Revelation Chapter Twelve
The great Conflict in Heaven
12:1-14:20
The seventh trumpet (11:15) ushers in the bowl judgments (15:1-16:21), but in the intervening chapters (12-14), John sees the conflict between God and Satan. He sees the source of all sin, evil, persecution, and suffering on the earth, and he understands why the great battle between the forces of God and Satan must soon take place. In these chapters the nature of evil is exposed, and Satan is seen in all his wickedness.
In chapter twelve through fourteen of the book of Revelation , the great actors of the tribulation time are introduced in another parenthetic section enduing at 14:20. They are seven in number.
- The woman, representing Israel.
- The dragon, representing Satan.
- The man child, referring to Christ.
- Michael, representing the angels.
- Israel, representing the seed of the woman.
- The beast out of the sea (multitude of people), the world dictator.
- The beast out of the earth, the false prophet and religious leader of the world.
About these main characters swirls the tremendously moving scene of the great tribulation.
The Woman and the Dragon
REV 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
woman clothed with the sun. (helios {hay'-lee-os} the light rays of the sun) JOH 8:12; Mat 5:14; Joh 8:12
the moon under her feet (produces no light on its own)
JOH 1:5 upon her head a crown of twelve stars: (representing the twelve tribes of Israel)
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. (The pain of the woman in travail coincides with the jugement of Eve Gen. 3:16 and the persecurion of Israel)
Isaiah 26:17 As a woman with child is in pain and cries out in her pangs, when she draws near the time of her delivery, so have we been in Your sight, O LORD.
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars (angels) of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered (Israel ) , for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Satan, the accuser (liar John 8:44b)), no longer has access to the heavenly throne. Christ was born of woman, suffered, died, was raised, and ascended to heaven. Satan, the dragon, lost the heavenly battle and was cast down to earth. Christ's victory is sure. He reigns in heaven. Christians must still endure suffering because Satan is still loose on earth and enraged against Christ's followers because Satan knows his time is short.
Matthew 2:16 Then Herod (satins’ agent), when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
The enormous red dragon, Satan, has seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns, representing his power and the kingdoms of the world over which he rules.(More on this when we reach our chapter seventeen study) The stars that plunged to earth with him are usually considered to be the angels who fell with Satan and became his demons. According to Hebrew tradition, one-third of all the angels in heaven fell with Satan.
REV 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, (Gen. 3:1-4) called the Devil and Satan, who deceives (lies to) the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
REV 13:1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.
Revelation 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. (Rev. 19:11-15)
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
The wilderness represents a place of spiritual refuge and protection from Satan. Because God aided the woman's escape into the desert, we can be sure that he offers security to all true believers. Satan always attacks God's people, but God keeps them spiritually secure.
The 1,260 days (3 1/2 years) is the same length of time that the dragon is allowed to exercise his authority (13:5) and that the holy city is trampled.
Satan Thrown Down to Earth
REV 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives (lies to) the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
7-9. We are now introduced to the supreme attempt on the part of the dragon (satin) to unseat the Woman's Son (Jesus), and to reestablish himself in the presence of God." There are more terms for Satan in this paragraph (v. 9) than in any other single passage in the Word of God: the great dragon, that old serpent . . . the Devil, and Satan, and - one of the most dreadful phrases in Scripture - not something Satan boasts of, but something which heaven acknowledges - the deceiver of the whole world (2Ti 3:13; 2Jo 1:7). He is opposed here not by Christ, but by Michael and his angels (Rev 12:7; Dan 10:13,21; Jude 1:9), who apparently is the leader of the angelic hierarchy.
Satan is cast out of heaven. There may be a reference here to some words of our Lord regarding Satan's falling from heaven (John 12:31). It appears that the scene unfolds at the end of this age. Note that Satan is not cast into the abyss, but down to the earth (ASV; Rev 12:9), just before Antichrist assumes his temporary and dreadful reign.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Many believe that until this time, Satan still had access to God (Job 1:7 ff). But here his access is forever barred (9:1). He can no longer accuse (lie to) people before God (see how Satan made accusations about Job before God in Job 1:6 ff).
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
The critical blow to Satan came when the Lamb, Jesus Christ, shed his blood for our sins. The victory is won by sacrifice--Christ's death in our place to pay the penalty for our sin, and the sacrifices we make because of our faith in him. As we face the battle with Satan, we should not fear it or try to escape from it, but we should loyally serve Christ, who alone brings victory (Rom 8:34-39).
Our testimony for Christ not only strengthens others and wins people to our Lord, it even defeats Satan, "the accuser of our brothers'' (v 10). In the power of Christ's death on the cross, Satan was disarmed. Now we can defeat him through Christ's victory and by the word of our testimony if we will totally give our lives to our Lord, even unto death.
REV 12:12 "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."
13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.
The devil begins to step up his persecution because he knows that "his time is short." We are living in the last days( 2tim 1-5; Jam. 5:3-6; 2PET 3:3-7), and Satan's work has become more intense. Even though the devil is very powerful, as we can see by the condition of our world, he is always under God's control.
One of the reasons God allows Satan to work evil and bring temptation is so that those who pretend to be Christ's followers will be weeded out from Christ's true believers. Knowing that the last great confrontation with Jesus is near, Satan is desperately trying to recruit as great an enemy force as possible for this final battle.
V 12 “Therefore rejoice”. The heavenly rejoicing is because the devil's time is short. Heaven is a place of joy in prayer.
14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly (rapidly escape) into the wilderness to her place (of refuge), where she is nourished (and protected from satin) for a time and times and half a time (31/2 years, Dan 7:25), from the presence of the serpent.
15 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 implication is that satin strives with all his power to persecute and exterminate the people of Israel.
16 But the earth (ge {ghay} the inhabited earth, the abode of men and animals) helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth (stoma {stom'-a} Symbolically speaking, since thoughts of a man's soul find verbal utterance by his mouth, the "heart" or "soul" and the mouth are distinguished) and swallowed up the flood (katapino {kat-ap-ee'-no} absorbed to protect) which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was enraged (orgizo {or-gid'-zo} to provoked to anger)
with the woman (gune {goo-nay'} a betrothed 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.
The apostle Paul tells us that we are in a spiritual battle (Eph 6:10-12). John says that the war is still being waged, but the outcome has already been determined. Satan and his followers have been defeated and will be destroyed. Nevertheless, Satan is battling daily to bring more into his ranks and to keep his own from defecting to God's side. Those who belong to Christ have gone into battle on God's side, and He has guaranteed them victory. God will not lose the war, but we must make certain not to lose the battle for our own souls. Don't waver in your commitment to Christ. A great spiritual battle is being fought, and there is no time for indecision.
John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
ISA 41:10-11 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' "Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; they shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish.
