KJV Versus JST: the Woman Clothed with the Sun in Revelation 12

by Michaela Stephens (12/27/2014 5:35 pm)

Revelation 12 has a significantly large JST entry, so I thought I would do a comparison between the KJV and JST to see what I could learn.

Additional observations about this chapter

How are we to interpret the dragon becoming wroth and making war against the remnant of the women’s seed? This represents a change of tactics when Satan changes from throwing most of his attacks at the church and its organization to attacking individual members. This is becoming more common today with social media activism when some special interest group decides that a member is an offender in some way and dog-piles persecution on that person and those who support him or her.

Note that the devil has failed three times in this chapter already. 1) He failed to devour the man child and destroy the kingdom of God and Christ. 2) He lost the war in heaven and was cast out. 3) His flood meant to carry away the church to destruction was swallowed up and absorbed.

The final question of this chapter remains: Will the devil succeed in his war against YOU in the battle TODAY?

Keep in mind that we know we were involved in the war in heaven and we already won then with our testimonies and faith in Christ, so we just need to do again what we have already done before. We did it before, and we can do it again.

Continue reading at the original source →

KJV Revelation 12	JST Revelation 12	Analysis and commentary
1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:	1 And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.	Calling it a sign instead of a wonder implies we are to find direction and instructions from this and the following imagery instead of just marveling over it. Telling us this occurred in heaven and is in the likeness of things on the earth lets us know that the events represented occurred (figuratively) in heaven and they are happening again here on the earth. This helps us because of the veil over our memories so that we can know the full significance and what our part should be.
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.	2 And the woman being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.	This seems to be meant to make it absolutely clear it is the woman this refers to. (Not sure why this was needed.)
	3 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto God and his throne. [compare to KJV v5]	Changing the KJV v5 to be v3 in the JST may not seem to add much, but it gives the sense that the man child was born and then caught up to heaven before the dragon was even aware of it. This teaches us that God is much wiser than Satan and gets His work done before Satan can get it together. It should give us great confidence in God’s plan and timing.
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.	4 And there appeared another sign in heaven; and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman which was delivered, ready to devour her child after it was born.	Here again the wonder/sign difference is repeated. If you notice, in the JST, the woman has already been delivered when the dragon stands watching her. JST v7 tells us that the child represents both the kingdom of God and Christ, so the dragon thinks that the kingdom of God has yet to be formed, when it was already formed with the organization of the church and then caught up to God as valiant leaders were martyred and received to heaven. (Likewise, when Herod tried to kill the baby Jesus, Heavenly Father had already removed Jesus from danger. When the leaders of the Jews tried to prevent Jesus from gaining more power, His death and resurrection and ascension to heaven brought him to the right hand of God, a place of universal power.) Once again the message is the devil thinks he can frustrate the Lord’s plans, but he is too late and doesn’t even realize it.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.	5 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore years.	Changing days to years makes this time allotted seem more literal than figurative, and makes us think of the Great Apostasy before the Restoration, but perhaps we should shift our thinking a little bit. The woman fled to the desert (a barren, desolate place), yet she is nourished there instead of starving to death. (Perhaps like the miracle of manna?) God prepared that place to be nourishing and it evidently has a food supply adequate for her to stay there 1260 years. Does this sound like the Great Apostasy? No. This sounds like the church is living as it is supposed to and no one has any idea how they can live like that because it looks like life would be so hard and brutal and joyless with so much self-denial and sacrifice. But there is more than enough nourishment there.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,	6 And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought against Michael;	These changes make clear that the dragon has his angels just as Michael has his angels. The devil has his followers just as the Lord has His.
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.	7 And the dragon prevailed not against Michael, neither the child, nor the woman which was the church of God, who had been delivered of her pains, and brought forth the kingdom of our God and his Christ. 8 Neither was there place found in heaven	Here is where Joseph Smith gives inspired interpretation that the child represents the kingdom of God and Christ. The addition of Michael, the child, and the woman in the setting of heaven further reinforces the idea that moral battles fought here were all previously fought in heaven as well, fought and won. It is almost like all the evil was squeezed out with good. No wonder we are to fill our lives with the best so that there is no room for anything less.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.	for the great dragon, who was cast out; that old serpent called the devil, and also called Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth; and his angels were cast out with him.	The differences here reinforce that the devil and Satan are the same entity, not two different entities.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.	9 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; 10 For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.	11 For they have overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; for they loved not their own lives, but kept the testimony even unto death.	This verse adds that part of overcoming Satan (besides having faith in Christ, fighting with testimony, and sacrificing our lives if necessary) is to keep our testimonies to the end.
12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.	Therefore, rejoice O heavens, and ye that dwell in them. 12 And after these things I heard another voice saying, Woe to the inhabiters of the earth, yea, and they who dwell upon the islands of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.	The thing we learn here is that while one voice exults over the victory in heaven, another voice warns that the battleground has moved to the earth. Woe means great sorrow and distress.
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.	13 For when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.	14 Therefore, to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might flee into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.	Changing fly to flee while keeping the gift of the wings should make us think here. What are wings for if not to fly with? The answer is they are symbolic of the power of God given to move, to act, etc. God gives the Saints the power to flee to a place of refuge—the Salt Lake valley, temples, church, prayer, home and family, Zion—all require God’s power to be a refuge where we can be nourished. This verse also supports the sense of the woman in the prepared place in the wilderness as a time of the church’s faithfulness and not general apostasy.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.	15 And the serpent casteth out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.	At first, this seems like a meaningless change until you realize that eth changes the tense of the verbs from past tense to present tense. We learn the events of this verse are going on right now and will continue to happen. What comes out of someone’s mouth? Words. Satan tries to flood the earth with all kinds of invective, slander, and libel against the church, anything to destroy its influence among men or to destroy faith.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.	16 And the earth helpeth the woman, and the earth openeth her mouth, and swalloweth up the flood which the dragon casteth out of his mouth.	These things are also happening right now, as we are to learn from the change of verb tense. This might be interpreted to mean that the libel and the slander attacking the church gets buried and ignored, never gaining much traction. To us in the church it may seem like there are too many lies floating around as it is, but if the promise of this prophecy is being fulfilled as stated, then much of the anti-Mormon literature goes straight into oblivion and never fulfills its purpose.
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:1-17)	17 Therefore, the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.