The Judgments on Earth
The second of three studies of The Revelation of Jesus Christ by Paige Ramsey
“More Personalities of the Tribulation Period”
Lesson 7
Revelation 12:1-17
The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon
Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out
in labor and in pain to give birth.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Satan Thrown Out of Heaven
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who
deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
The Woman Persecuted
13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman
who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the
dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Chapter 11 introduced two characters that have an important part to play in the Tribulation period: The Two Witnesses. Chapters 12 and 13 introduce seven more very important personalities during the Great Tribulation:
Catholics say she is the Virgin Mary[i], or Eve[ii] who then represents the Virgin Mary.
Verses 6 & 14 refute this: This woman flees to the wilderness.
Where is Mary today? She is in heaven. Mary never did flee to the wilderness.
So the Radiant Woman is not Mary
Some say this is the church who gave birth to Jesus Christ.
The church did not give birth to Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ gave birth to the church.
So the Radiant Woman cannot be the church.
Others believe the woman is the Jewish nation of Israel.
The clothes of the radiant woman speaks of Israel. Genesis 37:5-10.[iii]
Israel gave birth to the Messiah. Isaiah 9:4-6 (the “us” is the Jewish nation);
Hebrews 2:16 (“the seed of Abraham” speaks of Israel;
Romans 9:3-5)
Israel travailed in pain with the expectation of the Messiah. They were in pain, crying out for the
Messiah during the Egyptian bondage, the Babylonian captivity, the Greek rule and the Roman
government. They are in pain today as they still do not recognize their Messiah.
Israel flees to the wilderness and is scattered among the whole earth for two thousand years. The
probability of a nation surviving so that they could ever form a union again is next to impossible, but
God protected them and kept them to fulfill His plans.
This is the most plausible interpretation. The Radiant Woman is the nation of Israel.
The Male Child – Who is he?
CLUES:
Remember: In Daniel 9 we find that the Lord gave His people 70 weeks (of years), and specified that after 69 weeks the Messiah would be cut off. Jesus’ death marked the end of the 69th week. The 70th week has been put on hold. Israel has been cursed with blindness (See 2 Cor. 4:4; Deut. 28:28-29) – but it is not a permanent
blindness.
Today, we are about to enter into Daniel’s 70th week. According to Daniel 9:27, the Lord will confirm His
covenant with His people for one week (of years) and in the middle of the week (3½ years) He will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.
The Great Red Dragon – Who is this?
We do not have to search far for the answer, because John specifically tells us who this is in verse 9 – “that
serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan…”
happen? Was this the same conflict mentioned in Jude’s book when Satan argued with Michael over the body of Moses? That does not seem to fit with this obviously huge war.
We know that Satan was on the earth and tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Was this before Satan fell, or was this the act that caused the war to take place in heaven? That would definitely be a significant reason for a great conflict.
There seems to be some confusion because of the events in Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7. The Book of Job is the oldest
book in the Bible. It was written before Moses compiled the accounts of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy known as “The Law,” though there is evidence that the stories of Genesis were written down separately long before Moses put them together to preserve them in one book.
Some believe Job lived before the flood and the account was either written before the flood or by someone after the confounding of the languages. There is evidence to prove a pre-flood (antediluvian) account or at least an account written by someone from the antediluvian world. In Job 40:15-24, Job describes a dinosaur
(brontosaurus or brachiosaurus) as though it was a common animal on the earth. In Job 41:1-34, Job
describes a fire-breathing sea dragon as though it was real (not fiction) and well known. However, Job 22:16 mentions the (a) flood, and that being the case, I tend to put the book of Job between the confounding of
languages and Abraham. We actually do not know how long after the flood the dinosaurs became extinct, as two of each (probably babies) were on the ark. We do know that the largest land dinosaurs could not have survived long because the vegetation was depleted and the air contained less oxygen which put a strain on their lung capacity.
The point being, in the book of Job, Satan comes before the throne of God to give an account of his actions with all the other angels who must give an account of their actions. So, if Satan had already been cast out, how could he approach the throne of God? Some allude to two different times when Satan was cast out of heaven, the former being temporary and the latter permanent. I am not studied enough to have a definite opinion on this matter, and it doesn’t seem to be important enough to squabble over. Perhaps there is no longer a permanent place in heaven for Satan, but God allows him (or requires him) to come give an account of his dealings.
Though we may not pinpoint exactly when the war in heaven occurred, we do know it has already happened either in eternity past or shortly after the beginning of time. We also know that Satan is our enemy, (1 Peter 5:8) and has been mankind’s enemy since the Garden of Eden existed. Satan won the allegiance of mankind in the Garden of Eden, and he does not want to lose that. God created man for His pleasure (Rev. 4:11). Man is the only creation God made after His own image (Gen. 1:26; 5:1). God wants to give His Kingdom to His
children of mankind (Luke 12:32). Satan is jealous of mankind and wants to destroy us (1 Peter 5:8). He did
everything in his power to prevent the Savior from coming.
Satan’s attempts to prevent the Savior from coming:
Name a time when Satan could have accused you before God: _________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
How can you help prevent further accusations from Satan? ____________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Satan also accuses God before us. Have you ever had doubts about God’s love for you? “After all, God could have made this life a whole lot easier for you, if He really loved you!” “Why do you bother to go to church and praise His name when all these things have come against you?” “God doesn’t love you! The church doesn’t love you!” “You’re wasting your time reading that old book!” That is Satan accusing God to you.
Name a time when Satan accused God before you: __________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
What was your response? ______________________________________________________
What will be your response the next time Satan comes to accuse God before you? ________
___________________________________________________________________________
The Jewish Remnant
As we’ve already seen, Satan has continually tried to destroy the nation of Israel. He didn’t stop his persecution of Israel when Jesus paid the price and took the keys of death and hell away from him. Satan has continued down through the ages to destroy the scattered Jewish nation. At http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/historyjewishpersecution/, there is a history of Jewish Persecution that records 227 major attempts to exile and destroy the Jews beginning in 224 AD.[iv] These persecutions have come from every part of the world. The Jews are the most hated of all people in the world and of all times in history.
If you truly want to understand why the Middle East hates the United States of America so much, you need to
understand their hatred of Israel. When Abraham and Sarah decided to jump ahead of God’s timing and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to produce the child Ishmael, God told them that Ishmael would be the enemy of Isaac’s descendants throughout history, and so they have. The United States has always supported and protected Israel. God has enormously blessed us as a Christian nation, but also because of our support of Israel.
However, Rev. 12:17 specifically states “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ.” There are and have been Jewish people who have the testimony of Jesus Christ. They are called Messianic Jews. They are burdened for their people who are blinded, and try to convince any who will listen about the truth that Jesus is their Messiah.
But also, Gentiles who have the testimony of Jesus Christ are offspring of Israel. All Believers have come to know Christ through the Jewish nation. Jesus was a Jew. As Christians, we follow a Jew and His teachings. Satan has made war against us.
During the Tribulation, we saw 144,000 Jews – 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel going forth as
missionaries proclaiming the Word of God. They will be primarily focused on witnessing to their people, the Jews, as this is the 70th week God promised to them. Many Jews will have the blinders removed from their eyes so that they can see the truth that Jesus is their Messiah, and will turn to Him. Though at first, the Anti-Christ might fool them, they will soon realize their mistake.
Verse 11 tells how we can overcome the devil:
In our next lesson, we will discover the Beast from the Sea, and the Beast from the Earth, taking a close look at the Anti-Christ and the False Prophet.
[i] EWTN, The Global Catholic Network, www.ewtn.com/vexperts/showmessage.asp?number=385115, 10/21/2013.
[ii] Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman_of_the_Apocalypse, 10/21/2013.
[iii] An interesting read expounding on the Type of Christ played by Joseph is found at www.biblebelievers.org.au/bb000415.htm by Bro. William Marrion Branham, 10/21/2013.
[iv] As resourced from P.E. Grosser & E.G. Halperin, Anti-Semitism: Causes and Effects, NY: Philosophical Library, 1978.
The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon
Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out
in labor and in pain to give birth.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Satan Thrown Out of Heaven
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who
deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
The Woman Persecuted
13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman
who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the
dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Chapter 11 introduced two characters that have an important part to play in the Tribulation period: The Two Witnesses. Chapters 12 and 13 introduce seven more very important personalities during the Great Tribulation:
- The Radiant Woman – Rev. 12:1
- The Red Dragon – Rev. 12:3
- The Man Child – Rev 12:5
- The Archangel – Rev. 12:7
- The Jewish Remnant – Rev. 12:17
- The Beast who comes out of the sea – Rev. 13:1
- The Beast who comes out of the earth – Rev. 13:11
Catholics say she is the Virgin Mary[i], or Eve[ii] who then represents the Virgin Mary.
Verses 6 & 14 refute this: This woman flees to the wilderness.
Where is Mary today? She is in heaven. Mary never did flee to the wilderness.
So the Radiant Woman is not Mary
Some say this is the church who gave birth to Jesus Christ.
The church did not give birth to Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ gave birth to the church.
So the Radiant Woman cannot be the church.
Others believe the woman is the Jewish nation of Israel.
The clothes of the radiant woman speaks of Israel. Genesis 37:5-10.[iii]
Israel gave birth to the Messiah. Isaiah 9:4-6 (the “us” is the Jewish nation);
Hebrews 2:16 (“the seed of Abraham” speaks of Israel;
Romans 9:3-5)
Israel travailed in pain with the expectation of the Messiah. They were in pain, crying out for the
Messiah during the Egyptian bondage, the Babylonian captivity, the Greek rule and the Roman
government. They are in pain today as they still do not recognize their Messiah.
Israel flees to the wilderness and is scattered among the whole earth for two thousand years. The
probability of a nation surviving so that they could ever form a union again is next to impossible, but
God protected them and kept them to fulfill His plans.
This is the most plausible interpretation. The Radiant Woman is the nation of Israel.
The Male Child – Who is he?
CLUES:
- He is to rule all nations with a rod of iron - See Psalm 2:9; Rev. 2:27; 19:15
- He was caught up to God and His throne - See Mark 16:19; Luke 24:51; Acts 1:10-11
- The Male child can be no other except the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
Remember: In Daniel 9 we find that the Lord gave His people 70 weeks (of years), and specified that after 69 weeks the Messiah would be cut off. Jesus’ death marked the end of the 69th week. The 70th week has been put on hold. Israel has been cursed with blindness (See 2 Cor. 4:4; Deut. 28:28-29) – but it is not a permanent
blindness.
Today, we are about to enter into Daniel’s 70th week. According to Daniel 9:27, the Lord will confirm His
covenant with His people for one week (of years) and in the middle of the week (3½ years) He will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.
The Great Red Dragon – Who is this?
We do not have to search far for the answer, because John specifically tells us who this is in verse 9 – “that
serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan…”
- Satan fell from heaven down to the earth (Luke 10:18; Isaiah 14:12)
- Satan is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4)
happen? Was this the same conflict mentioned in Jude’s book when Satan argued with Michael over the body of Moses? That does not seem to fit with this obviously huge war.
We know that Satan was on the earth and tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Was this before Satan fell, or was this the act that caused the war to take place in heaven? That would definitely be a significant reason for a great conflict.
There seems to be some confusion because of the events in Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7. The Book of Job is the oldest
book in the Bible. It was written before Moses compiled the accounts of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy known as “The Law,” though there is evidence that the stories of Genesis were written down separately long before Moses put them together to preserve them in one book.
Some believe Job lived before the flood and the account was either written before the flood or by someone after the confounding of the languages. There is evidence to prove a pre-flood (antediluvian) account or at least an account written by someone from the antediluvian world. In Job 40:15-24, Job describes a dinosaur
(brontosaurus or brachiosaurus) as though it was a common animal on the earth. In Job 41:1-34, Job
describes a fire-breathing sea dragon as though it was real (not fiction) and well known. However, Job 22:16 mentions the (a) flood, and that being the case, I tend to put the book of Job between the confounding of
languages and Abraham. We actually do not know how long after the flood the dinosaurs became extinct, as two of each (probably babies) were on the ark. We do know that the largest land dinosaurs could not have survived long because the vegetation was depleted and the air contained less oxygen which put a strain on their lung capacity.
The point being, in the book of Job, Satan comes before the throne of God to give an account of his actions with all the other angels who must give an account of their actions. So, if Satan had already been cast out, how could he approach the throne of God? Some allude to two different times when Satan was cast out of heaven, the former being temporary and the latter permanent. I am not studied enough to have a definite opinion on this matter, and it doesn’t seem to be important enough to squabble over. Perhaps there is no longer a permanent place in heaven for Satan, but God allows him (or requires him) to come give an account of his dealings.
Though we may not pinpoint exactly when the war in heaven occurred, we do know it has already happened either in eternity past or shortly after the beginning of time. We also know that Satan is our enemy, (1 Peter 5:8) and has been mankind’s enemy since the Garden of Eden existed. Satan won the allegiance of mankind in the Garden of Eden, and he does not want to lose that. God created man for His pleasure (Rev. 4:11). Man is the only creation God made after His own image (Gen. 1:26; 5:1). God wants to give His Kingdom to His
children of mankind (Luke 12:32). Satan is jealous of mankind and wants to destroy us (1 Peter 5:8). He did
everything in his power to prevent the Savior from coming.
Satan’s attempts to prevent the Savior from coming:
- Cain & Abel – When Abel’s sacrifice was accepted and Cain’s rejected, Satan assumed the Savior would come through the line of Abel. Satan stirred the jealousy in Cain’s heart to murder his brother. However, God had planned another line: Seth. Seeing that God could always raise another line, Satan began to devise other kinds of attempts.
- The Sons of God (Satan’s angels who fell with him – demons) intermingled with the daughters of men to produce ungodly creatures (Nephilim – giants, men who became prominent and famous, whose tales are still told today in mythology), designed to thwart the building blocks of man’s DNA so that a whole, perfect man could never be born to be the Savior of mankind.
- When God gave Abram His promise to bless all the nations through him, Satan began his wiles again, convincing Abraham and Sarah to use Hagar to produce the child Ishmael, whose descendants are still today the enemy of Israel.
- In Egypt, Pharaoh killed all the male Jewish babies because he had heard the stories told by the Hebrews of a coming Savior/Deliverer, but God spared Moses to bring His people out of that land.
- In Esther’s day, King Xerxes was almost convinced to commit genocide upon Israel.
- Nation after nation have hated Israel and sought her destruction. The Philistines, the Moabites, the Babylonians… but each time, God protected Israel from annihilation.
- Satan even convinced Herod, the Jewish leader to kill the Messiah, and would have used the magi in his
plot if God had not warned them. After it was clear the wise men were not returning to give the location and identity of the Christ, Herod slaughtered all the male babies in and around Bethlehem in His
attempt to kill Jesus. - Pilate had Jesus scourged after finding Him innocent. Why?? Most people never lived through the scourging with the cat of nine tails used upon Jesus. Satan was behind this attempt to prevent Jesus from going to the cross.
- Again, Satan tempted Jesus to come down from the cross, through one of the thieves who hung beside Him and from the people who shouted, “If you are the Christ, come down from the cross!”
Name a time when Satan could have accused you before God: _________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
How can you help prevent further accusations from Satan? ____________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Satan also accuses God before us. Have you ever had doubts about God’s love for you? “After all, God could have made this life a whole lot easier for you, if He really loved you!” “Why do you bother to go to church and praise His name when all these things have come against you?” “God doesn’t love you! The church doesn’t love you!” “You’re wasting your time reading that old book!” That is Satan accusing God to you.
Name a time when Satan accused God before you: __________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
What was your response? ______________________________________________________
What will be your response the next time Satan comes to accuse God before you? ________
___________________________________________________________________________
The Jewish Remnant
As we’ve already seen, Satan has continually tried to destroy the nation of Israel. He didn’t stop his persecution of Israel when Jesus paid the price and took the keys of death and hell away from him. Satan has continued down through the ages to destroy the scattered Jewish nation. At http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/historyjewishpersecution/, there is a history of Jewish Persecution that records 227 major attempts to exile and destroy the Jews beginning in 224 AD.[iv] These persecutions have come from every part of the world. The Jews are the most hated of all people in the world and of all times in history.
If you truly want to understand why the Middle East hates the United States of America so much, you need to
understand their hatred of Israel. When Abraham and Sarah decided to jump ahead of God’s timing and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to produce the child Ishmael, God told them that Ishmael would be the enemy of Isaac’s descendants throughout history, and so they have. The United States has always supported and protected Israel. God has enormously blessed us as a Christian nation, but also because of our support of Israel.
However, Rev. 12:17 specifically states “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ.” There are and have been Jewish people who have the testimony of Jesus Christ. They are called Messianic Jews. They are burdened for their people who are blinded, and try to convince any who will listen about the truth that Jesus is their Messiah.
But also, Gentiles who have the testimony of Jesus Christ are offspring of Israel. All Believers have come to know Christ through the Jewish nation. Jesus was a Jew. As Christians, we follow a Jew and His teachings. Satan has made war against us.
During the Tribulation, we saw 144,000 Jews – 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel going forth as
missionaries proclaiming the Word of God. They will be primarily focused on witnessing to their people, the Jews, as this is the 70th week God promised to them. Many Jews will have the blinders removed from their eyes so that they can see the truth that Jesus is their Messiah, and will turn to Him. Though at first, the Anti-Christ might fool them, they will soon realize their mistake.
Verse 11 tells how we can overcome the devil:
- By the blood of the Lamb – Satan cannot defeat what Christ did on the cross!
This is our victory! Anytime we are faced with Satan’s persecution, we can
stand on His blood that has covered our sins!
Are you certain that the blood of Christ covers your sins? ________ The Bible says that by believing that Jesus’ death pays for your sins, and trusting Him in that so much that you repent of your sins and make Him the Master of your life, you will be saved. (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10, 13) - By the word of our testimony – Romans 10:9-10 says that our confession of Jesus brings about our salvation! Tell everyone you know about what Jesus has done for you! Your testimony strengthens you in front of Satan.
He cannot defeat your testimony!
Do you freely give your testimony about how Christ delivered you from your sins to others? _________ If not, why not?
________________________________________________________________________
Are you willing to do give your testimony more freely in the future? _________ Why or why not?
________________________________________________________________________ - By not loving our lives even to our death – our lives in this time on earth is for one thing only – to come to know the Lord and spread His Word to all we come in contact with. That is all that matters. Not how
comfortable we are, not what our status in society is, not how well known we are, or how long we live.
Do not allow Satan to rob you of your purpose in life! If a life lasts only five years, achieves no worldly
acclaims and is taken because that five-year-old refused to deny Christ, it provides a tremendous
testimony of the Lord and becomes an exalted life before God, receiving abundant rewards in eternity.
Relate your thoughts on this matter: ______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
In our next lesson, we will discover the Beast from the Sea, and the Beast from the Earth, taking a close look at the Anti-Christ and the False Prophet.
[i] EWTN, The Global Catholic Network, www.ewtn.com/vexperts/showmessage.asp?number=385115, 10/21/2013.
[ii] Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman_of_the_Apocalypse, 10/21/2013.
[iii] An interesting read expounding on the Type of Christ played by Joseph is found at www.biblebelievers.org.au/bb000415.htm by Bro. William Marrion Branham, 10/21/2013.
[iv] As resourced from P.E. Grosser & E.G. Halperin, Anti-Semitism: Causes and Effects, NY: Philosophical Library, 1978.