If you ever decide you want to read anything besides the bible for further understanding.
STUDIES IN REVELATION 12 & 13: Pastor Stephen Bohr:
https://secretsunsealed.org/content/PDF_downloads/All%20of%20Pastor%20Bohr‘s%20Study%20Notes/BSIR1213.pdf
Revelation 12:1 Element # 1: The Woman
“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.”
What stage of the Church are we talking about here? Is it the Old Testament Church or the New Testament Church? It must be the Old Testament Church because the child had not been born yet and the child is Jesus.
It would be good to remember that in the Old Testament we have many women and many seeds who prefigure THE woman and THE Seed of Genesis 3:15.
What is represented by the sun that clothes the woman and the moon that she stands on? The answer is determined by the meaning of the greater light and the lesser light.
• The sun is the greater light and the moon is the lesser light (Genesis 1:16)
• The sun: Represents Jesus Christ, the greater light (Psalm 84:11; Matthew 17:3; Revelation 1:16; Malachi 4:1)
• The moon: the lesser light is the Bible which gives witness to Jesus (John 5:35, 39, 46, 47)
Only one woman:
There is only one woman before Jesus was born, when Jesus was born, when the Church was persecuted for 1260 years and when the final remnant is persecuted. God has only one true Church in all ages. Dispensationalists are totally wrong when they say that God has two mutually separable peoples. There is only one Messiah and only one people of the Messiah. The same dragon is also active in all of the stages.
The twelve stars:
They represent the twelve sons of Jacob. They are the founders which later form the twelve tribes of Israel, (Genesis 37:9, 10; Genesis 49:28).
The twelve stars also represent the twelve apostles who are the founders of the New Testament Church: (Mark 3:14). Notice the number of times that the apostles are addressed as ‘the twelve’ (Matthew 10:1, 2, 5, 11:1; 20:17; 26:20).
“As in the Old Testament the twelve patriarchs stood as representatives of Israel, so the twelve apostles stood as representatives of the gospel church.” Acts of the Apostles p.19
“The Old Testament portrayed faithful Israel (or Judah or Jerusalem) as a virgin or God’s bride but their unfaithful equivalent as a prostitute; thus the tale of two cities that contrasts the heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2) and Babylon the prostitute (17:5).” IVB Bible Background New Testament on Revelation 12:1
The significance of the events of Acts 1:16, 26. Why such an urgency to name the twelfth apostle before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost?
Notice the number of times that the apostles are addressed as ‘the twelve’ (Matthew 10:1, 2, 5, 11:1; 20:17; 26:20).
Acts 1:16-26: “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; 17 for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. 19 And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, and let no one live in it’; and, ‘Let another take his office.’ 21 “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” 23 And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen 25 to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” 26 And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”
There were twelve stones in the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 28:15-30).
Jesus was inaugurated as the high priest upon His ascension and he needed to have twelve apostles because the breastplate had twelve stones (Hebrews 8:1, 2).
There is only one city with the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles: Revelation 21:12; Revelation 21:14.
There is this myth that the disciples rushed to name a successor of Judas and chose Matthias when it was God’s plan to make Saul of Tarsus # 12. But this is an unwarranted assumption and pure speculation.
Revelation 12:2: Element # 2: The woman’s Seed
“Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.”
• The Seed has not been born at this point so the woman must represent the Church of the Old Testament
• The Seed is Jesus as can be seen clearly in Revelation 12:5
Revelation 12:3: Element # 3: The seven-headed dragon with ten horns
“And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.”
“The line of prophecy in which these symbols are found begins with Revelation 12, with the dragon that sought to destroy Christ at His birth. The dragon is said to be Satan (Revelation 12:9); he it was that moved upon Herod to put the Saviour to death. But the chief agent of Satan in making war upon Christ and His people during the first centuries of the Christian Era was the Roman Empire, in which paganism was the prevailing religion. Thus while the dragon, primarily, represents Satan, it is, in a secondary sense, a symbol of pagan Rome.” The Great Controversy,
p. 438
Revelation 12:4: Element # 4: Enmity against the woman’s Seed
“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.”
Revelation 12:4 presents the entire sweep of the controversy between Christ and Satan from the origin of sin in heaven till Jesus died on the cross. He first gives a flashback into what happened in heaven and then goes right to the birth of Jesus. In verse 9 once again he gives a flashback to heaven and then deals with events after the ascension of Jesus. So verses 7-10 take us a little further forward than verse 3 and verse 5.
Satan attempted to destroy the Seed by two methods: Persecution and infiltration. Genesis 3:15 begins its preliminary fulfillment in the story of Cain and Abel. Eve was not THE WOMAN of Revelation 12:1 and Abel was not THE SEED.
• The enmity is primarily between the serpent and the woman’s Seed
• There is a conspiracy behind history as exemplified by the stories of Cain, Abel, Ruth, the flood, Joseph, David, and Esther. See also, Revelation 2:10.
Revelation 12:5: The ascension of Jesus took place during the period of the Roman Empire
“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.”
One can certainly dig much deeper into the spiritual with this, but my comment was about the literal sun in the sky, traveling through a constellation that the world calls Virgo, and the moon will eventually end up down by ‘her feet’.
And in 2014, instead of 2017 that was previously discussed, it could be seen happening through an astronomy app.
And it was on one of those pesky ‘New Moon Days’ found in the bible that we’ve discussed.
Sometime in September 2014..
It is a revelation that the heavens and the bible aren’t exactly silent on the birth of the Word Made Flesh.
And that isn’t anywhere near that Roman Empire’s December 25..
That would be quite a revelation for the Church.
It would mean December 25 birth, January 1 circumcision, and February 2 presentation in the temple, is a false doctrine by the Roman Empire and Church..
We’ve already discussed the difference between the Bible’s Passover vs the Roman Empire’s Good Friday, some may start to question what their faith is really in if the Roman Empire and the Church can’t get anything right about the Word Made Flesh, and yet there is a version that the bible, His Creation and His Word Made Flesh, can reveal to people of faith..
Btw, the newest moon is set to be seen tonight, so tomorrow is the ‘Day of the New Moon. A day that actually had the woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet on the same type of day in the fall these days..
A day that appears to point to the ‘time and events’ before Let there be Light in Genesis and the Beginning where the Word was, and when the Word Became Flesh, thanks to that Revelation 12 literal sun,moon and stars assembled into what some have called a Virgo, Woman...
That is probably why Feasts and Banquets were to be held in Israel on that day, and that stores and markets were closed..
That isn’t the only heavenly sign in the bible, especially the New Testament.
There’s 2 Fish up there these days in the Spring.
There’s a Woman up there these days in the Fall.
There will come a time that a Man carrying a pitcher of water will replace the 2 Fish in the Spring, at Passover.
When that sign comes to pass at Passover, in the Fall the Woman will be replaced by a Lion, of the Tribe of Judah..
Quite a revelation that He tells us in His Word and His Heavens.
Sometimes the sun, moon and stars are also a literal sign in the heavens..
And with a favorable barley report in Israel, tomorrow begins His 1st Spring month, when the Passover Lamb died for our sins, on the 14th Day of this upcoming month..
Roman Empire calls it Monday March 25.
Tuesday March 26 is the 15th Day, a holy convocation and no servile work was to be done, and the 3rd Day, Wednesday March 27th will be First Fruits, the 16th Day, and Resurrection Day..
Roman Empire Monday,Tuesday, Wednesday will host His Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Paul’s first importance of the gospel, or the 14th,15th,16th Days from tomorrow, His Day of the New Moon..
A Feast time where His sun will be traveling through the 2 Fish in His sky.
2 fish, 5 unleavened loaves, quite a sign for any who know when and where to look.
The New Testament and His sky can offer some real revelations.
And His appointments are a good time to ‘look up’..
He gives His Creation a witness to where and when we are on His plan.
I’m going to guess Pastor Stephen is an December 25 and Easter sort.. which is fine.
But it isn’t biblical. It’s Roman Empire..
And that Revelation 12 literal sign can do a lot to destroy parts of Rome’s doctrines regarding the birth of the manchild.
And btw, majority in Judaism will probably observe Passover a month later.
And that’ll actually be the timing of when Israel was being fed manna from heaven in Exodus 16, that started on the 16th day of His 2nd month.
Which is another revelation.
About 30 days after the blood of the Passover Lamb delivered Israel from the bondage slavery, He fed them manna from heaven.
A revelation because Judaism may actually argue amongst themselves when to observe Passover this year, but also because 30fold was one of the numbers Christ used in His parable of the sower.
He uses 60 and 100 also.
One need not wonder if anything occurred around the 60 and 100 markers, like the 30.
The bible describes the events in the Exodus.
Further understanding is available, but not from the Church.
That’s a real shame, as it simplifies the battle and journey for people of faith..
The Church really is an enemy in the end times.
That’d be a revelation,too, for many..