Bible History
Picture Study Bible with Maps and Background Information
6. woman fled--Mary's flight with Jesus into Egypt is a type of
this.
where she hath--So C reads. But A and B add "there."
a place--that portion of the heathen world which has received
Christianity professedly, namely, mainly the fourth kingdom, having its
seat in the modern Babylon, Rome, implying that all the heathen
world would not be Christianized in the present order of things.
prepared of God--literally, "from God." Not by human
caprice or fear, but by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of
God, the woman, the Church, fled into the wilderness.
they should feed her--Greek, "nourish her." Indefinite
for, "she should be fed." The heathen world, the wilderness,
could not nourish the Church, but only afford her an outward shelter.
Here, as in
Da 4:26,
and elsewhere, the third person plural refers to the heavenly
powers who minister from God nourishment to the Church. As
Israel had its time of first bridal love, on its first going out of
Egypt into the wilderness, so the Christian Church's
wilderness-time of first love was the apostolic age, when
it was separate from the Egypt of this world, having no city
here, but seeking one to come; having only a place in the wilderness
prepared of God
(Re 12:6, 14).
The harlot takes the world city as her own, even as Cain was the first
builder of a city, whereas the believing patriarchs lived in
tents. Then apostate Israel was the harlot and the young
Christian Church the woman; but soon spiritual fornication crept in,
and the Church in the seventeenth chapter is no longer the
woman, but the harlot, the great Babylon, which,
however, has in it hidden the true people of God
(Re 18:4).
The deeper the Church penetrated into heathendom, the more she herself
became heathenish. Instead of overcoming, she was overcome by the world
[AUBERLEN]. Thus, the woman is "the one
inseparable Church of the Old and New Testament" [HENGSTENBERG], the stock of the Christian Church being
Israel (Christ and His apostles being Jews), on which the Gentile
believers have been grafted, and into which Israel, on her
conversion, shall be grafted, as into her own olive tree. During
the whole Church-historic period, or "times of the Gentiles," wherein
"Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles," there is no believing
Jewish Church, and therefore, only the Christian Church can be "the
woman." At the same time there is meant, secondarily, the preservation
of the Jews during this Church-historic period, in order that Israel,
who was once "the woman," and of whom the man-child was born,
may become so again at the close of the Gentile times, and stand at the
head of the two elections, literal Israel, and spiritual Israel, the
Church elected from Jews and Gentiles without distinction.
Eze 20:35, 36,
"I will bring you into the wilderness of the people
(Hebrew, 'peoples'), and there will I plead with you
. . . like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness
of Egypt" (compare Notes, see on
Eze 20:35, 36):
not a wilderness literally and locally, but spiritually a
state of discipline and trial among the Gentile
"peoples," during the long Gentile times, and one finally
consummated in the last time of unparalleled trouble under Antichrist,
in which the sealed remnant
(Re 7:1-8)
who constitute "the woman," are nevertheless preserved "from the face
of the serpent"
(Re 12:14).
thousand two hundred and threescore days--anticipatory of
Re 12:14,
where the persecution which caused her to flee is mentioned in its
place:
Re 13:11-18
gives the details of the persecution. It is most unlikely that the
transition should be made from the birth of Christ to the last
Antichrist, without notice of the long intervening Church-historical
period. Probably the 1260 days, or periods, representing this long
interval, are RECAPITULATED on a shorter scale
analogically during the last Antichrist's short reign. They are
equivalent to three and a half years, which, as half of the divine
number seven, symbolize the seeming victory of the world over
the Church. As they include the whole Gentile times of Jerusalem's
being trodden of the Gentiles, they must be much longer than 1260
years; for, above several centuries more than 1260 years have elapsed
since Jerusalem fell.
JFB.
The Book of Revelation
Revelation 1:9-11 - I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send [it] unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
Revelation 19:11-16 - And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him [was] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes [were] as a flame of fire, and on his head [were] many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he [was] clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies [which were] in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on [his] vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Revelation 22:18-20 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Revelation in The New Testament - A Brief Overview
Painting of St. John the Evangelist by Reni - 1620
Introduction to The Book of Revelation
Brief Summary. John describes the seven churches in Asia, he records the visions that he received, and in the prophecy Jesus returns as the kinsman redeemer to claim this world as His inheritance. The final battle unfolds in a 7 year period through a series of seal, trumpet, and bowl judgements, He casts the antichrist and false prophet into the lake of fire and sets up the New Jerusalem, the new heaven and new earth for the redeemed. The book of Revelation is in harmony with the prophecies in the Old Testament especially the ones written by Ezekiel, Daniel and Zechariah.
Summary of The Book of Revelation
Author. John the apostle names himself as the one who wrote down what the Lord said through the angel. The earliest writers in the church like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria and the Muritorian all credit John the apostle as author of the book of Revelation.
Date. John indicates that he was on the Island of Patmos when he received the prophecy (Revelation 1:9). According to tradition John wrote during the reign of the Emperor Domitian which would have been around 95 AD. Tradition also states that John was released the next year and was allowed to return to Ephesus. Domitian was perhaps the cruelest Emperor toward the Christians, demanding that he was to worshipped as deity, or be put to death.
Audience. John said that the prophecy was directed to the seven churches in Asia (Revelation 1:4).
Outline of the Book of Revelation
Description and Fate of False Teachers - 1:1-16
Encouragement to Believers in Christ - 1:17-25
The Name Jesus In Ancient Hebrew Text
"Yeshua" in First Century Hebrew Text. This is how the name "Jesus"
would have been written in ancient Hebrew documents. The four letters or
consonants from right to left are Yod, Shin, Vav, Ayin (Y, SH, OO, A).
Jesus is the Greek name for the Hebrew name Joshua or Y'shua which means
"The LORD or Yahweh is Salvation".
The Book of Revelation Resources
Map of the Roman Empire (14 A.D.) - This map reveals the Roman Empire during the time shortly after the birth of Jesus, in 14 AD at the time of the death of Augustus. The order which prevailed in this extensive empire, the good military roads, and the use of Koine Greek as the general language of culture throughout the area were among the factors which multiplied the rapid spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Color Map)
Map of Paul's First Missionary Journey (48 A.D.) - This map reveals the areas in Asia Minor where Paul visited in his first missionary journey. Around 48 AD, in the springtime, Paul and his companions Barnabas and Mark were sent on a mission from the church in Antioch. This would be the first of Paul's Missionary Journey's. (Color Map)
Map of Paul's Second Missionary Journey (51 A.D.) - This map reveals the areas in Asia and Greece where Paul visited in his second missionary journey. Paul re-visits a couple cities in Asia, one of which was Lystra where he was stoned and left for dead a few years earlier. He later has a vision that leads him over to Greece and Paul and his companions travel and minister in various cities in Greece (Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens and Corinth. Later Paul returns to Ephesus and finally to Caesarea and Antioch. (Color Map)
Map of Paul's Third Missionary Journey (54 A.D.) - This map reveals the areas in Asia and Greece where Paul visited in his third missionary journey. On Paul's third missionary journey he returned to the cities he had first visited on his first missionary journey. During this time he decided to remain in Ephesus for about 3 years, and this city was the main focus of his activities and an important Christian community (Acts 19). (Color Map)
Map of the New Testament World - This map reveals the "Nations" within the ancient world during the first century A.D., the time of the New Testament. The map includes the areas of Israel, Asia, Greece, and Italy. (Color Map)
Map of New Testament Greece This map reveals the cities within Greece in the ancient world during the first century A.D.,The map includes the principal cities of Greece like: Athens, Corinth, and Thessalonica, and provinces like Macedonia and Achaia. (Color Map)
Map of New Testament Asia - This map shows the cities within
Asia Minor during the first century A.D., the time of the New
Testament. The map includes the principal cities of Asia
including Tarsus, Ephesus, and Colossae, and provinces like
Galatia and Pamphilia. (Color Map)