The TTUF STUDY on The REVELATION of JESUS CHRIST – Chapter TWELVE

~ by James Fire

Introduction: Hermeneutics is concerned with the method of how we interpret the Bible. One can have a very conservative hermeneutic or a very liberal one; one’s hermeneutic can be a very literal method or a very allegorical one.
One’s hermeneutic can be dispensational* or according to covenant theology**.

For more on these two positions, check out these links below:

*Review of “Dispensationalism,” by Charles Ryrie

**Covenant Theology: What’s in It for Israel?

For another excellent treatment on the validity of dispensational theology, check out:

WHY I AM A DISPENSATIONALIST, by SHARPER IRON

Note to Readers: We here at TTUF are vigorously and intentionally dispensationalist in our hermeneutic, believing that there is a distinction between Israel and the church, that the various dispensations are related to the eight covenants that GOD established with the people of this world, and with Israel and the church: these covenants are: Adamic Covenant, Edenic Covenant, Noahic Covenant, Abrahamic Covenant, Mosaic Covenant, the Land (Palestinian) Covenant, the Davidic Covenant and the New Covenant. For more about dispensations and covenants, check out TTUF’s Discipleship introductory examination of these here.

It is vital that we maintain a biblical distinction between Israel and the church; Covenant Theology believes that there is one church in two phases: Israel, the church of the Old Testament and the body of Christ, the church of the New Testament. We find this hermeneutic fundamentally flawed as it will attribute Scripture to the church that inherently belongs to the nation of Israel, by spiritualizing the verses rather than applying a literal interpretation.

Why am I harping on these assertions in such replete fashion?
Because of the chapter we are about to examine for one; many of the Covenant Theology camp sees this figure of the woman as the church, but the Scripture itself defines who she is, and she is not the body of Christ. We believe Israel has a destiny, a purpose and a plan from GOD Who will fulfill all of His promises to her according to His appointed, yet-future time (Covenant theologians believe these promises are already fulfilled, thus as a nation, GOD’s involvement with her is done and over with).

Also worthy of note, which we have brought up before, is that every symbol, every vision found in the book of REVELATION is either explained within the context of the passage or elsewhere in the Scripture, and we shall witness this as well; so, let’s begin:

For a bit of review: We have seen the six seals opened, and with the seventh seal, the sounding of the six trumpets, and with the sounding of the seventh trumpet, we will see the seven bowls poured out. In between these three ‘sevens’ there are interludes of sorts. Between the sixth and seventh seal there is the sealing of the 144,000; between the sixth and seventh trumpet we see the little book that the apostle John consumed as well as third Temple that’s to be defiled with the abomination of the Beast. The seventh trumpet is sounded, announcing the victory of Christ and afterwards there is the vision of the woman and child, and the great red dragon.

Next we find the following: Before the pouring out of the seven bowls we are given the revelation of the two beasts, typically referred to as the anti-Christ and the false prophet, and then we once again see the 144,000 but in this instance they are with the Lamb on Mt. Sion; two angels are seen: the one proclaiming the Gospel and the other pronouncing the dire warning regarding the mark of the Beast, and the two harvests. After these things, we arrive to chapter 15 and the seven bowls of judgment upon the earth-dwellers as well as Babylon (Ch. 16-18), and finally the arrival of Christ (and His bride! Ch. 19) Who visits the Earth that He had left two thousand years previously. He dispatches the two beasts, consigns Satan tot he abyss, and inaugurates His triumphal entry to the grateful nation of Israel. Chapter 20 describes the Millennial Reign, then the quintessential judgment of Satan and his consignment to the lake of fire; and then in the final chapters of REVELATION 21 and 22 we are given the sight of the new heavens, the new earth and the new Jerusalem and the book’s final word: an invitation to all who read to come to the Kingdom of GOD through the LORD Jesus Christ.

REVELATION 12:1
¹ And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

This would seem to be a vision rather than an actual personage floating in the skies (as we read about Christ’s ascension in ACTS 1, a Person not a vision); every vision of the prophetic relates to some literal, actual person, place or thing in the world, either from the past or in the future.
Here we see a “great wonder” in heaven: there is this woman, clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet; and upon her head is a crown composed of twelve stars.

The word for “clothed” in the Greek is periballo, and it means “to wrap a garment about, to put on, to cast about”; it’s used twelve times in the book of REVELATION alone: in REV 3:18 it refers to the nakedness of the Laodiceans and the LORD’s admonition that they should be clothed with the white raiment of the LORD’s own righteousness; the elders are seen clothed in this same righteousness in REV 4:4. 

The 144,000 are clothed in “white raiment” as well as the saints who came out of great tribulation in REV 7:9,13. In REV 10:1, we see “another mighty angel” clothed with a cloud. In REV 11:3, the two witnesses are clothed in sackcloth while they prophesy 1,260 days. Then we see in this chapter, this woman clothed in the sun. In REV 17:4 and REV 18:16 we see yet another woman of a wholly different kind, clothed in purple and scarlet. 

Finally in REV 19:8 we once again see the saints – the bride of Christ in this case, clothed (“arrayed”) in the fine linen, clean and white, the righteousness of the saints as well as the LORD Himself who is clothed in a vesture dipped in blood (REV 19:13) – not His own, for all of that was shed already at the cross – but of His enemies that He trod down as the grapes of wrath in the great winepress of His wrath and fury.

It’s interesting to see that there are these two women set in opposition to each other: the woman clothed in the sun, and this other in REV 17^th and 18^th chapters that is clothed in purple and scarlet – they are polar opposites: the one being Israel the virgin daughter of Zion (this will be the faithful remnant of Israel in the last days as well as the Old Testament saints) and holy nation of GOD and the other being the Whore of Babylon, the unholy church that is united with the anti-Christ. 

These women representative of their respective kingdoms: of GOD and of Satan. Then there is actually a third woman, the bride of Christ (REV 21:9).

The woman seen in this chapter has the brilliance of the sun all about her, and the moon under her feet; upon her head a crown of twelve stars. Is this indeed the church, and if so, where in Scripture do we see her identified as such?

I see no such description of the church expressed in these terms; what we’ve seen previously (in chapters 2 and 3), describes the bride of Christ but there we saw no stars, no sun, no moon at all.

What I do find is a description remarkably close to this in the book of GENESIS; Joseph, the second youngest son of Jacob had received two visions from the LORD and the second dream he described as follows:

GENESIS 37:9
⁹ And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

Jacob was given understanding of what this dream meant:

GENESIS 37:10
¹⁰ And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

Joseph’s brothers resentfully rejected the dream, and while Jacob seemed initially offended, he came to “observe[d] the saying” or as we might say it, ‘filed it away for later consideration’. He perhaps pondered the relationships of his own father and his uncle Ishmael; his own relationship with Esau and how young siblings were blessed of GOD above the elder.

These dreams of Joseph came to fruition when he, by the hand of GOD, was raised up in prominence in Egypt and the famine that the LORD revealed would come, came and the sons of Jacob, out of desperation sought out grain from the one place where there was still some to get: Egypt. It was there that they bowed down before Joseph, just as GOD said.

Here in REVELATION then, we see the entirety of Israel represented: not only Jacob and his wife, but all twelve of the sons of Jacob, along with all the people of Israel who will find themselves in this “time of Jacob’s Trouble” (JER 30:7).

REVELATION 12:2-3
² And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. ³ And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

It was through the nation of Israel that we have received the holy oracles which they were entrusted with through the prophets that the LORD sent to the nation (ROM 3:1-2). It was through Israel that the Messiah was born into this world (MATT 1:1), and specifically through Mary, the wife of Joseph, himself the son of Jacob, the son of Matthan - and both of the house of David the king (MATT 1:15-16).

Now enters the other personage of this vision: “a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and ten crowns upon his heads” – and where else in Scripture do we see this monstrosity?

We see a parallel of sorts of this beast in DANIEL, but with distinctions that are different than what’s revealed to John the apostle:

DANIEL 7:7-8
⁷ After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. ⁸ I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

Daniel reveals that this beast is far different than the previous ones and that it had ten horns, but that three of them were supplanted by another little horn, which we know is the anti-Christ, the Beast of REVELATION, to whom these will surrender their authority (REV 17:12). 

The apostle tells us further that this great red dragon had seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads. There are distinctions however to point out that these aren’t exactly the same thing: The four beasts revealed to Daniel were kingdoms/kings of men, including “the great and terrible beast” whereas this great red dragon seen in REVELATION is Satan himself (see vs. 9). 

But to see such a resemblance of remarkable likeness intimates that in some way, Satan is one with this last kingdom of ten horns, seven heads and crowns; that this kingdom – or one could justifiably refer to it as an empire that has these ten kings in the midst, is so heavily influenced by Satan, that the resemblance is striking. 

It’s been said, “You become like that which you worship.” Worship GOD and you become godly; worship the world and you become cruel and exploitive; in these days to come, all the world will worship the dragon, the 'god' of this world (2 COR 4:4) and so will come to resemble him as well.

We will examine this great dragon further in this and other chapters. One thing I’d like to point out is that these ten horns or kings/kingdoms (the Hebrew word for king or kingdom is melek, which can mean either of these depending on the context) is that they are established before the rise of the little horn (the Beast).

Those of us who are of a dispensational, pre-tribulation view believe that the church must be removed prior to the manifestation of the Beast, but there is nothing in Scripture that prevents the rising up of these ten kings while the church is still here. 

We the church of Jesus Christ could very well witness the formation of a one world government, and a subsequent global persecution (which is in a practical sense already here!) of the saints wherever they are found, before the LORD’s coming to rapture the church to heaven and to our Father’s house! 

By no means would this indicate that we would then enter into the great tribulation period, as the theme of this last seven year period is not about persecution of the saints (though this will happen as it always has) but judgment upon Christ-rejectors and chastening of the nation of Israel. This is about the wraith of the LAMB far more than it is about the wrath of the devil. 

See JOHN 3:36; ROM 1:18; 2:5; 5:9; 9:22; EPH 5:6; COL 3:6; 1 THESS 5:9.

REVELATION 12:4
⁴ And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

In this verse we learn that of all “the stars of heaven”, which are angelic hosts (JOB 38:7; LUKE 2:13), a third of them were led by Lucifer in the rebellion against GOD that began in this cherub’s own heart:

ISAIAH 14:12-15
¹² How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! ¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: ¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. ¹⁵ Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Essentially Lucifer declared from the heart, “Not Thy will [Lord] be done, but MY will be done!” and for that, he and all the angels that followed him were cast out of heaven – but not yet consigned to hell, as portrayed in Milton’s and Dante’s works where the devil prefers to rule in hell rather than serve in heaven. He is the ruler of this world still (JOB 1:6-7; 2 COR 4:4; JOHN 14:30), even though the LORD has purchased this world back ("redeemed") by His blood and possesses all authority in both heaven AND earth (MATT 28:18) and has defeated Satan and his false claim over this world (JOHN 12:31; 16:11; COL 2:15) and will return to lay the true claim to his rightful possession!

He still has access to heaven – he was able to address GOD and accuse Job at the very throne of heaven and in the text we read in REVELATION, he also still accuses the saints of the church before GOD (REV 12:10).

There is a lot of debate and disagreement on when this fall happened: some believe it was before the physical universe was created or sometime before the creation of man (before the 6^th day). The fact of the matter is, it was due to his pride and unwillingness to be faithful in his stewardship of what the LORD GOD gave him – he wasn’t satisfied with his station and wanted more power; he lusted for worship and felt that he was just as worthy of it as was GOD.

It was no doubt an appeal by Lucifer to all of the thirty-three percent of the angels to recognize their own 'godhood' – the very same temptation he offered to our Parents, Adam and Eve that led to the downfall of both angel and human. These fallen angels, I believe, were what was behind the pagan gods and idols of the nations, which continues even today and into the days of REVELATION (REV 9:20; PSALM 106:36-38).

I also believe that a distinction can be made between fallen angels and demons but rather than go into this here, let me provide a good, short article by GOTQUESTIONS that also provides two links for an even broader perspective that shows how these spirits may indeed be two different classes of beings: Are the demons the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim?

While Satan is indeed powerful, quite probably the most powerful, the most intelligent and beautiful being that GOD had ever created, he is still a finite creation with limitations; and while he commands a formidable host of unimaginably powerful fellow cherubim, arch-angels and angels – they still only comprise a third of the entire host of heaven! 

Sixty-six percent remain loyal to the LORD, holy and having retained all of the glory that GOD clothed them with, and are faithful to the various stations that their Creator positioned them in.

Satan and the kingdom of darkness understand all too well that in order for prophecy to come true in these last days, Israel is required in this present world. The Messiah and His Messianic reign is something yet future, so he has a vested interest in destroying this nation and every Jew that breathes. Yet it’s a hopeless mission because, even though Israel’s hardest and most cruel time is also yet future, but the WORD of GOD promises that she will get through this “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” purified, a third of the nation will  survive (ZECH 13:8) and enter into the bliss of the Kingdom of Israel! 

Nevertheless, this great Red Dragon will seek to devour the child of the woman (vs. 6) and persecute her (vs. 13)!

REVELATION 12:5
⁵ And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

We need not any instruction as to who this baby boy was – a Child of this nation of Israel, One who would be King, and rule all nations – not just Israel, but all nations with a rod of iron. Who do we read about in this book of REVELATION that would rule “with a rod of iron”?

REVELATION 19:11-16
¹¹ And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. ¹² His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. ¹³ And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵ And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. ¹⁶ And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords. See also PSALM 2:6-10

In this single verse, REV 12:5, we have the entire earthly life of the LORD Jesus Christ encapsulated.

GALATIANS 4:4-5
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

ACTS 1:9-10
⁹ And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

Verse 5 mentions in between the birth of Christ and His ascension into heaven, His righteous reign will be unyielding and intolerant towards any rebellion or evil (hence, “the rod of iron”) anywhere in this world. Since the Majesty of All the Universe is going to rule the entire globe, let us be sure to honor Him in yielding to His rule over our own hearts today, granting us His grace and peace as we offer up our obedience from these hearts of love (ROM 6:11-14,22; EPH 6:5; COL 3:15-16; HEB 13:9).

There are those who disparage the idea that Christ – the Messiah will have anything more to do with Israel, the Jewish people; they refer to them as ‘Christ-killers’. What they seem to blatantly disregard is that it was Christ’s intention to come and die for the sins of the world – and for that matter, if anyone wants someone to blame for the death of Christ, I will go on record to say, you can blame me for His death: it was my sin that nailed Him to that tree!

Scripture speaks clearly of Israel’s initial rejection of Y’shua ha Meschiach, but it also speaks just as clearly that they will receive Him when He returns; this is what Stephen was driving at in ACTS 7 when the Sanhedrin figured out what he was implying, and filled with rage, martyred him. Check out this article from Koinonia House on this very subject. 

The God Of The Second Chance.

REVELATION 12:6
⁶ And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Scripture is explicit regarding this wilderness location – it is none other than Bozrah (aka Petra), where the LORD will gather as a Shepherd gathers His sheep, the faithful remnant of Israel:

MICAH 2:12
I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

Evidently the Battle of Armageddon (in the valley of Megiddo) will find a climax near Jerusalem, and the slaughter of the Beast’s militant forces will be so extreme as to create a literal river of blood that will reach to Bozrah! That’s a river of over 160 miles!! 

See ISAIAH 34:1-8; 63:1-3. 

The time of the remnant of Israel in this GOD-ordained sanctuary is 1,260 days or in the 360 day calendar year, three and a half years, the latter half of Jacob’s Trouble. There are many people who believe that the ancient city, the former dwelling of the Nabataeans, will be the place of refuge for these Jews who will come to faith in Y’shua. 

REVELATION 12:7-9
⁷ And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, ⁸ And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. ⁹ And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Besides Lucifer, we have only two names of angels revealed in canon, those being Michael and Gabriel. Gabriel always seems to be on a mission to announce revelation concerning the Messiah. Michael’s mission is the defense of Israel; here we see Michael and “his angels” in conflict with “the dragon. . . and his angels” and it’s at this time that Satan is defeated by the holy angels and cast out, forbidden from having access to heaven any longer. There are many descriptions here to adequately identify this red dragon; he is also called “that old serpent” (GEN 3:1-6); “the devil” (MATT 4:1-11) and “Satan” (JOB 1:6-12; ZECH 3:1-2; 2 THESS 2:9). 

It seems that at this point during Jacob’s Trouble that our chief adversary is humbled and he is banned from heaven, no longer having access to the throne of GOD. His “wrath [is] great” at such humiliation, being the supremely prideful creature that he is, and as a result he is all the more determined to destroy Israel in an act of vengeful retribution.

REVELATION 12:10-11

¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. ¹¹ And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

These declarations of victory are a carryover from Ch. 11 when the seventh trumpet was sounded. Hope for the saints was assured and rewards promised to the saints is forthcoming. Here in Ch. 12, the heavens were cleansed from the foul presence of the devil and his (fallen angels). 

Again, the kingdom of GOD is pronounced and the power of His Christ Who shall reign over the nations which are currently still under the heel of Satan, the oppressive master of misery. Satan is called “the accuser” and while his accusations of the saints for their misdeeds due to the weakness of sinful flesh may be true (to one degree or another), our enemy is frustrated because all such sins and transgressions have already been judged for the saints, at the cross of Christ, and because of this, though the accuser may employ in this work “day and night”. . .

ROMANS 8:1-3
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

There is an expression used most often by Pentecostals and Charismatics: “pleading the blood [of Christ]” and this is the verse, REV 12:11 quoted. What this means is significant in regard to the power of Christ’s atonement overcoming all the power of the enemy to thwart, to stumble, to weaken, to compromise the saint of GOD. This is where the spiritual armor of the Christian warrior is vital. So, let’s take a moment and examine this doctrinal issue.

Moses was told to apply the blood of a lamb to the lintels and door posts of all the houses of those who believed the word of the LORD and the angel of death would pass over those under the blood, because it was the word of the LORD that declared, all who do this would be saved.

We understand that those who are truly born again in Christ, who are indwelt by the Spirit of GOD, that these are the children of GOD (JOHN 1:12-13); we belong to the LORD Who is our Abba Father (ROM 8:15). We are the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 COR 6:19), the body and bride of Christ (ROM 7:4; REV 21:9), the church that our Savior redeemed by His own blood (ACTS 20:28). 

We are no longer citizens of the kingdom of darkness (EPH 5:8; COL 1:13), we are no longer captives of the devil (LUKE 4:18; 2 TIM 2:25-26). So if Satan ever attempts to usurp authority over us, if he seems to trespass on the ‘private property’ that we are, as we belong to the One Who purchased us, we're to proclaim the truth, that we are under His protection, just as the Hebrews were protected from the angel of death in Egypt.

Satan cannot have our souls, he cannot steal away our salvation, he cannot cause us to bend the knee to him and to, as it were, clasp the shackles of sin back onto our wrists and ankles as his slaves. We are citizens of heaven, ambassadors of the King endowed with the authority of Christ in our lives. All Satan can do is tempt us to sin, he can never compel us to sin! 
Further, he can kill our bodies (and for us saints, we “will not love our lives unto the death”) should GOD allow our adversary to take them – but even in that, his defeat is absolute, because the word of our testimony and the blood of the Lamb ensures that we have overcome this fallen cherub! Thus, we who are the "dwellers of heaven", rejoice!

REVELATION 12:12
¹² Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

It will be at this time, when he and all the fallen angels that followed him in the futile, ultimately insignificant rebellion against GOD will realize that they have little more than three years before Christ the King returns and puts an end to their rule! The earth dwellers will be in for the cruelest of time then, because of their task master Satan’s great wrath.

REVELATION 12:13-14
¹³ And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. ¹⁴ And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Of all the earth dwellers, the ones that the dragon will be fiercest in pursuit of, will be Israel, for again, if he could be annihilate the nation, the prophecies of GOD couldn’t come true; yet the believing remnant of the Jewish people will be kept safe in their refuge, provided for by the LORD for this last period of time lasting three and a half years. Here, she will be safe from the onslaught of Satan and there will come a time when they will petition the LORD of Glory to return and save them from this perilous world of sin and transgression, having repented of their sin in rejecting the true Messiah of Israel Who came to His own, two thousand years ago, and was not received by them (JOHN 1:11).

From HOSEA 4:1 we read that it is the LORD Who is speaking, concerning a “controversy” He has “with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of GOD in the land” In context, the LORD is still speaking throughout this chapter and chapter five. So by the time we get to vs. 15, we understand that it’s still the LORD speaking, when He says the following:

HOSEA 5:15
¹⁵ I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

GOD’s place obviously is heaven (DEUT 4:39; PSALM 115:3), but when did He ever leave there, because it plainly states that He determined to return there? And return there He did, after He arose from the dead and ascended into the heavens! Prior to that, He did leave heaven, and humbled Himself to be born of a young peasant women in Bethlehem!

The LORD Jesus is now in heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father, there to stay – until. . . when? When this remnant acknowledge their offence (in the singular form of Hebrew, a particular offense) and seek His face. I believe that offence is their collective rejection of Y’shua ha Mesciach. Once they acknowledge that offence and repent in seeking His face, it is then that He shall return in time to devastate the armies of the Beast and consign both him and the false prophet to the lake of fire (REV 19:20).

REVELATION 12:15-17
¹⁵ And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. ¹⁶ And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. ¹⁷ And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Satan has attempted time and time again to thwart the plan of GOD, which is to restore man to a right relationship to his Creator, by means of redemption through the LAMB of GOD. Knowing the seed of the woman would crush his head (GEN 3:15), he likely persuaded Cain to slay Abel to stop this genealogy destined to destroy him. He was certainly behind the corruption of the human race by the interjection of fallen angels mingling themselves with humanity, with the intent on perverting the entire race, thus disabling GOD’s endeavor to send His Son in the “likeness of sinful flesh” (GEN 6:1-6; ROM 8:3); he undoubtedly had his hand in Pharaoh’s edict to kill off all of the male Hebrew slaves – all through the history of Israel, the great enemy of the saints traced the path that GOD paved in seeing to the Messianic line and he did his level best to ruin it. And failed!

Right to the point when the plan of GOD was set on its edge, and the 40 days of fasting in the desert that our LORD endured, and the temptations He faced at the hand of the devil: If Satan could get this One to fall, then the game would be over, and the salvation of mankind would be lost forever.

Now that Messiah has overcome all the power of the enemy, what can Satan do? As stated previously, he can attempt to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth and thus dismantle the prospects of any kingdom for the Messiah-King to rule over, which would fulfill all remaining prophecies concerning the nation.

Yet even in this endeavor, the serpent’s attempts are thwarted as the woman is delivered from the devices of the devil; he is ever determined (to his own ruin!) to fight GOD and so he makes war with the holy remnant of believing Israel who “…keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”.

In the next study I included a link FROM The MIND of FIRE that deals with ‘The new world order’ in the context of REVELATION 13.

Until then, “Keep your eyes on the skies and don’t believe the lies! The LORD Jesus Returns Soon from on high!”