Revelation 12: The Woman and The Dragon

Revelation 12: The Woman and The Dragon

 v1 - v6: The Woman and the Dragon

A "sign" happened in heaven, where a woman clothes with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and wearing a crown with twelve stars. She was pregnant and crying out in agony of giving birth. A red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and on the heads are seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them down to earth. (v1-4a) 

In Genesis 37:9-11, Joseph dreamt that the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to him. This represent the tribe of Israel, where the sun was Jacob, the moon was Rachel. and stars were his brothers. The woman described here, with the same description, represents Israel. Israel was "pregnant" with a male child that will "rule all the nations", symbolizing Jesus.

The red dragon have seven diadem, which is a type of crown or headband worn as a symbol of sovereignty or authority. The ancient Greeks and Romans used diadems to denote the authority of their rulers.  The red dragon represents Satan.  "The seven heads and ten horns refer to the original ten kingdoms of which three were subdued by the little horn of Daniel 7:8, who is to be identified with the world ruler of the great tribulation who reigns over the revived Roman Empire.” (John Walvoord) 

In verse 4, where it says Satan cast down a third of the "stars" to earth, they were the fallen angels who followed Satan after he deceive Adam and Eve. On earth, they are called demons. They had been with man-kind and deceiving them since then. This is an evidence that even angels have free-will to stay with God or to support Satan.  

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Satan stood before the woman, waiting to devour the child upon his birth. She gave birth to a male child who will rule all the nations with a rod of iron. The child was caught up by God and to his throne. The woman fled to the wilderness, a place prepared by God, and she was nourished for 1,260 days (3.5 years). (v4b-v6)

Satan was waiting for the son (Jesus) to be born and kill him. Satan even used King Herod who killed all the male children below 2 in Bethlehem to kill Jesus (Mat 2:16).  Historically, this is known as the "Massacre of the innocents."  Jesus was saved by God by sending and angel to Joseph and told him to escape to Egypt. (Mat 2:13)

The phrase "but her child was caught up to God and to his throne" in verse 5 refers to the ascension of Jesus Christ after 40 days of his resurrection, when He sat at the right hand side of God. 

The woman (Israel) "fled" into the wilderness and was protected by God for 3.5 years. This speaks about the future Great Tribulation on it's last 3.5 years. This prophecy is broken into the past and the future, which is common such as Daniel's seventy week prophecy (Daniel 9:24=27). 

v7-12 : War in Heaven

John saw a war in heaven, where Michael and his angels are fighting against the dragon and his angels. The dragon was defeated and cast down to earth together with his angels. Verse 9 says that the dragon was "that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world"

The above passage also said that "..there was no longer any place for them in heaven." (v8) Satan always have access to heaven (e.g, when he approach God to test Job - Job 1:6-12) but now he is "thrown" out of heaven forever. 

David Guzik believe that this battle happens in the mid-point of the 7 year tribulation, based on Daniel 12:1 "At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered."

A loud voice (probably an angel) came from 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 brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death." (v10-11)

Satan is famously known as the "accuser of our brothers", trying to accuse people of God day and night for all our sins and that we should not enter heaven nor be forgiven. However, he was "conquered" i.e. his accusations are futile, not because we are good and righteous, but because Jesus has saved us through his blood on the cross. (Hebrews 7:25, and 1 John 2:1). 

In fact, when we feel attacked by the devil or demons, accusing us of sins, weakness or even tempting us, we can call to the blood of the lamb to release us from their hold. Just like Michael rebuke Satan by saying "The Lord rebuke you", we should rebuke demons directly, but need to rebuke them using the blood of the lamb or in Jesus' name. Our testimony of what Christ has done for us and our love of him unto death will also put fear in them.

The angel told those in heaven to rejoice, but to those on earth he warns of great distress, for the devil has come down with great wrath and he knows his time is short. Satan only have a short while and his intention is to prevent any person from believing in Christ, and will do anything to make that happen. (v12)

v13-17: War on Earth

Satan pursued the woman (i.e. Israel) who had given birth to the male child. She was given "wings of the great eagle" and flew into the wilderness for 3.5 years. (v13-14) This is a repeat of verse 5-6. The serpent (referring to the dragon or Satan) poured water like a river from his mouth, to sweep her away in a flood but the earth opened up and swallowed the water. (v15)

This verse describe that Satan, through the antichrist, will go after Israel. The water represents all the calamities he will put on the Jews, such as artillery, bombs and chemical weapons. Some say the "wings of the great eagle" may be speaking about military planes that evacuate the Jews from Israel. However, it also shows that God will protect them no matter what happens. 

The dragon became furious when he did not achieve his objectives to destroy Israel and eliminate the Jews, that he made war with "the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. " (v17a)  

These "offspring" may refer to Jews in other countries and also Christians who "hold to the testimony of Jesus".  If so, it may mean we have not been raptured yet by mid-tribulation. However, it may be speaking about the martyrs in Rev 6:9-11 and 7:9-12. 

Note: In ESV, there is a last sentence in this chapter that said: "And he stood on the sand of the sea." (v17b). However, it is not clear who the "he" is referring to - is it Satan or John?

Interestingly, NIV omit this sentence and brought it to Chapter 13:1, which said: "The dragon stood on the shore of the sea", meaning that Satan stood at the shore of the sea. NIV has a footnote that says "some manuscript - And I"

NKJ also moved this verse to Chapter 13, and it said "Then I stood on the sand of the sea." This means that John, and not Satan, stood at the shore. I believe that makes more sense.