December 20, New Testament Fulfillment in Revelation 12

Today, I want to reflect on the week by seeing how the biblical prophecy we’ve been seeing ties into last week’s sermon.

Many people disagree about the events referred to in the signs of Revelation 12 and the timing of those events. Here’s what we agree on—This is a picture of Jesus. There is a woman with child. She is about to give birth. There is also a dragon, commonly understood to be the same serpent that was in the Garden of Eden—Satan. He hopes to devour the child, Jesus Christ. People disagree about what the stars are that the dragon sweeps out of the sky. Feel free to shoot me a message and ask about that if you want.

In conjunction with the stars being flung from the sky, this woman, Israel, gives birth to the Messiah. There’s the serpent ready to devour Him. The serpent fails, and Jesus is caught up to God and His throne. So, in one symbol, we see both the birth and ascension of Jesus Christ—both literal events. We also see Jesus described like the prophets described Him in the Old Testament. This child was born to rule all nations.

When Jesus ascended to the Father, the woman, Israel, “fled to the wilderness” to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days—roughly forty-two months or three-and-a-half years. People disagree about what this timeframe represents, but we see here that it corresponds in some way to Christ’s ascension into Heaven because that is the immediate context of the sign.

John noticed a few things about Jesus that fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy we have seen during The 25 Days of Christmas.

1. He was a male child specifically.
2. He was to rule all nations, not only Judah.
3. He was a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel).
4. He would overcome the serpent first introduced in the Garden of Eden.

John is very plainly recalling prophecies like Isaiah 9 and 19. Jesus is the fulfillment. 

I hope you are still enjoying the 25 days of Christmas. There are only five more days remaining. I’ll see you at church tomorrow as we look at Jesus’s birth in Isaiah 9!