Revelation 12 | story within a story

Revelation 12 is an intentional intercalation (story within a story). This is a writing device to offer some backstory, as John seems to be doing.

I’ve been sharing some videos and vlogs on Revelation. It’s very difficult to teach because there are so many different opinions.

i. Last Days story thus far:

1. gleaning last days truths from the Tabernacle and Ark: CLICK HERE
2. 2nd Temple Judaism, Black Panther, & Ezekiel’s Third Temple: CLICK HERE
3. covenant in retrospect, looking forward: CLICK HERE
4. nothing new really on Revelation 1-3: CLICK HERE
5. the times from Revelation 4 forward: CLICK HERE
6. here are other views on Revelation: CLICK HERE

Right now I’m going to give you what some people consider to be a key to Revelation. That has to do with Revelation 12 and 19. Some believe these are the Advent teachings.

some ideas about Advent in Revelation #shorts

Revelation 12 would be the first Advent when Christ comes to Earth, as retold by John with spiritual warfare in mind. The Second Advent is Revelation 19. These are tremendous passages no matter how you look at them. Revelation 12 could be fulfilled in the past, and also yet to be fulfilled in some way in the future.

As stated in the video (and in the last article) John the Apostle is clear that this is spiritual warfare. It’s more than just human strife. The Devil and the Antichrist are raging, without seeing all that Heaven is unleashing. Revelation 12 and 19 are two illustrations of how God overcomes the enemy.

ii. Advent means important arrival (French & Latin etymology)

1) Some refer to Christmas season as Advent. The Second Advent is when Christ returns to earth, not to be confused with the Rapture or the First Resurrection.

2) Revelation 12.1-17 is the passage to be considered. To be quite honest, it’s passages like this that make me shy away from Eschatology. Conventional hermeneutics simply do not work.

3) From Early Church times, there seems to be two predominant views about this epic battle between the hosts of heaven, the woman, her child, and the hordes of Hell.

4) One view is that the woman is indeed the church, the body of Christ worldwide, ever giving birth to Christ (Christians) and His work in the Earth.

5) The other view is that the lady refers to the holy mother. After Jesus is born in Bethlehem, King Herod tries to kill all the male babies in town. He doesn’t want Jesus the Messiah to overthrow him as King. An angel appears to Joseph, so they flee to Egypt (wilderness: verses 6, 14). The traditional place where Jesus lives in Egypt is around Cairo. Jesus could have been under protection and considered to be a great guest in that region.

iii. Takeaways

1) The Devil, although he thinks he’s winning, doesn’t even know he’s losing. One glimpse of his self-imposed deception is that he seems to come back to himself, to wake up and realize that he’s been cast out of Heaven post facto (verse 13). How does his power really compare to the angel army he is battling?

2) This is an Advent story in the middle of Revelation, perhaps to put things in perspective. We need to be reminded that Christ is at the center, as the narrative unfolds.

3) It is also an intentional intercalation (story within a story). This is a writing device to highlight another aspect of the story, or to offer some backstory as John seems to be doing. John emerges from this flashback of the Advent, back into the main story.

4) If you think about it, this is also John’s most vivid description of Christ’s childhood from any of his books. He retells the story and includes glimpses of the war in the heavenlies.