The Birth of Jesus: Revelation 12: 1-6

The Woman and the Dragon

1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

Revelation 12: 1-6 is not the first thing that comes to mind when you imagine the birth of Christ. We're more likely to picture the Nativity scene we see everywhere when Christmas comes around. When we look at the bigger picture of the significance of what happened on that day of his birth, the picture becomes more like what we read in this passage.

I am new to Revelation. My whole life I've only read small parts of it at a time and I've never completely understood it because I have never read through the whole book. I knew that one day I would have to spend a long time studying this book because there is so much prophesy and symbolism and in order to really understand it one must have thorough knowledge of the Old Testament. Last Sunday our pastor used this scripture and it has served as a huge reminder to me that the Bible is a living book - there is no other book like it, men could not have written this alone. I'm always so amazed when I read the prophesies and see them being fulfilled in a completely different text! The continuity and complexity of the Bible is mind boggling. There is SO MUCH to learn! I thank the Lord that I am so privileged to have access to this Bible whenever I wish to read it. The Bible is illegal in 51 countries right now. Many Christians out there are being killed for owning this book. I am so thankful for this incredible blessing.

I think for the next couple months I will focus on reading Revelation in my personal study time (it is the last book in the Bible) in addition to my Isaiah Bible Study with church. Revelation is the most controversial book in the Bible because it involves a lot of careful interpretation due to its amount of symbolism. I look forward to learning as much as I can about it within the next couple months.