Revelation 12

Revelation 12:1-17

THE MOTHER AND MAN CHILD Revelation 12:1-17THIS twelfth chapter is one of the most remarkable of all the twenty-two that go to make the Revelation. If correct in our interpretation of its verses, it furnishes a bird’s-eye view of the mightiest conflict the earth has ever known, or upon which even heaven has ever looked. We wish, therefore, as best we may be able, to lead you into the light of some of its most evident truths; and, by suggestions, elucidate some of its more obscure passages. First of all, THE WOMAN—FIGURE OF ISRAEL “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” (Revelation 12:1). A natural question is, “Who is this woman, and what is the significance of these symbols?”One thing profoundly impresses one in the study of the Book of Revelation. Wherever God speaks in symbols, He takes pains to call attention to that fact; and when He would have us understand Him literally, He leaves His statements without any other suggestion than that they are to be received as voiced. He tells us that this woman is a wonder or (sign), and if we ask, “of what?” there is a babel of replies. But we do not propose to confuse your minds by quoting the different interpretations given to this verse. To do that might be to impress the ignorant with wide research, but since ours is the better purpose of teaching, we pass over these opinions of men, and make appeal to the Word.This woman is a symbol of Israel. When John was lifted up into Heaven, God privileged him, from that point, to see this wonderful vision which he expresses under the figure of a woman.In the Old Testament God’s people are called “the Daughter of Zion”; in the New, Paul speaks of Israel of whom, as according to the flesh, Christ came (Romans 9:5).“Clothed with the sun”.

This symbol of Israel’s honor further evidences our claim. There was never any question that the Prophet Isaiah was speaking to Israel when he cried, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee” (Isaiah 60:1-2, R.V.). The figure is that of the Sun of the morning, clothing, with his beams of beauty, hill and valley; so the Sun of Righteousness pours the flood of His own brightness upon Israel—His own, the object of His love.“And the moon under her feet”. As the sun is the king of the day, so the moon is the queen of the night, the queen of the period of darkness. The figure, therefore, is, that all that is of the earth and earthy is to be put under the feet of the New Israel of God. This glorious woman is to stand above it, and in supremacy over it. It is well known that other-worldliness is a characteristic of the true believer, and ever a trait of the true servant of God.When this same John was penning his First Epistle to the New Testament believers he said, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.

If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him”. But he refers not to that retirement to cloisters, which has ever characterized the Roman conception, but rather to that high spiritual living which has ever conquered over the flesh, and its ten thousand temptations.

Charles V. of Spain surrendered his position, his scepter, even his throne, and despite the protests of the people, retired to the monastery of Yuste. He would have been doing the will of God far better had he gone on so administering the affairs of Spain and Austria and Naples, as to advance the interests of Christ and give glory to His Name, and he would have honored the teaching of Christ to His disciples, “Father * * I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil”.“And upon her head a crown of twelve stars”. For some reason that has approved itself to the Father of infinite wisdom, He has always been pleased to furnish His people with twelve luminaries. The Israel of God, in the old day, had its twelve patriarchs; and when that Church was evolved into the one of the New Testament, twelve Apostles were appointed.So fundamental to her life and labors, was this number, that when Judas dropped out, proving himself deceived and a deceiver, the Holy Ghost made choice of his successor in the person of Saul, better known to us as “Paul the Apostle”.Glorious woman she is, clothed with the sun— glorious with the light which He pours upon her;“The moon under her feet”—triumphing over the whole kingdom of darkness; “and upon her head a crown of twelve stars”, resplendent with luminaries whose lights have gone on shining through the ages, so that men have come to the Christ Himself, guided by what Paul, Peter, James, John, or some other Apostles did or said.Let us pass to the second picture!“And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. * * “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 we need no interpreter; the language is so definite, the idea so perfectly expressed, that the wonder is that there could ever have been a multitude of interpretations touching these words.ISRAEL’S SON IS JESUS OF You go back to Genesis and you will find Him promised as the seed of the woman that shall bruise the serpent’s head.He was the child of the woman. Just as He was Son of Man, in the larger sense, so in the lesser He was the son of Israel. As Mary had other children beside Jesus whose natural birth causes them almost to be forgotten, so the Israel of God had her sons and daughters by the hundreds, thousands, millions, and yet the definite article the applies only to this one Son, Jesus of Nazareth.From the day when God made His promise in the Garden of Eden, up to that morning when Mary’s friends wrapped her babe in swaddling clothes, Israel’s form was big with the promise of this child to come. Many sons were born unto her whose births doubtless brought joy to Heaven; but when this Son was born, so wonderful was the event that all Heaven was stirred, and Heaven’s embassies voyaged to earth to celebrate with others, who knew what a wonderful child the world had at last received.He was the born ruler of nations.“Who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron”. Interpreters from time immemorial have spoken of the second Psalm as Messianic, and in that Psalm the anointed One receives this promise, “Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten thee. “Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron”. That promise was never made to any other than the Son of Man, —Christ the anointed of God. Paul in the Epistle to the Philippians, quoting from Isaiah 45:23 reminds us that “at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth”. And indeed this Child of the Church is to be the ruler of the nations.He was to be caught up to the throne of God.“And her Child was caught up unto God, and to His throne”. How perfectly this last touch proves our claim that this Child was none other than the Christ. He alone has gone to the throne of God. Mark tells us that after the Lord had spoken unto them, “He was received up into Heaven, and sat on the right hand of God” (Revelation 16:19); and again, it is recorded in Acts 1:9, “While they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight”; and days after, when Stephen, having been stoned, was breathing his last, a wonderful vision was vouchsafed him and that mighty witness, the worthy martyr, said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God”. When years had gone by and Paul was writing his Epistle to the Ephesians, he said that God “raised Him (Christ) from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come”.Who, then, questions that this, the wonderful Child, is the Christ of God?The third suggestion of this Scripture is, THE DRAGON—THE OLD SERPENT, SATAN He is definitely so denominated. Lest man might make mistake in understanding who this dragon was, the Holy Spirit moved John to repeat, “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”. “The great dragon”, the “old serpent”, the “Devil”, and “Satan”, the “deceiver”, the “fallen one”!Who can question the character here described, the personage here depicted? The fact that he is called “the great red dragon”, is an expression of his bloody and destructive nature. That seven heads are assigned to him expresses his perfect cunning, as the seven Spirits of God express perfect wisdom; and that he should have ten horns is merely the symbol of his destructive power, as if there were ten points at which he strikes the souls of men; and in truth is it not so?What else is the meaning of the ten commandments? They voice God’s warning that we should watch against every point of Satanic assault. And that he should have seven diadems upon his seven heads, is wonderfully expressive of his perfect reign in the earth.

The Scriptures call him “the god of this world”, because he hath so perfectly usurped its places of power.His origin is also here suggested. He was once “in Heaven”.That he was a spirit of might is naturally to be inferred from the fact that none other than the arch-angel Michael was required for his casting down; and, that he exercised wide influence in the celestial world is proven in that his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven after him. It seems to me the necessary interpretation to see in this the fall of Satan and his host from their first and blessed estate. Milton, speaking of this, says of this arch-fiend who influenced so many of the heavenly spirits thereby making them confederates, “By their aid, aspiring To set himself in glory, above his peers, He trusted to have equalled the Most High, And, with ambitious aim Against the throne and monarchy of God, Raised impious war in Heaven and battle proud.

“He the Almighty Power Hurled headlong, flaming from the ethereal sky, With hideous ruin and combustion down.” But we are not left in this matter to the poet’s fancy, for the Scriptures themselves furnish the basis for Milton’s verse.Isaiah 14:12, seems to be speaking of this very event when he says, “How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning”!And you will remember that Jude in the sixth verse talks of “the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day”.Peter, in his Second Epistle, second chapter and fourth verse, tells us, “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and committed them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment”; Milton had good occasion to write again, “Hail, Son of the Most High, heir of both worlds, Queller of Satan, on Thy glorious reign Now enter, hasting complete redemption! Thou didst defeat and down from Heaven cast The false attempter of Thy Father’s throne, And frustrated the conquest fraudulent; He never more will dare to set his foot In Paradise to tempt: his snares are broke; A fairer Paradise is founded now For Adam and his chosen sons, whom Thou, A Saviour, comest down to re-instal, Where they shall dwell secure, from sorrow free, Of tempter and temptation without fear!” And yet, we must not forget that when Jesus Christ ascended up to the Father’s throne, that day, Satan had to descend from it. Redemption being finished, he was unable longer to accuse the brethren in the Heaven.“He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him”. Therein is the explanation of our earthly woes.The heavens are called upon to rejoice, and all that dwell in them, when Satan is cast out therefrom; but instantly the Apostle writes, “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”.The age in which we live is as certainly the age of Satan’s operations in the earth as it is that of the Spirit’s supremacy in the Church. And just because this age is a limited one; just because Satan himself knows that it will come to an end, and that it will bring him his doom, he is filled with great wrath against the Man Child.One of the strangest things that has ever come into this world is that so-called theology that denies the existence of this great Evil Spirit. With all due respect to some beautiful people who propagate that theory, it is the doctrine of the devil himself, who finds the more effectual cover under which to fight, if only he can bring men to believe that he has no existence.A hundred times he is spoken of in the Word, and more; his names are given; his character is accurately described; his frightful conduct pictured, even in detail; and no one has spoken so much of him as the Son of Man. And yet, even among the professed followers of the Christ, there are those who make it their business to teach that this Evil Spirit is not: those Who deny that he is back of the carnage and misery of the world; those who acquit him from being the author of every murder, the sanguinary instigator of every war, the fell-enemy by whose stroke death is accomplished, the evil genius whose black heart has bethought the blight of human happiness, whose putrid nature has planned the destruction of human peace, whose malignance has conceived every sorrow of the human heart, whose fierce temptations have stimulated the fiery passions and perverted every aspiring power; who is himself “the son of perdition”, whose highest happiness is found in the fall of man to the lowest depths of iniquity and the most terrible experiences of torment.A few years since, a little boy in Boston, beaten almost to death, by a brutal, drunken mother, his little form gashed deeply with bits of glass, against which he struggled in his endeavor to keep that mother from forcing him through a window, to the pavement fifty feet below, was found out by the humane society’s officers. They plied him with questions; they did their utmost to get him to confess the cruel mother’s fault, but with an unerring mind, and a heart out of which the filial affection had not gone as yet, he steadfastly insisted, “It was not mother! I tell you, drink done it!” But who was back of the drink?

Who tempted to the drink? who fastened the fiendish habit? Christian Scientists and all their confederates, who deny the existence of Satan will forever find Alfred Hough’s poem filled with troublesome questions for them.“Men don’t believe in a devil now, as their fathers used to do; They’ve forced the door of the broadest creed to let his majesty through. There isn’t a print of his cloven foot, or a fiery dart from his bow, To be found in earth or air to-day; for the world has voted it so. “But who is mixing the fatal draught that palsies heart and brain, And loads the bier of each passing year with ten hundred thousand slain? Who blights the bloom of the land to-day with the fiery breath of hell? If the devil isn’t, and never was, won’t somebody rise and tell? “Who dogs the step of the toiling saint, and digs the pits for his feet? Who sows the tares on the fields of time wherever God sows His wheat? The devil is voted not to be, and of course the thing is true; But who is doing the kind of work that the devil alone should do? “We are told that he does not go about as a roaring lion now; But whom shall we hold responsible for the everlasting row To be heard in home, in church and state to the earth’s remotest bound, If the devil, by a unanimous vote, is nowhere to be found? “Won’t somebody step to the front forthwith, and make his bow and show How the frauds and crimes of a single day spring up? We want to know, The devil was fairly voted out, and of course the devil’s gone; But simple people would like to know who carries his business on.” ISRAEL SUFFERS BUT She is compelled to flee into the wilderness.“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”, Sacred history reveals a great deal of wilderness experience. Pharaoh’s oppression sent Israel there; the martrydom of the early days, together with all the indignities and insults and threats that were heaped against the Church, gave occasion to Paul’s statement concerning believers who“had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; “(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11:36-38). We know that this was only the prophecy of things to be endured. Already, this woman, Israel of God, has filled up a part of this picture by a bitter experience in persecution. Her sufferings are scarce surpassed by that of the Church. The Armenian Christians are still being put to the knife; and when a few years since, a great many of them were slaughtered by the unspeakable Turk, the whole world was roused; and when the heathen Chinese began the slaughter of the Christian peoples of that land in the Boxer movement, the civilized powers of the world combined their demands that the slaughter cease; and yet, ere they could compel it, scenes were enacted, the very report of which, sickened every sympathetic heart. Today Russia appalls the world with persecutions.But after all, the persecutions of our day are small compared with those of other days. Dr.

Lorimer in his “Argument for Christianity” says, “Beginning with Nero, it is usual to enumerate ten persecutions directed against the Church, though Pressense takes account of only eight—the last one being that of the Diocletian reign, 303 A. D.

We believe with Pressense, but they were fierce enough, and there was little to choose on the score of cruelty between them, whether ordered by a Nero, a Trojan, a Marcus Aurelius, a Severus, a Maximin, a Decius, a Valerian, or a Diocletian, or now the 9th, by Soviet Rulers. They were all monstrous, horrible, devilish ! I employ strong terms, because a disposition has been shown of late to underrate the fury of the tempest that beat upon the early Church, and that swallowed among other thousands, Paul, James, Peter, Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin, Blandina, and Felicitas. Concerning one of these terrific and destructive outbreaks—the Decian persecution, 249 A. D.—Lecky writes as follows:“It would be difficult to find language too strong to paint its horrors. The ferocious instincts of the populace, that were long repressed, burst out anew, and they were not only permitted, but encouraged by the rulers. Far worse than the deaths which menaced those who shrank from the idolatrous sacrifices, were the hideous and prolonged tortures by which the magistrates often sought to subdue the constancy of the martyr; the nameless outrages that were sometimes inflicted on the Christian virgin.—Hist, of Morals V I, P 478”. Tearing the flesh with the sharp teeth of the iron ungula, exposing helpless women to the brutalities of gaolers and soldiers, with other and indescribable tortures, formed modes of punishment, and prolonged the victim’s exquisite agonies. In view of these excessive measures it is surely unnecessary to bandy words with those who, for the sake of bolstering their own unbelief, seek to exonerate heathenism and paganism from the charge of infamous and unpitying bloodthirstiness. Whatever skeptics may say and however they may sneer, the sufferings of the martyrs were such as to lead Napoleon to declare that everywhere these poor people were destroyed “and everywhere they triumphed.”And even yet, the end is not. The 10th persecution is to come, for did not the Master Himself, with an eye upon the last day, say, “Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elecfs sake those days shall be shortened” (Matthew 24:21-22). We now approach that hour.The Church will be caught up out of the tribulation ; but Israel will pass into it, and would perish but for the promised defence and deliverance.Her eventual victory is assured.

The same power that cast Satan out of Heaven, is to defeat him in the earth. If in Heaven, he was overcome by the Blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, so in the earth, he shall be equally discomfited.This twelfth chapter concludes with the dragon making war with the rest of the woman’s seed, but the twentieth chapter of this Book of Revelation, opens with this, “And I saw an angel come down from Heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. “And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, “And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more”. Even here God gives the promise of that final conquest, for when the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a river, that he might cause Israel to be carried away, we read, “The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth”.Usually the figure of the river refers to coming armies, and in that way, possibly, the Lord means to overcome and cast down this deceiver of the nations, and bring his kingdom to an end. But if any insist upon taking the language literally and let the earth open her mouth and swallow up all the powers which Satan may take, it would be difficult to dispute the possible occurrence. Do you recall, how, when we were studying the Pentateuch, we saw Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their followers, swallowed by ground cleaving asunder, so that we read, “The earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. “They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation” (Numbers 16:32-33). We would not dispute with men touching interpretation. The one thing that is clear is, that however filled with wrath Satan may be, the Father has it in the power of His hand to whelm him and all his followers. Whether He will whelm him by armies from Heaven or armies from earth, it matters little; the promise stands and Satan shall be overthrown. Oh, what a time of triumph it will be; what paeans will open the lips of the sealed; what shouts of victory will break forth from the hearts of Israel—at last redeemed!They tell us that at the close of the war of 1866, the triumphant Prussian army marched back to Berlin for a reception. As they approached the Thiergarten, they were halted by a choir, which demanded by what right they were entering the city?The regiment replied in a song, reciting the battles it had fought and the victories it had won.Then came a welcome from the choir, and so each regiment marched up reciting its deeds, and was welcomed. They marched up the Linden between rows of captured cannon with the banners they had borne and the banners they had taken; they went saluting the statue of grand old Frederick, Prussia’s first emperor.And so beloved, when this fierce conflict which is to wax more and more toward the end, is over, the Church of God, saved, Israel included, with all her regiments and phalanxes, shall go up to the eternal city with songs of victory, and in the midst of their praises they will not forget to give all honor to Him by whom they conquered, “to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever”.