Revelation 12:4

His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.  And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.

·         It is thought that the third of the stars were the third of the angels who rebelled against God

·         Devour – very vigilant to crush the Christian religion (MH)

Revelation 12:3

And another sign appeared in heaven:  behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.

·         A dragon for strength and terror – a red dragon for fierceness and cruelty (MH)

·         Seven diadems – seven crowns – later expounded to be seven kings (MH)

Revelation 12:2

Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

·         As in travail and now in pain, to bring forth a holy progency  to Christ (MH)

·         To bring forth the martyrs (DP)

Revelation 12:1

Now a great sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.

·         The church is represented as the woman (MH)

·         This is the first of seven signs that John relates, and is described as a great sign (mega semeion). (DG)

Revelation 11:19

Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple.  And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake and great hail.

·         This was in the holy of holies; in the ark the tables of the law were kept (MH)

·         By terrible things in righteousness God would answer those prayers that were presented in His holy temple, now opened (MH)

 

Revelation 11:16-18

And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:

“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,

The One who is and who was and who is to come,

Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.

The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,

And the time of the dead, that they should be judged.

And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,

And those who fear Your name, small and great,

And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

 

·         They rejoice that his reign shall never end (MH)

·         There are angry resentments in the world at these actings of the power of God (MH)

 

Revelation 11:15

Then the seventh angel sounded:  and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

·         Loud and joyful acclamations of the saints and angels in heaven (MH)

·         They thankfully recognize the right of our God and Saviour to rule and reign over all the world (MH)

Revelation 11:14

The second woe is past.  Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

·         Worse judgments are coming – but given warning of

Revelation 11:13

In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell.  In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

·         The consequences of their ascension – a mighty shock and convulsion and an earthquake (MH)

·         When God’s work and witnesses revive, the devil’s work and witnesses fall before him (MH)

Revelation 11:12

And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.”  And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.

·         The Lord’s witnesses must wait for their advancement, till God calls them (MH)

·         The earth is not worthy of these two witnesses, so God simply calls them home, and they ascended to heaven in a cloud.  (DG)

Revelation 11:11

Now after the three-and-a-half-days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

·         God’s witnesses may be slain, but they shall rise again. (MH)

·         Fear fell – a persecuting spirit, though cruel, is not a courageous, but a cowardly spirit (MH)

Revelation 11:10

And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

·         Their death was a matter of mirth and joy to the antichristian world. (MH)

·         The Anti-christianity of the last days shall probably be under the name of philosophical enlightenment and civilization, but really man's deification of himself. Fanaticism shall lead Antichrist's followers to exult in having at last seemingly silenced in death their Christian rebukers.  (JFB)

Revelation 11:9

Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves.

·         They would not allow them a quiet grave; their bodies were cast out in the open street.  (MH)

·         The idea is also that the world treats these two witnesses in a humiliating manner. “To have his dead body lie in view of all was the worst humiliation a person could suffer from his enemies.” (Johnson)

Revelation 11:8

And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

·         Antichrist should make war against them with open force and violence; and God would permit His enemies to prevail against His witnesses for a time. (MH)

·         The barbarous usage of these slain witnesses; the malice of their enemies, pursued even their dead bodies.  (MH)

Revelation 11:7

When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

·         To make their testimony more strong, they must seal it with their blood (MH)

·         The time when they should be killed:  when finished with testimony.  They are immortal till their work be done (MH)

Revelation 11:6

These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

·         The two witnesses have the power to bring both drought and plague, similar to the power Elijah (James 5:17-18) and Moses (Exodus 7-12) had.  (DG)

·         In the ancient Greek grammar, all the nouns used to speak of the two witnesses in this passage are in the masculine gender. The two witnesses are definitely two men. (DG)

Revelation 11:5

And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies.  And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.

·         The two witnesses have special protection from God, similar to Elijah’s in 2 Kings 1.  (DG)

·         God makes their inspired denunciations of judgment to come to pass and devour their enemies. (JFB)

Revelation 11:4

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.

·         God made them to be like Zerubbabel and Joshua, the two olive-trees and candlestick in the vision of Zechariah (MH)

·         If we will be witnesses, we must first have something to witness – our own personal encounter with Jesus Christ. Then, we must have the power of the Holy Spirit to bring forth the story of what we have witnessed effectively. (DG)

Revelation 11:3

“And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

·         God has reserved to Himself His faithful witnesses (MH)

·         They prophesy in sackcloth, as those that are deeply affected with the low and distressed state of the churches (MH)

·         They prophesy during the period of the reign of antichrist (MH)

Revelation 11:2

“But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles.  And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.

·         Herod built an outer court and called it the court of the Gentiles.  This was no part of the temple, and therefore God would have no regard to it (MH)

·         There is a set time for the city to be put underfoot

·         Whose who worship in the outer court are either such as worship in a false manner or with hypocritical hearts.  Those who worship in the outer court will be rejected, and only those who worship within the veil accepted. (MH)

Revelation 11:1

Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod.  And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship three.

·         The design of this measurement seems to be the preservation of it in those times of public danger and calamity that are here foretold.  (MH)

·         How much was to be measured.  1.  The temple, the gospel church in general.  2.  The altar.  Whether the church was the true altars.  3. The worshippers too must be measured, whether they make God’s glory their end and his word their rule.  (MH)

Revelation 10:11

And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many people, nations, tongues, and kings.”

·         This book of prophecy was not given him merely to gratify his own curiosity, but to be communicated by him to the world (MH)

·         Whatever the content of the scroll, it is connected to John’s command to prophesy to all men. This is not a message just focused to the church. (DG)

·         John’s prophecy speaks of the fate of the entire world, not just one nation, empire or emperor, such as the Roman Empire.  (DG)

Revelation 10:10

Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.  But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.

·         When this book of prophecy was more thoroughly digested by the apostle, the contents would be bitter; these were things so awful and terrible, that the foresight of them would not be pleasant. (MH)

·         Any effective communicator of God’s Word has experienced both the sweetness and bitterness that is associated with His Word (DG)

Revelation 10:9

So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.”  And he said to me, “Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

·         In Ezekiel 3:1-3, the prophet was also commanded to eat a scroll, the revelation of God to Israel. “This figure of eating the book is familiar, and suggests the feeding of the soul on the Word of God.” (Morgan)

·         Any effective communicator of God’s Word has experienced both the sweetness and bitterness that is associated with His Word  (DG)

Revelation 10:8

Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stand son the sea and on the earth.”

·         John is commanded to take the little book from the mighty angel and actually eat it.  (DG)

Revelation 10:5-6-7

The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

·         The mighty angel gives a solemn oath declaring that the end is irrevocably set in motion, that there should be delay no longer. There is absolutely no turning back.  (DG)

·         Remember that in Biblical vocabulary, a mystery isn’t something no one knows. A mystery is something no one could know unless it was revealed to him. If you could know it by intuition or personal investigation, it isn’t a mystery, because mysteries must be revealed. Therefore, something can be known and still be a mystery in the Biblical sense, if it would never have been known if it wasn’t revealed.  (DG)

Revelation 10:4

Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”

·         This relates the same idea of the thunderous voice of God as described in Psalm 29, seven times repeating the phrase the voice of the Lord. (DG)

·         If John is not permitted to tell us what they said, why should he even record the incident? One result of it should be to let us know there are secrets in the prophetic scenario, mysteries that should keep our exposition and prediction humble.  (DG)

a. “This illustrates the principle that while God has revealed much, there are secrets which God has not seen fit to reveal to man at this time.” (Walvoord)

b. “Let us not proceed as though all has been revealed.” (Morris)

Revelation 10:2-3

He had a little book open in his hand;.  And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars.  When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices.

·         His awful voice was echoed by seven thunders, seven solemn and terrible ways of discovering the mind of God (MH)

·         “The contents of the little book are nowhere revealed in Revelation, but they seem to represent in this vision the written authority given to the angel to fulfill his mission.” (Walvoord)

Revelation 10:1

I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud.  And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.

·         These interludes serve a dramatic purpose, but also show mercy in allowing more opportunity for repentance. It is as if God brings things to the brink, then pulls back a little to grant mankind more time to repent. (DG)

·         Whoever his exact identity, “clearly this angel has come from the very presence of God” (Barclay), and shows great might and authority. (DG)

Revelation 9:21

And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

1. Murder: Many will be possessed by demons of murder in this horrific murder-movement that will be focused upon the saints and Israel.

2. Immorality: Billions of people will be demonized with bondage to sexual perversion following in the wake of new technology.

3. Sorcery: Satan worship and occult activity will fill the earth. The nations will be become more “spiritual”, which is different from intellectual-based science proving secularism. Sexual perversion will be dynamically connected to the spiritual realm. It will be more than hedonism (pleasure seekers), but will express aspects of demon worship with a dark spirituality.

4. Theft: There will be many different manifestations of theft. (CS)

 

Revelation 9:19-20

For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.

But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.

·         The impenitency of the antichristian generation under these dreadful judgments (MH)

·         Impenitency under divine judgments is an iniquity that will be the ruin of sinners; for where God judges he will overcome (MH)

Revelation 9:18

By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed – by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths.

·         The vast havoc and desolation that they made (MH)

·         Their artillery, by which they made such slaughter: fire, smoke, and brimstone (MH)

Revelation 9:17

And thus I saw the horses in the vision:  those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.

·         As the horses were fierce, like lions, so those who sat upon them were clad in bright and costly armor (MH)

·         They are given a weird, grotesque description. This is a powerful picture of horror, destruction and demonic association.  (DG)

Revelation 9:16

Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.

·         Is this number literal or symbolic? “It is possible that the number is not to be taken literally, but simply suggests an army that is impossible to count and is greater than anything mankind has ever seen.” (Hocking)

Revelation 9:15

So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.

·         The time of their military operations is limited (MH)

·         The Euphrates was a landmark of ancient Babylon. It was the frontier of the Israel’s land as fully promised by God (Genesis 15:17-21). It was also the boundary of the old Roman Empire, which will be revived under the Antichrist. (DG)

·         The Euphrates is also associated with the first sin (Genesis 2:10-14), the first murder (Genesis 4:16), the first organized revolt against God (Genesis 11:1-9), the first war confederation (Genesis 14:1), and the first dictatorship (Genesis 10:8-10). (DG)