John then saw a great wonder in heaven. This was a wonder because, John never expected to see this. He should have thought that the visions have ended with the gathering of the saints and the condemnation of evil. End of the end!

However, God wanted to show to John in detail some of the things that have been in His eternal purpose. Here was the first of such details. This vision spans the eternity past and the entire history of mankind.

The Woman clothed with the Sun

Here is the great wonder: John saw a woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. This woman signifies the God-believing line of Israel (the spiritual Israel). God covered her shame with His glory so that her nakedness is no more evident. His righteousness is her garment of fine linen.

Abraham is the father of spiritual Israel. Abraham’s son Isaac was in the believing line; the generation of Ishmael was not. Ishmael, though the elder, was the son of the bondwoman says Paul in Galatians. The descendants of Isaac would play the chief role in the purpose of God. Isaac’s son Jacob, not Esau, was in the believing line. He was later renamed by God as Israel; a supplanter/heel-catcher would transform to a Prince to rule (as would God rule His people). Israel’s children became the twelve tribes. The Lord is the crown of Israel. Ishmael’s descendants are the moon. Crescent? The people of God’s promise will subdue them.

The Lord God made a promise at the garden of Eden. He said that He will create enmity between the Seed of the woman and the seed of Satan. He added that the Seed of the woman would bruise the head of Satan. Satan would manage to bruise only the heel of the Seed of the woman. This Seed would be born among the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as an Israelite and a Jew ( tribe of Judah). This Seed would be Christ. So, the believing line of Abraham was anticipating the promised Seed, howbeit, with adversities all along history. When the Lord showed Abraham the stars of heaven, there should have been a special Star among them. Abraham rejoiced to see the day of that Star. He saw It and was glad.

All along the Old Testament history, the believing line of Israel, a remnant, was carrying the seed of Abraham. The Lord had been their protection even though there were multiple attempts by Satan’s seed to obstruct the birth of the Seed, Christ. Destroying the believing line would put an end to the threat that Satan was facing. E.g., King Saul would have killed David many times, but God protected him. Haman, the vizier at the court of Ahasuerus (Xerxes), King of Persia during the time Esther devised a plan to put an end to the entire Jewish population of the world. God did not allow this to happen. There were numerous incidents such as these that can be quoted from history. It was real travail in birth! The woman certainly pained to be delivered of the Child.

Naturally, seed for a human offspring is always provided by the husband. The wife produces the egg. Jesus was born supernaturally with the seed and the egg of virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit performed a miracle in her by coming upon her; the power of the Highest overshadowed her. It was a purely spiritual activity. When God could make a full-grown man out of non-living red earth and a full-grown woman out of his bone, creating a Seed inside Mary’s womb was ‘Child’s (!) play’ for the Creator.

The woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, times and half a time (1000+1000+500=2500 years). From BC 552, the time of Belshazzar, the Jews (the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and a few Levites) who contained in them the believing line (spiritual Israel) that would bring forth the promised Messiah were scattered in the world and lived amidst severe persecution. This continued till 1948, the time of the gentiles – until the time of the Philadelphia church. (From BC 532, the time of Cyrus’s decree, to 1967 is also 2500 years). God sheltered this population of believers all the while and nourished them.

After giving birth to the Man Child, the woman (now the spiritual Israel that comprises of the Jewish and gentile believers) fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of God, that they, the people in the wilderness, who are themselves persecuted, should feed her there a thousand two hundred and sixty years. For e.g., the church at Philippi was already poor but they sent aid to the church at Jerusalem wholeheartedly. This is from 688 AD to 1948 /1967.

[365.25/30 days of the Jewish month) X 42 = 1278.5. AD 688+1278.5=1967, the year when Jerusalem was regained, and the time of the unbelieving gentiles ended. It is also the beginning of the time of the end and the hour of temptation. This is when the time of the church of Laodicea began].

The years AD 686-688 are indeed significant and are central to the two thousand five hundred years (time, times and half a time). It was the year when the Dome of the Rock was set up in Jerusalem. (-Ellis H Scolfield, The False Prophet, Fish House publishing). That is where the Al Aqsa Mosque was built; it is the third most holy place for the Muslims after Mecca and Medina.

(It is a matter of significance that this new structure was built only on a wing of the original temple, and it was done by mistake. ‘The abomination of desolation descending on a wing’ as per Daniel nine (HCSB) is noteworthy here. The original holy place is under a cupola very much in the compound). This same spot is also claimed to be the holy place for Jews and religious Christians (not believers).

Earthly Jerusalem is the center of all disputes, the epicentre for all global problems and a cause of distress for the whole world. Jerusalem, the city of peace is a misnomer, ever since it lost its place in the purpose of God. Believers are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, His Church, the new city that the Lord has been building ever since His ascension to the right hand of the Father.

The Red Dragon
John saw another wonder in heaven. He saw a great red dragon with seven horns, ten heads and seven crowns upon his heads (seven kings). This is the same dragon on which Mystery Babylon, the great whore was sitting; we read about this in chapter seventeen and eighteen. This is the blood-seeking / blood-sucking Satan. Red dragon indeed!

Even before the unfolding of history on this earth, Satan was in heaven as the chief in charge of strategic duties. He wanted to be God. This chief angel abused his free will to rebel against God, his Creator. He drew one third of God’s angels to his side by coaxing, trading, and threatening. When such inequity was found in Satan, God cast him out of heaven. John saw a war that happened between God’s angels and Satan. Satan with his allies fought but he could not prevail. Satan fell to the earth, God’s footstool. Ezekiel wrote of this fall in chapter twenty-eight. As Satan fell, he drew his side of the angels (who also abused their free will) with his tail and cast them down to the earth and its atmosphere.

[Satan and his allies should have been part of the morning stars that sang together and the sons of God (mentioned in Job) who shouted together when God laid the foundation of the earth and set the cornerstone for it. Little would have they known then that this earth would be their stopover for a long time afterwards and their final destiny would be further below it].

The fallen angels deformed the earth and caused disorder here because they were totally disappointed and upset by the outcome. The evil ones fell off the light of God’s presence. The earth fell into darkness. Chaos filled it. It lost its form and became void of light.

God intervened. God reinstated the earth, His footstool, to its former glory. Cosmos replaced chaos.
When God commanded light to shine on this earth, this fallen population occupied the first heaven or earth’s atmosphere. These fallen angels are classified as principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places (skies as mentioned in the Tamil Bible). We read about this in Ephesians chapter six.

Shamelessly, Satan vowed to ascend to heaven after his fall to earth, all because he wanted to retain the rebellious angels together on his side. He said audaciously, “I will”, five times as mentioned in Isaiah fourteen. Doesn’t he know that his destiny is sealed? Did not God write down his doom long before? It is temerity that keeps him and his puppets continuing against God’s purpose.

After commanding light to shine on this earth, God reinstated the earth with life. God created everything around it (sun, moon, stars, and other heavenly bodies) and in it (living creatures) in six days. Man was created on the sixth day; the woman was created subsequently on the same day. God wanted Adam and Eve to replenish the earth, subdue it and have dominion over all life on the earth.

[From the earth, Satan had access to God’s meeting place. Post the creation of the second heaven, this meeting place could have been somewhere in the second or the first heaven, or even somewhere on the earth. The discussion about Job the upright and Joshua the priest might have happened here.]

As we all know, Satan’s meeting with Eve happened on this earth as he was in its atmosphere. He approached mankind in the garden of Eden and deceived them with his lie. The old serpent planted unbelief in the heart of man. He said that they do not have to depend on God for everything and that God was holding back a lot many things that mankind deserves to enjoy. Adam doubted God and disobeyed His word. Man rebelled against God. When the Devil deceived man to surrender to him, man committed sin. Sin entered the world. The whole mankind fell into sin. They became slaves to Satan.

The Man Child

God had factored-in this episode (of the fall of man) in His eternal purpose; God had planned to send mankind a Saviour – the Seed of the woman, who would bruise the head of the Old Serpent. God purposed to bring more sons to glory from among mankind, his superior-most creation. God would show to Satan that there is a Creation that would submit to God’s will wilfully and love Him wholeheartedly. So, God kept safe a small believing remnant of Israel amidst severe difficulties and brought them unscathed through all hurdles, hindrances, and obstacles throughout history. Christ, the Man-child would be born among them in time, on time.

There was also the unbelieving ungodly population that Satan would use to try to upset the purpose of God. Satan’s seed was keeping tight vigil over the birth of any boy child that would be born in the believing generation. As he was clueless as to who would be this child or who would bring forth this Child, he started murdering people en masse. The red dragon would do all he can to upset the purpose of God. He wanted to devour the Man-child Who would bring about his end.

When it was the appointed time, virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus, God in flesh. She was among the believing line. The promised Seed was born among the believing seed of Abraham. Christ, the very image of the invisible God, was born to rule the nations. He came here to set up the kingdom of God. He represents the ‘stone that was cut out without hands’ that smote the image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and filled the whole earth as mentioned in Daniel two. Christ was anointed even before time to be the King. He would rule with an iron rod. He would not flex the truth. He would not compromise with the evil systems of the world. He would reign in righteousness. He has established His Kingdom in the hearts of His believers from nations. His Kingdom would not be from here. Jesus said so to Pontius Pilate. He would rule from heaven, seated at the right hand of the Majesty, a far superior one than the forever-cursed throne of David because of the ungodly behaviour and acts of his descendants.
Defeating death, Satan and hell, Jesus usurped the keys of death and hell from Satan and was taken up in glory, Satan had power over death; not anymore. This Satan would be locked up in hell (the bottomless pit) for a long time soon after the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth in the hearts of His believers and among His believing Church.

The Kingdom of God

During His sojourn on earth, Jesus Christ preached that the Kingdom of God is at hand. He died for the sin of the world. They buried Him. On the third day, He rose again. More than five hundred people saw Him in His resurrected body. After forty days, He sent His disciples with a mandate to preach this gospel to every creature. They would carry this message to the end of the world. He also said that power from on high would enable them to do this massive task. Then He ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God. God the Father re-glorified Him. He sat on the throne in Heaven as the mighty conqueror. He will sit there till all His enemies are conquered by His believers too. The final enemy to be conquered is death. Paul mentions this in 1 Corinthians chapter fifteen. This conquest will happen on the day when the believers will be caught up to the sky on the last day of history of this earth.

As per His promise, the Holy Spirit of God descended from heaven to abide in the believers. This happened on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was the day of Pentecost. The Kingdom of God was established on earth on that day. Everyone who accepts the Salvation plan of God in Christ would become the citizens of this heavenly kingdom. They would bow to Him as their Lord and King. New Jerusalem and Zion in the making!

Before the advent of the Lord to the earth as the Saviour, Satan continued deceiving the nations with his lie. The lie was that God was withholding good from them. He provoked them to break away from the control of God; they could live a life after their own whims and fancies. They would rebel against their Creator and live a life independent of Him. (Satan would become their god; they would become his slaves; this was the hidden agenda!). But, once the Kingdom of God was established, he would deceive them no more.

At the first advent of the Lord as the Saviour of mankind, He established His kingdom on the earth. He gave believers power over the kingdom of darkness. When His disciples started casting out demons from the possessed, the Dragon panicked and fell to the earth. Jesus saw this fall. Jesus said that He saw Satan, their leader, fall (from the first heaven, earth’s atmosphere) to the earth. This is in Luke ten.

Believers were overpowering the kingdom of darkness; demons were being cast out; evil spirits came out of people. Satan knew that he had very little time if at all he would hold his position. He started persecuting the disciples who were predominantly Jewish. Many faced (and still do face) hunger, thirst, and pain, afflictions, necessities, and distress, stripes, imprisonments, and tumults, labours, watchings, and fastings, dishonour, evil report, and death, chastening, sorrow, and poverty, sometimes having nothing.

But the Most High, the Almighty, protected them (and still does protect today’s Jewish and gentile believers) graciously under His wings. God will provide. He will protect them from the vile devices of the enemy. It will be for a certain fixed time. Every day would be a challenging day for the believers. They are at war against the kingdom of darkness. But they have the armour of God to defend themselves as well as to attack the enemy. Here are the Jewish and the gentile churches of chapter eleven!

Satan has his agents in the Kingdom of darkness. They would run havoc on the earth and among the inhabitants of the earth. They would also continuously fight against the believers of God. They will be a party to their boss’s plan of toppling the purpose of God. They would do their best to trouble the faithful ones with misery, pain, and hardship; the believers of God on earth will face persecution. The believers would live amid a great tribulation. However, God has prepared a place for His believing people. He will survive them through other believers (and other as well). The journey would be like one through a wilderness. But they are looking forward eagerly to and continually progressing towards their heavenly city. Amidst all this tribulation, God’s people would prevail. He cannot destroy their soul. Nor can he quench their zealous spirit. Believers will overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. They would not love their lives, even unto the death of their body.
Because ultimate victory belongs to the believers, it is a matter of rejoicing. Heaven and its inhabitants would rejoice because the faithful would be the overcomers as they follow the footsteps of their Forerunner and Overcomer.

Seeing that his tactic of persecuting the Church did not yield the desired result, Satan was enraged. The believing Jewish remnant and the believing gentile multitude continued keeping the command of God and bore the testimony of their Lord Jesus Christ. So, the Devil set out to make war with them.

The dragon tried using his usual weapon – lies. He spat out his lies to steal, kill and destroy mankind once again. Atheism (there is no God), agnosticism (don’t care whether there is a god), capitalism (money is god), communism (government is god), socialism (society is god), environmentalism (Nature is god), and a hundred other isms are lies! Lies spread like a flood devouring everything on its course.
Whatever Satan intends to do, his deceptive schemes would fail. His attempts would not yield fruit. God’s kingdom would expand. The Lord would continue to build His Church. Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.

Satan, the accuser of the brethren was cast down when the Kingdom of God was set up and the power of Christ was established on earth. The believers are brethren one to another. They are also the brothers of Christ. The Lord is their elder brother. Every born-again believer is a son of God born of God’s word and adopted into His family as a grownup son with due rights and inheritance.

When the dragon saw that he missed every opportunity to stall the advent of the Man Child and now that the Man Child had already been caught up unto God, he turned his focus elsewhere. The devil was now wroth with the woman, the believing generations of the New Testament. Satan went to make war with the Jewish and the gentile church that followed the commandments of God and that have the testimony of Christ.

When Satan fell to the earth, he thought he would continue to deceive the nations. But God had planned already that He would cast Satan, the prince of this world, into the bottomless pit. Jesus spoke about this in John chapter twelve. He sent His angel with the key to the bottomless pit, to put Satan in chains and to cast him there. The dragon would be in it for a long time. He cannot deceive the nations as long as he would be in the bottomless pit. He cannot keep accusing the believers anymore. He had been doing this day and night but not anymore.

The gates of hell or the bottomless pit (mentioned Paadhalam in both places in the Thamizh Bible) cannot prevail against the Church that the Lord intends to build. Satan would be in this confinement for a long time. Meanwhile, the Lord would build His Church one stone upon another. Believing Jews and gentiles would be added to His Church. This will go on until that last gentile and the last Jew are set in this building. The believers in the Church would (should) rule and reign with Him during this long period. They should not wait for a non-existent millennium!They overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they love not their lives unto the death.

Satan is a liar and the father of lies. So, spiritual Israel would not swallow his lies. But the people of the world are still ignorant of Satan’s devices. Many are still gulping the lies. Satan is sweeping millions away with his dark army still out and active. The world has absorbed the impact of these lies. Mankind is caught-up in one or the other of these lies of Satan wasting their lives for these noble (?) causes.