Woman, Clothed with the Sun
-STUDY NO 13 –
Chapter 12.
As we begin this study we read that John 'sees' a woman, clothed with the sun. But as we read further we notice he is seeing this as if it were a video.
By reading chapter 12:1-17 Here is what stands out;
I. The woman described ...
A. clothed with the sun
B. moon under her feet
C. crown of 12 stars
D. pregnant ... in her last days.
II. A dragon described
A. is red in colour
B. has 10 horns
C. has 7 heads, each with a crown
III. History – past to future
A. A powerful past action in the heavens
B. a malicious intent upon the woman's offspring
C. The woman gives birth to a son
i. He is destined to rule the world
ii. He is snatched' up to heaven
D. The woman
i. recognizes her own life to be in danger.
a) flees to the wilderness
b) she is protected there for 1260 days
E. War takes place in heaven
i. Conflict is between Michael and the dragon
a) each have an army of angels
b) Michael's army overpowered the dragon's army.
c) The dragon loses 'his place' in heaven
F. The Dragon
i. identified - Serpent, Devil, Satan, Accuser (v10)
ii. Vents his wrath on Christians.
To unravel the mystery of this vision let’s begin by putting out a few options.
Who is the woman?
Some have said it represents the church. The Catholic view is that it represents the Virgin Mary.
I say it is not the church. Why? Because of the 12 stars. Very likely these represent the 12 tribes of Israel.
I say it is not the Virgin Mary. Why? Because she has been dead for a long time … and this woman is still active for the last part of the tribulation period. But because she is pregnant with a baby who is obviously Christ, in a very small sense Mary is in the picture. But if we pause and ask, is Mary’s producing the Christ child the only interpretation of his coming to His own people, or should we not rather look at it in this way; Israel produced the Christ child. I would say that this woman represents Israel. And as we look into it further we will find she represents only a part of Israel - the part who seriously are trying to follow God and recognize antichrist for who he is.
John McArthur says,
Being clothed with the sun speaks of the glory, dignity, and exalted status of Israel, the people of promise who will be saved, and given a kingdom. The picture of the moon under her feet possibly describes God's covenant relationship with Israel, since new moons were associated with worship
The Red Dragon is identified later on as being the devil. Why is he depicted as having 10 horns and 7 heads? We will leave the answer to that then we get to Chapter 13. For now we will confine our comments to his actions.
We read about two major conflicts involving this dragon.
1. First, his tail drew a third of the stars, (or swept a third of the stars NIV) and cast them to the earth.
2. Second, after attempting to devour the Christ child, at some point he attacks Michael. The two armies collide but Michael wins the victory and access to the heavenly realm is removed from Satan. From this point on he is hindered from travelling to heaven and back as he now does, and is limited to this earth. At a later point he loses even that freedom.
The first conflict happened at about the time Adam was created. Satan, then called Lucifer, was exalted by pride and felt he could over take God. One cannot help but think he felt threatened by God’s creation of man. Lucifer had a very exalted position. Something like this can sometimes be seen when a new baby comes into the family and the child who held first place feels like he has been given the back seat.
After Lucifer’s initiative against God … or should we say at the very time that pride filled his heart, he became Satan. Those angels that he had convinced to support and help him replace God became fallen angels. The text here says that Satan swept them out of heaven and cast them to earth. That is how it ended up but it was never his intent to throw God’s angels to earth. Nevertheless, he is responsible. It is one and the same as if he actually just reached into heaven and destroyed them.
His activities since that time are described here as his being the accuser of the brethren. The beginning of the book of Job gives an inside view of one of his visits to heaven.
He obviously had freedoms removed that day, but he retained the ability to go back and forth between earth and heaven. We know very little about the activities of the fallen angels, but they seem to be referred to as being in two different categories. One category seems to be their activity on earth. Here they are called demons. As I have mentioned previously, neither Satan nor his angels have ever been to hell. However, there is a second category of demons.
2Pe 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;
Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
The angels or demons in the previous verses are not free to roam and possess humans. They are in chains. Others are not in chains. Consider the following example.
Mt 8:28 ¶ When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no-one could pass that way.
Mt 8:29 "What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?"
Heaven rejoices over the fact that he will not be back.
But they express a solemn concern for earthdwellers. Satan has come down having great wrath.
For the sake of clarity let us review the sequence.
Satan waited to devour the baby boy but was unable to. Many years later, he turned on the woman and was unable to reach her.
Jesus is referring to this very time in Mt 24:20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
Satan then turns to pursue Christians. In the latter verses we read about the war in heaven. Where does it fit in the sequence above? I believe it happened just before he turned on the woman.
How was the woman protected? We are told that the earth helped the woman. We can only speculate that she runs to Petra and hides there for 3 and a half years. What is the flood that the serpent cast out of his mouth? Your guess might be as good as any. We are not told. But it sounds like something very powerful.
The ‘rest of her offspring’ refers to Christians. We say this because they ‘hold to the testimony of Jesus'.
To be fair I need to include another possibility; 144,000 Jews have been sealed by God just before the mid-point of the tribulation. We were told that an angel who was about to bring judgment on the earth was told to wait until these were sealed. What were they being sealed from? From the judgment of God on unbelievers. It looks as if we are to assume that the sealing means salvation. The saved of God are protected from any of his judgments upon the earth. When the dragon turns to ‘the rest of her seed who have the testimony of Jesus’ this may specifically be referring to the 144,000. We have no reason to believe that the sealing of God is to protect them from the wrath of Satan.
To sum up this study:
Nation is rising against nation as the seven year period begins and conflict between countries continues into the first half of the tribulation.
At the midpoint – two witnesses appear, preaching and bringing God’s judgment plagues on the earth
The orthodox Jews run for their lives and are miraculously protected
144,000 Jews are sealed (come to faith in Jesus).
Believers are attacked. But They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Re 12:11
Re 14:13 ¶ Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labour, for their deeds will follow them."
By reading chapter 12:1-17 Here is what stands out;
I. The woman described ...
A. clothed with the sun
B. moon under her feet
C. crown of 12 stars
D. pregnant ... in her last days.
II. A dragon described
A. is red in colour
B. has 10 horns
C. has 7 heads, each with a crown
III. History – past to future
A. A powerful past action in the heavens
B. a malicious intent upon the woman's offspring
C. The woman gives birth to a son
i. He is destined to rule the world
ii. He is snatched' up to heaven
D. The woman
i. recognizes her own life to be in danger.
a) flees to the wilderness
b) she is protected there for 1260 days
E. War takes place in heaven
i. Conflict is between Michael and the dragon
a) each have an army of angels
b) Michael's army overpowered the dragon's army.
c) The dragon loses 'his place' in heaven
F. The Dragon
i. identified - Serpent, Devil, Satan, Accuser (v10)
ii. Vents his wrath on Christians.
To unravel the mystery of this vision let’s begin by putting out a few options.
Who is the woman?
Some have said it represents the church. The Catholic view is that it represents the Virgin Mary.
I say it is not the church. Why? Because of the 12 stars. Very likely these represent the 12 tribes of Israel.
I say it is not the Virgin Mary. Why? Because she has been dead for a long time … and this woman is still active for the last part of the tribulation period. But because she is pregnant with a baby who is obviously Christ, in a very small sense Mary is in the picture. But if we pause and ask, is Mary’s producing the Christ child the only interpretation of his coming to His own people, or should we not rather look at it in this way; Israel produced the Christ child. I would say that this woman represents Israel. And as we look into it further we will find she represents only a part of Israel - the part who seriously are trying to follow God and recognize antichrist for who he is.
John McArthur says,
Being clothed with the sun speaks of the glory, dignity, and exalted status of Israel, the people of promise who will be saved, and given a kingdom. The picture of the moon under her feet possibly describes God's covenant relationship with Israel, since new moons were associated with worship
The Red Dragon is identified later on as being the devil. Why is he depicted as having 10 horns and 7 heads? We will leave the answer to that then we get to Chapter 13. For now we will confine our comments to his actions.
We read about two major conflicts involving this dragon.
1. First, his tail drew a third of the stars, (or swept a third of the stars NIV) and cast them to the earth.
2. Second, after attempting to devour the Christ child, at some point he attacks Michael. The two armies collide but Michael wins the victory and access to the heavenly realm is removed from Satan. From this point on he is hindered from travelling to heaven and back as he now does, and is limited to this earth. At a later point he loses even that freedom.
The first conflict happened at about the time Adam was created. Satan, then called Lucifer, was exalted by pride and felt he could over take God. One cannot help but think he felt threatened by God’s creation of man. Lucifer had a very exalted position. Something like this can sometimes be seen when a new baby comes into the family and the child who held first place feels like he has been given the back seat.
After Lucifer’s initiative against God … or should we say at the very time that pride filled his heart, he became Satan. Those angels that he had convinced to support and help him replace God became fallen angels. The text here says that Satan swept them out of heaven and cast them to earth. That is how it ended up but it was never his intent to throw God’s angels to earth. Nevertheless, he is responsible. It is one and the same as if he actually just reached into heaven and destroyed them.
His activities since that time are described here as his being the accuser of the brethren. The beginning of the book of Job gives an inside view of one of his visits to heaven.
He obviously had freedoms removed that day, but he retained the ability to go back and forth between earth and heaven. We know very little about the activities of the fallen angels, but they seem to be referred to as being in two different categories. One category seems to be their activity on earth. Here they are called demons. As I have mentioned previously, neither Satan nor his angels have ever been to hell. However, there is a second category of demons.
2Pe 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;
Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
The angels or demons in the previous verses are not free to roam and possess humans. They are in chains. Others are not in chains. Consider the following example.
Mt 8:28 ¶ When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no-one could pass that way.
Mt 8:29 "What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?"
Heaven rejoices over the fact that he will not be back.
But they express a solemn concern for earthdwellers. Satan has come down having great wrath.
For the sake of clarity let us review the sequence.
Satan waited to devour the baby boy but was unable to. Many years later, he turned on the woman and was unable to reach her.
Jesus is referring to this very time in Mt 24:20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
Satan then turns to pursue Christians. In the latter verses we read about the war in heaven. Where does it fit in the sequence above? I believe it happened just before he turned on the woman.
How was the woman protected? We are told that the earth helped the woman. We can only speculate that she runs to Petra and hides there for 3 and a half years. What is the flood that the serpent cast out of his mouth? Your guess might be as good as any. We are not told. But it sounds like something very powerful.
The ‘rest of her offspring’ refers to Christians. We say this because they ‘hold to the testimony of Jesus'.
To be fair I need to include another possibility; 144,000 Jews have been sealed by God just before the mid-point of the tribulation. We were told that an angel who was about to bring judgment on the earth was told to wait until these were sealed. What were they being sealed from? From the judgment of God on unbelievers. It looks as if we are to assume that the sealing means salvation. The saved of God are protected from any of his judgments upon the earth. When the dragon turns to ‘the rest of her seed who have the testimony of Jesus’ this may specifically be referring to the 144,000. We have no reason to believe that the sealing of God is to protect them from the wrath of Satan.
To sum up this study:
Nation is rising against nation as the seven year period begins and conflict between countries continues into the first half of the tribulation.
At the midpoint – two witnesses appear, preaching and bringing God’s judgment plagues on the earth
The orthodox Jews run for their lives and are miraculously protected
144,000 Jews are sealed (come to faith in Jesus).
Believers are attacked. But They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Re 12:11
Re 14:13 ¶ Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labour, for their deeds will follow them."