CHAPTER 12

(A.D. 96)

THE SUN-CLAD WOMAN

¹And there appeared a great wonder in Heaven (should have been translated, a great sign in Heaven); a woman clothed with the Sun (speaks of National Israel with the Sun being a symbol of her Glory), and the moon under her feet (speaks of dominion, hence, the mention of her feet), and upon her head a crown of twelve stars (speaks of dominion regained and Israel restored):

²And she being with child cried (pertains to the 144,000 Jews who will be saved in the first half of the Great Tribulation [Rev., Chpt. 7]), travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. (This concerns spiritual pregnancy, with the agonies of childbirth typifying in the physical what will take place in the spiritual [Isa. 66:7-8].)

GREAT RED DRAGON

³And there appeared another wonder in Heaven (should have been translated, another sign); and behold a great red dragon (denotes Satan and his murderous purpose, typified by the color of red), having seven heads (refers to Empires that persecuted Israel, even until Johns day; those Empires were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome) and ten horns (represents ten nations that will be ruled by the Antichrist in the last days, and will greatly persecute Israel; actually, the seventh head is those ten horns; Daniel tells us that these ten horns representing ten nations will be in the old Roman Empire territory, which refers to the Middle East and parts of Europe [Dan. 7:7]), and seven crowns upon his heads (represents the fact that Satan controlled these particular kingdoms).

MANCHILD

⁴And his tail drew the third part of the stars of Heaven (this goes all the way back to the original rebellion of Lucifer against God; at that time, one-third of the Angels threw in their lot with him; we know these stars represent Angels, because Verse 9 tells us so), and did cast them to the earth (is given to us more clearly in Verses 7-9): and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered (does not pertain to the birth of Christ as many claim, but rather the manchild which is the 144,000 Jews who will give their hearts to Christ [Chpt. 7]), for to devour her child as soon as it was born. (This pertains to the fact that the Antichrist will hate these Jews who have come to Christ. This will take place in the first half of the Great Tribulation, and may well be the primary reason the Antichrist will turn on Israel at that time.)

⁵And she (Israel) brought forth a manchild (as stated, this is the 144,000 Jews who will come to Christ during the first half of the Great Tribulation [Chpt. 7]; we arent told exactly how this will be done), who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron (Israel, under Christ, will definitely fill this role in the coming Millennial Reign): and her child was caught up unto God, and to His Throne. (This refers to the Rapture of the 144,000, which will take place at about the midpoint of the Great Tribulation.)

⁶And the woman fled into the wilderness (the woman is National Israel; at the midpoint of the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist will turn on Israel and defeat her, with many thousands of Jews fleeing into the wilderness), where she has a place prepared of God (this place is actually ancient Petra, located in Jordan [Isa. 16:1-5]), that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (They mentioned here refers oddly enough to the Arabs of Jordan. The 1,260 days constitute almost all of the last half of the Great Tribulation. Incidentally, Petra is now empty of people, awaiting the arrival of Israel.)

MICHAEL

⁷And there was war in Heaven (pertains to the Mystery of God being finished [10:7]): Michael and his Angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his Angels (this pertains to Satan and all the Angels who followed him being cast out of Heaven, which will take place at the midpoint of the Great Tribulation; why the Lord has allowed Satan and his minions to remain in Heaven all of this time, we arent told; it is a Mystery, but it will now be finished),

⁸And prevailed not (Satan will then be defeated; incidentally, it is not Satan who instigates this war, but rather the Archangel Michael at the Command of God); neither was their place found any more in Heaven (joins with the close of the Book of Revelation, where the Evil One has no more place on Earth as well, but rather the place of torment forever and ever [20:10]).

⁹And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan (he is referred to as the Great Dragon because of his propensity to steal, kill, and destroy [Jn. 10:10]; he is the old serpent because in his first appearance in the Bible, he chose to work through a serpent; thereby, he is what the curse caused the serpent to be, wryly subtle, and treacherous), which deceives the whole world (deception is his greatest weapon; he deceives, and is himself deceived): he was cast out into the earth, and his Angels were cast out with him (pronounces the beginning of the end for this evil monster).

OVERCOMERS

¹⁰And I heard a loud voice saying in Heaven (presents the white-robe wearers of Rev. 6:10-11), Now is come Salvation, and Strength, and the Kingdom of our God (presents the triumph of Christ), and the power of His Christ (refers to the fact that Christ will rule this world, not Satan): for the accuser of our Brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. (This implies that either Satan or one of his fallen angels is before the Throne of God, accusing the Brethren constantly [Job, Chpts. 1-2].)

¹¹And they overcame him by the Blood of the Lamb (the power to overcome and overwhelm the Kingdom of Satan is found exclusively in the Blood of the Sacrifice of the Son of God, and our Faith in that Finished Work [Rom. 6:3-5, 11, 14]), and by the word of their testimony (the testimony must pertain to the fact that the Object of our Faith is the Cross, and exclusively the Cross, which then gives the Holy Spirit latitude to work within our lives); and they loved not their lives unto the death. (This refers to the fact that the Believer must not change his testimony regarding the Cross to something else, even if it means death.)

¹²Therefore rejoice, you Heavens, and you who dwell in them. (Heaven rejoices because Satan has no more access to those portals.) Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the Sea! for the Devil is come down unto you, having great wrath (the woe mentioned here is the third and final woe, and pertains to Satan being cast out of Heaven, down to this Earth; he will have great anger), because he knows that he has but a short time (in order to carry out his plan; failing that he is doomed!).

PERSECUTION

¹³And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.(Thats when, as stated, the Antichrist will break his seven year Covenant with Israel, attacking and defeating her [Dan. 9:27].)

¹⁴And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place (the Lord will help Israel at that time, and do so greatly; as stated, this refers to Petra, which is located in modern Jordan), where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent (refers to three and one half years, the last half of the Great Tribulation; the Antichrist will take his armies elsewhere, thinking to take care of this remnant a little later [Dan. 11:44]).

¹⁵And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman (refers to the army of the Antichrist, which has just defeated Israel and is now bent on completely destroying her), that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. (The man of sin fully intends to destroy Israel at this time, but the Lord will intervene to stop him, as the next Verse proclaims.)

¹⁶And the earth helped the woman (probably refers to the Lord sending an earthquake), and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. (This proclaims the action that helps the woman [Israel] hurts the dragon. As stated, it will probably be an earthquake!)

¹⁷And the dragon was wroth with the woman (Israel has escaped out of the clutches of Satan one more time), and went to make war with the remnant of her seed (after the Rapture of the 144,000 Jews, with their Testimony still ringing out over Israel, no doubt, many other Jews will accept Christ at that time and make up the Remnant), which keep the Commandments of God, and have the Testimony of Jesus Christ. (As stated, this refers to the fact that this Remnant of Jews, ever how many there will be, will have accepted Christ, hence, greatly angering Satan.)