What CHILD+ is This ?
2021 ADVENT MEDITATION #1
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
Only two kingdoms exist upon this earth: The Kingdom of GOD and our LORD JESUS CHRIST versus the kingdom of the liar lucifer, the satan.
These two kingdoms are TOTALLY INCOMPATIBLE with each other. CONSTANT WAR rages between these two kingdoms and that war began EARLY in the history of this world, even before man .
The deadly REALITY of that vicious war is revealed to us in Revelation chapter 12.
Revelation 12:1
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:
Literally, this verse states:
And a great SIGN in Heaven was seen: a woman having been wrapped-about with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a STEPHANOS of twelve stars.
The REALITY is that this woman in the Heavenlies was SPLENDID to view, in the Heavenlies.
Let us keep in mind this glimpse into spiritual REALITY as was seen in the Heavenly Realm is of a Woman of much greater dimensions than an earthly woman of dust.
That Crown upon the Woman’s head consisted of 12 stars, “stars” being the Greek word asteron , as in “asteroid”. [ There are no variations among the Greek manuscripts for that word in this verse, according to Nestle-Aland’s Greek New Testament, 27th Edition. ]
Her Crown was a STEPHANOS, a woven wreath of Victory !
A STEPHANOS was a crown that was AWARDED to the victor in a contest. It is of great importance that the Woman in the Heavenlies wore that kind of a crown, for there is another crown mentioned in Revelation that bears a different identity.
Now, let’s look closely at that Crown of Victory.
Were the stars simply sitting upon that STEPHANOS, with the stars being placed at equally-spaced intervals, perhaps ?
Modern-day science teaches us that “stars” are really “suns” burning off hot gasses brightly in space, functioning much like earth’s sun only at a much greater distance from planet earth.
But we know that the REALITY in the spiritual realm is a much greater reality than what we can see and measure with our fallen, earth-bound, limited sense perceptions. Modern-day instruments base their calculations on fallen man’s earth-bound, limited senses.
This includes fallen man’s earth-bound, limited mental capabilities, as well.
The Woman in the Heavenlies is the REALITY. That reality seems to be Israel bringing forth the MESSIAH+, as Dr. Wilbur N. Pickering suggests in his New Testament translation*. [ See footnote reference following. ]
He also suggests that the “stars” were actually the angels which were individually assigned to each of the 12 tribes of Israel.
NOW THEN . . . Can “stars” in Scripture possibly refer to angels, as Dr. Pickering suggests* ?
* Revelation 12:1, page 557, footnote a, The Sovereign Creator Has Spoken, 2nd Edition.
They did in Job 38:7. Recall this most-interesting verse from the ancient Book of Job. The LORD was speaking directly to Job, in context :
Job 38:4
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 38:5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 38:6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
Job 38:7
When the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of GOD shouted for joy?
Since when have “stars”
[ burning, hot, gaseous suns ]
planted in the Heavens been able to “sing” ?
It must be, then, that THESE particular asteron must be referring to ANGELS, as Dr. Pickering suggests. He also suggests that the ANGELS placed upon the Woman’s STEPHANOS are the guardian angels assigned to Israel proper.
If that is so, isn’t it INTERESTING that the STEPHANOS Crown is woven TOGETHER, as certainly as the tribes of Israel were woven together to form the Body of Old Testament saints ?
In other words, the ANGELS of the tribes of Israel were united as one to support and protect Israel proper.
Israel was peculiarly PROTECTED from mingling human seed with demonic seed which would destroy the human race.
Thus, Israel was Divinely shielded in order to bring forth an un-mingled people who would at the appointed time BRING FORTH THE MESSIAH+.
This coming, marvelous MESSIAH+ would protect the human race from being destroyed by the satan --- that is, whosoever would come to HIM+ to do His+ Will would be protected and the human race continued.
THUS the war between the Kingdom of GOD versus the kingdom of the satan began.
We on earth are seeing the REALITY of what took place long, long ago in the Heavenlies.
BE ASSURED: THAT war has never ceased. Indeed, it is RAPIDLY building to a very intense crescendo during these End Times which are unfolding before our eyes.
~
LET US PRAY:
LORD JESUS CHRIST, open my eyes, enlighten the eyes of my understanding to see Your+ plan and purpose unfolding right now.
We know in Your+ first Advent, YOU+ came as the Sacrifice LAMB+ of GOD to save us from our sins, those sins being the satan’s scheme to destroy mankind in the beginning. . . and to prevent the SON+ of GOD from becoming the Second Adam.
Now we are seeing the wrath of the satan being intensely hurled at mankind in order to destroy man again, in massive plans of world-wide destruction and death.
We see the demonized men working out demon-inspired plans of this destruction right now.
Help me to turn away from surfeiting and Self-indulgence during this traditional Advent Season. Help me to soberly watch and pray, as YOU+ have taught us to do.
For, I am aware that the SIGNS of the Second Advent reveal that it is close at hand; the man of sin is here and waiting now to be revealed.
Prepare me and all who name the Name of CHRIST to recognize the apostate one so that we will not be taken in the snare… his unseen trap being sprung upon the un-aware.
Thank YOU+, O LORD JESUS for coming to prepare me for Heaven.
Prepare me now for what is coming in these perilous End Times just before Your+ Second Advent, O LORD.
In Your+ precious, LIFE-SAVING Name, I pray. 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 in the class of 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. 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.
His appendices and footnotes are serious reading. See his website for more information.
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