Introduction - The Centre - God Versus Satan

MEASURE THE TEMPLE

INTRODUCTION

THE CENTRE - GOD VERSUS SATAN

The other chapter which is central to Revelation is chapter 12, and it too speaks symbolically about the relationship of God with His nation Israel, and the existence and whereabouts of Satan. Israel is described as "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 get the clue that the "woman" is Israel from Genesis 37.9 where in Joseph's dream he understood the sun, moon, and twelve stars to be representative of his father, mother, and eleven brothers, who would some day bow down to him. Joseph and his eleven brothers were the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel, and it was through Joseph's two sons (Ephraim and Manasseh) that the two great nations of Britain and the United States of America would be born.

However, subsequent emphasis in this chapter on the seed of this woman would carry us back not just to the beginning of the nation of 12-tribed Israel, but back to the promise in the garden of Eden itself. There God had predicted an agelong conflict between the Serpent and the Woman, and between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman (Genesis 3.15), and it could be this conflict which is in view in this chapter. The heaven-pictured woman in this verse seems most likely to picture the great body of the redeemed people of God through all ages, with particular reference to the Israel nation called out of God to be His servant nation. The heavenly sign or constellation which pictures the "woman" would be VIRGO, and E. W. Bullinger gives an interesting analysis of the meanings of the stars in this constellation in his book "The Witness of the Stars".

There are 404 verses in the book of Revelation, and I was surprised to find that the most central verses are in Chapter 12 - verses 7-10. These verses tell us that

Satan IS,

he exists, and

the earth is his current domain

"And there was war in heaven: Michael (one of His archangels) 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 (anointed): for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night."

Here we have record of Satan playing havoc in heaven, and now he is playing havoc on earth. The central verses are the subject of Revelation - God versus Satan, and mankind's struggle through Satan's influence upon earth whilst Satan is here. The DRACO constellation in the heavens is central to the circle of the zodiac characters which surround it, and I recommend again the reading of Mr. Bullinger's book of this "temple of the heavens" as witnessed by the stars.

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