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Rev. 12:1,2:  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.
         This woman has two distinct meanings, all of them very true.
         One is that the depths of knowing our Lord must be born on earth. It was always in Heaven, but has not been produced on earth. The Spirit of truth has been somewhat banished. Reality must come back on earth, produced by pure love. The second meaning is that the Church wants to give birth to this truth (which comes only by the inner way).
         This woman, according to these two meanings, is surrounded with the "Sun," that is by truth, manifested in this life. She has the moon under her feet because she is above unstableness and wavering. When the soul of the believer is established in the truth, it does not change any more in its foundation. That is why this one has the moon under her feet.
         She is clothed with the sun; she is above all changeable and varying lights. She has a crown of twelve stars, the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit. The soul that has truly known Him deeply possesses them all. This one has joy, peace, patience, long suffering, etc. When Reality is on earth, love reigns. Where truth is, there is also love.
         She is with child and wants to produce her fruit in the world. This fruit is righteousness. Jesus Christ produced righteousness on the cross and His grief was extreme. What pain must be known to produce such righteousness! The inner walk must produce righteousness, just as  counterwise -lies produced unrighteousness. Up till the time of this scene, unrighteousness reigns on earth, because its father, Lying, brought it there. This is why men steal from God His glory. They consider as belonging to themselves what should be attributed to God only. From this unrighteousness brought about through lies came all evils we have on earth. But as soon as Reality has produced righteousness, men give back to God what they owe Him.
         The second explanation of this woman is that she is the Church.
         The Church is about to give birth to the inner Spirit: her true Spirit. She is with child, possessing this Spirit which is like a second advent of Jesus Christ. She is in pains to be delivered for it will cost her sufferings; the fruit will be precious and more good must be produced; suffering is, therefore, unquestionable.
         It seems that this Spirit remained enclosed within her. (Some have been stirred and partook of the divine revelation Paul explained but this has been very rare.) All Christians have been called to this; but they did not all answer the call. On the contrary, these Christians opposed the inner way. As the Church is about to spread out her branches, she wants to produce her Spirit in all her members. This is the spirit of abandonment, and divine moving, so fought against today.

Rev. 12:3,4:  And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. 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 self love, the father of the lie. He is opposed to pure love; he is the mortal enemy of truth, and even in Heaven wished to prefer himself to God, wanting attribute to himself  that which is due to God only.
         This Dragon, in the Garden of Eden, instilled his poison in man and having withdrawn man from truth, caused man to be chased away. This same Dragon, today, seeing that the inner Reality is going to come to light in the world, is standing firm to devour it and to hinder its appearing on earth. It must be known that inner reality produces pure love and that pure love brings righteousness to life.
         This righteousness just means snatching everything from the creature and giving all to God! As soon as the soul is so endowed?
         This Dragon is "red" because he apes pure love. The seven heads are the totality of deadly sins in the world. The ten horns represent the transgression of the law. These seven heads are crowned to indicate that this Dragon reigns in the world through the sin which he introduced.
         This Dragon draws with its tail the third part of men. Through shrewdness he makes most of them fall, disclosing his hatred only after he draws them because he uses subtlety and craftiness. This horrible Dragon "stands before this woman who was going to be delivered to devour her child." Self love produces unrighteousness and devours righteousness, preventing God from receiving His due and upsetting the order of things. This is why this horrible Dragon, this Lucifer, had so many everywhere worshipping him. When he sees that this righteousness which he had thought that he had banished was returning, then he does all in his power to devour the fruit and swallow the mother.
         The Church is ready to bring to life this inner Spirit. Now that the Church wants to show and reproduce in the whole Universe this Spirit, enclosed within her, she is in "pains"; she cannot help speaking of her grief, though no one knows the cause of it and they attribute it to other things. This dragon is constantly before her to devour her fruit in his birth; but how useless will his efforts be! Truth will triumph over the lie, pure love over self-love, righteousness over unrighteousness.

Rev. 12:5,6:  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. And the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
         She fails not in producing her fruit, as it had been seen and foretold by David in Psalm 85:10.
         This Fruit will govern the nations with a rod of iron. Not one will oppose Him; all people will worship the true God. They will rightly honor Him by the means of submitting their mind to the truth. They will submit their heart to His wonderful leading.
         "This son was caught up unto God" because God will Himself preserve the righteousness which the nations must have for Him.
         He will be on "the throne" of God; all nations will acknowledge Him as their God, as the one in whom is enclosed all power and all merit, whom they must adore, to whom they must be led unreservedly and abandon their heart and mind completely.
         This woman is banished to the wilderness, to a solitary place...to hearts prepared for her. But Reality must be hidden there, that no one may find it. She will be cared for "a thousand two hundred and sixty days." Oh, mysteries truer than the daylight, you are regarded now as fables and tales for children, as daydreams. You will appear in all your splendor and these words will be considered only with respect. Then people will see they come from God. They have been written by the command of my God. You will appear one day. You will be placed on the seashore as a lighthouse reaching all the travelers with its light. Oh despised Truth, You Who are hated on earth, You will be their admiration, beauty and light.
         This flight into the wilderness means that only emptied hearts will receive this woman of truth. From there, faith will spread out. There is a semblance of faith, pictures of faith. However as this faith will never be withdrawn from earth, God chose for it a wilderness where it will be cared for.
         Oh dragon, all your efforts to engulf this Spirit of faith are useless; God protects it in such a special way that it is kept near Him, to be spread out on the earth after you are bound. Then that which was the abomination of the earth will be its glory and stay!

Rev. 12:7:   And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, ...
         This war "in heaven" is the war of self-love against pure love. Michael is the angel of love, and will protect those who are placed in love. This is a very strange and rough fight. This is why the soul is like a heaven where this fight takes place and suffers greatly. The dragon defends himself with all his might; this wretched self-love (which seemed to leave the soul in peace when no one disturbed him), now gives such fierce blows that there is no fight as tough as this in this world. This is the last fight of all. Michael uses all his weapons to fight self-love. This wretched dragon uses all he has to defend himself. Oh, terrible and frightful attacks!
         This fight took place in Heaven at the creation of the world; it takes place now in the Church and in the soul of every believer who is meant to receive the pure love. Now Michael and the followers of inner love fight with all their might. This dragon defends himself as well as he can, but inner love will conquer, after strange wars.

Rev. 12:8: ...and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.
         Oh, self-love, arm yourself as much as it pleases you to fight. You will remain the weakest.
         In the same manner, with the individual soul, as soon as self-love is defeated. But, oh God, how long, what sufferings, what fight before it is defeated!

Rev.12:9:  And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
         It is a sure fact that as soon as self-love is entirely destroyed and that inner and pure love takes its place, the devil is cast out and has no longer any power over the soul. As soon as self-love has disappeared, there is no more grip of the devil.
         Likewise when this war, a pure and inner love against self-love, comes to an end, the dragon will have no more power on the servants of God. He is going to be chased out and the prince of this world will soon be destroyed. The victory Jesus Christ won over him will have its complete result.

Rev. 12:10:  And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night."
        Joy beyond words is in Heaven when this power is broken. The soul that is free from loving itself finds no longer the accuser in its own conscience.
         Your Lord requires that we should ask for His kingdom to come; but this kingdom could not come before His will would be fully done on earth as it is in heaven. The will of God is perfectly done in heaven when self-love is dispelled.
         As soon as this will is done the whole Church of God, the heavenly and earthly Church, sings with all her might. Now is come salvation. ..which means salvation is firm and sure. Salvation was not universal, for numberless souls, drawn by the dragon's tail, fell into the pit, but as soon as he is knocked down and chased out, the kingdom of God is established. Man is no longer strong in his own strength, but God's strength is in him. The tempter is no longer. Here is a state of innocence which is the fruit and redemption of Jesus Christ-- such an abundant redemption that those who taste the fruit of it are astounded.
         Here appears the time of the "strength" of our God. Now, oh God, You are going to be king and reign sovereignly. Your reign will however be a reign of peace, full of delights. Now, in this scene, You are reigning! Now the power of Jesus Christ and the result of His death appear. Oh God, it seemed You had no power and that the devil had an almost unmastered power because he was strengthened by self-love. But now Your power appears because self-love is put aside. Oh salvation, how great you are! This day will happen without fail. There is not a man on earth who will not bend his knees before You.

Rev. 12:11,12: "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death. For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."
         The dragon (self-love) is conquered only by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony about Jesus Christ. Just as heaven is free, so there is no more admission for the devil and self-love into this highest part of the soul. And even for the lower parts, deliverance is near.
         The devil is now banished from the heavenlies and falls on the earth where he will exercise his cruelty for a short time; he does this with so much tyranny that it seems the world must perish. So in our souls, as long as self-love rules, pure love is nearly gone, living only in some solitary places, in some few chosen souls.
         The dragon exercises his cruelty with more strength than ever. But if desolation is great, we rejoice because the time of deliverance is near. Oh, if the souls on which the dragon pours his hatred with so much fury understood that deliverance is near! What joy they would have! But they are persecuted and are persuaded that this time will never end. However, it will end soon and unexpectedly.

Rev. 12:13,14:  And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. And the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, in order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
         The dragon wars against the truth the most cruel war there ever was. It seems all men are against the reality of Christ. But the wings of an eagle are given this one and she flies into the wilderness, with the souls separated from the world, where deception has not come. Separated from the world there she is fed-- helped-- for the future day of her appearance.
         The Church will never be more "persecuted" than by her own children. Nor will the individual believer. She will "fly" in places where she was not known. There she will be known. This spirit of faith and truth, the inner spirit, its ornament, will be hidden for a while; then will come a time when these deeper things will appear in all their beauty.

Rev. 12:15,16:  And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.
         This "flood" that the serpent casts out is deceit. He wants to swallow reality by this horrible flood; he believes that truth will not be able to withstand the flood of lies. But earth opens up to swallow this horrible flood. Floods are thrown against the Church (and the inward believer), fighting her spirit under the pretext of sustaining her doctrine.
         (Only you, oh Jesus, know the malice of these people, covered with sheep skin but within, they are ravening wolves.) The dragon uses them, vomiting his flood of self-love, his poison, to engulf the spirit of the Church, and the inner spirit, but his efforts will be in vain.

Rev. 12:17:  And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
         The dragon, seeing he can do nothing against the Church and the Truth, goes to make war with her children. He stirs up a general persecution against all the inner souls who love the truth. They will suffer by him in many ways. Only the true children of truth are molested. They have the testimony of Jesus Christ which is really the reign of Jesus Christ within them.
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^{(1) Guyon, Mme. Jeanne, CHRIST OUR REVELATION, Gardiner, Main, Reprinted 1987 Christian Books Publishing House ( Book in now out of print)}

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