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REVELATION 12
The
vision John sees at verses 1-5 is a history lesson dealing with what
transpired BEFORE the time of the vision. It is a history lesson in order to
clearly identify the players in this end-times scenario.
During the time of oppression by the beast there will be -
1. The woman: Israel (the Hebrew or Jewish race), back in the land,
worshipping according to her traditional standards (but out of relationship
with God).
It is acceptable to use “Israel” to designate the Jewish race since this is
how it is used by Paul.
A. She comes under the attack of Satan because as the object of God’s
ancient promises to Abraham, if Satan can prevent the fulfillment of the
promises, he proves God as inadequate.
B. Furthermore, God still has a plan for Israel (the Jewish race)
toward the end of the 70th week and in the physical 1000 year kingdom. (1)
after the Day of the Lord return of Jesus and the rapture of the church,
144,000 Israelites (Jews) will be converted and become “bond-servants” of God
to finish bringing the message of salvation to the world after the church is
removed.
2. The dragon: “the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan.” Verse 9
3. The Christians: Those who have trusted in Jesus; the church. The woman
and the “rest of her offspring” are two different players entirely. They are
not BOTH the church.
The woman is symbolic for Israel -
1. As a nation with a past history related to the Messiah.
2. A future group of Jewish people who are faithful to their
Jewish heritage and therefore in total rejection of beast worship. These are
not “believers” because they have not accepted Jesus as the Messiah yet - and
if they were believers, then they would be the “church” and not Israel.
However, the church (believers in Jesus) is mentioned separately from the
woman at Rev. 12:17. Likewise, those at verses 10-11 should also be viewed as
separate from the woman.
Furthermore, the woman is clearly identified with symbols that point to Israel
- from the sun, moon and stars of verse 1, to the fact that Israel is the
source of the Messiah in verses 2-5.
Rev. 12:1, And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun,
and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
The most logical correlation to this symbolism is found back at Gen. 37:9-10.
In Joseph’s dream, the “people” of Israel are depicted by the symbols in the
dream. The sun refers to his father, Jacob; the moon, to his mother Rachel;
and the 12 stars to the 12 sons of Jacob who come to constitute the nation of
Israel.
The reason we can take this symbolism at verse one as referring to the people
of Israel is because of the following data that is provided.
The intent of these visions is to communicate. It is not to give us some
mystical puzzle that requires a bunch of guesswork. We must apply the literal
method of interpretation, and that method points most literally, back to the
dream of Joseph.
It is true that some of the symbols in the visions simply cannot be
identified. A good example in this chapter is at verses 14-16. There is
escape, pursuit, and protection. And that is pretty much the best we can do
with it without a bunch of guesswork and speculation that cannot be proven
correlated with any Scripture.
The fact that the book of Revelation deals with prophetic events does nor
prevent language which describes “past events” in order to better identify
the characters under discussion. John is seeing in “vision” form, details
which he needs to understand. The woman is identified using language and
imagery with which John is familiar.
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(THE BRIDE theory: The theory that the woman is a symbol for
the bride of Christ; the church.
There are only 4 specific references to THE bride in the NT. Rev. 19:7, “Let
us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the
Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”
Rev. 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev. 21:9ff And one of the seven angels who had the seven
bowls full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, “Come
here, I shall show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
Rev. 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And
let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let
the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
And there are only 3 indirect references:
Eph. 5.25-32, 2 Cor. 11.2, and Rom. 7.4
None of these in any way give a reason for pointing to Rev. 12, and seeing
the bride there. The purpose of the vision is to “communicate,” not to play
mysterious guessing games. The symbols that occur in John’s visions are not
subject to arbitrary interpretation. The literal system of interpretation
applies just as much to symbolic language as it does to simply narrative.
The woman is Israel. If the clear correlation back to Joe’s dream is not
sufficient for the reader, then the reference to her two offsprings should
be.
Offspring #1 is the man child, the birth of whom has been under attack by
Satan since the first promise was given in Gen. 3:15.
Offspring #2 is identified at Rev. 12:17 as "the rest of her offspring, who
keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus." This is a
reference to Christians; the spiritual body of Christ; the church.
Since Messiah is clearly the first offspring of the woman,
the “rest of her offspring” would clearly be Messiah’s brethren, the church.
Hebrews 2:10-11, "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and
through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the
author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and
those who are sanctified are all from one {Father}; for which reason He is
not ashamed to call them BRETHREN.”
John 3:29 “He who has the bride is
the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him,
rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. And so this joy of mine
has been made full." This has absolutely nothing to do with the church. It
is a parabolic reference to John's fleeting ministry as the forerunner of
the Messiah's arrival at His first coming. The image is self- explanatory as
John expresses his great joy at the arrival of Jesus.)
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Rev. 12:2, and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in
pain to give birth.
1. With child: The symbol refers to the fact that Israel; the physical Jewish
race is the source of the Messiah.
A. Israel inherited the “seed of the woman” promise
as per Genesis 12:3c and 22:18. So Eve is not the
woman, but the Jewish race is the woman.
B. Salvation is of the Jews:
C. The Messianic promise was given to Israel (Abe,
Isaac and Jacob) and all throughout her history
she has been “pregnant” waiting for the arrival
of that Messiah.
D. Isaiah 9:6, “for a child will be born to us,
a son will be given.”
E. Jesus was born of a woman and born under the
law. Gal. 4:4
1. “woman” emphasizes the PHYSICAL “seed of the
woman” of Genesis 3:15.
2. “under the law” transfers the focus from Eve
to the unique race that God created through
Abe, Isaac and Jacob; the Israelites.
3. from the “physical” entity of Israel.
He was not born from a “spiritual” entity.
Rom. 9:1-5
a. Israel according to the FLESH: physical
race of people - Verses 3-4
b. V. 5, From whom is the Christ according
to the FLESH.
2. Being in labor and in pain: This refers to the fact that, throughout
history there as been a constant satanic attack on Israel, in order to prevent
the fulfillment of God’s plan to bring the Messiah into the world.
Verse 3, And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon
having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads {were} seven diadems.
The dragon is clearly identified at verse 9,
“And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the
devil and Satan. . .”
The significance of the seven heads and ten horns is to identify the activity
of Satan with the history of Babylonian evil from the ancient Kingdom of
Babylon to its final form as a world power in the end times.
The details of this will be found in chapter 13.
Rev. 12:4a, And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw
them to the earth.
This symbol is perhaps the most difficult to correlate. First impulse is to
correlate back to the 12 stars of verse one and find some relation to “four”
of the 12 tribes of Israel. However this produces nothing. Furthermore, this
“third of the stars of heaven” were thrown down to the earth which seems to
have them originate, at least, in a heavenly setting. This then lends itself
to suggesting that Satan influenced 1/3 of the angels of God to follow him in
his rebellion against God and become “his angels” (Rev. 12:9; Mat. 25:41).
Angels are designated as “stars” in other places. (Is. 14:12; Job 38:7)
Rev. 12:4b, And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth,
so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
The attack from Satan on the woman is that which has occurred PRIOR to the
birth of Jesus.- “so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child.”
1. He has done this all throughout her history from the attack at 1 Chron.
21:1, right up to Messiah’s birth when he got Herod to slaughter so many of
the babies in the area.
2. The persecution of Israel continues AFTER the first advent because
Satan is still trying to prevent God from fulfilling ANY part of His plan -
but he always fails and always will.
Rev. 12:5a, And she gave birth to a son, a male {child} who is to rule all
the nations with a rod of iron;
This records the historical reality of the birth of Messiah, “who is to rule
all the nations with a rod of iron.” This of course, can ONLY refer to Jesus
Christ as prophesied in several places.
Ps.2:9, You shall shepherd them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them
like earthenware.
Rev. 2:27, AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE
POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received {authority} from My
Father;
Rev. 19:15, And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may
smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the
wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
This association of the child with “ruler-ship” is also found at Isaiah 9:6-7,
“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government
will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of {His} government or of peace, On the
throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on
and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”
Once this identification of "The Son" is made, it is simple, indeed necessary,
to identify the woman as Israel.
And the symbols of verse 1 become clear in light of Gen. 37:9-10.
Instead of arbitrarily assigning some meaning to sun, moon
and stars, it is safer to let the bible make the identification. Gen. 37:9-10,
Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, “Lo,
I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven
stars were bowing down to me.” And he related {it} to his father and to his
brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him,
“What is this dream that you have had?
Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down
before you to the ground?”
Jacob had no problem understanding what Joe was talking about. The woman is
Israel; not the bride; not the church; not Eve.
This identification of the child as Jesus, further allows us to identify the
child going up to the throne of God as referring to the ascension and session
of Jesus to the right hand of the throne of God.
Rev. 12:5b, and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.
“After he had made a purification of the sins, he sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty on high,” (Heb. 1:3) for the Father “raised Him from the dead,
and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies, far above all rule and
authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in
this age, but also in the one to come,” (Eph. 1:20-21).
“We have such a High Priest who has taken His seat at the right hand of the
throne of the Majesty in the heavens,” (Heb. 8:1).
A clear fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy found at Psalm 110:1,
“Yahweh said to my Lord, sit down at My right hand until I make Your enemies
your footstool.”
Furthermore, we are able to identify the "historical" events symbolized in
verses 1-5 as taking place prior to the ascension of Jesus and see in those
verses the general attack on Israel throughout her history. Then it is quite
simple to understand that it is Israel who will come under the great attack
from Satan when he is kicked down to the earth.
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(THE RAPTURE THEORY: To make the
ascending of the man child refer to the “rapture” of the church is arbitrary
and ignores the “natural” correlation with other scriptures.
1. The church is never called a child, let alone a man child. The Messiah
is: Isaiah 9:6, “for a child will be born to us, a son will be given.”
2. Within the context of this chapter, the church has not yet been raptured,
but instead is found still on the earth as the rest of the offspring of the
woman at verse 17.)
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Rev. 12:6, And the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place
prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two
hundred and sixty days.
This finds no past historical fulfillment for the nation of Israel but in fact
refers specifically to that end times period known as the great tribulation.
From the midpoint of Daniel’s 70th week until Messiah rescues the nation of
Israel during the battle of Armageddon, a specific group of Israeli
“nationalists” and “fundamentalists” will flee Judah and find shelter in the
mountainous wilderness of Edom, Moab and Ammon (Dan. 11:41). Here, they are given “divine”
protection and are “nourished” (V. 14, passive voice) obviously BY someone,
but whether it be “directly” by God or by an intermediary source is not
clarified.
It could be angels and it could be the people of the area.
Although it seems that the people of Edom, Moab and Ammon are antagonistic to the
Jews who are there as is suggested at
Zephaniah 2:8-10 and Ezek. 35.
Now the vision flashes back to a time just before the midpoint of the 70th
week.
Verse 7, “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with
the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war.”
Based on verse 14, this war occurs just prior to the midpoint of the “week.”
After Satan is cast down and begins his persecution of Israel (the woman), she
has protection for 3 1/2 years (time, times and half a time) which corresponds
with the 1260 days mentioned at verse 6.
Rev. 12:8, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place
found for them in heaven.
This does not refer to his “initial” rejection from heaven after he rebelled
against God, for after that he was still allowed regular access into the
presence of God (Job 1:6; 2:1). This refers to a “physical” expulsion which
allows no further access into the presence of God.
Rev. 12:9 "And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is
called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down
to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him."
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Luke 10:18
Jesus sent out 70 disciples to proclaim the gospel in the cities that He was
going to visit. He had given them authority over all the power of the enemy
(Luke 10:19) with the result that they were successful in casting out
demons. When they returned to Jesus, they announced with joy that they had
been victorious over demons. At this time, Jesus proclaimed, "I was watching
Satan fall from heaven like lightning."
The successful proclamation of the gospel and the victory over the demons
was a victory over Satan.
All such victories anticipate the moment that Satan will be physically and
permanently cast out of heaven. Jesus made this announcement in anticipation
of Satan's future defeat and PHYSICAL expulsion from heaven which will take
place yet in the future as referred to at Rev. 12:9. What Jesus “saw” was
the “spiritual” defeat of Satan which was being accomplished while the
disciples were defeating him “on earth.” What the disciples accomplished was
a “spiritual” defeat of Satan which simply “typified” the PHYSICAL expulsion
which did NOT happen at that time, but would in the future. Satan was not
removed from heaven at the time that Jesus made this statement. John’s
language at Rev. 12:10 indicates that Satan, “currently” at the time of
writing (96 AD), has access to heaven and is accusing believers before the
throne of God.
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Rev. 12:9, Satan and his angels are cast down to the earth.
This
will occur shortly before the midpoint of the week and will become the basis for
the empowering of the man of lawlessness of 2 Thes. 2:3-4; the beast of Rev.
13:1-8.
Prior to this, the "mystery of lawlessness" which is "already at work" in the
world (2 Thes. 2:7), will have been restrained from such intensity of oppressive
action against Israel, by Michael, the guardian angel of Israel.
But once this battle takes place and Satan is kicked down to the earth,
Michael stands aside and now allows him to carry out his own agenda as a final
"last ditch" attempt to defeat the plan and character of God. Daniel 12:1.
1. "Now at that time . . ."
That time refers to the general time of the end mentioned at Dan. 11:35,
which is the 70th week of Daniel. It does not refer to the specific event
mentioned in the previous verse but to the over-all general period of time
introduced at v.
11:35 as the "end
time."
2. "Michael, the great prince who stands (as guardian) over the sons of your
people, will stand up (or ASIDE) . . ."
3.
Details on the restrainer.
4.
"And there will be a time of distress such as never
occurred since there was a nation until that time. . ."
The
empowering of the beast then triggers the persecution of Israel and the
saints. And the man of lawlessness is given an allotted period of time
corresponding with the same 3 1/2 years of the last half of the 70th week.
Dan. 7:25; Rev. 13:5-7.
SUMMARY
Michael, who is the guardian angel of the nation of Israel,
will defeat Satan in a heavenly battle. Satan will be defeated and kicked
down to the earth. He has had access to heaven all throughout history, but
will be excluded once and for all as a result of Michael's victory. When
Satan is cast to the earth he will come to realize that his days are
numbered. Because of this he will fight back against God, and begin a major
campaign of extermination against the Jews and against Christians.
Throughout history, Michael has restrained Satan's attempts to completely
annihilate the Jewish people. After Satan is cast to the earth, Michael will
stand aside and permit Satan to begin his great persecution. A large number
of the Jewish people will flee Judah and be protected in the wilderness
areas of Moab, Edom and Ammon, but Satan's campaign will still be the
greatest attack on Jews and Christians that the world has ever seen. It will
be even greater, if one can imagine, than the holocaust.
Verse 9: The present activity of Satan toward the world of unbelievers.
Notice that the scenario throughout has been narrated in the past tense. But
here in the middle of verse 9, we have a present tense participle for “who
deceives the whole world.” This indicates the worldwide influence that Satan
has had throughout history as well as focusing on the even greater impact he
will have during the last half of the “week.” 2Thes. 2:9-10.
Rev. 12:10a, “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation,
and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have
come,”
This does not mean that Jesus NOW begins to physically reign, but it means
that, with the expulsion of Satan from heaven, events are set into motion
which will irrevocably result in Satan’s demise, Christ’s victory and the
establishment of His kingdom on the earth.
The time has come for these things to BEGIN to be fulfilled. This is the same
idea that is seen at Revelation 11:17-18, which announces that several things
are now “set in motion” for fulfillment. But they will not be fulfilled until
later in the time line.
Rev. 12:10b: The present activity of Satan toward Christians.
“for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who
accuses them before our God day and night.’”
The reference to Satan as “our” accuser and the “present” activity of “accuses
them” indicates that Satan has ever waged an intensive opposition to those who
have trusted in Christ through history.
This is what he did of Job, when God brought to his attention that Job was “a
blameless and upright man, reverencing God and rejecting evil.” And the
accusation came bitingly back, “put forth now your hand and touch all that he
has, and he will certainly curse you to your face.”
(Job 1:8-11).
We have hint of a similar challenge from Satan directed toward the disciples
at Luke 22:31, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has requested permission to sift
you-guys like wheat.”
Here, the present tense participle used for “who accuses them,” indicates that
this is the present activity of Satan from John’s perspective in 96 AD. And
this present activity of accusing is taking place “before our God” to indicate
that at the time of writing, Satan still has access into heaven to attack
God’s people.
Rev. 12:11, “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and
because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even
to death.
This summarizes the success of the church against the attack of Satan not only
prior to his expulsion, but afterwards as well, during the period of the great
oppression waged by the man of lawlessness who is empowered by Satan.
The
ones in view are “our brethren” and refers to fellow Christians. It views the
success of overcoming in two stages.
First: the salvation stage.
“They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb.”
This refers to trusting in Christ as savior. The blood of the lamb refers to
the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for the sins of the world. The ONLY way
that this “blood of Christ” avails for victory over Satan is through saving
those who believe. “And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who
believes that Jesus is the Son of God,” (1 John 5:5).
This is the significance of “he who overcomes” in the letters to the seven
churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.
The same significance is also found at Rev. 21:7, “He who overcomes shall
inherit these things, and I will be His God and he will be My son.”
Second: the experience stage.
This is accomplished after salvation by knowing and using God’s word in order
to “resist him firm in THE FAITH” (1 Peter 5:9). Thus we have John’s address
to the “strong” believer at 1 John 2:14, “I have written to you young men
(stage of spiritual growth), because you are strong and the word of God abides
in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”
In this same vein, he writes at 1 John 4:4, “You are from God, little
children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he
who is in the world.”
Now we have instructions for those who are in heaven observing the visions of
John. They are encouraged to “clap” at the progress of God’s plan as it is
being portrayed in the visions.
Rev. 12:12a, “For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them.
Not because the devil has been thrown down, for his presence in heaven really
does not “affect” the inhabitants of heaven in the least. But it is because of
the statement at verse 10a, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom
of our God and the authority of His Christ have come,”
It is for this reason that they should rejoice.
The people on the earth, on
the other hand, are the ones who must now encounter the wrath of Satan as he
empowers the man of lawlessness to oppress all who will not worship him. Unto
the present time, the people of earth have certainly NOT encountered the wrath
of Satan that somehow distinguishes his activity from any other time in
history.
Rev.12:12b, “Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to
you, having great wrath, knowing that he has {only} a short time.”
This does not refer to what happened at the time of Christ’s resurrection, for
Satan has not demonstrated “great wrath” during the “2000” years since then.
The “great wrath” of Satan will begin to be poured out on the race of man via
the empowering of the man of lawlessness after Satan is kicked out of heaven
at the midpoint of the week.
He knows the indictment of God. He knows what has been revealed to God’s
people through His servants the prophets as it is recorded in the Bible.
He hears as well, the announcement of victory recorded at verse 10, and based
on that, if God can indeed succeed, he knows he has a very short time. Thus,
his GREAT WRATH which is what characterizes the great tribulation is expressed
toward the believers of mankind, as those who represent the Messiah on the
earth. It is in connection with this yet future expulsion from heaven that
John sees in his vision as recorded at Revelation 13:1, “And HE (so with the
better manuscripts) stood on the sand of the seashore,” from where we see
arising from the sea, the first beast who is to be empowered by Satan in order
to carry out his “great wrath.”
Rev. 12:13, "And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he
persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male {child.}"
This is the persecution of Israel that I mentioned before. It begins when he
empowers the world ruler, who made the covenant of peace and religious
toleration, and influences him to break that covenant and to
place himself in the sanctuary of God and to proclaim himself to be God. 2 Thes. 2:3-4.
This refers to the great tribulation as seen at Jer. 30.5-7 and Mt. 24.15
and 21 Jer. 30:5-7 “For thus says the LORD, I have
heard a sound of terror, Of dread, and there is no peace. ‘Ask now,
and see, If a male can give birth. Why do I see every man {With} his hands
on his loins, as a woman in childbirth? And {why} have all faces turned
pale? ‘ Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is
the time of Jacob’s distress, But he will be saved from it.
Matt. 24:15, “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF
DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the
holy place (let the reader understand).
Matt. 24:21, "for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not
occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall."
Rev. 12:14, And the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, in
order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was
nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the
serpent.
Rev. 12:15 And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after
the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.
Rev. 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth
and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.
The symbolism of this deliverance and protection is a matter
of pure speculation. The point is that a group of Israelites (Jews) are
given protection in a wilderness area outside of Judah for the duration of
the last half of the week as discussed above at V. 6.
Rev. 12:17, "And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make
war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold
to the testimony of Jesus."
In this passage, there are two distinct "offspring" from the woman.
The savior is the PHYSICAL offspring of the nation of Israel.
The believers of the church are the SPIRITUAL offspring of the nation of
Israel in that they are given life through Jesus.
At Isaiah 53:10, they are called His "offspring."
The same SPIRITUAL seed mentioned in Isaiah 54:1 which is quoted by Paul at
Gal. 4:21-31 as finding fulfillment in the church.
Is. 54:1 is prophetic of the SPIRITUAL "sons of the desolate one."
"Shout for joy, infertile one, you who have not given birth to any child;
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not been in
labor;
For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord.
Is. 54:2-3 is prophetic of Israel's PHYSICAL descendants, which will be
fully realized in the earthly kingdom.
"Enlarge the place of your tent; Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings,
do not spare them;
Lengthen your ropes And strengthen your pegs. For you will spread out to the
right and to the left.
And your descendants will possess nations And will resettle the desolate
cities."
And that is why Paul quotes ONLY VERSE 1.
Gal. 4:26, "Rejoice,
infertile one, you who do not give birth;
Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor;
For the children of the desolate one are more numerous
Than those of the one who has a husband."
This “offspring” of the Messiah are then called the "many brethren' at
Hebrews 2:10
D. That is why the church is called the seed of Abraham at Gal. 3:28-29
V. 28, "and you brethren, like Isaac, are (spiritually) children of promise.
V. 3:29, "Abraham's offspring."
V. 4:31, "so then brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman but of the free
woman."
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