When I was young, I was told that there were at least one hundred different expositions of the book of Revelation. Later I spent a great deal of time to study this book. I eventually came to realize that the Bible cannot be understood simply by studying its language. If we would understand the Scriptures, we also need experience.
Let us consider, for example, the matter of the pillars in 1 Kings 7:13-21. In message eighty-three of the Life-study of Genesis, I pointed out that the height of each of the two pillars, which was eighteen cubits, was half of three complete units of twelve cubits. I did not get this point from a commentary. Rather, I read various versions of the Bible in order to obtain the correct understanding of the language concerning all the points related to the building of the pillars. Second Chron. 3:15 says that the height of the pillars was a total of thirty-five cubits. Immediately I asked myself, “Why does 1 Kings 7:15 say that the height of each pillar was eighteen cubits, but 2 Chronicles 3:15 says that the height of both was thirty-five cubits?” I could immediately see that this thirty-five cubits was the total height of both pillars. This confirms my saying that eighteen cubits was half of three complete units. But the total should have been thirty-six. What about the missing cubit? By a note in one version I was helped to conclude that the joint in the capitals no doubt accounts for the missing cubit. The whole pillar measured eighteen cubits, but half a cubit was lost in the joint between the pillar and the capital. In order to gain the proper understanding, we need to study various versions of the Bible. But the versions of the Bible do not give us the significance in life. In order to know this, we must have experience. Only by experience could I apprehend that eighteen cubits indicate half of three complete units and that we need others to match us.
With this in mind, let us now come to the book of Revelation. We all agree that Revelation is a book of prophecy. But to understand prophecy there is still the need of experience. The prophecies do not simply teach objective doctrines. The Bible is a book of life. Everything in the Bible, whether it is a narrative, a history, a type, a shadow, a prophecy, or a plain word, must be related to life. If we lack the experience in life, we shall be unable to apprehend the significance in life of many portions of the Word. In order to understand Revelation, we need the experiences in life.
In this message I am burdened to share more concerning the universal bright woman. Some of the expositions of the book of Revelation say that this woman is Israel. Of course, they have a ground to say this. When Brother Nee was very young, in the years before 1933, he conducted a study of this book. At that time, he followed the concept that the woman in chapter twelve was Israel. However, afterward he saw something further — that this woman signifies God’s chosen people (see The Glorious Church, pp. 73-77). As I have pointed out, this woman is neither Mary, the mother of Jesus, nor merely the children of Israel. She is the totality of God’s people. When I was in Taiwan, I did not use the expression “the totality of God’s people.” This utterance has come to me during this last period of my ministry. Some may ask, “How can you prove that this woman is the totality of God’s people?” I have said that in order to understand this book we must check whether our apprehension of it corresponds to our life experience. Is there any confirmation from our life experience of a particular interpretation? If we would rightly interpret the woman in Revelation 12, we must check any proposed interpretation with our experience in life.
To say that this woman is Mary, the mother of Jesus, is altogether too objective and has nothing to do with our experience. If this is the case, then the entire twelfth chapter of Revelation is not for us. It is merely an account of a woman named Mary who brought forth Jesus and later suffered persecution. If this were the proper understanding of the woman in chapter twelve, then, as far as we are concerned, this chapter has no purpose. What would be the point of its being included in the book of Revelation? This interpretation is groundless and, according to the experience of life, has no standing whatever. It is somewhat an improvement to say that this woman is Israel. But even if she were merely Israel, she would not be related to us, for this chapter would then simply be a record of Satan’s fighting against the children of Israel.
I would remind you that the book of Revelation, composed of twenty-two chapters, is divided into two main sections of eleven chapters each. The first section gives a complete sketch of the events from Christ’s ascension unto eternity. In chapter four we see the scene in heaven after the ascension of Christ, and in chapter eleven we see the eternal kingdom. While the first section affords a general sketch, the second section gives the details of some important things and crucial matters which transpire during the period of time between Christ’s ascension and eternity future. At the very beginning of this second section, we have the first of these important and crucial matters — a bright woman opposed by a red dragon. Just as the second section begins with a woman, so at the ending, in chapter twenty-two, we also see a woman. Hence, both the first and last crucial matters are a woman. This is significant.
Who is this woman? If we look at chapter twelve with a narrow view, we may think she is Mary or the nation of Israel. But if we have a broad view which encompasses a wide span, we shall see that she is not Mary or merely the nation of Israel, but the totality of God’s people. If we have a panoramic view, we shall say, “This woman is not Mary or even the nation of Israel. She must be all the people chosen and saved by God for His economy.” Once you have this realization, you will begin to see that the stars indicate the Patriarchs, that the moon under her feet must signify those under the law, and that the sun must represent the church people. Such an understanding fills our entire view and causes us to say, “This woman is certainly a universal woman, including all the people from the Patriarchs to the last member of Christ’s Body.” This understanding is confirmed by the vision of the woman at the end of Revelation, where we see that the New Jerusalem is the wife of the Lamb (21:9), composed of both the Old Testament saints, represented by the names of the twelve tribes, and the New Testament saints, represented by the names of the twelve Apostles.
What is between these two ends of the second section of Revelation? In chapters twenty-one and twenty-two we have the New Jerusalem as the Lamb’s wife, and in chapters nineteen and twenty we have the bride and the wedding feast of the Lamb. In chapter twenty the bride will be those reigning with Christ during the thousand years. Hence in chapters nineteen and twenty the woman is the bride, and in chapters twenty-one and twenty-two she is the wife. In chapters seventeen and eighteen we see Babylon the Great, the counterfeit of this woman, the counterfeit of Jerusalem. This view is not only logical but also very meaningful.
What about chapters thirteen through sixteen? The link that connects chapters twelve and thirteen is the three and a half years, or the one thousand two hundred sixty days. In 13:5 we are told that Antichrist will be given authority to act forty-two months, which are three and a half years or the one thousand two hundred sixty days. In 12:6 and 14 we are told that the woman will be nourished in the wilderness for a thousand two hundred and sixty days, or for a year, two years, and half a year “from the face of the serpent.” Therefore, chapter thirteen is an addition to chapter twelve describing what will happen when the red dragon persecutes the woman. During this period of time, a beast, Antichrist, will emerge from the sea and will be one with the dragon to war against the saints, God’s people. In chapter fourteen God warns the people, including the saints, not to worship this beast, and He warns the people on earth not to follow Antichrist to persecute His people. In chapter fifteen we see a vision of a number of the saints who overcome the beast and his image and stand on the glassy sea to sing and praise the Lord. Chapter sixteen covers the end of this period of time, when God will drop seven bombs, the seven bowls of the last plagues, to destroy the entire kingdom of the beast. This is a summary of the second section of this book.
The second section of Revelation is virtually a history of this woman. It seems that the last eleven chapters relate a series of isolated things — the dragon, the two beasts, the glassy sea, the seven bowls, the great Babylon, the wedding feast. It may appear that some of these isolated items are very important and that others are less important. But to consider the matter in this way indicates that you lack vision and do not have the proper view. When you have the proper view, you will say, “This is not a section composed of various isolated things. It is a section giving a full history of God’s people. It tells how God’s enemy is fighting against His people and how His people are producing the stronger part, the man-child, to defeat the enemy. We see that God’s enemy will instigate Antichrist, the false prophet, and their followers to war against God’s people. But God’s people will overcome them. Eventually, we see that God will exercise His judgment by means of the seven bowls to destroy the kingdom of Satan under the power of Antichrist. Following this, He will overthrow the prostitute, Babylon the Great. Then Christ will come to marry God’s people, to defeat Antichrist with the chosen ones among God’s people, and to reign with them over the nations for a thousand years. After this, there will be the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem, the ultimate consummation of God’s people as the wife of the redeeming Lamb for eternity.
Although you may be one of God’s people, the crucial question is whether or not you are standing here as God’s people. Let us use, once again, the illustration of the Jewish people today. There may be thirteen or fourteen million Jews on earth, but less than three million of them are in the nation of Israel. Are not the millions of Jews in New York City genuine Jews? Yes, they are. However, although they are Jews and although their number exceeds the number of those in the nation of Israel, they are not the nation of Israel. Actually and practically, the nation of Israel is composed only of those Jews who have returned. Of the thirteen or fourteen million Jews, at least eleven million have lost the ground of the nation of Israel. As a result, though they are typical Israelites, they are not the nation of Israel. Only those Israelites who returned to the land of their forefathers and who stand, live, and fight there are the nation of Israel. Likewise, all Christians are God’s people, but the vast majority of them have lost the ground of being God’s people.
Many are offended when we say that we are the church. They say, “What! Are we not also blood-redeemed and Spirit-regenerated?” We realize that there are a great many blood-redeemed and Spirit-regenerated Christians and that some of them are rich in the Lord; yet they have lost the ground of God’s people as the church. There are some Jews in New York City who are millionaires; they are much richer than the poor Jews who returned to Palestine. But those poor Jews are the nation of Israel and the rich ones in New York are not. Some wealthy Jews in New York City have donated a lot of money to the nation of Israel. But no matter how much they donate, still they are not the nation of Israel; they are citizens of the United States. They may say, “I love the nation of Israel and I am for the nation of Israel.” Although we would thank the Lord for this, nevertheless this does not make them the nation of Israel. The only way for them to be the nation of Israel is to return to the land of their forefathers to stand and fight alongside those poor Jews who have already returned. Only then will they be an actual part of the nation of Israel. Only then will they be not only for the nation of Israel; they will be the nation of Israel.
Likewise, it is not the Christians in the denominations, sects, and free groups who will bring forth the man-child. To bring forth the man-child there is the need for at least a portion of God’s people to come back to the proper standing of the woman. Those who have this standing have God alone and nothing else. They are the woman on the proper ground to bring forth the man-child.
Once again I say that if we would understand the Bible, especially the prophecies, we must understand it by life and for life. The interpretation the Lord has given us is not only by life and with life — it is, much more, for life. We all must actually and practically be a part of the woman. If you can only say, “I have been redeemed by the blood and regenerated by the Spirit and filled with the Spirit,” you are a real Christian — thank the Lord for this — but you are not actually and practically part of the woman who is bringing forth the man-child. You are like the Jews in New York City who declare that they are Jews and that they are for the nation of Israel. They are Jews, but they cannot say that they are the nation of Israel. They help the nation of Israel and they are for the nation of Israel, but they are not the nation of Israel in a practical way. In like manner, today it is not the scattered children of God, those who have lost their ground, who will bring forth the man-child. Only that part of God’s redeemed people who have seen His economy and who are willing to return to the standing, the ground, of the chaste woman will bring forth the man-child.
If we would be included practically in this chaste woman, we must forsake all things other than God and Christ and return to the unique ground to have Christ as our only husband. We refuse to become impregnated by anything other than Christ. We will only be made pregnant of Christ, for He is our unique husband. In addition to Him, we have no one and nothing. Today, we have the standing of this woman. However, if you are the wife of Mr. Smith, why are you living with Mr. Jones? You may say, “I am the wife of Mr. Smith. We were properly married in a certain year, month, and day.” This is correct, but with whom are you living? Do you live only with Mr. Smith, or also with someone else? Perhaps you do not stay with another man, but you stay with your pet dog alone in your house. By doing this, you lose the ground of being Mrs. Smith. Doctrinally, you are the wife of Mr. Smith, but actually and practically day after day you are not Mrs. Smith. You have lost this ground and are still losing it. If you would return to the ground of being Mrs. Smith, you must drop every other man and every other thing, and return purely, singly, and uniquely to be one with Mr. Smith. Then you will actually, practically, and absolutely be the wife of Mr. Smith. It is this wife who will bring forth children, not only for Mr. Smith but of Mr. Smith. May the Lord have mercy on us. This is not a doctrine; it is very practical. We thank the Lord that He has opened His Word to us and that He has opened our eyes to see this vision. Now our need is to be faithful to this vision. “O Lord, we thank You for bringing us back to the proper standing of Your people. Thank You, Lord, that we are actually the woman who will bring forth the man-child. Lord, not only are we the woman, but we expect to eventually become the man-child.”
