CHAPTER XII. _The woman clothed with the sun, and in travail_, 1, 2. _The great red dragon waiting to devour the child as soon as_ _born_, 3, 4. _The woman is delivered of a son, who is caught up unto God;_ _and she flees to the wilderness_, 5, 6. _The war in heaven between Michael and the dra... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C. Verse Revelation 12:2. _AND SHE BEING WITH CHILD CRIED, TRAVAILING IN BIRTH_, c.] This, when taken in connection with the following verses, is a striking figure of the great persecution which the Church of Christ should suffer under the heathen Roman emperors, but m... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C. Verse Revelation 12:3. _THERE APPEARED ANOTHER WONDER-A GREAT RED DRAGON_] The dragon here is a symbol, not of the _Roman empire_ in general, but of the _HEATHEN Roman empire_. This great pagan power must have, therefore, been thus represented from the religion whi... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C. Verse Revelation 12:4. _AND HIS TAIL DREW THE THIRD PART OF THE STARS OF HEAVEN_] It is not unusual in Scripture, as Dr. Mitchell observes, to call the hindmost of an enemy the _tail_, as in Joshua 10:19: _Ye shall cut off the hindmost of them_, which is literally... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 12:5. _AND HER CHILD WAS CAUGHT UP UNTO GOD, AND_ TO _HIS_ _THRONE__._] In _Yalcut Rubeni_ are these words: "Rachael, the niece of Methusala, was pregnant, and ready to be delivered in Egypt. They trod upon her, and the child came out of her bowels, and lay under the bed; _Michael d... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C. Verse Revelation 12:6. _AND THE WOMAN FLED INTO THE WILDERNESS_] The account of the woman's flying into the wilderness immediately follows that of her child being caught up to the throne of God, to denote the great and _rapid_ increase of heresies in the Christian C... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 12:7. _THERE WAS WAR IN HEAVEN_] In the same treatise, fol. 87, 2, on Exodus 14:7, _Pharaoh took six hundred chariots_, we have these words: "There was war among those _above_ and among those _below_, בשמים חזקה היתה והמלחמה vehammilchamah hayethah chazakah bashshamayim, _and there... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C. Verse Revelation 12:8. _AND PREVAILED NOT_] Against the cause of Christianity. _NEITHER WAS THEIR PLACE FOUND ANY MORE IN HEAVEN._] The advocates of the heathen idolatry were prevented from having any farther share in the government of the empire. The wonderful suc... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 12:9. _THAT OLD SERPENT_] The rabbins speak much of this _being_, sometimes under the notion of הרע יצר yetser hara, _the evil_ _principle_, and sometimes _Samael_. _HE WAS CAST OUT INTO THE EARTH, AND HIS ANGELS WERE CAST OUT_ _WITH HIM._] This is very like a saying in the book _B... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 12:10. _THE ACCUSER OF OUR BRETHREN_] There is scarcely any thing more common in the rabbinical writings than _Satan as the_ _accuser of the Israelites_. And the very same word κατηγορος, _accuser_, or, as it is in the _Codex Alexandrinus_, κατηγωρ, is used by them in Hebrew letters... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C. Verse Revelation 12:11. _AND THEY OVERCAME HIM BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB_] Here is given the reason why the followers of Christ prevailed at this time against all their adversaries. It was because they fought against the dragon in the armour of God. _They overcame hi... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C. Verse Revelation 12:12. _THEREFORE REJOICE_, YE _HEAVENS, AND YE THAT DWELL IN_ _THEM__._] Let the Christians, who are now partakers of the present temporal prosperity, and advanced to places of trust in the empire, praise and magnify the Lord who has thus so signal... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C. Verse Revelation 12:13. _AND WHEN THE DRAGON SAW THAT HE WAS CAST UNTO THE_ _EARTH_] When the heathen party saw that they were no longer supported by the civil power: - _HE PERSECUTED THE WOMAN WHICH BROUGHT FORTH THE MAN_ CHILD.] The heathens persecuted the Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C. Verse Revelation 12:14. _AND TO THE WOMAN WERE GIVEN TWO WINGS OF A GREAT EAGLE_] Του αετου του μεγαλου· _Of THE great eagle_. The great eagle here mentioned is an emblem of the Roman empire in general, and therefore differs from the _dragon_, which is a symbol of... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C. Verse Revelation 12:15. _AND THE SERPENT CAST OUT OF HIS MOUTH WATER AS A FLOOD_] The water here evidently means _great multitudes of nations and_ _peoples_; for in Revelation 17:15, the interpreting angel says, _The waters which thou sawest-are peoples, and multitu... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C. Verse Revelation 12:16. _THE EARTH HELPED THE WOMAN_] "Nothing, and indeed," as Bishop Newton excellently observes, "was more likely to produce the ruin and utter subversion of the Christian Church than the irruptions of so many barbarous nations into the Roman emp... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C. Verse Revelation 12:17. _AND THE DRAGON WAS WROTH WITH THE WOMAN_] The heathen party, foiled in their subtle attempt to destroy Christianity, were greatly enraged, and endeavoured to excite the hatred of the multitude against the religion of Jesus. "They alleged tha... [ Continue Reading ]