Wrath Of The Lamb: The Revelation Of Jesus Christ

Revelation Chapter 12:

Overview to the Woman clothed with the Sun: Chapters Twelve and Thirteen of Revelation relate the story of the Church of Laodicea in metaphor. This Church is made up of all established Christian religions that have developed, like a vine, from the BRANCH of the teachings of Jesus. Yet all of their differing doctrines have strayed so far from His teachings that they are portrayed in Revelation as riding and guiding the Beast, which today is persecuting God's people of Islam as it has already persecuted Christians themselves.

The Church of Laodicea is currently Spiritual Babylon, ostensibly providing the Beast with the 'authority' and direction it needs to conquer and destroy in the name of God - the height of blasphemy. Together these two make up the dreaded Abomination of Desolation that Jesus spoke of.

As this wonderful story goes, the Woman clothed with the Sun, persecuted by Satan for nearly 2,000 years, evolves into the Harlot of Babylon. The Harlot of Babylon is then judged in Chapter Seventeen, and is clothed in His Righteousness, saved by His Blood, and becomes the Bride of Jesus Christ:

    "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." (Revelation 19:7-8 KJV)

It's all about love, it's all about forgiveness, it's all about the Peace of Jesus Christ and Omnipotence of God. Soon, perhaps, we will love Him back as He loves us.

    "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." (Revelation 12:1-2 KJV)

    • There appeared a Woman: The Woman is a symbol representing early Christianity, which, after Jesus' ascension to heaven, is referred to as The Daughter of Zion in prophecy.

      The early church of Jesus Christ had but one, single doctrine:

        "And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:40 KJV)

        "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16 KJV)

      That's all! Nothing else. No other Christian doctrine means anything to one's salvation, because when we believe in Him, only Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is our master, our teacher, and our judge.

      All Christian denominations that teach otherwise usurp the authority of God when they separate the 'wheat from the tares' themselves - a task Jesus said was set aside for His angels.

      These judge their members' behavior and restrict membership based on other doctrine. Today they have been caught in God's snare, and will have to overcome their judgmentalism in the sight of Jesus Himself and the angels.

        "For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken." (Isaiah 28:11-13 KJV)

      Since Jesus was crucified, all peoples, races, and tongues are, and have been, saved under the Covenant of Promise.

      The Woman at this stage represents Jesus' flock who have heard and believed His Gospel. Watch this Woman carefully through Revelation!

    • Clothed with the sun: The Woman representing the flock of Jesus is clothed by the the Light of the World.

        "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall." (Malachi 4:2 KJV)

    • Crown of twelve stars: The twelve stars represent the twelve apostles of Jesus.

    • Travailing in birth: The travailing and pain of birth represents the persecution of His Gospel during His ministry, and the pain and sorrow of Jesus' last days on earth, before His ascension.

    "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." (Revelation 12:3-4 KJV)

    • A great red dragon: Satan (meaning the 'Adversary') is symbolized by a dragon. The original sin of Lucifer was self-exaltation. Unhappy with his position within God's brotherhood of love, Lucifer wished to attain supremacy over other beings.

      Perhaps the best description we have of Lucifer is in Ezekiel Chapter Twenty Eight. In that chapter God, using the pseudonym "King of Tyrus" for Lucifer, leaves no doubt that He is talking about a messenger of God rather than a human being:

        "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. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." (Ezekiel 28:14-15 KJV)

      By the "anointed cherub that covereth" God is referring to the two cherubs that sit atop the Ark of the Covenant in the Heavenly Sanctuary - like the earthly version of the Ark given to Moses to build for the Tabernacle of Witness. Lucifer was once one of these cherubs.

      The meaning of the Hebrew root of Lucifer is interesting, as it really has multiple meanings. Usually 'Lucifer' is said to mean "to shine" or "to flash forth light". But when one examines how the same root word is used elsewhere in the Bible, the meaning also could be as follows from Strong's:

        a) (Qal)

          1) to be boastful
          2) boastful ones, boasters (participle)

      Regardless, Lucifer's - or Satan's - desire has been to prove that God's Law of Love is unfair to His creations, because it prevented Lucifer from exalting himself above the other messengers (angels) - and even God Himself.

      Unfortunately, self-exaltation among human beings eventually results in death. If we don't get killed by somebody trying to take our position or possessions, we get so cynical and twisted after a lifetime of trying to protect ourselves, and watching others die and get killed, that life becomes un-attractive altogether. Our spirits revolt, our bodies deteriorate, and we die.

      Because Lucifer convinced many of his fellow messengers (angels) that God's law was flawed - since it necessitated perfect love for God and true equality among beings - this fact of 'exaltation equals death' had to be proven without polluting the entire universe with Lucifer's lame-brained theories.

      The best way to prove God's Law, His requirement of perfect love for Him, was not unfair, was to create a world where Lucifer could try his theories among created beings himself. A world with many mirrors for thoroughly testing his vanity.

      Yet from the beginning God has known that these human beings he created and loved would seek Him out through His Spirit, and eventually would come to the conclusion themselves that they needed perfect love for God in order to live the happy lives they were created for in the first place.

      Earth has been the testing ground. Lucifer was allowed to mislead mankind. Down through history, human beings under God have made their choices through the free will He has given them.

      From the Ten Commandments God gave us, to the sacrificial system and oppressive civil laws that Moses attempted in His search for God, to the death of Jesus on the cross that led to the Grace under which we could search for God freely, the Great Controversy of Zion has played out on a global scale.

      Today it's over, except for on thing: Our blindness! Christians are so comfortable with the material goods Satan has provided, we can't see that our hatred and bigotry have brought the earth to the verge of literal destruction.

      We must love!

      September 11th would have been a wake up call for real Christians who were following the teachings of Jesus, instead it turned into the snare God planted way back at the beginning to trap an overly self-exalted Satan in the desolation of his own lies.

        "For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion." (Isaiah 34:8 KJV)

      Perhaps you are wondering why it was necessary to put the beings of the earth through all of this suffering and death in order to test Lucifer's hair-brained theories on the value of rule by vanity?

      Because God is LOVE.

      Because God does not KILL.

      So our job, for which we will be well rewarded, is to save Lucifer by rejecting his theories. To do that we must first forgive him, forgive ourselves, and seek perfect love of God.

      For that we need our Master back! To get Him back, perhaps we need at least 144,000 people who can see Lucifer's lies laid plain before the world need to begin behaving as Jesus did! :-)

    • Seven heads: The dragon's seven heads are the Seven Churches he has misled.

    • Ten horns: The dragon's ten horns are the Ten Commandments - the Law - that he used to accuse mankind endlessly before he was cast out of heaven, and later used to mislead Christians into creating fixed doctrine with which they can judge others like he does.

    • Seven crowns upon its head: Satan has overcome and reigns over all Seven Churches founded by the Holy Spirit during the last two millenniums, leading them to be spiritually desolate today.

    • His tail drew a third part of the stars of heaven: Satan chose Judeo-Christianity as his prey, or one third of Spiritual Earth, for the showdown between himself and God. It's up to us, because Jesus said:

        "But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." (Luke 12:48 KJV)

    • For to devour her child as soon as it was born: Satan worked to nip Christianity in the bud, before the Apostles and disciples could spread the Gospel sufficiently. The book of Acts records many of his efforts.

    "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. 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." (Revelation 12:5-6 KJV)

    • And she brought forth a man child to rule all nations with a rod of iron: After His crucifixion and ascension to heaven, when He received His Kingdom from God according to the Plan of Salvation, Jesus' Word, His Gospel and teachings, were to rule "with a rod of iron", destroying empires and their accompanying oppression of God's poor and destitute. The nature of the reign of Jesus' Gospel and teachings is also described in Psalms Chapter Two:

        "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." (Psalms 2:9 KJV)

    • Her child was caught up to God: Jesus' ascension after His crucifixion.

    • Fled into the wilderness: The wilderness in prophecy represents people who have separated themselves from God, are discouraged, or people who have not heard of God as yet. These are the people among whom the Gospel was spread by the Apostles.

      Using the metaphor of the wilderness implies that the Woman clothed with the Sun is hiding somehow. This is important to remember...

    • Where she hath a place prepared by God: The Apostles and their disciples preached His Gospel to the sinners and discouraged who longed for the Truth - whom thus were prepared by God to hear the Gospel.

    • That they Feed her there: Jesus flock were to be 'fed' 'in the wilderness'. Jesus said to Peter:

        "... Feed my sheep." (John 21:16)

      In other words, His Gospel was preached to the discouraged and sinful.

    • A thousand two hundred and threescore days: See the Prophetic Time Chart for an explanation of the interpretation of prophetic time in this chapter, ie. 1,260 days, 42 months, or 3 1/2 years. Because Jesus was crucified before His seven-year covenant to minister only to the Jews was completed, the 1,260 days left of His ministry are ongoing.

    "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 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 12:7-9 KJV)

    • Michael and his angels fought against the dragon: Michael is Jesus' name in heaven. I'm unsure what the war in heaven represents exactly, but it's clear that Lucifer lost.

    • And the great dragon was cast out: When the 70 disciples He sent out to preach the gospel returned triumphantly, Jesus prophesied:

        "And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." (Luke 10:18-19 KJV)

      It's important to note that in Revelation Twelve verse 10, Satan's role in heaven is described as the accuser. He had accused us using the Law:

        "How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust." (John 5:44-45 KJV)

      The Law was first introduced by Moses, and was used by Satan to accuse us before God.

    • He was cast out into the earth: Watch out! No more would we claim to be accused constantly of sin - and punished for it - from heaven. From this point on man could not blame God for the evils around him, and his guilt, and his troubles - but most continued doing so anyway.

    "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. 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. 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." (Revelation 12:10-12 KJV)

    • Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God: Our salvation comes by Jesus' blood. We are strengthened because in the Kingdom of our God we are, ourselves, kings and priests: Only God Himself rules over and judges us.

    • Which accused them before our God day and night: Before Jesus death on the cross, Satan used the Law of God to accuse us before the Father, but now Jesus has been given the Kingdom, the Law cannot be used to accuse us anymore:

        "And now, in Christ Jesus, ye being once afar off became nigh in the blood of the Christ, for he is our peace, who did make both one, and the middle wall of the enclosure did break down, the enmity in his flesh, the law of the commands in ordinances having done away, that the two he might create in himself into one new man, making peace, and might reconcile both in one body to God through the cross, having slain the enmity in it, and having come, he did proclaim good news--peace to you--the far-off and the nigh, because through him we have the access--we both--in one Spirit unto the Father." (Ephesians 2:13-18 YLT)

    • They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and through their testimony: The sacrifice of Jesus blotted out the Law which Satan used to accuse us in the first place, and made the Law one with Jesus:

        "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." (Colossians 2:14-17 KJV)

      By His the Blood of His salvation, all mankind overcame the accusatory nature of the Law, allowing His believers to follow their Shepherd through His Grace.

      His Grace was sufficient for all of us.

    • They loved not their lives unto the death: Through Grace eventually comes a new birth by repentance and the refining fire of the Holy Spirit, the death of our old selves. We are then prepared to die for Jesus - and our brothers - as He died for us. Without resistance.

    • He knoweth he hath but a short time: Why did he know he had a short time? Because the Lord of HOSTS had spread the word and had given the human race the strength and the tools to fight the devil fairly for the first time.

      Jesus' teachings in the four Gospels are a blueprint for the eternal protection of the poor and downtrodden in a world run by greed and selfishness. The Gospels are the handbook of revolution for the oppressed masses. Combined with the Old Testament books of prophecy - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and the lesser prophets, Jesus teachings literally empower the masses, strengthening them spiritually far beyond the spiritual strength of any who might oppress them.

      Jesus did all of this simply by preaching God's brotherhood of love.

        "But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." (Isaiah 11:4 KJV)

      The Gospel as the manual of freedom fighters works like this: Say we humans become poor and oppressed, our lives get more and more miserable because of the greed of some king or dictator, czar or whatever, who taxes us, or legislates us, or drafts us, until we feel like we are being squeezed in a vice.

      Being poor and oppressed, the first place we turn is to the Bible. Because we need help, we read and search the Bible with sincerity - we don't just do our daily reading for show.

      The Holy Spirit takes over... In the Bible Jesus singles out people who were in a situation just like ours. He tells us that we are blessed, and we are worthy enough to inherit the earth. We are the people for whom God came to earth and sacrificed His life.

      In the Bible prophecies of the Old Testament, God is extremely clear in expressing His displeasure at things like oppressing the poor, charging usury, ignoring widows and the fatherless, withholding or underpaying wages, and other sins that greedy men of power inevitably fall into.

      The Gospel creates in all of us a spirit of self-worth, and points out with the authority of God what the problem is (greed, oppression, etc...). The Old Testament prophets then tell us what God will do about it in His wrath. It doesn't take an Einstein to understand after a bit of reading that the action of God's wrath against oppressors is actually performed by those whom the oppressors are oppressing:

        "What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts." (Isaiah 3:15 KJV)

        "Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay! Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein." (Habakkuk 2:6-8 KJV)

      Without this empowerment from Jesus, mankind would still be mired in monarchies and other forms of oppressive government that benefit only a few at the expense of their own people.

      So the reason for empowering us, the reason behind the blotting out of our sin for 2000 years, the very objective of the Plan of Salvation depended on people being able to throw off the yoke of oppressors whenever they raised their ugly head.

      The objective of the Plan of Salvation was for us to reach democratic government - a government of the people themselves, wherein the people have nobody else to blame if oppression once again surfaced:

        "And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end." (Mark 3:26 KJV)

      Jesus' describes the Gospel:

        "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three." (Luke 12:51-52 KJV)

      More on the Plan of Salvation on its own page soon.

    "And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 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." (Revelation 12:13-14 KJV)

      Two wings of great eagle: The Great Eagle was God, and the wilderness spoken of is the world, as the Apostles are finally given the commission to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles through Peter's vision in Acts Chapter Ten.

      Where she is nourished: Again, more people are added to Jesus' flock as they are fed the Gospel.

      Time, times, and half a time: Three and one half years. See the Prophetic Time Chart for an explanation of the interpretation of prophetic time in this chapter.

    "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. 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. 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 12:15-17 KJV)

    • The serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood: Prophetic water is knowledge:

        "Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." (Mat 16:6 KJVA)

      Jesus miracle of feeding the multitudes with 5, then 7, loaves was a type of what was to follow. From 4 short Gospel accounts and the epistles of the Apostles, literally billions of pages - the leaven of man's opinions and his doctrines - have been added to earth's storehouse of the "knowledge of God".

      With these doctrines religions have controlled what their members receive of the Gospel itself. Satan has truly caused chaos in Christianity.

      This flood refers to the 'knowledge of God' man himself has created over the last 2000 years. It is also pictured in the book of Daniel as a river (flood in many translations):

        "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished." (Daniel 12:4-7 KJV)

      The "time, times, and an half" referred to in Daniel is the same referred to in this chapter of Revelation - as is the flood of knowledge the same as the knowledge represented by the river in Daniel's vision.

      This 'knowledge' has been merged with Biblical truths since the first Christian religion was founded, resulting in strange mixtures of doctrine and more than 2,000 Christian denominations.

    • The earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood: This flood of false was swallowed by the earth. Note that the Second Beast of Revelation Chapter 13 arises out of the earth, tainted by this false doctrine.

    • The dragon was wroth with the woman: Very important! This verse records the first differences that arise between the Woman clothed with the Sun and 'the remnant of her seed'.

    • And went to make war with the remnant of her seed: Again, very important! The remnant of the Woman's seed is identified separately from the Woman in this verse. The remnant of the Woman's seed are described as those who "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ".

      So what happened to the Woman? She is still in the wilderness. However, to protect herself from the knowledge cast at her by Satan, she will 'disguise' herself by absorbing some of it. She appears later on in Revelation - in costume, so to speak.

 

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