MAYBE REVELATION 12:3
12:3 Behold a great red dragon. Another wonder is seen, also in the sky, a great serpent-like figure, red, with seven heads and ten horns.
This figure, we learn from Re 12:9 is a devilish manifestation. The devil uses it for his purposes.
The red color implies a persecuting power. Having seven heads and ten horns. The seven heads are explained in Re 17:9, where the seven-headed beast appears again, to be seven mountains, and also seven kingdoms; the ten horns are there said to be ten kingdoms which did not yet exist.
We have also this monster appearing substantially in Da 7:7. will here say that there is little doubt that it represents the persecuting powers of the earth which have opposed God and his Israel; the great world powers arrayed against God. This world power appears as Pagan Rome in the persecution of the Woman; the Church. The dragon was the standard of Pagan Rome in the third century, as testified by many ancient writers.
Hmmmmmmm
Thx.
Revelation wasn’t written to us, get over it.
The seven heads of the beast are images of the nations that actively promote the goal of the dragon by bitterly attacking the House of Israel. According to the Bible, there were six such attacks during the course of its writing. Two more were prophesied. The last one has been predicted to be a reincarnation of one of the previous seven.
This is why we do not see in scripture images of eight heads, even though there will be. Many scholars see in Rome all six heads and have tried to list them starting with Julius Ceasar and ending with Nero.
There is a strong relationship between actions centered in Rome and the dragon, but the vision of John in the Book of Revelation is a world view. It represents an entire world fighting against the House of Israel, not simply one nation. The number seven, of course, means totality or fulfillment. It is the number of completion.
1. The first pagan nation to attack Israel was Egypt. The captivity of Pharaoh, the first head of the beast, was so binding that it could only be overcome by the direct power of God -- the display of which when it came was of such awesome proportions that it split the Red Sea in half. Egypt was the reason for Moses and the Exodus. This nation created the allegory for the 'ingathering' and defined the structure upon which mankind's redemption and atonement would be based.
2. The second of these seven nations was Assyria, a country situated in what is today the northeastern part of Iraq. It's capitol, Nineveh, was about a hundred miles north of the modern city of Baghdad. The Assyrians were responsible for the lost ten tribes of Israel. Invading the land of Palestine, the army of Nineveh swept ten of the twelve tribes of Israel out of the pages of history, plunging them into a captivity so deep that only the power of Jesus could rescue them from permanent anonymity. In this mass eviction and enslavement, over 80% of Jacob's entire descendancy disappeared -- submerged by the Assyrians into the greater human race through the genetic camouflage of intermarriage with the pagan people which surrounded them. The Assyrians were also responsible for bringing the foreign Samaritans in to occupy the land made vacant by the deportation of the Hebrew Ephraimites. The Assyrian offensive against the northern tribes was of preeminent significance, because it created the vast invisible pool out of which the 'hidden remnant' of Israel which Jeremiah said would be called back by the Messiah to take the ruling scepter away from the Jews and rebuild Jerusalem in the integrity of the Son of David, would later flow.
As we have seen before, these 'lost tribes', because they were so extensive, have created, through intermarriage and time, an enormous hidden reservoir of Israelites able to claim in Christ a legitimate tribal legacy reaching right back to Abraham himself. And no one can dispute their claim because God has made their heritage physically invisible. In the 3000 years that have gone by since this massive deportation first occured, virtually every person living on earth today has the potential for having been 'touched' at some point in their genetic past by this ever-expanding, but imperceptible, Hebrew legacy. This lineage was promised to Abraham by God in the Bible: "I will make your descendants as many as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore... All the nations of the world shall bless themselves by your descendants, as a reward for your obedience." (Gen.22:17-18).
3.The third major nation to attack the House of Israel was Babylon. One hundred years after the northern tribes fell to the Assyrians, Nebuchadnezzar led the forces of Babylon into Jerusalem and carried away the last two tribes (Judah and Benjamine), transporting them to the banks of the Euphrates where they were held in bondage for seventy years. This event created the base on which the the Bible has brought to a focus every attack ever made against the House of Israel. Babylon's very name has become the scriptural cryptogram for all empires opposing God's people. As a result, most of us now see Babylon and the work of Satan in synonymous terms. The destruction of Babylon by Persia, (announced the night before it happened by Daniel) presages the ultimate destruction of this sinful world by eastern forces in the last days; and the Persian decree which set the Jews free from Babylon, anticipates a future declaration that will end Babylon's reign over Israel forever.
4. The fourth assault against the House of Israel came from Persia. This attack, documented in the Bible's Book of Esther, came in the form of a Persian proclamation sentencing all Jews to death -- a sentence typifying Satan's own decree. In the pages of the Book of Esther we are shown vivid symbols of the hierarchy of God's kingdom and it's principle figures. In this story the king alludes to Jesus; the first wife (Vashti) to the old creation; the new bride (Esther) to the new creation; her guardian (Mordecai) to Michael the Archangel; and the wicked prince trying to exterminate the Jewish race (Haman) to Satan and his Beast. The book unfolds its analogy in an allegorical format; and it culminates in the ultimate salvation of the people of God from a death sentence initiated by Haman -- a high official in the Persian court -- a man who is ultimately put to death on the very gallows he built to destroy the Hebrew race.
These circumstances not only duplicate the biblical image of the House of Israel under siege by Satan (the 'Accuser' who has condemned us before God and petitioned for our deaths) they bring into focus the actions of the Rebel to come who will duplicate all these things one final time at the end of the world. At that time, the whole tenant of the Bible's story of Esther will be repeated once again in a fatal decree which will be issued by the Rebel when he overthrows the church in Rome, taking back his throne; and then gathers his armies around Jerusalem in an attempt to make his dictum final. The fact that Haman (a non-Persian who had risen to the highest ranks of the Persian court) tried to use his office to exterminate the Jews as a race brings him into direct correlation with the northern prince at the end of time who will similarly vow to bring the House of Israel to the gallows of Jerusalem -- using troops from the very same nation.
5. The fifth attack on the surviving tribes of the House of Israel came from Greece -- actually from the Syrian part of Alexander's Grecian empire. This assault was led by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. It was Antiochus who ordered the original abomination in the Jewish temple be erected, defiling the Hebrew sacrifice. In this action, Antiochus initiated the allegory which now defines the ultimate separation of the human race from its one and only shield against the Apocalypse -- the sacrificial peace treaty of Jesus Christ that holds back the terrible wrath of the last days. When the beast of the last days places iniquity on Christ's sacrifice, the entire allegory of Antiochus will be replicated, and there will be no clemency possible from the events which follow.
6. Rome is the one head of the beast that is universally agreed on by modern scholars. John prophesied pointedly to Rome as the sixth head, especially in relationship to Nero, the madman who put to death most of the leading Christian citizens of Rome including Peter and Paul. This is the nation which put Jesus on the cross and then later repented of its actions by ratifying the treaty of the cross. Within this treaty was structured the exodus of the millenium. Because of this, Rome brings us full circle. In the actions of Constantine we see a duplication of the edict of the Egyptian Pharoah who allowed the Israelites to leave Egypt in peace as they followed the road God created for them in Moses, leading to the Promised Land. With the Edict of Milan, the Roman emperor Constantine allowed the Christians to live in peace in his empire and to preach the Gospel of Christ without hindrance from the government.
This allowance enabled those who chose to live and work in Christ, full opportunity to carry on their worship, creating the spiritual exodus the Bible was written to expedite. At the end of the Exodus, however, Pharaoh had a sudden change of heart and sent his troops to attack the rearguard of the departing Israelites. This attack brings us to the seventh emperor -- to the head which had not yet come when John wrote down his words. And then to the eighth. These last are the two heads of the final days. They will duplicate Pharaoh's attack, focusing their hostility on the rear column of God's departing people.
7. Very little is known about the seventh head -- the wicked emperor destined to appear between Nero and the Rebel. All that is said in scripture about him is John's cryptic remark that his reign will be short. (Rv.17:10). In its portrait of the beast's heads, the Book of Revelation appears to be pointing to the appearance of godless and warmongering leaders whose avowed purpose revolves around the destruction of the people of God and the return of the world to Antichrist government -- i.e, in the case of the seventh (and eighth) heads, rulers committed to healing the 'mortal wound' inflicted on the world by the sword of Christ (the Gospel). In this respect, the seventh head had to have been Adolph Hitler. He not only commanded the first truly pagan empire to control Rome since the days of the Caesar's, his reign matched the only prophecy that exists concerning the beast's seventh head -- it was quite short. Hitler's hatred for the House of Israel, demonstrated by his obsessive desire to murder the entire Jewish race makes him stand out starkly from all other secular leaders during the Christian Era. It also aligns him perfectly with the previous six heads of the beast. In fact his single-mindedness and terrifying resolve with respect to Jewish extermination far outstripped all of his predecessors put together. Everything about Hitler seemed to personify wickedness. No person who has ever lived on this earth was a better parrot of the actions of the 'angel of the Abyss' -- the title bestowed upon the armed Destroyer whose appearance on earth is heralded by events surrounding the sounding of the 'fifth trumpet' in the Book of Revelation. (Rv.9:11).
8. The eighth head of the beast has not yet risen. Ezekiel prophesies that he will come from a new country formed among the Ten Nation Confederacy of the East and North in the last days. The Country he forms will be called (in symbolism) 'Magog', obviously in honor of himself ('Gog'). According to Ezekiell, three of the ten-nations associated with the eastern confederacy will be pulled out to accomodate Magog. The three pulled out, Ezekiel calls (again in symbolism) Rosh, Meschach and Tubal. The names are associated with countries surrounding the Black Sea, two of which (on the surface) seem to be illiterations of Russia and Turkey. The eighth head, of course, after vicious warfare and Christian persecution, will burn the earth to the ground and gather what is left of the armies to a place called 'Armageddon', where heaven will put his malevolent actions to an end and initiate the Last Judgment of mankind.
You believe in any of that 2012 end of the world business?
Do you think this is a countdown to the end of days?
revelations contains many references to the stars and, possibly, the constellations and their movements. It is not hard to believe that ancient astrologers tracked celestial events and passed tales of these events down the generations via oral traditions and stories which eventually made it into written stories although the original meanings likely were lost and/or corrupted (or maybe not).
For example:
revelations 12:3 Another sign was seen in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns.
12:4 His tail drew one third of the stars of the sky...
It is not hard to imagine that this refers to the constellation Draco which is huge and which was named and described at least as early as 100 AD by Ptolemy in his seminal treatise on astrology, the “Apotelesmatika”.
and:
revelations 12:14 Two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, so that she might be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
The great Eagle could easily describe the ancient constellation Aquila which was also listed by Ptolemy suggesting its existence was known and followed by the ancients. The Serpent is then the constellation “Serpens” which was also listed in the aforemtioned treatise. There are many other similar references to stars, constellations and their movements...IMHO of course.
You said — MAYBE REVELATION 12:3
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That verse is — “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.”
This is a symbol and symbols in the Bible represent either some-one, or some-thing or some-event or some-process. In this section you have a series of symbols — and some of those symbols are directly identified, some are recognized by inference and others are recognized by Old Testament references. When you put them all together, you can identify all those symbols — and *none* of them are an exploding star in the heavens or some gas giant or whatever (like that...).
Symbols -
(1) the woman — is Israel
(2) the child — is the Messiah of Israel
(3) fiery red dragon — is Satan
(4) stars of heaven — are angels
(5) male child — same as #2, is the Messiah of Israel (rule with a rod of iron - Psalm 2:9; Rev 2:27; Rev 19:15)
(6) blood of the Lamb, and Lamb — the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah of Israel
(7) wings of an eagle — the deliverance from God, by His own hands (as in Exodus 19:4)
(8) flood after the woman — a large enemy army coming to attack Israel (Isaiah 59:19)
(9) carried away by the flood — to be defeated
(10) her place — specially prepared place, by God, for Israel (referenced in Rev 12:14)
(11) swallowed up the flood — the physical protection from the enemies of Israel, in that specially prepared place from God (referenced in Rev 12:16)
(12) rest of her offspring — is those “who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” at that time.
Facts and Details —
(1) A third of the stars — we’re given that number of angels who fell with Satan, a third.
(2) Rule all nations with a rod of iron — we’re told that this is the Messiah of Israel by this reference and by matching up with other sections of the Bible.
(3) Child was caught up to God and His Throne — the taking up of the Messiah of Israel after His death and resurrection, where he is now, at the Throne of God.
(4) War broke out in heaven — we’re told that this is the time that war breaks out in heaven (note that Revelation is following a sequence of events in the Tribulation time, so this happens in the time of the Tribulation years.
(5) Satan cast out and down to earth — we’re told that Satan is finally cast out, as he’s been the accuser of the brethren for a long time, up to that point in time, having access to heaven just like we’re told in the book of Job. He’s now confined to earth.
(6) Heaven is finally free of Satan — we’re told “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.”
(7) Satan’s short time — we’re told that as a result of being cast down, now Satan knows his time is very short (and that’s 1,260 days, according to what Revelation tells us).
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And so from all this, we can see that this, in Revelation 12, really has nothing at all to do with any stars collapsing in what we can see in the sky or scientists observe. This *is not* what Revelation 12 is talking about — and *not even* in any “symbols” is Revelation 12 talking about that...
Revelation 12
1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.
2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.
6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.
14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.
16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
This is a Revelation from Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, to John, giving him what is going to happen in the future, and doing so by allowing John to see these things and giving him the symbols to describe it to us. They represent real things, real people, real nations, real events on earth and in Heaven, and in a real time frame that we’re given, too.
And there you have it...