Great message about not being like Herod. But I would like to ask the question on how does one not be like Herod. We must all recognize the fact that we are or once were just like Herod. We are all sinners in need of God’s saving grace through His Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” So how does one get this GIFT? John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” There are many other verses in the book of John and throughout the New Testament that tell us that we can have eternal life only by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe is a key word in the book of John. Ephesians 2:8-10 tell us that salvation is a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. It also says that we are in created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Notice it says we are created first as a new creation in Christ Jesus (John 3:6) and then the good works come. Those good works were prepared beforehand by God not man that we should walk in them. It says we should walk in them, not that we always will. So, we must believe that Jesus Christ died for our sin, was buried, and rose again on the third day. When we believe this the Holy Spirit will come to live and make His home inside of us. We should continually look to Him for guidance in our everyday lives. This can’t happen if one does not know the Word of God. We must study God’s Word, internalize it, and live by it, because it is our armor. Every piece of the armor of God is Christ Jesus. He is our belt of truth, our breast plate of righteousness, our shoes of peace, our shield of faith, our helmet of salvation, and our sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:10-18).
I believe it is so important that we interpret God’s Word correctly, or we will be led astray. The book of Revelation is one that can be very much misinterpreted. With that said, I am one who believes that the ‘woman’ talked about in Revelation 12 is Israel. There are several reasons why I believe this way. The first reason is that the church is not being referred to in this chapter. The church is referred to in chapters 1-3 and then not again until chapter 19. Why do I believe this? Because beginning in chapter six the wrath of God will begin to take place on the whole earth and the church will not be on the earth during this time period. This time period is referred to as Jacob’s trouble, the tribulation period, Daniel’s 70th week. The church will be caught up to the Lord before this time period begins (see 1Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1Corinthians 15:50-58; Romans 5:9). This time period will last seven and a half years or 1260 days. It is called Daniel’s seventh week because the prophecy was given to Daniel concerning his people, Israel (Daniel 9 and especially the seventy weeks prophecy in verses 20-27. It is called a time of Jacob’s trouble. Who is Jacob. Jacob was renamed Israel by God from which the twelve tribes of Israel descended from. This seventieth week is mainly about Israel, but the whole world will be affected.
Second the woman is depicted as “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.” This woman is Israel from which Jesus Christ descended through Mary and Joseph. In Scripture a woman is used to represent different entities, as Israel was called the wife of God, the church is called the bride of Christ, Jezebel represents a false religion, and the woman in Revelation 17 represents Babylon. The statement is an allusion to a dream that Joseph had (Genesis 37:9). The sun and moon refer to Jacob and Rachel, the forbearers of Israel. The woman is said to have a crown of twelve stars on her head (Revelation 12:1). In Josephs dream the stars, or the sons of Israel, are intended with the twelfth star being Joseph who was being bowed down to by his other family members.
Thirdly, the woman is pregnant and in pain refers to the experience of Israel down through the centuries, awaiting the coming of her Messiah. Her sufferings refer to the nation as a whole, not to Mary the mother of Jesus. Ever since Genesis 3:15 when God promised the Seed, Satan has been trying to wipe out the Seed including when Herod had all male babies 2 years and younger killed after Jesus was born.
Fourthly, in Revelation 12:6 is says that the woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God where she would be taken care of for 1260 days (7 1/2 years). When did Mary flee into the wilderness to be taken care of by God for 1260 days? Furthermore, when did verses 13-17 happen to Mary?
If you go back to Revelation chapter 11 you will see that this is referring to Israel because of the language used; the temple, the altar and those who worship there, the court outside the temple, the two witnesses, the holy city Jerusalem and so on. We see that in chapter 7 the 144,000 are from the twelve tribes of Israel.
We really need to study the whole counsel of the word of God together in order to rightly divide God’s word. We should read God’s word literally, historically, and grammatically unless it tells us differently. If we don’t study using proper hermeneutics and learn Gods word for ourselves, how are we going to know whether we are being deceived or not??
I like it-don’t be Herod.
Great message about not being like Herod. But I would like to ask the question on how does one not be like Herod. We must all recognize the fact that we are or once were just like Herod. We are all sinners in need of God’s saving grace through His Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” So how does one get this GIFT? John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” There are many other verses in the book of John and throughout the New Testament that tell us that we can have eternal life only by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe is a key word in the book of John. Ephesians 2:8-10 tell us that salvation is a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. It also says that we are in created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Notice it says we are created first as a new creation in Christ Jesus (John 3:6) and then the good works come. Those good works were prepared beforehand by God not man that we should walk in them. It says we should walk in them, not that we always will. So, we must believe that Jesus Christ died for our sin, was buried, and rose again on the third day. When we believe this the Holy Spirit will come to live and make His home inside of us. We should continually look to Him for guidance in our everyday lives. This can’t happen if one does not know the Word of God. We must study God’s Word, internalize it, and live by it, because it is our armor. Every piece of the armor of God is Christ Jesus. He is our belt of truth, our breast plate of righteousness, our shoes of peace, our shield of faith, our helmet of salvation, and our sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:10-18).
I believe it is so important that we interpret God’s Word correctly, or we will be led astray. The book of Revelation is one that can be very much misinterpreted. With that said, I am one who believes that the ‘woman’ talked about in Revelation 12 is Israel. There are several reasons why I believe this way. The first reason is that the church is not being referred to in this chapter. The church is referred to in chapters 1-3 and then not again until chapter 19. Why do I believe this? Because beginning in chapter six the wrath of God will begin to take place on the whole earth and the church will not be on the earth during this time period. This time period is referred to as Jacob’s trouble, the tribulation period, Daniel’s 70th week. The church will be caught up to the Lord before this time period begins (see 1Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1Corinthians 15:50-58; Romans 5:9). This time period will last seven and a half years or 1260 days. It is called Daniel’s seventh week because the prophecy was given to Daniel concerning his people, Israel (Daniel 9 and especially the seventy weeks prophecy in verses 20-27. It is called a time of Jacob’s trouble. Who is Jacob. Jacob was renamed Israel by God from which the twelve tribes of Israel descended from. This seventieth week is mainly about Israel, but the whole world will be affected.
Second the woman is depicted as “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.” This woman is Israel from which Jesus Christ descended through Mary and Joseph. In Scripture a woman is used to represent different entities, as Israel was called the wife of God, the church is called the bride of Christ, Jezebel represents a false religion, and the woman in Revelation 17 represents Babylon. The statement is an allusion to a dream that Joseph had (Genesis 37:9). The sun and moon refer to Jacob and Rachel, the forbearers of Israel. The woman is said to have a crown of twelve stars on her head (Revelation 12:1). In Josephs dream the stars, or the sons of Israel, are intended with the twelfth star being Joseph who was being bowed down to by his other family members.
Thirdly, the woman is pregnant and in pain refers to the experience of Israel down through the centuries, awaiting the coming of her Messiah. Her sufferings refer to the nation as a whole, not to Mary the mother of Jesus. Ever since Genesis 3:15 when God promised the Seed, Satan has been trying to wipe out the Seed including when Herod had all male babies 2 years and younger killed after Jesus was born.
Fourthly, in Revelation 12:6 is says that the woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God where she would be taken care of for 1260 days (7 1/2 years). When did Mary flee into the wilderness to be taken care of by God for 1260 days? Furthermore, when did verses 13-17 happen to Mary?
If you go back to Revelation chapter 11 you will see that this is referring to Israel because of the language used; the temple, the altar and those who worship there, the court outside the temple, the two witnesses, the holy city Jerusalem and so on. We see that in chapter 7 the 144,000 are from the twelve tribes of Israel.
We really need to study the whole counsel of the word of God together in order to rightly divide God’s word. We should read God’s word literally, historically, and grammatically unless it tells us differently. If we don’t study using proper hermeneutics and learn Gods word for ourselves, how are we going to know whether we are being deceived or not??