“Revelation 12:1-6”

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

“A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.”

---End of Scripture verses---

When the book of Revelation is read as if it was written in chronological order, the true meanings and message of the vivid images will never be properly arrived at. Robert Harkrider describes the literary methodology of Revelation as a “recapitulation pattern. First the outcome is revealed, then scenes are repeated to give additional information that explain why a certain result is reached.” When we read of the visions of one portion of the book we should do so with the recognition that further spectacles serve to build upon previous imagery and deepen our understanding of God’s message for us.

Yesterday we read when the seventh trumpet sounded, it was proclaimed that “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” (11:15). Furthermore, “the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm” (11:19). But instead of the immediate outpouring of God’s bowls of wrathful judgment against evil and unjust persecution, and the depiction of the glorious reign of Christ with His victorious saints, another lengthy interlude is introduced explaining the fundamental reasons for Rome’s war against God’s elect.

“The reader could close the Apocalypse after the first eleven chapters and be assured of the outcome. The characters have been introduced—the beast versus God’s witnesses. The winners have been announced—Christ and His saints. However several questions remain unanswered. What are the underlying reasons for this hostility toward the church and the persecution of the saints? From whence comes the power motivating the persecutors? From earth’s viewpoint, the conflict is between Rome and the church. But the remaining visions will show that behind the scene the struggle actually originates in heaven. The battle is between God and Satan, righteousness versus evil… But let Christians be encouraged to know that the devil’s harassment of the church is not because he is triumphant, but because he is desperate. He knows that he has but a short time.” (Harkrider)

“A great sign” now appears in heaven of “a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (verse 1). This exalted “woman” radiates heaven’s marvelous light from head to toe, representing her glory and purity. But the million dollar question is, just who does that splendid lady represent? Consider Homer Hailey’s astute insights into this important question:

“The woman seems not to be the Jewish nation, a view held by some; neither is she the church in its general New Testament sense, as suggested by others; nor could she be the virgin Mary, as contended by a third group. The Jewish nation rejected Christ; the church…is the product of His redemptive work; and to make her the virgin Mary is entirely too limited in scope. The woman can best be thought of as the spiritual remnant of God’s people who, in faithfulness, had kept covenant with Him.”

Consider what was written in Micah 4:10; 5:2 and Isaiah 66:7 in confirmation of that view. Robert Harkrider wrote, “Through Christ the eternal inheritance was obtained by those called under the first testament (Heb. 9:15; 11:40). Since the faithful of past dispensations will be assimilated with the church to become one perfected body in Christ, it follows that the radiant woman depicts the collective spiritual body of God’s people. She exists throughout time. Before the birth of Christ she symbolizes the faithful remnant of Israel, and after the death of Christ she represents the church.”

Next the devil appears in heaven as “a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems” (verse 3). His seven heads are an indication of his great intelligence, his ten horns of his great power and His seven crowns (diadems) of his rulership over the realm of darkness. Although our great adversary is nowhere near omnipotent like our Almighty Creator, we dare not underestimate his strength and might which is fearsomely demonstrated by his tail sweeping away “a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth” (verse 4). Harkrider suggests that “Satan’s power is thus manifested in the fact that he has enticed many angels to sin (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6).”

The splendid woman, even in all of her radiant glory, appears to be no match for this seven-headed, ten-horned formidable behemoth. He is perched before her ready to devour her “son” (verse 5) as soon as He comes forth from her womb. Of course, Jesus is this “male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.” Throughout Israel’s history Satan attempted time and again to destroy God’s people and overthrow His plan of saving the world by bringing His Christ into it though them. Satan used Pharaoh to try to devastate Israel in Egypt, he used fear and temptation to annihilate them in the wilderness, the evil Haman to utterly obliterate them during the Persian Empire (Esther 3:6, 12-15). Of course, the wicked King Herod tried to kill Jesus while He was yet an infant when he “slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi” (Matthew 2:16).

After several unsuccessful attempts by the Lord’s enemies to take His life, it finally appeared that Satan had achieved his evil objective when Jesus was crucified on Calvary’s cross. But, instead of triumph, “Satan was foiled by his own devices. What was intended by the devil to be a means of extermination became God’s means of salvation.” (Harkrider) Instead of bitter defeat, Christ “was caught up to God and to His throne” where He reigns as King of kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16); and His faithful disciples, personified in the woman after Christ’s ascension, were led “into the wilderness” to a “place prepared by God” to “be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days” (verse 6). God would not allow Satan to destroy the woman or her children.

Please read Revelation 12:7-12 for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

-Louie Taylor

Share