Study:
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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
Revelation 12:1-17
Notice that the location of our vision alternates between
heaven and
earth, that it starts in heaven and ends on
the earth, and that it alternates between these two locations an even number
of times. What follows is one possible structure based on these facts... a
parallel structure!
Structure:
Revelation 12:1-6
Revelation 12:7-17
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.
vss. 1-3
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. vss. 7,8
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:
vss. 4,5a
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. vs. 9
and her child was caught up
unto God, and to his throne. vs. 5b
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. vss. 10-12
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. vs. 6
And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the
woman which brought forth the man child. 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. 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.
vss. 13-17
The location of the vision, being in heaven or
earth, is not the only indicator of structure.
Notice that there are two sets of parallel passages that show that this
structure is the structure of this chapter.
Angels cast to the earth:
"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."
Revelation 12:4
"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." Revelation 12:9
Note: we know that "stars" are a symbol for "angels" not only from
Revelation 1:20 ("... The seven stars are the angels of
the seven churches:...") but also from the structure (See the
Structure of Revelation 1 & 2.) that emphasizes this verse.
Clearly, verses 4 and 9 are parallels as both talk of
angels/stars that are cast down to the earth.
Woman goes into the wilderness:
"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." Revelation 12:6
"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."
Revelation 12:14
Also, clearly, verses 6 and 14 are parallels as both talk of
a woman that goes into the wilderness where she has
a place where she is nourished/fed for a period of time "
Structure (again):
Revelation 12:1-6
Revelation 12:7-17
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.
vss. 1-3
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. vss. 7,8
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:
vss. 4,5a
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. vs. 9
and her child was caught up
unto God, and to his throne. vs. 5b
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. vss. 10-12
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. vs. 6
And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the
woman which brought forth the man child. 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. 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.
vss. 13-17
To be continued...
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