We have already discussed how that the book of Revelation is not in chronological order. It is in fact a collection of visions and stories that tell of the same events. Our remaining lessons will each focus on a particular vision of Daniel or John and then we will look for clues to see how the vision that we are studying coincides with the previous visions. In other words, as we study future lessons keep a look out for clues that refer to those events that we have already covered. When found, they show us how everything fits together.

The "Vision of the Woman Clothed with the Sun" is found in the twelfth chapter of Revelation. We will see how that the vision is in chronological order with itself and is an extremely broad view of the plan of God on earth. During this lesson we will literally go verse by verse through this chapter using other scriptures that correlate with the events to understand them. We will let scripture interpret scripture!

It is very apparent that this chapter involves symbolism and that it is not talking about a literal lady. The first question that we must answer is "who or what does the lady represent." The clues given are that she was "clothed with the sun," had "the moon under her feet," and a "crown of twelve stars." Luckily there is another vision that someone had that used these same symbols. They are found in the dreams that were given to Joseph by God back in the book of Genesis.

Joseph had a dream that the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down in reverence to him! The interpretation of the dream is given by Joseph's father, Jacob, in verse 10: the sun represents Jacob (or Israel, because his name had been changed); the moon represents his mother, and the eleven stars represent the brothers of Joseph. With Joseph, there were twelve sons or stars all together!

The immediate fulfillment of this prophecy was when Joseph was blessed of God despite great persecution even by his own people, and rose to power in Egypt so that even those that had persecuted him ended bowing down to him and respecting him. The distant fulfillment of this prophecy was the anti-type of Joseph (in other words, a spiritual representation of Joseph's story), Jesus Christ who despite extreme persecution from his own, is the King of Kings and, one day, to Him every knee shall bow! When we keep in mind that Jacob's name was changed to "Israel" because God was going to fulfill the promises that He made to Abraham through Jacob, the promises were that many nations would come from his descendants, and, in particular, a great nation of people separated unto God would come. (For more information on these promises, see Dispensation Bible Study #5, Dispensation of Promise.) Jacob's twelve sons, grew in Egypt into the twelve tribes of Israel. So the woman who was "clothed with the sun" that is presented again in Revelation represents the nation of Israel. Keeping this in mind, let's see if the remainder of the vision makes sense and harmonizes with this interpretation:

The woman became pregnant with a child and began to go into delivery. We will get further clues to the child in a few verses.

Now another symbol comes into the vision: a "great red dragon." Luckily we do not have to guess as to the meaning of the symbol for the chapter clearly identifies the dragon as Satan in Rev 12:9. Notice that the unique characteristics of the dragon is it's seven heads and ten horns with a crown upon each head. We will come back to this verse in a later lesson on those particular symbols.

The dragon's tail drew "a third part of the stars of heaven" and "did cast them to the earth." This is a direct reference to Satan's rebellion in heaven against the plan of God in the beginning. Several times in the Old Testament, the angels of heaven are also referred to as "stars" (see Job 38:4,7; Isaiah 14:12-13). Indeed, Satan is referred to as the "angel of light" and when he fell from heaven it was like "lightening" (see II Corinthians 11:13-14 and Luke 10:18). Isaiah 14:12-19 and Ezekiel 28:13-19 give the details of Lucifer's rebellion. He was created as an archangel (chief angel) along with Gabriel and Michael. Every time Gabriel is mentioned in scripture, he is delivering a message, and every time that Michael is mentioned in scripture, he is fighting, so it is obvious that Gabriel is the chief angel over the "messenger angels," and Michael is the chief angel over the "fighting angels." (Gabriel scriptures include: Daniel 8:15-16; 9:21-22; Luke 1:11-13, 18-19, 26:31 and Michael scriptures include: Jude 1:9; Daniel 10:12-14, 19-21; 12:1 Revelation 12:7-9 which we will study in just a moment.) Lucifer was the chief angel over the "worshipper angels." These three angels are the only angels mentioned by name in scripture so they obviously were the "chief angels" created by God. Yet pride was found in Lucifer's heart and he wanted to be worshipped as the "most High." Because of this, he was cast down from his place of power in heaven and flung to the earth. When he rebelled, he apparently took one-third of the angels or "stars" with him. It would logically follow that the one-third of angels under his command were the ones deceived. Demons are simply fallen angels! It is important to realize that Satan is not in hell but upon earth, seeking "whom me may devour" (I Peter 5:8). At the end of time, he will be cast into the lake of fire, but right now, he is free upon the earth.

There is great controversy among Bible scholars as to when the rebellion of Lucifer took place. The scripture is not explicitly clear on this matter and opinion differ as widely as before Creation to well after Creation. My opinion on this matter is drawn from the observation mentioned above that in the Old Testament, the angels are often referred to as "stars," and a comparison of that fact with Genesis 2:1-2 which states that "the heavens were finished along with the host of them." I think it very likely that the angels were created at the same time in creation that the literal stars were created, and that the rebellion of Lucifer happened shortly after the seventh day. Know one knows for sure, but I personally believe that Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden for less than a year before they sinned (see Dispensation Bible Study #2, Dispensation of Innocence). It would not have taken Satan all that long to find the only two people on the face of the earth! Whatever the correct timing, this verse in Revelation 12:4 is reference to Lucifer's rebellion and the scriptures say that he stood before the woman who was to give birth, wanting to "devour" the child as soon as it was born.

It is here that the identity of the child becomes obvious. The child was a boy, and was to "rule all nations." The child was also "caught up" to the very throne of God! That description can apply to no one else but Jesus Christ! He is the King of Kings that sits upon the very throne of God!

Now that we know the identity of the child, let's make sure we understand the vision thus far. The woman represents Israel formed from the twelve sons of Jacob. The dragon represents Satan and before the birth of the child from the woman, he rebelled and drew a third of the angels with him. Israel gave birth to Jesus Christ and Satan, the dragon, tried to destroy Him as soon as He was born. This is consistent with what happened at Jesus' birth by the decree of Herod that all male babies were to be killed (see Matthew 2:16-21). (Also notice the parallel between Joseph and Jesus in that both were saved by finding refuge in Egypt.) The child being "caught up" refers to Jesus' ascension into heaven at the end of His earthly ministry (see Acts 1:9-11 and Dispensation Bible Study #20 The Resurrected Christ).

Notice that we now have a definite timeline for the story. From verse 1 to verse 5 we have covered over 4,000 years from Lucifer's rebellion to Jesus' ascension. The rest of the vision gets very specific:

The woman fled into the wilderness into a place prepared of God where she was fed for one thousand, two hundred and sixty days. If we use the Hebrew calendar which had 30 days per month and thus three hundred sixty days a year, then one thousand, two hundred and sixty days is exactly three and a half years! (30 x 12 = 360. 360 x 3.5 = 1,260 days) Notice that this perfectly corresponds with the division of Daniel's Seventieth week in half by the Abomination of Desolation. We learned in our last lesson that the Abomination of Desolation would happen in the middle of the seven year period of Daniel's Seventieth week and would begin the Great Tribulation which would be a three and a half year period. Therefore, we had three and a half years of peace, and three and a half years of tribulation, so the question that we must answer before we end this study is "to which three and a half year period does Revelation 12:6 refer to?" We will find our answer in a moment.

Many people teach that this is a reference to the original rebellion of Lucifer in the beginning, but that cannot be, because we have already had a reference to that rebellion in verse 4. This is a future war held after the ascension of Jesus Christ to the throne of God and after one of the three and a half year periods of Daniel's seventieth week. To teach that this is the past rebellion of Lucifer causes many incosistencies in scripture such as 1. To what then does verse 4 of this chapter refer? 2. How could Satan be the accuser of the brethren, before there were any "brethren" that sinned? In other words, this could not refer back to the original rebellion of Lucifer because he had "accused" the brethren "before our God day and night." If Lucifer fell before Adam and Eve sinned, then who did he have to accuse?

Everything makes perfect sense when we realize that Satan, although cast down from his position with God, still has access to heaven. This truth is illustrated in verse 10 above where it said that Lucifer "accused the brethren" "before our God." Satan is not omnipresent (able to be everywhere at one time), so if he is to accuse men "before our God," then he must be able to enter the throne room of heaven. This truth is strengthened by the familiar account of Job:

Notice that when the angels of the Lord came to present themselves before God, Satan came with them! He had been walking upon the earth, but he still had access to heaven! Why had he come? Reading on in the chapter we find that it was to accuse those that were serving God! He accused God of protecting Job with a "hedge" and that the protection and blessings of God was the only reason that Job served God. God removed the protection and blessing to prove to the devil that Job loved God! Remember when you are going through a trial or persecution that God may just be showing the devil how much that you truly love Jesus! Remain faithful and do not allow the "accuser of the brethren" to win in your life!

The point here is that it is obvious that Satan still had access to heaven even after being cast from his position with God. There are others scriptures that bear this out which we do not have time to study in detail. For example, a lying spirit was in heaven before God and volunteered to speak for God to the false prophets of Ahab (I Kings 22:19-23 and II Chronicles 18:18-22). These principles become even clearer when we see how the "brethren" overcame the accuser:

There were three keys to defeating the devil in their lives: 1. The blood of the Lamb 2. Their testimony and 3. complete, life-long submission to God! These three things are still the key to defeating the devil today, so it is obvious that Satan is still the accuser of the brethren today and still has access to heaven to do so. It is also interesting that the "brethren" has to refer to the church, because it is only the Apostolic church that has the power of the blood of the Lamb! Israel for the most part has rejected the Lamb of God at this time! This is undeniably a direct reference to the Apostolic Church! This reinforces what we learned in lesson #1 that the church is mentioned in Revelation after chapter 4! This also clarifies that this war is not a reference to Lucifer's first rebellion because Adam and Eve did not have the "blood of the Lamb" available to them to thwart the devil's plans!

These verses are important to us because they reveal even more crucial details about these future events! When the devil is cast down in this future attack on heaven, he will be cast down upon the earth having "great wrath." The immediate result of his defeat is that he will begin to persecute Israel. Now it becomes clear that the three and a half years of verse 6 refer to the first three and a half peaceful years of Daniel's seventieth week. Immediately after those three and a half years, there is a war in heaven that immediately triggers a great persecution of Israel by Satan. That is, at the same time the Abomination of Desolation happens, Satan is defeated in this war! So the persecution of the Antichrist against Israel and the wrath of Satan are the same thing. What this proves is that the Great Tribulation is a time of persecution of Satan and NOT judgment from God as so many teach. There is a difference between the persecution of Satan and the wrath of God! God hath not appointed us unto wrath because we were saved from His wrath through the blood of Jesus Christ (see I Thessalonians 5:9). But God has always used persecution to spur Christians into action! The theories of "pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, and post-tribulation" are all errant scripturally because they not only teach that the Great Tribulation is a seven year period (it is really a three and a half year period) but they confuse the persecution of Satan during the tribulation with the wrath of God. As we will see, they are two quite different events! The Wrath of God is not poured out until after the three and a half years of the Great Tribulation!

Remember those "wings of a great eagle" because we will refer back to this scripture in a later lesson. But God protected Israel from the persecution for "a time, and times, and half a time." What does that mean? If a time equals one year, then it means that God protected Israel for "a time" (one year), "and times" (more than one year or two years), and "half a time" (a half a year). One year plus two years plus a half a year gives us the same number mentioned in many other scriptures: three and a half years! (1 year + 2 years + 1/2 year = 3 1/2 years). So the woman had to be protected from the persecution of Satan for three and a half years because that is obviously how long the persecution would last! Before we move on, let's compare the timetable of Revelation chapter 12 to the Abomination of Desolation and Daniel's seventieth week that we learned about in lesson #2:

Daniel's 70th week = 7 years total

3 1/2 years of peace 3 1/2 years of Great Tribulation

Abomination of Desolation

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War in Heaven Devil Cast To Earth

1,260 days of protection (3 1/2 years) Devil persecutes Israel for 3 1/2 years

Revelation chapter 12 = 7 years total

This simple comparison shows the correlation of lesson #2 and lesson #3! Different terms are used and different details are given, but we are reading about the same time prophetically!

I will confess that these two verses are the ones of which I have the least understanding. There is an obvious comparison of the devil's attack to "a flood" which corresponds with the promise and prophecy of Isaiah 59:19. It states that "when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." I think that the "flood" is a symbolic of great persecution that would seem to be able to destroy Israel, and yet God will step in and save them! The earth opening up and swallowing the flood has a comparison with the demise of the rebels Korah in the Old Testament. When they rebelled against Moses, the earth opened up and swallowed them! It could possibly be a literal reference that the earth will swallow up those who seek to carry out the Antichrist's/Devil's orders to persecute Israel, or it may be just symbolic that the Lord will not let the persecution completely destroy the children of Israel. One thing is clear: the devil will not be able to carry out his persecution upon Israel as he had planned.

This verse is highly interesting because it states that after not being able to full persecute Israel, that Satan went to make war with the "remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Who are these people who are a product of Israel and yet distinctly different? What group actually keeps the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ? It certainly is not the nation of Israel which is currently 75% agnostic and even most of the orthodox Jews deny that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, Jehovah God come in flesh! This verse can only refer to the church! The Apostolic Church is the only group of people who can find their roots in Israel and yet claim to be a distinctly different group that obeys the commandments of God and has the testimony of Jesus Christ!

But realize what this truth means: if Satan is able to persecute the church after being cast down from heaven to the earth, then that means that at this time toward the end of the Great Tribulation, the last three and a half years of Daniel's seventieth week, the church is still on earth! The Rapture has not yet taken place! There is a difference between this belief and post - tribulation and mid - tribulation because those theories state that the Great Tribulation is a seven year period and that it is the judgment of God. We have seen that the period that Jesus called the Great Tribulation is actually the last three and half year period of Daniel's seventieth week and that it is not the judgment of God but the persecution of Satan! As we will see when we study the wrath of God, the scriptures bear out that the church will be raptured before the judgments of God are poured out upon the earth, but nowhere does the scripture say that God will never allow us to go through persecution. In fact it time and time again reminds us to face persecution with faith. Paul said:

God will not beat up His precious church and allow them to suffer the wrath of God, but He will allow us to experience the persecution of Satan and the Antichrist. Remember: scripturally the Great Tribulation and the Wrath of God are two separate events! The Great Tribulation is the persecution of Satan and the Antichrist upon Israel and then later, upon the church. The Wrath of God is the judgment of God upon the unGodly after the Rapture of the Church. Many people across the Christian world are beginning to realize these truths and search the scriptures. For the sake of distinction, the name of this belief is "pre-wrath." By using the term "pre-wrath" we are saying that we understand that the Great Tribulation is not a seven year period but a three and a half year period and that we understand the difference between the Great Tribulation and the wrath of God. Before we close this lesson, let's go back to Jesus' words in Matthew chapter 24 and pick up where we left off:

Notice that Matthew chapter 24 is also in chronological order with itself. Jesus said "immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days" would the wrath of God be poured out. The devil can bring persecution but the things in verse 29 above are only things that God can do. Only God can darken the sun and moon, and cause stars to fall. Only God can shake the powers of heaven. As we go through the Book of Revelation, we will find that all of these things are associated with the Wrath of God, and Jesus said that they would happen "immediately after the tribulation" that He had just spoken about (we get the term "Great Tribulation" from verse 21). We cannot blindly believe our own traditional theories and ignore the timetable expressed by Jesus Christ in this chapter!

Verse 30 says "THEN" shall the Son of Man shall appear with angels and "with a great sound of a trumpet" shall "gather together his elect!" If this is not a reference to the rapture of the church then what is it? We can then begin to see (and we will more thoroughly cover this later) that the beginning of the wrath of God and the Rapture are a simultaneous event. More important for our study at this time, this is undeniable proof that the Wrath of God happens immediately AFTER the Great Tribulation! The vision of the woman clothed with a sun ties in perfectly with Daniel's seventieth week!