The sign of the woman
Rev 12:1 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:
The woman is not Mary.
There appeared a great sign in heaven, one of seven signs of seven prominent personages.
Scripturally, this woman clothed with the sun should be identified with Israel, according to Joseph's dream (Genesis 37:9-11). In that dream, the sun represents Jacob (Israel), the moon represents Joseph's mother Rachel, and the eleven stars are the sons of Israel which bow down to Joseph. In this sign with twelve stars, Joseph is now "among" the other tribes of Israel. (Guzik)
Rev 12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
She, a daughter of Israel, gave birth to Jesus the messiah in a time of travail and Roman rule.
Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
The birth of Jesus was different, because he was born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Ghost. A man child in the likeness of God the Father.
Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The great red dragon
Rev 12:3 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.
The second sign was a great red dragon, symbolic of satan, the devil. Seven heads, authority, intelligence, deceit, the king of liars. and ten horns, great power for evil.
Daniel spoke of ten horns, representing the ten nations of the revived Roman empire.
Dan 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
Seven crowns upon his head, he claims to be royalty; the prince of Babylon, the god of this world's lost people, the ruler over the darkness and the fallen demonic angels.
Rev 12:4 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 which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
A third part of the stars, the angels, fell with satan to the earth, joining him in his war against people; to tempt, to steal, kill and destroy, through dark powers and lies. They enter idols that are worshipped and encourage rebellion and sin.
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Satan attempted to kill the newborn child, when Jesus was born.
Mat 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
The man child Jesus, was the third sign; he grew into a man, and went to the cross, arose and returned to the Father. He will come again to rule on the earth with an iron rod.
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.
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
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.
One thousand two hundred and sixty days: This reference to a three and one-half year period connects these events with the final seven years of the Daniel 9 prophecy. The woman cannot be Mary, for this half of the final week of Daniel refers to Israel. The woman fled into the wilderness:
Mat 24:15 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:)
Mat 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Mat 24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Mat 24:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
Mat 24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Michael, the archangel
Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
It was (or will be) spiritual warfare; good angels against bad angels. Michael, the head angel or the captain of the Lord's good angels fighting satan and his demonic angels. Michael is not Jesus as some of the false religions claim.
Jude 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
Michael could not rebuke satan, being a created angel, but the Lord of Hosts could; God the Father and God the Son.
Mal 3:11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9 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.
The bad angels, or stars were cast out with him.
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
When was satan cast out? In context this would occur in the middle of the last week of Daniel.
Dan 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Jesus spoke of having seen satan cast out. He was in the serpent in the Garden of Eden, so it was some time before this.
Luke 10:17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Satan still had access to heaven as an accuser of the brethren;
Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
Michael cast him out permanently. Satan again would be cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years, loosed and then the final casting into the lake of fire. (Rev 20)
Rev 12:10 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 is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Who spoke? it was a saint of God, a human in glory, one of the brethren? Or perhaps the voice of the martyrs calling out in one voice?
Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.
Angry dragon
Rev 12:11 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.
They, who spoke with one voice from heaven. The voices of the martyrs, who overcame death, hell and the devil by faith in the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, the Word of God.
It (the blood) works because the death of Jesus on the cross as our substitute purchases us as God's personal property, and this makes us want to live unto God. "If anything can make a man holy it is a firm faith in the atoning sacrifice. When a man knows that Jesus died for him, he feels that he is not his own, but bought with a price, and therefore he must live unto him that died for him and rose again." (Spurgeon)
Rev 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.
Rejoice, you who are in heaven, the departed saints and the angels, for satan is no longer given access to God. Woe to those on earth and of the sea! The devil is coming down, having great wrath. He is angry now, but will really be angry in the mid tribulation time.
Rev 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
He will persecute the nation Israel, which brought forth the Christ child.
Rev 12:14 And to the woman 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, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Many would escape into the wilderness, perhaps like from Egypt, on the wings of an eagle. It would be God's deliverance, perhaps by the wings of an airplane?
Exo 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
This too points to the last half of Daniel's seventieth week. Satan has always persecuted the Jewish people, because they are God's people.
Rev 12:15 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.
Rev 12:16 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.
Isa 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The remnant of Jews who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, would be attacked by satan and there would be many killed.
Rev 7:9 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;
Rev 7:10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
Satan is angry at the Jews and those who trust in Jesus now. He is controlling the minds and hearts of many nations, even our own. He is making way for the coming lying savior, the antichrist, the man of (false) peace.
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