Revelation 12:1. AND THERE APPEARED A GREAT SIGN IN HEAVEN. The ‘sign' consists of three particulars, and the first of these is again divided into three parts, mention of which occupies the remainder of this verse, A WOMAN ARRAYED WITH THE SUN, AND THE MOON UNDER HER FEET, AND UPON HER HEAD A CROWN... [ Continue Reading ]
The third Woe, or the seventh Trumpet, came to an end with chap. 11; and, as the seven Trumpets followed immediately after the seven Seals, we might now have expected that these, in their turn, would be followed by the seven Bowls. The pouring out of these Bowls, however, does not begin until we rea... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 12:2. AND SHE WAS WITH CHILD. These words form the second particular of the vision; while the third represents her as at that moment suffering the pangs of childbirth, AND THE CRIETH OUT, TRAVAILING IN BIRTH, AND IN PAIN TO HE DELIVERED. To the question, Who is this woman? different answe... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 12:3. AND THERE APPEARED ANOTHER SIGN IN HEAVEN. In every respect this second sign is the counterpart or opposite of the first; and, like it, it is described in three particulars. The first has relation to the object seen. AND BEHOLD A GREAT RED DRAGON, HAVING SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS,... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 12:4. HIS TAIL DRAWETH THE THIRD PART OF THE STARS OF HEAVEN, AND DID CAST THEM TO THE EARTH. The second particular thus mentioned of the dragon has relation to what he does, and is in contrast with what had been said of the woman when we were told that she ‘was with child.' The present t... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 12:5. The birth takes place. The woman is DELIVERED OF A SON, OF MAN'S SEX. The last expression is remarkable. In the Authorised Version we read simply of ‘a man child,' in the Revised of ‘a son, a man child.' We have given another rendering in the hope of thereby bringing out the force w... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 12:6. AND THE WOMAN FLED INTO THE WILDERNESS, WHERE SHE HATH A PLACE PREPARED OF GOD, THAT THEY MAY NOURISH HER THERE A THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED, AND THREESCORE DAYS. The fortunes of the woman's child having been described, we are now informed of her own. The flight of Elijah into the wilder... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 12:7-9. With the words of Revelation 12:7 the second scene of the chapter opens, and the transition from the ideal to the actual begins. As the first scene, too, corresponded to the first paragraph of the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel (Revelation 12:1-5), so this scene corresponds to its... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 12:10-12. The victory thus gained is followed by a song of praise and thanksgiving, which proceeds from A GREAT VOICE IN HEAVEN. Whose voice this is we are not told, and it may be well to leave it in its indefiniteness. The song is one of adoring praise that the s ALVATION, AND THE POWER... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 12:13-14. From what has been said it will be evident that with the 13th verse there is no reverting to the point which we had reached at Revelation 12:6. On the contrary, another step is taken in advance; and we are invited to behold in actual warfare the forces that in the first scene ha... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 12:15-16. The imagery employed in these verses is difficult. It is in all probability taken from the passage of Israel across the Red Sea and the river Jordan into the Promised Land. This reference is the more probable when we remember the language of David in Psalms 18, when at Revelatio... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 12:17, and chap. Revelation 13:1 a. Defeated in his purpose the dragon breaks forth into a paroxysm of rage. The important expression in this verse, THE REST OF HER SEED, is difficult, and it has been very variously interpreted. These interpretations it is impossible to examine, and it mu... [ Continue Reading ]