Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

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See: Topic The Dragon, the Woman, and the Child

VANTAGE POINT: SATAN’S INTEREST IN THE JEWS

Like Nebuchadnezzar’s statue, this vision gives the historical and prophetic future of the Jews, God’s provision of a Messiah, the future tribulation and finally the restoration of the Jews with their Messiah reigning on earth.

Satan is the dragon. The Antichrist is the beast.

The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon

Revelation 12:1 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.

►The woman is the nation Israel. The twelve stars are the twelve tribes of Israel.

►Historical timeline of the twelve stars: Jacob’s first son, Reuben was born 1746 BC. Jacob’s last son, Benjamin, was born 1734 BC. The twelve sons of Jacob (aka Israel) were born between 1746 BC – 1734 BC spanning 12 years, the same number as the stars. Twelve is the number of Government Perfection.
See: Topic: Biblical Numbers and their Symbolism

►When Joseph had his dream about the sun, the moon, and the stars Rachel had already died from giving birth to Benjamin. Gen 35:16

^{Genesis 37:9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”}

The sun is the Jewish Jacob, the moon is Leah (Leah is symbolic of the Gentile Grace Age believers), and the twelve stars are the Jewish twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob’s words explain this symbolism when he declared:

^{Genesis 37: 10 So he (Joseph) told it (his dream) to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother (Leah, the gentile moon) and I (Jacob, the Jewish sun) and your brothers (the Jewish garland) indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”}

(Note: Read Topic: Jacob’s Two Wives ~Barbara Grover to explain the symbolism for Leah, as Jacob’s wife.)

Revelation 12:2 Then being with child, she (Israel the nation) cried out in labor (during the oppression of the Roman Empire) and in pain to give birth.

►The nation, Israel, gives birth to their Messiah Jesus the Christ during the oppression of the Roman Empire through the virgin Mary.

• ►Historical timeline: Augustus and Mark Anthony were two of the senators who promoted Herod (the Great) to be named by the Roman senate as King of the Jews. At Jesus’ birth: they were enemies. Augustus is Caesar of Rome defeating the coalition of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra.

Revelation 12:3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems (crowns) on his heads.  

• The Dragon is Satan. The Antichrist is the Beast which is the last head on the dragon with the ten horns. They work as one and the same.

• The dragon who is Satan has seven heads. Each head is a Gentile kingdom who has ruled over the Jews drawing the Jews away from God.

• The first head was Babylon, the second was the Medes and the Persians, the third was Greece, the fourth and fifth were the king(s) of the North and South which are Syria and Egypt, the sixth is the Roman Empire and the seventh will be the coming global leader, the Antichrist beast ruling from Jerusalem during the coming seven year tribulation, the kingdom of the Antichrist. 

• Revelation 17:10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he (the Antichrist) comes, he must continue a short time (seven years).

• Each head/kingdom has a crown, a king: Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon, Cyrus of Persia, Alexander the Great of Greece, the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Antiochus’ of Syria, The leaders of the Holy Roman Empire is the present through the Holy Roman Church and the last head is in the future – ruled by the Antichrist not yet named.

• Note: Five kingdoms were (in the past), one is (the Holy Roman Empire whose title now belongs to the pope), then the beginning of sorrows before the introduction of the kingdom of the Antichrist, the one who is to come.

• THE CHART BELOW COMPARES THE KINGDOMS IN DANIEL’S VISIONS AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S STATURE IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL:

• Compare the dragon with Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. Alexander the Great and two of his generals are lumped together as one, all are “thighs of bronze”.

• Note: the dragon is red: the color of sin and redemption. (The shedding of blood: Cain, The shedding of blood: Jesus)

• The ten horns are only on the LAST HEAD of the dragon, the kingdom of the Antichrist. Horns are symbolic of “power”. These horns are the ten kings who give their power to the Antichrist (called “the beast”) for a period of one hour.

• Revelation 17:12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.

• The ten horns are comparable to the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue of iron and clay.

• The prophet Daniel is speaking to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, explaining the meaning of the statue when he says:

• Daniel 2:38 “You (Nebuchadnezzar) are this head of gold (Babylon). ³⁹ But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours (Medes and Persians); then another, a third kingdom (Greece) of bronze (as well and Egypt and Syria because they are descendants of the generals of Alexander the Great and in this case they are included with Greece), which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰ And the fourth kingdom (Rome) shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. ⁴¹ Whereas you saw the feet (the beginning of sorrows) and toes (the seven year tribulation), partly of potter’s (miry) clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. ⁴² And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. ⁴³ As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with (miry) clay.”

• Note: The toes are miry (potter’s) clay and iron.

• There seems to be a demonic overtone to the fallen angels when scripture says they will mingle with the seed of men, similar to the wording in Genesis:

^{Genesis 6:2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.}

Revelation 12:4 His (the dragon, Satan’s) tail drew a third of the stars of heaven (fallen angels) and threw them to the earth.

Stars are angels in heaven. One third of the stars are fallen angels who followed Satan into rebellion.

They take a part in the events of the kingdom of the Antichrist.

BELOW: the story backs up to ~31 AD when Jesus is born.

And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.

• The woman is Israel. Her child is Jesus, the Jewish Messiah.

• The Jewish nation threatens Satan. They will be part of his ultimate destruction.

• Historical timeline: Herod the Great, under the influence of Satan, receives the Magi at Jesus’ birth and gives the command to have all the boys, aged two and under, to be slaughtered in Bethlehem. History calls this event “The slaughter of the Innocents”. Jesus has been spared since his legal parents, Mary and Joseph escape to Egypt.

BELOW: the story jumps ahead to the millennium after the kingdom of the Antichrist when Jesus returns to earth to set up his kingdom.

Revelation 12:5 She (the nation Israel) bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.

• See: Topic: Biblical Materials, the Symbolic Meaning of Iron

• ► Jesus will rule the earth from Jerusalem.
  ►The rod of Iron is a metal of strength.
  ►It is a ruling scepter of iron.
  ►In the future: at Jesus’ return after the seven year tribulation, he will set up his kingdom on earth for one thousand years. His return is represented by the Jewish Feast called “The Day of Atonement”, also called “The Day of Return” when the Jews return to God in repentance and recognition, and when God returns to them. The Day of Atonement is preceded by seven days/years of tribulation.

BELOW: SCRIPTURE REFERS TO JESUS AFTER HIS RESURRECTION, AND HIS RETURN TO THE FATHER.

And her Child (Jesus) was caught up to God and His throne.

• ^{John 3:13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.}

• To repeat: The male Child is Jesus who will set up His kingdom on earth after the coming seven year tribulation.

^{Psalm 2:7-12 “Yet I have set (installed) My King
On My holy hill of Zion (Jerusalem).”7 “I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son (Jesus),
Today I have begotten You (raised you from the dead).
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break (subdue) them with a rod (scepter) of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’  (of miry clay)”
10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son (receive instruction), lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.}

• The “scepter of iron” is a metal of strength while the “potter’s vessel” is the weakest in strength. It is “miry clay”, the same miry clay which will not adhere to iron in Nebuchadnezzar’s statue of a man with feet of iron and clay; partly strong and partly weak. Miry clay is associated with red clay and is symbolic of Esau (Edom) and his descendants, the Arabs.

* Revelation 12:6 Then the woman (Jews in Israel) fled into the wilderness (of people when they flee through Arabia as well as escaping on a plane), where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days (1,260 days is 3-1/2 years on the Jewish calendar).

The Jews have been betrayed by the Antichrist. They are fleeing for their lives.

• ^{Matthew 24:15-22 15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop (the retired) not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field (the wage earners) not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies (the young mothers) in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath (as it was when Antiochus IV entered Jerusalem). 21 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. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake (chosen ones) those days will be shortened.}

• Isaiah chapter 21 is the best description of this event. It cannot be understood without understanding its symbolism and double meanings. Read the notes in Isaiah 21.

• The woman, Israel, has been diminished. There is only a remnant left of her Jewish population after being betrayed by the Antichrist. This remnant is hidden in a wilderness of people. The event is similar to the holocaust only much worse.

 ^{Psalm 27:5 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock (Jesus is compared to a rock throughout scripture).}

^{Daniel 12:1 [Prophecy of the End Time] “At that time Michael (the archangel) shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book.}

Satan Thrown Out of Heaven

Satan is thrown out of heaven in the middle of the tribulation and thrown to earth with his fallen angels. Satan then indwells the Antichrist and gives him his supernatural powers.

Revelation 12:7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael (the archangel for the Jewish people) and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,

Revelation 12:8 but they (the dragon and his angels) did not prevail (were not strong enough), nor was a place found for them (Or him) in heaven any longer.

Revelation 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

►The great dragon inhabits a sea of people. He is a sea monster, a Leviathan. The dragon, the serpent, and the Leviathan are all reptiles. They are all Satan. He is the “reptilian beast” that comes out of the sea of people.

^{Isaiah 27:1 [Israel Will Be Restored] In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong, Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea (of people).}

►Satan (called the Leviathan, Serpent, Sea Monster, and Reptile) is thrown out of heaven and cast to earth where he indwells a man, the Antichrist.

^{Daniel 8:23-25 “And in the latter time of their kingdom, When the transgressors have reached their fullness (when their cup of abominations has reached its brim),
A king shall arise (the Antichrist), having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes.
His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power (by Satan’s power); He shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people (The Jews).
Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; and he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity (peace). He shall even rise against the Prince of princes (Jesus the Christ); but he shall be broken without human means (by God).}

►Jesus witnessed this future event:

^{Luke 10:18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.}

Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

^{Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.}

The Hebrew word for accuser is “Satan”.

Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives (even) to the (their own) death.

These are those who are converted during the tribulation by the two witnesses. They are willing to die for their faith. They are martyrs.

Revelation 12:12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

The first 3-1/2 years is called “the tribulation” suffering under God’s wrath, but the last 3-1/2 years is called “the great tribulation” suffering under both the wrath of God and the wrath of Satan.

The Woman Persecuted

Revelation 12:13 Now when the dragon (Satan) saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman (Israel) who gave birth to the male Child.

Today, the nation Israel is constantly in the news and at the center of Arab hatred and Anti-Zionism. When Satan is cast to the earth the persecution is unsurpassed in history. Antizionism will be global.

Revelation 12:14 But the woman (remnant of Jews) was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time (3-1/2 years), from the presence of the serpent (dragon).

►The writer, John, saw a great eagle taking the remnant of Jews to a wilderness (of people who hide them). They are escaping from the Antichrist. I believe these are the 144,000 who were sealed by God.

The great eagle is an airplane, something John would not have recognized except as an eagle.

There is currently an airplane which brings Jewish people to Israel from all over the world called “On Wings of Eagles”, a non-profit organization taking their name from the verse in Revelation 12:14. Their name is written on the outside of the plane in Hebrew.

(Side note: The Jews who are migrating to their homeland in the present are the “tender leaves” on the fig tree in Matthew chapter 24.)

If John saw this plane, he would have seen a plane named after the verse he, himself wrote. The effect is like two mirrors, each reflecting the other, hence, reflecting itself. Which came first, John’s revelation seeing his writing, or the Airplane with John’s writing? Time has come back on itself which can only be seen from God’s point of view where every event occurs in the present.

►In the middle of the tribulation, it would make sense to use this airplane to rescue fleeing Jews and take them to place where they can be hid.

Revelation 12:15 So the serpent (Satan indwelling the Antichrist) spewed water (an army) out of his mouth (commanding the army to go after and capture the Jews) like a flood (overflowing boundaries) after (in pursuit of) the woman (the remnant of Jews), that he might cause her to be carried (swept) away by the flood (that she might be destroyed by his army).

Revelation 12:16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood (Antichrist’s army) which the dragon (the Antichrist indwelt by Satan) had spewed out of his mouth.

►An earthquake causes the earth to split open into a chasm and swallows the armies of the Antichrist.

^{“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Psalm 50:15}

^{“For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel,’” Ezekiel 38:19}

►There is a possibility of a double meaning here: According to Isaiah chapter 21 the Jews will be fleeing through Syria and helped by some of the Arabs (red earth, Esau). These Arabs will feed and hide these Jews, confusing the armies of the Antichrist and hence “swallowing up” the flood.

Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman (hated the Jews), and he went to make war (burn her with fire) with the rest of her offspring, (those) who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Note: the remnant consists of those who believe that Jesus is indeed their Messiah.