Dear Student of the Word,
Greetings in the name of our Lord! I am pleased to present my commentary on Revelation 12 this week. In this chapter, we are introduced to the enmity between the woman (the Church) and the dragon (Satan) as the Lord promised there would be in Genesis 3:14-15. In this week's entry, I repeatedly remind the reader that Revelation had to mean something to the churches that first received it, and that many of the symbols and images do not represent future events, but rather refer back to past events or concepts in the Old Testament or the gospels. Here is what I wrote about Revelation 12:1 to open the study:
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12:1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.
12:1 – In Genesis, the promise was given that there would be enmity between the serpent and the offspring of Eve (see Genesis 3:15). In 12:1, we see a woman reintroduced and the enmity between the two described in the rest of the chapter.
This woman in 12:1 could easily represent the Church. Anyone reading this who was outside the church would certainly have no idea what was being described here. Believers would be able to understand this symbolism, however.
Remember, Revelation was written to churches under threat of persecution from Rome. Any direct correspondence that portrayed Rome or Caesar in an inferior position to God or His people could have been used to increase the pressure against the Church. If we are going to understand Revelation, we must in part understand what it meant to the churches to which it was written.
The message to those early churches was that the opposition they were encountering was powerful. God was with them, however, and would preserve them. Rome was not supreme; God was supreme. The church and their leaders needed to remember that truth and act accordingly, keeping their trust in the Lord no matter what happened. As in the psalms, the people of God in Revelation are reminded that they are powerless in the face of overwhelming evil, and that their only hope for survival or salvation is the Lord Himself.
The same message applies today for anyone or any church encountering any system, philosophy, or government trying to establish its rule or superiority over God. They may succeed for a season, but ultimately they will fail and God will emerge victorious. The rivals to God’s throne have come and gone and will continue to do so until Jesus’ return. The wicked always oppress the righteous, for they do not believe God is watching or that He will hold them accountable. They are wrong on both counts.
The woman was adorned in symbols. She was human but she was also heavenly. Twelve is a number seen throughout the Bible, starting with the 12 tribes of Israel and culminating with the 12 apostles. The woman in this verse stood on creation, but was above it. She had the stars of the gospel and the Church in her hair (see Revelation 1:20), for she is the bride of Christ. The Church is born in heaven but revealed on earth, and what the Church does on earth impacts heaven: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19).
As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the daily devotional entitled Your Life Matters: Daily Reflections from the Book of Psalms. Thank you and soon I will begin sending you my edited studies from James' epistle. After that, we will only have the book of Revelation to complete before the entire New Testament is on the site where this study is posted.
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