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Revelation Chapter twelve

(Updated 2011.01 - the woman)

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Introductory comments

Naturally, on a subject where so much has been written that has turned out to be wrong, I make no claim of being inspired or even right. This page is about chapters 11,12, 13, and Daniel 7, 8, 11, and 12. The two books contain matters that support each other regarding our understanding of the time of the end.

 

Page index
: (Links are colored)
Time of the birth of the heavenly kingdom
          a conflict of time
War in heaven
Wilderness
1260 days – when?
Satan ousted from heaven
Time of the birth of the heavenly kingdom

12: Verses one to six are about a woman pregnant and at term about to give birth to the infant heavenly kingdom.  The dragon, who is the Devil, is awaiting this event ready to kill this infant heavenly kingdom.

//Woman
(2011-01)
Who is the woman giving birth to the kingdom?  The identity of this woman remains controversial.  Some say it is Eve. That is not possible since she is long dead and couldn't bring forth Christ and the secondary seed, the Saints, 4,000 years later; others say that the woman refers to God's heavenly organization of angels. 

If a nut is hard to crack, then this is a hard nut.  Any interpretation must be evaluated by the reader, but as in all things Biblical, the Bible itself should provide the answer somewhere, somehow.  It has taken me years to find the answer carrying around with me this dissatisfaction with the two possible identities given over time.   In my Bible reading I have always been on the lookout for the point that would ignite and explode the epiphany of insight into who she really is.  When I finally had the epiphany, I marvelled at why it took so long.

Let us examine a portion of Revelation chapter twelve:
Rev 12:5-6, ASV, And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Child
 
Her newborn child, the newly resurrected Saints, are taken to heaven as other scriptures indicate.  The fact that they are said to be a child refers to the kingdom being incomplete in number.  It hasn't grown to its full number yet since the still living saints are yet to join them.  Once they do, they will have grown up and begin functioning with Christ as that heavenly government.  That they are a heavenly class is obvious and has much backing in the scriptures.

Woman
 
What has been difficult is that we are told, "the woman fled into the wilderness;" she was not taken to heaven. This bears on her identification.  The cannot be Jerusalem above who is our mother - (Gal 4:26) for she is not above ! She cannot here be a heavenly group of angels, God's heavenly organization above in heaven, nor can she be Christ as the mother figure who is the creative vessel of God, God's wife in a sense. (function specific) So, who is she?

The keys are found in the following quotes. Let's put the scripture up to see its parts: Rev 12:1-6

And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; 2 and she was with child; and she crieth out, travailing in birth, and in pain to be delivered. 3 And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems. 4 And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon standeth before the woman that is about to be delivered, that when she is delivered he may devour her child. 5 And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
 
Compare: Rev 17:1-6
 And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication. 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication, 5 and upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder.

And, Jesus gave us the parable of the field.  Here it is:
Matt 13:24 Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field: 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. 26 But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 And the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares? 28 And he said unto them, An enemy hath done this. And the servants say unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he saith, Nay; lest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.

According to Jesus, the two crops grow together in one field which serves to nourish them together until their harvest.  Only when the field is harvested do they get segregated ! The wheat collected to be stored and the chaff collected is burned. We must notice though that Babylon the Great gets destroyed before Armageddon, perhaps then, the harvest may be said to begin at this time.  That is when the Great Tribulation begins according to Jesus ! (Matt 24:15-23)

In Revelation above, we have two women.  Both are in the wilderness; both are on earth.
  • Wilderness: remember where Israel went to get the law and to serve God.  This then serves to identify both women as religious objects, symbols. One is rich, ostensious and serves kings and nations bathed in the blood of martyrs in obscene drunken stupor of the blood of witnesses of Jesus.  History gives us her identity easily.
  • Sun and moon: The Bible tells us that at some time, no longer will the sun and moon be our light, but God and the Lamb shall be.  They are this woman's sun and moon. (Revelation of John 21:23)
  • Stars: usually symbolize angels.  In this case, they refer to the saints who shall be like angels when glorified. This symbolism is used more than one place in Revelations, in referring to fallen saints and approved saints alike.
  • Fled into the wilderness: means that this woman is protected by her service to God at the symbolic mountain from Satan's attacks
  • Waters the harlot sits on:  are the nations of the world who useorganized religionto serve their purposes.
When we consider the parable of the field, we see that it is at harvest time, Armageddon, the two are finally separated.  (Matt 13:39) Still, according to Jesus this begins when Babylon the Great is destroyed which begins the Great Tribulation ! However, at the destruction of Bapylon the Great when the harlot is destroyed, the other Woman is not. Until then the field is serving both groups equally.  From this, it would seem that the two women are the field, and both are one single complex woman until Babylon the Great's destruction.  Only then will the righteous servants of God be truly distinguished and separated from the harlot.  While God knows who belongs to him, and who makes up the holy woman, and who makes up the harlot, at the moment, it can only be said that no single church on earth is sinless and holy.  Thus some may be more part of the harlot of Babylon than others, but all are demanding servitude to men.

It is then obvious that when the woman flees into the desert instead of going to heaven, it is because it is comprised of people, spiritual Israel, on earth.  These will be protected by God when Satan goes to war against the Saints, and like the Israelites of the past during Exodus, they walked ahead of their enemies into the desert to the mountain of God.  Likewise, this earthly group of Christians will be brought to a spiritual and physical condition where they are safe from Satan's attack. Once all the Saints, including the remaining living ones on earth are brought to heaven before Armageddon, it is time for their wedding and for Armageddon, for Judgment day.

//Infant born
Who is the infant heavenly kingdom?
James 2:5 . . . heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him? (ASV)

Rev 1:6, and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
//Time of Rapture of living remaining Saints
On the Resurrections – First & Second page two, scriptures show that the rapture of the remaining living saints shall happen only after the great tribulation (Matt 24:29,32).  However, if we take the information Paul gives in this regard at its word and do not try to explain it away, but simply accept what is said, the following is seen:

Matthew 24:29, 31, But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.  31And he shall send his angels with a great sound of trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the one extremity of the heavens to the other extremity of them. (Darby)

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the (1) coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep.(1) Gr presence ) 16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; 17then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (ASV)
If you verify for yourself, the scripture gives this timeline: after the Great Tribulation, the living saints shall be raptured, so that together, the now resurrected dead saints and the saints that were changed in an instant meet the Lord in the air.  This means that the dead resurrected saints resurrect prior to this as the 1260 days commence.  See below for more on this.
(Darby)
Dan 12:1, And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of distress, such as never was since there was a nation until that time. And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that is found written in the book. 2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame, to everlasting contempt.

Rev 12:5, And she brought forth a male son, who shall shepherd all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to his throne. 6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has there a place prepared of God, that they should nourish her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days.
These saints constitute the rulers, the kings, of the heavenly kingdom besides Christ, their Lord, their king; they are the infant heavenly kingdom.

Summing up:  the time when the pregnant woman at term gives birth is during or after the great tribulation, at the beginning of the 1260 days.  The child that is caught away to God is, as specified a moment earlier, composed of the saints who have a heavenly, a first resurrection.

//A conflict of time

Here we encounter a conflict of time.  While Thessalonians above give us the impression that the resurrection of the dead Saints and the rapture of the living Saints is sequential without any time lapse between the events, in this chapter of Revelation verse five and six, we see that the woman gives birth to the infant and then, only then, does she go to the wilderness.  This happens at the beginning of the 1260 days, not at the end of the 1335 days when the living saints are raptured seemingly. 

How may we resolve this conflict of time?  The reasonable simple resolution is why the kingdom is called an infant.  Here then at the beginning of the 1260 days, the dead in Christ rise first and are taken to heaven.  The abomination has been emplaced which begins the count of the days, and probably coincides with Babylon the Great having just been destroyed.  The remaining living saints have to wait until the 1335 days are completed for their rapture.  Once these receive their heavenly reward, the kingdom infant has grown up.

That the two groups are shown in Thessalonian's above to meet the Lord must then be taken to mean that the infant kingdom consisting of the dead saints in Christ come together with Christ to meet their fellow brothers when they receive their glorification.

War in Heaven

According to the above timeline, we now understand that Satan at this moment still has not been ousted from heaven, but awaits until the abomination has been put in place, the sanctuary defiled, and the daily sacrifice discontinued which is likely to coincide with Babylon the Great's destruction – this commences the 1260, 1290, 1335, and the 2300 days.  Then the war in heaven begins some time soon after the beginning of the 1260 days.
Rev 12:5-7, And she brought forth a male son, who shall shepherd all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to his throne. 6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has there a place prepared of God, that they should nourish her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days. 7And there was war in the heaven: Michael and his angels went to war with the dragon. And the dragon fought, and his angels. . . (Darby)

Wilderness

The woman fled to the wilderness.  What is it?  Some thoughts were given above.  Because both the Harlot and the Woman are found in a wilderness, the wilderness must symbolize the religious nature of these woman - their claim to serve God in a holy place. Thus it signifies their religious nature. That the Woman has a safe place prepared for her there, must then signify God's protection under his wings of people righteous and holy.  Their finding refuge under his wings by living according to his holy degrees is what furnishes them with escape from Satan and the Great Tribulation.

//Wings

In the scripture below, the wings of eagles is equated with strenght and endurance, even speed.  It is then proper to take the two eagle wings the woman is given to mean that she receives a speedy retreat away from Satan into a place where he cannot follow just as the Egyptian pharaoh was denied access to the Israelites that went before God at Mount Sinai in Arabia.  In the wilderness she has nothing to fear, and her needs shall be provided by God herself as scripture also agrees with.
Isaiah 40:31, but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint (ASV)
 

1260 days – when?

(090311)
Here a hurdle is encountered.  In chapter 11, there are two periods of 1260 days.  In 11: 2–7 one such period is seen; later in verses 8–12 another equal period is mentioned.  The first one is mentioned as 1260 days, and the second one is mentioned as 3½ days which of course are prophetic days equalling a 360-day year each.

Prophesying clothed in sackcloth -1260 days

Daniel's prophecy in 12:11 indicates that the count must start from when the Disgusting Thing stands in a holy place.  Jesus however indicated that the Great Tribulation is a seasonal thing, brief and intense.  That the 1260 days of preaching in sackcloth could begin some time before this I do not rule out.  It is a wait and see thing.

It is a period when the Saints preach in sadness because of experiencing a serious loss.  Their sadness also comes from the isolation they have experienced for this reason.

3.5 years of being dead on the street

This period clearly refers to the period named in chapter 12.   We see that the events in chapter twelve precede those of chapter eleven for this period.  The symbol of the woman having been elaborated already, we may now understand that she is out of reach of Satan and he takes his anger on her out on those of her children he still can reach – namely, the remaining living saints still on earth.  It is clear that the 1260 days here refer to the same time period of 3½ days.  Please read the verses supplied below.

Revelation (DRC)
12:6, And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, that there they should feed her a thousand two hundred sixty days
12:14, And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the desert unto her place, where she is nourished for a time and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
12:16, And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the river, which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17And the dragon was angry against the woman: and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
11:3, And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.
11:7, And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast, that ascendeth out of the abyss, shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
11:11, And after three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that saw them.

But when during our history shall this come to pass?  For that information, we must read what Daniel has to say.  Unfortunately that is a bit long.  But if the material is included the reader can choose to verify what is being claimed here or simply continue on without reading it and depend on the conclusion reached.  The choice is there.
Daniel (Darby)
7:23-26, He said thus: The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon the earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24And as to the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall arise ten kings; and another shall arise after them; and he shall be different from the former, and he shall subdue three kings. 25And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most high places , and think to change seasons and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and a half time. 26And the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 
These three and a half times equate 1260 days and also 42 months of trampling underfoot! We must realize that the year's lenght is 360 days, a prophetic year.  Who 'they' in Daniel 11:31 are will be explored later. (Rev 11:2; 13:5)
(The subject is the king of the North)
A. 11:29-31, At the set time he shall return, and come towards the south; but not as the former time shall be the latter; 30for ships of Chittim shall come against him; and he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant; and will practise; and he shall return and direct his attention to those that forsake the holy covenant. 31And forces shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, the fortress, and shall take away the continual sacrifice , and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

B. 11:40-45, And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him; and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and overflow and pass through. 41And he shall enter into the land of beauty, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape out of his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 42And he shall stretch forth his hand upon the countries; and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43And he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. 44But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; and he shall go forth with great fury to exterminate, and utterly to destroy many. 45And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the mountain of holy beauty; and he shall come to his end, and there shall be none to help him.

(The time of sackcloth and the end)
12:1,2, And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of distress, such as never was since there was a nation until that time. And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that is found written in the book. 2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame, to everlasting contempt

Dan 12:6,7, How long is it to the end of these wonders? 7And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river; and he held up his right hand and his left hand unto the heavens, and swore by him that liveth for ever that it is for a time, times, and a half; and when the scattering of the power of the holy people shall be accomplished, all these things shall be finished.

12:11,12, And from the time that the continual sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand, two hundred, and ninety days. 12Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days!
At this date, 2008.08.21, the events above from Dan 11:31 are in the future. 

When we read the last verses quoted in 12:11,12, two things become obvious:
One, that  we are meant to  take notes and meditate on the matter said since 12:11,12 would have been better placed for our understanding after 11:31, the A. quotation. 

Two, that the count starts with emplacement of the abomination.  Thus all things in regard to Revelation chapter eleven, twelve, and Daniel chapter eleven and twelve hinge on the start of the 1260, 1290, and 1335 days that begin when the events in Dan 11:29-31 take place.
The present day king of the north, who seems at the moment to be Russia or the USSR (if it resurrects itself again), shall begin anew a pushing, but while the previous pushing was a cold war, this chapter eleven A. tells us is a hot war.  During this first A. period "the abomination that maketh desolate" shall be emplaced.  This is Babylon the Great's destruction. 

What this abomination will be explored later, perhaps on page two of this subject.  In the first century this was the Roman armies.  But since we are talking about the whole world, that parallel seems unlikely.  What it shall accomplish is told us, and this permits us to identify it when it eventually is emplaced.

Satan ousted from heaven

From this moment, the three and a half times, the 1260 days, start counting, as do the 1290, and the 1335 days.   Soon after the count begins, Satan is ousted from heaven.
Rev 12:6-8, And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has there a place prepared of God, that they should nourish her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days. 7And there was war in the heaven: Michael and his angels went to war with the dragon. And the dragon fought, and his angels; 8and he prevailed not, nor was their place found any more in the heaven. (Darby)
Satan being ousted from heaven coincides with God's witnesses walking in sackcloth.  They do this because they are being warred against and prevented from giving witness freely, and because they are suffering from the pressure of war being felt.

Jeremiah tells us that a year (a prophetic year = 360 days) after Babylon the Great has been destroyed (Jer 51:46, my interpretation of that scripture) the whole world shall experience a year of war, either local wars between factions or world war as in B. above between the king of the south and the king of the north groups.

What happens at the end of the 1260 and 1290 days is unknown.  Though, at the end of the 1335 days, the living remaining Saints are all glorified by being changed in a moment.  Then soon after, Armageddon commences and God's kingdom rules the earth. 

Any saint that happens to die in an approved state from the beginning of the 1260 days is resurrected immediately.  This is emphasized by Rev 14:13 where those who die after Babylon the Great has fallen, when the beginning of the 1260 days starts, are said to be happy.  (Rev 14:13)

 
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