THE WOMAN OF MYSTERY

THE WOMAN OF REVELATION 12:1, HAS BEEN ONE OF THE GREAT MYSTERIES OF THE BIBLE; AS FAR AS THE GENTILE CHURCH WORLD IS CONCERNED. THEY HAVE CALLED HER EVERYTHING EXCEPT WHAT, OR WHO SHE REALLY IS. NATURALLY HER TRUE IDENTITY IS SEEN THROUGH EYES THAT HAVE BEEN ENLIGHTENED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT; BUT ONCE YOU SEE IT, EVERYTHING FITS PERFECTLY IN PLACE, AS YOU READ THE FOLLOWING VERSES. THAT OF COURSE, IS ANOTHER THING THAT IS ONLY FOR THE END TIME SAINTS TO UNDERSTAND; BUT WE ARE LIVING IN THAT TIME; SO LET US TAKE SOME TIME AND DEAL WITH THE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS CHAPTER.

We have been seeing a great political upheaval taking place in the world; and the majority of those who speak of it, look at it as a freedom that will cure all the problems of those who have lived under dictatorial rulerships for so long; but I am looking for a freedom where sin will no longer rule nor reign, and where races will no longer know how to hate. I am looking for that freedom where corruption and graft no longer exist, and where rich and poor are all treated alike. That is the freedom I am looking for. This world has such an era in its future; but before it comes to that, it must go through a period of time that no person living on it then, will be glad to see. In the last few months, as Communism has been falling apart, I could not help but think, as our Secretary of State, James Baker, traveled from place to place taking care of what was expected of him as a representative of this nation, This is that LAMB BEAST of Revelation 13, fulfilling its part in getting things ready for that week of Daniel, when a great peace covenant will be in effect between many nations. At least the week will start out like that. First he was in Moscow, then on to Bulgaria, and from there, on to the Middle East. This generation has not seen it like this before; but it all fits right into Bible prophecy that must be fulfilled before the bride of Christ gets out of here. West Germany sent their man to Moscow to talk over the re-uniting of East and West Germany with Mr. Gorbachev. All of which is definitely bringing Europe into position for its great prophetic role foretold in the scriptures. The United States has been the world's influential tool, to help bring all of this about; and natural minded people of the world today, look upon this as the greatest phenomena the world has ever seen. It is truly a phenomena; but it is all right here in the Bible; and has been all the time. The world at large, wonders how such a thing could transpire in such a short interval of time; but does not the scripture say that God will put it in the heart's of men to fulfill His will? We need not think that truth pertains only to what Revelation 17:17 is dealing with; for God has been in control of things all along. He has always put it in the heart's of mankind to fulfill His will and purpose. The events foretold in the scriptures are a beautiful combination of predestination, foreknowledge, and man's free choice all fitted together to produce an element of people from every age for the kingdom of God. It is like the little song says: God does not make us go against our will; He just makes us willing to go. He already knows every person that will ever believe the gospel and be saved; so He just works circumstances around us, to help us make up our mind to follow the leading of His spirit. As Communism in Russia and eastern Europe crumbles, and apartheid crumbles in Africa, do you think this is opening the door for another two or three hundred years of economic prosperity? Do you think it has opened the way for more reveling, so more people can just have a good time? That is what people do when they suddenly obtain this kind of freedom. Just wait though until this shaking takes place in the Middle East. Then people are really going to have something to talk about. Most people really have no idea whatsoever, what is really taking place over there in Israel. The Arabs are all up in the air over this mass immigration of Jews; especially from the Soviet Union. The government of Jordan has asked the Soviet Union to halt Jewish immigration to Israel until the Palestinian issue is resolved. They say this immigration to the Israeli occupied territories is crushing all future peace chances. Israeli officials expect three hundred thousand Soviet Jews to immigrate to Israel in the next few years; and they are busy preparing to take care of them. They have no plans for giving up any of what the world refers to as occupied territory; just to pacify those who demand that they do so. Israeli Prime Minister Shamir has aroused anger in the Arab countries by just plainly saying that Israel should hold on to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, to handle the influx of immigrants they are expecting. That is prophecy in fulfillment. That is why I said, Wait until this shaking starts in the Middle East. We are going to see how the western world is going to react. You can take my word for it; they will not jump for joy; and rush to support Israel. (This may all be history by the time you read this paper.-editor)

Let us open our Bible's to Revelation 12:1, where we find these words, "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." We preached and printed a message dealing with this woman John saw clothed with the sun; but there are other things we want to place within it this time; as we deal with it in this series of messages. When this prophecy was written by John in 96 A.D., the Jewish nation no longer existed. John was given this vision twenty some years beyond the destruction of Jerusalem. The Jews, the two southern tribes, had been carried off into captivity, to an uncertain destiny in dispersion. They did not know how long it would last. John, the last of the old patriarchs of the covenant faith, no doubt wondered what would be the future of his people; and of the very land itself; for he knew the land had been promised to Abraham and his seed for an everlasting inheritance. (Gen.17:8) "And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." No doubt he knew the prophecies of the scriptures, where God had spoken through His prophets that He would restore; but even still, that would not keep one from wondering just how it would be brought about. We do not know how John approached God in prayer concerning this matter; but we do know God saw fit to give him an experience more unique than all others before him. He saw a door opened in heaven: and heard a voice say to him, "Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter." God carried John away in the Spirit, to various periods of future time; and allowed him to see those things which would be, in these various future ages of time. Then He was returned to 96 A.D., to fulfill his part, write it and send it to the seven Churches of Asia. The Gentile Church has carried this letter ever since; but over a period of almost 2000 years, very little of what he wrote had ever been understood. Christendom has see-sawed back and forth with an interpretation of much of it, especially this 12th chapter. Some have looked upon it because they could no longer see Israel existing as a nation, as pertaining to the Gentile Church. Since they could not see it as actually pertaining to Israel, many have said, This woman clothed with the sun, has got to be the Gentile Bride. Therefore that has been one of the beliefs that has been fostered concerning this woman. Well God just let it lay here in the Bible without being understood, until the end of time was in sight. Then He revealed it to the Gentile Bride of Christ, allowing her to be able to relate to the understanding of these things, that she might know how to begin to prepare herself for her exodus out of here. We will read the entire picture of what John wrote concerning this woman; before we go back to touch on the various details of it. (1) "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; (like a phenomena) a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: (2) And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. (3) And there appeared another wonder in heaven; (or phenomena) and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. (4) 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. (5) 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." What we have read in these 5 verses, is what we have symbolized in the drawings of these two charts we are pointing to. In 96 A.D., John could no longer envision an Israelite nation in the land. Rome was ruling the world. Rome was prophesied in Daniel 7, to be the 4th beast of the four Daniel saw come to power one after the other. Daniel saw this Roman beast ruling from its beginning, straight on through to the end of time. He also saw that Roman beast evolve through certain distinct changes; but there would always remain a Roman connection. The reason I state it like that, is because we have a lot of church people today, that when they begin to try to understand prophecy in the light of the antichrist, they waver all over creation with their projections of who or what the antichrist is. For a long time it was believed, that it could be the Catholic Church, or the pope; but after the Church came out of the Dark Ages and things changed so drastically, they then ditched that whole thing. They began to grope and run around in circles; and probe at every other possibility. Today, you will not find very many nominal churchgoers that are willing to believe the antichrist could come out of Rome. Various one's have written their books, setting forth all kinds of suppositional ideas. Most of them are written with a vocabulary that most others do not even understand; so when they get through reading the book, they find themselves right back where they started; still not knowing any more about the antichrist than they did before reading the book. Why? Because they are not willing to say in plain words that it is either this or that. The Bride of Christ cannot live on that kind of teaching, this late in the age. We have to see Rome for what she is, where the antichrist will come from, and how this woman fits into that picture.

This wonder in heaven, let us consider it. If this is Israel, in what way do we describe this woman as being Israel? First we make note of the fact that she is a pregnant woman. Then we note that she is clothed with the sun. Naturally the sun has to symbolize something; and we will get to that in a minute. The moon is under her feet; and we know what the moon is, as a planetary body. It gives no light of itself; It is only a planet that reflects light from another source. That is what sets a beautiful type there. Then the crown with twelve stars is easily misinterpreted to represent the gospel of the twelve apostles, if that is all you are looking at; but you have to relate that to the rest of the description of this woman; and it just simply does not come out right like that. As we consider the description of the whole woman from top to bottom, we can see what God meant for His Church to see. The woman is the nation of Israel, shown in a heavenly profile, past, present, and future, all wrapped up in one picture. The red dragon symbolizes the embodiment of Satan. Not up there in the heavens, though that is where it is portrayed. The picture is reflected up there; but that is not where he has always persecuted Israel. It is a profile of the embodiment of Satan in the Roman Empire; representing past, present, and future. Whatever each of these symbols represent in Israel's past, they remain to be the same in the present time, an also in her future. For instance, if this dragon symbolizes Satan in the Roman Empire in the days of the old Caesars, you cannot change that embodiment of Satan from Rome to something else for the present, and for her future. Naturally we understand that the Roman Empire, under the rulership of the old Caesars, did not have seven heads and ten horns. Neither were there ten crowns. You would see a dragon with just one head back then; but we are looking at it in its completeness, here in this setting. This woman, clothed with the sun and so forth, and the moon under her feet, gives a panoramic view of the nation of Israel from her beginning right on through to her Millennial glory. How do we know this is Israel? All you have to do is go back and study the prophet Hosea. When Hosea, in the eighth century, was told to go marry a wife of whoredoms, in the natural, according to the Law, that would be absolutely ridiculous for a prophet to let his attention be attracted to such a woman. However at the time, Israel, the nation to whom Hosea had been sent by the eternal God to be a prophet, was in just that kind of spiritual and moral state. Jehovah, the Elohim of the Old Testament, had espoused her to Himself. She was His national wife. It was through this nation, (His wife) that God had purposed, through time, to perfect His plan of redemption. He impregnated her with His seed, which was the word of prophecy he gave her through various prophets. That is why all of those prophets prophesied, when Israel still lived in the dispensation of the Law; which covered approximately 1450 years. During that time, she not only received the Law by Moses, she received the writings of all the other prophets God sent to her. These prophecies became the seed, planted in the spiritual womb of Israel. That is why the woman is shown over here, as with child, in pain, waiting to be delivered. The Law age was not the age of her glory; it only reflected it in various types and shadows; like the moon gives a reflection of the sun. In this setting where she is shown in her Millennial glory, the Law age has already accomplished its purpose. That is why the moon is shown under her feet. She was delivered of that child almost two thousand years ago; and that old dragon did truly try to devour Him. Notice the wording in these two verses. (4) "And his tail (the dragon's) drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: (That is the works of Satan.) and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, (Ready to be delivered of Him who was foreordained to be called The Christ, who became our Lord and Savior; and who first offered Himself to the nation Israel, because in reality He was the Messiah they had waited for through centuries of time.) for to devour her child as soon as it was born. (5) And she brought forth a man child, (and named Him JESUS) who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: (in the Millennium) and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne." As 1400 years came and went, this woman (Israel) went through a lot of turmoil. We have to realize, this woman that is symbolized here, does not represent every Jew, or every Israelite. There were many Israelis born of a reprobate attitude. They were the people that many times caused the influence of idolatry and evil to be brought into the nation of Israel. Therefore we need to understand, that this woman we are looking at represents that true spiritual seed of Israel that has lived in every generation of her past. We could say, Those of every generation, that loved and respected God, and that wanted to do His will. Much of the time, that spiritual element among them were the ones that were pushed back into the background and excluded from the decision making. Yet this is the element of that nation that sighs and cries for the fulfillment of all these blessings she finds prophesied for them. It is because of the reprobates that has always been among them, that God has had to bring on these empires of chastisement against them; for He has always dealt with them as a nation. Therefore the innocent, the spiritual ones have had to suffer the consequences that go along with the sin of the others. This woman we see portrayed here, pregnant, heavy with child, and in pain, waiting to be delivered; pictures her two thousand years ago; just before Jesus was born to Mary. She is crying for her Messiah to come and deliver her from her oppressors. You just have to make the spiritual application to this picture according to the various phases that are represented in the whole scope.

Let me take time to explain a little point here. When Israel came out of Egyptian bondage and received the Law, she lived 1400 years through that. That is what the moon under her feet symbolizes in this vision shown to John. Though some interpreters say this woman has to be the Bride of Christ, clothed with the revelation of the gospel, I say, That just goes to show how some people use their Bible. I will show you why being clothed with the sun has nothing at all to do with the revelation of the gospel. Whatever this is, (Bro. Jackson is pointing to the moon under the feet of the woman.-Editor) that is what is reflected here. She (the woman) lived 1450 years coming through that. It is completely clear to me; that this is a picture of Israel restored in the land, the tribulation is past, Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning, and she is in the land with all twelve tribes. That is to symbolize how Israel will shine, reflecting the glory of God, in the days her Messiah rules and reigns from the throne of David in Mt. Zion. Why do you say that Bro. Jackson? Simply because of this, As Israel passed from the Law age, the age which was a shadow of, or a reflection of what was coming, God gave to Israel, by the ministry of John the Baptist, the ministry of Jesus, as well as the ministry of the early apostolic church, the opportunity to understand and accept the revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ in His plan of salvation. He did it all within one generation of time. He gave that remnant of Israel which was in the land at that time, the opportunity to clothe herself with the revelation which was preached in that first age; but did she accept it as a nation? No. She rejected it. Therefore as she rejected it, God gave the gospel to the Gentiles; and in so doing, the heavenly Father has worked through that, getting a Bride ready for His Son, which is the man child of verse 5. He drove this nation out of the land so that she would not live in that land through the dispensation of the gospel. If this was to represent the Church, clothed with the revelation of the gospel, she would have had to live in the land, and live there long enough that there is centuries related to that, just as she was, while centuries related to the Law, passed. I hope you understand my statement. You cannot live 1400 years in a type; and only 60 years in the real thing. That should be clear. When that woman goes into this, (Her Millennial glory) it will be a dispensation of a thousand years. Israel will truly shine during that time. She will be the nation that all other nations look up to. What does it say in Haggai 2:6-7? Notice, "For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts." God said He will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations will be to do what? To come here. Come where? Chicago? No. To Jerusalem, to Mt. Zion. Why go there? Because the Messiah will be there. The earth's king will be there. He is the one who is going to give you and I our freedom from all this nonsense that is going on in the world today. Therefore keep in mind, It is true, that God did offer the gospel to the Jewish nation first; before Gentiles received it; but she, as a nation, did not receive it, to be clothed in it; so she could live a dispensation of time in it, reflecting it to the world. What she rejected, God gave to the Gentiles; and cast the woman out of there; to stay out until these last days. That lines right up with what we are going to look at next. As we can see all the areas, this is the Law. (Bro. Jackson is pointing to the charts.) This represents her Millennium age. She always called it her kingdom age, the age of time when she knew her Messiah would rule and reign, and all nations would come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord of hosts. That is the way Israel, through the Old Testament, sees the Millennium. She did not know it would be just a thousand year span of time. It is you and I that know it as a thousand years; because it is written in the book of Revelation, a book in our Bible, that the Jews do not acknowledge as the word of God, that it will last for a thousand years. She (Israel) will definitely have all twelve tribes back in the land for the Millennium. That is why it is necessary at this time, for God to be in the process of bringing a sufficient representation of these Jews back from Russia; and from all the other areas of the world where they have been scattered to. When I said, Wait until this shaking starts in the Middle East, I was just thinking, What a turmoil! The Arabs are saying to them, You cannot settle in east Jerusalem. That is exactly what the prophet Micah said. The prophet Micah said that Jerusalem would be desolate because of its inhabitants. It stated how they would be removed. The word desolate, does not mean there will be no buildings. It speaks of the people that have a right to be there. Naturally we realize that the world is moving rapidly towards the events of the coming of Jesus Christ. God in His own words said, A quick work will He do and cut it short in righteousness. God is not playing around now. He will do in six months, what has been going on now for years. It also says this in one of those prophecies, that Jerusalem will say, (This is a prophecy concerning the old city, that the old city itself will say this.) Whence came these, where have they been? That is not the Arabs talking. That is that old city, when she wakes up one morning, and the Arabs have all been hauled off. Right now, three fourths of old Jerusalem is populated by Arabs. They are pointing the finger at the western world, saying, You had better not let any more of those Russian immigrants come in here. We will not tolerate them settling in Jerusalem. We will not tolerate them settling in the Gaza Straight, and all such like. Nevertheless the prophecies of the Old Testament say that Gaza shall be inhabited by Judah. Not Arabs. That is why I say, Either the Bible is right, or it is wrong. In Zechariah it says something to the effect that, in that day Jerusalem, (and it is not talking about western Jerusalem, the new part, it is talking about old Jerusalem, which is east Jerusalem.) is going to be renovated and inhabited by Jews coming in there from all over the world. The prophecy closes by saying, The children of the later shall be more than of the former. What does that mean? It simply means this, In 69 and 70 A.D., when the Roman army came in and tore Jerusalem down, and took those Jews away from there, leaving Jerusalem a ruined, desolate city, it was eventually rebuilt in certain ways by oncoming scavengers of all sorts, through many years of time; but they are not the children of this prophecy. Palestinian Arabs are living there now. I am not talking about the individual Palestinian Arab. Some of them are just as good a person as I am. However we have to realize, our racial identity does not change the Bible. Therefore as we look to the future, there cannot be this, (Jerusalem filled with the people of these prophecies) until there has been something take place to put them there. That is why we are now living in a transition period; when the Jewish nation must be enlarged. Somewhere from the four corners of the earth, a remnant from all the tribes must come home; and God will bring them home, enough to fulfill what He sees is His quota, to make up that nation He wants to visit by the ministry of the two prophets of chapter 11. They will prophesy to the nation as a whole; but as always, there will be a vast number of Jews that will not receive one word they have to say. These will rejoice and be very glad, when the Antichrist has those two prophets slain, after they have ministered 3 1/2 years, which will be exactly in the middle of the seventieth week of Daniel.

Let us again read verse 2, and I will fill in a few more details on how to identify the woman. (12:2) "And she being with child cried, travailing (really agonizing) in birth, and pained to be delivered." To understand what we have read in this verse, I will direct your attention back to the prophet Hosea once again. The prophet Hosea was told (by the Lord) to go take a wife of whoredoms, as a type of the nation God Himself was married to. The ten northern tribes which we are seeing on the News coming home to Israel from Russia, the Baltic countries, central Asia, and really from all over the world, are the remnant of those tribes carried away captive in approximately 728 B.C. by the Syrian Empire. God spoke concerning them by the prophet Hosea; that they never would be allowed to return to their homeland as tribes of people until the last days. Hallelujah! We are in the last days. Now how do we look at this? With the ten tribes gone, it left only the two southern tribes in the land; basically the tribe of Judah, and the little tribe of Benjamin that always aligned itself to it, because it joined itself right next to it. This was the remnant of what Israel was identified as, when she was brought back into the land in the days of Haggai and Zechariah, to rebuild the temple, and get the things of prophecy set for what we now know was the first advent of the coming of Christ. Yes it was the remnant of the two southern tribes that was in the land of Israel, in the days when the Roman Empire came into being. As the Roman Empire rose to power and took over the faltering Grecian Empire in its weakened condition, the Roman Empire wound up controlling the vast areas of what once had been the Grecian Empire, as well as Europe. Yet it did not have seven heads on it at that time. It was an empire with one head. That is the way you have to look at Rome in its initial power structure. With Rome ruling, and the two southern tribes in the land, that brought time into what we call the advent of Christ. These two tribes were back in the land; and no doubt in their minds, they would look back to the time their ancestors came back with Nehemiah, Ezra, Haggai, Zechariah and those different prophets and patriarchs of that period, and know in their heart's that is was definitely ordained to lead to the fulfillment of something in the prophets. Yet when it came, it was in such a simple manner they, as a nation, missed it. In the days when Caesar Augustus was Emperor in Rome and Herod was governor in Judaea, we find this woman, (Israel) in terrible agony. She wanted to be delivered. She was wanting to be delivered from the Roman Empire. That is how we have to picture this dragon that stood before the woman, ready to devour her child as soon as it was born. The Roman Empire knew nothing of what was about to take place; that is just how it turned out, as they did what oppressors do. We all know the events that led up to the birth of Him who became the Christ; but you can read it in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, in the New Testament; if you wish. As we read of the birth of Christ, (the man child) we know this, Jesus potentially, was born to rule all nations. Yet in a dispensational manner, we know He was not even intending to take over the governments of the world at that junction of time. He first had to come as a Savior, in order to come later as their King. However Israel did not know what would have to precede their Kingdom Age; they just looked for their deliverer to come. That is because certain prophecies were hidden from their understanding. If they had not rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah; and dealt with Him as they did, we Gentiles would still be pagans; and without hope in God. Just think of it, only a few individuals knew what was really transpiring when that little baby was born into the world. Simeon, Anna, Mary and Joseph, and the sheep herders, were the main one's the scriptures mention; but the society as a whole just berated Mary, and looked upon Jesus as a bastard child. Those certain individuals like that, knew how the Spirit of God had dealt with them, and they understood something of what had taken place; but outside of those few, the advent of the birth of Christ came and went without shaking the foundations of the nation of Israel as she existed at that time. However when He comes again, it will shake the foundations of the nation of Israel. That is the way we have to look at it. "And she (Israel) being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered." She was crying for her deliverer; to deliver her from Roman oppression. Now notice verse 3, "And there appeared another wonder in heaven; (That is how John saw it; because he was lifted up in the Spirit; but it was an earthly scene of the past, as well as the future, that he was seeing.) and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. (4) 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." Caesar Augustus was Emperor of Rome, and Herod was the Roman appointed king of the Jews; and you can read the Gospel of St. Matthew, to see how Joseph had to take Mary and her little baby, and flee into Egypt, to save His life. Satan knew who that little child was destined to grow up to be; and he was fully represented in the ruling powers when Jesus was born. He (Jesus) would have been devoured by that old dragon at birth; if God had not warned Joseph in a dream to take Mary and the young child and flee. Herod was not a God appointed king over Israel; he was a puppet controlled by Rome.