[Note: I used graphics of the constellations I found online as illustrations; you might consider doing the same.].
Christmas in Revelation? Yep!
(Rev. 12:1-9)
INTRO
1. I love a good "who done it mystery." I have to admit that Agatha Christie's books and Erle Stanley Gardner's, "Perry Mason." Sometimes you can't put them down.
2. Likewise, the plan of God is absolutely fascinating.
3. But the real gems are below the surface; they must be mined.
4. Our sermon today, "Christmas in Revelation" really begins in the book of Genesis:
Genesis 3:14-15 The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life; and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel."
5. Songwriter Charles Wesley, John's brother, wrote my all-time favorite Christmas carol, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!" Many hymnals, including ours, leave out one great verse:
Come, Desire of nations come, Fix in us Thy humble home; Rise, the Woman's conquering Seed, Bruise in us the Serpent's head. Adam's likeness now efface: Stamp Thine image in its place; Second Adam, from above, Reinstate us in thy love.
MAIN IDEA: Jesus first coming set in motion everything necessary to bring in His Kingdom, in its full extent, at His Second coming.
TS--------------→ Let’s look at how both comings age intertwined and what exactly has happened and is going to happen.
This passage has an awful lot of depth to it, and it can get pretty confusing. It is thick, but fascinating. I’ll try to keep it simple.
I. The Sign of the WOMAN (1-2)
A. The GOSPEL in the stars!
Psalm 19:1ff reads, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."
• The stars are also an early source of Gospel information…
Speaking of the constellation Virgo, D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge ministries wrote, "As Christians we can easily see here a reference to the seed of the woman (that is, the virgin) who will conceive and bring forth a child (Isaiah 7:14)." — from his book: The Real Meaning of the Zodiac
Institute for Creation Research founder Henry Morris writes, “God’s people, of course, are absolutely forbidden to practice astrology, witchcraft, Spiritism or any other form of occult “science” (Isaiah 8:19, 20; 47:12-15)...
"But false religion is all the more deceptive when based on a core of truth. It is very significant that the twelve signs of the Zodiac—the twelve constellations…seem to antedate all recorded history and are the same in all the nations of antiquity, whether Babylonia, Egypt, Arabia, China, Greece, or others. This is all the more remarkable in view of the fact that the constellations in most cases bear no resemblance whatever to the figures they are supposed to depict. It seems most probable that there was some primeval agreement among the early progenitors of the human race…
"It is remarkable that the successive constellations of the Zodiac (the Biblical “Mazzaroth”—Job 38:32) do depict in startling fashion the prophecies of the Scriptures concerning the promised Savior of the world. Their story begins with the great sign of Virgo, the heavenly Virgin, with her infant son pictured in the accompanying [constellation] of Coma, and terminates eleven months later with Leo, the great Lion, tearing to pieces the fleeing Serpent. In between these two signs appears in various ways the great prophecy of the promised “seed of the woman” who, though mortally bruised by the Serpent, would yet rise again finally to crush completely the old Dragon, Satan, and all his works (Genesis 3:15; Revelation 12:9; 20:10).
"Now it is highly probable that the Magi were familiar, not only with the corrupt system of astrology, but also in some measure with the original evangelical meanings of the heavenly figures. Then, when they suddenly saw a very bright star appear in the constellation Coma (the Virgin’s Son, and there is considerable secular evidence that a “nova” occurred in this constellation at about the time of Christ’s birth), they interpreted it as Balaam’s prophesied Star out of Jacob, and eventually set out with a caravan on the long journey to Jerusalem."
[source: http://www.religiousverse.com]
Let's note what we have in our text:
1. The woman represented by VIRGO
2. 12 stars represented by COMA BERNICE'S HAIR
• The original constellations told the story of redemption before they were corrupted
(1) Virgo the Virgin here, 12 stars are known as the “Coma Bernice’s Hair” and the moon representing the newborn Christ…
(3) Clothed with the sun meant that the sun was on the horizon, so you could see the stars, yet there was a bit of the sun’s glow…
B. Who Does VIRGO Represent?
1. Possibly EVE? After the Fall, God announced the promise of Genesis 3:14-15
2. Possibly MARY? Luke 1:30-35 reads, “But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”
3. Possibly the Nation of ISRAEL? Jeremiah 31:4-5 reads, “I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful. Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the farmers will plant them and enjoy their fruit.”
4. Best explanation: ALL OF THE ABOVE
The Virgin more so represents Israel (12 stars=tribes), but also includes Mary and Eve, just like the dragon represents Satan, the Antichrist, and the Kingdom of the Antichrist
II. Satan’s Attempt to EXTERMINATE the Messiah (3-4)
A. The DRAMA unfolds
1. The constellation Virgo appears to be giving birth; the moon is under her feet, probably the symbol of the Messiah who has been fully born..
2. Satan is represented by the constellation Draco, the dragon…
B. SATAN attempts to destroy the child
1. This takes us to Matthew 2:16-21: “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead." So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.”
According to all the standards of the world, Herod was an immensely successful king. (47 BC – 4 BC. Built palaces & fortifications. Built the Temple – twice as big! Famine in 25 BC – melted down his own gold to buy food for the people. But “uneasy lies the crown” – almost insanely suspicious.)
. He had been taught that the only way to live is to exercise power, rule over others, manipulate lives, control situations, always be in charge. If anything gets in your way, then take care of it, even if it means chopping heads off baby boys. You take care of whatever gets in your way.
(Augustus said, “It is safer to be Herod’s pig than to be Herod’s son.”)
2. The implication is that the many attempts on Jesus’ life, both recorded and unrecorded, where Satan’s attempts to prevent Him from saving the world….
(1) the repeated attempted stonings
(2) the attempts to cause Him to sin…wilderness….Peter….Gethsemane
C. Satan sweeps a THIRD of the stars
(1) Lucifer fell into sin (cf Isaiah 14); many angels followed him and became demons; from this passage, we can suggest the theory that 1/3 of the angels followed him…
(2) Both angels and stars are referred to throughout the Old Testament as the “hosts of heaven.” It is possible that there is a star for every angel.
III. The Child Will CONQUER (5)
A. He ASCENDS a victor
1. He is caught up to heaven…the Ascension of Jesus after atoning for sin…
2. This is the basis for His victory
3. Remember that passage in Genesis, about the seed of the woman crushing the serpent’s head? This is represented in the next constellation, the constellation of Leo the Lion who is pictured doing just that…
B. He is destined to RULE
• with an iron scepter, as Psalm 2 reads:
“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.
"Let us break their chains," they say, "and throw off their fetters." The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
"I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill." I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son ; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter ; you will dash them to pieces like pottery."
Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”
IV. Israel CARED For (6-9)
1. This makes it clear that the Virgin mostly refers to Israel
2. The 1,260 days is the latter part of the Tribulation, known as the Great Tribulation…
3. The Tribulation will culminate in the Battle of Armageddon, followed by the return of Christ to the earth to set up His Kingdom….
4. Michael, the Archangel, casts Satan out of heaven during the latter Tribulation…
5. Some people do not realize that Satan has access to God and accuses God’s children before Him:
Revelation 12:10 reads, “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”
CONCLUDING APPLICATION
1. What does this all mean?
2. There will be peace only when the Prince of Peace Returns. The best we do is manage things as best we can until then.
3. He came the first time as the Lamb of God, vulnerable and needing the Father’s protection….
4. He will return the second time as the Lion, ready to conquer and claiming the victory He already accomplished on the cross…
5. The first time around, there was no room for Jesus. But one day there will be peace on earth and good will toward men.
6. You need Jesus now! You need to align yourself with God rather than attempting neutrality…
