Bible Study Rev 12 the woman.

[Corn Pop]

Some people seem to think the woman in Rev 12 is Mary but I disagree.

The woman (Isreal) clothed with Christ and the moon underfoot, with a crown of 12 stars representing the 12 tribes of Israel that can be referenced back to Josephs dream of the sun moon and 11 stars bowing down.

The dragon had a cry with and went after her offspring and those who hold the law and testimony of christ. Who has the law and have the testimony of Christ?.

Israels seed and Israels child was snached to heaven and the dragon went after Israels offspring who hold the law and testimony of the Christ. Israel is represented as a woman who gives birth.

Many claim the woman is Mary and shes the the queen of heaven , she did give birth to the Christ so there is a reference there to a point as the one who gave birth to the Christ out of Israels seed, yet many don't even believe Mary even had children like many catholics, so she ain't got no offspring who hold both the law and the testimony of Christ.

 

[Corn Pop]

Who's seed has the commandment of God and holds the testimony of Christ. Whos seed was sent into the wilderness for 40 years yet were provided for and protected. Who's seed gave birth to the Christ. Israel is the woman in Rev 12.

Correct me if you believe im wrong and bring your argument as we can have open honest discussion about it.

Christ gets snatched up to heaven and then the dragon goes after the womans offspring. Gods plan was finished before it even began from the first ever prophecy. Christ was always with the Father from the start and always walked.

 

[Corn Pop]

The woman (Israel) clothed with the sun (The Great Light) with the moon underfoot and a crown of 12 stars on her head ( 12 tribes) she suffered in the wilderness with them birth pangs yet was always provided for and protected and her seed was always clothed by the sun, and she gave birth, out of her come the Great Light that clothes her. The woman clothed with the sun and a crown of 12 stars.

 

[for_his_glory]

Rev 12:1-6

John is shown a great sign in heaven as he sees a vision of a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet. The sun is representative of the glory and brilliance of Gods righteousness that surrounds her and protects her. Under her feet the moon which is illustrative of eternity, light, Gods faithfulness in His Son Jesus who is the greater light of the gospel age as Jesus being the light of the world that shines in darkness, but the darkness can not comprehend the light, Psalms 72:5-7; Isaiah 2:3-5; Jeremiah 31:35-37; Isaiah 30:26-33; John 1:1-5.

The woman is symbolic of Israel and the congregation of Gods people as she wears a crown of twelve stars which represents the twelve tribes of Israel that have repented of their arrogance as they felt they deserved Gods favor, but yet kept killing the prophets God sent to them, including the very Messiah they were waiting for. This is when the times of the Gentiles began as God went to them to take Himself a people that were humbled enough to receive salvation as God had mercy on them, Matthew 23:37-39; Acts 15:14; Romans 11:25-27.

Paul also warned the Gentiles against being lifted up in pride because they had been favored by God with salvation as he explained the blindness of Israel would not last forever as when they see the Gentiles now having favor in the Lord and being grafted into the branch of Israel they repent of their sin and turn back to God being once again found in His favor, Romans Chapter 11.

The true congregation of God can be symbolized here as a mother that has all here children gathered in one place for safety which in this case is under the wings of the almighty God, Psalms 91. She cries out like a woman in labor as the pain of her persecutions has become too great to bear as she waits to be delivered from her persecutors, 2 Timothy 4:18; 2 Peter 2:9; Colossians 1:13.

The other sign John saw was a great red dragon meaning Satan. Remember, this is a vision and a sign as Satan has not yet been thrown out of heaven yet. The description of the dragon being great and red depicts its nature and character as being fierce and murderous, John 8:44. This red dragon is depicted as having seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. The seven heads and ten horns refer to the original ten kingdoms of which three were subdued by the little horn of Daniel 7:8. The last kingdom which stands greater than all the others is that of a revived Roman Empire that takes control over all the ten nations who then implements a deceiving peace treaty to a world that is in great distress. Below is that of the seven kingdoms described as four beasts in Daniel 7:1-8 and the three kingdoms that were subdued by the little horn, which is the Roman Empire.

The three kingdoms that were subdued by the little horn of Daniel 7:24 are the Heruli, Vandals, and Ostrogoths who were eliminated by the year 538 AD under the leadership of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian whose deadly wound came in 1798. The wound was largely healed in 1929 when Mussolini gave the Vatican back to the Pope and established it as a country in it's own right in the Lateran Treaty. Today the Vatican has formal diplomatic relations with almost every country in the world. We will study this more in Chapter 13.

Seven remaining nations that still exist today:

Babylonian Empire:
(Iraq) The lion represents the winged lions that guarded the royal places of Babylon.

Medo – Persian Empire:
(Iran) The ribs of the bear are part of the consuming greed that devours the first empire.

Grecian Empire:
(Greece, Turkey, Syria, Egypt) Four wings of the leopard described the swiftness of this empire that ran from 334-331BC. It wrestled world dominion from Medo-Persia. After the death of Alexander the Great the kingdom was divided into four minor kingdoms that continued as prominent factors in world politics until the Roman Empire gathered it back as one kingdom.

Roman Empire: (little horn, Daniel 8:9-14, 23-27)
Iron represents the stronghold this nation had. Daniel chapter 2 mentions the iron element of this empire that it to will be divided and broken as God will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.

The crowns on its heads show that this dragon claims royal authority against the true King who is God of all creation as he prepares to take his seat above all that which is Gods Kingdom claiming he is God as he prepares to deceive the world through that of an existing Roman Empire, Daniel 8:9-12; Isaiah 14:12-15.