Study In Revelation 20 The Struggle Behind The Great Tribulation Series

IN REVELATION 20

The Seventh Trumpet in detail [Part 1]

The Struggle Behind the Great Tribulation

Rev. 12: 1-5

This passage may be one of the most fascinating in the Bible, because it reveals to us the struggle that takes place behind the scenes of this world. The struggle will be so intense in the last days that Jesus calls it the "Great Tribulation"

By "great’ He meant terrible, the most intense tribulation the world has ever seen. Nothing we have seen up to this point can come close to what is about to come.

We ask, "Why does there have to be tribulation and why does it have to be so bad?" This passage will help us to understand the why.

There are three main characters in this passage, let’s see who they are.

Vs. 1-2 The first character we see is a woman who is "with child"

This woman is called a great wonder or a great sign in heaven. She is the heavenly representative of some earthly people. Who is she and who does she represent.

The first thing we notice is her appearance.

How is she clothed? With the sun. The moon is seen under her feet and she has a crown of stars on her head.

Is there a particular number of stars or is she just wearing a crown with some stars on it?

This refers back to the dream that Joseph had and described to his father and brothers: Gen. 37: 9-11

Jacob completely understood what Joseph meant. The sun represented the father [Jacob], the moon the mother and the twelve stars the brothers. Joseph was dreaming Israel would be saved from destruction, through him.

The second thing we notice is that the woman is pregnant. According to this passage the child she is carrying is not just any child. He is going to rule with a rod of iron and be caught up to God, according to verse 5.

So just who is this woman? There are four main positions on just who she is.

There have been several women founders of cults over the past 2 centuries who could not resist the temptation of seeing themselves pictured as this woman.

„h Joanna Southcott said that she was the woman and that on Oct.1814 she would have the man child. SHE DID NOT...

1. Some say that the woman in this passage is Mary, the mother of Jesus. The problem with this concept is that there are just too many supernatural things said about the woman for her to be a real human being.

2. Some say she is the church. The problem here is that the church did not give birth to Jesus. He gave birth to the church.

3. Some say she is the ideal Israel, the chosen people. These say that the mother represent all of the true people of God, those before and after Jesus came.

Paul talks about the Jerusalem that is above and is the mother of us all. [Gal. 4:26]

4. Some say that she represents Israel, the very people who gave birth to Jesus Christ. When you compare scripture to scripture, this seems to be the clearest identification of who this woman is.

Paul said in Romans 9: 5 that Jesus came out of Israel. Isaiah said in chapter 66: 7-8 that Israel would travail in pain and bring forth a man child.

Vs. 3-4 The second character we see is the "great red dragon."

When we look at the description and the authority of the dragon or the devil we see something much different that the picture many of us has in our minds. Most people think of the devil as some big ugly creature, with red skin, two big horns, a long tail and a pitch fork in his hand. When scripture talks about satan being a dragon it refers to the evil work he does not his appearance.

Let’s look at what this passage says about the dragon. Remember we aren’t getting a picture of what he looks like; we are looking at a description of his power and authority.

1. Satan has seven heads. Do you remember what the number seven represents?

lucky number days in the week completeness and fullness.

Satan is not omniscient or all-knowing, like God but he is complete in the knowledge he has. Satan is a lot smarter than most of us give him credit for...

2. Satan has seven crowns. This symbolizes his authority. He is a crowned ruler who has a kingdom to rule over.

3. Satan has ten horns. This is a symbol of power. The problem is that his power is used for evil.

4. Satan is the god of this world who blinds the minds of men. 2Cor. 4: 4