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 Gen. 37:9-11.
The Woman with 12 Stars
| Revelation 12:1 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 Gen. 37:9-11. |
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The 12 stars are the 12 tribes of Israel.
Revelation 12:2
and she was with child; and she *cried out, being in labor and in pain to give
birth.
She is going to give birth to the Messiah.
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Revelation 12:3 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. |
The dragon is Satan, as explained in verse 9.
Revelation 12:4
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.
Satan brought down to earth one third of the
angels of God. These angels are called demons and they try to deceive humanity
into following Satan. Satan tried to destroy Jesus at the time of his
birth, but God did not allow it
Matthew 2:13,16.
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Revelation 12:5 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. |
Jesus is this male child born to the woman. He will rule all nations at his return to this earth as He promised. He is now sitting at the right hand of God 1 Peter 3:22
The woman, therefore, is the nation of Israel.
The nation of Israel is made up of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus is a descendant of David, from the tribe of Judah. Remember that Israel is made up of believers -- believers by faith and actual flesh and blood descendants from Abraham.
| Revelation 12:6 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. |
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About 40 years after Jesus was taken to heaven, Jerusalem fell in 70 AD when the Roman armies destroyed the city. The Israelites that survived had to emigrate to other lands. The original word translated wilderness is the Greek word erhmon "eremon" which literally means an uninhabited region.
| Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, |
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Satan knows Jesus defeated him by overcoming temptation here on earth. So the Devil and his demons try to fight Him off by waging war with Michael and his angels. See Satan
Revelation 12:8
and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them
in heaven.
Satan lost the war in heaven.
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Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. |
Revelation 12:10
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the
power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for
the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our
God day and night.
Satan used to have access to the throne of God, where he usually accused God's followers Job 1:7-11. This access has been finally denied. Satan is restricted to planet Earth, but this implies that there are more demons on this Earth than ever before, and therefore the conditions on earth are rapidly deteriorating.
However, in heaven people are rejoicing because the Devil is gone. That is why they shout -- salvation has come to the heavens.
Revelation 12:11
"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the
word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with
death.
The followers of God have suffered persecution since Jesus was resurrected to the throne of God. Sometimes the persecution has resulted in paying with their lives, but Jesus told us: Matthew 10:28 ... fear not them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
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Revelation 12:12 "For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time." |
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"You
who dwell in them" may also refer to other people who dwell in heaven. The
word translated "dwell" is the Greek word skhnounteV
"skenountes" which means
"tenting" . Also
compare 2Co 12:2-4
in reference to paradise. The rejoicing may include people who dwell in
paradise, in the third heaven.
Revelation 12:13
And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the
woman who gave birth to the male child.
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When Satan realizes he has no access to heaven anymore, he persecutes the followers of God, the descendants of Israel (by flesh and by faith) -- the woman who gave birth to Jesus.
| This persecution of Jews increased to a maximum in the last century at the time of Hitler where many of God's followers, descendants of Abraham, were killed during the holocaust -- what the old testament refers to as "Jacob's trouble" Jeremiah 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. |
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Revelation 12:14 But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place... |
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Revelation 12:14
...where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, away from the face of the serpent. |
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Some time ago I used to think that the woman fled to the land of Israel, till I realized that it was not possible because in the land of Israel the woman, or nation of Israel, is not safe from Satan. Then I realized that the wilderness into which this woman is taken is not on this earth. God specifies that the woman flies into the wilderness ... from the presence of the serpent. The woman escapes the serpent!
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Revelation 12:15 And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. |
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Satan will try to impede the escape by what the apostle John relates as "water ...after the woman" so that the woman would be swept away and would not be able to leave.
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Revelation 12:16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. |
God states that the earth helped the woman -- an earthquake perhaps? That "the earth opened its mouth." We do not know yet all the details of how the woman escapes. But God states that the woman is given "the two wings of the great eagle." The woman will escape by flying out of this earth away from the grip of Satan.
Revelation 12:17
So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest
of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the witness of
Jesus.
The dragon is not able to avoid the escape of the woman and what he does is he
becomes enraged with "the rest of her seed". The word translated
"rest" is the Greek word loipwn
"loipon" which means "leftover
ones". These are the followers of
Jesus who were left behind here on earth where Satan is
able to harm them.
The dragon cannot attack the woman because she is out of his reach, so he attacks those who keep the 10 commandments and believe the new testament, which was written by witnesses of Jesus.
These are the ones that would have to endure the hardships that would befall on earth, starting with the persecution by the one-world government of the beast and the plagues described in the wrath of God. The "two witnesses" Re 11:3 are descendants of this group who will be left behind on this earth. This remnant of the woman is the one that would rather be beheaded than accept the mark of the beast Re 14:12.
May we all be ready to depart with Jesus at the time of his rescue/rapture and avoid the plagues and persecution that will come shortly.
