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Chapter 24: Israel And The Dragon
Revelation 12:1 "A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head" The woman described here is the nation of Israel. The key to interpreting the symbolism used here is found in the book of Genesis, where Joseph’s dream is interpreted by his father Jacob. Genesis 37:9-11 Listen, he said, I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me. When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, `What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?' Jacob's interpretation of Joseph’s dream identifies the woman clothed with the sun as Israel, the descendants of Jacob. The sun is Jacob, the moon is the mother of Joseph, and the twelve stars are Joseph and his eleven brothers. As far as future prophecy is concerned the woman clothed with the sun in Revelation represents the nation that brought forth the Messiah, Jesus Christ. As past history these verses also apply to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Revelation 12:3-4 "Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the Earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born." The red dragon is clearly shown in this verse to be Satan. The third part of the stars that were cast to Earth are the one third of the angels that followed Satan when he rebelled against God. Matthew 2:13-21 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead" So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. Satan, through Herod, killed all of the male children under two years of age shortly after Christ’s birth. God had already sent an angel to warn Joseph and Mary to move to Egypt, and Herod was not able to accomplish the murder of the Lord Jesus Christ in this massacre. Revelation 12:5 "She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne." That this child was Christ is clearly shown in this verse. He is the one who will rule the nations with a rod of iron during the Millennium. He is also the one who was raised from the dead and ascended to the throne of God. Revelation 12:6 "The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days." Joseph and his family escaped to Egypt for three and one half years, to escape from Herod. In the future 144,000 Israelites will flee from the state Israel for three and one half years, to a place where the Antichrist cannot kill them. Revelation 12:7-9 And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the Earth, and his angels with him. The dragon is clearly identified here as Satan, and Michael is identified as the one who has power over him. This verse was fulfilled the first time when Satan was cast out of heaven, after he rebelled against the Lord in ages past. Job 1:6-7 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the Earth and going back and forth in it." Apparently though, up until the time when the second fulfillment of this verse is accomplished, Satan is still allowed access to heaven to accuse the saints. During the last three and one half years before the return of Christ, Satan will be barred from heaven and confined only to Earth, where he will control the Antichrist and persecute Israel and the church. Revelation 12:10-13 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the Earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short." When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the Earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. When Satan is cast down to Earth he will have great wrath because he knows his time to be free is short. He will inspire the Antichrist to murder Christians and Jews. The dragon will persecute the nation from whom God brought forth the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:14 "to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent". Here, a time, times, and a half a time, is identified as being the same as the 1,260 days that was mentioned earlier in Revelation 12:6. Some of the descendants of Jacob will be protected from Satan’s wrath for three and one half years. It is a possibility that "flying into the wilderness on the wings of a great eagle" could mean that some Israelites will be airlifted to a place of safety in the United States to escape the wrath of Antichrist. Revelation 12:17 "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Luke 12:4 "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. When the Antichrist finds that the Jews he intended to destroy have escaped from his hand, he will concentrate his efforts on their spiritual cousins, the Christians. These are people who keep the commandments of God and have testimony of Jesus Christ. The Antichrist will attack the countries with the largest amount of Christians and Jews living in them, which means the United States will be the number one target on his hit list. Just as he has us on the verge of defeat and surrender, the second fulfillment of verse five will take place, where it says, "He was snatched up to God and to his throne." Christ ascended up to God, after being persecuted for three and one half years, and then crucified by Satan’s followers. So too, will the Two Witnesses and all of the believers, both the living and the dead, be taken up to the throne of God after three and one half years of persecution and martyrdom under the Antichrist. When the first resurrection takes place, they will ascend to heaven, removing those who are still living from the grasp of Satan. |