Revelation Lesson 12
The Book of Revelation
Lesson 12, Chapter 12
By Cindy Ketron
On The Edge of Eternity
On the end-time timeline, once we get to Rev. 11, we’re getting into the last 3 1⁄2 years that Jesus referred to as the Great Tribulation in Matt. 24:21. That
particular time of tribulation follows the abomination of desolation that He spoke of in Matt. 24:15. The 2 witnesses have been caught back up to heaven.
Six trumpets have now sounded, the 2nd woe is past and now the 7th
trumpet has sounded. At the end of Rev. 11, we find a familiar scene of
worship going on in heaven. We’ve seen this scene outlined before. I’m
remembering a sweet time at one of the long-term care facilities where I
used to work. On this particular day, one of my favorite little gentlemen had
to be sent out to the hospital. I knew he would not return and he didn’t.
Before the ambulance arrived to transport him, I asked if I could pray for him and while I was praying, this precious saint of God began praying as well.
His prayer went something like this, “Oh Father, I bow before You and worship You. Help me as I come to You!” My heart was gripped as I sensed that he knew he was about to meet Jesus and he was already worshipping. My last words to him were, “If I don’t see you here again, I will see you on the other side.” I know that one day in heaven, that sweet fella and I will both be bowing down and worshipping our Lord together just as those 24 elders were at the end of Rev. 11. That will indeed be a day of pure joy.
1. Let’s go back a little bit in our study. Read Rev. 11:15-16 and Rev. 10:7.
What is the connection between these verses?
With the sounding of the 7th trumpet, the leadership of the world shifts from Satan to Christ. That leadership change will be eternal. Satan no longer has a claim on mankind to steal, kill, and destroy those who belong to God. He no longer has a claim to the high places where he schemes and plots the demise of mankind. His power is sliding away and he knows it. I have a feeling that once the seals start breaking, things will happen in rapid succession.
This morning, our church was cancelled because of the weather. Todd and I
spent time in our home office discussing things of God and he brought up a
very good question: “Why are Christians so important to Satan that he seeks us out and tries to torment us and cause us to have doubt, division, and discouragement?”. That’s a good question to ponder. You see, there is a great cosmic game that has been played since the first sin in the garden. Prior to your conversion, you were on one team, Satan’s. But after your conversion, you switched teams. Satan wants to win this game and he knows Scripture, so he knows that he’s not going to win, but that doesn’t keep him from trying.
How would you like to be the coach of a college football team and have the #1 ranked quarterback in the whole country and then, without notice, your star quarterback signs a contract with another team? You’d feel cheated. You’d feel angry. And, you might even want to retaliate. Now, move this scenario over to the game between the kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness and you have a similar scenario, except it’s on steroids! Satan is not quitting until he is bound and sent to the pit for 1000 years. He is out to get each of us.
The earth-dwellers absolutely know who is behind this pouring out of
judgment, and yet, they continue to give God the middle finger.
2. What 2 judgments are mentioned in Rev. 11:18? Who will be judged?
There are many judgments mentioned in the Bible going all the way back to Genesis. The flood of Noah’s day was a judgment. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was a judgment. The Babylonian captivity was a judgment.
But in v. 18, we read about 2 judgments involving those who have already
died:
1. Bondservants, prophets, saints, and all those who fear the Lord
2. The small and great who participated in the destruction of the earth
We might think that the judgment referred to in #1 is what we refer to as the Judgment Seat of Christ which involves the Church. But the Church has
already been rewarded (judged), therefore, they have already gone before the judgment seat. How do we know this? If we go back to our study on the 7 churches in Rev. 2-3, we read that some people will receive crowns and we
know that we’ve already witnessed the 24 elders wearing them. The group in #1 then cannot be the Church. This group must be Old Testament and New Testament (only prior to Christ’s coming) bondservants, prophets, saints, and others who feared and worshiped God. We don’t know exactly where to place this on our timeline. We know that it will be at some point after the rapture of the Church and the judgment (rewarding) of the Church, but to specify anything more than this would be mere speculation.
3. Read 2 Cor. 5:10. What are these God-fearing believers given at
judgment?
There are several judgments mentioned in Scripture:
1. The Judgment Seat of Christ - In this judgment, the Church will be
rewarded for the good deeds they did. There’s no sin that will be
judged at this judgment because our sin has already been judged on
the cross of Jesus. The Church will be judged first and then the
“bondservants, saints, prophets, and all those who fear the Lord.” It is
impossible to say whether this happens together or if these 2 groups
are separated by some period of time for their judgments. We do know
that Scripture views those who believed in God prior to the incarnation
of Christ to be a separate group from the Church. Remember, those
from the Old Testament were saved on credit every year on the Day of
Atonement. Their faith was counted towards them as righteousness.
4. What happens to the believer who had motives that were less than
honorable according to 1 Cor. 3:12-15?
God sees the things you do in public and in private and in your mind. That
scares me to death when I think about it. Your choices in this world matter
in the next!
5. According to Hebrews 6:10, what is God looking for in His children?
2. The Great White Throne Judgment - This judgment will happen after
the tribulation period and after the 1000-year reign of Christ on earth. It
will involve the wicked dead who did not accept Christ. This is the final
judgment for unbelievers and they are cast into the lake of fire. We’ll
look more closely at this judgment when we get to Rev. 20.
3. The Judgment of the Sheep and Goats - This judgment is spoken of in
Matt. 25:31-46. Read these verses. This is a judgment for all Gentile
nations. It is a judgment for those who are still living at the end of the
great tribulation following Christ’s return to earth.
6. Let’s look at how the sheep and goats will be divided. Answer the following
questions for each:
a. What side will they be on?
b. What do each inherit?
c. How did each earn their inheritance?
SHEEP GOATS
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
In Scripture, the right hand is always the hand of blessing. That is why Jesus
Christ sits at the right hand of God. We know that this judgment will take
place right after the return of Christ because Matt. 25:31-32 explicitly says so.
Jesus will judge the Gentile nations and those who are righteous get to go
into the millennial kingdom and those who are unrighteous will go to hell.
This week as we move into Rev. 12, we’ll be looking at 4 personages:
1. The Woman
2. The Red Dragon
3. The Male Child
4. The Angel
7. Read Rev. 12:1-2 and describe every detail of the woman.
The book of Revelation actually mentions 4 different women:
1. Jezebel - Rev. 2:20
2. The woman clothed with the sun, moon, and stars - Rev. 12
3. The harlot - Rev. 17-18
4. The Bride - Rev. 19:7, Rev. 21:2-9
We’re only interested in #2 for our study this week. Let’s go all the way back
to Genesis to figure out who this woman of Rev. 12 is.
8. Read Gen. 37:1-10. This is about 2 dreams that Joseph dreamed and
subsequently shared with his brothers. What were they about?
There are references in Rev. 12:1 to heavenly bodies; the sun, the moon, and 12 stars. Read Job 38:31-32 and Job 9:9-10. Bet ya didn’t know that was in the
Bible! The Hebrew word that is found in the Job passage is mazzaroth, and
its literal meaning is a garland of crowns. Like so many other things, the
mazzaroth has been hijacked into what we now see as the Zodiac, but this
was never the intended use of these heavenly bodies.
9. What did Jacob say to his son, Joseph, when Joseph shared his dreams in
Gen. 37:10?
Obviously, this dream depicted the whole family. Throughout the Old
Testament, Israel is personified as a woman. Therefore, the woman of Rev. 12 has to be Israel. It can’t be the Church, because the Church did not give birth to the male child. It can’t be Mary or Eve because neither is ever depicted with others under their feet.
10. Early in our study of Revelation, we looked at Gen. 3:15. What does this
verse say about “your seed” and “her seed”?
If you go back and revisit Lesson 1 (pp. 4-6), you will see this verse further
explains the “her” in Gen. 3:15. The story of Joseph’s dreams tells us that
eventually, Joseph’s mother (the moon) and father (the sun)and all of his
brothers (the stars) will bow down to him. This is analogous to what we have
in Rev. 12:1. The sun and the moon are under her (Israel’s) feet. Remember,
this is a sign in heaven although Israel is on the earth. On her (Israel’s) head
was a crown with 12 stars (the 12 tribes of Israel). This woman (Israel) gave
birth to a Son, Jesus Christ (ie - the male child of Rev. 12).
A wonder is a sign. The ancient Jews were always told to look up to the
heavens. The moon had to be in a certain spot before they could have their
feasts. In the study of astronomy, there are 12 primary constellations of
heavenly bodies. There’s actually 88 known constellations, but for our study
this week, we’re only interested in the 12 primary ones. .
The mazzaroth in Hebrew has to do with the 12 tribes of Israel laid out in the stars above us. One could even make the case that the gospel of Jesus Christ is spelled out in the stars!
The following information comes from a man named Robert Williams who
has developed an entire study on the Jewish Mazzaroth. He spent 9 years
studying the Hebrew meanings and biblical symbolism of the constellations.
He has a website (mazzaroth.info) where his studies and posters can be
purchased. I wanted to post all 12 of his explanations with pictures, but that
would have taken up 12 pages. I will, however, give you a brief explanation of each sign.
1. Bethulah (Virgo) - The biblical sign means, “The Virgin”. The Covenant
made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their seed multiplying “as the
stars of heaven.”
2. Moznayim (Libra) - The biblical sign means “The Balances”. The Exodus
of the Children of Israel out of the Egyptian bondage and the giving of
the Law at Mt. Sinai.
3. Aqrab (Scorpio) - The biblical sign means “The Scorpion”. The
rebellious Children of Israel forced to wander in the wilderness with
scorpions and serpents.
4. Keshet (Sagetarius) - The biblical sign means “The Archer”. Joshua’s
conquest of Canaan and the Children of Israel taking possession of the
Promise Land.
5. Gedi (Capricorn) - The biblical sign means “The Wild Goat”. “The
Mansion of the Kings” and the story of King Saul and King David.
6. D’LI (Aquarius) - The biblical sign means “The Water-Bearer”.
Judgment poured out on the Southern Kingdom of Judah by King
Nebuchadnezzar.
7. Dagim (Pisces) - The biblical sign means “The Fish”. The return of the 2
houses of Israel from their captivity, and out of the house of bondage.
8. Taleh (Aries) - The biblical sign means “The Ram”. The Lamb of God
taking away the sins of the world and setting the captives free.
9. Shor (Taurus) - The biblical sign means “The Wild Ox”. The preaching of
the gospel by the disciples to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
10. Thaumim (Gemini) - The biblical sign means “The United”. The gospel
preached to the Gentiles - Jews and Gentiles united together to form
one new man.
11. Sartan (Cancer) - The biblical sign means “Prince elongated in length”.
The time of Jacob’s trouble, the second coming, the binding of Satan,
and the ascension of the saints.
12. Aryeh (Leo) - The biblical sign means “The Lion”. The final triumph of
the Lion of the tribe of Judah over Babylon the Great, and over all the
enemies of the children of Israel.
The picture below lays out the alignment of the stars in the mazzaroth and
can be found on the website I mentioned earlier:
I don’t know about you, but I find this fascinating in regard to what we are
studying in Rev. 12.
11. Read Isaiah 9:6. This is a verse that we can probably quote by heart
because it is in every Christmas play and sermon and on lots of our Christmas cards. Who is the “us” spoken of in this verse?
When I’ve read this verse in the past or quoted it in the past, I have just
assumed that the “us” is the world (every single person who has ever lived or will ever live). However, a closer look at this verse lets us know that this is not at all who “us” refers to. I say that and I also want you to know that JesusChrist was given to the entire world, but this verse is Jewish in its context.
The “us” here refers to the nation of Israel. The prophet Isaiah was telling his audience that a Jewish human child would be born and He would be the Son who was given by the Father.
The unfortunate thing that I want to point out here is that there are fewer and fewer churches who actually teach about the importance of the nation of Israel. In fact, there is a lot of anti-semitism around the globe and it is even in many churches. Israel is a focus of Scripture in general and that is
especially true of the book of Revelation. Unless you understand God’s
purpose in calling Israel and their special place in the heart of God, you'll have difficulty making sense of the book of Revelation. Look at the constellations!
It is the story of Israel and our Jewish Savior!
In the past 2 years, so much has happened regarding Israel and Jewish
people::
Oct. 7, 2023 - attack on Israel led by Hamas
Oct. 18, 2023 - two hooded men threw Molotov cocktails at a synagogue in
central Berlin
Nov. 16, 2023 - a 53-year-old man in Tokyo crashes his car into a barricade near
the entrance of the Israeli embassy
May 1, 2024 - a teenager in Warsaw, Poland throws a flammable bottle into a synagogue
May 17, 2024 - a Nigerian man set fire to a synagogue in France
June 2024 - a Jordanian national broke into a solar-power facility in Florida
and did more than $450,000 in damage because he perceived that this
business supported Israel
Sept. 5, 2024 - an Islamist Austrian gunman fires at the Israeli consulate in
Germany
Oct. 10, 2024 - a shooting near an Israeli target in Denmark
Nov. 6, 2024 - 2 students were attacked at DePaul University in Chicago for
expressing their support of Israel
Jan. 21, 2025 - a childcare centre in Sydney, Australia was set on fire and
antisemitic graffiti was sprayed on the wall
May 2025 - 2 Israeli embassy staffers were killed in Washington, DC
June 2025 - 1 person was killed and 8 injured in an attack in Boulder, CO
Oct. 2025 - 2 Jewish people were killed in a vehicle-ramming and stabbing
incident in the UK during Yom Kippur
Dec. 2025 - 2 gunmen opened fire on the first night of Hanukkah in Australia on Bondi Beach killing 16 people.
What I have listed here is a mere drop in the bucket to the antisemitic
incidents that have occurred. The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM)
documented over 13,300 antisemitic incidents worldwide since Oct. 7, 2023
and they say that this is a very conservative number as so many of these
incidents go unreported due to fear of retaliation.
Friends, all of this is demonic in nature. I have people ask me all the time why there are so many Jew-haters in the world. My answer is always the same, “Because it is demonic”. Satan hated the Jewish people from the moment Israel became a nation in the Old Testament. He hated them even more when the Savior was born a Jew, and he hates them to this day because that same Jewish Savior is going to return to earth and kick his sorry butt! He hates you too if you're a Christian because of your connection to the Jewish Savior.
Antisemitism is an age-old story. As believers in Christ, we need to know
where it began and where it’s going to end.
12. Read Rev. 12:3-4 and 9. Describe what you discover about the dragon. He
is actually identified in v. 9.
If, after reading these verses, you think that Satan is wearing a red union suit and has horns on his head and is carrying a pitch-fork, think again! There is a reason why the color red is mentioned and it is not because he is wearing some kind of red outfit.
13. What does the color red (crimson/scarlet) depict in Isaiah 1:18?
Throughout the Bible, you will find that red is often associated with blood and sin.
14. Read John 8:44. What does this verse say about the devil (Satan)?
Back to Rev. 12. There is another sign in the heavenlies of Satan and he is
depicted as a red dragon with 7 heads and 10 horns and on his heads were 7
crowns. I have difficulty even picturing that. I’m a bit of an artist and I’m
already asking myself which heads get a horn or two! This seems like bizarre imagery, and yet, we’ve seen it before. Remember that the Jewish reader looks at prophecy as pattern. In a sense, it is cyclical. There is a definite pattern to this description of the red dragon.
15. Read Daniel 7:7-8. Daniel 7 explains a dream that Daniel had of 4
beasts. The one you just read about is the 4th one....the worst one.
Describe what this beast looks like and what he did.
If you want to go back and read the first part of this chapter, you’ll learn that
the first 3 beasts in Daniel’s dream could all be described. There was
something so incredibly creepy and outlandish about this 4th beast that
Daniel couldn’t even describe what it was like except to describe its teeth and horns. Daniel 7 is an obvious pattern of Rev. 12. There is a beast who has 10 horns in Daniel. While Daniel was closely examining this beast and its horns, a little horn came up from amongst the 10. That little horn is depicted with eyes like a man and saying all these boastful things. The little horn pulls up 3 of the other horns. Now, we have 7 regular horns and 1 little horn that is abnormal in nature. That little horn is the Antichrist and he becomes supernatural through what is given to him by Satan.
16. Read Daniel 7:19-27 and add any other details you discover about this
4th beast.
17. The Apostle Paul also had a description of this little horn in 2 Thess.
2:3-12. What do you think the link is between the little horn and Satan?
Just as we have the holy Trinity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit, we find an unholy trinity emerging in the book of Revelation;
Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet (whom we have not met yet).
Satan and the Antichrist are spoken of in some verses in Scripture almost
synonymously because they are so closely linked to one another.
18. How many stars of heaven (aka, angels) were swept out of heaven
according to Rev. 12:4?
Depending on how you look at it, those are pretty good odds! That means
we’ve got 2⁄3 of the good ones left! When was Satan kicked out of heaven?
Has this already happened in the past? Is it still yet future? Did he get kicked out of part of heaven, but not all of heaven? In Job 38:4-5, we read that angels were present when God set and laid the foundations of the earth. Satan is an angel. Then, in Job 38:7, all the morning stars (angels) sang together. Job is the oldest book in the Bible. Therefore, if all of the angels sang and rejoiced at creation, that would include Satan/Lucifer and the 1⁄3 of the angels who followed him. It would make sense that somewhere between the creation of the earth and Gen. 3 that the 1⁄3 group of bad angels fell from glory.
19. Let’s revisit Isaiah 14:13-14. What are the 5 “I will’s” mentioned in these
verses that Satan wants to do?
I will -
I will -
I will -
I will -
I will -
Scripture describes 3 heavens:
1. The 1st heaven - the atmosphere (Gen. 1:20)
2. The 2nd heaven - outer space (Neh. 9:6)
3. The 3rd heaven - where God resides (2 Cor. 12:2-4, 1 Kings 8:27)
Satan has never been satisfied with only abiding in the 1st and 2nd heavens.
He wants to ascend to the 3rd heaven and raise his throne above God’s throne
and rule on the mount of congregation and be like the Most High God. In Job 1 and 2, we discover that Satan comes and goes before God to accuse the brethren (believers). He may have access to the 3rd heaven, but this is not the place of his current residence.
Back in Genesis 11, Satan was behind the building of the tower of Babel. They wanted to get to the 3rd heaven. God thwarted their plans. Since his fall from the 3rd heaven, he’s been trying to get back. However, it will never happen.
Currently, Satan’s dwelling place is in the 2nd heaven and he has access to the 1st heaven, where we live. At some point, according to Rev. 12, he and his minions will fall from the 2nd heaven to the 1st (earth). Therefore, we are speaking of him falling twice; once just after creation, and then again during the tribulation period. It is when he falls the 2nd time, that he will know he only has a short time left. While he may know what the Bible says and predicts, only God knows the timing of these events.
20. Read Rev. 12:5-6 and describe the child.
If the woman we identified is the nation of Israel, then the male child must be Jesus. He will rule all the nations with a rod of iron.
21. Read Psalm 2:7-9. Who are these verses about and what will the ruler in
these verses do?
Are you seeing this beautiful tapestry pattern that God has created for us
throughout Scripture to teach us about prophecy? It is truly mind-blowing!
22. Take a look back at Rev. 12:4b. What did Satan want to do with the male
child/Jesus?
All the way back in Gen. 3:15, Satan knew that Jesus would be born and that
there would be a people/Israel through which He would be born. Throughout the history of mankind, Satan has been trying to “devour” her (Israel’s) child (Jesus). Let’s look at just a few of those ways.
23. Read the following verses and describe what happened in each.
1. Gen. 4:1-16
2. Gen. 6:1-2
3. Exodus 1:15-22
4. Matt. 2:16
5. Luke 4:1-13
When Cain killed Able, Satan was trying to disrupt the lineage of Jesus. When the angels mated the daughters of men, Satan was trying to corrupt the blood-line of Jesus. When Satan had the Egyptian pharaoh issue an edict to kill the male children under the age of 2 during Moses’ day, he was trying to stop the line of Israel, thus stopping the eventual birth and coming of Jesus.
When Satan killed the male children under the age of 2 after Jesus’ birth, he was actually trying to kill Jesus. And after Jesus was born as a human male, Satan did everything he could to take Jesus out, eventually rejoicing as He died on the cross. If Jesus had given into Satan in the wilderness , Satan would have had the upper hand. Satan will continue to try to harm the offspring of Jesus (Christians) until he is sentenced to the lake of fire.
24. Read Rev. 12:6. Who is going to flee to the wilderness and for how long?
The most horrific Jewish slaughter of our lifetime happened during WWII in a time we refer to as the holocaust. During the holocaust, 1 of every 3 Jews was killed.
25. What do you discover about this time, yet to come that we are reading
about here? The prophet Zechariah prophesied about this long before Jesus
was even born. (Read Zech. 13:8-9)
In the last half of the tribulation period, the time we refer to as the Great
Tribulation, God will protect the nation of Israel. He will send them to a
special place for 1260 days or 3 1⁄2 years and He will provide for them just like He provided for the nation of Israel when they were wandering in the
wilderness. Where this will be is the question. We can make some guesses,
but that is all they are...guesses. Some Bible scholars believe this place will be Petra, in Jordan, about 50 miles south of the Dead Sea. Petra is a
mountainous and uninhabited city carved in red rock. At its height of
development during the 7th century AD, there were as many as 30,000
people who lived there. If you saw the movie Indiana Jones and the Last
Crusade, part of that movie was filmed in Petra.
In the picture below, you’ll see just how amazing this place is. We don’t know for sure where God will send Israel during the last half of the tribulation, but Petra is at the top of my “guess” list.
The world did not really know anything about Petra until 1812 when a Swiss
explorer by the name of Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, “rediscovered” this
ancient city. Burckhardt traveled disguised as an Arab scholar named Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah (btw, don’t name your children this or they will be mad at you for life!). He had heard rumors about a place of magnificence in a narrow valley near the site that is known as the tomb of Aaron (the brother of Moses). At the time, this area was forbidden. Not only did Burckhardt lie about who he was, he lied about his mission in order to gain entry. He told the local Bedouin tribes that he wanted to make a sacrifice to the Prophet Aaron at his tomb, which sits on a mountain overlooking Petra. He was the first European to see the ruins of Petra in centuries. He knew it was the ancient city referred to in Scripture as Sela.
Sela in Scripture is a rock-hewn city in Edom and it is mentioned in 2 Kings
14:7 and Isaiah 16:1. It was a stronghold conquered by King Amaziah, who
ended up renaming it Joktheel. It is in a deep valley between the Red Sea
and the Dead Sea. King Amaziah was the 9th king in the nation of Judah. He started out good and ended up bad by falling into idolatry. I often say that it doesn’t matter how you begin, but it certainly matters how you end.
26. Read Rev. 12:7-9. Who was at war and what was the result?
27. Read Zech. 3:1-2. Where is Satan in these verses and what is he up to?
28. Read Luke 22:31. What has Satan requested of Jesus Christ?
Friends, there will be a day when Satan and his entourage can no longer go
before God (in the 3rd heaven) and accuse believers. Michael and his
entourage of angels will engage in a war with Satan and he will be cast out of the 2nd heaven (outer space) where he currently resides. Therefore, as the events of this chapter happen, Satan will be cast to the 1st heaven (earth).
29. Read Rev. 12:9-17. Compare Rev. 12:11 to Rev. 6:9-10.
Keep in mind as we go through these verses that they are not all in
chronological order.
30. Who are “they” in Rev. 12:11?
I believe this group to be the tribulation saints. Those who are “they” are
martyrs “because of the word of their testimony”. We find martyrs
throughout the Old and New Testament.
31. Back in Rev. 9:4, we see mankind divided into 2 groups. What were those
groups?
32. Go back again and read Rev. 9:20. Who is spoken of in this verse?
33. Referring back again to Rev. 12:11 and Rev. 12:17, would the “they” and “the rest of her children” be those with or without the seal of God?
34. When Satan is thrown to earth, what is his attitude and what does he seek to do about this?
Because Satan knows that his time is short, he will seek to destroy the Jewish people. But God........ Don’t you love in Scripture when you read something totally devastating and then the next sentence begins, “But God”! Rev. 12:14 corresponds back to Rev. 12:6. God makes a way for the remaining Jews who have not been killed to go to a prepared place for the last 3 1⁄2 years because He is not going to allow Satan to destroy them. If you think the holocaust was antisemetic, you haven’t seen antisemitism! This last 3 1⁄2 years on the earth will be the most antisemitic time the world has ever known and we are headed in that direction right now.
35. What do you think Scripture means in Rev. 12:14 when it says that Israel will be given “two wings of a great eagle” to get her to their holding place in the wilderness?
36. Read Exodus 19:4 and describe how God said He was going to take Israel
out of Egypt.
In both cases, God will supernaturally lead His people to safety. We don’t
know exactly what this will look like or where that location will be, but He
knows.
37. What happens in Rev. 12:15-16 while the Jewish people are on their way to safety?
Rev. 12:16 begins, “But the earth helped the woman”. However, this is a place
where it could just as easily say, “But God caused the earth to help the
woman.”
38. In Rev. 12:17, Satan shifts his focus to another group. Who is that group?
If the woman is Israel, then who are the rest of her children? I’ve read some
commentaries say that this could be the 144,000 Jewish men who are sealed and who are witnessing. It is hard for me to make this fit chronologically. I personally think it is a reference to those people who were left behind and who accepted Jesus Christ, those who had the seal of God on their foreheads that we just talked about.
I told you early on in this study that from Chapter 4 on, the book of Revelation becomes very Jewish in nature. Satan is the father of antisemitism and from the killing of Abel, to the killing of male babies, to the holocaust, to the tribulation, he will not stop his annihilation and vitriol towards God’s people.
And because we are grafted into the family of God through the Jews, Satan
hates us and wants to destroy our witness of God by destroying us. That
tactic has never worked. When Charlie Kirk was assassinated, Satan didn’t
silence Charlie’s voice. His voice cries out from the grave through the rest of
us who carry the torch of Christ! I’m so glad I know how this story ends!
But God..........
Thank you for prayerfully considering partnering with us.
