The first section of the book of Revelation, composed of the first eleven chapters, covers all things to eternity. The second section, comprising the last eleven chapters, gives details of the important things and crucial matters from the last three and a half years of the present age, which will be the period of the great tribulation, to the eternal age of the new heaven and new earth. The first of these important things and crucial matters revealed in this section is a woman with a man-child (Rev. 12:1-18).
The first eleven chapters of this book cover the seven seals and the seven trumpets. The seven seals and the seven trumpets give us a brief yet inclusive sketch of the contents of this book. The first four seals (Rev. 6:1-8) cover the nearly two thousand years of history from the time of Christ’s ascension until the end of this age. We are now living at the very end of this age, very close to the time of the fifth seal. The fifth seal (Rev. 6:9-11) consists of the prayer of the martyred saints. When this seal is opened, the thousands of martyred saints who have been slain for the Lord’s testimony will cry to God for vengeance, beseeching Him to intervene and deal with rebellious mankind. The sixth seal (Rev. 6:12-17) will be God’s answer to the cry of the martyred saints. The supernatural calamities of this seal will be a warning to those who dwell on this earth. These six seals bring us to the end of this age.
The seventh seal, which includes the seven trumpets, is all-inclusive. Since the seven trumpets are the content of the seventh seal, the seventh seal equals the seven trumpets. The first four trumpets (Rev. 8:7-12) are supernatural calamities, God’s judgment upon the earth, the sea, the rivers, and the sun, moon, and stars. These four trumpets will damage heaven and earth, causing the earth to no longer be a suitable place on which mankind can dwell. The heavens are for the earth, and the earth is for mankind to dwell on. However, since mankind has continually disappointed God, rebelling against Him, God will eventually declare that His toleration has come to an end. The great earthquake and the shaking of heaven in the sixth seal will be a warning to earth’s dwellers. This warning will be an introduction to the supernatural calamities to follow. After the first four trumpets have been sounded, the time of the great tribulation will be at hand. The sixth seal and the first four trumpets of the seventh seal will be a preliminary to the great tribulation. The fifth trumpet (Rev. 9:1-11), which will bring damage directly to man, will be the beginning of the great tribulation. The fifth trumpet is the first of the three woes mentioned in 8:13. The sixth trumpet (Rev. 9:12-21), a further judgment on men, will be the second woe. The third woe (Rev. 11:14), part of the negative content of the seventh trumpet, will consist of the seven bowls of God’s wrath poured out upon Antichrist, his people, and his kingdom (Rev. 16:1-12, 17-21). These seven bowls included in the seventh trumpet will close the great tribulation. After this, the Lord Jesus will come down to earth to fight Antichrist at the war of Armageddon. Antichrist will be defeated and, with the false prophet, will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:19-21). Following this, the millennial kingdom, lasting a thousand years, will be ushered in. Then will come the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem for eternity. The seventh trumpet will last for eternity. This is a brief sketch of the book of Revelation.
The scroll of God’s economy which Christ has opened needs eternity to be fully opened. Today, we can only see a portion of it. When we get into the new heaven and new earth and live in the New Jerusalem, we shall have a much fuller vision than we have now. The scroll which we shall see in eternity will be eternally long. The seventh trumpet, which continues into eternity, includes many significant things: the last part of the great tribulation, the resurrection and rapture of the majority of the believers, the reward to the saints, the fall of Babylon the great, the marriage of the Lamb, the seven bowls, Christ’s descent to the earth with His overcomers as His army to fight Antichrist at Armageddon, the binding of Satan, the millennial kingdom, the last rebellion of mankind, Satan’s being cast into the lake of fire, the judgment at the great white throne, the new heaven, the new earth, and the New Jerusalem.
Brother Nee conducted a study of the book of Revelation when he was young. After that study, he saw more and more light concerning this book. In 1933, we asked him to give us a thorough study of the book of Revelation. He told us that he would not give us the study we had requested unless we had read this book so many times that we knew every chapter and could almost recite the entire book. At the time, I thought that this demand was too great. But through the years I have gradually learned that if we would understand this book, we must be fully acquainted with all the points and details it contains. We must be thoroughly familiar with every chapter.
We have seen that the first eleven chapters of Revelation are a general sketch and that the last eleven chapters give us the details of certain important things and crucial matters. Do not consider the last eleven chapters as the continuation of the first eleven chapters. No, in a sense, the last eleven chapters are a retracing of the first eleven chapters. Reading the book of Revelation is similar to reading a map of a city. First we look at the main streets and see a general sketch of the city. Then we go back to consider the smaller streets, lanes, and other details. After gaining a general understanding of the map, we proceed to consider it section by section.
The first important detail and crucial matter in the second half of Revelation is the woman mentioned in 12:1. This verse says, “And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon underneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” Here, the woman is revealed in the heavens and is called “a great sign.” This great sign is not of a strong man, but of a woman. The woman in this tremendous vision is not on the earth but in the heavens. She is clothed with the sun, underneath her feet is the moon, and on her head is a crown of twelve stars. She is under the shining of the twelve stars, above the shining of the moon, and enveloped with the shining of the sun. Because of this, she is fully emancipated. Anything that is in darkness is bound and imprisoned, but anything that is in the light is released and emancipated.
Would you like to be a part of this woman? Let me ask you this question: Are you a male or a female? All the sisters, of course, find this question easy to answer. But what would the brothers say? If they say that they are males, then they have no part in the woman of this vision. Does this woman include you? If it does, then, in the eyes of God, you are a female.
From the beginning of the Bible to the end, in the eyes of God, God’s people are considered as a woman. Isaiah 54:5 says, “Thy Maker is thine husband.” In Jeremiah 3:14 the Lord tells His children that He is married to them, and in Jeremiah 31:32 He says that He is a husband to them. Moreover, in Hosea 2:19 and 20 the Lord says that He will betroth His people unto Himself forever. Although, as we all know, the Lord Jesus came as the Savior and as the Lamb, one day He indicated to His disciples that He came as the Bridegroom (Matt. 9:15; John 3:29). Furthermore, in 2 Corinthians 11:2 Paul says, “I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” Brothers, do you have a husband? Praise the Lord that our husband is Christ. Naturally, we brothers are males, but spiritually, we are, in a sense, females in God’s eyes. In God’s eternal economy there is one unique man — Christ. Adam was a symbol, a type, of Christ as the Bridegroom, and Eve, the wife of Adam, was the symbol, a type, of God’s people being the counterpart, the wife, of Christ. Therefore, in His economy God’s redeemed people are always considered by Him as His wife, and God considers Himself as their husband. In Revelation 12 we have the woman and her child, but here we are not told who her husband is. Nevertheless, this chapter reveals that she is pregnant and is about to deliver her child. By whom did she become pregnant, and who is the source of her child? By reading the whole Bible, we see that the husband is God in Christ.
It is difficult to understand the book of Revelation. If we would rightly interpret this book, we need all the other sixty-five books of the Bible. Hence, in order to understand who this woman is, we need the whole Bible. Some Christian teachers have held the concept that this woman is Mary, the mother of Jesus, and that the man-child is Jesus. This concept, however, does not suit the context of this chapter because Jesus ascended to the heavens nearly two thousand years ago. But in 12:5 and 6 we are told that the man-child will be raptured to the throne of God and that, following this, the woman will be nourished for “a thousand two hundred and sixty days” (v. 6). These twelve hundred sixty days are three and a half years or forty-two months (12:14; 11:2-3; 13:5), which will be the period of the great tribulation. This proves that the man-child is not the Lord Jesus and that the woman is not Mary. Mary was just a single woman on earth, but this woman is universally corporate and is revealed in heaven.
Others say that this woman is Israel, the Jewish race. Some of those who hold this view take Genesis 37:9 as their basis. According to this verse, Joseph had a dream in which “the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance” to him. Since the woman wears the sun and the twelve stars and stands upon the moon, apparently corresponding to Joseph’s dream concerning his family, it is said that the woman in Revelation 12 must signify Israel, the Jewish people. But 12:17 proves that this woman does not only comprise those who “keep the commandments of God,” but also those who “have the testimony of Jesus.” Those who “keep the commandments of God” are Jews. However, those who “have the testimony of Jesus” must be New Testament believers, not Jews. This is a strong proof that the woman is not only composed of Jews but of two classes of people: the Jews who keep the commandments of God and the believers who have the testimony of Jesus. Therefore, to say that this woman is merely Israel does not fit the whole context of this chapter.
The woman in this chapter is the totality of God’s people. According to the vision, this totality is in three sections: the section of her head with the twelve stars, the section of her body clothed with the sun, and the section of her feet on the moon. Hence, this woman is universal, composed of the twelve stars, the moon, and the sun. In Joseph’s dream, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars plus Joseph himself signified the total composition of God’s people on earth. Based upon the principle of that dream, the sun, the moon, and the twelve stars here must signify the totality of God’s people on earth, which in this chapter is symbolized by a woman.
Most of her being is clothed with the sun. The sun signifies God’s people in the New Testament age. Before Christ came into the world, it was the dark night of the Old Testament age. When Christ came, it was the sunrising from on high (Luke 1:78 KJV, margin), the beginning of the age of the sun. Before that, it was the age of the moon, which signifies God’s people in the Old Testament time. The moon is under the feet of the woman, for the age of the moon was the age of the law, which should not be exalted as the stars. The stars, which signify the patriarchs, God’s people before the law was given, are on her head as a crown. All God’s people in these three ages, who together constitute this woman, are light bearers. Hence, she is the bright woman shining throughout all generations.
If we read the Bible carefully, we shall see that God’s people are grouped into three sections. Firstly, there are the patriarchs, who lived from the time of Adam until the time of Moses; secondly, there are the people under the law, from Moses until Christ’s first coming; thirdly, there are those from Christ’s first coming to His coming the second time, the believers who compose the church. Those in the third category are the majority of God’s people in the universe. The patriarchs are symbolized by the twelve stars (Dan. 12:3) shining individually in the night with heavenly light. All the patriarchs were individual stars. They dwelt in the nighttime because, in their age, Christ had not yet come and day had not dawned. As individual stars, they are a crown for this universal woman, symbolizing the glory of God’s grace and His economy exalted. The number twelve signifies completion in God’s eternal economy. The patriarchs, who are in the principle of God’s grace, were not under the law; hence, they were a crown exalted above the head of the woman. All the patriarchs, such as Abel, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are considered to be a crown.
After the patriarchs, we have the children of Israel, symbolized by the moon, reflecting the sun (Christ) and shining collectively in the light of Christ. The children of Israel were in the night under the law. Although the law was good, it was not exalted. Rather, in this chapter it is pictured as the moon underneath the feet of the woman. According to this vision, the moon is not upon her head but underneath her feet. The moon is bright and shining, but it is underneath her. This means that the principle of the law is not exalted in the eyes of God.
This woman is clothed with the sun, with Christ. According to Luke 1:78 and 79, when Christ came, that was the sunrising. Matthew 4:13-16 says that Christ came as a great light to shine upon the people in darkness. This means that before Christ’s coming it was nighttime. The church composed of all the believers symbolized by the sun shines collectively in the day with the glory of God (Phil. 2:15; 2 Cor. 3:18). That the church is the major part of God’s people is indicated by the fact that the sun clothes the woman’s body. Since Christ has come, we live in the day. Although, in a sense, the age in which we live is the night and we shall have a greater day when the Lord comes back, this day that began at Christ’s first coming is at least a small day. The millennial kingdom will be a greater day because at that time the light of the sun will be seven times stronger than it is today (Isa. 30:26). We live in a small day expecting the coming of a greater day. We are in the onefold sunshine expecting a day with sevenfold sunshine. Some may argue with me, pointing out that Romans 13:12 says that the night is far advanced and that Revelation 22:16 says that Christ is the bright morning star. I am familiar with all these verses. Remember that the truths in the Bible have two aspects. We must take both aspects, both sides, into account. Since Christ has come, we are not in the night — we are in the day. What are we — a star or a part of the sun? On the one hand, we are the stars in the night (1:20); on the other hand, we are a part of the sun in the day.
How wonderful is this great sign! This is another proof that the Bible was inspired and written by God Himself. No one else could have had the wisdom to use the symbol of the woman to signify all of God’s people. Moses, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, etc. were all part of the moon. But praise the Lord that we, the New Testament believers, are part of the sun because we are a part of Christ. This is the vision of the universal bright woman.
The woman in this chapter is universal both in time and in space. She is universal in time, from the creation of Adam to eternity. She is also universal in space, on earth and in heaven. This is a strong proof that she is not Mary, but Mary is included in her, as we all are. How can people say that this universal bright woman is Mary? Mary is too small. She is not that bright and she certainly is not universal. Mary does not wear a crown of twelve stars. Neither is this woman merely the race of Israel, for Israel is represented by the moon. Look at this woman once again: on her head are twelve shining stars representing the patriarchs. Surely Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all stars. The children of Israel are represented by the moon. No matter how evil and defeated they sometimes were, comparatively speaking, they were a people on the moon. Only the children of Israel, not the heathens or the pagans, were a people standing on the shining moon. Were the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, or Chinese people standing on the moon? Certainly not. They might have stood on a lump of coal, but not on the shining moon. All other races have been and still are standing on the dark things. Among the human race, only one people, the children of Israel, stand on the moon. However, they do not realize that the moon is a sign that the sun, Christ, will come. Praise the Lord that today we are the sun. Although there are some Jewish believers among us, they are no longer a part of the moon but a part of the sun. The church is the sun because Christ is the sun and we are a part of Christ. Christ is the head sun and we are the body sun. Praise the Lord that we are in the major part of this bright universal woman.
The woman in chapter twelve is not only universal both in time and in space, but is also bright in celestial light. She stands upon the bright moon and under the bright stars and is clothed with the bright sun. She is altogether bright, not being in any darkness. Her brightness is celestial, heavenly. We, the church, as her greatest part, must be like this.
In Genesis 3, the little serpent came in through the woman. Throughout the centuries, the expositors of the Bible have said that the serpent came in through the woman because she was weaker than the man. In my early ministry I also said the same thing. But now I realize that in fulfilling God’s economy we must firstly be the female, not the male. The serpent, the subtle one, knew whom he had to poison. Today, we are not a part of Adam but a part of the universal bright woman. Satan came in to damage the female because he knew that she would be used by God to accomplish His purpose. Anyone who does not firstly consider himself as a female in the eyes of God can never fulfill God’s economy. You must firstly consider yourself as a female, saying, “Lord, I am not the man. Lord, You are the man, and I am part of the woman. Since You are the male and I am a part of the female, I must take You as my husband and my head and submit to You.”
After the serpent damaged the woman, God intervened to judge the serpent, saying, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). Revelation 12 must be interpreted by Genesis 3. In Genesis 3:15 we have the woman, the serpent, and the seed of the woman. In Revelation 12 we have the same three things, although on a larger scale. The woman is now much greater, the serpent has become a great dragon, and the seed of the woman has also developed into the man-child. The woman in Revelation 12 began with the woman in Genesis 3:15. We need the vision to see in this universe the sign of a great universal bright woman travailing in birth to bring forth a child. In front of this woman is a dragon fighting against her and seeking to devour the child as soon as he is born. This enmity, which is first seen in Genesis 3:15, is of God; it was God who put enmity between the serpent and the woman. In the universe today just one war is raging — the war between God’s people as the woman and the serpent as the dragon. Have you seen this vision? Today, we all are the greatest part of the woman, and in front of us is a dragon.
How did the serpent in Genesis 3 become the dragon in Revelation 12? It was by eating a great deal. Through his eating the serpent has been continually increasing. Many have been feeding him, and now he is trying to devour us. But we will never be devoured by him; rather, we will give him a death blow. When the Lord cursed the serpent, He assigned him to eat dust (Gen. 3:14). As long as we are dusty, earthy, we are food for the serpent. But if we are heavenly, the serpent cannot devour us. We are not dusty or earthy; we are a part of the heavenly, bright woman.
We must see the vision that in the universe a warfare is raging between the woman and the dragon. Whoever persecutes the church is one with the dragon. Because the Catholic Church persecutes the Lord’s lovers, she is one with the dragon. In chapter seventeen, we see a beast with seven heads and ten horns, the same number of heads and horns that the dragon has (12:3; 17:3). On this beast sits a woman clothed in purple and scarlet and gilded with gold and precious stone and pearls (17:3-4). The apostate Catholic Church, being the prostitute riding on the beast, is one with the dragon in persecuting the bright woman. When the apostle Paul was Saul of Tarsus, he persecuted the church. At that time, was he a part of the moon, a part of Israel? We say strongly that he was not. Likewise, the Pharisees, although they were Jews, were not a part of the moon. The Lord Jesus called them “serpents” and the “generation of vipers” (Matt. 23:33). They were “the seed of the serpent,” as mentioned in Genesis 3:15. Along with Saul of Tarsus, they had become part of the great dragon. But praise the Lord that Saul was converted!
It does not matter whether or not you are religious, for as long as you persecute the church, you are part of the dragon or at least one with the dragon. The ancient Jews thought that they were fighting for God. But they did not realize that they were fighting together with the dragon to persecute God’s people and to damage and frustrate God’s economy. Christians today must be careful. Their attitude towards the church determines what they are and where they are. Any Christians who persecute the church are one with the dragon, taking sides with him against God’s economy. If we have this vision, we shall see that there can be no neutral ground. There are only two parties — the woman or the dragon. To which party do you belong? With which do you stand? Some so-called Christians hate the church and are eager to see it collapse. They speak lies about the church and spread rumors concerning the church. They oppose the church and do everything possible to frustrate and damage her. This is of the evil spirit of the dragon. These people are one with the dragon. If they are not a part of the dragon, they at least take sides with the dragon. You may ask, “Are they not Christians?” I would reply with this question: Were not the Pharisees the Jewish religionists? Certainly they were. They held to their Scriptures. According to their opinion, everything they did, including sentencing Christ to death, was according to their Scriptures. But what were they in actuality? They were vipers, snakes, part of the great dragon, doing things to destroy God’s economy. Until the sovereign Lord intervened as Saul was on the way to Damascus, Saul also was actively a part of the dragon. When the Lord appeared to him, knocking him to the ground, He seemed to say, “Saul, what are you doing? I, Jesus, have come to visit you.” At that time, Saul was converted and translated out of the darkness of Satan into God’s kingdom of light. At the time of his conversion, the Lord charged Saul, telling him to open people’s eyes “that they may turn from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:18). By the example of Saul of Tarsus we see that whoever persecutes the church today is part of the dragon or at least one with him.
The dragon is now persecuting the church and plotting to damage it. The opposition is active in Orange County and throughout this country. The dragon is everywhere on earth, seeking to devour whatever the church would bring forth. Have you seen this revelation? It is not a small thing. We are for the Lord’s recovery. We face the attack of the dragon, but who will be victorious? Hallelujah, the dragon will be cast down, and we shall be victorious. Firstly, the dragon will be cast down from the heavens to the earth, then from the earth to the abyss, and finally from the abyss to the lake of fire. We can declare, “Satan, go to your destination in the lake of fire. Do not remain on earth any longer. The earth is for Christ, not for you. Our Christ is coming to possess the earth, and you must go. Satan, you have no choice — go to the lake of fire!”
Revelation, the last book of the Bible, unveils Satan’s destiny. Among all the important things and crucial matters in the second half of Revelation, the first is the universal bright woman in chapter twelve. We are the topmost item, the most crucial thing. Now is not the time to sleep; it is the time to fight. Wherever we are, we must say to the opposition and persecution, “Go to the lake of fire!” We are the woman, and Satan is in the lake of fire.
