以色列在啟示錄─啟示錄 

這週我們將來看啟示錄十二章最令人興奮與最戲劇化的徵兆，我將一節一節解釋：

天上現出大異象來：有一個婦人身披日頭，腳踏月亮，頭戴十二星的冠冕。

她懷了孕，在生產的艱難中疼痛呼叫（啟示錄12:1-2）。 

一般公認此代表以色列，她生出彌賽亞，馬上受到這世界的權力所攻擊，並且從那時開始一直處在此毀滅性的攻擊與威脅之下。 

也有一些人看此為『神的以色列』，同時包括屬靈和肉身的以色列。 

天上又現出異象來：有一條大紅龍，七頭十角；七頭上戴著七個冠冕。 

他的尾巴拖拉著天上星辰的三分之一，摔在地上。龍就站在那將要生產的婦人面前，等她生產之後，要吞吃她的孩子（啟示錄12:3-4）。  

龍是邪惡的，七頭十角或十勢力很可能是政府與國家的領袖，他顯露出自己是透過摧毀彌賽亞與生出祂的國家（以色列）。 

值得注意的是在這段經文中，當祂出生時（此發生在基督出生時），魔鬼企圖吞吃祂，這也顯示出魔鬼的一個基本策略。幾乎由神而生的每一個事工，當它仍年幼與脆弱時，就遭受猛烈攻擊並企圖來摧毀之。當我們被使用來開始任何新事物時，我們應當為此預備好。 

婦人生了一個男孩子，是將來要用鐵杖轄管（轄管：原文是牧）萬國的；她的孩子被提到神寶座那裡去了。 

婦人就逃到曠野，在那裡有神給她預備的地方，使她被養活一千二百六十天（啟示錄12:5-6）。 

當然基督誕生了，從魔鬼在祂還是嬰孩時企圖摧毀祂時被解救。當魔鬼以為終於在他在地上掌權時，藉由釘祂十字架來摧毀此最大的威脅，結果卻成為有史以來對魔鬼統管之地最大的一擊。這產生人類墮落、與魔鬼同謀以來，全世界最大的救恩。基督後來被神提到天上，等候再次回來掌管祂用寶血所買贖的世界。

將基督─以色列生出來的婦人立刻逃到曠野，分散到列國，神神蹟性地存留她免於魔鬼不斷企圖摧毀她。

在天上就有了爭戰。米迦勒同他的使者與龍爭戰，龍也同他的使者去爭戰， 

並沒有得勝，天上再沒有他們的地方。 

大龍就是那古蛇，名叫魔鬼，又叫撒但，是迷惑普天下的。他被摔在地上，他的使者也一同被摔下去（啟示錄12:7-9）。 

接下來的偉大事件就是米迦勒，在聖經中他被指派來保護以色列，他同他的使者與龍爭戰。米迦勒與他的軍隊得勝了，直到龍與他的使者從天上被減除，被摔在地上。 

對於這經文何時會發生，還是已經發生了，有著許多爭論。聖經的預言很少隨著直線路徑發展─它可能一節經文就會跳躍幾百年或幾千年。這似乎讓那些認識真理的人持續倚靠聖靈，好得著正確的瞭解。 

因為在啟示錄後面還有更多瞭解此段經文的鑰匙，我們到時再更多談到。現在，我們需要瞭解戰役，我們看到魔鬼的一個主要意圖就是毀滅以色列。除非以色列沒有成為魔鬼在末世主要目的的重大威脅，否則這樣的事不會發生。 

 (摘自喬納 word for the week,Week40, 2017)

 

Israel in Revelation—The Book of Revelation
Week 40, 2017
Rick Joyner

         This week we come to one of the most exciting and dramatic signs in Revelation 12, which I will comment on after each verse:

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;

and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth (Revelation 12:1-2).

         This is generally accepted to represent Israel, which gave birth to the Messiah and was then immediately assaulted by the powers of this world. They have been under this assault and threat of destruction since.

         Others see this as “the Israel of God,” which includes both spiritual and natural Israel. 

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

And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child (Revelation 12:3-4). 

         The dragon is the devil. The seven heads and ten horns, or powers, are likely the governments and heads of state that he manifested himself through to destroy the Messiah and the nation that gave birth to Him.

         It is noteworthy in this Scripture that the devil seeks to devour the child when He is born, which happened when Christ was born. This also reveals a basic strategy of the devil. With almost every work that is born of God, there will be an onslaught and attempt to destroy it while it is still young and vulnerable. We should be prepared for this anytime we are used to start anything new.

And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days (Revelation 12:5-6).

         Of course Christ was born and delivered from the attempts of the devil to destroy Him while an infant. When the devil thought he had finally destroyed the greatest threat to his domain over the earth by crucifying Him, it turned out to be the greatest blow of all time to the devil’s dominion. This resulted in the ultimate salvation of the world from the consequences of the Fall and the collusion with the devil. Christ was then caught up to God to wait for the time to take dominion over the world that He purchased with His blood.

         The woman who gave birth to Christ—Israel—was driven immediately into the wilderness, scattered among the nations where God preserved her miraculously from almost continuous attempts by the devil to destroy her.

And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war,

and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.

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 (Revelation 12:7-9).

         The next great event is that Michael, the angel assigned in Scripture for the protection and purposes of Israel, goes to war with the devil and his messengers. Michael and his forces prevail until the dragon and his messengers are cast out of heaven and thrown down to the earth.

         There is much debate about when this will happen or has happened. It is true that biblical prophecy seldom follows a linear path—it can jump ahead or backward centuries or millenniums in a single verse. This seems to keep those who would know the truth dependent on the Holy Spirit for an accurate understanding.

         Since there are more keys to understanding this passage later in Revelation, we will address them in more detail then. For now, we need to understand the battle. One thing we see is a major intent of the devil to destroy Israel. This would not be unless Israel was not still a major threat to the devil with a major purpose at the end of this age.