Revelation Chapter 12
Chapter 12 steps you through how the great controversy started back in the first earth age all the way through to the end as well as Satan’s downfall, the longest span of time covered in one Chapter.
In Chapter 11 we covered the two witnesses and in Chapter 12 we’ll cover the longest span of time contained in any one chapter of the Bible. Chapter 12 steps you through how the great controversy started back in the first earth age all the way through to the end as well as Satan’s downfall. Let’s get into it.
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:
It wasn’t really a wonder, it was a sign. The word ‘wonder’ here is:
Word Summary
sēmeion: a sign
Original Word: σημεῖον
Transliteration: semeion
Phonetic Spelling: (say-mi’-on)
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Short Definition: a sign
Meaning: a sign
This does sound like the zodiac, and we do have the bible in the stars. Father controls everything and the stars, sun and moons are provided for signs. You have Virgo, the virgin that would conceive the man child being Christ, the entire story is written in the stars. However, this is more indicative of Mother Israel and the 12 tribes and the first earth age and we will document that. But this shows that even from the very beginning when Father created the heavens, He knew what was going to happen. This shows how Mother Israel would bring forth Christ, the Messiah, in Father’s plan of salvation for his children.
12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
This is the birth of the 2nd earth age (the one we are in now), not an actual child. This is the birth of a new age. There was no flesh at this point so there can’t be a flesh conception.
There are some that believe this earth is only 6,000 years old and that’s simply not true. Genesis Chapter 1 starts “In the beginning God created the heaven and earth PERIOD.” Then in verse two it states the earth became void, it wasn’t created that way. The word ‘was’ as in the earth was without form and void is actually ‘hayah’ which means to become or come to pass. There’s no indication of how much time came between verse 1 and verse 2.
It became empty and void when Father destroyed the first earth age and brought in the second that we now live in. This ties right in with the beginning of Revelation Chapter 12. To fully understand the scripture, you have to take it as a whole, putting all the clues and pieces together that can be somewhat scattered throughout the text.
Evolution is also a lie. There are fossils that are millions of years old proving this earth is not 6,000 years old but much older than that. However, no human fossils have been found that date back that far. If they tell you it was prehistoric man and it looks like an ape, it was an ape. You will even find mention of the behemoth in Job Chapter 40 which very obviously describes a dinosaur. Also, if the theory of evolution were true, it would still be occurring in a never-ending cycle, and we would still have fish crawling out of water growing legs and apes turning into men. In the first earth age the flesh man/woman did not exist, we were in our spiritual bodies.
For further documentation you can refer to 2 Peter Chapter 3 where it’s documented about how the first earth age was destroyed. That chapter is not about Noah’s flood as many believe but a much greater flood that truly did compass the entire Earth. Historical records prove this in accounts of a great flood. This may have been a bit of a digression, but I thought it important to pull this information out since, like I said, for true understanding you must take the Bible as a whole.
Also, when you do a study on the word ‘world’ in scripture you will see it’s translated from several words all having different meanings, but all translated as the same word ‘world.’ There are seven words in this list but we’re only going to look at two Greek words right now. One is ‘kosmos’ as used in Matthew 16:26 and the other is ‘aion’ as used in Matthew 12:32.
Matthew 16:26 “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
The word ‘world’ here is ‘kosmos.’
Word Summary
kosmos: order, the world
Short Definition: order, the world
Meaning: order, the world
Strong’s Concordance
adorning, world.
Probably from the base of komizo; orderly arrangement, i.e. Decoration; by implication, the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitants, literally or figuratively (morally)) -- adorning, world.
Things of this particular ‘order’ or ‘arrangement.’ This is where we get our word cosmos from but it basically means the system or order of this world.
So here we’re being told not to give up our eternal life in the next earth age for the things of this flesh world.
Now let’s look at Matthew 12:32.
Matthew 12:32 “And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”
The word ‘world’ here is ‘aion’ which means space of time.
Word Summary
aiōn: a space of time, an age
Short Definition: a space of time, an age
Meaning: a space of time, an age
So here you can see the big difference between these two words and their meanings as opposed to the one word used for both. And you might also be wondering about the end of 12:32 with ‘neither in the world to come’ in which ‘world to come’ is translated from one word ‘mello’ which means ‘about to be.’ Ancient Greek and Hebrew translations are goofy that way. There are some parts of the English translation that will never reflect the true meaning when read in just English.
This is a reoccurring theme throughout scripture with several examples such as ‘hell’ being another single word used in the place of many different original words all having different meanings. I can’t stress enough how important it is to go back to the original language for true understanding. I had someone call me out for running to a Strong’s Concordance and that plain English is how it was written and is just fine. Very sad indeed. The famine at the end is for the true word of God and you can see all around you how this is unfolding.
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.
Now we have another ‘sign’ in heaven, ‘wonder’ still being that same word. Now I hope you know who this great red dragon is. Who is the dragon? Satan of course.
Revelation 20:2 “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,”
And notice that here Satan has the same system set up at the end of the first earth age that he will bring with him to earth at the 6th trump and end of this earth age, but this time with ten crowns instead of seven.
Revelation 13:1 “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.”
At the beginning of Chapter 12 you see the start of the conflict from the first ‘aion’ or world age. You have the good sign and the bad, both in heaven. Satan is still in heaven being held by Michael, he’s not running hell, he’s not running anything until he gets booted out here at the 6th trump. However, his evil spirit does have power in this world, how else would what he offered to Christ in the desert be a temptation unless he was able to give what he was offering, power in this world. Satan is the god of this flesh world.
2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
Satan is that mystery of iniquity already working in this world (2 Thessalonians 2:7).
And did you guess here that world is ‘aion’? Then you guessed correctly! But hey, stop guessing and get a Strong’s. Satan is the god of this age or world.
And there’s nothing new under the sun, just as you are told in Chapter 1 of Ecclesiastes. Father teaches with repetition, the same set up over and over again until you get it. All the kings of Babylon lead up to that last and final king of Babylon.
And who was Satan? He was the most beautiful of the angels, the cherub that covers as we are told in Ezekiel Chapter 28, until iniquity was found in him. Pride is what it was, Satan wanted to be God which you can document in Isaiah Chapter 14 verses 12 pretty much through the end. You see this whole plan isn’t about Satan, it’s about the salvation of Father’s children. Satan is already marked for death, but He so loves us all that he didn’t want to just wipe everyone out that followed Satan.
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
And that is the simple truth of the plan and why Father put us here in the flesh to be born innocent of woman to decide for ourselves who we would follow. That’s why scripture says you must be born ‘from above,’ it doesn’t mean ‘again.’ Another mistranslation that leads people away from the truth. You had to agree to come through woman and be born of the waters, it’s the only way to eternal life. In John Chapter 3 we have Christ trying to explain this to Nicodemus. In this account Christ tells him “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The important word here is “again.” When Nicodemus begins to question this what does he say? “How can a man be born when his is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Notice Nicodemus doesn’t use the word “again,” instead he says “second time.” Second time means just that, ‘deuteros’ which means second coming from ‘duo’ which means ‘two.’ He does not use the word again. The word “again” as Christ spoke is ‘anōthen’ which means ‘from above.’ And the verse that really pulls out the meaning here is this:
John 3:13 “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”
No one here didn’t start there. That’s why the angels have already been judged to destruction, they left their habitation in heaven and came down to earth as spoken of in Genesis Chapter 6 as well as the book of Jude.
Let’s get back to Revelation Chapter 12 now that we have a little more understanding about this world age and the world age that was before.
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 is where we switch from the first earth age to the second, the one we are presently in. A third part of God’s children began to follow and love him. That’s why we are here on earth, because of that third that followed Satan in the first earth age. That woman is Mary who bore the child Christ. And Satan has been after God’s children since day one starting with Eve.
Most Christians take issue with this and claim that the stars and sons of God are only angels. This goes into pre-existence when, in actuality, we never ceased existing. 2 Peter Chapter 3 and Psalms 104 both talk about that first world age being created and ending, bringing in the current. Then we have stars being the children of God, us in our spiritual bodies in the first earth age. Many Christians claim stars are only angels. Angels are simply God’s messengers, even Satan is referred to as a star and Job 30 claims the stars sang during the creation.
Job 38:7 “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
Sounds like there’s a difference perhaps here with morning stars being God’s children and the sons of God being the angels.
And then also consider the promise to Abraham in Genesis with Father telling him his descendants, calling them stars and Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37 where his brothers were stars making obeisance to him. But that is for you to seek out and wrestle with. Again, when you begin to take scripture as a whole instead of in parts the entire plan unfolds and new meanings show themselves. For instance, why would Father hate a baby (Esau)? How did He know Jeremiah before he was in the womb? If you truly believe in free will then you also have to believe that our eventual choices cannot always be known.
I say it’s because He already knows us from before. Some would say that is because God knows exactly what we will do but rather I say He knows what we are like and liable to do. Free will wouldn’t work if we were just pre-programmed robots, which is what would need to be assumed without the idea that Father in fact did know us before. He can’t force us to love him or it’s not real love. Because that is what God wants, for us to love Him.
Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
To be honest this verse is what has kept me from publishing this post for so long. An entire study could be done on the three world ages, but this is not that study. I am planning on tackling that one soon. So, I don’t want to get hung up on this thought, let’s move on with the understanding that the third part of the stars were God’s children in the first earth age that followed Satan and move on.
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.
Now we jump again in time to the birth of Christ. And He will rule all nations with a rod of iron also giving you a timestamp of the second coming. He wasn’t born in the flesh with that rod of iron but came to pay that price on the cross for us all. But upon his second coming He will be returning with that rod of iron for judgment. And Mary did bring forth that man child, Christ. And Christ was caught up, the resurrection, to Father and His throne and now sits at the right hand of the Father.
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.
And what is the ‘wilderness?’ The word ‘wilderness’ in both Hebrew and Greek make for an interesting study. ‘Wilderness’ here in Greek is ‘erēmos’ which means solitary or desolate as well as lonesome. And standing in that absolute truth can get lonely when the rest of the world is caught up in babble and traditions of man. I heard a pastor say recently that there’s a difference between lonely and alone with God which I found quite profound. But it goes deeper than this.
The Hebrew word is ‘midbar’ which means ‘mouth’ and comes from the root ‘dabar’ which means a sense of driving in a pasture such as cattle or sheep. The word pastor comes from pasture, and a pastor is meant to feed the sheep in the wilderness with truth. So that wilderness where the woman flees is that pasture of God where she’s fed God’s truth.
Now let’s quickly talk about the timeframe given here of 1,260 days and what it could mean. There is much debate about this and the days of Daniel and these are my thoughts. In Daniel Chapter 12 we see the same timeframe plus an extra 30 days of 1,290 days. I have to ask myself the question why is this timeframe different with that additional 30 days? Perhaps there’s something here we are missing? Most is left up to interpretation since they mostly have to do with end times but no man knows the hour so logic tells me we aren’t going to have it simplified to that point that Father points to the exact day. We know the wise only understand the season. With that being said let’s take a look at the only passage in my opinion where you can actually point to historical dates. And that would be Daniel 12:11.
Daniel 12:11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.”
We can historically mark these two events in time. The daily sacrifice was taken away when Christ was the sacrifice for one and all time for the forgiveness of all sins. So that was around 33AD.
The “set up” began in 1948 with the “setting up” of the good and bag fig in 1948, parable of the fig tree from Jeremiah 24. Christ tells us that generation will be the last generation. There’s a difference here between the initial “setting up” of the abomination of desolation as compared to the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. You can see the language switch from Daniel 12:11 and 11:31 where we go from “set up” to “placed.”
Jerusalem is that holy place. So now the math to figure what a day would represent. To do that you start by taking 1948 and subtracting 33 to give you 1915. So, 1,290 of Daniels days are 1,915 of our years. Then you need to divide 1290 into 1915 and you get 1.48449 about. So, one of our years is 1.48449 days to Daniel. This is interesting when you take into account Daniel 12:12.
Daniel 12:12 “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.”
If you take that 1.48449 and multiply it by 1,335 days you get 1981. Now that’s not an exact perfect date since you would have to figure in the exact day and time as well but you get the idea that we are most definitely in the season. And in 1980 Mt. St. Helen’s erupted with that famous face in the smoke. Then you must also look at Daniel 8 verses 13 and 14. Father says after he cleansed the temple this time, He won’t cleanse it again until the end. That is 2,300 days. When did He cleanse the sanctuary the first time? That can be found in Joshua 23 and 24. And again I believe there’s a reason the time spoken of changes from the 1,290 days spoken of in Daniel is different from the 1,260 days in Revelation.
Some scholars try to rectify this difference by saying something must happen in those 30 or 75 days we aren’t told. But Christ says He foretold us all things, so my mind says no these are different. Then of course you also have to factor in the 70 weeks. That is for you to dig on and understand for yourself. But now I’m doing what I always do and getting off into another topic, so we’ll leave that for now. Perhaps I should do a Substack on the days of Daniel. You can also check out this link about the math of the 69 weeks.
Back to Revelation 12 now.
I believe the good and bad fig could perhaps represent the Jews versus Messianic Jews. Those who reject Christ versus those who believe He was the Messiah. The Jews are still awaiting their messiah. They are the ones working toward bringing back the daily sacrifice and building the third temple to usher in their messiah. This is my belief and opinion. I’m pretty sure they are going to think Satan is their messiah finally come but there are many others who will also believe Satan is Christ returned for different reasons. But that parable of the fig tree and setting up of the nation of Israel to be planted and not plucked up was the beginning stages of this push toward ushering in their messiah. I do believe it’s the bad figs that will bow to the antichrist believing he is God. But there are many others in the mix these days that will do the same but it’s important to understand the parable of the fig tree.
Jeremiah 24:7 “And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.”
The good fig know Him and know Christ therefore sounds like Messianic Jews to me. Again, I’m just trying to rectify this within the nation of Israel as it stands today. Satan will still fool the whole world, not just those living within Israel but that will be where Satan sets himself up.
And who is this woman and what is the wilderness, a place prepared of God? As we discussed above, ‘wilderness’ can mean a few things. I think it can also just refer to the earth. Or perhaps it speaks to the Christian nations. This will also come up again in verse 14 and we’ll speak about the wilderness and the place prepared further.
12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
A war breaks out in heaven between Satan and his fallen angels and Michael and God’s angels. It shocks some Christians to discover Satan, and his fallen angels are being held in heaven. Satan is the angel of the bottomless pit but not because he’s there now, because that’s where he’s going. Christ told Satan to get behind him and that is where he is until this day. I think people overlook that statement. Think about Job Chapters 1 and 2.
Job 1:6 “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”
Not only was he in heaven but he was also going back and forth from the earth. And he also on earth in the wilderness with Christ.
Matthew 4:5 “Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,”
Matthew 4:11 “Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”
I may be reading too much into that, but Satan was wandering all around heaven and earth and then coming down to try and te mpt Christ and Christ says “get behind me” and then we find out that he and his fallen angels are being held in chains in heaven? Yeah, it could be a coincidence. You’ll have to make your own mind up there.
And those fallen angels are spoken of in Jude Chapter one, being held in chains until judgement day, a little bit before actually…5 months to be exact.
Jude 1:6 “And 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.”
This is, as far as I’m concerned, the best proof that in fact Satan as antichrist comes first with his fallen angels before Christ’s return. First let’s remind ourselves about what they did in Genesis 6.
Genesis 6:1-2 “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.”
Sons of God being the angels.
Genesis 6:3 “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.”
So, the angels came down, aka left their first estate (remember Jude from above), and took the daughters of man as their wives and bore children. And you know what that means.
Now let’s jump over to Matthew 24.
Matthew 24:37-39 “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
So, as the days of Noe or Noah (Genesis 6 whole reason for the ark, the angels!) so shall the coming of the Son of man (Christ) be. So right before Christ returns, they will be marrying and giving in marriage just like in the days of Noah. Now let’s jump over to 1 Corinthians Chapter 11 for one of the most misunderstood chapters in the Bible. This is not about literal hair and it being a sin for men to have long hair. If you read it through carefully, you’ll see a verse that sticks out like a sore thumb right in the middle of what people think is talking about hair.
First of all, the is no mention of hair in the first 9 verses, it talks about covering your head with Christ basically and how men and woman are important to each other. But it says a man should not cover his head. It can seem a bit confusing. But this is the verse that clarifies that everyone seems to completely overlook that answers the question why a woman should have her head covered but not a man.
1 Corinthians 11:10 “For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.”
A woman should cover her head because of the angels? Think about it. What angels? What angels do you think women should be worried about? And why is it a shame for men to worry about having power, or Christ, over their heads? Have you connected the dots yet?
Those angels 1 Corinthians 11:10 is talking about are those fallen angels that, as we just read in Matthew 24, are apparently coming back to do the same thing. Make more sense now? The angels were after the daughters, so it would be shameful for them to be after men if you know what I mean. Because as people point out, Jesus seemed to have longer hair and many of the great biblical characters had long hair so why would it say it’s a sin or shameful to have long hair? That should be your clue for God is not a God of confusion. If something in scripture seems to contradict itself, you might just be missing something. I’ve gotten so far off track now, I apologize, but I found it an important topic to touch upon.
Back to Revelation. We just read about the war in heaven between Michael and God’s angels and Satan and his fallen angels. Here’s where the angels come back now, as in the days of Noah, to give and take in marriage to the women of the earth.
12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Satan and his fallen angels lose the battle and now they won’t be in heaven anymore. So where will they be?
12:9 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.
Here you have a list of some of the names and roles of Satan, that’s really why all the different names. God does everything for a reason and names are important and always carry deeper significance. That great dragon with the tail that cast a third of God’s children to the earth from verse one, that old serpent from the garden that seduced Eve, the Devil that tempted Christ in the wilderness, and Satan the pretend Christ. He’s booted out and onto the earth with his angels. And not just in evil spirit form, for Satan’s evil spirit and his demons are present on earth already, but in the flesh this time for lack of a better term. How else could the angels give and take in marriage if they are ghosts? They had the ability to impregnate women. Have you ever really thought about that?
And he will deceive the whole world. Not just a few, the whole world. That’s how good his little act is going to be. Deception, that’s the name of his game. So good that were it possible, he would fool even the elect. That can’t happen though because the elect know he’s coming first to pretend to be Christ.
Mark 13:22 “For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.”
And that he will disguise himself as an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:14 “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”
Transformed here should read disguised. The word transformed is metaschēmatizō:
STRONGS NUMBER G3345
Word Summary
metaschēmatizō: to change in fashion or appearance
Strong’s Concordance
to transform, disguise
And never forget the description of Lucifer from Ezekiel 28. Satan isn’t some ugly devil like man so often portray him. He was the most beautiful cherub.
Ezekiel 28:15 “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.”
And we were warned there about his constant evil ambition of being God.
Ezekiel 28:2 “Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:”
Connecting the dots again here as Father calls him Tyrus meaning rock but not our Rock. Always the fake, always with the deception of playing God, playing Christ, wanting that mercy seat all to himself.
12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
That accuser is Satan, he loves to accuse God’s children. That’s most likely why there’s that space of silence in heaven because he’s not there at that point to accuse day and night anymore.
And notice here how it says Satan accuses them BEFORE our God. Where is God? In heaven so yup Satan is there as well.
Interesting here the phrase ‘cast down’ is ‘kataballō’ which means to cast down or throw down. Compare that to verse 4 in Revelation Chapter 12 about the dragon casting a third part of the stars of heaven to earth. The word ‘cast’ here is ‘ballō’ which also means to throw or cast without the direction of down. ‘Kataballō’ comes from the root words ‘kata’ and ‘ballo.’ ‘Ballo’ is the common verb of throwing, but ‘kata’ adds down, cast down or lay. Just an interesting language deep dive here. One of my favorite ways to get deeper into scripture is to just pick a word and find every instance of it in scripture and see what the original words are and what they mean. It can really open up some new doors. It’s a shame that so many people miss out on the beauty of the original languages.
And why do I bring all this up? Because this chapter begins in the 1st earth age, goes through the ‘kataballo’ or the casting down of Satan that brought about the 2nd earth age, the one we are living in now. Let’s look at the word foundation here.
Matthew 25:34 “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:”
The word ‘foundation’ here is ‘katabolē.’ It’s slightly different here but comes from the root word ‘kataballo’ we covered before meaning casting down. ‘Katabole’ adds the idea of foundation. What does this mean and what is the difference? It would appear that the foundation of this world was built upon the casting down of something. What could that mean?
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.
So, the foundation of the world was built upon the casting down of Satan. You’ll find this word ‘foundation’ as ‘katabole’ in several places. Here’s another. This is another word I enjoyed doing a dig on throughout scripture.
Ephesians 1:4 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:”
Let’s quickly look at Genesis Chapter 1 here as well just to pull this thought all together.
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
In the very beginning, God CREATED the heavens and earth. The word created is ‘bara’ which means to shape or create.
Genesis 1:2 “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
Important note here about translation. And I have no idea why they decided to translate this as ‘was’ without form. These are the kinds of things that let you know how far off the English translations have become. Let’s look at this very simple word ‘was’ and see just how greatly a mistranslation of a simple word can negatively affect the message.
Was here is ‘hayah’ meaning to come to pass or to become.
Stick with me, we’ll put this all together in a second.
‘Without form’ is tohu meaning formless or empty. ‘Void’ is bohu meaning emptiness. Also, the word ‘earth’ is ‘erets’ meaning earth or land. This is the physical earth, not the earth age. The physical earth has always been as we go through the ages.
Let’s change that verse now to better match the true meaning of these words.
Genesis 1:2 “And the earth BECAME EMPTY, and VOID; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
So, the physical earth created by God was made to become void because God destroyed the earth age, not the physical earth. Here’s an example of the word ‘world’ meaning ‘world age’ as opposed to ‘erets’ or physical earth.
Matthew 13:40 “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.”
The word ‘world’ here is ‘aiōn’ which means a space of time, an age. Very different from ‘erets’ as you can see. This is quickly becoming a study on the earth ages again but I find it important to call this out during this study to better understand the contents and span of time, or times, that occur in this 12th chapter of Revelation. Let’s recap the last verse again to pick up the thought.
We had that great dragon and his angels cast out in verse 9.
12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
We focused on Satan and the casting down before, now let’s talk about the first part of this verse. The salvation, strength and kingdom of our God is how his Elect will prevail through the tribulation which is that time of Satan and his angels on the earth.
12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
That’s how they overcome, by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony being this truth right here, because no, we don’t love our earthly lives that we would give up our eternity over that time of trouble at the end. And Satan is death.
Hebrews 2:14 “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;”
That power of death is not a flesh death, but that second death of the soul.
Matthew 10:28 “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
And also, don’t forget about the two witnesses who he will physically kill and let their bodies lie in the street.
Revelation 11:8 “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.”
But you notice God controls the timing and only allows for this when the time is right for after 3 ½ days Christ returns. But not until they finish their testimony.
Revelation 11:7 “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.”
And never forget that Father tells you that you have power to tread on serpents and scorpions. What do you think he was referring to? Yes, even that old serpent the devil, Christ gives us the power to bruise his head. That’s been our mission from the beginning. Yes, Satan would bruise Christ’s heel on the cross, but God’s Elect with the power of Christ will surely bruise Satan’s head in the end. Why do I say that? Who comes against the antichrist in Daniel 11?
Daniel 11:30 “For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.”
Another interesting word study is 'Chittim.’ The word means descendants of Javan but the word comes from the root ‘kittim’ which means ‘bruisers.’ Chittim is a title for a group of people who will bruise. Kittim comes from the root ‘kathath’ or ‘katat’ which means to crush or bruise.
STRONGS NUMBER H3807
Word Summary
kathath: to beat, crush by beating
Part of Speech: Verb
Short Definition: to beat, crush by beating
Meaning: to bruise, violently strike
Strong’s Concordance
beat down, to pieces, break in pieces, crushed, destroy, discomfit, smite, stamp
That should make you think of Genesis 3:15.
Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
We are her seed, that line of Christ along with Christ himself. And when you read this verse in context you see that the “it” in “it shall bruise thy head” is talking about her seed meaning Christ and all those who live in Him. Eve was the mother of all living because of Christ coming through her line, not because she was the first woman. Never forget the 6th day creation.
Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
The Remnant and the Elect run the mission on earth for Father and Christ and then Christ will return to finish the job basically. Like that good servant in Luke 12, we are to kindle that fire before He returns. The remnant pass on the truth from the beginning of time to now when the Elect will play their role as the bruisers. However, in no way think I mean Father and Christ need us obviously, but we are to try and spread the truth to pull as many out of the fire as possible and be watchmen for Christ, waiting for that time to fulfill our roles in the end times. It’s always a pleasure to serve the Lord and living God. We are proud to be bruisers for the Lord.
Luke 12:49 “I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?”
Because why is He coming? To bring peace? No, He’s coming to bring division.
Luke 12:51 “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:”
12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. 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.
Heaven will be a much nicer and quieter place once Satan and his angels are booted out. And he does only have a short time, even he knows that. Regardless of the original 3 ½ years timeline, Revelation tells us that for the sake of the Elect the time has been shortened to a five-month period.
Revelation 9:5 “And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.”
Revelation 9:10 “And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.”
Matthew 24:22 “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”
But woe to those who don’t know who he is.
12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
Satan will fool most of the world quite easily which is why he’ll be coming specifically for the Elect. Have no doubt, Satan loves a challenge and I believe he honestly thinks he can pull this off. So, he will indeed do his best to persecute the woman or seed line (Eve) who brought forth Christ and all that truly follow Him. The true Church is that woman.
12:14 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.
Here we have that wilderness again as mentioned in verse 6 when the woman fled into the wilderness to that place prepared of God, that place where the shepherd feeds the flock as well as a place of loneliness or being alone with God. In both verses, 6 and 14 ‘wilderness’ is the same word ‘eremos,’ ‘nourished’ and ‘fed’ are both the same word ‘trepho,’ and ‘place’ is the same word ‘topos.’ We already went over ‘eremos’ earlier which means ‘a solitary lonesome place.’
What I find interesting here is that the word wilderness which is ‘eremos’ is an adjective, but the noun form of this word would be ‘chora’ meaning a place or land.
So, ‘topos’ means specific location or defined spot that is occupied while ‘chora’ means region or land that is open territory aka wilderness.
So, in both versus the woman flies or flees into the wilderness or what we discussed the noun would be ‘chora’ meaning open territory or region where there is a place prepared, her place, or ‘topos’ meaning specific location that is occupied. Why do I bring this up? To me it lends more credence to the idea of what the wilderness is versus what this place is. To me it seems that the wilderness is that pasture of the Lord where we are fed of his wisdom which has no actual physical location. You could also say the wilderness is the earth in general.
However, this place prepared does seem to imply a specific physical location. What does that mean exactly? It could mean America as I mentioned earlier when we covered verse 6. However, this country didn’t exist during the 1,260 days so what was that place? And who is the ‘they’ that are feeding her? I supposed there have been many feeding her from the prophets to the apostles all pointing to that final 3 ½ years or shortened 5-month period. This is obviously one of the places in scripture where you have to rely on interpretation. But the thought remains the same of the nourishment coming from the main Shepherd, Christ, and the woman in the wilderness being the true Church.
Being nourished with truth and protection for that 3 ½ year period now shortened to five months. This timeline here is 3 ½ years as compared to verse 6 which is 1,260 days. So not only are we nourished from the time of the crucifixion to now, the woman is also nourished and protected during the hour of temptation. Because remember in verse 11 how they overcome him is with the blood of the Lamb but also by the word of their testimony being the Word of God. For man does not live by bread alone but by every word of God.
And she was flown into the wilderness with two wings of a great eagle for protection against the face of the serpent, one of Satan’s titles. And what role is he as the serpent? The beguiler, the deceiver, that wholly seduced Eve in the garden. And what is this great eagle?
The first thing I think of is Exodus Chapter 19 verse 4:
Exodus 19:4 “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.”
God himself is that great eagle. You can also find reference of God as this great eagle in that great song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32, the song the overcomers will be singing at the end which we’ll cover in more depth once we get to chapter 15. But for now, let’s pull out the eagle reference there. Here Jacob is being spoken to, Jacob being all the tribes that migrated over the Caucasus mountains to settle in Europe and America.
Deuteronomy 32:9 “For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.”
So here we establish who “he” is, the he in the next two verses is the Lord.
Deuteronomy 32:10 “He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.”
There’s that wilderness where we are and He finds us to feed or instruct us. God protects his children as carefully as you would protect your eye.
Deuteronomy 32:11 “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:”
God is that great eagle that spreads her wings and takes us as well as protects us underneath them.
There’s also a note here I want to add concerning the translation of “two wings,” specifically the word two. The original manuscripts use the word wasn’t just ‘dyo’ or ‘duo’ meaning two, it was actually ‘hai dua’ or ‘ai duo’ meaning “the two.” ‘Hai’ being the feminine and ‘ai’ being the plural version of ‘hai.’ So who are “the two” that help “the woman” specifically in that 3 ½ year timeframe? I believe, as many scholars, this is reference to the two witnesses. The other references we covered, Exodus 19 and Deuteronomy 32 have no reference to the number of wings, it just says wings.
12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
That flood is the flood of lies he and his angels will spew from their mouths. If you remember what we covered in chapter 9 regarding the locust army and what would be coming from their mouths.
Revelation 9:17-18 “And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.”
And that flood is also mentioned in Daniel 9 in regard to the antichrist.
Daniel 9:26 “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”
And Satan would like nothing more than to deceive the elect with his flood of lies but it’s not going to happen.
12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
God often uses nature to help His children or to take care of the enemy. For instance, in the war of Gog and Magog, God uses giant hail. So, who knows what this verse means and what He’ll do. There’s actually an account in Numbers Chapter 16 when God opened up the earth to swallow those who refused to believe Moses. Same line used of “the earth opened her mouth.”
Numbers 16:30-32 “But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:
And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.”
12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Satan will be really pissed about the Elect not falling for his deception and he’s going to go after us. Because we keep and follow the commandments of God. And what is the first commandment? Thou shalt have no other gods before me. And what is the testimony of Christ specific to the antichrist?
Matthew 24:4-5 “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
Those who were taught all their lives that they will be raptured away will be ripe for Satan’s picking I’m afraid. Most Christian’s wouldn’t dream of breaking the commandments, especially the first one. But they will without knowing at first which leads to shame when they realize they’ve been fooled.
Revelation 6:15-16 “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:”
Without the testimony of Christ warning you about the false coming first, you will most likely believe the lie. The dragon and serpent have been at war with the remnant of her seed since the very beginning with the first prophecy in scripture.
Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
But there’s still time. Do you have ears to hear and eyes to see? I pray you do. God bless!