We have come to the 12th Chapter of Revelation. We are past the halfway point of Revelation and entering into the second half of the tribulation. We are awaiting the blowing of the Seventh Trumpet which will be the coming of the 7 bowls. Before we get into the details of the events of that time, John is going to rewind the prophetic clock to give us an overview of what I call the epic war of the ages.
What we are going to examine today is the battle that has ensued against Israel (and ultimately God) from Satan. When you place your life in the hands of God and when the righteousness of Christ is given as your righteousness - whether you are a Jew born into God’s kingdom or a Gentile grafted into the kingdom - you are imparted into a deadly battle that has raged for millennia.
Satan hates God and he hates all those who are called by God which means he hates you. As much as God loves you; Satan hates you. Therefore, he will do all he can to deceive you, destroy your faith, and inhibit you from receiving God’s blessings, as well as your family. Satan also seeks to keep and deceive the world from following God and receiving the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ into their lives.
In our current events, I shared with you a few current news stories that underscore this spiritual truth. Now, to make this point clear to the readers of Revelation, John is taking us all the way back to the fall of Satan, the Fall of Man, the coming of Christ, and then into the Great Tribulation. We will also see tonight how the false teaching of Replacement Theology (that is, the idea that when Israel rejected Christ, they were replaced with the Church) is not possible following a sound interpretation of this passage of Scripture.
1. “A Great Sign appeared in Heaven…” (Revelation 12:1a)
"And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." (Revelation 12:1a ESV)
As I mentioned before, John is taking us back all the way to the fall of Satan from Heaven. We are shifting in the perspective of the events of the Tribulation here in Chapter 12. Chapters 1-3 are the historical understanding of the 7 churches in Asia Minor. Chapters 4-11 have generally been John’s perspective from the mezzanine level in heaven. Chapters 12-14 are more from Satan’s perspective.
The word “Great” is used 4 times in Chapter 12 (vv. 1, 3, 12, 14). It is the Greek word “Megas” meaning objects very large. John is standing in the meds of these events and these are massive things happening.
The word “sign” is the first of seven signs in the last half of Revelation. A sign means something is occurring that points to something else; a symbol of reality. I drive between Maryland and Pennsylvania all the time. When I get to the Mason-Dixon line there is a sign to welcome me to the state. I don’t jump on the sign and say, ‘Here I am.' I only am pointed by the sign to the reality of my current location.
So it is with Scripture. There are clear literal portions of Scripture and there are places where Scripture tells us we have symbolism. This is a good reminder of the normal interpretation of Scripture should be literal, unless we are told differently. Where it is a sign, the Spirit of God generally tells us it is a sign. That supports that the book of Revelation is generally to be interpreted literally.
2. The Woman Clothed With the Sun (Revelation 12:1b)
“a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” (Revelation 12:1b)
In prophetic Scripture, a woman always refers to a religious construct. In Revelation, we are introduced to 4 such women. Revelation 2:20 tells us about the woman Jezebel. This is pagan worship mixed in the church. In Revelation 17, we read of the Great Harlot, which is the apostate church. In Revelation 19, we find the Bride of Christ, which is the true church - the Church Triumphant. Here we find a woman clothed with the sun about to give birth. Every description of this woman is a reference to Israel.
In the Old Testament, we read Israel being described as a woman in travail (Isaiah 54:5; 66:7; Jer 3:6). It goes back to as far as Genesis 3:15, which we know as the ‘Protevangelium.’ Gen 3:15 “15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Here we find how at Satan’s judgment when he is cast down, there will be a constant war between her and Satan, and ultimately our Lord Jesus Christ.
This woman is Israel. The sun represents her shining glory of God; her brilliance and dignity of God’s glory to the nations. The mood is a symbol of her eternal covenant relationship and the covenant cycles found in the moon and her feasts. The ‘Stephanos’ or victor’s crown is the symbol of her victory over intense struggle. And, of course, the 12 stars on her crown are the 12 tribes of Israel.
Some may ask, why isn’t this the Church? This brings me to the idea of ‘Replacement Theology’ or Supersessionism - the idea that when Israel rejected Christ as the Messiah, she forfeited her covenant promises with God and was replaced by the Church. Thus, in some respects, the Church became a ‘spiritual Israel.’ This is widely held by those who do not study prophecy or those who try to justify “Kingdom Now” theology
Nowhere in the Bible, does God ever say that He was ever going to replace Israel with Gentile believers. In fact, Scripture says the opposite: that because of Israel, Gentiles will join Israel, but Israel will eternally be God’s chosen people. Israel is mentioned mo less than 75 times in the New Testament and every time Scripture refers to Israel as a nation (not typology). Romans (Romans 9, 11) make it absolutely clear that God is not finished with Israel.
God has a special love for Israel, even in their rebellion. In the everlasting Abrahamic Covenant, God told Abraham that He would bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse them (Genesis 12: 3). This covenant is explicitly given by God as one that is unbreakable by God. In like manner, He told the prophet, Zechariah, that he who touches Israel, “touches the apple of His eye” (Zechariah 2:8).
“But,” say the Amillennialists, “all these promises were annulled by the Jews’ rejection of Jesus as their Messiah.” This assertion explains why chapters 9 through 11 of Romans have been the most ignored and despised chapters of the New Testament throughout Church history. Often, these chapters are simply dismissed as an “irrelevant parenthesis” in the book of Romans.
But the truth is that they are anything but that. In these chapters, Paul uses the Jewish people as the quintessential example of God’s grace. Jeremiah 30, 31, and 33 all tell us that despite Israel losing their land, God promises a restoration of them as a nation as we saw in 1948.
Despite their history of rebellion against God’s will, and their continuing rebellion, Paul teaches that God still loves them, still has a purpose for them, and is still determined to bring a great remnant of them to salvation in Jesus.
?For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16 ESV)
Is there any nation in all the world that Satan wants to destroy more than Israel? As we will see, as we continue on, Israel is still very much the covenant people of God. There are clear differences between the Church and Israel in Scripture.
3. The Woman Giving Birth (Revelation 12:2)
She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. (Revelation 12:2 ESV)
John describes here how Israel gave birth to the Messiah Jesus Christ.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Scripture refers to Christ as the seed of a woman (Isaiah 9:6 ESV)
Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. (Galatians 3:16 ESV)
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, (Jeremiah 31:31 ESV)
In Isaiah 26; 54; 66 Israel is always described as a mother; the wife of Jehovah. Never is the church anywhere in Scripture described as a wife or a mother. She is always the Bride of Christ until the wedding supper found in Revelation 19. What I want you to know is that the Gospel without Israel and the Old Testament is a false Gospel and those who teach Replacement Theology are false teachers who must twist or discard massive amounts of Scripture to adhere to this teaching.
4. The Great Red Dragon (Revelation 12:3)
And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. (Revelation 12:3 ESV)
The Dragon is a sign of Satan. Satan is described in Revelation as a dragon 13 times. Here John is witnessing the mutiny of Satan in heaven.
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! (Isaiah 14:12)
And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, (Revelation 20:2)
And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 12:9)
He is the serpent of the garden that deceived Adam and Eve. He is the work of Egypt to destroy Israel and he as worked in rebellion against God and his people (Ezekiel 28:11-18).
In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; 3 speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, ‘My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.’ 4 I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales; and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams, with all the fish of your streams that stick to your scales. 5 And I will cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams; you shall fall on the open field, and not be brought together or gathered. To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens I give you as food. (Ezekiel 29:1–5)
We’ll get into the image of the 7 heads and 10 horns in Revelation 17, but what John here is describing is the world system - a one-world global confederacy that will dominate the world during the Great Tribulation. Satan is the current ruler and authority in the world, but that dominion is going to be struck down by Jesus at his glorious return (Luke 4:5-6; Rev 11:15; John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11).
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
This is another reason why ‘Kingdom Now Theology’ is categorically false and even demonically inspired to lead God’s people astray; away from the hope and expectation of Christ’s imminent and eternal victory and following the false patterns and systems of today.
5. The Dragon’s Tail (Revelation 12:4a)
His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth.(Revelation 12:4 (ESV)
The tail of the dragon is Satan’s lies and deceit. As you read, when Satan rebelled in heaven he took 1/3 of the angels (stars) in heaven to their eternal damnation with them. He will do the same to many in the world. Satan’s deceptions will deceive the masses. In Revelation 9 we read that 200 million demons are released from the pit. That was 200 million of God’s angels at one time. We don’t know how many are lost right now. Satan leads people away through deceit and lies. It was his Motus Operandi in the Garden and it is the same today
But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. (Genesis 3:4 ESV)
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV)
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44 ESV)
Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, (2 Thessalonians 2:11 ESV)
6. The Dragon’s Destruction (Revelation 12:4b)
“And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that when she bore her child he might devour it.” (Revelation 12:4)
Satan has worked throughout all of human history to destroy history and anyone who seeks to follow God.
We saw is with Egypt (Egypt is a typology of Satan’s world system)
Herod’s attempt to kill the Christ-child (Matt 2:13)
Judas was filled with Satan in an attempt to arrest and have him killed by the Sanhedrin
The Jews were blamed by the French and British for the plague
Spain drove the Jews out of their country in 1492
The Roman Catholic Church killed countless Jews in the name of Christ
The Russians tried to exterminate the Jews through campaigns in 1882 & 1894
Hitler killed 6 million Jews in WW2
Today, the Arabs and Iran declare they want to wipe the Jews off the face of the earth
7. The Woman’s Off-Spring (Revelation 12:5)
"She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,” (Revelation 12:5)
Obviously, Israel giving birth is the coming of Christ. He is the rightful, future, and victorious ruler of all nations. His incarnation was brought through with Israel. He was “caught up” harpazo to be enthroned with God (his coronation). He will rule (Shepherd/pastor) with an iron rod. In other words, he will be a ruler of righteous justice (Rev 2:27) in response to false, satanic teachers and liars. Satan cannot stop him! Satan has tried since the fall. The time is coming when he will be defeated by the Lord Jesus Christ!
8. The Woman’s Travail (Revelation 12:6)
"and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.” (Revelation 12:6)
This is a reference to the end of the Tribulation. John is now comparing the satanic covenant in which the Jews were deceived by the antichrist. At the abomination of desolation, the Jews will one last time be chased by Satan, but God will faithfully care for them and protect them.
“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. (Matthew 24:15–16)
There are no other people who are more resourceful in the face of persecution than the people of Israel.
