Principles of Interpretation: There are patterns to Revelation which should be considered when trying to understand it. One pattern is that each new section is introduced by a scene from the temple. There is significance to these introductions. Do not ignore them. They are a key to understanding the section. Another pattern is that the book is written in symbolic language. The King James Version translates verse 1 as “he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:” To signify is to show in signs, i.e., symbols. Those symbols are based in the rest of the Bible, both Old and New Testament. As such, look to the rest of the Bible to interpret Revelation rather than using Revelation to interpret the rest of the Bible. This also means that you need to let the Bible interpret itself rather than attempting to have it fit into today’s headlines. In short, do not treat Revelation as separate from the rest of the Bible. Instead, expect that the events described in Revelation have been presented in other parts of the Bible. A third pattern in Revelation is the idea of judgement. There are courtroom scenes and wrath and complaints about God not bringing justice. In fact, humans are not the only ones under judgment. God Himself is on trial, and the repeated verdict is that God is just, holy, and worthy. From the beginning claim that this is the Revelation of Jesus to the promise in the last chapter that we shall see God’s face, Revelation is an examination of who our Creator is and whether He is worthy of our loyalty.

Disclaimer: There are four basic methodologies used to interpret the book of Revelation in modern society: futurism, historicism, idealism, and preterism. Many modern churches have embraced the idea of the secret rapture, which is a form of futurism. On the other hand, some churches say that Revelation deals solely with events that were happening in the apostolic era. This is called preterism. Other churches teach that Revelation does not describe any specific time period. Instead, the symbols are philosophical and/or spiritual ideas. The series of studies that I am posting is based on historicism, which says that the Bible teaches that Revelation begins with the time of John and describes the interactions of the church with a hostile world throughout history culminating in the final future eradication of sin from the universe. This view denies a secret rapture. I do not want you to be in confusion about the basic premises of this series of lessons. If you disagree with the historicist viewpoint, please study for yourself to be certain that the interpretations that you have been told by others and simply accepted make sense with the whole Bible. As you study, first ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit; then study the verses, and let the Bible interpret itself. Even if you disagree with my comments, you may find the verses and background information that I provide useful. Finally, I want to emphasize that I myself am still studying Revelation and my understanding is deepening each time I open the book and read. Revelation is a distillation of the whole Bible; as such, the limited space of this blog and my limited understanding means that these lessons are not nearly as in-depth as they could (and maybe should) be.

References: See the end of this post for sources and references.

Revelation 12:1

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

John says that he sees a sign in heaven.  Many people skip over the word “sign,” but it is important.  John is telling us that this is symbolic.  Thus, we need to look at the symbolic meanings of the images that he describes.  Where do we find these meanings?  From the Bible itself.

A WOMAN = THE PEOPLE OF GOD—There are many more verses.  This symbol is very well established in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

• Jeremiah 2:2  (2)  “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.
• Ezekiel 23:4  (4)  Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.
• Ephesians 5:31-32  (31)  “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”  (32)  This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
• 2 Corinthians 11:2  (2)  For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

THE SUN SYMBOL = GOD

• 2 Samuel 23:3-4  (3)  The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, (4)  he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.
• Malachi 4:2 (2)  But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
• Psalms 84:10-12  (10)  For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.  (11)  For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.  (12)  O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!
• 2 Corinthians 4:6  (6)  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
• Revelation 21:23  (23)  And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN = CLOTHED WITH CHRIST’S RIGHTEOUSNESS

• Being clothed is a sign of the state you are in.  In Revelation 11, we saw that the two witnesses prophesied in sackcloth and ashes to represent their state of mourning during the time of persecution.  Now, we see a woman clothed in the sun.  We saw that the sun can represent God because He provides us with light.
  • Revelation 3:18  (18)  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
• Clothing also represents our standing with God.
  • Zechariah 3:3-4  (3)  Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments.  (4)  And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.”
  • Matthew 22:11-12  (11)  “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.  (12)  And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.

THE MOON UNDER HER FEET—The moon beneath her feet contrasts with the crown of stars on her head and her clothing of the sun in that the stars and sun give their own light while the moon’s light is a reflection of the sun.  I have no texts for the moon’s symbolism.  The two commentaries that I consulted said that this symbol represented the Old Testament that looked forward to the coming of Jesus.  “The moon under her feet must represent the Old Testament prophecies and the sanctuary service, all of which reflected the light of Christ as the moon reflects the light of the sun” (Unlocking Revelation #14).  This idea makes sense because the moon is under her feet as a foundation that she stands on and the light of the gospel is reflected rather than the blazing light of Jesus, but I wish that I had been given texts upon which to base this idea rather than just saying that it was so. This is one symbol where I need to find a Biblical passage that provides a clear interpretation of the symbol.

A CROWN OF TWELVE STARS—Of course, twelve is a well-known symbol throughout the Bible.  It represents the people of God, whether Israel in the Old Testament or the church in the New Testament.  Stars represent angels.  Remember, angels are just messengers, not necessarily nonhuman beings.

• James 1:1  (1)  James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
• Revelation 21:12-14  (12)  It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—(13)  on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.  (14)  And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
• One commentary says that this is the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles.  The other commentary refers only to the twelve apostles.  “The twelve stars that form her crown represent the twelve apostles who laid the foundation of the New Testament church (see Ephesians 2:19-22)” (Unlocking Revelation #14) 

SUMMARY OF REVELATION 12:1—The symbol of a woman clothed with the sun represents God’s people clothed in His righteousness.  Angels, or messengers, are frequently called stars.  Thus, the stars represent the messengers of the church, i.e. the twelve apostles.  The crown identifies her as belonging to God as His beloved.  The moon beneath her feet likely represents the twelve tribes of Israel, who were the Old Testament messengers of God to the world.  If this last interpretation is correct, there would be a symmetry between the church of Jesus in Revelation 12 and the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21, which is prepared for God’s people with twelve gates labeled with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel and its foundations identified with the twelve apostles.

Revelation 12:2

(2)  She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.

We know that this was the people of God giving birth to the Messiah, but I think the manner in which it is presented points us back to the very first prophecy of the Messiah in Genesis.

• Genesis 3:15-16  (15)  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”  (16)  To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
• Revelation 12:2 seems to be the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15-16.  The woman has pain and will give birth to the One who will bruise the head of the serpent.

Revelation 12:3

(3)  And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.

• John introduces the dragon as another sign.  This is a clue that we need to start from a beginning point in time with this sign rather than look at it as a continuation of the sign of the woman.
• The appearance of the dragon is described as red with seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns, and a tail.
• We will see a similar description in Revelation 17
  • Revelation 17:3  (3)  And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.
  • Revelation 17:9-12  (9)  This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;  (10)  they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.  (11)  As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.  (12)  And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.
• There are some who will talk about the seven mountains as identifying the seven hills of Rome, and this might be so, but I have also seen good arguments against that interpretation.  However, one thing that I am sure of is that mountains in the Old Testament represent kingdoms.  God’s kingdom is a mountain that Satan wanted to ascend.  I do not want to go into too much detail here because we will look at this more closely when we get to Revelation 17.  I just wanted to show you that the dragon, or his twin beast, will be appearing again.  For now, we will keep with the simple explanation given in Revelation 12:9
  • Revelation 12:9  (9)  And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
  • Who is the dragon?  Satan

Revelation 12:4

(4)  His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.

• Verse 9 of Revelation 12 interprets the star symbol for us.  The stars of heaven are angels cast to the earth with Satan.
• Let’s look at the symbol of the tail.
  • Isaiah 9:14-16  (14)  So the LORD cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed in one day— (15)  the elder and honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail; (16)  for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
  • Isaiah defines the tail as the prophet who teaches lies.  This is an appropriate symbol for the dragon’s tail of Revelation 12.  Think about it.  How did Satan get a third of the angels to rebel?   He lied and led them astray just as he did with Eve.
  • Jesus called Satan a liar and a murderer.  Lying is Satan’s favored method of gaining the loyalty of others.  John 8:44  You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 
• The dragon wanted to devour the child that was about to be born.
  • In Jesus’ life this was fulfilled when Satan worked through Herod to kill the babies of Bethlehem.  Later, Rome managed to succeed in Satan’s objective when they hung Jesus on a cross; however, Jesus would not remain devoured.  He burst out from the grave and later ascended to heaven.
  • Knowing that there was a human agent doing Satan’s bidding in his attempts to kill the child of Revelation 12 will help us to understand how the beast of Revelation 17 can have identical characteristics with the dragon of Revelation 12.  The beast is Satan working through another agency.  The dragon is Satan, but it is also Satan’s human instrument.  This has precedent in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 when Satan is equated with the Kings of Babylon and Tyre.

Revelation 12:5

(5)  She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,

• The male child was Jesus, the Messiah.  His destiny was to rule the nations.
• Because we know the story, we have a tendency to overlook some symbols.  However, the rod of iron symbol is important confirmation that this is the Messiah.
  • Psalms 2:1-12  (1)  Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  (2)  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, (3)  “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”  (4)  He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.  (5)  Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,  (6)  “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”  (7)  I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.  (8)  Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.  (9)  You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”  (10)  Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.  (11)  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.  (12)  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Revelation 12:6

(6)  and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

• This verse brings in that same time period that we saw in Revelation 11.
• For 1260 days, the woman is in the wilderness.  If the woman is the true church of God.  Being in the wilderness symbolizes to be in hiding.  She is not out in public.  The true church has become an underground church.
• In Revelation 11, something else is described as happening in these 1260 years.  We have already seen that the scriptures remained God’s witness even as the true church was forced to flee and hide.
  • Revelation 11:3  (3)  And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
• Daniel also speaks of something happening during this same time period.  Here the focus is on the human agency that attempts to do Satan’s will in persecuting the true church.
  • Daniel 7:25  (25)  He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.
• Revelation 11 tells us that God’s word will be going out to the world in sackcloth and ashes, i.e. under great distress and persecution.  Daniel 7 tells us that the beast with ten horns will persecute the saints and try to change the times and the law.  The question is what new information do we get from Revelation 12:6?  It is a promise.  God nourishes His church while they are in the wilderness where he has prepared a place for His people.  This passage should remind the reader that there was another time when God nourished His people in the wilderness.  When the children of Israel traveled through the desert wilderness, God fed them with manna from heaven for forty years. As He has done in the past, so will He do in the future when His church needs His sustenance.

SUMMARY OF REVELATION 12:1-6

• Revelation 12:1-6 is told not with the focus on what the nations are doing or how Satan is persecuting, but from the perspective of how the people of God are crowned with stars, clothed with the sun and moon, and nourished by God in a place He has prepared for them. 
• The wilderness is not a fun place to be.  I always think of a wilderness as a forest or mountains with lots of life and food, but the wilderness of the Bible was the barren desert with the hot sun sucking the life out of an unprepared traveler.  Thus, the church was not in a pleasant place, but God promised that even in the rotten barren wilderness hiding from the dragon who was trying to hurt her, God would nourish His true followers.  The church of Jesus would survive against all odds.
• This is the same promise that we must cling to in times of trouble.  Individuals may be martyred and murdered, but they can count that Jesus has prepared a place for them and will resurrect them.  Those who survive can count on being nourished by God.  Regardless of how it looks in the short run, the dragon will lose in the end.

References:

• Andrews Study Bible–In some lessons, I refer to study comments from this Bible.
• God Cares: The Message of Revelation for You and Your Family-A book by C. Mervyn Maxwell that examines how the prophecies of Revelation relate to an individual’s life.
• Plain Revelation–A book by Ranko Stefanovic that summarizes the meaning of various sections of Revelation
• Revelation of Jesus Christ–A book by Ranko Stefonovic that comments on each verse of Revelation.
• Salvation in Signs and Symbols–a series of shows where two pastors and two others study through the books of Revelation and Daniel. These programs can be accessed at 3abnplus.tv . Scroll down to 3ABN Dare to Dream Network and choose Salvation in Signs and Symbols from the list there.
• Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary (Volume 7) (Copywrite 1957)–This is the old green set of commentaries, not the new commentary series that is in the process of being published and should be released after 2022. (Boy, I would love to get my hands on that set when it comes out!)
• Table Talk–A series of shows where four pastors discuss various topics. These programs can be accessed at tabletalk.online . Season 4 focuses on Revelation.
• Unlocking Revelation–A series of pamphlets that can be downloaded for free from lightbearers.org and clicking on Resources