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The Star of Bethlehem - This intriguing documentary simply takes the clockwork nature of the universe to turn back the skies to key points in time to see the signs in the heavens pointing to Christ’s birth and crucifixion.
The book of Revelation is full of depictions of strange creatures and
symbolism that can make understanding difficult. I think this was by
design such that without a basic understanding of scripture and Biblical
history, a lot of the symbolisism is hard to decypher. However in most
cases the Holy Spirit has provided the keys to the cypher throughout
scripture. There are two women in Revelation, the faithful and the
unfaithful, both of
which are related to Israel in the end times.
Revelation 12:1-5 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.
We’ll focus first on the woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under
her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars with child [singular]
Genesis 37:9-11 And he dreamed
yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have
dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and
the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his
father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said
unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I
and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to
thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him; but his
father observed the saying.
There are two times that God appeared to Jacob and gave him the new
name Israel. One when God wrestled with Jacob, Genesis 32:24-28, and
when God blessed Jacob and promised him the land and nation in Genesis
35:9-12. According to how Jacob himself interpreted this:
Sun = Jacob (Israel)
[woman: clothed with the sun,
identified by her clothing which is Israel]
Moon = Rachel (mom)
[woman: standing upon]
11stars
= 11 brothers [woman: crowned
with the 12 tribes of Israel (their father). We see the 12
tribes identified with the doorways in and out of New Jerusalem as well.
(Revelation 21:12)]
A great wonder (sign) in heaven a woman:
Clothed with the sun
- The 12 tribes of Israel were born through Jacob, their father. Being
clothed with him is like an identity for the woman. When you see the
woman, clothed with her father Jacob, it represents all of his literal
seed, the Jews, what we call the nation of Israel.
Moon under her feet
- Genesis 3:15 prophesies of the coming Messiah through the seed of
the woman. (It is the man who has the seed) The lineage of Christ actually
came through the woman, Mary, and in the symbology of this woman in
Revelation 12:2, being Israel, shows that Christ came from the nation
of Israel. Revelation 12:2-5 Christ, the man-child was born of
a virgin through the nation of Israel, the tribe of Judah. He was bruised
by Lucifer (the cross for our sins) and Christ will crush Lucifer’s
head (his ultimate defeat in the end). I believe the woman with the moon
beneath her feet demonstrates this relationship of the woman as being the
foundation of the nation of Israel and the fulfillment of this prophecy.
Crown of 12 stars on her head
- The 12 tribes of Israel are also represented as the 12 pearl
gates into New Jerusalem. I believe this is because salvation came through
the Jews via Christ, and so we must pass through their gates to enter the city.
Proverbs 4:7-9 speaks of a crown of glory and an ornament of grace. Psalm
103:1-5 speaks of crowning with loving-kindness and tender mercies.
Also, in Genesis 49 is Jacob telling the 12 sons “that which shall
befall you in the last days.” Genesis 49:22-26 specifies
Joseph’s prophecy of the blessings of Jacob being on the head
of Joseph, the crown of the head. The crown (stephanos
G4735) symbolizes a badge of royalty. So it would seem
that the 12 tribes of Israel are the glory of Israel and rightly so
since they are her beginnings.
She brought forth a man child, who was to
rule all nations with a rod of iron
Psalms 2:9 Thou
[Yeshua] shalt break them with a rod
of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
Revelation 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp
sword, that with it he [Yeshua] should
smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and
he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty
God.
Revelation 2:27
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as
the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as
I received of my Father.
The Meshiach Nagid was prophesied to come from the lineage of Israel
along with other prophecies that place Christ being born of a virgin
and of Jewish lineage. Indeed, all of our scriptures are Jewish and
Romans 11 is quite clear on how important Israel still is to Him. He
is also the “seed of the woman” not having had the seed
of man to be conceived.
Genesis 3:13-15 And the LORD
God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the
woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD
God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art
cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon
thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of
thy life: And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;
it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Now this all fits perfectly and we see more clearly using
scripture to interpret scripture, that the
Meshiach Nagid would be Jewish. The prophecy of Revelation 12 clothes the
woman with the symbol for Israel as seen in a vision by Joseph and recognized
as symbolizing himself, his wife and 11 sons by Jacob.
Great Wonder in Heaven
There is another fascinating correlation brought forth by Frederick
A. Larson in his 2007 documentary
The
Star of Bethlehem. I’ll provide a quick rundown, but I would highly
recommend watching if you have not. In it he recounts his journey and findings looking for signs
in the skies using
Starry Night software to see what the Magi from the East might have
seen that triggered their journey across the desert to Jerusalem to see
the promised Messiah. What he finds is very fascinating and points to
some of the same wonders in heaven John describes above in Revelation.
Starting 9/11/03 BC (From Babylon)
Coronation: Jupiter (king planet) rises from the east in
close conjunction with Regulus (king star). This is rare, but
happens sometimes. However during this time Jupiter was in
retrograde three times, making a halo over Regulus.
Lion of Judah: Regulus is one of the stars in the
constellation Leo (lion). Genesis 49:9-10
Birth of a King: Following Jupiter in the sky is the sun in
the constellation Virgo and a barely crescent moon at Virgo's
feet at Rosh Hashannah. Revelation 12:1-5
Starting 6/17/02 BC (From Babylon)
The Brightest Star: 9 months later
Jupiter (king planet) sets in the West in conjunction with Venus
(mother planet) and their light combined so to the observer with
the naked eye it appeared to be the brightest star anyone had
seen.
Starting 11/5/02 BC (From Jerusalem)
A Southern Star: The
Magi arrive in Jerusalem and Jupiter is now in the southern sky
from Jerusalem and the point it goes into retrograde is 12/25/02
BC, stopping over Bethlehem South of Jerusalem.
Yeshua was killed on a year when Nisan 14 fell on a
Wednesday
Luke 23:54 - It was preparation day, before
Sabbath (High Day Sabbath)
John 13:1 - Just before the Passover feast
Leviticus 23:5 - The LORD's Passover begins at twilight
on the 14th of Nisan.
Characteristics of this time
Luke 2:23 - Yeshua was about 30 years of age when He
began His ministry
John - Records 3 Passovers during Yeshua's ministry
(last passover was his death/resurrection)
Matthew 27:2 - He was handed over to Pilate, whom Roman
historian Tasitus records his rule to be 26-36 AD.
Yeshua died around 3 pm that day. Mark 15:25-37
You can also hear a more scholarly take from Michael S. Heiser’s
Naked
Bible Podcast
-
Episode 138:
What Day was Jesus Born? from 12/25/2016, where he comes to the same
date on what he deems the birth of Christ. He also goes into how the
dating for Herod's death in 4 BC dating from Josephus, which most people
do, is not accurate and Herod’s death was in 1 BC.
Woman in the Wilderness
Revelation 12:6 And the woman
fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that
they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
To be honest, I’m not sure what to make of this part. Timing-wise,
this would be just after Christ’s ascension that Israel would be in
the wilderness, but I’m not yet sure how this fits in.
Matching Revelation 14?
I heard a theory
that this is one of the proofs for a 360-day year because in this case,
we are given an exact number of days, 1260. Then in Revelation 12:14, it’s
described as 3 ½ years, or a time, and times, and half a time. This would
give us an exact number of days value for 3 ½ years which shows that prophetic
years in scripture are exactly 360, not the 365.2 we have now.
It could be that verse 6 and 14 are speaking of the same time and
that the idea of the woman fleeing and also being taken can coexist. The
timing of this fleeing and being protected for 3½ years in a place
prepared by God for her and nourished comes at the end of the
time of Jacob’s trouble.
It is the cutting short of this time that saves her from completed
destruction and comes when the dragon is cast to the earth around the
abomination of
desolation and revealing of the
man of sin who is no
longer restrained. In Matthew 24:15-18 and Mark 13:14-16 Yeshua
explicitly tells those in Judea to flee to the mountains, matching
Revelation 12:6 where the woman flees into the wilderness.
Then in Revelation 12:14 she is given wings of a great eagle to fly
into her place, indicating a swift removal as the majority of cases
where the symbol of the eagle is used, it is to denote swiftness. In
Revelation 12:15-16 we see the dragon casts water from his mouth to
carry her away in a flood, but that is prevented by the earth. In this
way, we see a potentially cohesive view that initially they flee, but
the intensity of the persecution requires outside help to save them and
get them to the place prepared for them to endure the coming
wrath of God where they
will be refined through the fire, Zechariah 13:8-9, and come out of the
70th
week of Daniel a nation that accepts their true Messiah, Yeshua.
Flight to Egypt?
There is another theory that this is after Christ’s birth, when
Mary, Joseph, and Yeshua fled to Egypt.
Matthew 2:13-23 And when they
[wise men from the east] were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in
a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and
flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod
will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the
young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was
there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called
my son. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men,
was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that
were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof,
from two years old
and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of
the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the
prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping,
and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be
comforted, because they are not.
But when Herod was dead, behold,
an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, Saying,
Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land
of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.
And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into
the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea
in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding,
being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
The wise men from the East, while often portrayed as coming with their
gifts to the manger, were likely not there until months after
Yeshua’s birth. The fact that Herod ordered the murder of all boys 2 and
under, based on his questioning of the wise men, would indicate the age he expected the Messiah to be was at least
two years or less.
It wasn’t until after the death of Herod in 4 BC that Joseph is told to
return to Israel with his family, ending up in Nazareth. We don’t know
exact times between when Herod ordered the murder of the children so
it’s not possible to determine if they were in Egypt for 3½ years or
not.
Bible Exposition - This site advocates Revelation 12:6 pointing to Mary,
Joseph, & Yeshua’s trip to Egypt.
Israel and the time of Jacob’s Trouble (Great Tribulation)
Revelation 12:7-13 And there was
war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and
the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their
place found any more in heaven. And the great
dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and
his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying
in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our
God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is
cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;
and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye
heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of
the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having
great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto
the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
Seeing who the woman is reveals the connection to the great tribulation
Christ spoke of in Matthew 24:15-22 and Mark 13:14-20 in which He referred
to the Old Testament prophecies in Jeremiah 30:1-7 and Daniel 12:1. We see
here that Lucifer is cast out of heaven and knowing he has a short time
(about 3½ years Revelation 13:4-5), he goes after the woman who brought
forth the man-child. A more detailed study on the
great tribulation,
what it means and who its for as well as how long it lasts according to
the Bible.
Taken into the wilderness
Revelation 12:14-16 And to the
woman were given two wings of a great eagle,
that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where
she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face
of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth
water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried
away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened
her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his
mouth.
It is key to see here that the woman [Israel]
is protected from the dragon [Lucifer] who
is the one that went after the woman [Israel]
after he was cast out of heaven Revelation 12:13 and gave power to the beast.
Revelation 13:2-5
Why is this key? If the great tribulation started at the abomination
of desolation, when the dragon gave power to the beast that would last 42
months and went after Israel, then when the dragon can no longer get Israel,
the great tribulation would be over.
Daniel 12:11 - 1290 days from abomination
of desolation
Revelation 12:14 - 1260 days protected
from dragon in wilderness
1290 days - 1260 days =
30 days
After the Great Tribulation is Over
Revelation 12:17 And the dragon
was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her
seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of
Jesus Christ.
Now we see the dragon is really ticked because he’s still got 1230
days before he’s done (Revelation 13:5 | Revelation 19:20) and he
can’t get Israel any more because as God promised, He will refine
them through fire Zechariah 13:8-9 after taking them into the wilderness
and protecting her from the dragon.
So what does Lucifer do after only 30 days to get Israel? He goes after
everyone else of Jewish descent and that believe in Christ for his final
1230 days, the time when the
wrath of God
is also being poured out on the children of disobedience. For those in Christ
now, the harpazo
will come before God’s wrath, because we aren’t appointed to
God’s wrath. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5
Revelation 12:17 is the time after the harpazo, where those who didn’t
have
oil in their lamps in Matthew 25:1-13 are left behind and the door is
shut before the marriage of the Lamb. Matthew 7:13-23 There is still salvation
through Christ, but there won’t be any added to the
bride of Christ
after the harpazo.
Feel guilty about the harpazo?
Is the church the woman of Revelation 12?
Someone brought up the following saying the church
the woman because we’re grafted in:
“Paul told the Roman that they have to be grafted into the
House. The woman/church is Israel Physically or spiritually.”
Romans 11:17-25 And if some of
the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert
graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness
of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast,
thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The
branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because
of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not
highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take
heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and
severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness,
if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed
in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out
of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary
to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be
the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would
not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should
be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to
Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Romans 2:9 Tribulation and
anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and
also of the Gentile;
Romans 2:10
But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the
Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
My response: The association doesn’t
work with reality and God usually uses images of reality for us to associate
what we cannot see with. So in reality, can a woman give birth to herself?
The woman is associated with the sun, moon, and 12 stars we see in Joseph’s
dream that is interpreted for us by Jacob himself. We know that Christ was
born of the Jews and that He will rule with a rod of iron. So we have directly
defined for us that:
Woman = Israel
Man-child = Christ
Where does the church fit in? Can we possibly be the woman? No, because
the Gentile church didn’t exist until Christ brought salvation to
the Gentiles. So how could the church be the woman?
As far as being grafted onto the root, which is Christ, there is no difference
between Jew or Gentile except that the Jew is always
a natural branch grafted on and Gentiles are always wild branches grafted
on. This doesn’t mean that we are both the same. In fact the
distinction of natural and wild clearly delineates the two groups, yet in
Christ they are the same. This doesn’t mean that prophetic symbols
for history and the future always connect Israel and the church as being
the same.
The church is
promised to be kept from God’s wrath. Israel is promised to be
refined through it. Zechariah 13:8-9 This is just one of many differences
that still exist between the two groups because we are stuck in space-time
unlike God, who knows the end from the beginning. In the end, the only difference
will be that some will be the bride of Christ and others will not. They
will all be in heaven though. However, there are still prophetic events
tied to one group or the other that must be fulfilled first.
“Be not overcome
of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21
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