REVELATION 12 by S. N. H.

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 22, 1901

By S. N. H.

S. N. H.

As the moon simply reflects the light received from the sun, so every ceremony of the Jewish economy reflected the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This light shone from every sacrifice, from the first lamb offered by Adam at the gate of Eden, until the Lamb of God, the Sun of Righteousness himself, hung upon the cross of Calvary.

The woman, the Church of Christ, standing upon the moon, clothed with the sun, and having upon her head a crown of twelve stars, is an object lesson of the Church in the past, with its twelve patriarchs, and also of the future, when, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, in all the fullness of the gospel of Christ it will stand “without fault before the throne of God.” And even more than this: the mind is carried forward to the city of God. Upon its twelve gates are the “names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel,” and in its twelve foundations, “the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Rev. 21: 12, 14.

Pagan Rome is also an object lesson of every pagan nation, past and future. In it the diabolic character of Satan was more fully exemplified than in any other pagan nation, in the rejection and crucifixion of Him who was God manifest in the flesh, who for thirty-three years walked among men, sending forth the golden rays of light, which “lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” Satan, through Herod the Great, a Roman governor, began his crusade against Christ at His birth (Matt. 2: 16-18); and at His death Herod Antipas and Pilate made friends in inflicting the most shameful death possible, even the death of the cross, in order to put out His name forever. God raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. Col. 1: 20.

The dragon had seven heads and ten horns. Although merged in the papal Beast, he is the dragon still. The change from pagan to papal form was simply a change in Satan’s tactics to wipe out the people of God from the earth. The light, or power, of the Jewish nation was vested in its kings, Sanhedrin, and priests. Pagan Rome removed these kings, one “third part.” This also becomes an object lesson of Satan’s being cast out of heaven with one third of the angels. See Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. I, page 22.

When the papacy arose, the Church entered the wilderness, in 538 A. D., and continued for “a thousand two hundred and threescore days,” twelve hundred and sixty years. See also Rev. 11: 2; 13: 5; Dan. 7: 25; 12: 7. For hundreds of years the Church of Christ found refuge in seclusion and obscurity. The establishment of papal power marks the beginning of the Dark Ages. Those were days of peril for the Church of Christ. The faithful standard bearers were few indeed.

It was six thousand years ago that Satan, with his angels, was cast out of the city of God unto this earth. “Satan’s rebellion was to be a lesson to the universe through all coming ages, a perpetual testimony to the nature and terrible results of sin. The working out of Satan’s rule, its effects upon both men and angels, would show what must be the fruit of setting aside the divine authority.”—Great Controversy, page 499. In those governments where the greatest light was seen and rejected was the most fully manifested the spirit of his satanic majesty, and it became an object lesson of himself and his character.

“The dragon is said to be Satan; he it was that moved upon Herod to put the Saviour to death. But the chief agent of Satan in making war upon Christ and His people during the first centuries of the Christian era, was the Roman Empire, in which paganism was the prevailing religion. Thus, while the dragon, primarily, represents Satan, it is, in a secondary sense, a symbol of pagan Rome.”—Great Controversy, page 438. “At the death of Jesus the soldiers had beheld the earth wrapped in profound darkness at midday; but at the resurrection they saw the brightness of the angels illuminate the night, and heard the inhabitants of heaven singing with great joy and triumph: ‘Thou hast vanquished Satan and the powers of darkness! Thou hast swallowed up death in victory!’ ‘And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.’ The casting down of Satan as an accuser of the brethren in heaven was accomplished by the great work of Christ in giving up His life.”—Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. III, page 194. “Satan saw his disguise was torn away. His administration was laid open before the unfallen angels and before the heavenly universe. He had revealed himself as a murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings. Henceforth his work was restricted. Whatever attitude he might assume, he could no longer await the angels as they came from the heavenly courts, and before them accuse Christ’s brethren of being clothed with the garments of blackness and the defilement of sin. The last link of sympathy between Satan and the heavenly world was broken.”—Desire of Ages, trade edition, page 914. In the law of Moses the blood of animals was never permitted to be eaten by man, for with it the atonement was made. Lev. 17: 10-14; 7: 22-27; Acts 15: 29. In Christ’s blood alone there is strength and salvation. “The apostle John in vision heard a loud voice in heaven exclaiming, ‘Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.’ Fearful are the scenes which call forth this exclamation from the heavenly voice. The wrath of Satan increases as his time grows short, and his work of deceit and destruction will reach its culmination in the time of trouble.” With Satan it is a war of spite, for he well knows that the death of Christ settled forever the fact that the kingdom would be Christ’s. The flood of persecution would have destroyed the Church in the time of the great persecution had not the governments of earth protected it. “One of the noblest testimonies ever uttered for the Reformation, was the protest offered by the Christian princes of Germany at the Diet of Spires, in 1529. The courage, faith, and firmness of those men of God gained for succeeding ages liberty of thought and of conscience. Their protest gave to the reformed Church the name of Protestant; its principles are the very essence of Protestantism. . . . The Diet of Spires, in 1526, had given each state full liberty in matters of religion until the meeting of a general council; but no sooner had the dangers passed which secured this concession, than the emperor summoned a second Diet to convene at Spires, in 1529, for the purpose of crushing heresy.”—Great Controversy, pages 197, 198. But God gave them courage to defend the principles of liberty, and thus the earth helped the woman.

Toward the remnant, Satan is exceeding wrath, because they keep God’s commandments and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. The testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy. Rev. 19: 10. The gift of prophecy is given for the Church. 1 Cor. 14: 22. It is those for whom the Spirit of Prophecy brings blessings, who reject the prophecy; and they are the ones who persecute the prophets. Luke 13: 33. So the most dangerous snares Satan has prepared for the Church will come through its own members who do not love God supremely or their neighbor as themselves. See Testimonies for the Church, Vol. V, page 477. The remnant is the last portion of the Church, as the remnant of cloth is the last portion of the web.