Rev. # 38~12:1-3 ~THE WOMAN ISRAEL~ 1-16-10
Today we’ll began-studying chapter 12- and with chapter 12 -14:20 we have another parenthetical portion of Revelation that tells us about seven great personages of the Tribulation, particularly of the last half.
These seven personages of are:
1. A woman who represents the nation Israel.
2. The great red dragon, which is a picture of Satan.
3. The Male child, Who is the Lord Jesus.
4. Michael the Archangel,**{the only archangel-Jude v.9} who represents the holy angels.
5. And the remnant of the woman, which is regenerate Israel.
6. The beast out of the sea, the world dictator (13: 1-10);
7. And the beast out of the earth, the false prophet and religious leader of the world 13:11-17.
----------------------------------------
Let me point out that Chapter 12 is telling about a conflict, but it is primarily a conflict involving angelic forces, particularly, the fallen angels or the demonic world under Satan’s authority.
But let us be aware that Satan often uses human means to accomplish his purposes (as with the persecution of Israel) even the tyrant of Iran through his ignorance has threatened to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, he has called Israel a stinking corpse.
What people like that don’t realize is, that in just a short while he’ll find himself in hell.
It’s true that the nation of Israel generally speaking, is a rebellious people when it comes to the things of God, and they are not what God intended them to be, but they are still His chosen people, nothing has changed His mind.
As we can see here in chapter 12: there will be a remnant that will turn to God, although it’s a shame that 2’3s of the Jews will be destroyed in the tribulation.
Zechariah 13:8-9 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9And I will bring the third part through the fire* {tribulation}, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people:** and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
We Christians love the Jews, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Our Saviour was a Jewish carpenter and He’s building our new home right now.
Let us never forget that behind the scenes is our doomed and damned arch enemy, Satan and his demonic forces.
In this chapter we shall see that the warfare occurs first on earth, then in heaven, the heaven where the birds and airplanes fly, and finally on earth again (12:13-17).
Here in this chapter we can clearly see the ultimate cause and answer to the problem of anti-Semitism, which has been going on from the very early beginnings of Israel’s history.
But let me say that part of the reason for the hatred and persecution, which the Jews have endured over the centuries, is the divine judgment of God for disobedience and rejection of His Word.
Deuteronomy 28:1-10
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: --
2And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
3Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine,{oxen} and the flocks of thy sheep.
5Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. 6Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
7The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. 8The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
9The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.
10And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
---verse 15- But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: ---and it goes on and on.
I’m glad that we’re not under law ain’t you dear heart, we’re under His marvelous grace, of coarse the gentiles never were under the law.
Psalm 147:19-20
19He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. 20He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.
Another reason Satan so hates Israel is because Israel was the means that God used to bring forth the Deliver, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Gen 3:15 we have the prophecy of this conflict and God’s declaration of Satan’s defeat through the seed of the woman.—notice, not the seed of a man as the Holy Spirit was Jesus Father.
The nation God chose to bring forth the Deliver was Israel, as seen in the covenant that God made with Abraham.
And so, Israel has been the perpetual object of Satan’s hatred, the ultimate cause behind all anti-Semitism.—hatred of the Jewish people.
Here in verse 1 of chapter 12: is the first of a number of places where we find the word “sign” {wonder and-sign} has the same meaning.
While no “signs” appear in chapters 1 to 11, at least seven “signs” are mentioned in chapters 12 to 19.
Three are in heaven and four on earth, only one is a sign of good (12:1); the others are omens of evil or judgment from God.
------------------
The first of the seven personages is described as a great wonder in heaven, it is a sign or symbol of important truth not just merely a wonder.
----------------
Ø Listen as I read verses 1-2 of Revelation 12:
1And 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:
2And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
This sign in verse 1 is called “great.” Though the sign is seen in heaven, it portrays a reality on the earth, because the woman pictured is persecuted by Satan in the great tribulation.
The woman is described as clothed with the sun, having the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
The description of the woman as clothed with the sun and the moon takes us back to
Gen.37:9-11
And he {Joseph} 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.
10And 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? 11And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
Joseph is the best picture in the Bible of Jesus as for a person is concerned, remember Joseph became Ruler in Egypt, Egypt is always a type of the world, and in that account there in Exodus Josephs brothers did indeed bow down to Joseph, the brethren are a picture of all Jews some day bowing and worshipping at the feet of Jesus, their King.
Some writers believe that these heavenly bodies {sun, moon} represent Jacob and Rachel, identifying the woman with the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant.
In the same context, the 12 stars represent the patriarchs, the 12 sons of Jacob.
Israel is without any doubt the source from which have come many of the blessings of God including the Bible, Christ.
Rom.9:1-5
1I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, 2That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. 3For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: 4Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 5Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
The twelve stars refer to the twelve tribes, Jacob’s 12 sons. When we talk about Israel, we’re really talking about the off spring of Jacobs 12 sons.-the man Jacob and the man Israel are one and the same. God changed Jacobs name to Israel, Gen.32: and also in Gen.35:, God changed his name.
The persecution of the woman coincides with the persecution of Israel.
We’re told that she is with child and waiting the imminent birth of her son.
----------------------
There are other representative women that are mentioned in the book of Revelation such as Jezebel (2:20), she represents a false religion as a system.
Then there is another represenitive woman called the harlot (17:), she is the apostate church of the future.
This apostate church will be made up of all religious organizations that are left behind when the One True Church is removed from the earth at the rapture, and some of us think it will be headed up by a Pope, which one I don’t know.
The Antichrist will be a great political leader, the one world dictator, and the false prophet will be the world religious leaded, probably a Pope, we’ll talk more about them when we come to chapter 13:
And then another woman, typical speaking is a Bride, the Lamb’s wife in (19:7), the True church joined to Christ in glory.
-----------------
In the Old Testament, Israel frequently is presented as the wife of Jehovah, and often in her character as being unfaithful to her husband.
Jeremiah 3:6-8
6The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.—{religious fornication, she worshipped idols }
7And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. {At a certain point the 10 northern tribes made up the northern kingdom, the 2 southern tribes made up the southern king, it was called JUDAH.}
8And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce;--
-----------------------------
But here in chapter 12 of the Revelation is the godly remnant of Israel- 1/3rd standing true to God in the time of the great tribulation.
3And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4And his tail drew the third part of the stars**{angels} 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. –{I’ll have much more to say about these 2 verses next time.}
And there was seen another sign in heaven.”
Notice, that these are signs that are given to us they are not literal.
The red dragon is identified as Satan in
verse 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.”
Ø In this second sign, the true character of Satan is revealed.
1. He is called “great” because of his vast power. He controls the nations of the world and offered them to the Lord Jesus if He would worship him ( Matt. 4:8–9).
Worship of himself is Satan’s ultimate goal. The kingdoms of this world are his at this present time, and he controls them today.-
In that day it was Rome, but he has controlled every nation and still does today.
Did you know that Satan has appointed certain of his powerful demons to direct the affairs of nations?
Why do you suppose the entire world is in turmoil, as it seems? These demons are directing the affairs of the nations. Listen as I read to you this great truth.
In Daniel chapter 10:7-19
7And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.
8Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.
9Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.
10And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. 11And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
12Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
13But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days:* {three weeks} but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. *{this prince that Gabriel is talking about is a powerful demon over Persia and apparently this demon has demons under him}
verse---20 Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.
I want us to notice that Gabriel told Daniel that as soon as he left another would be there to oppose him.”-- and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.
It is an on going and ever lasting battle as long as we’re here in this world.
Ø This is the first biblical reference to Michael the Archangel.
By this account here we’re assured of the fact that Satan and his forces are busy here on earth, and especially in these last days. Some of these Presidents, Prime Minister, Kings, Queens, Chiefs and what have you are controlled by the devil, we think of the tyrant of Iran Ahma-dina-jad, and Chavez of Venezuela both are prime candidates, and I’m sure we have our part of them here in this country too.
When we see some of the laws being passed and forced on the people.
This account here in Daniel 10: reveals a heavenly warfare going on. It reveals there is a great deal more about this universe in which we live than meets the eye. There is a great deal more to it than we know.
This reveals that in the world, which is unseen by us there is a conflict going on, a conflict of the ages between good and evil, light and darkness, God and Satan. It reveals that there are satanic forces and heavenly forces.
Here we are told that Gabriel was hindered from coming to Daniel for 3 full weeks, in other words the satanic forces were trying to keep Gabriel from coming to Daniel in order to answer his prayer.
