Revelation 12
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Recap / Introduction
Recap / Introduction
What does the seventh trumpet indicate?
In Chapter 11, verses 15-19 we finally see the seventh trumpet revealed. This seventh trumpet indicates the Second Coming of Christ -
How do we know for sure this is the Second Coming?
Notice closely as it outlines the actions that take place; There were loud voices in heaven saying “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever”. The 24 elders fall on their faces and worship God giving thanks and saying the nations raged but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints and those who fear your name both small and great and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.
So, when else would it make sense for Christ to return and establish the 1,000 year millennial reign? Those who oppose Christ are to be eliminated, giving us a picture of the peace that will come during His establishment of the millennial kingdom on earth. Notice this is just the beginning, we will not see the end result of this return until Chapter 16, when the seventh bowl of wrath is poured out and God declares “It is done”. We find examples throughout scripture of what will occur during the second coming prediction in the Old Testament:
26 thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted.
27 A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.
35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
All of these verses point to things that will be fulfilled at the Second Coming which makes it clear to us that this seventh trumpet parallels the events that are predicted at the return.
The seventh trumpet also introduces the seven bowls of wrath, which again are detailed in Chapter 16. These coming chapters - 12 through 15 give us the perspective of what will be involved in the second half of the seven-year period.
The Seventh Trumpet Detailed
The Seventh Trumpet Detailed
The Woman
The Woman
1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.
Who does the woman symbolize?
When we look at this vision, we see a depiction, the symbolism, of the nation Israel. This was the first event in a series of “signs” or “miracles” that will occur.
9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?”
11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
Who do the sun and moon symbolize?
The sun and the moon referred to Jacob and Rachel, Joseph’s parents. The stars in the woman’s crown clearly related to the 12 sons of Jacob and identified the woman as Israel fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant.
20 Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.
What do the labor pains indicate?
It also points out that she (Israel) was pregnant symbolizing the pain and agony, the suffering Israel would have to endure before the second coming.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.
4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.
Who do the red dragon and ten heads depict?
The second sign is the great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and on his seven heads there were seven diadems (an ornamental, jeweled, and probably metal headdress signifying sovereignty). In scripture, we see this dragon represents Satan, and the 10 horns symbolize the 10 kings who reign with the world ruler mention in:
7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.
and again in
1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
What significance can be found in the attempt to devour the child?
The dragon will bring with him destruction, bloodshed, and a third of the stars will be cast out of the sky. Satan is trying to extend power over those who oppose him by showing his limited power in heaven and on earth. The attempt to devour the child indicates the nature of Satan, trying to destroy Christ as the infant Jesus. Think back all the way to King Herod and his attempt to destroy Jesus.
5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,
6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.
When the male child was born, he was caught up to God and to his throne. Oh isn’t this a wonderful description of the man-child who is Jesus? There is no other person it could point to! Being caught up to God refers to the ascension after Christ’s death and the deliverance of the woman, Israel, occurs after 1,260 days…3 1/2 years…42 months (of 30 days). The predicted timeline of the last half of the great tribulation. The predicted route of travel into the wilderness, the mountains described in:
14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Why did the woman flee? Because there was a coming battle, a war, that was beginning to take place between the forces of good and evil.
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
10 And 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 brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
The time of this war in heaven was not given, but the context refers to the end time.
What is the outcome of the war in heaven?
The outcome of the war was that Satan was thrown down to earth, and with him went the fallen angels of his realm. While the concept of Satan in heaven is difficult to comprehend, it is clear that he is now the accuser of saints.
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
10 And 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 brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
One thing we will see in coming chapters is, even though Satan was defeated at the first coming of Christ his sentencing and execution is delayed and comes in stages. Here we see him being cast out of heaven in the middle of the Tribulation. Later (chapter 20) he will be bound for the millennial reign, and finally will be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur with the antichrist and the false prophet. Anyways, what we see is Satan identified as that ancient serpent, AKA the devil or Satan, and was declared to be the one who led the whole world astray. When he will be cast into the earth, all the fallen angels or demons will be cast down with him. Once he is cast out of heaven, there is another loud voice in heaven that announces his fall. It is announced that he has been conquered - by the blood of the lamb and by word of their testimony - not only did Christ provide victory, but those who were martyred took part in the victory also.
What significance does the 1,260 days have in end times related to satan?
It caused the heavens to rejoice, but we also see a warning to earth that satan is filled with wrath, fury, anger - because he knows his time is short. His time is now limited to 1,260 days, 3 1/2 years, 42 months, a time and a time and a half. Now do we see the importance of the number symbols?
13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
What is the significance of the dragon pursuing the woman?
The woman introduced in verse 1 became the special object of Satan’s persecution. She was given supernatural help symbolized by the two wings of a great eagle which enabled her to fly to the place prepared for her in the desert.
This hiding place was not clearly identified. Some suggest that it might be Petra, fortress capital of the Nabateans in Edom, south of the Dead Sea. This city has a narrow access which could easily be blocked but which opens up into a large canyon capable of caring for many thousands of people. Though Scripture is not specific, some believe the 144,000 of chapter 7 are to be preserved here. The Scriptures themselves speak of God’s seal of protection on them.
The two wings probably do not refer to modern airplanes but rather to God’s delivering power, and are a figure of speech taken from such Old Testament passages as Exodus 19:4 and Deuteronomy 32:11–12. The flight of Israel to a place of safety was also indicated in Matthew 24:16; Mark 13:14; and Luke 21:21.
Though Revelation 12:6, 14 referred to the refuge as a desert and the Synoptic passages referred to mountains, this is no contradiction as both desert and mountains are in a wilderness area. The length of time of her preservation was said to be a time, times, and half a time. This refers to the three and one-half years of the Great Tribulation with “a time” equaling one year, “times” equaling two years, and “half a time” indicating 6 months (cf. Dan. 7:25; 12:7 with the 42 months referred to in Rev. 11:2; 13:5). References to these specific time periods show that the Great Tribulation is not the entire present Age but the three and one-half years preceding the second coming of Christ.
15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood.
16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.
17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
What happens when the serpent tries to overtake the woman?
Pursuing the woman, the devil as the serpent originated a flood to sweep her away with the torrent, but the earth swallowed up the water. Some have taken this as a literal flood, but since Israel could flee in every direction the contour of the Holy Land does not lend itself to such a flood. Probably the flood represents Satan’s effort to exterminate Israel. This is thwarted by the rough terrain which provides hiding places. In some way God assists the Israelites so that they are not completely destroyed, though Zechariah 13:8 indicates that “two-thirds will be struck down and perish.”
Though only one-third of Israel in the land is thus preserved (of which the 144,000 of Rev. 7 are a portion), Satan the dragon continues to war against the rest.
Revelation 12 introduces four important persons and one group of people living at the end time: Israel, Satan, Christ, the archangel, and the remnant of Israel. In Revelation 13 two important persons complete the scene.