Revelation Chapter 12

Rev. 12, speaks of a woman (Israel) who gives birth to a child (Christ) and of Satan who, when his false religious system was unable to kill Christ, assails the Jewish people through whom Christ came into the world and the Church who is suppose to be a manifestation of Christ to the world. The ultimate manifestation of this scheme will occur during the Great Tribulation. We will see the fiery testing of Satan and the victorious overcoming of believers.

Rev. 12:1-6.

1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.

2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.

4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.

5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.

6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Who is this woman? The woman represents the unsaved, natural line of Abraham who refuse to support the covenant made with Antichrist, and who refuse to worship the Antichrist when his true identity is revealed. Instead they flee to a place in the wilderness that has been prepared by God for them (v.6), where God will bring them under the bond of the covenant (Ezek. 20:37), into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. For that reason, they are the "first fruits" of unsaved Israel, the 144,000, the remainder becoming saved after the seventieth week is complete. For this reason when Satan is cast down to earth, "he persecuted the woman..." He obviously has no need to persecute those of the natural line of Abraham who take his mark and worship his image. It was through those of the nation of Israel, who "believed God" that Christ came (the woman); and it will be again those (the woman) who "have kept themselves [spiritually] chaste" (Rev. 14:4), who will flee into the wilderness at the midpoint of the seventieth week, when Satan becomes enraged with the "woman" (Rev. 12:17) and seeks to destroy her because she refuses to give him her allegiance.

The description of the faithful 144,000 perfectly describes the "woman" who flees into the wilderness because, (1) "the woman" who flees into the wilderness does not become saved until later, when she is in the wilderness (Ezek. 20:37). But this passage is quite clear that this wilderness remnant is saved before the house of Israel (Ezek. 20:39). Therefore, "the woman" who flees into the wilderness is by definition the faithful first fruits of unbelieving Israel who enter into the seventieth week, the surviving remainder of the nation not coming to Christ until after the seventieth week is complete (Rom. 11:25,26; Dan. 9:24). (2) The 144,000 are described as those who have "not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste"--in this context meaning spiritually chaste, not morally. In other words they have not sold out to the Antichrist during the first half of the seventieth week when most of the nation apostatizes to the covenant maker. This is a perfect description of "the woman" who "fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for 1,260 days", thereby refusing the leadership of Antichrist before he shows his true intentions at the midpoint of the seventieth week. Therefore in my opinion the faithful 144,000 and "the woman" that flees, by definition, must be one and the same group. The reference to the 144,000 only indicates, "how many" and "which tribes" will refuse the covenant with Antichrist, flee to the wilderness, survive the purge of God (Ezek. 20:38), and be brought into the bond of covenant (V.37) while in the wilderness.

These verses give account of the cosmic conflict. The entire Old Testament is a history of the nation of Israel and her changing circumstances. From Abraham to the incarnation, her glory and her disgrace, her victories and her defeats alike are chronicled. The mention of other nations and peoples of the world are referred to only in passing when, in one way or another, they impacted the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the land of Israel.

This entire period of time, from Abraham to the birth of Christ is described in verse 2, "then being with child, she [Israel], cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

With Nimrod, originated the false religious system of "mother and son" worship and its adherents including Romanism, out of which the Antichrist will one day come (Dan. 9:26; Rev. 13:1; 17:3-6).

God through Abraham, promised universal blessing, originated a true spiritual system of worship of God and a people (the Jew) out of which the true Christ would come (Rom. 9:3-5; Gal. 3:8-9).

Two men, Nimrod and Abraham; two systems, the self-work of Romanism and the faith principal of biblical Judaism and out of which came true Christianity; two seeds, Satan's son (the Antichrist) and God's son (the true Christ); two peoples, the followers of Antichrist represented by the revived Roman Empire during the seventieth week and the followers of the true Christ who during the same period are willing to suffer and die if necessary for their sovereign Lord. These peoples and systems have been in conflict since the beginning of human history.

I want to define some terms that I think will be very helpful to you. look with me at Gal. 3:7,14,29, Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. There is an interesting sequence of events which we will look at now, and I will make reference to these verses later on so keep these verses in your mind as we take notice of the differences.

Paul says in verse 7, "...those who are of faith are sons of Abraham". Here he is talking about Jews, and he is saying that it is not just the Jews that are from the natural line of Abraham that are his sons, but the real sons of Abraham are people of faith who believe God. So there is the natural line of Abraham and there is the spiritual line of Abraham. Many times in scripture when God refers to Jews it refers to the Spiritual line rather than the natural line. Verse 14, "that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith". Now remember this, the Old Testament deals primarily with the Jews, the New Testament deals primarily with the Church. So in the OT the sons of Abraham were Jews who obeyed God who looked forward to a lamb that would be sacrificed on their behalf. Then Christ comes and in verse 29, he is talking about Gentiles, "And if you are Christ's then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise".

We have "sons of Abraham" who were Jewish people that believed God, the faithful. Then we have Christ coming and the natural line of Abraham rejected Jesus. Then Romans tell us that the Gentiles were grafted in the vine in order to make the Jew jealous, that is us, we then become the offspring of Abraham; Abraham is our father and we are heirs according to the promise. So you have sons of Abraham which were Jewish obedient offspring's of Abraham, then you have offspring's of Abraham which were Gentiles that were grafted in and in between you have Christ, the One who made it possible for us to be sons of Abraham. So "the woman" is not all the natural line of Abraham; it is those of the natural line that trusted God. Abraham was given the covenant that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed because of Christ. So Christ came primarily from the natural line of Abraham that believed and were obedient to God.

As was said earlier, the child is Christ. Genesis 3:15, tells us about the conflict between the seed of the woman and Satan and that Satan would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman and that the seed of the woman would destroy Satan. So the cosmic conflict has always been there, that is why Satan did everything that he could to stop Christ from coming the first time and to kill Him when He came. He tried to do it by having wicked men to try and annihilate the entire nation of Israel. The whole history of the Old Testament is of a woman in travail, paining to be delivered. He tried to do it through Herod by having all the male children under two years old put to death. He tried to do it by tempting Christ. He tried to disqualify Christ by trying to get him to fail at His mission, because only a perfect Lamb who would willing give up His life for you and me was sufficient to pay the price for sin. This is why He is worthy to be the Judge, this is why He is worthy to loose the seals and open the scroll.

Verse 3. Now if you want to know why people paint Satan as a red dragon, this is where they get it. What is being explained here by the symbolic language of seven heads and ten horns? The seven heads represent seven kingdoms, the ten horns represent ten kings that Satan has used to try and destroy Israel and the elect of God. The ten horns will be the final ten kings that come together in the last days making the eighth kingdom from which he will make a last ditch effort to destroy God's people. This will be seen when we get to Rev. 17.

Verse 4. This verse is eluding to the fact that when Satan fell he took a third of the angels with him. The reason he got Adam to sin was to try and prevent the birth of Christ so his rulership would never end. So you can see the cosmic conflict here that has been going on since the fall of Satan.

So in these two great signs we have the whole course of Israel to give birth to the Messiah and the other is Satan and the development of his counterfeit system to rebel against God. That is what is in view here.

Verse 5. The child was sent to rule, literally, to shepherd, with a rod of iron, a symbol of firmness but not tyranny, see (Ps. 2:7-9; Dan. 7:13,14; Acts 1:9). The total revelational event of Jesus Christ is here telescoped between His birth and His enthronement. The catching up of the child refers to His ascension after His resurrection.

Verse 6. Again, who is the woman? The believing remnant of Israel. How long does she flee for? 1,260 days, the last half of the seventieth week of Daniel. What happens at the start of the last half of the seventieth week referred to by the Lord in Matt. 24? The abomination that makes desolate. What does the Lord say you should do when you hear of the abomination that maketh desolate, flee, who is going to flee, the believing remnant within Israel, not all of Israel but the faithful within Israel. The reason for their protection is that they did not submit to the Antichrist during the first three and one half years of the seventieth week, they refused to sell out to him at the signing of the covenant. These are the 144,000, the first fruits of Israel, the woman who have not committed spiritual adultery with the Antichrist and who are the first fruits of Israel to be saved. They are the first of those out of the seventieth week who returned to God. These are the ones who in Jeremiah the Lord says, "I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people...the people who survived the sword [and] found grace in the wilderness. Does the faithful church that God promises protection to go into the wilderness with the woman? I don't know for sure, but it is possible. However I do know that God provides for their protection (Rev. 7:10). The compromising church, if they do not bow to the Antichrist's desires will face physical harm and even death but they will be protected from spiritual harm. Satan cannot take the souls of God's true followers.

Rev. 12:7-12.

7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,

8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.

9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

11 "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

12 "Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time."

Here we shift from the earthly panorama of things to a scene in the heavenlies, which can be called the cleansing of the heavens. This is taking place at the same time that the woman is fleeing into the wilderness, the midpoint of the seventieth week.

Michael, in the tradition of Judaism, is one of the seven archangels and the guardian champion of Israel, see, (Dan. 10:13,21; 12:1; Jude 9). In Dan. 12:1 we read: "At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people..." the Hebrew word for stand up is AMAD, and it simply means to stand. Now get this because it is very important; the way the Hebrew word is translated is, if you are reclining and you AMAD, you stand up. If you are already standing and you AMAD, you would stand still or stand aside. If you look back in context of this to 10:21, you see that Michael the archangel who has a special relationship to Israel and is actively defending Israel. When we come to chapter 12:1 and see Michael standing up, it means that he stands still, or stands aside. That is the one who had been continuously standing, protecting, coming to the defense of Israel will at this moment in the middle of the seventieth week cease to do so. This time period is known as the "time of Jacob's trouble" or the "great tribulation." It is known as this because Satan is cast down to earth having great wrath, Michael the protector has ceased to protect by standing still, which allows Satan to come against God's people with his full furry unhindered but with limits to his actions. This is possibly the restrainer that ceases to restrain in 2 Thess. 2:7. Dan. 12:1, goes on to say that because of Michael standing aside, "...there shall be a time of trouble, such as there never was since there was a nation...."

In verses 7,8,9, we have the account of a war in heaven that results in Satan being cast from heaven for the last time, he is given no more access into heaven. The fall of Satan in the beginning and the taking of one third of the angels with him was by choice. As we go through the bible we see that Satan has access to God, we know that demon spirits roam the earthly realm. They were there when Christ was on earth in the flesh and He dealt with them by commanding them to do this or to do that. Satan and his demons control the world's system way of doing things. But at this time he can no longer have access to God to accuse the saints like he did with Job, like he did with Peter and like he does with us. He is cast out of heaven for the last time.

Notice the names that are attributed to Satan in Verse 9. Dragon, meaning craftiness; serpent, meaning subtleness; devil, meaning accuser; and Satan, meaning adversary. He is the enemy of your soul, the enemy of the Church and he is very real and the fact is, he is the enemy of every human on earth and has only one desire for every person, he wants them to die without God's salvation. This verse says that "he is going to deceive the whole world." Do you think he is going to portray himself as the painters’ picture him, red with horns and a forked tail with a pitchfork in his hand? No! No! He is going to come on the scene in the latest fashionable suit there is. He will be handsome, articulate, powerful, polished, charismatic, and shrewd. He is going to say "I have got the answers to all the world's problems, I will resolve your financial problems, I will resolve your medical problems, pollution problems, war problems, hunger problems, the middle east problems, yes and even your church problems. He will be a statesman that will be attractive to the world. In Rev. 12:1-9, we have seen the good news and the bad news, now in verse 10, we have a proclamation by God stating what is going to occur.

Verse 10, "... Now salvation, and strength, and the Kingdom of God, and the power of His Christ has come...." Before God's kingdom can be fully established on the earth after the seventieth week is complete, Satan had to be evicted from heaven. " ...for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down." What Satan could do before this was to go to God saying, "You know, people think this fellow is really a good guy, but let me tell you the other side of him. You know when people say negative things about him, he is calm and collective about it and it doesn't affect him much, but you let his wife say negative things about him and it is a different story, he raises his voice as a form of defense which causes strife between them. He doesn't pray or read the bible like he should. Listen God, this guy is not the man people think he is". God says, "wait just a minute Satan, yes there he is on his knees as a fifteen year old boy asking that the blood of Jesus wash away his sin. Yes he makes mistakes but his heart's desire is to be all that I want him to be, I see the tears of repentance that he sheds when he causes his wife to get upset by something that he does. You may see his sin Satan, but I see the blood of my Son removing that sin and covering him as he repents and desires to serve me better." The devil can't do that to you or me anymore because he has no more access.

Verse 11, here we have the first victorious overcoming, who are the they that overcomes? My brethren who he is accusing day and night, the people of God during the great tribulation. When Satan is cast down to earth with all restraints removed, it says, "they overcame him," how, by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Who overcomes by the blood of the Lamb? The saints, the blood washed, born again believers. This has to be referring to Christians because the Jews are not saved yet. The saints will be on earth during the tribulation. Remember the choice offered to compromising Christians during the fiery testing, death or hell. So God is saying, "The very ones you are accusing, that don't have the guts to stand up to you, okay, you get out of here, go down to earth and let's see what they will do", and it says that, "they overcame him. Yes Israel is going to be persecuted but the Church is seen here as well. Praise God for the blood! Friends that is prophesy not possibility, that is going to happen.

Verse 12, Those who dwell in heaven are told to rejoice over the fact that Satan is cast out and not able to gain access anymore into heaven, that is a cause for celebration in heaven. But notice what it says after that, "woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you having great wrath, because he knows his time is short." Great in heaven, but look out on earth, why, because the devil has come down to you, is he going to be in a red costume? No, he is going to energize and empower the Antichrist and the false prophet who will be introduced in the next chapter. He has come down to you with what? Great wrath! Here we see unequivocally that the great tribulation is not an expression of the wrath of God, but of the "great wrath" of the devil and his persecution carried out by the Antichrist. He has great wrath because he knows he has but a little time. How much time does he have? Three and one-half years. So when the midpoint of the seventieth week begins that is not the wrath of God, it is not the Day of the Lord, it is the wrath of Satan against those whom he has accused of not being worthy to be sons of God. God says, "You go down Satan and see if they are worthy or not."

With Satan's exit from the heavenlies, there will be no more battles in the heavens, the battleground has shifted from heaven to earth for the final showdown between God and Satan, which will bring the cosmic conflict to a predetermined and eternal end. As Satan arrives upon earth, his strategy will take two main directions. First, Satan will initiate the "time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time" (Dan. 12:1), as Satan attempts to prevent the national salvation of Israel, the singular event that will complete the spiritual kingdom of God. Second, his appearance will also initiate the time of "fiery testing" upon the church (1 Pet. 4:12-17), as Satan will be given direct access to the church, bringing upon "the elect of God" the "great tribulation such as not occurred since the beginning of the world..." (Matt. 24:21,22). The Seraphim of God, overseeing the purge and refinement of the church in general before her entrance into the presence of God, will permit the fiery testing of the church, in part, for the separating of the tares from the wheat (Matt. 13:30) before the wheat is put into the barn and the tares are destroyed during the day of the Lord at the end of the age (Matt. 13:40). On the other hand, Satan fully understands that any who refuses his test become potential citizens of Christ's millennial kingdom. Thus he forces sinners to take the test as well.

Rev. 12:13-17.

13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.

14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.

15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.

16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.

17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Now when the devil sees that he is cast down to the earth he persecutes the woman (Israel) the Jewish sons of Abraham who obey God, they do not have the perspective of Christ at this time but they obey God, and God accounts that unto them for righteousness sake. Why does he persecute Israel? Because she is the instrument that is causing him is ultimate defeat. In the OT it was not their faith in Christ that saved them, it was their obedience to God, they were looking forward to Christ but it was their obedience to God that saved them.

Verse 14, here we have the woman (the faithful remnant of Israel) fleeing to the place God has chosen for her protection. This is the one area that Antichrist and his armies will be unable to overthrow during the first half of the seventieth week (Dan. 11:14. God will protect this region for the Jews who will flee there at the midpoint of the seventieth week. Not only is she protected but God also provides for their nourishment by feeding them for three and one-half years. Notice that Satan is unable to touch them here.

Verse 15, This fleeing of the woman so upsets Satan that he spews a flood of water out of his mouth that they might be carried away by the flood. Now this is no small feat, this is a spectacular supernatural event, imagine enough water coming out of the mouth of Satan to carry away a minimum of 144,000 people by a flood.

God being true to His word in verse 16, causes the earth to open up and swallow the flood, proving that the supernatural Satan is nothing compared to our supernatural God.

Verse 17, frustrated with his failure to destroy the woman, Satan becomes enraged and goes to make war with the rest of her offsprings those who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Now the big question is who are her offsprings?

The identification of the woman's offspring is critical to our discussion at this point. I believe that there can be little doubt that the offspring refers to the Church. Obviously , if "the woman" represents "God fearing Israel," and because the rest of her offspring "keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus Christ," this rules out that portion of Israel that succumb to Antichrist, as well as that portion of Israel, in general, that honored the covenant but refused to bow to Antichrist, because she is still unsaved at this point (the midpoint of the seventieth week), and does not come to know Christ personally until after the seventieth week is complete, see (Dan. 9:24; Rom. 11:25,26).

Therefore as the above eliminates the entire nation of Israel, there is only one group left that can fit the description--that is Christians, who "hold to the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ"--namely those who are a part of the church and not a part of the other groups mentioned above. In several places Paul makes it unmistakably clear that every true believer is a descendant of Abraham, the father of Israel (Rom. 4:11; Gal, 3:7-9, 29), thereby indicating the connection between "the woman" and born again believers. No person can "hold to the testimony of Jesus," which surely includes acknowledgment of His divinity and Lordship, without belonging to Him (1 Cor. 12:3). At the beginning of the book of Revelation, John (a part of the Church) identifies himself as the woman's offspring (i.e., with those who "hold to the testimony of Jesus") by referring to himself as one who "holds to the testimony of Jesus" (1:9); similarly John is told later by a voice from the throne of God (19:5), "I am a fellow servant of yours [John's] and your brethren [the Church] who hold to the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (v. 10).

Later John refers to "the rest of her offspring" as saints (Rev. 13:7). The same Greek word, HAGIOS, translated saints in 13:7, is again used by John in describing the bride of Christ (Rev. 19:8), which certainly includes the Church. To emphasize the warning to the saints, John then adds, "If anyone has an ear, let him hear" (v. 9) --which is the same warning, almost word for word that Christ gave in His letters to the seven churches. This language is found nowhere else in John's writings. It is found only eight times, all of them in Revelation, seven times addressed to the seven churches and the last time as a final warning to the saints who "keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus" during the great tribulation.

Therefore the Church fits the description perfectly and for that reason will be the secondary target of Antichrist's persecution.

After the woman flees to the wilderness, Antichrist will begin the unrelenting persecution of the saints, that is, those who have refused his mark and "who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus" (Rev. 12:17).

How will the unrelenting persecution of Antichrist against Christians affect the church in general? This will depend directly upon how well Christians are prepared for Antichrist's onslaught--that is, upon how well we understand what is actually happening and upon whether we are living a life of genuine obedience to the Lord. In general, the organized church will be torn by dissension and thrown into chaos, for spiritually dead "Christians" will have privately given homage to the image of Antichrist and even taken the mark in order to buy and sell. These will be the ones about whom Timothy warned when he wrote "the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons" (1 Tim. 4:1). For the most part these spiritually dead "Christians" will actually escape the persecution of Antichrist, because they have given their allegiance to him. But the price for their temporary escape will be very high, for they will have to face the day of the Lord judgment and eternal damnation as the consequence of their fatal choice.

By contrast, genuine children of God within the compromising church will refuse to worship the image or take his mark. But the price of their faithfulness will be costly. With demon-powered images that have the ability to speak and kill virtually everywhere, and with everyone required to take the mark of the beast, believers will be at enormous risk.

Depending on how well prepared these Christians are, this risk will affect them to a greater or lesser degree. Refusing to take the mark, yet unprepared for the destructive power of the Antichrist, they will suffer dearly for their bad doctrine and compromised lifestyles that will characterize the church in general that enters the seventieth week. Those believers may or may not survive the worst persecution known to man. But they will go in the rapture.

The faithful Church is given protection within the sphere of danger, and will be taken out (raptured) from within the sphere of danger when the great tribulation is cut short by God for the elect's sake.