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SUBJECT: Revelation 12: 4-5 and the meaning of
“woman”
QUESTION: Whom is the woman being referred to in
these verses?
ANSWER:
Verses in question:
Revelation 12:4-5
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.
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.
For years the church had the following in its book on
Revelation:
Revelation 12 brings the story of the true Church to the
present, when the devil, knowing he has just a short time
(verse 12), persecutes the true Church, pictured as a
remnant or small in number, and keeping the Commandments of
God (verse 17).
In another booklet on the Key to the Book of Revelation we
find:
Revelation 12 brings the story of the true church to the
present, when the devil, knowing he has but a short time,
(verse 12) persecutes the true Church pictured as a remnant
or SMALL in number, and KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD.
(verse 17) while the false Church and her daughters
(Revelation 17:5) preach the Commandments are done away!
In our booklet, "Abomination of Desolation" we read...
---begin excerpt---
The Three and One-Half Years
Daniel heard one angel ask
another, "How long shall the vision concerning the daily
sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation [the
abomination of desolation],
to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under
foot?
"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three
hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (Daniel
8:13-14).
So the abomination of desolation will be set in place,
defiling the sanctuary, for three and one-half years!
John wrote, "And they worshipped the dragon [Satan]
which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the
beast [extreme
nationalism state worship!],
saying, ‘Who is able to make war with him?’
"And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great
things and blasphemies [the
same mouth as that of the "little horn," meaning Antichrist;
the great false prophet!];
and power was given unto him to continue forty and two
months" (Revelation 13:4-5).
When the Antichrist establishes himself, setting up the
abomination, he will continue for three and one-half years.
Notice further: "And there was given me a reed like unto
a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the
temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
"But the court which is without the temple leave out,
and measure it not, for it is given unto the Gentiles: and
the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two
months" Revelation 11:1-2).
During this three-and-one-half year period, all
organized preaching of the Gospel is impossible. God’s
church is scattered, persecuted. (Amos 8:11). Some are to be
martyred many are to be miraculously protected from the
Antichrist.
God says, "And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto
the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the
man child [the church],
"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle
[symbolic of God’s
miraculous protection. cf. Exodus 19:4],
that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place,
where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a
time [three and
one-half years!] from
the face of the serpent.
"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.
"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.
"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"
(Revelation 12:13-17).
Some have seen the "flood" in historical terms; the
entire period of the dominance of the "little horn" over the
heads of the Holy Roman Empire, and the "flood" of lying
doctrines, false charges, and propaganda spewed out of the
mouth of the woman who rides the beast.
Some have thought it to be literal; a miracle brought
about by Satan, from which God’s people are delivered, like
a type of the Red Sea. Whatever its meaning, Satan fails in
his attempt to destroy God’s church.
Nevertheless, God’s Word says the great false church,
led by its "man of sin" who is Antichrist, will horribly
persecute God’s saints. The Great Tribulation includes the
martyrdom of many of God’s servants (Matthew 24:9;
Revelation 13:7).
Not all of God’s people will be protected. For example,
the two witnesses, two human beings who will be specially
anointed to be God’s last two prophets warning the beast and
false prophet, are to be killed by the Antichrist and the
beast.
The work of the two witnesses takes place at the exact
same period during which the abomination of desolation sits;
the time of the "treading down of the sanctuary."
"And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they
shall prophesy a thousand, two hundred and threescore days,
clothed in sackcloth...these have power to shut heaven, that
it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power
over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth
with all plagues, as often as they will.
"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"
(Revelation 11:3-7).
Some have assumed the whole church will be "taken to a
place of safety" for the three and one-half years. Obviously
not. Are not these two witnesses members of God’s true
church? Are they not converted, with God’s Holy Spirit, and
therefore members of the spiritual "body of Christ," which
is the church?
Yet, God allows their martyrdom.
Even as God sent the plagues on Egypt while Israel was
yet in the land of Goshen, making a "difference" between the
Israelites and Egyptians; even as the death angel "passed
over" the Israelitish houses and killed the firstborn of
Egypt; so God promises, "A thousand shall fall at thy side,
and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come
nigh thee (Psalm 91:1-9).
God’s captive people Israel are pictured as crying out
to Him in the time of their horrible tribulation: "Come, and
let us return unto the Eternal: for He hath torn, and He
will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up.
"After two days [two
years? cf. Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6]
will He revive us: in the third day [during
the third year?] He
will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight" (Hosea
6:1-2).
This prophecy is set in the midst of God’s stern
warnings to ten-tribed Israel, especially the nation of
Ephraim, identified by many indications as Britain.
God said, "Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of
rebuke [tribulation]:
among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which
shall surely be...I will go and return to my place, till
they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their
affliction they will seek me early" (Hosea 5:9-15).
The Tribulation, Heavenly Signs (Revelation 6-7), and
Day of the Lord all fall within the same three-and-one-half
year period! Notice that the abomination of desolation is
set up, and continues "until the consummation," or three and
one-half years! The two witnesses prophecy for three and
one-half years, and are killed only days prior to Christ’s
return! The sanctuary is "trodden down" for three and
one-half years, and then "cleansed" by Christ’s return!
Now you can see how important it is to watch for the
time when the abomination of desolation is set up; why
Christ warned those in Judaea to flee when they see it
coming! Who is this Antichrist? Who is this final "little
horn" with the mouth of a man, speaking blasphemies?
He is the "false prophet" of prophecy the leader of a
church!
---end excerpt---
In our booklet, "Can You Understand Bible Prophecy" we
read...
---begin excerpt---
The church is depicted as a
woman "clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet,
and upon her head a crown of twelve stars" (in
this case, symbolic of the twelve apostles Revelation 12: 1).
One must be cautious, in reading some of the prophecies of
the Old Testament, for the description of a female called
"the daughter of Zion" or "the daughters of Zion" does not
always mean the church.
An example is found in Isaiah 3: 1: "Moreover the
Eternal saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,
and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking
and mincing as they go..." This obviously refers to the
women of the physical nation of Israel!
God also uses the symbol of a harlot, or a fallen woman
to depict the great false, universal church! Notice it: "Sit
thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the
Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, the lady of
kingdoms. I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine
inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew
them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid
thy yoke. And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so
that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither
didst remember the latter end of it.
Therefore hear now this, thou that are given to
pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine
heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a
widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: But these
two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the
loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee
in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and
for the great abundance of thine enchantments. For thou hast
trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me.
Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and
thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside
me" (Isaiah 47:5-10). See also Revelation 17:5.
---end excerpt---
Next, in the same booklet we
read...
---begin excerpt---
To see a practical application of this important key in
understanding Bible prophecy, turn to Revelation 12 and 13.
Here, you see the woman (which
you have learned stands for God's true church)
given "two wings of a
great eagle" (a
symbol of God's protection—Exodus 19:4), 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 (Revelation 12:14).
---end excerpt---
Next in our booklet, "Is the Next Prophetic Event the
Rapture of the Saints" we read...
---begin excerpt---
"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 [saints!]
is cast down, which accused them before our God day and
night.'
"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" (Revelation
12:7-11).
These are God's own converted,
chosen, saintly people! They are members of His church!
This great persecution which
follows Satan being cast back down out of heaven into the
earth IS the Great Tribulation!
Notice that the saints overcome
Satan and his persecutions "by the blood of the Lamb, and by
the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives
unto the death" (Revelation 12:11).
This is not describing a secret
"snatching away" of God's people to some remote wilderness,
or up into heaven, but describing God's people right in the
midst of the great events talking place on the earth;
describing God's people as actively witnessing and warning
the nations of this world, and therefore bringing
hatred and persecution upon themselves.
Notice the last verse of this
chapter: "And the dragon was wroth with the woman [God's
true church!], and
went to make war with the remnant [the
last end-time remnants of God's true church on this earth]
of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and
have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Revelation 12:17).
This can only be describing God's
true church. This is describing those who are obedient to
God's commands, and who have the "testimony of Jesus
Christ."
The testimony of Jesus Christ is
the gospel, the advance good news about His
soon-coming government which will overthrow the Beast
power and all other worldly governments. These who are
persecuted during the Tribulation are God's true
saints, members of His true church who are doing the
WORK OF GOD! They are active in international
affairs, not secretly hiding, uninvolved, sitting on the
sidelines of the greatest events in all history.
---end excerpt---
Then in our booklet, "Who, What
is the "Beast" of Revelation" we read...
---begin excerpt---
The United States and the British
Commonwealth comprise the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim;
other nations of northwestern Europe, including the
Scandinavian countries, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Luxembourg, Switzerland, and perhaps the northern half of
France comprise other parts of the "lost ten tribes
of Israel."
The national calamities to befall
God's people are prophesied to continue for a period of
three and one-half years! Notice the parallels: "...and
power was given unto him to continue forty and two
months!" (Revelation 13:5). The beast power reign
continues at the zenith of its power—for exactly
three and one-half years!
However, God shows that His
people are symbolically protected by Almighty God (the
symbol of God's protection is "two wings of a great eagle":
Revelation 12:14; Exodus 19:4).
"And to the woman [God's
church] were given two
wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the
wilderness [a
spiritual type of God's protection]
into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and
times, and half a time, from the face of the
serpent" (Revelation 12:14).
Earlier, the Bible shows that
God's true church was protected for "a thousand two hundred
and three-score days" (Revelation 12:6) from the
persecutions of Satan, and his church on this earth.
---end excerpt---
In the same booklet we read...
---begin excerpt---
Also, God says, "And the dragon
was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the
remnant of her seed [the
last, end-time generation of God's people]
which KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, and have the testimony
of Jesus Christ! (Revelation 12:17). Daniel's prophecy says,
"I beheld, and the same horn [the
"little horn," representing the papacy, which overthrew
three of the preceding Roman governments!]
made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
UNTIL the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was
given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that
the saints possessed the kingdom" (Daniel 7:21,22).
---end excerpt---
The woman is clearly the church
of God.
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