And the Woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place
prepared of GOD, that they should feed her there
a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Revelation 12:6
What CHILD+ is This ?
2021 ADVENT MEDITATION #12
And she brought forth a MAN CHILD+,
Who+ was to rule all nations with a Rod of Iron:
and her CHILD+ was caught up unto GOD, and to HIS throne.
Revelation 12:5
~
And the Woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place
prepared of GOD, that they should feed her there
a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Revelation 12:6
~
This Woman is special to The LORD. The 12 stars upon her STEPHANOS, the crown awarded to the Victor, tells us that she is not an earthly “woman”, as some teach .
NO earthly woman connected with the birth of JESUS has ever worn a crown nor had 12 stars [ stars = angels – See Advent #1 and #5 articles ] upon her head, regardless of the erroneous artwork devised by some religious organizations.
She is not a woman of dust, but a REALITY which took place in the Heavenly realm. This Heavenly reality had 12 components, those 12 angelic stars united together as her crown. [ See Advent articles #1 and #5 in this series. ]
Those components were the 12 tribes of Israel through whom the MESSIAH+ was born. Israel groaned in labor pains for centuries, yearning for its Deliverer, its MESSIAH+, as the Prophets wrote.
The 12 stars which composed her crown were identified as the angels assigned to each tribe, according to Dr. Wilbur N. Pickering*. [ See Footnote a, page 557, Revelation 12:1 in his New Testament translation, The Sovereign Creator Has Spoken.
Thus, there was an earthly counterpart of that Heavenly reality, a counterpart located upon planet earth.
~
Revelation 12:6
And the Woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of GOD, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Now, let us solidify this verse in our mind:
The Woman = the 12 tribes of Israel
fled into the wilderness = fled into a space of territory, unpopulated
where she has a place prepared of GOD = GOD, knowing the end from the beginning, pre-arranged a territory for her to flee unto , with the verb actually stating “ having been prepared” [ Perfect tense, passive, participle , singular, masculine ]. from GOD.
that they should feed her there = The Greek verb used here, “feed”, is not limited to just food. From Strong’s Concordance, we discover this is the actual meaning for the word translated as “ should feed.” :
G1625 = εκτρέφω = ektrepho
From G1537 and G5142; to rear up to maturity, that is, (generally) to cherish or train: - bring up, nourish. Total KJV occurrences: 2
So the “Woman” [ i.e., tribes of Israel ] would be cherished, trained, nourished into maturity, according to an accurate translation of this verb.
But, WHO is doing this ?
that they should feed her there
Who are “they” ?
GOD is singular, so it would not be GOD.
The dragon is singular and it would not be him at any rate. He would not have nourished her but would have injured or killed her if he could have done so .
The other plurals in Revelation chapter 12 so far were the 7 heads and 10 horns on that great red dragon. Those entities would have slain the “Woman” [ i.e., the 12 tribes of Israel bringing forth The MESSIAH+. ]
So, who are “they” ?
Who are those who would have cherished, who would have trained up, who would have brought into maturity, the 12 tribes of Israel ?
The only possible and logical antecedent of “they” is
the 12 STARS of the Woman’s crown,
the Stephanos awarded to her for winning the Victory .
Those 12 stars are found in verse 1
of Revelation 12, which Dr. Pickering states are the angels assigned to each of the 12 tribes of Israel. [ Note: “Stars” happen to be masculine, in the Greek language. ]
VERSE 1 of Revelation 12 ~ And there appeared a great wonder in Heaven; a Woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet,
and upon her head a crown of twelve STARS:
Clearly, those 12 angels were sent to keep Israel in custody during the centuries until The MESSIAH+ was brought forth through them.
For this reason, one can see more clearly the validity of Dr. Pickering’s theory that the 12 stars were really the 12 angels who watched over the 12 tribes of Israel.
It is obvious that a natural star, a teeming ball of burning gasses, could not “feed” the Woman , the 12 tribes of Israel, . . . or anything !
To continue solidifying verse 12:6 ~
. . . a thousand two hundred and threescore days. = Here we see the PROPHETIC connection.
This verse connects history to the future. The number 1260 is 3.45 years, if divided by modern calendar days of 365 days in a year.
If 1260 is divided by 360 days, however, that figure comes out to EXACTLY 3.5 years, a significant figure in End Times Bible prophecy. The ancient civilizations used calendars which calculated 360 days per year.
The five extra days were added by ancient astronomers AFTER the shadow on the sun dial of Ahaz during Hezekiah's day returned 10 degrees. See the 2nd article attached which explains "why 10 degrees equal 5 days. **
** See the 2 internet articles at the end of today’s post about ancient civilization’s use of a 360-day calendar which was changed in Hezekiah’s time when the sun went back 10 degrees.
Another note: “Forty and two months” occurs in some verses dealing with the End Times. If 30 days are reckoned as a month, then 42 months X 30 days each = 1260 days.
~
LET US PRAY
Our FATHER Which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy WILL be done on earth . . . as it is in Heaven !
O HOLY FATHER, with precision THOU hast made the earth, the sea, the Heavens, that which is beneath the earth, and all that is in the space above the Heavens.
Thy WORD is precise; Thy timing is perfect. THOU hast changed the calendar during Hezekiah's day; THOU wilt most certainly return it to 360 days, according to Thy Word of prophecy in Revelation !
With precision, THOU hast sent Thy Beloved SON+ JESUS to redeem us. The First Advent of CHRIST broke into the history of this earth at a precise time, Thy appointed time, changing planet earth forever.
O, rise up and break into the history of planet earth once again and re-establish this world under the Dominion of Thy Beloved SON+ JESUS.
And please, Holy FATHER, send forth Thy Blessed HOLY SPIRIT to teach us how to occupy NOW until HE+ returns in that promised Second Advent . . . which will CHANGE planet earth for all time !
This we earnestly pray in the LIFE-GIVING NAME of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, Thy SON+. Amen.
*Dr. Wilbur N. Pickering
Wilbur N. Pickering, a Christian missionary living in Brasilia, Brazil, has a ThM., PhD. in Linguistics. He is a former Wycliffe Translator in Brazil, starting in 1958. He began working with the Apurina people in 1961 after 3 years of preparation, according to the Foreword in his NT translation.
He resigned from Wycliffe in 1996 to pursue other interests. Although retired, he is currently a translator, teacher, preacher, missionary and an expert in Greek manuscripts, having obtained and collated 22 Greek manuscripts himself.
Thus, he ranks with Herman C. Hoskier and DEAN John Burgon as knowledgeable concerning the intricacies of the Greek New Testament Manuscripts.
He has written an excellent modern English translation of the New Testament based on the Byzantine manuscripts. It is called The Sovereign Creator Has Spoken: Objective Authority for Living, The New Testament with Commentary, 2nd Edition, 2016.
His New Testament can be freely downloaded from his website at www.prunch.org. [ PRoject UNderground CHurch = PRUNCH ] .
Attribution / documentation is available at http://thechristiancommons.com .
He also wrote The Identity of the New Testament Text IV (fourth edition) , 2014. This is a technical book , full of statistics and charts that are invaluable to the serious student of the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament which we have extant.
See his website for more information.
**360-day calendar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/360-day_calendar
The 360-day calendar is a method of measuring durations used in financial markets, in computer models, in ancient literature, and in prophetic literary genres.
It is based on merging the three major calendar systems into one complex clock, with the 360-day year derived from the average year of the lunar and the solar: (365.2425 (solar) + 354.3829 (lunar))/2 = 719.6254/2 = 359.8127 days, rounding to 360.
A 360-day year consists of 12 months of 30 days each, so to derive such a calendar from the standard Gregorian calendar, certain days are skipped.
Example the 27 of June (Gregorian calendar) would be the 4 of July in the USA.
Ancient Calendars
Ancient calendars around the world initially used a 360 day calendar. [1]
Rome --- Romans initially used a calendar which had 360 days, with varying length of months.[2][3]
India --- The Rig Veda describes a calendar with twelve months and 360 days.[4]
Mesoamerica --- In the Mayan Long Count Calendar, the equivalent of the year, the tun, was 360 days.[5]
Egypt - Ancient Egyptians also used a 360 day calendar
- 365-day calendar, another accounting calendar with fixed year length
- Day count convention, standards for counting days
- French Republican Calendar, a calendar with twelve 30-day months and five or six appended holidays
- Iranian calendars, where the Old Persian calendar had 360 days with an extra month added every 6 years
FROM http://messiahalive.com/The360dayYear.htm
Archeologists have discovered that nearly all societies used a 360 day calendar until around the 8th century BC, which would be about the time of Hezekiah. Jewish tradition teaches that the calendar changed when he was king. The earth's orbit shifted from a 360 day cycle to a 365.25 day cycle. It might change back to 360 days in the future.
Isaiah 38:7-8 says,
וְזֶה-לְּךָ הָאוֹת, מֵאֵת יְהוָה, אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה יְהוָה, אֶת-הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר דִּבֵּר Isaiah 38:7 ~ 7 And this shall be the sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that He hath spoken:
הִנְנִי מֵשִׁיב אֶת-צֵל הַמַּעֲלוֹת אֲשֶׁר יָרְדָה בְמַעֲלוֹת אָחָז בַּשֶּׁמֶשׁ, אֲחֹרַנִּית--עֶשֶׂר מַעֲלוֹת; וַתָּשָׁב הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ עֶשֶׂר מַעֲלוֹת, בַּמַּעֲלוֹת אֲשֶׁר יָרָדָה. {ס} Isaiah 38:8 ~ 8 behold, I will cause the shadow of the dial, which is gone down on the sun-dial of Ahaz, to return backward ten degrees.' So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down. {S}
Judaism teach that this was when the length of the year changed from 360 days to 365. The ancient sundial had 720 steps, and went back 10. 10 parts in 720 is the same as 5 in 360.
Genesis 7:11,24 and 8:3-4 say the flood started on the 17th day of the 2nd month and ended on the 17th day of the 7th month, and that this was 150 days in length. That is 5 months, 30 days each month, not 29.5 like our present system.
Calendars from all over the world were 360 days per year up until about Hezekiah's time.
- The Mayan calendar went from 12 months of 30 days to 18 months of 20 days, then to a 365 day calendar in the 4th century BC. It took them about 400 years to realize their calendar was off and needed adjusting.
- The Rigveda, an ancient Indian writing dated 1700–1100 BC, records the year as lasting 360 days at the time it was written (300-1000 years before Hezekiah).
- "The 360 Day Year in Mesopotamia" by Lisa Brack-Bernsen (Regensburg University) documents from numerous ancient Semetic writings how many societies in the mid-east region had a 360 day year in very ancient times.
So an ancient 360 day year is recorded in Genesis as well as in Gentile history. From a standpoint of an earth observer, the constellations appear to revolve around the earth (they don't really, but the earth looks flat from our perspective). After the sun goes down, whatever constellation is in that spot at the time was used to mark what month it was.
Of course, there is much blank space between some constellations, and that's where the extra fine point is needed such that the first sliver of the new moon tells us the EXACT DAY within that range of white space that the month changes from one month to the other. But the name/marking of which month it was was assessed by which constellation was there.
Some Gentile societies did not use the new moon. Instead, they created man made circular constructions (Stonehenge was one example) with 360 markings around the circle: one for each day of the year.
And they could use the markings to mark exactly where the sun went down, exactly what portion of each constellation passed over each marking, etc. Thus, they could easily count 30 days off and see exactly where a new month happened without relying on the moon. This is where the 360 degrees of a circle came from; these ancient calendars that marked off the days of the year in this fashion.
Israel used a 720 degree tool (one for each day period, one for each night period), which is seen in Isaiah 38 when "the sun goes back 10 degrees". 10 degrees of 720 is the same as 5 degrees on 360, which is the number of new days added to the year.
In essence, this man-made construction sort of served as a replacement for the moon as the "second witness" to get that finer measurement. And for Israel in pre-Hezekiah times, if the sky was cloudy at night, the circle used to mark the constellations would still work.
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