Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #24 of Revelation, chapter 6, and we are going to begin by reading from Revelation 6:12-13:

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

Now, as we have been looking at these verses over the last several studies, we have identified the spiritual meaning (as the Bible has given us the definition) for the sun, which is a figure of God and the moon, which is a figure of the Law of God, the Bible.  And now we have come to the “stars of heaven.”  What do the “stars of heaven” represent?

First of all, we should note that if we are reading of a “star” (singular), it could very well represent the Lord Jesus Christ.  Christ is described as the “Star out of Jacob” in Numbers 24:17.  Remember the wise men followed His star in the East and they followed that star until it stood right over the house where the young child was and they rejoiced when they saw the star because the star is a figure and a type of Christ Himself.  In Revelation 22:16, God refers to the Lord Jesus as “the bright and morning star.” 

This means that if we see the word “star” (singular), we first need to think whether it is referring to Christ.  But in our verse, this is not a (singular) star, but stars (plural); it says, “And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth,” and now we want to see what could be in view by “stars” (plural).  If there are a lot of “stars,” what could they represent?  So, as we go to the Bible, we really do not have to search too long or look too hard before we begin to see how God references the “stars of heaven,” or how He uses them in a type or figure.  It says in Genesis 15:2-5:

And Abram said, Lord JEHOVAH, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of JEHOVAH came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

Here, God is giving Abram a wonderful and beautiful promise.  Abram is concerned that he has no heir – not even one – and God, who is capable (as the Bible tells us) of doing exceedingly, abundantly above what we can ask or think, and He tells Abram to go out to the night sky and look up and “tell the stars.”  The word “tell” means to “count” the stars: “if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.”

How many stars are there in the sky?  There are so many stars that, even today with all of our technology and ability to look deeper and deeper into the universe, we cannot number the stars.  They are so plentiful and so numerous; there are just too many stars for us to think that we can know how many there are.

Remember, God will change Abram’s name to Abraham, which means “father of many nations,” but, at this point, it is just Abram, and the LORD is telling Him: “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.”  Now there is something curious about that statement because the word “seed” is singular and God makes a point of spelling that out in Galatians 3:16:

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

That can be a little confusing.  Here, God is letting it be known that the word “seed” is not plural: “not as of many, but as of one…which is Christ.”  He is the “seed” of Abram or Abraham.  Yet, God, in telling him, “So shall they seed be,” was also indicating that it would be a great multitude which could not be numbered.  How can we make sense of that?  Well, it is understandable once we read a little further along in Galatians, chapter 3, and it says in Galatians 3:29:

And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

So the promise of the “seed” (singular) contains within it all of those that are His – all that He will save.  All the elect children of God are “in Christ” and they are in that “seed” and they become the “seed” of Abraham.  They become typified by the “stars of heaven,” according to Genesis 15: “Tell the stars…So shall thy seed be.” God is assigning a spiritual meaning to the stars and that is that they represent the “seed” of Abram, the promised descendents of the “father of many nations,” of the one that God gave this promise to at first.  But, of course, the LORD also reiterated it in Genesis 22:15-18:

And the angel of JEHOVAH called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith JEHOVAH, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

He is referring to the fact that Abraham offered up his son Isaac in that great “figure” of God the Father offering up His son, the Lord Jesus.  So, as a result of Abraham obeying God’s voice, there will come blessing upon the “seed.”  Of course, the LORD is just using that as a figure indicating that because of God’s sacrifice of His son, the “seed” will be blessed and will be a blessing to all the nations.

In Genesis 26, it is Isaac who is being spoken of, and it says in Genesis 26:3-4:

Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

God is reiterating the promise given to Isaac’s father and He is reiterating the promise to us – to His people down through the centuries – that they will multiply; God will save a people for Himself.  There will be a “chosen nation,” the spiritual Israel that will come forth from Abraham, from Isaac and from Jacob.  God has certainly shown us already in these early verses in the Book of Genesis that the “seed” and the “stars of heaven” are joined together in a spiritual way.  God is linking them together and, therefore, linking the “stars” with the body of believers. 

He also links the stars with believers in Genesis, chapter 37, which tells us in verse 2 that “these are the generations of Jacob,” and we would expect some sort of geneology, but God gives a historical summation of what took place – certain key events in the lives of Jacob and Joseph, especially in relationship to an awful famine that lasted for seven years; that famine followed seven years of plenty.  And we understand why it is referring to the “generation of Jacob” because Jacob is a picture of the elect; it is describing the generation of the chosen people of God, in a spiritual way.  In Genesis 37, Joseph, who was given dreams by God, had another dream in Genesis 37:9:

And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

And “made obeisance” means that they “bowed down.”

And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

In this dream Jacob is likened to the “sun” and Joseph’s mother to the “moon” and his eleven brethren to the “stars.”  Again, that is helping us to identify the “stars” and who they represent.  We already know they are tied with the “seed of Abraham” and now it is Joseph’s brethren that are in view and Joseph is a type of Christ.  Remember what Jesus said in the New Testament when he was told that “his mother and his brethren stand without” and He said, “Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?  For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Christ is our “brother,” as well as our Saviour and as well as our spiritual Husband (and we are His bride), but another figure that God uses is that He is our “brother.”  And, here, as the eleven stars bow down to their brother Joseph, it is a figure of God’s people that will bow the knee and that will be humbled by God and brought to a place of submission in serving the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Well, let us look at some more verses.  We read in Exodus 32:13:

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven…

Notice that  Israel (or Jacob) is included in this statement, so God also gave this same promise to him.

…and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

That is a reference to the “promised land” back in Genesis 17 when God gave Abraham the promise of the land of Canaan for an eternal habitation.  Of course, since Israel dwelt in the land of Canaan and Canaan became Israel, which is part of this earth, and this earth will be burned up and destroyed one day (and will not continue eternally), we know that God is using the “land” as a figure of the new heaven and new earth when He says, “I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.”  God has done a portion of this; He has saved the “seed of Abraham” at this time and He has saved that great multitude that came out of great tribulation – all whose names were recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  They have been found, as the Gospel has found them; God has used His Word to create a new heart within them.  Therefore, that is a big part of the promise to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob – that He would make their “seed” in Christ (who the seed refers to), a great multitude of sinners that would have their sins forgiven and pardoned because Christ paid the penalty and took their sins upon Himself.  So the only thing remaining for God to do is to give the Kingdom of God (the new heaven and new earth) to this “seed,” to this spiritual Israel, to all whose names were recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

You know, God used this language in Genesis (and now in Exodus) of multiplying your seed “as the stars of heaven” so that you are not able to count them.  And He tells us the same thing concerning that “great multitude” that He saved and brought “out of great tribulation” in Revelation 7:9-20:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

This is the fulfillment and the completion of the promise given long ago (thousands of years ago) to those ancient men of God, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, concerning their seed.  God let these things play out over the course of history in generation after generation as He sent forth His Word and accomplished the purpose He set it forth to do, to find the lost sheep of Israel and to bring them into the fold; and God did so in the days of the Old Testament, but, of course, there were not too many saved at that time.  Then He saved the “firstfruits” during the church age and, finally, He saved a “great multitude,” as we read in Ezekiel 37, when Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy to the valley of dry bones; then “the bones came together, bone to his bone and they stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.”  Then God said, “These bones are the whole house of Israel.”  So the “great multitude” was saved because God had the greatest number to be saved born at a time when the world’s population exploded to over seven billion and God saved that “great multitude” during that “little season” of the Great Tribulation.  In doing so, He completed His salvation program and now all “the stars of heaven” are shining, in a sense.  All the types and figures of God’s elect have been found. 

In a way, we could say that when someone becomes saved, they begin to “shine.”  They begin to carry forth the Word of God and to be a light in the dark place that is this world.  So they shine in the world – they are a light by night.  But we are constantly reading in Matthew 24 and in Revelation 6 that the stars are “falling” from heaven and then God gives us that interesting language, “even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind.”  Well, we do not want to get into that right now.  We do not have time in this study to discuss what that may mean, but we are just showing how the Bible is clearly putting forth the picture that the “stars” represent the true believers.

There are a couple of places where individuals that are not true believers are also described with the language of “stars,” but those instances are very rare.  For instance, in Jude, verse 16, God speaks of “wandering stars,” in reference to false prophets; He helps us with the word “wandering.”  They are “stars” that are off course; they are going astray.  So we know right away that these “wandering stars” are not true believers.   But, for the most part, “stars” can be show, again and again, to typify God’s elect.  It says in Psalm 147:4:

He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.

You know, sometimes when we look at Scripture, we find God refers to “two hundred million” and that is a good possibility for a number that is the sum total of all those that God intended to save out of this world; that is, the number of all His elect.  Other respond and say, “You cannot know!  No man can number that great multitude.”  Well, that is true.  We cannot number them, but God can.  God knows the number of the “stars.”  We do not know the number of the stars: “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.”   God knows the complete number of the (literal) billions of stars, whatever that final tally is.  And there is an “end” to the stars – there is a final number where it could be said, “There are one trillion and two hundred billion stars.”  I just made that number up, but whatever the number is, God knows it and, likewise, He knows each and every one of His elect.  We do not know.  We have no way of knowing who they are or how many there are, but if God determines to reveal that number….and how would He do it, but through a verse or passage in the Scripture and then we can know it, because we are not the ones that did the counting (as the churches “count” their membership).  It is not like that when we find a number in the Bible, but we just have to be sure that this is the number God is giving us.  Right now there is a little question about that, but it is very possible that two hundred million could be the number of all those that God intended to save.

Let us go to one last verse in Daniel 12:1-3:

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

This is the glorious language of the Bible as only God can write.  Only God can give so many types and figures and pictures representing certain things and keep it all straight, with tremendous harmony with all else that is in the Bible.  Only God can have this sort of identification for the “sun, moon and stars” and as we read that it says, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven,” it just adds tremendous meaning.  It so far surpasses the natural thought, “Oh, when I look up into the heavens, these lights are out and stars are falling.”  No – it is far, far deeper than that.  Much more information is given to us, once we understand the deeper spiritual meaning of these things, just as it is with all the Bible.  Once we dig deeper into the Word of God, we are always amazed at what we find.