INTRODUCTION

“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand” (Revelation 1:3, KJV).

The book of Revelation shows all the visions that God and Jesus Christ had given to John the Beloved so it could be written into a book. Purportedly, Revelation stands as an addition to the gospel book written by John. It establishes itself as a prophetic revelation by Jesus Christ complementing His Mt. Olivet prophecy, which is missing in the gospel of John.

In Revelation 1:3, we are told that there is a blessing that will come to anyone who will be able to read (anaginosko in Greek) and understand the coded message of God. Anyone can read loudly what is written in the book of Revelation but to understand and know their prophetic significance is a very different matter. When the person who will know and understand the prophecies in the book of Revelation comes, blessing awaits for the people on earth who will listen, follow and keep his teachings and interpretations. That is only the time that blessing can really come to anyone who will read or hear for he will then understand.

The verse also pointed out to us the time that someone will come and give us the true understanding and interpretation of all the things written in the book of Revelation. The decoder or reader of the book of Revelation will appear at the end of time when all of the prophecies on it are being fulfilled, as it is written, “the time is at hand.”  Hear now the words of the prophecy in the book of Revelation (chapter 12), as read to you, by someone who thinks he knows what he is writing about or just trying to read it.

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Revelation 3:22, KJV).

First of all, we must understand that Revelation 1:3 is only applicable to the book of Revelation written by John the Beloved and not to the entire New Testament writings. Many religious people have interpreted this verse as if the canon of the New Testament has been handed to us from heaven at the start. It had taken almost 400 years to establish the collection of holy writings we now called as the New Testament. Even if the Holy Bible interprets itself, the writing of one of its writers is not part of or the continuation of the writings of the other authors that had served God at a time different than the others.

We are now in chapter 12 of the book of Revelation.

Hear O Israel the secret message of Adonai Eloheinu (Lord our God) in the book of Revelation.

"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

"And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne" (Revelation 12:1-5, King James Version).

John had seen another vision in heaven. The woman in his vision is not in heaven in the same way that the temple of God and the Ark of the Covenant are not really in heaven (Revelation 11:19). God was only revealing to John the visions or prophecies in the book of Revelation with heaven as its background. It is like going to see a movie in a theater and you see the film or video in the silver screen but the people and the scenes that are being projected on it are not really in the silver screen. It is only the medium that is being used to project before your eyes and into your mind the film made by its maker.

John had seen a prophetic vision of a woman that symbolizes the holy nation of Israel. Symbolically she is being clothed with the sun, which conveys the meaning that God is giving her protection unlike the rest of the nations on earth. The sun is a symbolism for God our Father, avinu eloheynu. The moon under her feet shows us where the strength of the chosen people of Israel (am yisrael) lies. The woman is standing on a very solid ground. The moon gives the reflection of the light coming from the sun. Its light is coming directly from the sun. The chosen people of Israel, specifically the Jewish people, are spiritually anchored and founded on the Law of Moses. Therefore the moon is the symbolism that God had used for the Torah of Moses, which is a reflection of God the great and consuming fire (Deuteronomy 9:3, Hebrew 12:29). The crown of twelve stars on her head clearly identifies who she is. The twelve stars symbolize the twelve tribes that composed the Holy Nation of Israel.

The vision in heaven about the woman in travail ready to deliver or give birth to her child reveals to us the suffering of the Jewish people on earth. The child that she is bearing symbolically represents the Yeshua the Promised Messiah and Deliverer of the people of Israel. Only Yeshua can take away the pain and suffering of the chosen people of Israel. The Jewish people like their lost brethren, the Israelites, are suffering under the state of captivity. At the time of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Jewish people in Judea were under the rule of the Roman Empire.

”Why, when I came, was there no man; why, when I called, was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a desert; their fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness and make sackcloth their covering”” (Isaiah 50:2-3, ESV).

It is God who delivers and protects the Jewish people. Through Jesus the son of Joseph, God will manifest His power to deliver the Jews from all their troubles.

The next wonder or vision in heaven reveals “a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads” (Revelation 12:3).

The ‘great red dragon’ symbolizes Satan the Devil and also the Holy Roman Empire for Satan the Devil has given his power to the Roman Empire (Revelation 13:4). Like Satan the Devil that brought down one third of the angels in heaven, the Roman Empire had brought down and subjugated 1/3 of the nations on earth. The Parthian Empire also existed as a powerful empire at the time of the Holy Roman Empire in the same way that we have the USA and the European Union today. Besides that there were other powerful nations and empires on earth at the time of the birth of Jesus just like in our present time.

Satan had waited for the appearance of the Promised Messiah of God and through the Romans he had symbolically devoured or killed the prophesied child of the woman. The woman in Revelation 12 symbolically represents the nation of Judah. Satan the Devil by means of the of the unbelieving Jewish authorities and the Roman soldiers had crucified and killed Yeshua the Promised Messiah of the Jews.

Isaiah the prophet announced the birth of Jesus the prophesied child of Judah. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6-7, KJV).   

Paul the apostle also added, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5, ESV), further strengthening the identity of the man child as Jesus.

The Promised Messiah of God had come the first time to redeem the people of Israel that are living under the Law of Moses. After the redemption of the Jewish people from the penalty of their sins has been completed, Jesus went up to heaven. He sits at the throne of God above us and mediating for the chosen people of Israel before God just like Moses the prophet. Jesus is mediating for the people on earth who are now obeying the Law of Moses.

There is no truth to the belief of the Christian people that the woman in Revelation 12 symbolizes a Christian Church or a Church of God organization. The Christian people are not keeping and observing the Law of Moses like the Jewish people, and so are all the Church of God organizations on earth. There is no way for any religious group of people on earth to be saved unless the moon that symbolizes the Torah of Moses is metaphorically under their feet, unless they are keeping the Law of Moses as well.

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