D2. Revelation 12 – May 25, 2002 michael.comberiate@gsfc.nasa.gov or nasamike@nasamike.com
Scope: This chapter outlines the attacks of the Devil against Christ and His Church throughout the Christian Era.
- It introduces the protagonists: Christ , His Church/doctrine, the alternative
- It extrapolates historical facts into the Colonial Timeframe showing the persistent attack on the remnant
The symbols:
- The woman clothed in light = the believing Messianic community, from Abraham to Christ’s living followers
- The “seed” of that woman = the followers of Christ that remain (remnant) throughout time after Christ’s ascension
- The Red Dragon = Lucifer/Satan, who has a following of a third of the angelic beings
o It is also the beast with the 7 heads and 7 crowns, ie a universal angelic power (7 is God’s number for completeness)
o 7 heads & 7 crowns = This angelic power (7’s) has secular authority (Crowns) on Earth.
o 10 horns = This angelic power is pervasive, influencing all the kingdoms mentioned in the Bible = Pagan Rome
- The Male Child, Who will rule all the nations = Jesus Christ
- Devour = Kill / crucify
- Snatched up to heaven = Christ’s ascension as Michael the Archangel, now with holes in His hands
- Desert = Any location on Earth off the main stream, outside the focus of the Biblical accounts
- 1260 days = 1260 years (538AD to 1798 AD) = time, times and half a time
- War in Heaven = The long-standing conflict among the angelic beings due to the question of Free Will.
o What will happen if we play out this drama on Earth with humans while the angelic beings watch?
o Satan has had the opportunity to play out his case on Earth and to demonstrate something
o The demonstration has culminated in humans killing the Image of their Creator in their world
- Hurled to Earth = Left with only the humans to influence
- Wings of an eagle = Able to move quickly and decisively
- Out of the serpent’s reach = beyond the influence of the Pagan Roman empire and the Papal Roman empire
- Serpent spewed water out of his mouth to overtake the woman = persecuting legislation & hunters of remnant
- Earth swallows the river = The persecution cannot stop the saints from keeping the Church alive somewhere
- Satan wars against the remnant = promotes a bogus theology (a mixture of truth & error) that sounds good.
- Stood on the shore of the sea = Satan is in control of the entire Roman empire
V1 It begins with the Messianic community prior to Christ’s birth, essentially the Israelites and any seed of Abraham
V3,4 Satan has been influencing events and he is currently behind the scenes of the Roman Church-State empire
- Reference to him sweeping a third of the stars (angels) from heaven is descriptive, but not chronological.
- This is intended to inform the reader who the red Dragon is by what he has done in the distant past.
V 2, 5 Christ is born as the human Image of God and those under Satan’s influence kill Him.
V5 God raises His Image up to life again demonstrating His plan of salvation for humans
- The Image of God ascends into heaven, ie where the angelic beings have always been.
V6 Satan pursues those, who continue to follow Christ’s teachings
V7, 10-12 The undecided angelic hosts rejoice because they now understand God’s plan of salvation for them.
- They see that Lucifer’s way does not work. It leads to self-destruction even to where followers would kill their Creator
o No longer will any of the remaining “unfallen angelic beings” consider following Lucifer
- Having learned about “evil” without doing evil, the angelic world is now able to live happily ever after.
V 8,9, 12 Lucifer/Satan is left with only the humans to influence; therefore, Woe to the Earth!
- Satan has devolved to where his every intention is now only evil deeds for their own sake.
o Originally, he had some altruistic motives that many angelic beings could identify with.
- The drama on Earth is not over yet. Some might say humans would resolve their problems given more time.
- Now humans must play out the rest of the drama with Satan gone berserk. He has nothing to gain and his time is short.
V 13-17 The pagan roman empire morphs into the papal roman empire and continues persecuting the remnant of Christians
o This is symbolized by Satan standing in command of the entire roman empire and calling out the papal beast (V 13:1)
- The saints hide in the places where the empire cannot find them easily.
- Persecution lasts from 538 to 1798. The New World is the wilderness that finally preserves the remnant
- Book of Revelation has prophesied key world events and situations related to God’s Master Plan for angelic beings and for humans, from Patmos to the End of this Sin Drama on Earth. The book was written in Code (ie Symbols) so that it would be preserved even when controlled by evil powers.
- In the End Times the Code will be revealed and the messages will provide the necessary detail for those believers to handle the End Time situations
8 June 2002
For more on this and a response to any questions, please email any comments to nasamike@nasamike.com