To the Five Doves:

Most people who are eagerly anticipating the rapture of the Church and the second coming of Christ are quite familiar with the 12th chapter of Revelation. It is a highly symbolic writing that can sometimes be difficult to understand. I believe this chapter is a major tipping point in the book of Revelation because of the dramatic pronouncement in heaven that ". . . Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ . . . (Rev. 12:10). I have just finished writing an article that carefully examines the 12th chapter of Revelation in an attempt to gain a better understanding of how to interpret this highly symbolic passage. You can access it through this link:

http://ourpropheticbible.org/downloads/REV12.pdf

Here I just want to point out a couple of interesting things that came to light while I was researching this article:

1. There will be an exchange: Satan and his fallen angels will be evicted from heaven and come to the earth (Rev. 12:7-9), and those who are in Christ will ascend from the earth to heaven in the rapture. The dreadful possibility looms that these two groups will end up either coexisting in heaven or else coexisting on earth, depending on which event happens first.

However, there is hope. Noah's ark foreshadows a type of rapture: just as Noah and his family escaped the destruction of the flood, the Church will escape both Satan's persecution and God's wrath in the rapture. Here is the point: since Noah and his family remained in the ark for a long time, more than a year, could the Church not anticipate a similar wait "in the air" (1 Thess. 4:17) while Michael and his angels drive Satan and his angels out of heaven? The scriptures certainly do not confirm anything like this, but the Church can take hope in what Jesus said in Luke 21:36, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."

2. The "salvation" promised in Revelation 12:10 is interesting. The Greek word soteria translated as "salvation" can also mean "rescue" or "safety," and it can refer to either a physical or spiritual rescue. Spiritual salvation does not seem to fit in this passage because spiritual salvation is secured immediately when a person first receives Jesus Christ as his personal Savior (Acts 16:30-31, Eph. 2:8-9). It clearly does not have to wait for the accuser to be cast down, or anything else, for that matter. Since every one of "our brethren (Rev. 12:10)" will have already been saved at the time he received Jesus Christ, I believe "salvation" in this verse refers to the rapture of the Church, a rescue effort of magnificent proportions. Yes, I believe Revelation chapter 12 contains a hidden reference to the rapture!

3. God promised to nourish the woman (Israel) for 3-1/2 years (Rev. 12:6, 14). Interestingly, this time of God's protection of Israel in the wilderness exactly matches the 42-month duration of the reign of antichrist (Rev. 13:5 and Dan. 7:25). Do you suppose this is just a coincidence?

Will God's promise of a 3-1/2 year period of protection for Israel precisely line up with the 3-1/2 year reign of the antichrist? If not, there would have to be some period of time when Israel will not be protected from the antichrist. Surely God will not leave Israel unprotected, even for a short while, therefore we conclude that the 3-1/2 year period of protection for Israel will coincide exactly with the 3-1/2 year reign of the antichrist.

Ray Schulz

Look Up! Ministries