Chapter 16: The Sign of the Dragon

The seventh angel in Rev. 11:15 announced the Kingdom and the rule of Jesus Christ, even though it had not yet become an accomplished fact. From this we see that the sign of the temple being opened, along with the sign of the woman giving birth, is not to be ascribed to the end of the sixth trumpet, but to the end of the seventh.

The woman sign was literally fulfilled in the heavens from 1996-1999, when the moon passed through Virgo from her womb to her feet during the month when she was clothed with the sun. Each year the moon was positioned more perfectly until the climax in 1999. It was reported at the time that this was the first time in known history that this had happened. Greg Killian wrote on his website at the time:

“This particular positioning of the mazzaroth (constellation) Bethulah, the virgin, about to give ‘birth’ to the moon (the messiah) has never occurred before, and will never occur again, due to the precession of the equinoxes.”

Hence, it is not hard to conclude that this was specifically the event that John saw in his revelation of the sign leading to the establishment of the Kingdom. The fulfillment of the sign took place immediately after we were led to declare the Jubilee on Sept. 23, 1996. That declaration, of course, is another story—too long to tell here. The actual 120^th Jubilee from Adam, we believe, was supposed to be declared in October of 1986, but (like Isaiah did in the time of Hezekiah) we were able to do so ten years late and apply it retroactively. We call this the Hezekiah Factor after discovering it in October of 1994—long before we knew that the Virgo sign would be seen soon.

The point is that immediately after making this declaration, Virgo seemed to give birth to the moon four years in a row—for the first and last time in history. This suggests that we are coming to the end of the time of the seventh trumpet, and that the Kingdom of Christ is even now being established. But this great event in history comes not without opposition.

The Dragon Wars

Rev. 12:3, 4 introduces us to “a great red dragon” in the heavens:

³ And another sign appeared in heaven; and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. ⁴ And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child.

This dragon is another sign in the heavens, known as Draco, which encircles about a third of the heavens. Draco’s constellation is one of the three decans of Sagittarius, the Archer, who represents Christ in His triumph over Draco. Draco’s brightest star is called Thuban, “the subtle,” which is a reminder of the statement in Gen. 3:1 (KJV), “the serpent was more subtil [or subtle] than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.” About 4,600 years ago Thuban was the Polar Star, but today it has been replaced by Polaris. Over time, the earth’s orientation has shifted away from Draco’s brightest star, Thuban.

In Hebrew thought, an “archer” (moreh) is a teacher, because he “hits the mark” with true teaching.

An archer-teacher has students, or spiritual sons, who are his “arrows.” Christ is the Teacher of Righteousness in Joel 2:23,

²³ So rejoice, O sons of Zion, and be glad in the Lord your God; for He has given you the early rain [moreh] for your vindication [Zadok], and He has poured down for you the rain, the early and latter rain as before.

An alternate rendering of the underline phrase above is: “He has given you the Teacher of Righteousness.” This was a common theme in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

“The phrase moreh (ha)zedeq, Teacher of Righteousness, occurs seven times in the Habakkukk pesher.”

http://www.world-destiny.com/teachright.html

In fact, this was how the Sadducees understood this phase in Joel 2:23, for they believed that their founder, a man named Zadok, which means “righteousness,” was this prophesied Teacher of Righteousness. (There were two groups of Sadducees, those deemed “corrupt” who served in the Jerusalem temple and the Purist Sadducees of the Qumran community near the Dead Sea.)

This Teacher of Righteousness, mentioned in Joel 2:23, was also called the “Fountain of Righteousness,” because moreh can be translated as rain, archer, or teacher. The connection between these alternate meanings of the word can be seen also in Job 29:20-23,

²⁰ My glory is ever new with me, and my bow is renewed in my hand. ²¹ To me they listened and waited, and kept silent for my counsel. ²² After my words they did not speak again, and my speech dropped on them. ²³ And they waited for me as for the rain, and opened their mouth as for the spring rain.

We see here the picture of students waiting to hear the “counsel” of the teacher, as men wait for the rain. The teacher is pictured with a bow in his hand, as if he is an archer, but his words are like rain.

So we see Sagittarius the Archer triumphant over Draco. The Dragon Wars that we fought by spiritual warfare from 1996-1999 lasted about 3½ years. The main battles were divided into three rounds, one per year, in 1997, 1998, and 1999. The warfare ended with a final battle which we called “Dragon’s End.” It was fought from August 19 to September 2, 1999, just before Jesus’ 2000^th birthday, which, in 1999, fell on September 11/12.

The Red Dragon at Jesus’ Birth

Revelation 12:5 says,

⁵ And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

The original pattern was seen clearly when King Herod attempted to kill Jesus when he was about three months old. Jesus was born on the feast of Trumpets, September 29, 2 B.C., and the wise men arrived around December 25 of that year when Jupiter hovered over Bethlehem (as viewed from Jerusalem). The wise men had followed Jupiter’s westward movement ever since it had “crowned” Regulus, the great star that is positioned between the feet of Leo, the lion.

Regulus, is the “regulator,” called the “Lawgiver” between the feet of the lion in Gen. 49:10 (KJV). The wise men (magi) had learned about this prophecy from Daniel some centuries earlier, so when they saw Jupiter, the King’s Planet, perform a loop over Regulus, they saw this as the sign of the Messiah’s birth.

When the magi arrived in Jerusalem, they inquired of King Herod about the Messiah that had been born. Herod was alarmed and told them that if they found Him, they should report back to him. The magi did find Jesus, but they returned to their country by another route. King Herod then killed the children in Bethlehem, but Joseph and Mary, being forwarned, had already taken Jesus to safety in Egypt.

Herod was half-Idumean (i.e., Edomite). Edom means “red.” He was the manifestation of the red dragon at that time, attempting to “devour her child.” John does not attempt to give an account of the full story of Christ’s birth and life, but says only that He was “caught up to God and to His throne.” The Greek word translated “caught up” is harpazo, which is the word used in 1 Thess. 4:17 that is commonly thought of as “the rapture.” It is an ascension, and in the case of Jesus Christ, it is an ascension to the throne.

After this, the woman flees into the wilderness, and the war between Michael and the dragon takes place.