This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Revelation” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, February 20, 1994.

Tonight we are beginning our scripture reading in Isaiah chapter 66. Isaiah chapter 66 and we are beginning at verse 1. Give your attention to the Word of God. Thus says the Lord, Heaven is mine and the earth is my footstool. Where then is a house you can build for me? Where is the place that I may rest? For my hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being, declares the Lord. But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit and who trembles at my word.

But he who kills an ox is like one who slays a man. He who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a dog’s neck. He who offers a grain offering is like the one who offers swine’s blood. He who burns incense is like the one who blesses an idol. As they have chosen their own ways and their sole delight in their abomination, so I will their punishments, and I will bring on them what they dread. Because I called, but no one answered, I spoke, but they did not listen, and they did evil in my sight, and chose that in which I did not delight. Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word. Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you, for my name’s sake, have said, Let the Lord that we may see your joy, but they will be put to shame.” A voice of uproar from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord who is rendering recompense to his enemies.

Before she prevailed, she brought forth. Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy who has heard such a thing, who has seen such things. Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion prevailed, she also brought forth her sons. Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery, says the Lord? Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb, says the Lord, your God?

Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her. Be exceedingly glad with her. all you who mourn over her, that you may nourish and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, that you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom. For thus says the Lord, Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream. You shall be nourished, you shall be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees, as one whom his mother comforts So I comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. And she was with child, and she cried out, being in labor and in pain, to give birth.

Pray with me. O Lord, press your case, press your case through your Word, that we might be impressed by you, pressed upon by the pressures of your Spirit. And Lord, May there not be found in us any spirit of indifference. May there instead be an awakening for us, so that you would have your will in us, your way with us. We pray this, our Father, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Who is the woman in Revelation chapter 12 verse 1? Who is the woman presented to us here in this chapter? She is set before us as a royal, a regal figure. She is robed. She is robed with the sun. The moon is her footstool. And she wears a crown, a crown of twelve stars. Is it not apparent that we have set before us the Queen of Heaven? That is, the true Queen of Heaven.

Now, some have suggested that John here is not one who has impressed upon his consciousness a vision given him by God so much as he does have pressed upon his mind the residual effect of his reflection upon astrological phenomena. The sign, therefore, is a construct. A construct by John himself, he not so much having the scriptures in his hand, but a horoscope. Therefore, according to this interpretation, is the Zodiac sign Virgo. Comments about the sun, the moon, the stars, are meant to pinpoint astrologically the time, the specific time, John has in view whether it be the time of the Messiah’s birth or the time in which he presently is writing.

But what would be the purpose of such a construct by John? Such looting of pagan treasuries? If there is any interaction here between God’s revelation to John and the Zodiac, be assured that the purpose is not the Lord’s dependence upon the pagan nations about the fact that our destinies are laid out for us in the stars. But we need to consult them in order to understand the course of history and our own purposes.

Actually, the intent would be just the opposite of this. John’s revelation to the extent that there may be some sort of interaction with the astrological world, has as its intent the displacement of all astrological constructions, and the proclamation through signs that must be interpreted along completely different lines altogether.

We can go so far as to say that the great sign that appears in heaven, mentioned here in Revelation chapter 12, blows all astral signs out of the heavens. So thorough is this explosion that it leaves the reader no way to construct the pieces of an astral religion from what the Bible then leaves in the wake. Godly theologians, I underscore that.

Godly theologians have told us that we cannot construct the biblical religion by looking at the world of nature, or at the face of the heavens, for that matter. But this proposition, you see, also works in reverse. We cannot construct the religion of nature by looking at the Bible, and that by design, for the Bible deliberately fails to provide us enough information from which we might establish a complete view of the idolatrous worship and religion that the biblical religion is set against. This is not only the Bible’s way of refusing to promote the very thing it opposes, But it is also the Bible’s way of telling us that God’s revelation destroys pagan foolishness utterly and completely.

Were you ever troubled by that fact as you read through the Scriptures? You felt you just weren’t given enough information about Canaanite religions. Why is it that God and his word didn’t supply you all the details you felt you needed to know about Babylonian mythology?

The woman, the sun, the moon, and the stars, presented to us here at the opening of Revelation 12, are then images that must be interpreted by the Word of God itself. The astral signs, if there be any reference to them at all, are left, in the end, without meaning. And even more, these astral signs are left without any true reality. And as such, you see, they have no Do you know people who are controlled by their horoscopes? Who actually believe there is power in charting the courses of the stars?

Power worked out toward them, worked out with respect to them. For good or for ill. Why? It is a lie. It is a lie. The images then that are set before us must be interpreted by the Word of God. The astral signs, if there be any reference to them here, are left without any meaning, and even more, they are left without any true reality, and as such, they have absolutely no power. For an understanding then of our identity, For an understanding of our destination, we turn to the scriptures, which are sufficient, and we don’t give the horoscope a glance. Now we can follow precisely the same line of approach with respect to those who suggest to us that John’s sign, again, being a construct out of the mind of John, see, not a revelation given to him by God from above. Those who suggest to us that John’s sign is, in fact, a construct manufactured, no, not out of astral paganism, but out of pagan mythology.

Some say that all John is doing here in Revelation 12 is taking up the Greek story about Python the dragon. Now, I don’t expect you to be acquainted with the story about Python the dragon, nor do you need be, specifically. At any rate, there are those who have suggested to us that John is deliberately working off of the background of the story about Python the dragon who attempts to kill the newborn son of Zeus, but is foiled when Leto, the child’s mother, escapes to a place where Apollo, the child she is carrying, is born. this child later growing up, and you guessed it, going out to slay the dragon himself. Similar stories are told in many ancient cultures. We can find parallels to this Greek story in Egyptian mythology, for instance.

C.S. Lewis once wrote, Monotheism should not be regarded as the rival of polytheism, but rather as its maturity. Maybe you didn’t catch that. Lewis once wrote, Monotheism should not be regarded as the rival of polytheism, but rather as its maturity. Whatever you regard for Lewis, he most certainly, in this quote, stands opposite to the biblical point of view.

The great sign in heaven is a revelation from God, a revelation by God, and its purpose is not to join common cause in some fashion with pagan mythology, as if the maturation of the pagan point of view were the purpose. Rather, you see, the intention of that biblical revelation is to blow the pagan mythology, pagan mythological foolishness, off of the map. The purpose of the revelation given to John by God is displacement, complete displacement. not a tip of the hat to pagan mythology, so as to say, well, you did your best, you did the best you could, and in your commitment to the destruction of evil as represented in the Dragon Python, we recognize that you are on the right track. I’m glad that we are, for the good beginning you made. We merely want to tell you that we have seen in monotheism and in the gospel itself, the goal to which you, in your mythology, in your paganism, were pressing all along.

Now, I defy anyone to find that spirit expressed anywhere in Scripture. The intention of the revelation given by God is not to suggest to us that we here have some sort of completion for the mythological spirit that was at work in the world apart from the biblical revelation. The scriptures set before us a point of view that is consistent throughout. God is the sworn enemy. of pagan religion.

The great sign in heaven, the woman herself, is not meant as a compliment to Virgo or to Leto in the Greek myth. Rather, that sign is meant as the proclamation It is meant as the anti-astrological, the anti-mythological proclamation of the truth concerning the plan of salvation.

The woman is, as we said then, the Queen of Heaven, and she is the source of the child, as described in this twelfth chapter. destined to rule the nations. She is even more particularly than the people of God, seen symbolically in a figure. She can be described as the community of the Messiah, and more directly, she can be described as that people as that community of God in its Old Testament focus and form. She is not that people, nor is she that community indiscriminately considered, for she is the faithful community of the Lord, to whom the glories of heaven belong. The sign is set in heaven because you see her life is secured by heaven, and even more, her life is in and from heaven. In the earth, her life is played out by the humble. And most specifically, as we see the course of the history of salvation played out, that life is most evident in specific women who, in their earthly weakness and loneliness, have hid within them the glories of that heaven with which they are adorned. Eve herself despite her soul, is one in whom we are to perceive the glories of heaven. She is one in whom we are to perceive the full range of the faithful community of God that moves on towards the birth of the Messiah. The dragon himself does not win, does not win even by the murder of Abel, for Seth is born to Eve. Nor is Sarah’s barrenness, later on, an obstacle to God’s power and his plan. nor is Leah’s dishonor in the house of Jacob.

In Isaiah 26, verses 17 and 18, the community of the Messiah is pictured as a woman, in the throes of her labor, as the livery draws close. without strength to deliver her child, and therefore completely and utterly cast upon God for help. I read for you Isaiah 66 tonight.

Call your attention to the figure of a woman in those verses, because this portion of scripture uses the same image that Isaiah had taken up earlier. And Isaiah in this latter chapter tells us that Israel is in fact like unto a woman at the point of giving birth to a child. As there seemed to be question in that previous chapter with respect to that child’s birth, now as Isaiah closes, there’s no question at all. The birth is certain. and true Israel is secure, salvation is accomplished.

Although in Isaiah’s prophecy the woman’s labor is united to God’s judgment upon Israel for disobedience, in Revelation the labor of the woman is united to the sufferings of the loyal people of God, those sufferings which those people have endured awaiting their promised deliverer. The hope of the Old Testament community is realized in the birth of the Messiah.

Now, this panoramic view set up before us now, beneath the image of the woman, sets before us Mary herself. No, Mary is not the woman, per se, of Revelation 12. No, it is not true. Mary is not, per se, the Queen of Heaven. But she is one in whom we see the completion of God’s purposes now with respect to that Old Testament hope. Note, for instance, the woman of Revelation 12, that she has no husband, at least none is mentioned.

This suggestive of the fact that the nature of the conception, which is hers, is miraculous. Is this not confirmation of the truth that we have seen throughout the Old Testament in its development with regard to the progress towards the birth of the Messiah time and time again? A miraculous birth preserves the Messiah’s life, or a miraculous birth illustrates the manner of his approach into the world. And now, in Mary, She too, one who miraculously conceives and bears a child. She in her virginity conceiving and bearing a child. She is an endpoint, to be sure, one in whom we can see the realization of the purpose of God.

But note also that Mary is the epitome of humility. There is no greater affront to Mary than to worship her. She is outraged by the veneration and adoration of people in this world. It is a contradiction to her humility and her subservience to her Lord, whom she worships.

She is the epitome of humility, possessed of that sense of service which God blesses, possessed of the sense of his purpose to which she submits. So where is this better expressed than in the song she sings before Elizabeth, her cousin, in Luke’s Gospel, the first chapter, beginning at verse 46. Mary here speaks not only for herself, but for the faithful community that has been awaiting the arrival of the Messiah.

We of the Church of Jesus Christ, later in this chapter, in Revelation 12, are described as the woman’s children. We are the children of the Old Testament. We are the children of the Old Testament community. We who are those children truly would do well to listen to our mother as she speaks in and through Mary in those words from Luke chapter 1.

My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, for he has had regard for my humble estate, for the humble estate of his bond slave. For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name.

And His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him. He has done mighty deeds with His arms. He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who are humble. He has filled the hungry with good things. He has sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel, his servant, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his offspring forever.” May we benefit from this statement. that so well encapsulates the spirit of the Old Testament faithful community that pressed on towards the birth of a child, that one whom we adore.

Let us pray. Our Father, truly, we wish to be benefited, and therefore, Lord, we ask that you will keep from us those influences that come to us from alien sources. Instead, Lord, may our minds and souls be set upon your word, and may we be instructed by that word. Help us, our God, as we come upon these difficult portions of Scripture, that we would listen to you and interpret Scripture with Scripture. Encourage us, Lord, as we would reflect then upon the totality of your revelation, and help us, our God. as we then would take up that word as the standard for our lives. Do bless us, Father, in the certain knowledge of your purpose, which, Lord, is seen in your faithful people in the Old Testament, that we indeed might be benefited by them even presently. We ask, Our Father, that we might be servants clothed with humility, who also speak, Lord, after the manner that we have heard Mary speak. We pray this, that we might honor the one who was born to us.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.