Lesson 28 A
Revelation 12 and 13 |
In the next two chapters, 12 and 13, in Revelation, you get a picture of things to come during the tribulation and things, which take place in the great tribulation. As we study these chapters, observe where the events are taking place. In addition to where the events take place, also observe how these events play out and what the greater meanings of them are. As Christians, we sometimes rush past these verses so that we can say we have read the chapter, but remember that God wrote the scriptures even though He uses human hands. With that in mind, let us see what He is saying to us. He is the master of all languages and His words always have meaning. This does not mean that we will understand all of it on our own. In fact, you see the angels helping John to understand these events and their meanings.
In these chapters, the two beasts are coming into power through the red dragon. We will see what the dragon is trying to copy or set up. We will get to meet the sun-clad woman and Michael the angel. Let us start this investigation to understand the events and the meanings of them. We are about to behold a battle that the world cannot imagine. This is a battle of good vs. evil (heavenly, human, and hellish forces). Yes, the human forces are divided between heaven and hell and they are not divided equally.
Revelation 12:1-2 presents the first event that takes place in heaven, but it means more than what is on the surface. Definitions for some terms are given in parentheses.
And there appeared (allowed to be seen) a great wonder (sign of a future event) in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
There are many different interpretations of this woman and examining them gives a better understanding of what is happening in heaven. One of the interpretations is that the woman represents Israel. Israel is seen in scripture as a woman (Isaiah 54:1-6; Jeremiah 3:1-11) and Christ came out of her. Another interpretation is that the woman stands for the "True Church" (the true church is them that have accepted and follow all that Jesus said [Luke 11:28; John 8:51, 14:15, 23]. See 2 Corinthians 11:1 about this.
These scriptures say that she was clothed with the sun and that the moon is under her feet. So what is meant by clothed with the sun? The sun is the greatest light that pushes darkness away and is able to expose all that we think is hidden. How many times have we said or heard people say nobody saw me do that? The moon is the second greatest light and gets its light from the sun. Stop for a moment and think about the way God has John to write this verse. If she is clothed with the sun then she is clothed with God. Therefore, she is able to see and understand that she is part of God’s plan for mankind. Having that in mind, she is standing on the moon, which is the second greatest light. This means that the moon is reflecting the work she is allowing God to do through her. Would it not be great to allow the light of God to shine through us to reflect on the rest of mankind? The moon does its best job at night when much evil is taking place.
Some have used these images of the sun and the moon as past and present. In these images, the moon under her feet represents the past and the sun clothing her is the present. There is still another way to see this. The moon is the old day (age) and the sun that she is clothed with is the new day (age). She was brought out of darkness into the light. Some think that she is the church. For the church is called to be the light of the world. In this role as light, we, the church, are to do good works, and glorify our Father who is in heaven. The problem with this is that the church does not give birth to the Messiah. There is something else about this woman, which we cannot miss and that is the crown on her head. The crown is a sign of royalty and the crown has twelve stars. The stars symbolize the twelve tribes of Israel and a government. With all of this information, we see that this woman is Israel and that is very important when examining the next verse.
Verse 2 reads, "And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered." The “she” is Israel and with this in mind, there are several schools of thought about the meaning of this verse. One school of thought is that this verse is talking about the time when Christ was born. What was going on during that time (Matthew 2:13 – 18)? King Herod was responsible for killing all males in the land who were two years old and younger - trying to destroy the “Messiah.” Herod was so disliked by the people that he scheduled at the time of his death, to have some priests killed so that people would mourn during his death.
The other school of thought deals with a time to come when she, Israel, will have pain. We can find this in Micah 5:1 - 3 and believe that this is the period for this verse. Jesus has already been born and we see him in Revelation as the lamb opening the seals. With this in mind, let us explore this verse from this perspective.
There is going to be a great battle. This battle is going to cause much pain for Israel, because she will be blamed for creating the source of the problem - Jesus Christ. The verse also shows that things are going to get crueler for Israel during the next part of the tribulation. In fact, Jesus tells of this in Matthew 24:15 – 22. A period of peace with Israel will be broken by antichrist.
