Revelation 12
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The Woman, Israel 1A 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;2and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. The Red Dragon, Satan 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.4And 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. The Male Child, Christ 5And 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.6Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. |
Verses 1-6__ And a Great Sign was seen in heaven; a woman___
As brother Jim states, anything worth seeing is seen when we look to heaven. This is the "first" of the great signs. Who is the woman? She is the people of God. She wears the two heavenly bodies which give light to the earth (Gen.1:17;18). She is the bearer of light in a dark world. She is neither the "church" of God exclusively nor the OT saints exclusively. Later she will be defined better but at this point she is "Gods elect," or God's people.
She wears 12 stars worked into a wreath of victory___the victory crown, the "stephanos." The number "12" as any Bible student ought to recognize is the number for God's people. Once again, the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles. The "woman " represents the people as a whole.
She cannot simply be OT believers because we read of her being persecuted by the Dragon after she has brought forth the Messiah. And the "rest of her seed" (the individual believers in the Messiah) hold the testimony of Jesus Christ (therefore they are Christians). Nor can we say the woman is the Christian church alone since she was prior to the birth and glorification of the Messiah.
The use of the figure of a "woman" to speak of a nation is very common (See Isa. 50:1; 54:1; Micah 4:9). In the latter passage of Isaiah we have both the woman and the seed mentioned. If this interpretation is true, then in what respect did the people of God bring forth the Messiah?
(1) It is literally true that Jesus descended through the Jewish line.
(2) It is also true, that we as sinners made necessary the birth of Christ for our salvation.
Verse 2___And she was with child; and she cried out___ Notice, the woman is in pain. She must have this baby. The history of God's people is marked with struggle.
Verse 3___ Another sign in heaven: a great red dragon___The dragon was not in heaven as some interpret. The "sign" was in heaven. It was red because of the color of blood.
Having seven heads and ten horns___The dragon is equipped to do what ever he wants. Rome is the beast and the Roman beast is seven headed and ten horned. (See 13:1; 17:7).
Verse 4___The third part of the stars of heaven__
Stars are often used to speak of God's people. (See Gen. 15:5; Daniel 8:10f; 12:3; Matthew 13:43). The illusion here is probably that the dragon has been able to persecute, kill or cause to apostatize some of God's people.
The dragon stands before the woman___He wants to devour her as soon as the child is born.
Verse 5___She has delivered a son, a man child___this is Jesus. We are told that He is the one who is to rule the nations with rod of iron. See Psalm 2:1-9; Revelation 2:26-28; 19:15.
With a rod of iron and:
Her child was caught up unto God___The child is the central figure in this chapter. I think this is the ascension. The dragon fails to destroy the child while the son is vulnerable. The devil lost the battle.
And unto His throne___This is the throne of David. By the time Jesus appeared on earth the throne of David was well-known to be the "throne of God." See 1st Chron. 28:5; 29:23; 2nd Chron. 1:1;and many more. There is only one throne which is God's throne and that is the one that David sat on (Acts 2:29-36).
Verse 6___That there they may nourish her___we have already discussed the original figure and that was Elijah and the 3 1/2 year drought.
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The Angel, Michael 7And
there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war
with the dragon The dragon and his angels waged war, |
Verses 7-12___The overview
We are not supposed to see a historical war in heaven. After all, this is an apocalyptic vision. These visions project "truths" to us. The central truth here is that the devil is a three time loser. If we try to make this war a real war we have a chronological problem. If this was a "real war" the devil was defeated before Jesus went to the cross and the resurrection. Did a battle between Michael and Satan take place? If so it was not the work of Jesus who destroyed the works of Satan but Michael who destroyed the works of Satan. Here is the point I think! We are not suppose to take these stories in a literal sense. We are to look for the "truths" the stories represent. In this case, the man-child is the conqueror. We have the Dragon, who in this story is Satan, racing up to heaven after the man-child. Satan was defeated on earth so he now seeks a battle in heaven. Remember, the man-child is now at the right hand of the Father. The devil has been beat on earth and now he will be beat in heaven. Why Michael and his angels? There are two possible reasons. In chapter 10 we have the "strong angel" who probably represents Jesus in a fashion. In this case, Michael is standing in for Jesus as in Daniel 12:1. His name tells the story. Michael means "One like God."
Verses 8-9___This is complete defeat. Some try to say that the Devil and his angels had a place in heaven before his defeat but that is a stretch. The death of Jesus and His subsequent glorification was not a partial defeat by Jesus but a total defeat of Satan by Jesus. Jesus triumphed over the principalities and powers and made an open spectacle of them. The central thought of this chapter deals with the destiny of the church. John is saying that the Master has defeated the power behind the Roman Empire.
Verses 10-11___Now is Come ....the kingdom of God! The text did not say that the kingdom of God was to come soon or one of these days. It does say 'now" in the lifetime of John the kingdom came. The time of the coming of the kingdom in this passage is the same time that salvation came to man. Of course, the kingdom came before John wrote this letter (See Lk. 21:31 AND Revelation 11:15).
And the authority of Christ__ "Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus who ye crucified both Lord and Christ." Does this sound familiar? (Acts 2:36ff).
Verse 11___They overcame him (Satan) because of the blood of the Lamb. The devil has been beaten, our sins are forgiven (Acts 2:38ff).
Pay attention to the verbs. "They overcame." This is the same message of Romans 4:8. Sin is not written down to the righteous of God.
The Word of their testimony___The devil hates the gospel. It is this "testimony" the gospel that delivers men from his grip.
They loved not their life even unto death___ This is the same message that Paul had for us. See Acts 20:24. There is much to be said about this section of text but right at the moment it is fair to ask if we are willing to die for the gospel.
Verse 12__The heavens see the end of this epic battle. They are to rejoice but woe to the earth because the devil has come. But there is some comfort. His time is short.
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"13And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.14But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could 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.15And 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.16But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.17So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. |
Verse 13___The Dragon__was thrown down
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aorist passive indicative verb forms eblēthē (9x) eblēthēsan (3x) |
This was something, "the throwing down"that already happened when John had the vision. The central battle has been fought and the Devil was the loser. He has been whipped completely.
Verse 14___Whoever this woman is, she is being kept by God. Over and over again in Scripture the figure of an Eagle's wings are used as figures of God's work. (Ex. 19:4__Deut. 32:11; Psalm 36:7; Isiah 40:31). It is clear from this chapter that the woman is the people of God.
Verses 15-16___Here the devil is trying to imitate Jesus. Out of the mouth of the Lord comes a sword with which to smite the nations. (1:16; 19:15). With His lips and the breath of his lips he slays the wicked (Isaiah 11:4). God is able to use the flood waters to destroy the wicked.
And the earth helped the woman___meaning that God allowed the earth to help the woman.
Verse 17___And went away to make war with the rest of her seed. The Devil was defeated in regard to the man-child but his wrath is turned toward the church.
by Lane