REVELATION LESSON 26

    We will begin this lesson in Revelation 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:"

    In this look toward heaven by John, we are taken to a different
aspect of the battle that has gone on through all ages between Jesus
and Satan. If Jesus is in warfare with Satan, then His people are in
battle as well.

    If this were a literal woman, she would be totally devasted. This
"...woman..." here is symbolic of the church. Being "...clothed with
the sun..." could mean that we are bathed in light, appearing to be
clothed in it. Jesus is the source of all light, and we are clothed in
His righteousness. You see, the light that shines in us and around us
is the Light of Jesus. The church has the Light of Jesus.

    The moon is changeable, and it could be a demonic influence here;
or it could be the changing world. At any rate, spiritually, "...the
moon under her feet..." just means that the church has the devil under
foot. The church is above the world.

    Let's look at these "...twelve stars..." on her head. There were
twelve apostles. These "...twelve stars..." could be symbolic of the
crown the believers will receive in heaven. Though this scene opens in
heaven, it will quickly move to the earth. Even though the church is
located on earth, the Christians' home is in heaven"

    Revelation 12:2 "And she being with child cried, travailing in
birth, and pained to be delivered."

     You women who have had children, know that there is pain involved
in birth. This Scripture here, spiritually, is speaking of the birth
of Christianity. The earth is in pain; even now, the earth is in a
turmoil with more earthquakes, volcano eruptions, famines etc.  There
is no place where there is not upheavel and confusions. The earth is
pained to be delivered. We know the going home of the saints is near;
we just do not know what day or what hour. This could also be the
birth of Jesus.

    Revelation 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."

    We see here this "...red dragon...".  This is the devil, and he is
shown red all over to show his murderous personality. This is the only
place in the New Testament that dragon is used. I believe here it is
not a literal "dragon", but a figure of Satan. We see here "...ten
horns..." which symbolize world power: ten-world, horns-power.

    In Daniel, these same descriptions indicated world powers which
opposed the living church.  Here, too, we can assume these world
powers oppose the Christians and Jesus' church.
    With the "...seven..." here, we see completeness. From just the
numbers then, we see a complete powerful world movement against God's
church and even against God.  These seven are heads of these evil
governments. This world power, through these earthly kingdoms, come
from Satan himself. The seven crowned heads mean universal rule, and
the ten horns mean world power to the utmost.

    Revelation 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."

    Here we see a retrogression back to when Lucifer was thrown out of
heaven and took 1/3 of the angels with him. He was thrown to the
earth. The 1/3 stars (angels) which were thrown out with him are now
followers of Satan and are his demon spirits.

    We see here, also, the woman about to birth, and this is Jesus the
Christ. Satan used Herod to try to kill Jesus the moment He was born.
That was not God's plan, so Jesus was protected until the time of the
cross. This also indicates here the birth of the church, which the
devil has tried to devour every way he could.

    Our church, Church In The Wildwood, has had every type of attack
from Satan and his demons that you could possibly imagine, but God has
kept us through it all. We read in a previous lesson how God would
protect the Christians from the Wrath of God. We will have
tribulation, but if we stand fast, we shall be victorious. If your
church is not under attack of the devil, it might be that your church
is not a threat to the devil.  Satan is opposing the churches who are
holy and righteous and winning souls for Jesus. One thing we must
remember, for every demon there are two angels to help us.

    Revelation 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."

    Here, too, this is speaking of Jesus and also of the church. Jesus
will rule all nations when He returns to the earth as Lord of lords
and King of kings. Jesus was caught up into heaven at the resurrection
to sit upon His throne. He is even now sitting at the Right Hand of
God the Father. The church will be carried into heaven at the catching
away of the believers, and we, too, will sit near His throne; and we
Christians will reign on this earth with Jesus as His subordinates.
As in many scriptures, there are several meanings here.

    Revelation 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."

    The "...wilderness..." is sometimes the world. The woman here is
the church.
    When it becomes illegal to have a Bible, it will be dangerous for
those who read them daily to live in town. The 3 1/2 years (1260 days)
that is called the great tribulation occurs, I believe, just before
the rapture of the church.  There will be such great persecution of
the church of the living God, that it will be necessary to flee.  Some
believe, and I am one of them, that places like Wildwood will be
places of refuge for the believers in Christ.

    It is already becoming very unpopular with the world to be sold
out to Jesus and His teachings. We are called all sorts of ridiculous
names like "goody two shoes". The world government, and even part of
the church world, is leaning more and more to elevating ourselves to
the point of making us God. You see, secular humanism and the New Age
Movement both elevate mankind to Godhood. These are two very dangerous
things to do. This is the very reason Lucifer was tossed out of
heaven.  We need to let God be God and us be His servants. Bringing
God down to our level is sin, and bringing ourselves up to His level
is sin as well. He is the Creator; we are His creation.

    This 3 1/3 years of tribulation on the church will just separate
the believers who are really sincere and the ones who are believing
for self-gain. Those elect (the true believers) will stand and not
falter or waver in the principles taught in the Bible. Many new
doctrines are false. Do not, for any reason, water Jesus down to the
level of mankind. that is blasphemy. God will take care of us just as
He took care of the Israelites on the way to the promised land. Hold
fast unto the end.

    Revelation 12:7 "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his
angels,"
    Revelation 12:8 "And prevailed not; neither was their place found
any more in heaven."

    My own personal belief about Michael (and I do not ask you to
believe this) is that he is an archangel who is Jesus' no. 1 helper.
Just as a president has a general of his army who leads the battle for
him, I believe Jesus has Michael to lead the other angels for Him. I
really believe that Michael is a very high-up angel directly under
Jesus' command. The dragon here is Lucifer, which was an evil
archangel. I believe there is an order of command in heaven as there
is here on the earth.  We see here, that not only the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ is being attacked here on the earth, but that there
is war in heaven as well. Here we see defeat of Satan to such an
extent that he is not allowed in heaven any more, not even to accuse
the believers. His defeat on the earth is complete as well. His doom
was sealed when Jesus died on the cross. As many dreams and visions,
this does not stay in the present tense or even in the future tense,
but jumps from past, to present, to future and back and forth.  We,
in this above, have seen the defeat and expulsion of that old devil
from heaven.

    Extra scriptures to be read and studied: Isaiah 54:5-6, St. John
3:29, 2 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 5:25-32, Galatians 3:27, Micah
4:10, Psalms 74:13, St. John 12:31, St. John 17:14-15.

                      REVELATION QUESTIONS 26


1.  In V-1, what was the wonder that appeared in heaven?
2.  What does the sun symbolize here?
3.  What does the moon symbolize?
4.  Who are the stars?
5.  This woman is symbolic of whom?
6.  Where is the Christians'  home?
7.  What kind of birth is meant in V-27
8.  Who had the seven heads and ten horns?
9.  Why was his color red?
10. What do the seven heads mean?
11. What do the ten horns mean?
12. What did the seven crowns indicate?
13. This dragon is symbolic of whom?
14. What Old Testament prophetic book mentions this, also?
15. This powerful evil movement attacks whom?
16. In V-4, the 1/3 part of the stars are who?
17. Why did the dragon stand before the woman who was ready to
    be delivered?
18. What was Satan's name in heaven?
19. What did the 1/3 of the angels who followed the devil become?
20. Who did Satan use to try to kill the Christ child?
21. Why might your church not be under attack of the devil?
22. How was the man child to rule the nations?
23. Where was He caught up to?
24. Who will Jesus be known as when He rules with the rod of iron?
25. Where did the woman flee to?
26. Who is the woman in V-6?
27. What is this period of 3 1/2 years called?
28. Not only the world, but a segment of the church is leaning toward
    making themselves whom?
29. Name two false teachings that are dangerous.
30. Who fought against the dragon?
31. Who lost?
32. What is the author's personal belief about Michael?
33. When was Satan's doom sealed?
34. Why does the time element jump back and forth?
35. Write Galatians 3:26.
36. Write St. John 17:14-15.
37. In St. John 17:14-15, it is speaking of the church. Tell me in
    your own words who the church consists of.