~~~ The Two Women of Revelation ~~~
The Woman and the Dragon: (Revelation Ch. 12)
  1. A great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.
  2. The symbolic connection of this woman to Israel:
    • Joseph, son of Jacob whom God renamed Israel, has a dream in which the sun and moon and eleven stars bowed down to him.
    • Upon hearing this Jacob asked, "Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?"
    • Joseph's mother was Rachel. Jacob had twelve sons by two wives.
  3. The woman is seen experiencing the labor pains of childbirth.
  4. Then appeared an enormous red dragon having seven heads and ten horns. Each head bore a crown.
  5. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.
  6. The dragon positioned itself in front of the woman so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.
  7. She gave birth to a son who will rule all the nations [or who will shepherd all the Gentiles] with an iron scepter.
  8. The child is rescued by God; taken up to his throne. The woman takes refuge in a place prepared for her in the wilderness.
  9. War in heaven: The dragon and his angels fight Michael and his angels.
  10. The dragon, he who leads the world astray, is defeated. He and his angels are banished to the earth.
  11. The dragon then pursues the woman who gave birth to the male child, but she is given the wings of a great eagle to escape to her place in the wilderness.
  12. The dragon then spewed a flood of water to overtake the woman and sweep her away.
  13. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out.
  14. The dragon, enraged, went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring - those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
 Mystery: Babylon the Great: (Revelation Chs. 17 & 18)
  1. She is the great prostitute, who sits by many waters.
  2. The waters... are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.
  3. She is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.
  4. She is dressed in purple and scarlet, glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls.
  5. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery.
  6. The merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.
  7. All who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth.
  8. By her magic spell all the nations were led astray.
  9. In her heart she boasts, I sit enthroned as queen.
  10. She holds a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things.
  11. All the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries.
  12. Her name, Babylon the Great, is a mystery.
  13. She is the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.
  14. She is drunk with the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people.
  15. She is shown sitting on a scarlet beast... covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.
    • The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.
    • The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute.
    • She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
    • The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn.
    • They will stand far off, terrified at her torment.
  16. With a mighty voice he [an angel from heaven] shouted:
    • Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!
    • She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit.
    • Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins.
Unfolding the Woman and the Dragon:
  1. The description of the woman identifies her with Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, whom God renamed Israel.
  2. God made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants: "I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed." Genesis 24:3-4
  3. The sons of Israel became in time the twelve tribes of Israel which occupied the Promised Land after their exodus from Egypt.
  4. The vision of the woman giving birth to a male child who is destined to rule all the nations is clearly Messianic.
  5. However, the sequence presented here suggests the child is not Jesus, the son of Mary, but is symbolic of the "Promise of the Messiah". Genesis 3:15
  6. The red dragon desires to destroy the promise upon its delivery but the attempt is foiled by God, the author of the promise.
  7. The red dragon then attempts to prevent the coming of the promised Messiah by seeking to destroy the mother of the promise, but she is given aid and refuge from his attacks.
  8. Ancient Israel, throughout its history, became the target of many foreign powers who sought to destroy her. Most notable were the empires of Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
  9. Eventually, having failed to prevent the promised Messiah's coming, he redirects his attacks on the Messiah's follower's right up to the end of time.
  10. This woman, therefore, is symbolic of a "Spiritual Israel"; the true faith, connection and relationship with Yahweh that was the religion of Abraham and his descendants.
  11. This representation is valid even though the nation of Israel proved many times to be unfaithful. Romans 3:3
 Unfolding Babylon the Great:
  1. The object this symbol represents is not an identifiable entity but rather an ideology.
  2. The "many waters" suggests she holds sway over the entire earth. Revelation 17:15
  3. As the great city, it holds the political powers of earth under her influence. (Revelation 17:2 and verse 18)
  4. As the woman, she is shown seated on the scarlet beast, implying that she exercises authority over it.
  5. Thus we have two separate entities presented in this imagery that have existed throughout history.
    • The woman is symbolic of a global ideology that stands in opposition to the law of God: Worldly materialism, spiritual idolatry, immorality, pride, and oppression.
    • The beast represents the civil powers of earth, especially those that have been enemies of Israel.
  6. She is called a prostitute for her corrupt relations with the kings of earth.
  7. The intoxicating wine in her cup are her godless ideologies that "leads the world astray", and she is guilty for the death of all God's faithful.
  8. The name written on her forehead connects her to the ancient city of Babylon, and that connection presents a mystery.
  9. The mystery may be that some of God's people are inside her just as the Hebrew captives were in Daniel's time. A voice from heaven calls out, "Come out of her, my people." Revelation 18:4
  10. The seven heads on the scarlet beast are said to represent "seven hills on which the woman sits", which some say also connects her with Rome.
  11. At some point in time it is foretold that the scarlet beast, by the will of God, throws off the yoke of Babylon the Great. Revelation 17:16-17
  12. This action implies that the beast rejects the ideology of Babylon replacing it with its own involving worship of itself as a god. Revelation 13:4