The Revelation 12 Sign – Part 1
I admit it – I am a watcher of the stars and heavens, seeking out signs of the nearness of the return of Jesus Christ. I’ve been at this for some time. Some people think I’m nuts or maybe just a bit odd in my beliefs. I simply do not care.
There will be a day very soon, I believe, where everything will come together like a beautiful story that we will recite over and over in heaven for all eternity.
In the month of September 2017, we had the great sign from heaven, an astronomical alignment of the sun, moon, constellations and planets known as the “Revelation 12 Sign.”
The constellation Virgo was clothed in the sun over the shoulder of Virgo the Virgin, and she had twelve stars as a crown. (Actually, nine stars from the constellation Leo and three planets; Mercury, Venus and Mars were combined with the stars and appeared in the heavens as twelve stars that crowned her head.) She had a new moon at her feet. This was a very rare display in the heavens, and it was visible over Israel.
I saw this as a sign for the entire world. It came one month after the Great American Solar Eclipse on August 21st. It was like a stellar high five!
Let’s look at the scripture that tells the story of this great sign we just viewed last September, and to decipher its spiritual meaning to us here today.
Since it is in the book of Revelation, God is revealing these things and disclosing them to us in this incredible book of the end times.
Let’s take a look together, shall we?
“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. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 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. 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. 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”(Revelation 12:1-6).
We have to break this down to identify who is whom here, and the sequence of events to see what is going on and back it with other scripture for support.
This scripture begins by stating “a great sign appeared in heaven.” This is no ordinary sign—is it stellar! We just saw it happen on September 23, 2017! It has appeared already – visible in the heavens to the world.
Now, who is the woman represented in this sign described here?
I think she is Israel, symbolized here by the twelve stars crowning her; the stars represent the twelve tribes of Israel.
She gives birth to a son, and he rules the nations with a rod of iron. This is Jesus Christ, but something more is inferred here. I will come back to this.
The fiery red dragon is of course, Satan, his long dragon-like tail sweeping one third of the fallen angels with him to earth in the second of the signs referred to as “another sign.” He awaits the birth of the child to devour it; but the child is caught up to God and His throne, and Satan is unable to devour the child.
I see implied here by the verbage that this is more than the man child, Jesus Christ, that came forth from Israel, but an extension of that child – those He has redeemed by His blood – the body and bride of Christ.
Now, why do I say that?
Just two words here give a giant clue: “Caught up.” The child here is caught up to heaven. The Greek word here is harpazo. It is the same Greek word that is used to describe the catching up of believers:
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be “caught up” together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
All other scripture describes Jesus as ascending to heaven and descending from heaven. Jesus ascended into heaven after His resurrection (see Acts 1:9). He was not caught up into heaven. Jesus will descend from heaven in the 1 Thessalonians 4:16 scripture cited above.
I believe Jesus ascends and descends to and from heaven because He is the second person of the Godhead.
Just like you and I go upstairs (ascend) and downstairs (descend) in the place of our dwelling, Christ does this also in the place of His dwelling – being both heaven and earth.
In this scene, the child of the woman is caught up, or raptured to God and His throne. That would be you and I, dear readers, if you have believed upon Jesus for salvation!
Satan is also represented here along with his end-time kingdom, which he rules as the dark lord through the Antichrist and False Prophet, described as the ten horns or kingdoms, seven heads and seven crowns.
Since Satan is not able to devour the first child, he goes after the other offspring of the woman, meaning the Jewish nation of Israel. He pursues all of them into a preordained hiding place where God nourishes and hides them for three and a half years.
I believe this time described here is from the halfway mark of the seven-year tribulation until its end, as the Antichrist has ceased the sacrifice by command in the recently built Jewish temple and defiled it.
Okay, here is a quick list of the persons listed above as a point of reference for you:
The woman crowned with twelve stars who gives birth to a male child is: Israel.
The male child of the woman: Jesus Christ.
Second offspring: The Jewish nation of Israel.
The Great, Fiery Red Dragon with the long, sweeping tail and with the seven heads, ten horns and ten crowns: Satan and his kingdom of the latter days – the countries and leaders of this earth by which he will establish his rule during the seven-year tribulation.
One third of the stars the great, fiery red dragon sweeps to earth: fallen angels. They sinned long ago along with Satan.
The male child caught up to the throne: Those who belong to Jesus Christ – the blood-washed saints of Christ, His bride—the church.
The child who is to rule the nations with a rod of iron: Jesus Christ. He returns (Second Advent) and destroys the kingdom Satan has built with His rod of iron.
The woman fleeing to the wilderness for 1,260 days and is cared for by God: Israel. The timeframe depicted here is the last three and a half years of the tribulation.
In the sequence of events of Revelation 12, I see also the end-times sequence of events laid out here as well. Let’s “check” those that have already happened, and also note those that await future fulfillment.
-A great sign appeared in heaven: Check – already appeared to us on September 23, 2017.
-The woman (Israel) gave birth to a child: Double Check— Jesus Christ and those He redeemed by His blood, the body and bride of Christ. (We continue to grow in number until the very moment the trumpet calls us upward to Him and we are caught up to heaven.)
-He will rule with a rod of iron: Future to us. This was spoken of the child in the future tense, as He will be a ruler at some point, ruling with a rod of iron. As soon as Jesus Christ returns to earth the second time (Second Advent) after the seven-year tribulation, He will break apart all other earthly kingdoms and set up His rule and reign for a thousand years (Millennial Rule of Christ). It is further promised that Christ will rule forever, and His rule will know no end.
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44).
-The red dragon or Satan wants to devour the male child, but the child is caught up to the throne of God: the body and bride of Christ at the rapture of the church. Future to us – but could be at any moment!
-The other offspring of the woman, Israel, flees into the desert where she is nourished for times, times, and half a time: Future to us – during the last three and a half years of the seven-year tribulation.
I see this scene depicted here at another place in the scripture, and I add this to give insight and context.
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:15-21).
So, to wrap it up, here is what I see in the scriptures of Revelation 12:1-6 as the sequence of events coming upon us here in the end times:
1) The rapture is the next event to happen.
2) The end-times kingdom of Satan and his rule forms immediately after that for seven years.
3) During the last three and a half years of the tribulation, Satan pursues Israel into the desert, but she is nourished and cared for by God for the remaining three and a half years of that time.
4) Jesus then returns to earth with His bride (read also in Revelation 19), thus shattering the kingdom of Satan with His rod of iron.
5) Jesus will have a kingdom that will never end!
I have much more to share on this topic in part two of this article. There is a lot of good stuff remaining here in Revelation chapter 12 that you don’t want to miss, dear readers!
Eyes on the sky! His coming is so very soon!
Sally Law