The King Is Born by John Stapleton

The King Is Born- John Stapleton brings us into the Christmas season with a deep look into what it’s all about. The focus scripture is Revelation 12:1-6 with references to John, Micah and Daniel.

Notes are available below:

1 – The King Is Born

1) SIGN #1

#1) The Woman we are introduced to in this text is “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev 12:1). Perhaps the simplest, most widely accepted interpretation is that the woman mirrors God (Ps 104:1-2). She was pregnant with the tribes of Israel, which is why the crown of twelve stars on her head are the 12 tribes of Israel. It’s also interesting to note that this woman stands in direct contrast to the prostitute in Rev 17 that symbolizes Rome.

2) SIGN

#2) A Great Red Dragon (Rev 12:3) Satan goes by many names in the Bible. Here, he appears as a dragon (similar to the “scarlet beast” in Rev 12:3). Other times, he is leviathan or a serpent (Is 27:1). But here, this text is cryptically referring to King Herod.

3) The Male Child

#3) Rev 12:4-5 summarizes the life of Jesus and King Herod is the “dragon” who tried to “devour” Jesus when he ordered the death of all boys 2 years old and under in Judea. However, Jesus was taken to Egypt where he was kept safe from Herod. Jesus was ultimately successful in his mission of destroying sin by dying on the cross; he then ascended to sit at God’s right hand of power. He is the true King from Ps 2 who is to rule all nations (see also Matt 2:6).

4) The Woman Is Nourished

#4) Rev 12:6 says that she will be nourished for 1,260 days (Rev 11:3 and 13:5, the number is 42 months, which is the same amount of time). The 42 is always used in context to the Gentiles and 1,260 in context to God’s people.

The big idea behind these numbers is that Israel will be nourished by the ministry of the Church, and by implication, the whole world.

THE GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY

Jesus successfully destroyed sin. After his triumph (Col 2:15) there was war in heaven (that’s next week). But for now, we can be confident that the devil can no longer appear before God and accuse us like he did with Job and Joshua (Job 1:6-12; Zech 3:1). He is a maimed foe whose judgment is pending.

Check out other videos from John Stapleton