According To The Scriptures:

According To The Scriptures:

THE BOOK OF REVELATION

(Black: Scripture)

(Red: Jesus)

(Blue: E. L. Johns)

Revelation 12

The 12^th chapter of Revelation will take quite a bit of time. It covers Chapter 13, also, which includes seven subjects of persons and beasts. In order to get the ultimate benefit, we must find the answers to these in other Scriptures. Questions will be asked and the Word of God will furnish the answers.

Rev. 12:1-2:

1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

Who is this woman and the sun, moon, and stars? It is Israel. How do we know for sure?

"And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God" (Gen. 17:8).

Abraham was promised the land of Canaan “for an everlasting possession”. It was promised to Abraham’s seed after Abraham : “and to thy seed after thee”. Abraham was never an Israelite but was the father of Isaac.

"And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him" (Gen. 21:5).

Isaac had twin sons born unto him (Esau and Jacob). Esau was born first (read Gen. 25:24-26). Jacob became Israel because he wrestled all night with a man.

"And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day" (Gen. 32:24).

"And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed" (Gen. 32:27-28).

Jacob had 12 sons: “...Now the sons of Jacob were twelve” (Gen. 35:22).

Jacob’s wrestling lets us know that the Israelite leaders answer all attackers with action, not words.

The sun, moon, and stars of Rev. 12:1 are the same as the sun, moon, and stars of Gen. 37:9. Joseph was the 12^th star in Gen. 37:9. He was the speaker.

In Rev. 12:2, the child that was to be born was Jesus Christ.

Rev. 12:3-4:

3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman [ Israel] which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

Who or what is this great red dragon?

“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Rev. 12:9).

Where did he come from? He was the anointed cherub:

“Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. (Eze. 28:14).

Please read carefully and prayerfully Eze. 28:1-19.

· He was created (Eze. 28:15).

· He was exceptionally beautiful (Eze. 28:13-17).

Even though Eze. 28:1-19 is spoken to the “prince of Tyrus” (Eze. 28:1-2), he had allowed himself to be taken over by Lucifer (the angelic name, Isa. 14:12). How do we know this fact? “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God” (Eze. 28:13). As far as I can tell by the Scriptures, only four intelligent beings were in the Garden of Eden: God, man (Adam), woman (Eve), and the serpent (Satan).

Gen. 3:12-13:

12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Satan took the body of the serpent because Satan (Lucifer) was an angel. Angels are spirits (Heb. 1:7). In order for Eve to see him, Satan had to take a visible body and he chose the body of the serpent because “the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made” (Gen. 3:1). The serpent was not a beast. I think he walked upright as a man until God put a curse on him:

Gen. 3:14-15:

14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

How do we know that the serpent walked upright before the curse?

Eze. 28:14-15:

14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

What are the “seven heads”?

Rev. 17:9:

And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

What are the “ten horns”?

Rev. 17:12:

And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

What does “his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven” mean?

Rev. 12:4:

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth…

Rev. 12:9:

“…he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him”.

I teach that before Lucifer fell there were three groups of angels, and Lucifer (Satan) was in charge of one third of them. When Lucifer fell, the angels that he was in charge of fell with him. Read Isa, 14:12-17.

Rev. 12:5:

5 And she [ Israel] brought forth a man child [Jesus], who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child [Jesus] was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Who was this man child?

Jesus.

When did Jesus rule all nations with a rod of iron?

He hasn’t – but He will during His 1,000-year reign on earth.

Rev. 2:27:

And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

When was Jesus (her child) caught up to God, and to His throne?

Acts 1:10-11:

10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Rev. 12:6:

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

When will the woman ( Israel) flee into the wilderness?

At the middle of the tribulation (the beginning of the “great tribulation”).

Matt. 24:15-21:

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: .

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

How long will Israel (the woman) be taken care of and protected by the Lord in “her place”?

Divide a thousand two hundred and three score days (1,260 days) by 30 (30 days = one month), and the answer is 42 months which is 3 ½ years.

Rev. 12:7-8:

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

Who is the angel Michael (Rev. 12:7)? Michael seems to be one of three angels that are sometimes called “archangels” (I Thess. 4:16). He is undoubtedly the leader of what we would call an army. The angel Gabriel seems to be the bearer of messages (Luke 1:26). The third angel is Lucifer. Each of the three "archangels" had their own angels.

Rev. 12:9:

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan [Lucifer], which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

When was this war in heaven? Read carefully Rev. 12:7-12 and you will see that there are two wars in heaven.

The first war in heaven was at the time that Satan fell (Isa. 14:12-17). This happened when the original earth was destroyed: “That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof…” (Isa. 14:17) – when the earth had cities but “there was no man” (Jer. 4:25). The earth was “formed to be inhabited” (Isa. 45:18). The earth was so beautiful when it was created that the sons of God (angels) shouted for joy (Job. 38:7). That war in heaven caused the earth to become “without form and void” (Gen. 1:2).

Rev. 12:10:

10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren [Satan—Lucifer] is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Will people be saved during the great tribulation? Keep in mind that Revelation Chapter 12 is dealing mainly with the nation of Israel. Read Rom. 11:26: “And so all Israel shall be saved.”

How are they saved?

Rev. 12:11:

11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

The second war in heaven will be after the 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth.

At present, Satan is called the “God of this world” (II Cor. 4:4); the “prince of the power of the air”; the “spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). References are made to “his final end” (Rev. 20:10); “neither was their place found any more in heaven” (Rev. 12:8).

Will people be saved during the tribulation? Yes! People of all nations will be saved.

Rev. 7:9-14:

9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;…

13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Rev. 12:12:

12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

II Thess. 2:11-12:

11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

No one who has heard the gospel and is still unsaved when Jesus returns can be saved.

Rev. 12:13-16:

13 And when the dragon [Satan] saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman [ Israel] which brought forth the man child [Jesus].

14 And to the woman [Israel] 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 [one year], and times [two years], and half a time [1/2 year], from the face of the serpent [Satan].

15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

Israel will have 3 ½ years of protection in “her place”.

As Israel flees to “her place” (Matt. 24:15-22), the water cast out of the serpent’s mouth, I believe, is all of the world’s armies except the USA (Num. 18:30-34). I believe the two wings of an eagle that carry Israel to “her place” will be the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy Air Force (Exo. 19:4). You can see the strong determination of the devil. He doesn’t give up.

Rev. 12:17:

17 And the dragon [Satan] was wroth with the woman [ Israel], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

It is time to prepare to meet our God!