I have been a
student of the Bible for about 40 years, but never thought I would ever
research the Book of Revelation as I have been doing the past couple of years.
Anyway, I thought I would share some very interesting things I have discovered
about Revelation Chapter 12 and the celestial events associated with it. I plan
to do it in two parts and both are related to only the first five verses!
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:
And she being with child cried, travailing
in birth, and pained to be delivered.
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.
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.
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. Revelation 12:1-5 KJV
I thought heavenly signs were just for
Israel?
When referring to
signs in the heavens, I am of course speaking of astronomy which is not the
same as astrology.
The
bottom line on the Bible and the stars: we may look to the stars for signs from
God, but we are not to revere the stars themselves. Rick Larson/BethlehemStar.com
Scripture says
God created the heavenly lights for signs and appointed meetings:
And God said, Let there be lights in the
firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for
signs, and for seasons [moed or moad—feasts; appointed meetings--BLB], and for days, and years:
- Genesis 1:14 KJV
Because God set
up appointed feast days He would have made sure his chosen people would see the
signs above their land; therefore, when researching the Revelation 12 signs,
one must look at the skies above Jerusalem when using astronomy software. This
leads some to believe that signs are only for the people of Israel.
As far as I know
there is nowhere in Scripture that it says these signs are strictly for Israel.
If that were true then the wise men would not have bothered with the nightly
skies because they were not “of Israel”—they were Chaldeans (Who
Were the Wise Men?).
However, Israel was the center of God’s plans for the first coming of the Messiah
and will be the center prophetically in these last days leading up to the one-thousand
year reign of Christ.
Revelation 12=FUTURE Events
Many teach that
the first verses in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation are merely a retelling
of Christ’s birth. At first glance Revelation 12 appears to be a retelling of Christ’s birth, but
the planetary alignment that is to be seen this September is different from
what researchers believe occurred back in 3 B.C. when the Messiah came the
first time at his birth. Mark Correll compares the two events in his video The Sign of Revelation 12.
Dragon=Nachash=Satan
There are three
main characters in the Revelation 12 picture we are given: The Woman, The
Child, and The Great Red Dragon.
Cris Putnam
writes on page 129 of the book On the
Path of the Immortals:
Notice
that this ultimate Great Red Dragon has seven heads, just like the Leviathan of
the Canaanites. However, the same text sheds light on several mysteries. “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”( Revelation 12:9)…In one fell swoop, John has connected
the dragon to the Nachash, “the
shining one” who deceived Eve in the garden, to Diablos,” the slanderer,” to Satan, “the adversary,” and identifies
the sum total as one being consigned to terrorize the earth during the Great
Tribulation.
As
we argued in chapter 1, the
most consistent view with the whole counsel of God is that the angelic war
culminating in Satan’s demotion to earth is a future event. Amazon.com link
I will share more
about the Dragon in Part 2.
Woman=Israel=Virgo
Most researchers
agree that the woman referred to in Revelation 12 is Israel as represented by
the constellation Virgo. What does that have to do with the mostly Gentile
Church? Israel is the mother of all who believe:
But Jerusalem which is above is free,
which is the mother of us all. Galatians 4:26 KJV
4:21-27 The
difference between believers who rested in Christ only, and those who trusted
in the law, is explained by the histories of Isaac and Ishmael. These things
are an allegory, wherein, beside the literal and historical sense of the words,
the Spirit of God points out something further. Hagar and Sarah were apt
emblems of the two different dispensations of the covenant. The heavenly
Jerusalem, the true church from above, represented by Sarah, is in a state of
freedom, and is the mother of all believers, who are born of the Holy Spirit. They
were by regeneration and true faith, made a part of the true seed of Abraham,
according to the promise made to him. biblehub.com
The Seed of the Woman
A key thing to
remember is that true Israel continued in the ways of YHWH making Y’shua their
Messiah.
For they [are] not all Israel, which are
of Israel: - Romans 9:6b KJV
That is, They which are the children of
the flesh, these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise
are counted for the seed. - Romans 9:8 KJV
Jesus Himself
spoke of the difference between natural seed and the seed of promise when
confronted by the scribes and Pharisees in John Chapter 8. Jesus tells them
that He is aware that their natural birth is of Abrahamic descent, but that
their true father is the Devil (John 8:44).
For the promise, that he should be the
heir of the world, [was] not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but
through the righteousness of faith. - Romans 4:13 KJV
Therefore [it is] of faith, that [it might
be] by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that
only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham;
who is the father of us all, - Romans 4:16 KJV
That is, They which are the children of
the flesh, these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise
are counted for the seed. - Romans 9:8 KJV
I believe
Scripture shows us that those born again of God’s Holy Spirit, belong in the
category of the promised seed—the seed of the woman. That is why Gentiles are
grafted into the promise made to Abraham by way of the Messiah. So if we are
grafted in, and Israel is our mother, could the Revelation 12 signs pertain to
the Church as well as Israel?
Remnant of Her Seed
Thankfully
Scripture interprets itself. As I read Revelation 12, verse 17 caught my
attention.
And when the dragon saw that he was cast
unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man [child]. -
Revelation 12:13 KJV
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. - Revelation 12:17 KJV
The dragon went
to make war with the remnant of the woman’s seed. The word “seed” in verse 17
is translated from the Greek word sperma.
Women don’t have sperm—it is from men that the bloodline or seed originates. It
is in Genesis that we find the understanding of what the seed of the woman
refers to:
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: - Genesis 3:14 KJV
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. - Genesis 3:15 KJV
It was the
Messiah, Yahshuah Ha Moshiach, our Jesus who crushed the serpent’s head as He
obeyed the Father and became the ultimate Passover Lamb! The reason He is
referred to as the “seed of the woman” is because the Holy Spirit created the
seed to impregnate Mary—the sperm did not come from a man but from God.
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. - Luke 1:35 KJV
So who is the man child and who are the remnant of her seed ?
Who is the Man Child?
In the Revelation 12 configuration, the planet Jupiter represents the "man child". Jupiter entered into Virgo around November 20, 2016, with 'conception' occurring probably on Hanukkah (the Festival of Light). Due to its retrograde motion, Jupiter will spend a little more than 9 months within the womb of Virgo. This falls within the normal length of time for gestation of a human baby. Jupiter will then exit Virgo illustrating the birth of the child.
Some researchers say Jupiter exits on September 9 while others say it is on September 23. My thoughts are that only God knows the date of a natural conception and birth of a child (Psalm 22:9; Isaiah 44:24). It may also be possible that the birth of the child occurs prior to the birth pains (unsealed.org/TheCelestialC-section).
And she brought forth a man [arrēn-male]
child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught
up unto God, and [to] his throne. - Revelation 12:5 KJV
After “her child
was caught up unto God, and to his throne” in Revelation 12:5, the dragon
becomes filled with wrathful anger and goes to attack “the remnant of her seed
which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”.
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. -
Revelation 12:9 KJV
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. - Revelation 12:17 KJV
The remnant are
people who come to believe on Jesus Christ as the Messiah at this time after the Revelation 12:5 man child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. So if
the “remnant of her seed”
are those who “have the testimony of Christ”, then the woman’s seed or “man
child” must be those who “have the testimony of Christ” as well! This added to
the fact that Jesus our Messiah is the seed of the woman, the promised seed,
that is born within those who make Him Lord makes a strong case for the true
Church to be a candidate for the man child of Revelation 12.
NEW INFORMATION! On July 11, 2017 Unsealed.org posted additional confirmation of who the male child of Revelation 12 is from Galatians Chapter 3: unsealed.org/major discovery re. Rev. 12
Someone is caught
up to God and his throne in Revelation 12:5 leaving a remnant behind. It makes
sense that the Church Bride—those born again of God’s promised seed—could be
who this verse is referring to.
Child is Caught Up
It should be
noted that the Child is “caught up”—a phrase that is translated from the Greek
word harpazo. This same phrase is
translated raptus in the Latin
Vulgate which is where we get the term “rapture”. Rapture
The Greek word harpazo means: "to seize, carry off
by force; to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly; to snatch out or
away" [source: Blue Letter Bible]. It also means "to seize up out of
danger" (Click here to learn more about the abducted Bride.)
So the male child
of Revelation 12 is seized up out of danger and the danger is the wrathful
dragon!
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. - Revelation 12:4 KJV
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. - Revelation 12:5 KJV
Jesus was an adult when He ascended to God and His throne and not a child. Nowhere in Scripture
does it describe Him as being harpazo-ed—seized
and carried off by force—His return to God and the throne is referred to gently
as ‘ascended’ (John 20:17).
These
observations lead me to speculate that it IS possible that Revelation 12:5 is
referring to the rapture of the born again believers in Christ. For through
Christ as Head of the Body, the saints rule and reign with Him (Revelation
2:26-27). Of course there is no way to be certain of this because we are treading in
unknown waters called “the future”. So I will keep on studying…and looking!
So Christ was once offered to bear the
sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time
without sin unto salvation. - Hebrews 9:28 KJV
