Studies in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus the Christ the Son of God ( the visions ( final judgment ( The Adversary ) pt 9

Keys to Understanding the Book of Revelation


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.


'Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me'. ( Genesis 37:9 ( Ezekiel 32:7 )

'Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”' ( Genesis 15:5 ( Daniel 12:3, Joel 2:10 )

'I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels'. ( Isaiah 61:10 ( Job 29:24, Psalm 30:11 ) Genesis 3:21 )

The Hebrew prophetic Scriptures are filled with references to 'the powers that be' symbolized by the stars of heaven and the other heavenly bodies, such as the moon, the sun, even constellations in some cases. After a decisive victory against the armies of Canaan,the prophetess sang, in Judges 5:20, 'They fought from the heavens; the stars from their courses fought against Sisera', speaking of the children of Israel's victory. Speaking of His majesty and sovereignty over the children of men, in Job 38:7; God asks Job where he was 'When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?' The prophet Isaiah uses familiar language to describe the punishment of Babylon when he wrote, in Isaiah 13:10, 'For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine'. ( see also Isaiah 14:13, Ezekiel 32:7 ) I believe that these and other Scriptures show fairly clearly to what John refers here in the Revelation; to the 'virgin' ( Jeremiah 31:4 ) of Israel, God's typical Old Covenant bride!



Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.


'Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in birth pangs. For now you shall go forth from the city, you shall dwell in the field, and to Babylon you shall go. There you shall be delivered; there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. ' ( Micah 4:10 ( Romans 8:22 )

'Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit'. ( Matthew 1:18 ( Micah 5:3 )

'Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child'. ( Isaiah 66:7 ( Isaiah 54:1 )

In the historical context of the great upheaval during with John received this Revelation; the Hebrew Scriptures often utilized the term 'birth-pangs', or 'labor pains' to describe a great fear, even a panic exhibited by those in the midst of just hearing of coming judgment. Psalm 48:6, describing the reaction of God's enemies to His righteous judgments, reads, 'Fear took hold of them there, and pain, as of a woman in birth pangs', and of the coming 'Day of the Lord' on Moab, we read, in Jeremiah 48:41, 'Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are surprised; the mighty men’s hearts in Moab on that day shall be like the heart of a woman in birth pangs'. "Hearing of the coming judgment on Babylon, the prophet Isaiah recorded that 'my loins are filled with pain; pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I was distressed when I heard it; I was dismayed when I saw it.' ( Isaiah 21:3 ) Jeremiah 6:24 records that when the prophet, representative heard of the coming invasion from the North ( Babylon ), he reported that 'We have heard the report of it; our hands grow feeble. Anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labor'. ( see also Jeremiah 22:23, 30:6 ) Pronouncing God's judgment on the nations; Jeremiah wrote 'Damascus has grown feeble; she turns to flee, and fear has seized her. Anguish and sorrows have taken her like a woman in labor.' ( Jeremiah 49:24 ), and Paul, writing to the church in Thessalonica of the coming 'Day of the Lord', told them, 'For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.' ( I Thessalonians 5:3 ) Of course the church was brought to birth ( traditionally ) during Christ's ministry and through His death and resurrection, but it was not until the end of the Old Covenant 'age' that it came to fruition, growing up through tribulation, coinciding with the final 'Day of the Lord' for the Jewish economy.


And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.


'Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last'. ( Daniel 8:3 )

'After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it'. ( Daniel 7:6 )

'You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces, and gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness'. ( Psalm 74:14 )

'He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries'. ( Psalm 110:6 )

'For the LORD has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, namely, the seers'. ( Isaiah 29:10 )

We have noted many times before that the numeral 'seven', particularly in the prophetic Scriptures is used symbolically to signify perfection, completeness, and this 'dragon' is no exception: remembering that John is witnessing a vision here, significant of future events, much like the visions that the prophets before him reported 'seeing'. As the 'horns' and 'heads' in the two passages from Daniel, which I've quoted above referred to kings and dynasties, so these multiple heads of the dragon refer to those 'kings of the earth' ( Psalm 2:2 ) who have gathered together, and prepared themselves to oppose God's covenant people. I have endeavored to show in these studies thus far in the book of Revelation, and in several of my other articles, that the Old Covenant 'children' of Israel ( after the flesh ) were often seen ( even noted ) to be adversaries to God's covenant people, and even to themselves. We have noted too, that these Old Covenant 'children', especially as represented by their leaders ( Pharisees, for example ) were often referred to, particularly by Jesus, as 'serpents' ( Matthew 23:33 ( Jeremiah 8:17 ( Luke 10:19 ( Psalm 91:13 ), 'the offspring of vipers' ( Isaiah 14:29 ( Genesis 49:17 ), even as children of their 'father, the devil' ( John 8:44 ), and I believe that these Scriptures, along with many others, such as Deuteronomy 32:33, Psalm 58:4, 140:3, Ecclesiastes 10:11, Isaiah 27:1, and Micah 7:17, tell us to whom John referred, God's Old Covenant 'children' who had apostatized and 'killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One'. ( Acts 7:52, Nehemiah 9:26 )



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.


'And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.' ( Daniel 8:10 )

'One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them'. ( Ezekiel 5:12 ( Zechariah 13:9 )

'Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.' ( Matthew 2:13 )


Traditionally, I believe, in most circles, passages such as Revelation 12:4 above are taken quite literally, in a symbolic sense, as meaning that 'Satan', when he was finally ousted from 'Heaven' brought exactly one-third of the angels with him, which 'angels' are better known as demons, devils, evil spirits, etc; I believe rather, that reading back through the Old Testament ( even New Testament ) prophets will reveal that this is not necessarily so, that this is merely hyperbolic language used to 'veil' ( Matthew 13:13 ( Isaiah 25:7, Ezekiel 13:21, II Corinthians 3:14-16 ) God's true message and to relay to those who 'heard' a sense of imminence and immediacy. Several verses later, in Daniel's second vision, in an example of 'biblical parallelism'; Daniel further explained what he had written; 'an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground'. This 'heavenly host', which Daniel saw 'cast down' was actually an army given over ( Romans 1:24 ) for the purpose of purifying God's covenant people through trial by fire, if you will.


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.


'You shall break^[a] them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel'. ( Psalm 2:9 ( Psalm 22:28 )

'Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against'. ( Luke 2:34 )

'Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.' ( Acts 2:33 ( Acts 1:9 )

Again, traditionally ( at least, in my experience ), this 'male Child' has been identified as the Church, or the Body of Christ on earth, and rightly so, I believe, although one could easily see that John is also, in a purely physical sense, referring to Jesus' lowly nativity, because, as we have seen before in previous studies ( and will continue to see ) and articles; Scripture teaches that we are one with Christ, and co-laborers ( rulers-Psalm 122:5 ( Daniel 7:9, 27 ) Matthew 19:28 ( Revelation 3:21 ) with Him!



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.


'Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there'. ( I Kings 17:3 & 4 )

In John's vision; the woman was allowed to escape into the wilderness, like Elijah, where she was fed for roughly three and a half years, the same amount of time that the 'two witnesses' prophesied, and that, in Elijah's day, the land of Israel experienced a drought ( James 5:17 ) from which Elijah was 'saved' by receiving sustenance at the hand of the Lord ( Roughly the same period of time that Jerusalem was under siege by Rome's armies, interestingly enough! ). One might think too, of Jesus' venture into the wilderness, in which He, although God Himself, was tried and tested, but simply replied 'man shall not live by bread alone' ( Deuteronomy 8:3 ( Matthew 4:4, Luke 4:4 ), and to His own disciples, 'I have food to eat of which you do not know' ( John 4:32 ). Later on in the Gospel of John; Jesus told His followers that 'I go to prepare a place for you.[b]'( John 14:2b ), and in His Revelation to the churches, that 'he who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more' ( Revelation 3:12 )!



And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them^[a] in heaven any longer.


'At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book'. ( Daniel 12:1 ( Matthew 24:15-28 )

'Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out'. ( John 12:31 )

'And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven"'. ( Luke 10:18 )

'But since you say, ‘The oracle of the LORD!’ therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Because you say this word, “The oracle of the LORD!” and I have sent to you, saying, “Do not say, ‘The oracle of the LORD!’” therefore behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you and forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and will cast you out of My presence. And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’' ( Jeremiah 23:38-40 )

Michael; translated from the Hebrew מִיכָאֵל and the Greek Μιχαήλ simply means 'who is like God'; this could be take several different ways: one could read that Michael was 'one who is like God', or that the name Michael is full of adoration, saying 'who is like God?' I will let my readers reason it out for themselves ( if they haven't already ) and suffice by saying that Scripture seems to tell us, particularly in the book of Daniel, that Michael was a pre-incarnate Jesus! There has been much debate among theologians as to the identity of this 'arch-angel' ( Jude 9 ); some believe, as do I, that He was The Son of God, and some have built up, from a woodenly literal reading of Scripture, a hierarchy, indeed a 'doctrine' of angels, of which this Michael is the Highest, the brightest 'star'!

Speaking of a woodenly literal translation; where is God and His Son when this 'war in heaven' broke out?


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.


'How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His anger! He cast down from heaven to the earth the beauty of Israel, and did not remember His footstool in the day of His anger'. ( Lamentations 2:1 )

'Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many'. ( Matthew 24:11 )

'How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,^[b] son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!' ( Isaiah 14:12 )

'By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones'. ( Ezekiel 28:16 )

'Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly'. ( Numbers 16:31-33 )

For years, many theologians have read Isaiah 14: 12-15 as supporting the doctrine of 'Satan', the supposed 'arch-angel' ( as opposed to 'Michael' ) that 'fell from grace' because of rebellion against God ( Jude 6 ), but, as we read later, in verse 16, this whole passage is speaking of a mere 'man', the king of Babylon. If you will remember; the word 'satan', in the Hebrew, simply means 'adversary'; so 'Yes', in that sense, Isaiah 14:12-15, along with Ezekiel 28:11-19, includes a description of the casting down ( by God ) of 'Satan'! When we read 'that serpent of old'; we can't help but think, and rightly so, of the first 'serpent' recorded in Scripture; the one who tempted our first parents in the Garden of Eden, back in Genesis 3. The adversaries which had plagued the covenant-keeping people of God from the genesis of their history had finally been judged and cast from their exalted positions to feed upon the dust of the earth. The prophets, most notably Jeremiah above, in his lamentation for his people Israel, realized that they, as the adversaries, or 'satans', of God's people, had been cast down from their exalted position as the covenant people of God. As I have written before; the covenant-breaking 'children' of Israel had reached the point of apostasy in their rebellion against God and were thus indistinguishable from the 'nation' around them, and because of the covenant into which God had brought them, were deemed worthy of a more adverse judgment!


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.

'And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.' ( Romans 13:11 )

'Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near'. ( Luke 21:28 )

'But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you'. ( Matthew 12:28 )

'And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den'. ( Daniel 6:24 )

'And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven'. ( Luke 10:18 )

'Let my accusers be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle'. ( Psalm 109:29 )

Although I believe, as I have intimated and tried to show in this study, or rather, these studies, that the main focus of the Revelation, besides, even more importantly, the revealing of Jesus the Christ as God Himself, was the adverse judgment of the Old Covenant 'children' of Israel; it is also about the total and final defeat, in reality, of the enemies, or enemy ( death-Hosea 13:14, Hebrews 2:14 ( I Corinthians 15:56 ) of God's covenant people. You may have heard, pretty convincingly, I might add, that when Job chapter one records that 'Satan' ( literally 'adversary' ) came before the throne of God to accuse Job, it simply showed that the accuser of the brethren' stands before His throne yet, accusing us ( Christians even ) of our failures, trying to fault us in God's presence. As I implied previously; this is, in a sense, a correct assumption, were it not for several glaringly obvious facts, for example, where Paul, in Romans 16:20, promises the Roman believers that 'the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.' Peter also wrote, concerning this 'adversary', that he 'walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour' ( I Peter 5:8 ( Luke 20:47 ).

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.


'He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life'. ( John 12:25 ( John 15:13 )

'I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me'. ( Galatians 2:20 )

'If your sons will keep My covenant and My testimony which I shall teach them, their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore'. ( Psalm 132:12 ( II Chronicles 17:12-14 ) I Kings 11:11 ( Matthew 21:43 )

'He shall see the labor of His soul,^[b]and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities'. ( Isaiah 53:11 )

'Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption'. ( Hebrews 9:12 ( Hebrews 13:12 ) Zechariah 9:11 )

The context of John's written words in the Revelation necessitate, of course, a first century fulfillment, as you can read in the accounts of Josephus and other such chroniclers, even as Jesus Himself promises, in Matthew 23:34, 'Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city' ( see also Luke 11:49, 21:12 ), and 'Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake' ( Matthew 24:9 ( II Timothy 3:12 ), but these words hold as true for His followers today, in that the Spirit of anti-Christ, the spirits of those in opposition to Christ and His Body still operates, and persecutes, even murders those who would make a stand, and strive to be His 'healing leaves'!

Jesus told His first-century disciples, as He tells us, in John 16:33, 'These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will^[d] have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.' In context; these words held a slightly different meaning then for us today, because the 'world' that Jesus spoke of was the covenant 'world' of the typical Jewish age, which He had indeed overcome, in reality, through His so-called first advent, and in actuality, overcame when He, through the Roman armies, brought an end to the Jewish ( Temple ) economy, or 'age'. In his first letter, John wrote to his 'children' that 'you have overcome the wicked one' ( I John 2:13 ( 4:4 ), as Paul had promised his readers, in Romans 16:20, 'the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen'. What Christ had accomplished definitively at the cross, and by His resurrection; His first-century disciples had fulfilled by being in Him!

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.


'Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; and let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns"'. ( I Chronicles 16:31 ( Psalm 96:11 ( Matthew 5:12 )

'I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; and the heavens, they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth. I beheld, and indeed there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled. I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the LORD, by His fierce anger'. ( Jeremiah 4:23-26 )

'Woe to the multitude of many people who make a noise like the roar of the seas, and to the rushing of nations that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!' ( Isaiah 17:12 )

'They shall throw you down into the Pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the midst of the seas'. ( Ezekiel 28:8 )

'Through his cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule;^[c] and he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without human means.^[d]' ( Daniel 8:25 )

Paul wrote to the Ephesian church that Christians now 'sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus'. ( Ephesians 2:6 ) ( I must also note that the word 'places' here is in italics and thus not in the original Greek, but only added for clarity )I have written before, under the assumption that 'the heavens', in prophetic Scripture, refer to the covenant ( typical or anti-typical ) people of God; this being the case, God's people rejoiced to see the coming of the 'Day of the Lord' because, even though they knew it would mean tribulation for them, it ultimately would result in their final and full salvation, or deliverance! When reading the prophecies of Daniel; sometimes it is hard to figure out how the kings that Daniel prophesied about concerning the 'time of the end' related over the centuries ( almost 5 ) from the kings of Syria, almost imperceptibly merging with the 'kings' of Rome, but I believe that God, through Daniel, makes it quite clear, that in the times of these 'kings' ( the Roman emperors ) He would 'bring in everlasting righteousness' ( Daniel 9:24 ), and that 'at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book'. ( Daniel 12:1b )

Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 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.


'For the enemy has persecuted my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me dwell in darkness, like those who have long been dead'. ( Psalm 143:3 )

'Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven'. ( Matthew 5:10 )

'If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also'. ( John 15:18-20 ( Acts 22:4 ( I Corinthians 15:9 )

'For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men'. ( I Thessalonians 2:14 & 15 )

'But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint'. ( Isaiah 40:31 ( Exodus 19:4)

I believe that traditionally, at least in the catholic 'tradition', the 'woman' that John observes here, signifies Old Covenant Israel, or at least the faithful remnant, out of which New Covenant Israel, or the Church, the Body of Christ came. This is a safe assumption to make, and I have always been satisfied with this explanation, but to truly understand it better ( and I doubt if we fully understand it yet, I believe that we must look at several important facts: first, of course, are the 'wilderness years' of the 'children' of Israel; second, I believe that we should be reminded of the prophet Elijah's wilderness experience, in I Kings 17:4-6, and wherein he was fed, and thirdly, of our Lord's own temptation in the wilderness.

My readers might well wonder why I chose to include Jesus' temptation in the above list, but when you read Matthew 4:1-11, particularly in the events of the latter part of chapter 3, though Scripture does not specifically say this, one might 'gather' that one reason Jesus might have been led into the wilderness was that He had just been proclaimed, by a voice from heaven, the very Son of God, and thus could have been in some danger from the very Pharisees whom John had just declaimed as a 'Brood of vipers' ( Matthew 3:7 ). We might also remember, maybe more immediately and to the point, the flight of His earthly 'parents' into Egypt, recorded in Matthew 2:13 & 14, with the baby Jesus.


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. 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.


'You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it'. ( John 8:44 )

'Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, Who will bring them down to the earth with His hand'. ( Isaiah 28:2 ( Psalm 90:5 )

'When the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid'. ( II Samuel 22:5 ( Psalm 18:4 )

'And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined'. ( Daniel 9:26 ( 11:22 )

'For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be'. ( Matthew 24:38 & 39 )

'Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many'. ( Matthew 27:51-53 )

When Jesus died on the cross, an earthquake, along with the other above-mentioned signs, signified that He had indeed defeated the powers of darkness, which, in effect , swallowed up the 'flood' of evil that Old Covenant Israel ( after the flesh ) had unleashed by their rebellion, and eventually, apostasy, against the Righteousness of God, seeking their own instead. Jesus condemningly told the Pharisees, in Matthew 23:13, that they had 'shut up the kingdom of heaven against men', because of their traditional 'laws', which Paul said, were 'contrary to' them ( Colossians 2:14 ), were attempting to carry away from the True Path those on whom the seed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ had fallen ( Matthew 13:9 ). When the 'dragon' attempted to imitate the power of God, as in Daniel 2:35; God defeated his purpose by sending His Son in the form of a man ( earthy ), in essence, 'swallowing' the 'flood' of evil, which had been unleashed by the Old Covenant. ( Romans 7:7-12 )


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.^[b]


'You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.' ( Acts 7:51-53 ( 22:4, 26:11 ( Galatians 1:13 & 23 )

'Then they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words'. ( Jeremiah 18:18 )

'For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost'. ( I Thessalonians 2:14-16 )

'Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you'. ( Matthew 5:10-12 )

'Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution'. ( II Timothy 3:12 )


Most of us are probably quite familiar with the quote from Paul's letter to Timothy, above, and while, in a sense, it holds as true for Christians today; I believe that when read it in the context of the apostle's other writings ( first century ); we can easily see that this statement would have held a more immediate and dire warning for its original audience. Paul actually used similar words to John's, in Acts 26:11, when, recounting his for conduct as a Pharisee, he wrote that, 'being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities'.

Talking to my brother-in-law the other day; I commented that I was just finishing up a study of Revelation 12: 'Oh', he said, 'the not-so-nice Christmas story!' I really hadn't thought of it like that before, but 'folks, that's just what it was', the Christmas story in symbolization. I mentioned above, Joseph and Mary's flight into Egypt; remember what the enraged 'serpent' did when he knew that the Christ-child had eluded him? 'Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men' ( Matthew 2:16 )!

May God bless you with this study, as He has blessed me in doing it!

Charles Shank

The Finished Work of Christ ( 'What now?' )

What about it? It's no big secret, right? On the cross; Christ cried 'It is finished!', and gave up the ghost, in other words, died. Scripture is very clear, especially in the gospel according to John ( John 19:30 ( Romans 6:10 ), that Christ accomplished, once for all, what He came to do, but, as I've already written about in a previous article, there is some question about what exactly He came to do.

'And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins'. ( Matthew 1:21 )

The Apostle Paul told Timothy that 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief' ( I Timothy 1:15b ). That should be enough, but with Matthew's words above, we might contend, 'Who are His people then?' In the context in which that promise was given; was it not the Old Covenant people of Israel who were primarily in the mind of the Author? True enough, as far as that goes, but speaking of Paul's writings; what did Paul have to say about the covenant people of God? He told the Roman believers, comfortingly that, 'they are not all Israel who are of Israel', and the explains himself further saying 'those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed' ( Romans 9:6-8 ); not that those of the Hebrews which were born physically according to the flesh ( Romans 1:3 ) would not be counted part of the true 'Israel of God', although they wouldn't be counted as such on the merit of being born thus, but they would be called thusly when they were born spiritually, according to the promise of God ( Ezekiel 36:25-27, Isaiah 65:13-25, Daniel 9:24 )as when God told Abraham, in Genesis 18:10, 'I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son', which was itself a picture of the 'Virgin Birth', promised in Isaiah 7:14, 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.^b]">[b]' Paul explained this in much the same way earlier, in Romans 2:28 & 29, 'For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God', and Jesus Himself explained this 'new' concept to Nicodemus, a spiritual leader of Israel, who did not understand the spiritual nature of God's promises, in John 3:1-21. All of this is probably 'old hat' to many of my readers, and I'm sure that most have no problem seeing what Jesus, Paul, and the apostles taught concerning the spiritual nature of God's promises; but many tend to differentiate too far between the spiritual and physical natures of these promises. Is there a physical aspect to the nature of God's promises? Most assuredly so; as I quoted N.T. Wright as saying, in his book 'Surprised by Hope', 'God ordered His world in such a way that His own work within that world takes place not least, through one of His creatures; in particular, namely, the human beings who reflect His image'. He spiritually delivered us from the natural consequences of sin ( Romans 6:23 ) that we may, as He revealed to John in Revelation 22:2, be those physical, yet spiritual 'healing leaves', to physically carry out the promises of God in the strength of His Spirit!

So we've seen that God sent His Son to earth to save His people from their sins, and that this was not exclusive of physical Jews but was inclusive of all sinners, both Jew and Gentile, who would believe on His name, those who had been chosen to be in Him, before the foundation of the world; now we must discuss what it means, or meant to be 'saved from our sins'. Paul told the Roman Christians that 'the wages of sin is death' ( Romans 6:23 ), so we can see that when Christ died to save us from our sins; He saved us from the penalty of sin, which is death. God told His Old Covenant 'children, through the prophet Ezekiel that 'the soul who sins shall die' ( Ezekiel 18:4b ), and Adam, our 'first' father, 'of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die' ( Genesis 2:17 ). Concerning this death from which Christ came to save His people; was God speaking of physical death or spiritual death? There has been, and still is, I believe, much discussion on this subject as well. Although the majority, if they're honest with themselves and Scripture, would admit that He was speaking of spiritual death here, though not necessarily the finality of spiritual death ( Revelation 20:14 ), everlasting separation from the presence of God. While they admit that Adam died in a spiritual sense, as God said he would, on the day that he partook; many still look for an everlasting physical life, in a spiritual, yet somehow physical renewed 'incorruptible' body. I've covered this subject too, somewhat, in my article 'A Spiritual Body', so I'll not go any further on it here.

Was Christ's work finished, like He said before He died, or was He just saying that? Was He simply telling us that His part was done, and now the rest, of course, with the guidance of His Holy Spirit, was up to us, that He had shed His precious blood merely on the hope that we would choose to accept His offer of salvation? I believe that He was telling us who would hear ( Mark 4:11 ( Revelation 22:15 ) That He had accomplished, in reality, the purpose for which He had been sent ( Isaiah 55:11, John 3:16 ), the salvation of His people, New Covenant Israel, or The Israel of God ( Galatians 6:16 ( Romans 9:6-8, Galatians 3:7 ).When espousing such a view, one might hear the argument, 'Why evangelize? Why even try, if it's already settled?' ( I've actually heard this argument ) Simply reply, 'because we're commanded to! Jesus told the seventy to go. Even though the so-called 'Great Commission' ( Matthew 28:19 ) was fulfilled in the first century ( Matthew 10:23 ), I believe that we, as Christians, and 'healing leaves', are bound by God to 'Go' still, not necessarily to the farthest reaches of planet earth, but to our neighbors, those who come within the sphere of our influence.

Now for the final question, which I've really answered already; 'what now?'

Is 'the healing of the nations' ( Revelation 22:2 ) all up to us now? Has God given to us, frail, faulty humans that we are, the task of fulfilling what His Son had begun? In the greatest sense, yes! However, as every Christian knows; we are not alone, these tasks do not rest solely upon our feeble shoulders ( thank God! ); Jesus, speaking in His capacity of Almighty God, tells His disciples, 'I will never leave you or forsake you' ( Hebrews 13:5 ( Deuteronomy 31: 6-8, Joshua 1:5 ) John 14:18 & 19 ) In John 14:12, Jesus tells His disciples, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father'. I wrote above that we have been redeemed, and sanctified ( Romans 8:29 & 30 ) that we might be, as music artist Jewel puts it, 'God's Hands', His tools for, and means of, physical transformation. Having said that; I do not mean to say even now that it is all up to us; we each have a choice to make, and while, more often than not, it may seem like many make the wrong choice, it is that persons choice, and he must make it and take the responsibility for it, for good or evil. Whether we feel like we're up to it or not; we are those 'healing leaves', having been appointed so by God; and having the fullness of the Presence of Almighty God Himself forevermore with us, we have the strength, and authority, to do what He has bidden us! I have been asked, as I'm sure many believers in fulfilled eschatology have, 'if all Scripture is fulfilled; is there anything left? Is it still authoritative for all walks of life, or do we have reason and license to move beyond, especially since we now have the presence of 'Immanuel' ( Matthew 1:23 )' I answer 'Yes!' We have been purified, our consciences cleansed by the once for all sacrifice of God's Son, and I believe that, along with God's Word, revealed through that Son, along with the consciences that He has cleansed and claimed as His own; we can live our lives doing right and what is good, and because of that, or through this sacrifice, which is acceptable to God ( Romans 12:1 ), acting as 'God's Hands'!

May God continue to bless us all as we strive to live up to what He has dne, and to do our part, to be 'the leaves of the tree' that are 'for the healing of the nations'!

In His Service and for His Kingdom,
Charles Shank

Conversations with a bullfrog ( 'singin' 'Joy to the world....'

I knew I shouldn't have done it, and I almost hung up after a couple rings, but I hadn't talked to my friend in awhile, and after the way we parted company last time we talked; I wasn't sure what kind off mood he'd be in. Sure enough; I regretted it!

'Peace on earth?!', he said, rather scornfully: 'how can you say that, with so much unrest going on in the world, just because we, as Christians, have the peace of God in our hearts?' 'You say that's our purpose, as 'healing leaves', that we're supposed to let that peace shine through our lives, spreading it to all those around us: you're an idiot!' 'After the example that you've set, do you really expect us to follow your preaching when you can't even practice it?!' I almost said something then, but I decided to let him continue his tirade; I just rolled my eyes............. 'How are we supposed to let the peace of Christ reign in our lives when everybody else is so 'blasted'...................un-peaceable?!' I could tell that my friend was on one of his down-trodden rant, and I knew it might be well-nigh useless; but I chided him gently; 'Jeremiah, we can only do our part: it's up to others whether they let the peace of Christ rule in their hearts, they have a choice to make, but that doesn't take away our responsibility.' I almost instantly regretted saying it, because he reminded me of my own example, once again, calling me a hypocrite! 'Yes', I replied, 'and I'm not proud of that fact; I'm doing better ( I think ) in that area, doing what I know I should, even though people around me don't do what I think they should!' Now, I was starting to feel like Jeremiah, not that I needed any help in that area, because I was starting to think that maybe it WAS me, that maybe, like another friend told me, I DO think too much! Obviously; Jeremiah had been reading my articles again, and knowing me in person, saw that my own life didn't quite 'measure up'.

I had hopes; but Jeremiah wasn't done yet!

'I've been re-reading your articles on 'A Focus on the 'Physical', he said, 'and it seems to me that you're telling folks to overlook the physical aspects of life, almost gnostically, that the spiritual is what we need to be concerned with: it's almost like you think that we need to pray more, not do more!'

Ok: now I HAD to say something!

'My friend', I told him, almost sadly; 'I'm not saying that at all; just that 'A Focus on the Physical' aspects of life ( hardship, trials, tribulations ) has been a real deterrent to the church over the ages and that by focusing rather on the spiritual, as Jesus commanded in Matthew 6:33, on seeking His righteousness, on what He has done, rather than what we feel we have do, I believe that we are 'freed' to do our best, in His strength, for His Kingdom!'

'I got another call coming in', he said, 'and I see what you're saying, but you're still a hypocrite!'

'I love you anyway, Jeremiah'; as I hung up the phone, breathing a sigh of relief: that wasn't too bad!

It's hard to sing 'Joy to the World', sometimes, but through God's grace we CAN do it!

Studies in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God ( the visions ( final judgment ( the Two Witnesses ( the 7th Trumpet ) pt 8

Keys to Understanding the Book of Revelation

^'TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting.' ( Daniel 5:27 )

'Then he defeated Moab. Forcing them down to the ground, he measured them off with a line. With two lines he measured off those to be put to death, and with one full line those to be kept alive. So the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought tribute.' ( II Samuel 8:2 )

'Who has measured the waters^[c] in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? ' ( Isaiah 40:12 )


Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood,^[a] saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.

As we begin to study this eleventh chapter of the Revelation; we see John being commanded to reveal God's judgment, significantly, to His people, that was soon to come upon His Old Covenant 'children'. In this study; I have tried to show that the Revelation was given to John, not only to reveal Jesus as the Son of God ( Matthew 26:64 ), but also to serve as a warning to His covenant people of what was about to happen ( Matthew 24:34, Isaiah 56:1, Luke 21:35 ). God revealed His purpose to Daniel for the kingdom of Babylon, showing to Belshazzar that He had passed judgment on him, and was about to fulfill that judgment by taking the kingdom from him ( Matthew 21:43 ). When David, a type of Christ, had defeated Moab; he measured off, much as John did in the Revelation, those who would be destroyed, and those who would be left alive. As we have seen already in this study, and will continue to see as we study this book; John's instruction continues the central theme of the 'remnant' ( Isaiah 65:8 ) that, as you may have noticed, runs throughout all of Scripture. The prophet Isaiah revealed, in metaphor, that it was God Himself who had 'weighed' all things, according to His 'measure', His judgment, and that He had 'set' things according to His purpose and Plan.


But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.

'And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.' ( Daniel 9:26 ( 8:13 )

'Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. So I said, “Where are you going?”And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.'' ( Zechariah 2:1 & 2 )

John was specifically instructed not to include the 'court of the Gentiles' in his measurement, indicating, I believe, that this area, symbolic of those Old Covenant 'children' who had become no better, and in many cases, worse, than the nations around them, had been adversely judged and would be destroyed along with the 'nations' that did not know God. The 'man' that Zechariah 'witnessed' was going to stretch out, again symbolically, God's 'line' over those people that He had made covenant with, and which He ratified through the 'once for all' sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.

(It must be noted here, that although the reading that the New King James revisers have placed here, indicating that God gave these witnesses 'power', is fairly true to the intended meaning ( as they saw it ); the word 'power' is not found in the original Greek, but is simply an addition meant to clarify. )

'Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him' . ( Matthew 17:1-3) ( see also Matthew 11:13, Luke 16:16 )

'Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them'. ( Luke 16:29 ) ( see also Romans 9:4 )

'Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees—at the right of the lampstand and at its left?” And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles^[b] of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?” Then he answered me and said, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” So he said, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth' ( Zechariah 4:11-14 )

As we see throughout Scripture, and even in cultures all over the world; 'sackcloth' is a universal symbol of mourning. These two witnesses, I believe, representative of 'the Law & the Prophets'-Matthew 5:17 ), were sent out one last time, covered in sackcloth, to remind Old Covenant Israel ( after the flesh ) of the covenant which they had broken, and to indicate the surety and finality of the judgment that was soon to be visited upon them. When Moses and Elijah appeared with Christ on the 'Mount of Transfiguration', I believe that He was not only giving His disciples a preview of His glorious coming Kingdom, but also revealing the nearness of the judgment that was prophesied in the law Deuteronomy 28:15-68 ) and the prophets ( Zechariah 5:4 )! The 'parable' of 'The Rich Man & Lazarus', which, according to some is not a parable, is yet another reminder to God's Old Covenant 'children, I believe, of the covenant blessings that they had received and spurned, and also an indicator of what was about to come upon them ( Acts 24:15 & 25 ( Matthew 24:34, 16:28 ).

There are several different possibilities for the interpretation of the passage from Zechariah's prophecy: firstly, I believe, 'the anointed ones' could be symbolic, as are the 'two witnesses', of 'the law and the prophets', God's two means of revealing His will and purpose to His 'children': secondly, these two witnesses could be speaking of the 'branches' that Paul wrote of in Romans 11:16-24, His Old Covenant 'children, or Jews, and His New Covenant people, both Jew & Gentile.

John 'saw', or rather, heard that the Gentiles would 'tread the holy city underfoot' for a symbolic period of 'forty-two months', which is roughly 3 1/2 years, or exactly the number of days that God's 'two witnesses' were given to prophesy. Of these days, Daniel was told, 'And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.' ( Daniel 12:11 ) Although the amount of time that Daniel was told about was about a month more than John's figure; it is still roughly 3 1/2 years, or half of '7', the biblical symbol of perfection, or completeness. When Daniel had asked the Lord's messenger how long these things would last, he was told 'for a time, times, and half a time', traditionally '3 1/2' years, or 'when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered'. Who were these 'holy people' of whom the messenger spoke, but the 'children of the covenant, the people with whom God had especially covenanted by expressly sending them the Light?


These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God^[b] of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

'Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts: “Because you speak this word, Behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.“ ' ( Jeremiah 5:14 )

'Fire has come out from a rod of her branches and devoured her fruit, so that she has no strong branch— a scepter for ruling'. ( Ezekiel 19:14 )

'So Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty'. ( II Kings 1:10 )

The first chapter of the book of II Kings chronicles what happened when Ahaziah, one of the many wicked kings of Israel thought to command, probably in order to harm, even kill, one of God's servants, and accordingly as John recorded above, these enemies of God were consumed by 'fire from heaven'. The power granted these 'witnesses' to 'shut up heaven' should also remind us of Elijah,in the events leading up to the famous incident at Mount Carmel, as recorded in I Kings 17:1-7 ( I Kings 18:20-40 ) Moses, of course, who was both a prophet and the instrument through whom God gave the law ( ten words ) to His covenant 'children', is most well-known for the power ( of God ) he exercised over the waters of the land of Egypt, turning them to blood, and striking the land with many plagues.



When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our^[c] Lord was crucified.

'Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah'. ( Isaiah 1:10 ( Romans 9:29 )

As we read of the prophet Isaiah's first recorded vision, we see that the wickedness of Judah and Jerusalem had become so great that they were now no different, in God's eyes, then those degenerate inhabitants of the city of Sodom, from which we have 'gleaned' the term 'sodomite' ( I Corinthians 6:9 ). Jerusalem, is also termed spiritually 'Egypt', with much the same meaning, that she had become so corrupted ( I Corinthians 15:53 ), that she was now associated with Egypt, which, traditionally, is symbolic of sin and of the corrupt world system ( Romans 1:18-32, Deuteronomy 17:16 ( II Chronicles 9:25 ), Hosea 8:13 ( 9:3 ). In 'the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit'; we can see John's reference, not only to the 'beast' or 'beasts' ( Revelation 9:2-11 ) that he has already mentioned, but, as we will see in further studies in this Revelation, he also refers, more directly to his later visions ( Revelation 12:3-9, 13:11-18,20:1-4 ). Many of my readers are probably aware of this, and I believe that I have alluded to this previously, but John's visions seem almost to repeat themselves, rehearsing a common theme.



Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow^d]">[d] their dead bodies to be put into graves.


'The dead bodies of Your servants they have given as food for the birds of the heavens, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.' ( Psalm 79:2 )

'I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies shall be for meat for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth.' ( Jeremiah 34:20 )

'Assemble yourselves and come; gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal which I am sacrificing for you, a great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood'. ( Ezekiel 39:17 )

'Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against You, cast Your law behind their backs and killed Your prophets, who testified against them to turn them to Yourself; and they worked great provocations.' ( Nehemiah 9:26 )

'Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers'. ( Acts 7:52 )

'Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar'. ( Matthew 23:34 & 35 ( 21:33-45 )

I must remind my readers, again, that this is a vision, and significant, not only of things that would happen in the near future, but things that were happening in the present, and things that had happened in the past. We saw previously that these two witnesses had been killed and left in the streets of Jerusalem, symbolically, for the birds to pick their bones, and John is reminded, no doubt, of Jesus' words to the Pharisees in Matthew 23 and, you must imagine, of many Old Testament prophecies. One might also think of this passage in Isaiah; 'And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh'. ( Isaiah 66:24 ) Admittedly, Isaiah wrote of those transgressors of God's covenant law, but said covenant, represented by the law and the prophets was entrusted to ( and broken by ) His Old Covenant 'children' of Israel, the remnant of which have now grown ( and are growing ) to adulthood, having become 'the Israel of God'! Much of the reason for the 'nations' not allowing these 'witnesses' bodies to be buried was, as in the case of the crucifixion of Christ, and indeed of any crucifixion, to cause shame, and also as a warning to those who would likewise transgress. Their bodies lying in the streets of Jerusalem for three and a half days, I believe is symbolic in the sense of the many references which we have noted throughout the Old Testament prophets, and also refers to the three plus days that Christ's body lay in the grave.



And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.


'Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals.' ( I Kings 18:17 & 18 )

'Therefore the Jews of the villages who dwelt in the unwalled towns celebrated the fourteenth day of the month of Adar with gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and for sending presents to one another.' ( Esther 9:19 )

'But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance'. ( Matthew 21:38 )

In Jeremiah 20; we read how the spiritual leaders of Israel, namely Passhur the priest, persecuted the prophet for revealing God's true and righteous judgment. ( see also II Chronicles 18:7, 16-27 ) Jesus and His disciples, as He spoke of His death, in Matthew 21, revealed to His listeners that, as their fathers had always done to the prophets who prophesied contrary to them and their wicked deeds, so they themselves were about to do to Him, the Son of the parable! In the quote from the book of Esther; we see that the Jewish people, who Haman intended to destroy, 'turned the tables on' their adversaries, and rejoiced greatly over the deliverance that God had granted them from their 'tormentors'!


Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

'Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.' ( Matthew 5:17 )

'Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up'. ( John 2:19 )

'Your dead shall live; together with my dead body^b]">[b] they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.' ( Isaiah 26:19 )

'Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live'. ( Ezekiel 37:5 ( Gen 2:7 ) Hosea 6:2 )

Resurrection, one of the great themes of Scripture, is prophesied of in the Hebrew Scriptures, mainly in a spiritual and allegorical way, and usually in the corporate sense, of God's people being awakened ( Ephesians 5:14 ), being comforted by the revelation of Jesus Christ, in places like Isaiah 60:1-3, Isaiah 9:1-7, and Isaiah 52:1 & 2. The 'resurrection' of these 'two witnesses' ( the Law & the Prophets ) was revealed to John and his readers to prove irrefutably that, as Jesus said above, 'I did not come to destroy but to fulfill', thus linking, I believe, His own resurrection with that spoken of in John's Revelation. I hinted at this earlier, but I believe it to be very significant that these witnesses lay dead for approximately the same amount of time that Christ did, and arose with much the same 'startling' effect. ( Luke 24:36-40, Mark 16:4-8 )

And they^e]">[e] heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.

'I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.' ( Daniel 7:13 ( Acts 1:11 )

'Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.' ( Matthew 26:64 ( Revelation 1:7, Zechariah 12:10 )

'Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. ' ( II Kings 2:11 )

'Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain'. ( Exodus 24:15 )

Moses ascended into the 'mountain of the Lord', or into His presence ( the glory-cloud ) to receive His Law for the 'children' of Israel, a picture of Christ ascending to where He was previously, in the presence of the Father, to ratify and finalize His perfect Law, of love. I believe that when John penned the words above, he had these passages in mind, as well as many other happenings, such as what Manoah and his wife witnessed, in Judges 13:20. When the prophet Elijah's work was done; God called him up to heaven in quite a spectacular way! As Jesus ascended into the heavens in the clouds; I would imagine that His disciples standing there had much the same reaction as did Elisha, although maybe Jesus' ascension was not accompanied by quite the same 'fanfare' as Elijah's received. For the purpose of our study; it is interesting to note that the passage that I quoted from Daniel comes from the midst of judgment, which Scripture makes fairly clear, occurs at the same time as the return of Christ: our redemption!

In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

'For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.^a]">[a] These are the beginnings of sorrows'. ( Mark 13:8 ( Matthew 24:7, Luke 21:11 )

'For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel'. ( Ezekiel 38:19 ( Numbers 16:28-34 ( Exodus 15:12 )

'Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split'. ( Matthew 27:51 ( 28:2 )

'Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life'. ( Judges 16:30 )

'But yet a tenth will be in it, and will return and be for consuming, as a terebinth tree or as an oak, whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump'. ( Isaiah 6:13 ( Daniel 4:10-17 )

As we have noted previously; the term 'thousand' is, more often than not, indicative of 'a great many', rather than a literal number, and the numeral 'seven' is often used for 'a perfect, or complete amount': therefore, when John reported that 'seven thousand people were killed': I believe that he was revealing that just the exact ( perfect, complete ) number that God had determined had died, or would die, in the coming conflagration. Earthquakes, although not ( necessarily ) a common occurrence in the middle east were not uncommon either, and were often viewed as signs of God's judgment ( Isaiah 29:6, Ezekiel 38:19, Zechariah 14:5 ( Amos 1:1 ), Matthew 24:7 ( Mark 13:8, Luke 21:11 ). I believe that from the phrase 'The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly', we can deduce that the original recipients of this letter were already in the midst of this woe, or tribulation ( Matthew 24:21, 29 ), and the Lordship of Christ was about to be fully and finally revealed!


Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms^f]">[f] of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “ We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come,^g]">[g] because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth''.


'But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only they marched around the city seven times. And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: “Shout, for the LORD has given you the city!' ( Joshua 6:15 & 16 ( Daniel 7:18 & 22 )

'I will make the lame a remnant, and the outcast a strong nation; so the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even forever'. ( Micah 4:7 ( Isaiah 9:7, Daniel 2:44 )


'Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” ( Psalm 2:1-3 ( Isaiah 43:9 )

' And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt'. ( Daniel 12:2 )

'The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, so that men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely He is God who judges in the earth".' ( Psalm 58:10 & 11 )

It has been said before, that the Revelation is a worship service; here, once again, God's people ( symbolized by the 'twenty-four' elders ) break forth into a song of praise to God for His good judgment. After it is revealed that God's worldwide kingdom, which has long been prophesied ( Psalm 2:8 ( Daniel 7:13 ), Isaiah 65:13-16, Daniel 2:44 ), has at long last come to fruition, His people rejoice that the time has finally come that Daniel wrote of, saying 'Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed' ( Daniel 7:14 ), and 'the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom' ( Daniel 7:22 ). As is the case with most judgments; when somebody wins, somebody else loses!

Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant^h]">[h] was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

'He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land.' ( Psalm 105:32 ( Exodus 9:24 & 25 )

'Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven^b]">[b] quaked and were shaken, because He was angry. Smoke went up from His nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth; coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down with darkness under His feet. He rode upon a cherub, and flew; and He was seen^c]">[c] upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness canopies around Him, dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness before Him coals of fire were kindled. The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice. He sent out arrows and scattered them; lightning bolts, and He vanquished them.' ( II Samuel 22:8-15 )

'The LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men'. ( Psalm 11:4 ( Acts 17:24 )

'Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?' ( I Corinthians 3:16 ( 6:19 )

In the prophetic Scriptures, in particular, 'lightning', whether physical, symbolic, or both, was often an indicator of God's presence, as we can see in passages like Exodus 20:18-21, Job 36:32, Psalm 18:14, Ezekiel 1:13 & 14 ( Matthew 24:27 ), Daniel 10:6 ( Revelation 1:12-16 ), Zechariah 9:14, Luke 17:24 ). As we have seen much so far in our study of the revelation of Jesus Christ, and as we have noted before; the conjunction of a judgment with this revelation, or the so-called 'second coming' of Jesus Christ has been plainly shown ( made obvious ) by God, through His prophets.

May God bless you with this study of the Revelation of Jesus the Christ, and it is my humble wish that this study would be instrumental, in some way, in bringing it's readers to a deeper, truer understanding of this book!

in God's grace,
and for His kingdom,
Charles Shank