The Pure Woman
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Let's pray together:
Our Father,
Among the prophetic characters making up the group of Your servants, we find the pure
woman. What does this woman represent? What part does she play in prophecy?
May Your Word be our only guide, through the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, so that we
may properly understand this subject.
In Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
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Revelation 12:1
Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with
the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.
Thus far, we have studied these servants of God: the 24 elders, the four living
creatures, and the two witnesses.
The book of Revelation now presents the pure woman. Once again, the description of this
woman contains many symbolic elements.
Fortunately, the Bible will give us all the keys we need to unveil the secrets of this
symbolism.
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Isaiah 54:5,6
For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His
name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole
earth.
For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful
wife when you were refused.
2 Corinthians 11:2
For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have
betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
In Bible prophecy, a woman symbolizes God's people:
- the people of Israel in the Old Testament;
- the Church in the New Testament.
When God's church is faithful to Him, it is portrayed as a pure woman, as God's bride.
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Jeremiah 3:6,20
«Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has
gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.
(...)
As a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with Me,
O house of Israel,» says the Lord.
On the other hand, when God's people, either Israel or the Church, turn away
from their Creator and disobey Him, they are then symbolized by a woman unfaithful to her
husband, a harlot.
We will study such a woman in a future lesson.
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So, a pure woman symbolizes God's people (either Israel of the Church):
«Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved
the church and gave Himself for it.» (EPHESIANS 5:25)
«Behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her.
(...) She shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up
from the land of Egypt. And it shall be, in that day, says the Lord, that you will call Me
'My Husband'. (...) I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in
righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in
faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.» (HOSEA 2:14-16,19,20)
«For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the
Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. For the Lord has called you
like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused.
(...). All your children shall be taught by the Lord.» (ISAIAH 54:5,6,13)
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Revelation 11:2
The Gentiles (...) will tread the holy city under foot
for forty-two months.
Revelation 21:2,9,10
Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (...)
«Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.»
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great
city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.
The pure woman, God's bride, the holy city... All these expressions designate
God's people, who remained faithful to Him in spite of the persecutions of the «42 months», and who will soon be gathered into New Jerusalem.
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Revelation 12:1
Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with
the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.
Isaiah 61:10
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be
joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me
with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a
bride adorns herself with her jewels.
The pure woman, the bride of God, is clothed with the sun.
This bright dress illustrates the perfect righteousness of Christ which covers her, like
radiant garments of salvation, opening the way to eternal life.
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Malachi 4:2
But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness
shall arise with healing in His wings.
Matthew 13:43
Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father.
Psalm 84:11
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give
grace and glory.
The Word of God often uses the sun to symbolize the perfect righteousness of
Jesus Christ, giving us salvation through God's grace.
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Revelation 12:1
Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with
the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.
Isaiah 62:3,5
You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the
Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. (...)
As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
The garland (or crown) of twelve stars is also a garment of God's bride.
The number twelve is meaningful, since it symbolizes the alliance between God and His
people, as we have seen in our lesson «The 24 Elders
and the Four Living Creatures».
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Genesis 37:9,10
[Joseph] said, «Look, I have dreamed another dream. And
this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.»
So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him,
«What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers
indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?»
Finally, the sun, moon, and stars, call to mind Joseph's dream, in which they
symbolize Jacob (also called Israel), Rachel, and the 12 sons of Jacob, from which the 12
tribes of Israel are descended.
This shows, once again, that the pure woman symbolizes God's people: Israel or the Church.
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Revelation 12:2
Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain
to give birth.
The pure woman cries «out in labor and in pain to give
birth».
What does that mean?
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John 16:21,22
A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her
hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers
the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and
your joy no one will take from you.
Jesus used the picture of the painful labor of a pregnant woman to illustrate
the hard times His disciples would have to go through, when He gave His life on the cross
for our salvation.
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Revelation 12:5
And she bore a male Child who was to rule all nations
with a rod of iron.
And her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.
Revelation 19:13,15
His name is called The Word of God. (...)
Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He
Himself will rule them with a rod of iron.
The prophecy goes on to confirm that the Child of the pure woman is indeed
Jesus, the One who «will rule the nations with a rod of iron».
His ascension to heaven, after His resurrection, is also reported.
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Revelation 12:3,4,9
And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great,
fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. (...)
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who
deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Immediately after the picture of the pure woman, Revelation presents a second
character: a great dragon, who is none other than Satan.
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Revelation 12:4
And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to
give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
Knowing that the success of Jesus' ministry on earth would bring about his
ruin, Satan tried everything to wreck the mission of the Son of God.
At Jesus' birth, and at the end of His ministry, Satan used a nation in order to destroy
the Savior of men.
What is that nation?
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Matthew 2:13
Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to
Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to
destroy Him.
John 18:31
Then Pilate said to them, «You take Him and judge Him
according to your law.»
Therefore the Jews said to him, «It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.»
This nation is the Roman Empire.
In fact, seeking to destroy Jesus, Satan used two Roman rulers:
- first Herod, at Jesus' birth;
- then Pilate, who granted permission to put Jesus to death on the cross.
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Revelation 12:5,6
And her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.
Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they
should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
After Jesus' ascension to His Father, the pure woman had to face the attacks of
Satan, the great dragon.
This prophecy clearly shows the circumstances which led to the 1260-year period of
persecutions against the pure woman, that is, God's faithful people.
It all began when war broke out in heaven between Christ and Satan...
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Revelation 12:7-9
And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels
fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail,
nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who
deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Our lesson about the third trumpet, «The
Star Fallen from Heaven», presented a war in heaven, at the end of which God cast
Satan and a third of the angels out of heaven.
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Revelation 12:9-11
[Satan] was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast
out with him.
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,
«Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ
have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night,
has been cast down.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and
they did not love their lives to the death.»
Jesus Christ, by His death on the cross and His resurrection, conclusively cast
Satan out of heaven.
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Revelation 12:9,12
[Satan] was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast
out with him. (...)
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!
Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you,
having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.
Conclusively driven out of heaven by the victory of Jesus over death and sin,
Satan understood that the countdown to his destruction had begun.
There remained only one thing for him to do: to attack God's bride, His faithful people,
in order to bring as many as possible to death and loss.
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Revelation 12:13,14
Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the
earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.
But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness
to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the
presence of the serpent.
As we have seen in our lessons about the seven letters, seven seals, and seven
trumpets, Satan tried to destroy the pure woman during the 1260 years of the Middle Ages,
by way of persecutions and false doctrines.
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Revelation 12:14
But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that
she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and
times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
Revelation 12:6
Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a
place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty
days.
The book of Revelation confirms that the periods «a time
and times and half a time» and «1260 days» are
synonymous.
Now, let's try to understand the meaning of the expression «two
wings of a great eagle».
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Deuteronomy 32:9-12
For the Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the place
of His inheritance.
He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled
him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.
As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them
up, carrying them on its wings, so the Lord alone led Him, and there was no foreign god
with him.
The eagle's wings symbolize the protection God gives His people in the
wilderness, that is, during the hard and arid periods they go through.
He makes sure that His children are never tested beyond their strength.
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Exodus 19:4
You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore
you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself.
Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Thanks to the eagle's wings God gave her, the pure woman went through the
wilderness with courage, in spite of the severe persecution she had to face.
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Revelation 12:6
Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a
place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty
days.
Revelation 11:2,3
The Gentiles (...) will tread the holy city under foot
for forty-two months.
And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred
and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.
The wilderness, where the woman fled during the 1260 years, illustrates very
well the arid spiritual conditions prevailing between 538 and 1798.
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Revelation 12:6
Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a
place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty
days.
Exodus 16:3,4
The children of Israel said to them, «(...) You have
brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.»
Then the Lord said to Moses, «Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you.»
Like the two witnesses during the 1260 years, the pure woman's experience in
the wilderness, where she is fed by God, calls to mind Moses' experience.
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1 Kings 19:4,7,8
[Elijah] went a day's journey into the wilderness, and
came and sat down under a broom tree.
And he prayed that he might die, and said, «It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I
am not better than my fathers!» (...)
And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, «Arise
and eat, because the journey is too great for you.»
So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and
forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.
And like the two witnesses during the 1260 years, the pure woman's experience
in the wilderness, fed by God, also calls to mind Elijah's experience.
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Revelation 12:14,15
But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that
she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and
times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might
cause her to be carried away by the flood.
The attack of Satan, the serpent, against the pure woman, the people of God, is
symbolized here by a flood launched in order to drown the woman.
What do these waters symbolize?
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Isaiah 8:7
The Lord brings up over them the waters of the River,
strong and mighty - the king of Assyria and all his glory.
Jeremiah 2:13,18
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and
hewn themselves cisterns - broken cisterns that can hold no water. (...)
And now why take the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road of
Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?
The flood properly symbolizes the double-headed attack launched against the
pure woman during the 1260 years, since Satan's water represents both persecutors of God's
people, and false and poisoned doctrines.
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Revelation 12:15,16
So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood
after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.
But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood
which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
Persecuted in Europe, that is, a populous place symbolized by the flood, the
woman was saved by the earth, a place which was then sparsely populated: the New World.
In fact, as the 1260 years drew to an end, America became, for Christians, a refuge
offering religious liberty.
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Exodus 15:1,2,12,13
Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the
Lord, and spoke, saying:
«I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has
thrown into the sea! The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.
(...)
You stretched out Your right hand; the earth swallowed them. You in Your mercy have led
forth the people whom You have redeemed; you have guided them.»
Once again, the earth swallowing the enemy's attack against God's people calls
to mind Moses and the people of Israel, and their deliverance from the hand of the
Egyptians.
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Revelation 12:16,17
But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its
mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her
offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Following his failure to destroy first the woman's Child, that is, Jesus
Christ, and then the woman herself, that is, God's people, Satan finally decides to attack
the rest of the woman's offspring.
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Revelation 12:17
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to
make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the
testimony of Jesus Christ.
So the Bible says that, at the end of time, the people of God will survive as a
remnant.
The rest of the woman's offspring, the remnant Church, has the following characteristics:
it keeps the commandments of God, and has the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Now, we have to discover the identity of this remnant. This is what we will do in our next
lesson.
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Let's thank God for guiding us:
Our Lord God,
The apostle Peter gave us this advice: «Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may
devour.» (1 Peter 5:8)
This lesson showed us the many attacks of Satan against Your people. And nothing is over
yet, since he now attacks the rest of the woman's offspring.
O Father, please always keep us under Your eagle's wings, so that we may not be tested
beyond our strength. In Jesus Christ our Savior we pray.
Amen.
Source of the Pictures of this Lesson
Screen 1: In: «Photo Gallery 5,000 volume 2» by Media
Graphics International, 039_160.JPG. Screen 2: HARLAN, Russel. In:
«Revelation 12-13: The Church and its Foes», G.C. Ministerial Association, 1976, p.1.
Screen 3: JUSTINEN, Lars. In: «Adventist Review» magazine (July 1998), Review
and Herald Publishing Association, p.9. Screen 4: BISHOP, Tom. «Woman
and scarlet beast of Revelation 17». In: «New Pictoral Aid For Bible Study» (BREADEN,
Frank), Australian Division of Seventh-Day Adventists, 1970, chart #45. Screen 5: In:
«The Watchtower» magazine (November 15, 1994), Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society,
p.31. Screen 6: PROVONSHA, Clyde. In: «God Cares, volume 2» (MAXWELL,
C.Mervyn), Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1985, p.506. Screen 7: BISHOP,
Tom. «Woman and dragon of Revelation 12». In: «New Pictoral Aid For Bible Study»
(BREADEN, Frank), Australian Division of Seventh-Day Adventists, 1970, chart #40.
Screen 8: FASCHNACHT, J.P. In: «Signes des Temps» magazine (November-December
1999), Editions Vie et Santé, front cover. Screen 9: MANISCALCO, Joe. In:
«Images from the Bible and Sacred History CD», Chosen Works, MLI Software, JM244.BMP.
Screen 10: RUDEEN, Herbert. In: «The Bible Story, volume 2» (MAXWELL, Arthur
S.), Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1954, p.43. Screen 11: STEEL,
John. In: «God Cares, volume 2» (MAXWELL, C.Mervyn), Pacific Press Publishing
Association, 1985, p.308. Screen 12: In: «The Bible in Pictures for
Little Eyes» (TAYLOR, Kenneth N.), Moody Press, Chicago, 1956, p.167. Screen 13: In:
«La Révélation - le grand dénouement est proche», New York, Watch Tower Bible and
Tract Society, 1988, p.179. Screen 14: BISHOP, Tom. «Woman and dragon of
Revelation 12». In: «New Pictoral Aid For Bible Study» (BREADEN, Frank), Australian
Division of Seventh-Day Adventists, 1970, chart #40. Screen 15: MANISCALCO,
Joe. In: «Images from the Bible and Sacred History CD», Chosen Works, MLI Software,
JM213.BMP. Screen 16: CISERI, Antonio. «Ecce Homo». Galleria degli
Uffizi, Florence, Italy. Screen 17: PROVONSHA, Clyde. In: «Votre Bible
et Vous» (MAXWELL, Arthur S.), Press Publishing Association, p.254. Screen 18: 1.
In: «La Révélation - le grand dénouement est proche», New York, Watch Tower Bible and
Tract Society, 1988, p.181. 2. STEEL, John. In: «The Triumph of God's Love, volume 2»
(WHITE, Ellen G.), Pacific Press Publishing Association and Review and Herald Publishing
Association, 1950, p.428. Composite picture by Cyberspace Ministry. Screen 19: DORE,
Gustave. «The Fall of Satan». In: «Angels: An Endangered Species» (GODWIN, Malcolm),
Simon and Schuster, New York, 1990, p.91. Screen 20: DORE, Gustave. «Satan
in the Abyss». In: «Angels: An Endangered Species» (GODWIN, Malcolm), Simon and
Schuster, New York, 1990, p.92. Screen 21: In: WHITE, Ellen G., «The
(New, Illustrated) Great Controversy», Laymen for Religious Liberty Inc., 1990, p.432-58.
Screen 22: ANDERSON, Harry. In: «Bible Readings for the Home», Review and
Herald Publishing Association, 1972, p.262. Screen 23: Photo in: «Master
Clips 500,000» by IMSI, CD #15, C0000537.JPG. Screen 24: BLAKE, William.
«The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun» (detail), c.1805, National
Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. In: «Revelation - Art of the Apocalypse» (GRUBB,
Nancy), Abeville Press Publishers, 1997, p.71. Screen 25: «The massive
dunes of the Gobi Desert.» In: «Deluxe Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia CD - 2000
Edition», Compton's Home Library, 1999. Screen 26: In: «The Children's
Bible, volume 3», Golden Press, 1981, p.170. Screen 27: LEE, Manning de
V. In: «The Bible Story, volume 5» (MAXWELL, Arthur S.), Pacific Press Publishing
Association, 1955, p.40. Screen 28: MANISCALCO, Joe. In: «Images from
the Bible and Sacred History CD», Chosen Works, MLI Software, JM235.BMP. Screen
29: In: «Photo Gallery 25,000» by Media Graphics International, CD #3,
26_178.JPG. Screen 30: STEEL, John. In: «God Cares, volume 2» (MAXWELL,
C.Mervyn), Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1985, p.342. Screen 31: RUDEEN,
Herbert. In: «Uncle Arthur's Bible Book» (MAXWELL, Arthur S.), Pacific Press Publishing
Association, 1968, p.198. Screen 32: In: «The Watchtower» magazine (February
1, 1986), New York, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, p.16. Screen 33: GREENE,
Nathan. «The Family of God». In: «Inspirational Fine Art», Hart Classic Editions
(www.hartclassics.com), p.3. Screen 34: In: «Photo Gallery 5,000 volume
2» by Media Graphics International, 001_170.JPG.
Any copyrighted images not bearing a statement of permission, are used
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The test of Lesson 58 is waiting for you!