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Recent news stories are full of earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, and “wars and rumors of wars,” and some people talked about September 23, 2017, as a prophetic date predicting the end. Like other predictions of the end people have made throughout history, this one was wrong. Pastor Bryan takes us through several Bible passages to find out what was going on.
Luke Chapter 21
Jesus says in Luke 21,
Luke 21:25-27 And there will be strange signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides. People will be terrified at what they see coming upon the earth, for the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory.
If you’ve watched the news at all recently, it seems like a lot of this is happening. Does that mean the end is near?
Revelation Chapter 12
In Revelation 12, the Apostle John records the following:
Revelation 12:1-2 Then I witnessed in heaven an event of great significance. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant, and she cried out because of her labor pains and the agony of giving birth.
Some suggest that the “woman clothed with the sun” is referring to the constellation Virgo (Latin for “virgin”) and its astrological significance. On September 23, 2017, the sun passed close to the “shoulder” of the constellation, and the moon passed beneath the “feet” of the constellation. The stars of the constellation Leo as well as the planets Venus, Mars, and Mercury were visible as a “crown of twelve stars” above the constellation Virgo’s head. Jupiter appeared near the constellation’s “womb” on this date as well. Some saw all of this as a reference to Revelation 12:1-2 and said it was prophetic fulfillment of the verses.
Matthew Chapter 24
In Matthew 24, Jesus says:
Matthew 24:36 However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.
Jesus has told us we cannot know when God will judge the world through the second coming of Jesus. All attempts throughout history to discern the date of Jesus’s return have failed. Countless “prophets” and religious leaders have led their followers to waste time, energy, and resources preparing for Jesus’s immediate return when it was not the right time. They failed to read Matthew 24:36! Rather than scrambling to “prep” for the end, we should instead cultivate consistent lives of faithfulness through prayer, fasting, worship, and Bible study, fellowship with others, regular giving and serving, and helping others pursue God through discipleship and mentoring. This is what Jesus means when he encourages us to always be ready (Matthew 24:44).
St. Augustine put it well in his book City of God, chapter 53:
Obviously, then, it is a waste of effort for us to attempt counting the precise number of years which this world has yet to go, since we know from the mouth of Truth that it is none of our business.
Who Is the Woman of Revelation Chapter 12?
The Virgo constellation has been observed since ancient times and has gone by different names, though it is typically associated with a woman or goddess across cultures. Scholars debate the meaning of much of the imagery in Revelation for several reasons. One reason is that much of the imagery in Revelation can be associated with multiple sources. Some do read Revelation 12:1-2 and believe it is referring to the astrological symbolism of the Apostle John’s day. Others see a stronger connection with Old Testament (OT) imagery in this passage and across Revelation.
The author of this article’s view is that the woman in Revelation 12:1-2 is symbolic of the people of God as a whole. This interpretation better fits Revelation 12 than any astrological figure. The child in the passage (Jesus; see Revelation 12:5 and Psalm 2:9) is born out of the people of God (physically the Jews, but later in the New Testament God’s people are all those who have Abraham’s faith, both Jews and Gentiles; see Galatians 3:7) and in frustration at his failure to destroy Jesus and stop his work, the dragon (Satan) turns his wrath against the woman and her other children (the people of God). The number twelve is significant across the Bible as a number of wholeness, and is associated both with the people of Israel as a whole (twelve tribes) and the whole number of Jesus’s original apostles. The crown of twelve stars the woman wears is likely referring to this, further cementing her as a symbolic representation of God’s people, not a prophetic constellation or literal individual.
Some have interpreted the woman literally as the Virgin Mary. While Jesus literally was born from Mary, much of the rest of the imagery associated with the woman in Revelation 12 doesn’t align with her.
Faithful endurance through persecution directly addresses some of the problems the churches faced in Revelation 1-3, and it further addresses the suffering Christians have endured throughout the ages, which is what much of Revelation, on the whole, is directed toward. The prophecy of Revelation 12 is that God’s people will continue to suffer persecution by the devil and his followers (“the world”) until Jesus returns. The goal of the passage is not to predict the end of the world, but to notify us that God is in control and we must remain faithful.
Are You Ready?
The Bible tells us that the most important thing is for us to trust in Jesus for our salvation (John 1:12; 3:16), not to spend our time and energy looking at the stars and doing math to figure out when he’s coming back. If you follow Jesus Christ, it doesn’t matter when or what happens in the end because you are God’s child and your ultimate destiny is to be with him in the new heavens and new earth. The devil is fighting a losing war and he knows it.
Revelation 12:12 (ESV) …The devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!
Are you ready?
- What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- Have you been concerned with many of the problems currently plaguing the world, including natural disasters and political tension? Explain.
- Jesus warns us to be aware of the “signs of the times,” but he also tells us that ultimately we cannot know with absolute certainty when the end will come. How do we understand these two truths together?
- Do you think the woman of Revelation 12 is referring to the constellation Virgo? Explain.
- Can you think of recent or older examples of people who have claimed the end was coming? Explain.
- In what ways does this topic highlight the need for Christians to study their Bibles and to learn how to study their Bibles? Explain.
- What are some ways you are living faithfully to God right now? What are some areas you could work on to pursue God more closely and help others do the same?
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
