is a symbol of something else. These heads speak of seven consecutive world kingdoms /empires ruled by Satan that has existed from the days of the Assyrian Empire. All empires are kingdoms but not all kingdoms are empires. A kingdom is where there is a ruler over a certain land. An empire is where there is a ruler that has overtaken several kingdoms and is ruler over many lands, or kingdoms.
We find the same personage in 17:3,9-10. We will only look at verse 3. “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness; and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”
I will not comment too much on those verses until we get there, but I do want to explain about the seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns, one on each head.
Daniel in the vision of King Nebuchadnezzar of the giant image, revealed to the king that there were to be only four consecutive world empires from the time of King Nebuchadnezzar to the time of Christ (Daniel 3). But this was only speaking of empires and not kings or kingdoms and it is only speaking for that time period ending with Christ. It is excluding the Church Age. Here in this verse in Revelation 12, we find that it is referring to kingdoms.
It says in verse 10 of Revelation 17 that there are seven kings; this represents seven kingdoms, not from Daniel’s time but from the beginning. We know there was an:
1. Egyptian Kingdom;
2. The Assyrian kingdom which was also an empire,
3. The Babylonian kingdom which was an empire;
4. The Medo-Persia empire;
5. The Greek empire.
These five are the “five which have fallen.”
6. The Roman empire which is the “one is.” This of course would be at the time of John and the revelation given to him.
7. There was one yet to come, and he must continue a “short space” or time.
We find this “beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition (Revelation 17:8,11).” He will be both the seventh and eighth.
What was revealed to John was that at his time in the first century the Roman Empire was in control, but there was to be another empire to rise after the time of John. There is much discussion, debate, and disagreement on who this seventh kingdom, or empire might have been or yet may be. The general thought by most scholars and what I have been taught and led to believe is that this will be the “Revived Roman Empire” and there is much to back that up. For now, we will leave it at that and go on here in chapter 12.
Of course, seven heads and seven crowns mean that each head or dynasty had a king over them.
Verse 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.”
The question here is when did this happen? Here again, much debate, discussion and disagreement. We need to connect this verse with verses 7 thru 10 which we will get to in a little while. But for now, we just need to see that when Satan fell out of favor with God, he had persuaded one third of the angelic forces to follow him in his rebellion.
This fall was witnessed by Jesus before He was incarnated into the baby in Bethlehem (Luke 10:18). So, we know that the fall of Satan occurred before the time of Jesus on earth (Isaiah 14:12-15; and Ezekiel 28:12). This was his fall. However, he was not banished from heaven entirely, only from having heaven as his home. He is now the Prince and Power of the Air, and his abode is in the unseen world of the spiritual realm. He still has access to God for we find he came to the throne of God to have him be given permission to tempt Job. We also find that he has access to God to accuse the saints of sin (Revelation 12:10). This casting out of Satan is yet a future event, when he is banished from the presence of God until his judgment. He will then incarnate himself into the Anti-Christ, and remain on earth.
We will now go to verses 7-10 “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 then before our God day and night.”
His casting out of heaven means that he has no more access to God’s throne. It is at this time that he will incarnate himself into the Anti-Christ (cast out into the earth) and turn with vengeance against the Jews and Israel, along with any Christian converts, both Jewish and Gentile, at this time. Because of this casting out of Satan it shows the ultimate defeat of Satan and assures that the kingdom of our God and His Christ is coming.
This war in heaven is conducted by the angel Michael who is introduced to us in Daniel 12:1 “And at time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”
His accusing the brethren shows his contempt for all Christians. His thinking is that none of us deserve salvation, and he is right about that, however, God is not looking at merit on our part but rather what Jesus did on the cross on our behalf. We have certainly overcome the Devil by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. There is nothing that Satan hates more in Christians. Of course, there have been many martyrs of Christ since the Apostolic times. In verse 12 we find the absence of Satan in heaven brings great rejoicing in heaven but because he is cast down to earth, there is much woe expected on its inhabitants.
Now let’s go there and read about the flight of this woman. Let’s look again at verse 3 and 4 for context: “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. 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.
Now let’s go to verses 13 thru 17 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought for 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 flood after the women, 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 sent to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
We see the persecution of this woman in verse 13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child (the nation of Israel and the Christ child).
Now let’s see how God has prepared a place for her, and how He is going to provide for her also. This also explains and shows us what Jesus meant in Matthew 24:15-21.
God set up two cities of refuge for the Jews in case there was an instance of manslaughter. They could go there and flee the “revenger of blood,” or the relative of the slain person. These cities could not be used in the case of pre-meditated murder, One, of these cities was in the land of Edom, and was known at that time as Bozra. Today it is known as Petra. This is the place God has provided for the fleeing Jews.
The following is taken from Clarence Larkin’s book “The Book of Revelation”. Now Edom takes in the Wilderness where Israel wandered for 40 years. And it is here in Edom that the “City of Refuge” that God has provided for Israel is located, and is known today as Petra. It was a great commercial centre in the days of King Solomon. In A.D. 105 the Romans conquered the country and called the province Arabia Petra. When the power of Rome waned, Petra gradually fell into the hands of the Arabs, and became completely lost to the civilized world in the seventh century, and remained so until it was rediscovered by Burckhardt in 1812.
It is located in the mountains like as in the crater of a volcano. It has but one entrance, and that is through a narrow, winding defile or canyon from 12 to 40 feet wide, the sides of which are precipitous and at times so close together as to almost shut out the blue sky above and make you think you are passing through a subterranean passageway. The height of the sides varies from 200 to 1,000 feet, and the length of the canyon is about two miles. No other city in the world has such a wonderful gateway. The sides of the canyon are lined with wonderful monuments and temples carved out of the rocky sandstone of the sides. Once inside the rocky enclosure of the city we find the ruins of magnificent buildings, tombs and monuments. The cliffs that surround the city are carved and honey combed with excavations to a height of 300 feet above the floor of the valley, and the excavations cut as they are out of different colored strata of the rock, such as red, purple, blue, black, white and yellow, lend a beauty to their appearance that is indescribable and overpowering to the beholder.
When the time comes for the “Man-Slayer” (Israel), to escape from the hands of the “Avenger of Blood” (Antichrist), the rocky fastness of the ancient city of Petra will be her “City of Refuge.” We read that when the “Woman” (Israel) shall flee into the Wilderness that the “Serpent” (Antichrist, indwelt by Satan) shall cast a flood of water out of his mouth after her to destroy her, but that the earth shall open her mouth and swallow the flood. That is, Antichrist will send his army after the fleeing Israelites, and it will probably be swallowed up in a “sand storm” of the desert, and Israel shall safely reach her place of refuge, where she shall be safe, not until the death of the High Priest, but until the return of “The High Priest” (Jesus) from heaven, who as “King-Priest” of the Armies of Heaven will deliver her and allow her to leave her place of refuge. During the period of Israel’s “hiding” in the Wilderness God will “nourish” her as He did during her 40 years’ wandering in the same Wilderness in the days of Moses. End of quote.
My only disagreement with Clarence Larkin is that I believe that it will not be a sandstorm that will destroy the anti-Christ’s army, rather I think it will be that God will open the earth and swallow up the army, much as he did with Korah and his followers when they rebelled against Moses (Numbers 16:27-32).
This escape of this portion of the Jewish people will make the dragon or anti-Christ so angry that he will make war with all of those who did not escape. These that he will make war against will be Messianic Jews that have accepted Christ as Savior due to the preaching of the 144,000.