Adam to Armageddon, Revelation 12

Adam to Armageddon, Revelation 12

From before, “In the beginning”, to the threshold of Armageddon, summarized in one, short, chapter.

Only God, who dwells in eternity, could encapsulate time, so succinctly.  

Are you ready to travel, over 6,000 years, in seventeen verses?

 

The Woman

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. Revelation 12:2.

 

This “sign” in heaven, resembles a dream of Joseph’s back in, Genesis 37:9-10.

“Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

In that dream, the sun represented dad, Jacob; the moon, was mom, Rachel; and the stars, the eleven brothers.

Jacob, (whose name was changed by God, to Israel), and his family, are the first family of the nation of Israel.

The law of first mention, set the precedent in Genesis, and brings clarity to our sign, here in Revelation.

Eventually, the nation of Israel, gave birth to the Child, Jesus, the Messiah.

All in all, (and more to come later in this chapter) this sign represents the nation of Israel.

However, some say, the woman is Mary, the mother of Jesus. It’s understandable. We’ll see why in a moment.

 

The dragon

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… Revelation 12:3-4a

 

We see “dragon” thirteen times in Revelation; eight in this chapter alone.

A little further down, in verse nine, and also in Revelation 20:1-3, we’re told the dragon is, that serpent of old, called the devil and satan.

The dragon, is the devil.

Once upon a time, actually, before time, before “in the beginning,” the dragon wearing seven diadems (royal crowns), was beautiful. Notice the numbers, seven and ten, the numbers of perfection and completion. Crowns and horns; authority and power.  

However, he let his splendor, go to his head. Pride led to his fall.

It’s hard to believe, but one out of three, angels, so enamored by his glitter, fell right along with him.

Just imagine. They saw God, in all His glory, and yet, they let their eyes drift, and they tripped, all the way from heaven…to hell.

If it could happen to them, who dwelt in His presence, just imagine…

LORD help us to keep our eyes on YOU, our ears in tune to YOUR Voice, our hearts, yielded to YOUR will

This is the first eviction, for the devil and crew.

Moving forward in our text, and time, with the very next sentence we jump at least, four thousand years.

And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. Revelation 12:4b

Here we see how the dragon, tried to kill the Child, by way of demonized Herod; who ordered the slaughter of all boys two years and under. Matthew 2:16.

 

The Child

⁵ She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.

This, of course, refers to Jesus, who will rule all nations, as prophesied in Isaiah nine, and Revelation nineteen.

For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace

There will be no end.  Isaiah 9:6-7

 

And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. Revelation 19:15.

 

This is the place where hands are raised and people say, “See, Jesus is the Child. Mary is His mom. You do the math.”

I get it. Makes sense. Except, for context. Remember, the best commentary on the Bible, is the Bible; and context is king.

First, we’re told this is a “sign.” A symbol, a representation. Furthermore, Mary has never been depicted as wearing a crown. She called herself the handmaiden of the Lord. And most telling is, this chapter is filled with Great Tribulation language. Mary isn’t on earth during the Tribulation period.

The woman, represents Israel.

Okay, let’s get our focus back where it should be, on Jesus.

We move forward in time about thirty-three years in the next sentence.

And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. Revelation 12:5b

The Christ Child, wasn’t slaughtered by satan as a Babe. Hallelujah, merry Christmas.

He grew into a Man. Lived a sinless life, so He could lay down His life, as a sinner. To save a wretch like me. Thank You Jesus, we're forever in Your debt.

Then, because He was sinless, the grave couldn’t hold Him, the dragon couldn’t keep Him. He rose from the grave, proved it, with many infallible proofs, that stand to this very day. Acts 1:1-3.

It goes without saying that this passage refers to the ascension of Jesus. Forty days after His resurrection, He was caught up to God and His throne.

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. Acts 1:9.

 

 

The Preparation & Provision

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.

Hold on tight, because here in verse six, we fly from about two thousand years ago, right past our present, and into our future, (probably our not too distant future).

We land right smack dab in the middle of the Great Tribulation.

Jesus talks about this event in Matthew twenty-four.  

When you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Matthew 24:15-16. Daniel 9:27.

The antichrist will make the deal of all deals. Peace in the middle east. A seven-year peace treaty. Seven, what a beautiful number. Peace, what a wonderful word. This man must be the Messiah, they will say. Peace and safety at last. Peace and safety—then, sudden destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman. (1 Thessalonians 5:3).   

The antichrist will show his true colors, he can’t help himself. Power lust will overcome him and his fangs will flare, peace and safety will turn to abomination and desolation.

FLEE says Jesus. FLEE they will. For three and a half years they will hide from the dragon.  

It doesn’t say where they will go, however, many speculate they will go about 200 miles southeast of Jerusalem, to a place called Petra, or perhaps Bozrah. Or both.

Petra is chosen, because, of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, (just kidding—but it was featured in the movie. Or, so I’m told, I didn’t see the movie). The city, Petra, is built out of stone, and a perfect hiding place.

Bozrah, means sheepfold, and it is on the list because of Micah 2:12.

I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

 

We don’t know for sure, which is good; otherwise, it wouldn’t really be a very good hiding place.

We do know, satan is ticked and a war breaks out in heaven.

 

Star Wars on Steroids,

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.

Notice Michael is named. He is the warrior archangel that protects Israel (Daniel 12:1).

This battle is so severe that the devil and his crew are banished, forever, from heaven.

 

Eviction Number Two

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.

This is not referring back to (Isaiah 14:12) when he was cast to earth before time began. After that time, he still had limited access to part of heaven; where he hurled accusations against people, continuously.  

We’ll see that in a moment.

This eviction takes place in the future, during the Great Tribulation. Heaven is so happy; it proclaims a declaration of independence.

 

The Declaration

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.

Just as man has various forms of a judicial system. Heaven, has one too.

Since the creation of man, the devil has been acting (illegally) as a prosecuting attorney, bringing accusations against people, non-stop, day and night.  

Jesus, has been our advocate, our defense attorney. And at the cross, He served our sentence—death.  Thank You, LORD Jesus.

But now, finally, all evidence has been heard. The final verdict has been reached. The last case is cast out. Divine Justice is satisfied and God’s gavel drops. So does satan and his henchmen; forever disbarred and banished from Heaven's courtroom.

 

The Celebration—in heaven

Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Revelation. 12:12a

Heaven has a party…

But there’s a bit of somber look behind every smile, because they know, all hell’s about to break loose on earth, worse than it’s ever been.

So, they issue a warning.

 

The Warning—on earth

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.” Rev. 12:12b.

The fury of a hungry grizzly backed into a corner is nothing, compared to what happens when the hordes of hell hit the earth, knowing this is their very last stand.  

Picture a furious man, eyes bulging, nostrils flaring, arms flailing, punching, kicking, scratching, biting, with all he’s got, all his strength, only one thought only one goal; kill, steal, destroy.  

Now imagine another Man; standing before the crazy, furious, grizzly-bear, man. Picture Him, calmly, without breaking a sweat, blocking every jab, every punch, every move, is anticipated, and stopped.

That is a picture of what happens for the rest of this chapter. It looks something like this…

Persecution—Protection—Persecution—Protection—Perse…

 

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.

 

The devil’s fury and failure, result in the calling up of reinforcements; officers in his evil army, a couple of beasts that lead the world to the threshold of Armageddon. Which is who we’re about to meet, as we turn the page, into chapter thirteen.

Let’s pray.

Lord, Jesus, thank You, for the opportunity to know You, and be delivered from this hour of darkness. We pray for those You’ve given us, that none are lost, all are saved. That every eye that reads these words, will see Your face, and hear You say, “Well done, My good and faithful, enter in to the joy of the LORD, prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”